Sunpenny Publishing: Home Page

SUNPENNY'S PART:

We are a "traditional" publisher, in that we do not expect the author to pay us for any stage of the process of publication - from first reading, to editing, to printing, or anything in between. We do the labour to get the book to print, bear the costs, do the necessary barcoding and registrations and archive lodgings, and get onto international databases as necessary for the book to be ordered within those countries. We organise distribution (except in the author's local area, when under certain circumstances we may ship books to the author so that they can supply their local sellers, or do direct selling.)

We now have printed catalogues and are sending them out as appropriate, and getting publicity wherever else we can find to do so - we partner with you in this. We'll send out press releases and articles to magazines and newspapers etc, and especially targeted for that author's locality. We will keep track of book fairs and competitions and let you know of opportunities we think you'd like to get involved in. We'll get our books onto various online book stores. And we will enter into the fray of contacting book sellers and trying to get the books onto shelves, both through our distributors and via our own efforts. We're in it to win it!

THE AUTHOR'S PART:

Firstly, we accept that every author is an individual and differs from every other author. Some people are made for publicity, others are publicity-shy (like myself, Jo) and have a hard time dealing with the marketing side.

That being said: When an author has achieved a certain fame - which may happen overnight or may take 5 or 10 books to achieve! - he or she can retire from the public eye and just focus on churning out writing, if that is their preference, because the public will be buying their name anyway. Until then, there is marketing to be done! The world nowadays, with its instant media, demands to know about the authors they read, and the fact is:

A book sells in accordance both with the publicity it receives, and how well the public receives it.

Shy Authors: We understand. But because we have put money into the books, we must at least make that money back, even if there is no further profit. This is the bargain we make with the authors: that you will at least try to achieve a no-loss situation for us. Please be honest with us about your abilities and willingness for publicity, right from the start. We like shy authors. I'm a shy author! But we like to know what degree of risk we are taking. A really good book will indeed "sell itself" - but first it has to reach the public's notice. If you are doing this just as a hobby and intend to turn out one book every 5 or 10 years, we need to know that, and calculate it into our plans. Fair enough?

Non-Shy Authors: Wonderful! Go for it! Lap it up! Make us all millionnaires! :-)

Thus: to the degree to which they personally want to succeed, it is hoped that our authors will set up a web site (we can help with this if you need help, but you will also have a page on our own site for both yourself and your books, so it's not essential), research book sellers, radio and TV stations for interviews, book fairs, libraries, writers' circles, and any other outlets for sales and/or publicity - especially in their own localities, or places they intend to travel. They should produce press releases and send them out to whoever they can think of - book stores, PR sites, book reviewers, friends, enemies (especially enemies! har! revenge is sweet), with the author's contact numbers and offers to do talks and signings and interviews (this can be done by email but it's far more effective by post). Throw a launch party and invite every reporter you can think of, and anything else you can come up with to sell your books. Be imaginative. Be enthusiastic. Put on your dancing shoes!

If, after reading the above, you think you'll fit in with our outfit and are willing to grow with us, we would love to see your submissions! And, since we intend to be around for a long time, we would love to still be celebrating your books for many years to come. BUT PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION FIRST:

THE PUBLISHING WORLD

We have realised that authors, particularly new authors, are often in the dark about how the publishing world works, and a great deal of heartache could be prevented with more openness and understanding - especially when it comes to small or new publishing companies, like our own.

We want to be as transparent as possible with our authors. Before we enter into a contract with you, we need you to understand how we work (and why), and how the publishing world in general works. We don't want lack of insight to be responsible for angst in the future.

Although the following is becoming less and less important quite rapidly, I include it here because some of the less forward-thinking industry people out there still think this way:

New publishing companies are expected to produce at least 10 books before (a) the book world acknowledges them as a "real" publisher as opposed to a self- or vanity-publisher, and (b) before therefore many of the large book chains will stock their books (most chains work only through distributors such as Gardners, Bertrams, Ingrams, Baker & Taylor, etc, some of whom won't even consider taking you on until you have at least 10 books published). The first 10 barcodes issued reflect that fledgling status, so any time someone experienced reads your book's barcode they can see that it's done by a new publisher who hasn't yet hit the magic number 10.

