NEED TO KNOW

AUTHOR / PUBLISHER AGREEMENT 
Once we have the signed publishing agreement, completed worksheet, final manuscript and retainer, we will proceed with publishing your book. We will likely provide you with some conceptual ideas if there are parts of your story needing further development but basically, we trust our authors to write what they know.

Our goal is to present your story to the world, in your voice, as you imagined it, but we will also not embarrass you or ourselves by putting work out there not up to our standards. Most works require strict editing, proofreading, and story tweaks, etc. The editor-in-chief makes recommendations to the publisher who has the final word on all work published by TKG.

DIVAS
We will not work with or sign high maintenance or difficult authors. A creative difference is acceptable, not a clash of personalities. We do not work for you! 

As the publisher of record, we have the final word. We have your best interests at heart. As well as our own. We discern pretty quickly what type of client you will become based on the person you are revealing.

If you are officially classified as "High Maintenance" after we have signed you, we will limit our interaction greatly. This will not come as a surprise to you. We will always entertain contractual buy-out offers and if accepted by us, release you from further obligations. While divas are rare, both genders, it does happen--and we manage them quite nicely. Don't be a Diva...

ROUGH POTENTIAL
(TKG) accepts only a limited number of authors per year for our imprints. We do not publish all authors who seek us out. We must accept only the very best to represent. Offering our publishing services to everyone makes us less effective and woefully inefficient. If we see “rough potential” we will take a closer look. We have been known to have a change of heart. We might also, on occasion, rarely, provide our publishing preparations services without literary representation or imprint.

FREE COPIES
We do not provide you with FREE COPIES of your published book beyond the proof copy. When you are ready to build your inventory, simply contact us with how many copies you want and we'll get you a price. You will need to prepay. TKG accepts most credit cards, checks, Money Orders and yes, even cash. Please refer to API/POD. 

EXPANDED DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL (EDC)

The Expanded Distribution Channel offers tens of thousands more locations including libraries, book re-sellers and retailers. Though we oftentimes advise against  using the EDC as these book sellers will compete with you directly, head to head, and will always undercut your Amazon retail price. Your royalty with the EDC is also significantly lower (usually 10x) and your retail price is significantly higher (so there is enough margin for them to take their cut.) Book re-sellers are also problematic. You will be advised as we construct your book determining what the manufacturing costs will be and what your retail price/royalties will be if you choose the EDC.  We always look out for you.

AUDIO BOOKS
Audio Books are available at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Audible and more than ten global partners. Once you are published, we can discuss your options/costs.

Our role here is to audition voice-over talent, book studio time, keep costs at an absolute minimum and create your third income stream. Fees are based on per finished hour (pfh). Children's picture books don't qualify. 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

We will provide you with a completed submission form to include with a copy of your book, which you will mail to the Library of Congress & US Copyright Office for the required Depository Submissions.

ROYALTIES
It is likely you will sell zero books. It is unlikely you will sell one million books. (There, did we cover ourselves sufficiently?) That said, royalties are rooted in very specific criteria (e.g., page count, b/w or color interior) trim size, retail pricing, oh, and SALES!

We always try to maximize your royalty share during construction. Every page adds one more layer of printing/shipping costs for printed books. e-Books also have delivery costs & formatting fees but aren't required to have a bar code or ISBN saving you there.

EQUILIBRIUM  POLICY 

Unlike mainstream publishing houses, we don't offer million dollar book advances. Unlike them, we don't share in your royalties whatsoever until your platform fees are fully recovered. In other words, you earn 100% of your global royalties earned in print, e-Book and audio-book sales until we reach equilibrium. At this point, TKG will begin sharing in royalties based on our predetermined publishing agreement.   

As an example, say it costs you $800 to bring your book to market. (Because you needed our help with formatting and a cover for your book, etc. ) We won't begin sharing in your royalties until you have earned back the $800 in royalties. That's as fair as we can be...

