Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: How much does it cost for an author to self-publish their book with Achievers Publishing Inc self-publishing service?
A: Provided the manuscript and covers are sent by email or by disc and are formatted to the correct page size, (See our submission guidelines) we have the following:
Black & White Book
v For a Perfect Bound Paperback of page counts of 48 up to 300 pages:
ü Small Paperback cost $663.40 in any of the available 15 trim sizes
ü Large Paperback cost $724.60 in any of the available 4 trim sizes:
And we will give you 10 Author Copies absolutely free
v For a Hardback of page counts of 108 up to 300 pages:
ü Small Hardback cost $735.74 in any of the available 6 trim sizes
ü Large Hardback cost $774.74 in the available trim size
ü Jacketed Hardcover cost $761.74 in any of the available 3 trim sizes
And we will give you 6 Author Copies absolutely free
Colour Book
v For a Saddle Stitch Paperback of page counts of 4 up to 48 pages:
ü Small Paperback cost $579.20 in the available trim size
ü Medium Paperback cost $598.80 in any of the available 3 trim sizes
ü Large Paperback cost $598.80 in any of the available 3 trim sizes
And we will give you 10 Author Copies absolutely free
v For a Perfect Bound Paperback of page counts of 24 up to 300 pages:
ü Small Paperback cost $918.40 in the available trim size
ü Medium Paperback cost $1,179.40 in any of the available 3 trim sizes
ü Large Paperback cost $1,285.60 in any of the available 3 trim sizes
And we will give you 10 Author Copies absolutely free
v For a Hardback of page counts of 24 up to 300 pages:
ü Small Hardback cost $930.74 in the available trim size
ü Medium Hardback cost $1,125.74 in any of the available 2 trim sizes
ü Large Hardback cost $1,203.74 in any of the available 3 trim sizes
ü Small Hardcover with Jacket cost $956.74 in the available trim size
ü Medium Hardback with Jacket cost $1,151.74 in any of the available 2 trim sizes
And we will give you 6 Author Copies absolutely free
Note: For page counts of over 300 pages, email our team for a free no-obligation quote. Please, see our B&W Book Price Lists and our Colour Book Price Lists for complete details. And our formatting and design teams can also resize and reformat files for authors at very reasonable cost. (see our text layout service)
Q: How can you charge so little for your self-publishing service - other publishing companies charge thousands of dollars - your quality must be rubbish?
A: We are ethical, being a Christian-run business, we believe in fair-trading. We keep our profit margins tiny but our print and bind quality is actually better than you'll find among any of these other companies, because we employed the printing and binding services of one of the leading printer and distributor of print-on-demand books: Lightning Source. In addition, we have a worldwide distribution service that most other companies do not offer, so you are getting a lot more for a lot less with us! By comparing our ultra-low prices, you can see just how overpriced many of these other self-publishing services actually are.
Q: As a Christian-run business, do you only publish Christian books?
A: We publish books from a wide variety of religious, moral and political perspectives. You do not have to agree with the faith of the directors of our company in order to be published by our self-publishing imprint! We publish almost anything - our boundaries being similar to any other 'normal' mainstream publishing company. So, for example, we do not publish pornographic or racist material, but we would publish a work of fiction, and we would also not publish a book that is anti-Christianity.
Q: How long does the publishing process take?
A: From time of our receipt of your payment to an actual printed copy of your book being in your hands and available to order on Amazon etc is normally around three weeks. (If you ask us to do artwork or formatting for you then this time will be extended somewhat.) All future orders you make for your book would be usually despatched between 3 to 5 working days from time of payment. Trade orders to Amazon etc are despatched within just 2 days on average.
For those authors still working on their books but planning on publishing with us in the future, we advise to pre-buy the ISBN number now from us so we can prelist you everywhere now. It will pay dividends. Many authors make advance sales this way and more importantly do not lose out on sales to the lucrative library trade.
Q: I do not live in the Canada, can I still publish with you, and if so how much will it cost?
