FAQ

FAQ:

Below are answers to the most commonly asked questions about book brokering. If you do not find the answer to your question, you are welcome to e-mail us at info@whitehallpublishing.com

What is brokering?

Brokering is a term that we coined several years ago. It describes a way of publishing books that is transforming the industry. Brokering allows the author to maintain ownership of all copyrights to their book, complete creative and financial control over the production of the book and complete control over the profits from all sales of the book - for the life of the book. We provide all the information, proven professionals, and expertise necessary to produce a book-store quality book, and complete e-mail support throughout the process, providing you with a marketing questionnaire that you can use to create your roadmap to success along with six E-reports that are overflowing with information about how to make your book a success for years and years to come. We like to think of this package as your college education in the world of book publishing and marketing and we do it all for a flat fee. NO SURPRISES!

The full E-mail support is worth $15,000.00

The e-reports are worth more than $60.00

Brokering a book provides the following benefits to the author:

Complete creative control over your book, for the life of your book. If your name is on the cover of your book, you should have control over the content and look of your book,

Complete financial control over your book, for the life of your book,

Complete control of all the profits from your book, for the life of your book. If you took the time to create the book, it only makes sense that you should profit from your hard work!

Complete ownership of all rights and copyrights to your book, for the life of your book.

Why consider having your book brokered?

Traditional publishing gives the publisher ownership of your book, both creatively and financially. In addition, the standard payment to the author ranges from 5 to 10% of the Net profits on the book. This means that if your book retailed for $20.00 and the cost to produce and sell it was $10.00, your income for the sale of one book would be 5-10% of the "profit", or .50 to $1.00 per book sold. When you broker your book with Whitehall Publishing;

YOU keep all the profits from all the sales of all the books,

YOU own the copyright and

YOU make all the final creative and financial decisions concerning your book. After all, your name is on the cover!

With the advent of high-quality POD printing, authors today can have as few as 1 copy of a book-store quality book printed (this is true for books with B&W interiors). This reduces the overall cost of publishing tremendously, making it very affordable for most authors to tackle. No longer is it necessary to order 10,000 or more copies of a book on a first printing!

With the advent of the Internet, today’s authors can promote their own books internationally for the cost of an Internet hook-up and a computer, making marketing your book very affordable for most authors to now tackle,

With the advent of Radio shows, today’s authors can promote their books on radio shows via the phone while sitting in the comfort of your own home, in your pajamas!

There are several wonderful, comprehensive books available on the market that detail how to promote and sell your own book so the traditional perceived value of signing with a book publishing firm is no longer as necessary or as valuable as it once was.

Signing a conventional publishing contract provides the following benefits to the author:

The publisher pays the upfront cost of producing your book, but as we pointed out above, with the advent of high quality POD printers, it is no longer necessary to print tens of thousands of copies of a book.

The publisher should be able to get your book distribution in bookstores, libraries and other retail outlets. However, Whitehall Publishing can offer you equal or better distribution worldwide for your book through the programs we offer and that is included in your flat fee. NO SURPRISES, NO HIDDEN COSTS!

The publisher should spearhead the marketing campaign for your book. However, in reality, most publishing houses will promote a book for 90 days or less. After that, it is back in the hands of the author to promote their own book and remember that no matter how many copies YOU sell, your publisher is going to get 90 - 95% of the profits from each book sold, for the life of the book because they own the copyright.

Your publisher will order reprints on your book as the quantities in stock get low. However, this is a double-edged sword. If your publisher decides that your book is not selling well enough, they can also decide NOT to order a reprint and because they own the book, the publisher can choose to let it go out of print. Unless you want to negotiate with your publisher to buy the rights back on your own book, it may die on the vine and there is not much you can do about it.

By brokering your book, you own all the rights to your work and you can order more books whenever you want.

How does brokering work?

We will provide you with a flat fee, no-surprise-price for all of the elements required to produce a book store quality, printer ready book. At the Premium Level that flat fee price includes:

Professional pre-editing

Professional editing

Professional cover design

Professional typesetting

ISBN #

Bar Code

Access to on-line pre-publication reviews for the back cover,

Our marketing plan questionnaire that will help you formulate your marketing plan to maximize your sales when the book is ready to go,

Several e-reports that will teach you about book signings, how to work with the media and much more,

Unlimited e-mail support throughout the entire process. This is a $15,000.00 BONUS!

