What is Self-Publishing?
One of the fastest growing segments of the publishing industry today is Self-publishing. There are many reasons why authors seeking publication find this alternative to traditional publishing attractive. The foremost reason is control. Self-publishing allows the author to have as much control or input as they would like regarding the creation and selling of their book.
As a self-published author, you are responsible for the full cost of producing your work and are responsible for major marketing and distribution choices. Therefore, the printed copies, the copyright, and all money received from book sales are exclusively yours. You choose how you spend your marketing dollars to promote your new book.
In addition, many first-time authors find it difficult to be picked-up by a traditional publishing house because of a lack of sales history by the author. The traditional publisher is more inclined to publish books by established authors or well-known personalities even if not written as well as other manuscripts it rejects. With self-publishing, you can test your book's sales potential by self-publishing a small quantity through a subsidy publisher like Tadpole Press. At Tadpole Press we have the capability of producing beautiful books in any form that will compete head to head with any traditionally published book in the marketplace. There are few limitations to what we can produce. By printing overseas, we have the same capabilities as all of the big names in the industry.
Since profit is not always the driving force in writing a book, we offer print runs as small as 250-500 with reorders as small as 50 copies in some formats that we produce “in-house.” This allows an author that has written a book with a limited audience, or who is skeptical about the expense in publishing a book the opportunity to bring a quality book to market. These books often fill specific needs of an organization, a business, or tell your family history.
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In-house Printing Specifications:
For short run children’s chapter books like those described above we offer printing in one-color text (black ink) for interior page printing, with one-color (black ink) artwork or photos, in two popular book sizes (5 13/16" x 8 1/4" and 8 1/2" x 11") printed on 70lb text paper.
Short run books in quantities of 200-500 copies can be produced with the following binding styles:
- Perfect Bound – with a wrap around matte finished full color cover.
Standard paperback books are an example of perfect binding. The pages and cover are held together by an adhesive which keeps its strength and resiliency for a long period of time. This binding is great for many types of books, including novels and collections of short stories.
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“Old School” Cloth Reinforced Printed Spine – with a matte finished full color, 2 part cover.
The same basic concept as perfect binding is used, except that an additional cloth tape is added to the spine for strength and style. The pages and cover are held together by an adhesive which keeps its strength and resiliency for a long period of time. This binding has a retro chic quality and is good for any type of book.
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“Old School” Spine w/ Translucent Dust Jacket – dust jacket is printed in full color and paired with a solid color book cover.
The same basic concept as perfect binding is used, except that an additional cloth tape is added to the spine for strength and style. The pages and cover are held together by an adhesive which keeps its strength and resiliency for a long period of time. A durable translucent paper that adds to the vibrancy of the color printing is used as a dust jacket. This binding style also has a retro chic quality and is good for any type of book.
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“Lay-Flat” Plastic Comb Binding – with a matte finished full color, 2 part cover. Used on 8 ½” x 11” books only.
We offer plastic comb binding with a soft cover for an additional 45¢ per book charge over the cost of the standard perfect bound book. Plastic comb binding is ideally used for books which must lie flat, such as manuals, how-to books, or workbooks.
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Library Cloth Hard Cover- Full color Dust Jacket in Translucent or Opaque paper. There is no printing directly on the clothbound hardcover.
Our hardcover book features a durable cloth binding and a full-color dust jacket. The additional space provided by the interior of the dust jacket allows us to print descriptive copy about your book and your author biography on the inside flaps, while the back cover may include, for example, excerpts of reviews or endorsements.
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Reasons to Self-Publish
Expediency
Author Control
Your book should reflect you the author at your very best, assisted by professionals to give you a marketable book that you are proud of. Self-publishing gives you the final word on the direction of your book. In traditional publishing, the author has very little say in the final out come of the project. But with self-publishing the decisions are exclusively yours and not limited by third parties with intentions and interests different from your own.
Profit
Since you will primarily handle your own promotion, why not self-publish and keep all of the profit for yourself? A traditionally published author would receive a few dollars up front and 5-15% royalties on the wholesale price of the book. After self-publishing, if your book becomes a hit, publishers may come calling. Your high profit margin will give you the upper hand in negotiations.
Possession
As a self-published author, you own all rights to your book. If you use a traditional publishing house, they will own all rights. If they lose interest in your book and take it “out-of-print,” you will not be able to print additional copies unless you purchase those rights back.