A: Yes, you can live anywhere. We print in the US and UK. We have many American, British and European authors on our lists. Hence, we have title setup price list in pounds sterling and accept payment in pounds sterling through paypal or bank transfer. However, your books are printed and shipped from either US or UK and to any other countries. For authors in any other part of the world, please email for further details.
So, we welcome authors resident in other countries. More and more authors from various countries are coming aboard.
Q: If I publish my book with you, how many copies must I buy from you?
A: None - ever! Except you want to order more copies in the future.
Q: What is the definition of an 'Author Copy' and are there any limits on how many I may buy?
A: For our purposes, 'Author Copies' are books ordered and paid for by you, the author. There are no upper or lower limits to the numbers of orders you may make, or the amount of books purchasable in any one order or even the address that they are sent to. We will post out author copies for you to any address in the world, charging you postage and packing at cost. As author copies are heavily discounted, you do not earn royalties on author copies if you are in our Fulfilment/Distribution Service.
Q: Do I get any free author copies?
A: Yes. For instances, we will give you for free 10 copies (for Perfect Bound Paperback) or 6 copies (for Hardback) of your book.
Q: How much will author copies cost me each?
A: It depends on the page count and how many copies you order each time: the more you buy the cheaper it gets per copy. See our Cost of Author Copies section.
Q: What about postage and packing charges on author copies?
A: We make no money on this - this is charged to you at cost based on the weight of consignment and destination.
Q: Is there any tie-in clause or any sort of commitment from me?
A: No, you keep the copyright to your work and are free to publish anywhere else at any time. You are also free to withdraw your work from sale at any time if you are in our Fulfilment/Distribution Service.
Q: Why is my book not yet on X book website yet?
A: It takes on average two weeks for your book to appear on the Amazon websites. Other websites are normally a little slower than Amazon, but as the weeks go by your book will show up on more and more websites.
Q: Why is the detail in my Amazon listing not complete yet?
A: Please note it sometimes takes time for your full book description to appear on Amazon, and for all the correct details to be reflected on there. Please also note that it takes a few weeks for your title to be fully searchable by its keywords on Amazon and to be reflected properly in the various categories.
Q: What about front/rear cover art?
A: For free you can have one of our book cover designs or you can send us your correctly sized cover spread as a PDF. Alternatively, we can design your covers by adding your own photos or artwork for you for just $40 per side.
A cover does help sell a book as people judge a book by its cover – even for a novel. We recommend using one of our artists to do you a fantastic bespoke cover for $180. See our art gallery for details.
Q: Can I see a sample of your work please?
A: Yes by all means, we can send one to you or give you a link on Amazon website to view our work.
Q: Do you do any marketing or advertising of my book?
A: No. However extra marketing and advertising is available - please email us for details. Your book can then be pushed to Head Buyers and promoted in catalogues that go out to thousands of booksellers, plus enjoy a heap of other benefits such as full return-ability and 'in stock' status at our various distributors.
Q: Where will my book be listed on sale?
A: Standard print specification book will be available on a multitude of websites such as Amazons, Barnes and Noble, Powells.com, Tesco.com, WHSmith.co.uk, Blackwells etc. Your book will also be available to order from any high street bookstore in Canada, US and UK through our distribution network. Furthermore your book will be listed with the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) meaning you should get library orders.
Q: If books are printed on demand, how long does it take for orders to be despatched?
A: Normally 3-4 working days for author copies and 2 days for trade orders. Hardbacks and non-standard specs may take a few days longer.
Q: Must I buy an ISBN number?
A: No, one is only necessary if you want to sell it through proper bookshops and websites.
Q: May I use my own ISBN/ASIN number and still have you distribute my books?
A: Yes, no problem at all. If your book is of a standard print spec, then this will be at no extra cost and with exactly the same fulfilment prices and terms, and you may also be listed as the publisher.
Q: Do I have to use your fulfilment service if I assign an ISBN?
A: No, but you'd be daft not to!
Q: I previously published a book through X Publishing Co, can I re-use this ISBN number?