DISBURSEMENTS
Your account is actively monitored. If there is an uptick in sales, a special disbursement will be made—a minimum account balance payout for any author/title, is set at $300. Otherwise, zeroing accounts & paying royalty balances will be made annually (e.g., January 2020...).

MARKETING
Until you have been signed as a client or franchisee, we do not reveal our unique algorithms or marketing strategies. That said, authors will want to set aside money for sustained ad buys on social media throughout the year. At least $5 a day! If you do not have an ad budget, we can still get your work published.

SALES
Your time frame for sales must be realistic. Calling us hourly won't help. Truth be told, we are equally as excited as you when we take a book "live." If your book isn't widely talked about, it could take some time to turn a profit, if ever. 

We do not create sensations overnight! It could actually take several years to gain a following or the attention of mainstream publishing houses or the public at large, if ever, if at all. 

As a small indie press, we must ask you to also promote your book. Social networking is the best way to grow a worldwide audience as this is where your tipping point can happen as quickly as overnight. 

Enlist your family and friends to network loudly! Free publicity is always good but it needs to be sustained...

Not only do we have your best interests in mind, it also serves us well to reach a high level of attention for our publishing list as our success is wedded to your success. We cannot however make people buy your book. We can only entice them to do so.

As your publisher, depending on your platform, we ensure your books are available in roughly 110+ countries as print-on-demand [POD] books & downloadable audio-books and e-books in Kindle format [whenever & wherever possible – based on data size, reformatting, conversion software & country/language translations or industry standard applications with pricing and royalties in US Dollars, Pounds Sterling, Euros, Rupees, etc.]

Your book can be available on Barnes & Noble if cost effective (royalty wise). The publisher will advise you on this prior to publishing. Your titles will be on Amazon (United States/Canada) and Amazon Global (Europe, Japan, India, etc.), as well as tens of thousands of libraries, bookstores and retail locations around the world, including the iTunes store.

Can you really afford not to be heard!?

AUTHOR PURCHASED INVENTORY (API)

Authors enjoy having a supply of their own books on hand. We supply  those copies to you. When you buy your own book from us, this does not earn you or us a royalty. 

Authors keep all monies from (API) sales however. Generally speaking, figure your Author Purchased Inventory (API) cost per book to be about $5 plus S&H. (Associated manufacturing costs  for your book depends on the page count which factors into freight weight as does the trim size, color or b/w, and so forth.) Estimate 'freight' is 50 cents per book.

You may order as many (or as few) copies of your book as often as you like to begin your shameless, self-promotion campaigns at markets/ festivals; artisan fairs; sidewalk events; county fairs, curbside appeals and even door-to-door 'knock-abouts', etc.

And don’t forget to give copies to everyone in your family and everyone you’ve ever known, since third grade! Word-of-mouth is of paramount importance here. Your book is your calling card. When you give a free book, get a promise for a shout out on social media.

Once your book is in the final stages, page count, established retail price, etc., we will have the exact API pricing ready for you. You can pre-order copies. (Prepaid). You really will want to establish your own inventory levels for book signings, courtesy giveaways, gifts, events, etc. Allow 3-5 weeks for delivery. Pressmen do not like it when they are rushed and will likely spit on your pages. So plan wisely.

PRINT ON DEMAND (POD)
All books are print on demand. (This is highly efficient.) To do otherwise is cost prohibitive. Print on Demand is what allows you to publish and compete in today's environment. Your book is printed as a trade paperback (not hardbound) and shipped only after it is ordered and paid for by the customer. That’s efficient! 

Retail orders are fulfilled by the seller, namely, the bookstore or online presence. For example, when a customer orders your book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and pays for it, only then is your book printed and shipped to the customer.

This POD technology eliminates the need for warehousing stacks and stacks of unsold books. The costs associated with printing say 10,000 books and storing them is sort of outside the range of most authors and is certainly outside the range of indie publishers. With POD, you can order one (1) copy or 999+ depending on your needs. It's really smart.

We do not maintain inventory for authors.