We will submit your book information to the top distributors in the USA and to books in print (This is where bookstore owners go when they are trying to locate a book for a customer),

We will submit your book to Amazon.com so customers around the world will easily find your book on the largest Internet bookstore in the world.

At the Silver Level, we will provide you with everything listed above except:

ISBN#, Bar code and Distribution

The fundamental difference between the Premium and Silver Levels has to do with the elements required to sell the book in retail outlets. The Premium Level prepares your book to be sold commercially, around the world in retail outlets and on-line, while the Silver Level does not, everything else will be equal. You will have a professionally edited book with a professional cover design, but the book will not have an ISBN#, bar code, or distribution. The Silver Level is ideal for family anthologies, books produced for and by organizations/clubs or for people who want to sell their books only at speaking engagements, via their own website or in their own store.

What are the steps involved in publishing my book?

* When your book is written, we will have it professionally pre-edited and edited for you,
* We will have the book cover professionally designed and created for you,
* We will provide all the necessary numbers, bar codes and other information necessary to qualify your book for sale in book stores, libraries and other retail stores (At the Premium Level),
* We can provide you with space on our website and assist you in arranging for pre-publication reviews so we can include reviews on the back cover before going to press (At the Premium Level),
* We will also make sure it is listed in Books in Print, Amazon.com and we will submit it for distribution consideration to the largest distribution outlets that support the bookstore and library markets. (At the Premium Level)
* When the book is ready to go to print, we will hand walk your finished book through the entire print process,
* We will answer all of your publishing questions throughout the brokering process via e-mail so you will have a written copy and can create your own 3-ring binder of publishing tips and tricks that you will refer to for years to come,
* During all phases of the publishing process, you have the final word on all decisions made concerning your book.
* Finally, the finished books will be delivered to the address of your choice.

How long does brokering a book take?

That depends largely on you. If the book is already written and you are clear about your vision for the final product, we can have your book edited, designed and printed in as little as three months for B&W interiors. However, if this is your first book, or if your interior is in full color, I would suggest you plan on allowing yourself three - five additional months.

What is an ISBN# and why is it necessary?

The ISBN# (and accompanying bar code) is a unique number assigned to each new book during the publishing process. This number is used to identify the book in the databases of distributors, wholesalers, Books In Print, Libraries, Amazon.com and bookstores. Without it, you can not sell your book in most commercial outlets. However, not all books need an ISBN#. If you are planning on publishing a family history that you don't intend to sell commercially, there is no need to include an ISBN# (see our Silver Level). Likewise, if you are planning on selling your book directly to your customers or through your local club, association, at speaking engagements or through your own retail outlet, you may not need to have an ISBN#. That is why we offer two levels of brokering. The Premium Level for those authors who want to market their book through commercial outlets and the Silver Level for those authors who do not.

What is Books In Print?

Books In Print is the definitive, one-stop reference source for anyone in the industry who is trying to find publishing information on a book. Books In Print maintains a database of every book in print, including, among other information, publisher contact, pricing, availability, distribution and a general description of the title. It is Books In Print that will let any book store buyer know from whom they can purchase your book. Being listed in BIP is mandatory for any title that will be available in book stores and libraries.

What are my Print Costs with Whitehall Publishing?

You will know before you sign any contracts with us, exactly what your flat fee to us will be and what your print bill will be, to the penny. There are no mark-ups on print bills through Whitehall Publishing.

In fact, we are so confident of that statement that you will be paying the printer directly from their invoice, so there is no question about mark-ups! I'll give you a simple example, we recently did a full color, hard cover book for a client. The book had 80 interior pages (all full color on high gloss, museum quality paper) with a full color hard cover and her cost per unit to print was approximately $4.00 per book! We aren't kidding when we say you are going to get to take advantage of the great discounts we get from the best full color printers in the world when you work with Whitehall Publishing!