Frequently asked questions
- How long will it take to publish my book? Depending on the amount of editing needed, between 2 and 1/2 to 3 months for general fiction and nonfiction. Sometimes sooner. Longer for textbooks or other books with special formatting or editing needs. Every book is different.
- Will my book be returnable? Yes, your book will be returnable. Brick-and-mortar bookstores will not carry your book on its physical shelves unless it is returnable. Book retail is a returns-based industry. Authors can also opt-out of returnability.
- What formats of my book will be available? Paperback and eBook (Hardcover is also an option). We will also distribute your eBook to Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, Walmart eBooks (Kobo), Scridb.com, eBooks.com and more.
- What will you do for my book? Format, edit, design your book cover, consult, and get your book into major retailers such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, and many other fine retailers.
- Who determines the retail price of my book? We recommend a price based the number of pages, wholesale discount to bookstores and what’s best for your book. Authors can accept the recommendation or adjust the price if they have a preferred price range.
- How much does New Book Authors Publishing get from publishing my book? Your royalties are paid directly to you via our distributor. Authors receive 100% of their royalties after print and wholesale discount.
- Does New Book Authors have an incentive for authors to succeed after the book is published? Absolutely. Not only as a matter of reputation, but as bookseller, from our bookstore. We want our authors to sell a lot of books, whether it’s through us as a bookstore or through an outside retailer.
- What is Print on Demand? Print on Demand (POD) is great because it allows unlimited printing of your books. Books that are printed in bulk the traditional set ups begin with a limited number of books printed, that are usually returned and destroyed if they do not sell. Books that fail to perform or meet performance standards often go out of print indefinitely under the traditional model. However, with Print on Demand your book will remain on sale until you choose to remove it. It is estimated that over 300 million new unsold books are destroyed a year as a result of companies that print in bulk, so a POD set up is ideal for both authors and publishers, and customers are not impacted by this minor difference. Print on Demand is when a customer goes to a bookstore like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or to other retailers to buy a book. The printer receives the order and the book is printed immediately and shipped directly to the customer, although Amazon might have 10 or more copies already on hand in their warehouses for customers in many cases. Other brick-n-mortar stores might do the same, but it depends on the retailer. Print on Demand is an excellent option as it allows retailers to ship right to the customer or allows retailers to carry the book on their physical bookstore shelves. The benefit of Print on Demand is, if the book doesn’t sell, the author and the publisher doesn’t lose thousands of dollars. This is because the book is printed as readers buy them, instead of printed in bulk by the thousands resulting in lost revenue for unsold copies. Whether it’s printed in bulk, or printed as ordered, it generally arrives in the same amount of time. Print on Demand allows retailers to have a short run of bulk copies or POD.
- Do authors pay anything out of pocket for every printed book? No. Authors do not pay for print costs out of pocket. It’s deducted from the retail price when a customer buys your book. What exactly is a print cost? It is the amount it costs the printer to manufacture and produce your book. This includes the ink, the paper, and the materials for the cover. The nice thing is that a print cost is usually very nominal ranging between $2 – $5 depending on the length of the book. Important: When a customer purchases your book (for example, 16.99 USD), your royalties, are what’s left after print costs and wholesale discount to bookstores has been deducted from the retail price. The rest that remains is your royalty. Wholesale discounts and print costs is the norm in book publishing and is industry-wide regardless of who publishes or distributes your book. Bookstores will not carry a book in its online or in physical bookstore without the wholesale discount. Retailers don’t pay full price for your book, they pay between 40-55% for the book. This detail is often not explained by book publishers. We do not collect any of your royalties so that authors receive the full amount of their royalty after wholesale and print costs has been deducted. We are an author-friendly publisher. See Our Services page for details.
- Will my book be available in other countries? Yes, your book will be sold in the United States and internationally and will be distributed by one of the biggest distributors in the world.
- Will my book appear in local bookstores? New Book Authors will make sure that your book meets the criteria for inclusion in local bookstores. Many of our authors have books in local brick-and-mortar bookstores. Your book will be sold by Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walmart.com, Books-a-Million, Indiebound, Bookshop.org, Powells, and many other and retailers. Your book will also meet the requirements for local brick-and-mortar bookstores, as our distributor works with over 40,000 retailers globally. Keep in mind, there are 3 million books published annually and there is a lot of competition for shelf-space, so every local bookstore or bookstore chain has its own stocking criteria. Ultimately, it’s up to the bookstore and their managers to decide whether they want to carry your book in a highly competitive market. Our goal is to make sure that your book does not have any barriers preventing retailers from stocking your book. Our marketing strategies also include working towards inclusion in library systems. See our marketing page for details on what brick-and-mortar bookstores like Barnes and Noble and other independent stores require. We tick every box and more. Visit our Books and Authors Events page to see some of our authors at book signings and other events.
- Will I have a point-person to work with me on my book? Yes, you will work directly with your publisher and editor. We do not use a call center or other impersonal methods to communicate with authors. We are a real publishing team, not a call center full of inexperienced people focused on selling a service. We are hands on and available until 9pm CDT so that working authors can still contact us after standard business hours.
- Will I receive copies of my book? You can request copies of your book through your author dashboard at any time.
- Important note: New Book Authors Publishing does not send unsolicited emails to anyone for any reason. Some authors are only seeking information. We only respond to inquiries submitted to us through our website. New Book Authors Publishing has a strict no-solicitation policy, so if you ever receive a solicitation claiming to be from New Book Authors Publishing, and you did not initiate contact first, it is not from us. You will never receive a pushy email from New Book Authors Publishing or unwanted pressure or phone calls. Authors choose to work with us because they were referred or they know us and trust us. We make our website transparent so that authors know what to expect before they submit a manuscript.
- Is New Book Authors Publishing a vanity publisher? No.