Here are frequent questions and answers about Richter Publishing and how we work:
Q: Do you self-publish? A: No, we are a full service publishing house. If you sign with us your book will be published under our publishing label.
Q: Do you file the copyright for the book? A: Yes, after your book is published we will file the copyright with the Library of Congress in the US. We do not file international copyrights.
Q: Do you own the copyright to my story? A: No, we file the copyright under our company name for the rights to print and place it onto distribution channels. We also have your name as the author on the copyright and you always hold the rights to your story.
Q: Do you require so many books to be printed and stored in a warehouse? A: No, all of our books are print-on-demand. Which means there are no storage fees or minimum quantities . You can literally buy 1 copy of your book at a time.
Q: Will my book be on distribution channels? A: Yes, we publish our books on distribution channels all over the world in paperback, hardback, ebook and audio book. Depending upon which package you sign up with us. Distribution channels include but limited to: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Nook, Audibles, etc.
Q: Do I have to pay to get my book published? A: Yes, we are an indie publishing house which means you pay for our services to write, edit, format and publish your book on distribution channels. The amount depends upon how much work your manuscript needs to get it to publishing quality.
Q: Do you accept/ reject manuscripts? A; Yes, we do need to read your rough draft to see if the story-line is something we feel comfortable putting through our publishing house. We do not take on all works submitted. Please contact us to submit your work. It takes our team about a week, depending upon our pipeline, to review and get back to you about your book. We will give you a comprehensive review of your story and which package you will fit into.
Q: Do you ghost write? A: Yes, we do have ghostwriting services available.
Q: How much are your writing and publishing packages? A: Each book is unique. We do free 30 min phone consultations to get to know you and your story. During that call we can usually find which package will best suit your needs. If you have a rough draft we need to review it to see how much editing it will need in order to polish it off for publishing. Schedule your manuscript review by going here.
Q: Do I need to have my manuscript professionally editing before you review it? A: No, we just need a finished rough draft from beginning to end. All of our packages include editing services.
Q: Will you just print my book? A: No, we are not a printer, we are a publishing house. There is a difference. If you just “print” your book you are not considered a “published” author. We place books on distribution channels, that makes you a published author. Once your book is published then you buy wholesale copies from us.
Q: Do you do children’s books? A: Yes, we do. However minimum page count must be 25 pages in order to publish. We cannot print/ publish less than that. Why? Because a book will not bind with less than that many pages.
Q: Do you do illustrations? A: Yes, we do have illustrators and we can create them for your book. However, custom illustrations are not cheap. Please keep that in mind.
Q: Can you re-publish a book that has been published somewhere else? A: Yes, we can. However, any contracts you have signed with another house would have to be canceled and you would need full rights to the book to take somewhere else. You would also need your original files back. Otherwise we would need to recreate the files for publishing.
Q: Do you accept hand written manuscripts? A: No, we cannot accept anything hand written. Everything we do is in Word. We use digital files to edit and publish. We also use adobe esign for our contracts and an online project management tool called Basecamp with our authors. Everything we do is online and digital during our editing and publishing process.
Q: How long will it take to get my book published? A: Our team works very quickly and we have streamlined the writing, editing and publishing process. Most books can get out on distribution channels within a few months. However, this greatly depends upon the author and how quickly they get changes back to us.
Q: How much will my book be listed for in Amazon? A: It all depends upon the length of your book. the system gives us a minimum list price once all files are finalized. However, a good rule of thumb is; 100 pages $15, 150-200 pages $20, 250 & up $25 for paperback books. Hardback books are about $5 more than paperback versions. Ebooks go between $3-$9.99.
Q: What will my royalties be? A: We can not calculate that until the book is uploaded into distribution channels. It all depends upon size of the book and what channel it was sold on. However, generally a 150 page book that sells for $20 on Amazon would receive around $7 in royalties.
Q: Why isn’t my royalty $20 if the book sells for $20? A: Because there are costs involved such as; printing, shipping, distribution channel taking their cut and us taking our percentage.
Q: Do you take any royalties? A: Yes, we do a 80-20 split with most authors. Author keeps 80% we keep 20% when the book sells on a distribution channel. (Most traditional publishing houses keep 90% giving only 10% to the author.) If we get bulk requests for your title, those deals are constructed separately and most likely will have a sales rep commission involved.
Q: Do you do any marketing? A: Yes, we do basic marketing included with all of our packages. We have a catalog that is distributed to libraries, bookstores and other institutions annually that all of our books are in. We list you on our website and social media pages. We do newsletter blasts and social media plugs when your book publishes. We will advertise any book signings or other events that involve your book on our sites. However, books are most successful when the author is promoting and pushing it as well. You are the most passionate about your story that is what sells books.
Q: Can I get on TV with my book? A: Yes, we do have PR packages available to get you and your book more exposure. However, it does cost extra because press releases and contacting media takes time to pitch the topic properly and organize those appearances. We can create a custom package that fits your media needs.
Q: Do you do marketing for self-published books? A: No we do not. We can only market books that are in our publishing house. We can refer you to other companies that will do marketing and PR for your book.
Q: Can I sell my own copies of the book? A: Yes, you absolutely can! Once you buy books from us at wholesale cost you then can sell them anywhere you like and keep all of the profit.
Q: Can I make changes to my book after publication? A: Yes, we can make changes, since it’s print-on-demand. However, we do charge extra per hour for changes after publication because we have to format the files differently for multiple channels. So it’s more complicated than just change this sentence, save and upload.
Richter Publishing 