Sunpenny Publishing was instigated by Jo Holloway, a professional (i.e. paid!) writer and author for over 25 years. Jo thinks like the writer-turned-publisher she is: she wants a fair deal for authors and sees things from their perspective. This is reflected in Sunpenny's contracts. But we have all been involved in the writing business one way or another for a good many years, typesetting, proofreading, editing, developing new writers and putting together books and magazines, as well as writing for both print and the media (television, film, radio, multimedia, the web). It seemed a natural step to move into publishing, and continue to help aspiring authors, poets, illustrators and script writers to hone their talents and pursue their dreams.

Our vision: We believe in new authors! We believe there are talented individuals out there who not only can write, but understand the concept of at least reasonable grammar, spelling and presentation, and who want our help to get published. We believe in upliftment and beauty for the eye, soul and spirit, and we believe in books.

What are we? We are a "traditional publisher" in most senses. We are not self-publishers or vanity publishers - we do not ask you for money to publish your work. Nor do we charge reading, editing or other fees on books we accept for publishing. If we like your book enough to want to publish it (and to believe in its market potential), we take on the financial expenditure and risk of the publication. We take the manuscript through the usual preparation processes (ISBN, editing, proofreading, formatting, etc), working with you to achieve the highest standard possible. We design your cover, unless you have already done so (we reserve the right of final approval on all covers). We work with a high quality professional printing company, both in the UK and the USA, and we undertake actual stock print runs of our books - not P.O.D. There are a great many costs involved in producing a book, all of which we take on - not you.

What are we not? We are NOT a "traditional publisher" in the sense that we are still a small independent company, with limited resources at this early stage - so we do not pay advances. Under normal circumstances we do not undertake any expenses for launches, competitions, etc.

You get: We believe that while we are going to be spending a lot of time and effort getting your book into shape for publication, and on follow-through afterwards, it's still your book, and so we will offer you either the MTA recommended royalties, or (more usually) the opportunity to enter into a joint venture with us on your book - you provide the book, we publish at our expense, and then we share all profits. You get full disclosure, and decisions about runs, marketing etc are made together with you; at any time you can request a copy of your book's spreadsheet, which will show you exactly where your book is in our system or in sales at that point. If we do take a stand at a book fair, however, of course your book will go with us. Any general marketing we do will include your book, too. We'll also let you know of opportunities for publicising that we know of, and will help you every way we can, sharing knowledge and resources.

Our contracts: We do not believe in tying you to a contract you can't get out of if you decide to move on to greater things, or if we decide we don't like each other after all. Our contract is designed so that if you want to leave us for any good reason, you can be released and will get back ALL of your rights (except any we have already made a deal for) as soon as we have made back the money we have spent on you and your work. This can either be through book sales, or rights sales, or if you really hate us you can pay us what's outstanding. Fair enough? We ask only for fair dealing in return.

Your part: While we believe that the author has a right to a larger percentage share than traditional publishers offer, we do hope for a reasonable effort from the author regarding marketing. However, we do not lay "rules" on our authors regarding the way in which, or the extent to which, they decide to publicise their books. Your book's success depends partly on its own merit, partly on our presentation of the finished article and its inclusion in our own distribution/publicity activities, but mostly on your own ability to get it (and yourself) out there in the public eye and to spend time on things like press releases, interviews, book signings, talks. This is down to you and we will not bully you! We totally understand that not all writers are keen on this side of things. You are who you are.

Please go on to read How It Works
 

More details and photos of the people who make up Sunpenny: Click here.

Please go on to read about How It All Works
 

Creativity is a very individual thing. In each person it thrives differently, responds differently. Our aim is to set you free, not to bind you. Professional relationships are good; good relationships are even better.

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