Best of Both Worlds
With Tadpole Press, you get the best of both styles of publishing. Because we do both traditional and subsidy publishing your book will receive the benefit of association with an emerging name in publishing to the industry. When we at Tadpole Press market our own imprint titles, we can present yours also. This puts your books in the hands of buyers that you could never reach on your own with one title. Unlike standard subsidy publishers, we are selective about the titles we publish. We will turn down a title if we feel it does not fit in our family of titles. We don’t want to just be your “Printer,” we want to be your “Publisher”.
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Self-Publishing Process
Step 1 – Contact Tadpole Press
Contact Tadpole Press to discuss your interest.
Call: (281) 251-0830
Email: submissions@smoothsailingpress.com
Write: Tadpole Press...4 Kids
Attn: Submissions Department
9306 Max Conrad Dr.
Spring, Texas 77379
When sending your manuscript to Tadpole Press by mail, please send both a printed copy and a copy on disc or CD.
If transmitting by email, please add the manuscript file as an attachment.
Step 2 – Tadpole Press will Contact You
Once your manuscript has been submitted, the publisher will contact you to go over the details and answer any questions you may have.
Step 3 - Publishing Agreement & Project Cost Proposal
Now that we are clear on the details that you the author are wanting, Tadpole Press will mail you a Publishing Agreement authorizing the preparation of your manuscript for printing. This will be sent to you along with a Project Cost Proposal that reflects the choices you have made regarding the printing of your book. Work will begin on your manuscript once the Publishing Agreement has been signed and returned and the Manuscript Preparation Fee has been paid in full.
Step 4 - Manuscript Preparation
Manuscript preparation cannot begin until the editor has all of the necessary elements from the author and sometimes a third party when illustrations have been contracted. The author can assist in the process by having some of the following items together in anticipation of their need. Such as:
1. Photo of the author for the back of the book & website
2. Short bio of the author for the back of the book
3. Two paragraph bio (long version) for the website
4. Dedication Text
5. Photos or Charts and Graphs
6. Written permission for quotes or lyrics used
These items should be submitted to the Publisher with the original signed Publishing Agreement. With all of these elements in hand, the editor can begin the process of laying out your book.
Step 5 - First Proof Copy
Now that the manuscript has been edited and formatted, a First Proof Copy of your Pre-Press Manuscript will be sent to you, the author, for approval. At this time, the author will make any changes on the page in red ink and initial each request for change. This is the last opportunity to make any additions or deletions from the Pre-Press Manuscript. Substantial changes from the original manuscript may incur additional charges at the discretion of the publisher.
A deposit of 50% of the printing cost as outlined in the Project Cost Proposal is due when the author returns to the publisher the First Proof Copy of the Pre-Press Manuscript.
Step 6 – Printing Proof Copy
The publisher will make the requested changes as marked on the returned First Proof Copy of the Pre-Press Manuscript. The corrected version will be sent to printing and a Printing Proof Copy will be created for approval by the author.
This Printing Proof Copy is mailed to the author for verification that all of the requested changes have been made. The author will initial each page to signify approval and return the Printing Proof Copy to the publisher.
The remaining 50% balance for the printing cost is due to the publisher with the returned approved copy of the Printing Proof Copy of the Pre-Press Manuscript.
Step 7 - Printing
With the initialed copy of the Printing Proof Copy and the balance paid on the printing cost the manuscript is ready for printing.
Short run books that are being printed in-house will go directly to printing and binding and will be scheduled for print according to the order that it is received in. The printing and binding process normally takes 30-40 days.
Books that are being printed over seas are scheduled for printing and shipment at the time the contracts are signed. As long as all parties have met their deadlines, the book will travel through the process from beginning to end in about 6 months from the time the author submits the manuscript to the publisher. (Much quicker than traditional publishing that normally takes 18 months for the same process.)
Shipping from our warehouse…
Tadpole Press ships your order FOB destination. Books are bulk packaged, with 30 to 90 books in each box, depending on book thickness and binding style. Full boxes weigh between 35 and 50 pounds. You will be billed in a separate invoice for the freight cost of shipping your books to you. The cost of the freight is based on the weight of the box and since the size and weight varies by book you should plan about 30 – 40 cents per book. COD shipping is not available. Allow 5 to 7 working days for shipping time. Allow 3 to 6 weeks for deliveries to Hawaii or Alaska.
Freight Carriers
Small orders are shipped by UPS or USPS, but larger orders can be shipped by commercial truck lines if the author requests it. Faster delivery service, such as next-day or two-day air, may be requested but will cost more. We require a street address or delivery instructions; deliveries cannot be made to a post office box number.
Note: For orders printed overseas, the price quoted to the author includes the ocean and land freight to our warehouse. The author will be billed separately for freight from the Tadpole Press warehouse to the destination of choice.
