Each phase of editing has a different process. Authors should be aware of these differences and choose the appropriate phase for their work. We are happy to give recommendations.

If an author decides to publish without a proofreading workflow, the finished product will have mistakes. We do not look for errors or make any changes to a manuscript without an appropriate editing workflow in place.

A physical book is always more real. It’s easier to find errors in a printed book then in a PDF. Many authors don’t like reading from a computer screen and so miss mistakes during the editing process. The proofreading process is designed to finalize the book before publication. It is absolutely vital to make the most of proofreading before publication. We can make changes after the book is printed but it is difficult to do and we can’t control when stock runs out and is replaced by the new printing. Our method of perfecting a book is proofreading. Make sure you understand the proofreading process and know how to read a PDF and use PDF markup. Any post-production changes are very expensive. Post production changes often occur when there is no proofreading process. In general it is less expensive to proofread a book properly than it is to skip it and change it in post.

We do not offer refunds of any kind. Our business is based on services not goods. We publish a great many books each year and our services conform with standards set by the Editorial Freelance Association and other entities. We recommend every author enter an intensive period of self-education before starting a contract with us. There are many things an individual can do on their own and many resources for services similar to what we offer. We design our services to be flexible, reasonably priced, and tailored to your goals as an author. There are many outcomes that are easy to anticipate and that we can discuss together. We support authors at any level and find exactly the service you need for your manuscript.

A publisher account on Amazon is called a Kindle Direct Publishing account. We’re happy to manage your book on our account and send you royalties once a year but the cost for this is 25% of net royalties. We’re happy to prepare a book for your individual KDP account as well, in which case you can retain 100% of your royalties. We can assist you in setting up your account, just check our account setup services section.

CROSSdiscount

Amazon is running bookstores out of business because their books are less expensive and ship more rapidly. If an author wants to see their book in bookstores Ingram Spark should be used, not Amazon. Books on IngramSpark don’t have the same profit potential, since the bookstore has to make a profit selling the book and requires some of the profit. Authors should understand the different platforms and carefully establish their goals. Any author can use different platforms together. A print book with the same ISBN can be created simultaneously for Amazon and Bookstores. Readers won’t know the difference but the Amazon version will make more money. An author can produce books on IngramSpark and use Amazon kindle at the same time. We can offer substantial discounts for publishing a book on two platforms so an author won’t have to pay for paperback design twice for instance.

We manage your books and send you royalties. Our fee for this service is 25% of net royalties and authors retain 75%. Authors can easily set up their own accounts and retain 100% royalties. We cannot switch books to author accounts after production. Authors should be aware of this choice and act accordingly. See the account setup services section for help with this issue.

Children’s books can’t be created on Amazon due to a recent policy change. The minimum page count is 75 for KDP which excludes most children’s books.

Full-color books can be created and many authors are interested in them. We really don’t recommend it because they are very expensive in this system. In our experience almost everyone who makes a full color book on Amazon regrets doing it since the book is so expensive and the profits are so minimal. If an author has a memoir with many family pictures they generally look nice in black and white.

We’re happy to manage your book on our account and send you royalties once a year but the cost for this is 25% of net royalties. We’re happy to prepare a book for your individual IngramSpark account as well, in which case you can retain 100% of your royalties. We can assist you in setting up your account, just check our account setup services section.

The best way to work across platforms is to build a book on IngramSpark and Amazon simultaneously with the same ISBN. IngramSpark has ebook services for wide distribution but we find Amazon kindle much more effective for ebooks.

Bookstores don’t automatically include anything in their monthly stock orders. If you make a book on IngramSpark it is available for bookstores to order it, but that doesn’t mean they will. Authors should expect to do a lot of campaigning for their book in order to reach bookshops

Warehouse and markup

Ingram will let you know the production cost of the book. Then the book goes to the Ingram warehouse for distribution. Bookstores usually require a 55% markup in order to stay profitable. This means that your bookstore edition will have a much smaller profit margin for the author.

Return editions

Unsold books ordered by bookstores are returned to the author. The author is responsible for any costs that might occur during returns.

We manage your books and send you royalties. Our fee for this service is 25% of net royalties and authors retain 75%. Authors can easily set up their own accounts and retain 100% royalties. We cannot switch books to author accounts after production. Authors should be aware of this choice and act accordingly. See the account setup services section for help with this issue.

CROSSdiscount

A paperback can be designed for both Amazon and IngramSpark. If the author wishes to use both platforms for a paperback, they do not need to pay a full interior design and cover design for each version, just an additional fee for adaptation.

Children’s books need color and can be reasonably priced because they are shorter. We don’t recommend novel length books printed in color, since they are too expensive to be appealing.