AUTHORS LOOKING FOR A PUBLISHER

AUTHOR AU PAIRS

Author au pairs hold authors’ hands through all aspects of the writing process, from concept to conclusion (whatever that might look like for you). As a self-publishing author (or self-published author setting up a small press), you will have the backing of a traditional press with 20+ years of experience producing award-winning books. We offer the following author au pair services:

Guide on the Side

This is hand-holding on steroids. The guides work on an hourly rate of $60/hour and can advise self-publishing authors on any topic related to book publishing: scope and sequence of a book (what publishers are looking for in the organization of a book), ISBN (all books need one), Library of Congress Control Number application (a nice-to-have that makes libraries more likely to purchase your book), copyright (for your book — and for the use of copyrighted texts in your book), quality of writing issues (we can do a manuscript evaluation for you as well as a copyedit through our book evaluation and editorial services; we also can refer you to a developmental editor or a ghost writer), typesetting and graphic design (we can refer, and, if schedules permit, we can often do the typesetting and graphic design through the production pro service), publishing options (and avoiding scams), wholesalers/distributors (what you need and what is required to get it), preparation of press release and marketing materials, marketing essential information (what options are out there; how to determine cost-effectiveness; and how to avoid scams); we can direct you to book award opportunities and services, audiobook services, e-book conversion or preparation services, book review opportunities (with an understanding of the relative value of each), affiliate status (where appropriate and desired), advice on website design (and referrals if desired), SEO, and much more. Coaching, advising, door opening, and moral support — that is what a good guide does.

Production Pro

We provide you with the same graphic services (typesetting and cover design) for e-book and paperback/hard cover book, watermarked pdf for use with trusted reviewers, and cover jpeg for use in advertising and elsewhere. Fee not dependent on time involved. Set fee: $1750.

Word Wizards

We provide a full range of editing, copyediting/line editing (following whichever prescribed style manual is needed), bringing your book to professionally finished status, reading for typesetting. Editing does not include developmental editing (rewriting) or ghostwriting, but we can refer you to trusted developmental editors and ghostwriters. We also provide initial press releases and submit them to the same PR distribution sites we use for our traditionally published books. Fee not dependent on time involved. Set fee for editorial services: $1200.

Marketing Express

For reasonable fees that are worked out between authors and us, we will assist with some aspects of marketing, such as eblasts ($125, includes preparation of the content), distribution of press releases ($120 includes preparation of press release and distribution to 240 PR distribution sites), submission of books for exhibitions and awards ($25 processing fee plus cost to acquire book and actual cost to file for exhibition or award competition), inclusion in our webstore ($25 annual fee; book must pass our standards requirements and inclusion does not include sales — links instead to source of sales, such as Amazon.com), and other activities for individual fees negotiated between MSI Press and individual authors.

Contact editor@msipress.com.

AFFILIATE STATUS

We will consider affiliate status for self-published authors who meet our publishing standards. At an annual fee of $25, affiliate status gives self-published authors a listing in our webstore, access to a wealth of author information at our Author Hub, and copies of a monthly newsletter that contain information about MSI Press, the book industry, and opportunities for book promotion, marketing, and awards.

Contact us at info@msipress.com.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT WORKING WITH MSI PRESS LLC

• We accept unagented books, and the majority of our books have come directly from author proposals.
• 86% of our authors hold traditional contracts with us.
• 14% of our authors hold hybrid contracts; we are very happy to expand the number of hybrid authors who publish with us, but we do hold them to the same quality-of-writing standard that we expect from all of our authors, many of whom have won more than one award for their writing; 50% of authors holding hybrid contracts also hold one or more traditional contracts with us, concluded subsequently to the publication of their hybrid books.
• Of the proposals made to us, whether for a traditional contract of or for San Juan Books, our acceptance rate for any given year varies from 10% to 15%. The most common reasons for non-acceptance have to do with poor homework on the part of the author: overly optimistic representation of the potential market (i.e. the author has not done the research to provide an accurate picture), poor writing (often grammatically accurate but simply flat, not able to pull in a reader), and, in a very few cases, a misunderstanding of the publishing field (unresearched and unrealistic expectations of the book market today, the role of the publisher, and the role of the author).
• In some cases, the book is good, but we are the wrong publisher; take a look at the lines we publish, and please do not send us novels, poetry, erotica, or other topics that you cannot find in our webstore.
• See B. L. Ham’s book, Publishing for Smarties: Finding a Publisher, for an inside look on how acquisitions editors think. (This book has been highly recommended by MidWest Book Review.)

Basics for Manuscript Submission

1. Multiple submissions. We accept these, reluctantly, because we know authors cannot afford to do one single submission after another and hope to see their book in print this decade. However, we will not get into a bidding war. If you have a better deal from another publisher, take it. If we know that you are making multiple submissions (ethically, you should disclose this, and there are often dead giveaways, anyway), we may ask you to come back and talk to us about publication as a San Juan Book if you do not find another publisher. (SJB is not a guarantee of acceptance. We accept about 20% of the proposals for San Juan Books, but that is more than double of our acceptance for traditional publication.)
2. Formatting/writing specs. (Ask for our spec sheet.) We use APA style, the Harvard comma, American punctuation (punctuation inside quotations, not outside), and footnotes (rather than endnotes). We expect references to be complete (in accordance with expectations of the APA Style Manual) and websites cited to be currently available.
3. Good writing. We require writing that uses active voice, avoids overuse of linking verbs, takes the shortest route to making a statement (hard-hitting, dramatic, not discursive and hard to follow), and focuses on what the reader needs to hear (rather than what the writer wants to hear from himself or herself).
4. Platform. A solid platform is as important as a solid book. If you do not know what is meant by platform, do some research on your own; our book proposal template (see link above) provides some information in this regard.

Don’t quite understand the publishing process?

Check out this detailed list of stages through which our books pass in going from manuscript to widely available published book. STAGES OF BOOK PROCESSING.