In my last blog post, we looked at how you can use an assisted publishing company if you are a nonfiction author. In this blog post, we will be continuing the same topic, but considering some of the risks associated with paying for assisted publishing. The primary one is that the company you use will be a scam in some way – whether this is that they do nothing and just take your money or that they don’t do enough for the amount you paid them and the services you were expecting to receive.
We will look at how to evaluate assisted publishing companies for reliability and trustworthiness later on, but we will start by quickly reviewing what assisted publishing is and how it can help you. Essentially, assisted publishing is a cross between self-publishing and the more traditional publishing house method. You will need to pay for everything like you would with self-publishing (plus the company’s fee), but someone else will organise it in the same way they would if you were using a publishing house.
With assisted publishing, you will give your final draft to the company and they will work with you to get it published. You will likely be able to choose between several packages, each with multiple services included, such as editing, book layout, cover design and printing. Some companies may also offer marketing and promotion services, but these rarely come as standard. They will work with you on these, for example, after a developmental edit you will need to go back through your draft and make the necessary changes.
Whereas you have to organise all of these different services yourself if you self-publish, assisted publishing takes some of the pressure off you. You will still be needed for some discussions, editing and to approve work, but you don’t need to be as involved as with self-publishing. You also don’t have to find and get all of the different services, just one company. However, unlike traditional publishing, you still have a lot of freedom over all aspects of your book, as you have the final say on any decisions.
What to Look For
One of the first things you will want to look for is how transparent the whole process is. Do they list prices on their website, even if these are only a range? If it is hard to find prices, be wary! There shouldn’t be any need to hide these. If they are available, check that these aren’t conditional on anything and don’t come with a lot of hidden fees.
It is also a good idea to check what sort of prices are the market standard for what you want. If the fees listed are a lot higher, you might be being ripped off (but check that you have done a like-for-like comparison). Alternatively, if the given fees are much lower than you would expect, this probably means the quality is too low and you would do better to pay a bit more somewhere else.
Another thing to look for is the terms and conditions page. If you can’t find these before you are at the point of paying, move on to the next company. There’s no point wasting your time on a company where you don’t know what your rights are. Once you have a copy of the terms and conditions, read through it carefully. This is where you will often find any hidden costs that might apply after you have already started working with the company and they have your book.
Also, check exactly what the contract says you will get. This should match up with the details of the package when you first looked at it and anything else you have since discussed. Do they offer any revisions (for example, to cover design)? Finally, check what they get out of the deal. You should not have to sign away your rights to the book, so make sure you will remain the owner and simply pay the company for services they supply.
Check exactly what is included, clarifying any vague terms. For example, if one of the things you will be getting is simply listed as a “marketing package”, what does this mean? It could be anything from organising public appearances at panels to just promotion on their own social media, which is unlikely to attract many buyers.
If you can, have a look at books that they have already published. What sort of quality are these? Is the cover design attractive? Is the interior design easy to use? Most importantly, would you buy it? If you wouldn’t, there’s a good chance your target audience won’t either.
Wrapping Up
I hope that you are now more aware of some of the risks of assisted publishing and understand how to evaluate a company before entering into a contract with them. In my next blog post, we will be asking whether an introduction is necessary for your nonfiction book, so come back in two weeks for that!
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