Page Publishing is a hybrid publisher. They’re a combination self-publishing and full-house publishing company. In short, the author pays to have the book printed and marketed. They handle every detail imaginable in the process: editorial review, page design, cover design, ISBN codes, copyright issues, bar codes, and conversion to e formats. All steps are conducted through a dedicated Publication Coordinator. They are agents without attitudes. For both of my published books, my accolades for my PC’s professionalism and attention to detail would fill pages.
Sales are reported monthly and royalty checks are issued directly to the author. Where Page Publishing shines is the Publicity Campaign. The press release is impressive.
Major booksellers get your book through Ingram Content Network, the world’s largest book distribution network. Amazon books, Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble and Books A Million, will have your book listed in a manner of days. The author can also purchase books for less than half of the retail price. Page Publishing receives a small administration fee, 20-30 cents, per sale. Ok, so what does all this cost? It isn’t cheap. But when one considers the steep learning curve that goes with publication and marketing, and for those debut novelists that can’t find an agent, I think it is a worthwhile investment. The publishing contract for a three-hundred-page book will range between $2500-$3500. And this can be paid off in monthly installments. So, if you are already starving, you might still be alive at the end.
Ok, now I’ll give them a major ding on the editorial process. I seriously doubt anyone at Page Publishing will read your manuscript from beginning to end. They will probably read the first chapter or two just to make sure they are not publishing the floorplans of the Pentagon’s Strategic Command Center. Lesson for new authors—you need to heed Stephen King’s advice–get a review team. I have six on my team—three of which are published authors. Page Publishing will subject it to a computer software program, that in my opinion, rudimentarily checks for grammatical errors. My brother, who should be a copy editor and not a real estate broker, found several glaring grammatical/word choice errors in my published second book. Page publishing states in their authors guide that “[the editorial process] will closely examine your manuscript in order to identify and correct any typographical errors, spelling errors, grammatical deficiencies, and the like.” Now in their defense they state that the author is ultimately responsible for the final version. As every published author knows, you’ve read your manuscript at least a dozen times, at least twice to yourself out loud, and your brain reads what it wants to read and not what’s really there in black and white. There will be errors.
My advice to Page Publishing is to invest in state-of-the-art proofing software that can detect possible errors and/or hire a team of copy editors and charge more to cover this cost. Going forward I’ll use an independent copy editor for the “final” preprint manuscript.
Will I go with Page Publishing in the future? Probably. But only If I get to keep my current Publication Coordinator. She’s worth her weight in gold.
Keep writing and check out Page Publishing at www. Pagepublishing.com.