It's a bit of a Catch 22 - until you have those 10 first books (well, 11 really - the next batch of barcodes issued is a generalised batch of numbers and no longer reflects your status, though it can still be checked on via the ISBN database), you won't be stocked - but until you're stocked, you won't make money. So you have to have a LOT of capital in order to produce and market those first 11 books, because you won't actually start making money until you've sunk a lot of money in.

This means that fledgling publishers (like ourselves, and I'm guessing PublishAmerica) have to either have lots of capital, or lots of time and very patient authors.

Being a "traditional" publisher basically means that your authors don't pay to have their books produced in print - the publisher carries the full financial responsibility for this. But even the large publishers like MacMillan are expecting more and more marketing effort from their authors - and all publishers MUST have that effort from the authors in order for their books to succeed. (Actually, this isn't something new - e.g. Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson notoriously hated the publicity side but still had to do book tours and signings and talks, just as authors today do!)

So the newer the author and the newer the publisher, the more likely it is that your book will take time to hit the store shelves because the stores need convincing that they're dealing with a serious publisher, and you may have to wait for that publisher to have produced 11 books before that happens. It doesn't mean the publisher isn't a "traditional" publisher in the real sense of the word - it just means that he has a magic number to reach before he's acknowledged as one by the book world. Till then, the "dirty" title "self-publisher" is often applied - even though he's publishing other authors' books.

Meanwhile, for every book a publishing company takes on, it has to produce cover artwork, editing, a finished product ready for the printer, and the cash to have the books printed. Then it has to pay for the barcode, get the book registered, lodge copies with the necessary archives of each country it wants to sell in, get the book listed in as many online places and stores (eg Amazon, B&N, WH Smith, etc) as possible, and start sending high-street book sellers the info - and that means not only by email, but by producing a printed full colour catalogue of its books. This can't be done really till you have at least 10 books to show in the catalogue; not worth the money spent otherwise.

So any author who decides to throw in their lot with a new publishing company has to feel they can trust that the company is going to be working hard, not just for their authors individually but also because it's the only way the company will be recognised and so start to make money.

The other thing you need to be sure of is how international your publisher will go with your book. Never contract for "world rights" unless the publisher does actually know HOW to get your book into stores and book clubs etc worldwide and is committed to making sales worldwide. (This was a mistake I made with my first publisher.) Second, ascertain with a publisher at least a rough estimate of how soon they intend to have published their first 11 titles. (You will need a publisher who is very open about their own situation; another mistake I made with my first publisher - believing she had knowledge and abilities she didn't have and that she tried to pretend she did.)

What I want to emphasise is: ask the publisher lots of questions before you contract. Find out what you should expect of the publisher and what EXACTLY they will expect of you, and decide whether you are prepared to deliver on that - remember, a lot of money will be spent on producing your book, and so the publisher needs to feel they can trust you, too. It's a two way street, especially with the very fragile new-author-plus-new-publisher equation.

For this reason, a sensible publisher will also try to establish the author's commitment before contracting, and each side needs to be totally transparent to the other, and to understand that a partnership is being contracted - to work together for the benefit of both author and company, to support and uphold each other, to brainstorm together, and to grow together. As soon as things are hidden, mistrust sets in.

It seems a ludicrous situation, but that's the way it works - or used to.

WHERE WE STAND WITHIN THIS SYSTEM:

We at Sunpenny have a publishing list that now goes well beyond the first 10 books, and these will all be published over the next 18 months or so. This means we are sinking a lot of finance into getting ourselves (and our authors) off the ground and accepted by the industry as a serious publisher/author team.

It also means that we have to be VERY picky about which books and authors we choose to contract under our "traditional" system. We are throwing in our next few years at least, as well as our cash, with that person, so we have to truly believe in the book's potential to recoup our investment, and in the author's commitment to their end of the bargain. :-) We have to LOVE your work, to take it on.

But remember that because we are still a fledgling company, all of our financial effort is going into developing and producing the books. We are NOT in a position to offer author advances, and our usual contract is a profit-sharing one: thus we take all the financial risk, but neither of us gets "paid" as such until the original costs are covered and your book is out of the red and into the black - at which time we share the profits with you. You have much more control over your book this way, as it's a joint venture with us. But no, we cannot offer advances, and the money you make will depend on sales of your book. You need to understand this. :-)

Many thanks!