A: No, this ISBN number although uniquely assigned to your title, belongs to that particular publisher and not to you. We cannot use it by law. You must buy a new ISBN number.
Q: Can I phone and talk this through with someone?
A: Yes. However, we do all our communications with authors via email to keep your and our publishing costs down. As 99% of our authors do not require a telephone service, as all the information is either on the website or is available via email, we base our costs on email support only. Email support is always free. We do not charge for telephone support within the general publishing package as we view it as totally unnecessary. If you want it, then give us a ring. (See our contact details).
Q: Do I get to see the book before it's printed?
A: Yes. If we do any pre-publication work for you such as text formatting or cover art, we will send you a PDF version (a PDF proof) of the text and jpeg images of your covers for you to check and approve before we finally send your book off to print.
Q: What if I want to make any changes to my book?
A: If it is still at the PDF proof stage and your book has not been sent to print, then you can easily make any changes to the text and the cover without incurring much additional expense - as an example of our charges, to fix a few typos and create a new text PDF for you would be just $20. However, if you want to change anything after your book has been sent to print, it is not too late, although it is a little more complicated and time consuming and thus more costly to correct any errors as the printer is now involved in the process too. It is $80 for the printers to change over each text or cover file for you, and the process takes up to one week. File revisions can be made at as many times you wish in the future, and remember, this $80 charge per file revision is virtually nothing compared to the costs of correcting errors or updating material using traditional printing methods.
Q: What sort of contract is there?
A: Please read our Publishing Agreement. Using our site is deemed to be an acceptance by you of these terms and conditions.
Q: Will other people be able to tell my book is self-published?
A: No, not if you heed our personal advice regarding your manuscript when it is first submitted to us in terms of formatting, and take time to properly edit and proof read your work. Your book will look beautiful with a professional print and bind and glossy cover. There will be nothing anywhere to say it is self-published.
Q: Do I have to have your publisher name on my book?
A: No, you are only obliged to have our publisher name on page 2 or 4 of the book with the copyright blurb if you buy an ISBN from us, as this is a legal requirement. Our name need not appear on the covers though. If you assign your own ISBN then our name need not appear anywhere.
Q: Does my book have to appear on your website?
A: No, we have several authors who choose, for whatever reason, not be listed on our site.
Q: I have no idea on how to format a book, will you help me
A: Yes, no problem. The standard cost for typesetting an average sized novel from a Microsoft word document is $60. However, we can do a very basic format for getting rid of just the major blips from $20 upwards.
Q: I only have the book on paper - do I have to type it all out for you onto a computer and then put it on disc?
A: No, you could send this typed manuscript in to us and we can scan it on and then format/typeset it for you. For hand-written books, prices are on arrangement.
Q: What if my book has previously been published elsewhere? Can I republish it again with you?
A: Yes, if you own the copyright and are not breaking any previous publisher contracts. We have several authors whose previous books were printed by a now defunct company and have brought them to us for a new lease of life. We also have authors whose books were published by a traditional royalty publisher but their books eventually were not deemed 'commercial' enough and sadly went out of print - they decided to reprint them with us as their contract allowed them and they are quite happy to see income generated from what was a 'dead' project. We also have many authors who have unhappily published elsewhere and attracted by our low costs, distribution terms and print quality, low postage rates and fast delivery times have switched allegiances and brought all their titles over to us.
Q: I don't want to do any work posting out my books etc - will you do it all for me?
A: Yes if you are in our Fulfilment/Distribution Service. Please, to maximise your book sales you should publicise as much as possible, and physically take around copies to bookstores and ask them to stock them on a 'sale or return' basis. Other things you could do: contact the newspapers, radio and television, create a website or internet blog, send out review copies to interested parties, ask people to leave you good reviews on Amazon etc, organise book signings (Borders bookstores are really good about these, as are the smaller independent bookshops), ask your local library to buy copies (they usually do) and otherwise tell all and sundry about your book. Also ask your friends and family in different parts of the country to order your book.
Q: What retail price will my book sell at?
