How Your Book Gets from Your Brain into Final Form
Write your book
- Create the best work you can.
- Get as much help as possible. A writer's workshop is a great place to start.
- Polish (edit) it until it shines.
- Remember, the first 1000 or so words will sell or kill your book. Make them count.
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THIS IS IMPORTANT. When you submit your manuscript for publication, you will automatically agree to the terms of the agreement under the "partial delivery" provisions of U.S. contract laws in the Uniform Commercial Code which the state of Washington has adopted. No signature is necessary if there is partial delivery. So, UNDERSTAND THE AGREEMENT BEFORE YOU GO ANY FURTHER.
There are notes after the actual agreement that may help you to understand some of the terms and the "why" behind them.
When in doubt, always consult a reliable attorney.
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Get an endorsement
This is not a requirement for submission, but it will help you to convince us to take a closer look and later on, it will help your sales.
Find someone who knows good writing from bad and get that person or group's endorsement. The source must have a reputation that s/he or it is willing to "put on the line publicly" for your book and be a source that people can rely upon. Possible sources are:
- If you are a member of a legitimate writer's group ask for an endorsement from the group or if they have one, their editorial committee (or whatever group approves member work to use the club's name on member manuscripts and publications).
- A professional writing coach or editor.
- A literary agent who has a reputation to risk. Take care when choosing an agent. Not all of them are legitimate. Some are really "charge for reading" shops in disguise. Agents should make their money off their cut of your royalties, not for looking at your mss.
- A legitimate publishing house that likes your work, says so in the rejection slip, but can't publish it because it doesn't fit their immediate requirements (list is full, they don't print that sort of thing, etc.).
If you have been previously published in the same genre by a "legitimate" publishing house, that would be sufficient endorsement to the fact that you can actually write.
A "legitimate" publisher is someone who reviews books for quality and publishes multiple copies for wholesale distribution. Not a "vanity" press. Not a POD (Publish On Demand) press. Not an "anyone can participate" e-book press (electronic vanity press).
If you've previously published with AKW Books and received good reviews and sales, that is sufficient.
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Send an inquiry to us
E-mail a query letter describing your project. If your work includes graphic sex, be sure to convince us that it's not pornography or erotica. Don't argue about our policy.
Use this form: CLICK HERE.
If we are interested in your project, we'll send you a special email address for authors to use.
Send any recommendations from your source.
Send us the first chapter or first 1000 words (whichever is longer) of your book in MS Word, RTF, or text format.
If we like your submission, we'll contact you with instructions on sending in the rest of the book.
Don't do anything else until we approve your book unless you intend to spend the time/effort even if it's rejected.
If we approve the entire book we'll ask you to do the following:
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Get your artwork together
- Find a cover artist (if you aren't one yourself) who will produce a cover that will help to sell your book. A poor cover can kill sales in some genre's. If we're REALLY impressed with your book, we may negotiate on this point, but you'll make more money if you can get the cover done yourself.
- Assemble internal graphics such as pictures and drawings.
- Convert all artwork to digital format using our graphics guidelines.
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Convert your book to "final" format
Follow our Preparation Guidelines
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Submit your book
- Set a price for your book. For guidelines, click here. Tell us the price in the email accompanying your submission.
- Tell us which categories in which you think your book should be listed.
- Read our rating chart and tell us as honestly as you can, what rating your book should have. Please be conservative. We're both better off avoiding the slings and arrows of outraged parents.
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Editing
Our editors will check your manuscript for completeness, grammar, techniques, and spot check it for compliance with our requirements. We will not rewrite it for you.
We will convert your work into several formats for "e-reading" and store them in our catalog as "variations".
We will include your book and cover art in our catalog and create a page devoted to your book.
Remember our comment about your first 1000 words? Well, here's where your work pays off. We'll create a page with the first 1000 words of your book for customers to review before purchasing your book, and link to it from your "product" page.
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Marketing
AKW will list your book and do some marketing. You should also do several things. For the full story, click here.
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Payment
You will need a PayPal account if you wish to be paid royalties on a monthly basis.
Every month we will send you a statement of sales and earnings to your email address of record.
If we owe you more than $5.00 (USD), we will make a deposit into your PayPal account if you have given us your PayPal email address.
If you don't have a PayPal account and live in the United States, we will review your account quarterly (every three months) and send a check to your address of record if we owe you more than $10.00 (USD). If you live outside of the U.S.A., we'll send a check if we owe you more than $25.00 (USD).
All payments will be in United States currency via PayPal or check.
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