A: Anything you choose. With us, you can sell a book at a realistic retail price through our Fulfilment/Distribution service, and make a decent profit on each sale. This is just one of the reasons why our books on average sell at least four times better than other self-published books. They can compete in the marketplace because we keep our margins low.
However, we also recognise that there are some authors who for either tactical reasons (eg to artificially inflate their Amazon rankings or to raise their profile) or for perhaps religious reasons, who will wish to subsidise their book so it sells at a 'giveaway' price, even if this means making a loss for a short while. Please contact us if you wish to do this.
Q: What discounts must I give?
A: You may set any discount you like provided it is a minimum of 25% distribution discount. Please note that although independent publishers must give Amazon between 55 and 60% discount, 25% discount is enough discount to give for Amazon and the major websites. If you plan on using us to distribute mainly to internet sites such as Amazon with only the occasional high street bookshop orders, then 25% and a non-returnable status to retailers is perfect for you.
However, if are going to do a lot of publicity, and realistically think your book will be ordered through us in bulk by high street bookshops, then you should set the discount higher and make your book status 'returnable' through our Fulfilment/Distribution service.
Q: What percentage royalty will I earn per sale?
A: This is not based on a percentage of the profit but is more fairly based on the actual printing price. We take the exact same 'cut' whether the book sells at $7.99, $49.99 or $499.99! It is after all, the same amount of work for us per each book sale, regardless of its actual retail price. As we refuse to over-charge, we think it is fairest and more logical to let the author have all the rest of the profit from a sale. This model based on print price and not profit is revolutionary in the self-publishing industry.
The royalty is calculated as the retail price that you choose, less the distribution discount you set, less printing price, which is based on page count. The 'printing price' is the printing cost that we deduct from each sale for printing your book to fulfil the order.
Retail price - discount – printing price = your royalty (See our Royalty page for details).
For an ebook, you can earn up to 60% of the retail price.
Q: How do I get a royalty report?
A: A royalty report will come out to you by email at the time of your royalty payment, and the frequency of this statement will depend on your level of sales.
Q: Can I keep track my sales online?
A: No, there is no way of presently doing this. For those authors eager to see how their book is doing before they get their normal royalty report, which is due at the time of their royalty payment (see below), then we can produce a mini-statement at any time of the month, as many times as they like. This will show the number of copies printed and despatched from our main distributors up to the previous day. It will not include any orders pending.
Q: How do I know how many sales I have made?
A: Please see the above.
Q: When are royalties paid?
A: Royalties are paid on a monthly basis if royalties due are more than $100, and on a quarterly basis if royalties due are less than $100. Therefore, as you can see, it is quite possible that you could be paid monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly. For our customers, please ensure you provide us with your bank account number and sort code so we can assure timely payment of your royalties.
Q: How are royalties paid?
A: We prefer to pay our authors by bank transfer, although Canadian dollars cheques can also be issued if requested. Money orders can be issued for those authors with no bank account or we can even send cash through Western Union - but a charge will be made against royalties pending for our extra costs in paying by these methods.
All other international authors will be paid through Paypal. We can also issue money orders in any other currency, but a charge will be made against royalties pending for our extra costs and bank charges if doing so.
Q: It is three months since my book came out and I have not yet received any royalties.
A: It is very common for a book that has not been prelisted to take two to three months or even longer for its royalties to start filtering through on a regular basis. If you do not get anything after many months and have already supplied is with your bank account details; it is because you are one of our very rare authors who have not yet sold any copies through our distribution service.
For the minority of authors who insist on emailing us every few weeks to check, please note that we do not overlook to pay you your royalties or make a mistake. Please, if you are not paid anything, it is because nothing is due. Our royalty accounts are fully checked and cross-checked over several different systems regularly and also audited thoroughly to ensure that not one penny or dollar due gets overlooked in being paid to its rightful owner.
US and all other countries will be paid through bank transfer, cheque and Paypal where applicable.
Q: How can I pay you?
A: For Canadian and all other international costumers, you can pay us by bank transfer using RBC Royal Bank or through Paypal. Please, email us for details.