Frequently Asked Questions
Book Printing (7)
No, we are not a printer. We are a company who is tired of seeing individuals charged more than large companies. Because of our connections, we are able to send your work to high-quality printers who normally would not work with individual authors. This way we can offer our clients amazing quality at shockingly low prices.
Shipping costs can vary, depending on the weight of your book, the number of books in your order, the shipping destination(s), and the shipping provider. Once we know more about your order, we would be happy to give you shipping estimates upon request.
If you receive your books and feel that they are unsaleable for any reason, you must contact BookPrinting.com in writing (including images to illustrate your concerns) within 10 business days of accepting delivery of your order. We will review the damages and proceed accordingly, assisting you with processing damage claims—either with the printer or the shipper, depending on where the damage seems to have originated.
No, our physical proofs are printed on special proof paper and come unbound. Because of this, physical proofs should simply be used for reviewing folds, trim, bleeds, spine, and margins; as well as color breaks, image positions, halftones, and page order. And, of course, for catching any last-minute spelling and grammar errors.
We charge a 3.9% credit card processing fee for all credit card transactions. This fee may be waived by paying via certified check or money order. And, of course, a 6.88% Minnesota sales tax will apply for any Minnesota resident.
If you submit a new cover or interior file after you have received a proof, the printer will charge a $100.00 (per file) upload fee.
If you request BookPrinting.com—or our printer—to make any adjustments (no matter how small) to your file, there may be additional fees (to be quoted upon the time of the revision request).
CMYK is a color spectrum that consists of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black—this spectrum should be used for printed items.
RGB is a color spectrum that consists of Red, Green, and Blue—this spectrum should be used for digital files.
No. Because we don’t know where every client lives, we don’t include shipping and tax in our quotes. Shipping estimates are always available upon request. And, if you are a Minnesota resident, you can calculate your tax at a rate of 6.88% tax (We’ll also do this for you when you place your order.) If you live outside of Minnesota, you will not be charged sales tax.
Book Editing (3)
As part of a one-round Basic Copyedit, the editor will remove obvious inconsistences, and correct errors in sentence structure or word usage. The editor will also correct well-known facts that have been used erroneously and highlight instances where permission may need to be secured for use of intellectual property (such as song lyrics, poems, illustrations, articles, and text).
All services from the Basic Copyedit are included in the two-round Comprehensive Edit. Additionally, the editor will offer developmental feedback to improve the clarity, arc, and soundness of the book (nonfiction); or the characterization, dialogue, and plot development (fiction). Your editor will note anything that is blatantly inaccurate, repetitive, or extraneous.
Between the two rounds of a Comprehensive Edit, you will also have the option to have a 30-minute phone conference with your editor to discuss the edits.
The first round of editing (for either type of editing package) is completed within 20 business days of when you upload the manuscript. From there, it will depend on how quickly you return your second draft to the editor. It takes an additional 10 business days for the editor to review the manuscript after you submit your revised second draft.
Book Marketing (4)
We have found that nonfiction books can benefit from a wide variety of marketing services. Since nonfiction books typically have a very specific audience, it makes it somewhat easier to target the audience using online marketing, social media, and traditional media campaigns. Of course, success also depends on your research—and your connections. (And since we've done the research and have the connections, why not let us put that to work for you?)
Fiction books can be trickier to market because their audiences are typically more broad, and potential readers may—or may not—make their interests known online. For fiction books, we have found it best to focus on reviews, Amazon Exposure, and social media such as Goodreads. Getting your work noticed in the right places—by the right people—is what we’re good at.
Like any marketing program, it depends how you use your social media presence. However, if your audience uses social media and you are able to come up with content to keep them interested, you can definitely succeed using social media marketing. Here is an example of an author who went from 0 fans to over 13,000 in less than a year by using targeted advertising and great content: facebook.com/caregiving101
Yes. There is no hard-and-fast rule about not submitting your own work to traditional publications for review and promotion, but typically it is much harder to get attention that way than if you are working through a publicist or established marketing team.
Book Design (4)
Yes. Every version of every file (interior and book cover) we create is yours. We don’t just give you press-ready files (if you need/want them); we provide you with all of the original production files so that you can take them to any designer or printer in the world and make updates, if you so desire.
If you do not have press-ready files, and your manuscript is in a Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) file, you will need to remove any images (photos, charts, tables, or graphs, etc.) and put in placeholders, and then send us the images separately. If your manuscript isn’t in one of those file formats, then you’ll need to convert it.
If you have press-ready files, we’ll ask to see them in order to make sure that they meet the specifications required by our printers.
All of the pre-submission requirements can be found on our Manuscript Formatting Guidelines page.
No. Not only does our contract spell out situations wherein you might be required to pay additional fees for extra formatting, we’re also putting it all right here. Basically, the situations below are out of our control and can potentially incur additional formatting fees. With that said, all additional formatting fees will be cleared with you before we move forward.
Situations that may result in additional fees for formatting include the following:
Changes made after approving the sample chapter
We will create a sample chapter layout of your book using the font size, margins, and design elements that you submit in your interior layout questionnaire. We will then ask you to log in to your author account and approve the sample chapter. Do not approve it until you’re sure you like it, because that sample chapter will be the template we use to format the remainder of your manuscript into your fully finished interior.
If, however, after you approve the sample chapter you decide you want to make changes to the margins, font, or anything else you have approved in the sample chapter, the cost to you will be $50 per hour—with a minimum fee of $50.
Fonts
If you want a font that we don’t offer in our standard options, you may purchase that font (you will be responsible for this process, including all fees) and provide the files to us. If you are unable to purchase the font, we can attempt to source that font for you and will charge your account for the cost of the font.
Revisions prior to giving final layout approval
Once the full layout is complete, we will supply you with a digital version of both your book’s interior and cover in the form of PDF files. These files represent how your cover and interior will appear on/in your finished product. This is your time to review it.
All of our publishing packages include one (1) round of up to twenty (20) collective “minor revisions.” Examples of “Minor Revisions” include: design changes (page headers, breaks), the correction of typographical errors, punctuation, spelling, and/or extra spaces between characters or words that were in the original submitted manuscript. Any errors that are identified as a result of alterations or oversight on the part of BookPrinting.com during the layout step are always corrected at no additional cost to the author.
If you want to make editorial revisions (e.g., you want to change content) or make other minor revisions to your files after the complimentary round, the cost for those changes will be $50 per hour, with a one (1) hour minimum charge.
Please be advised that each round of revisions can take 10-15 business days, so plan accordingly.
Revisions after the final interior is approved
Carefully reviewing the interior layout prior to approval is absolutely crucial. Once you have given your approval to the final interior, further changes you request tend to be very expensive.
Once your book is formatted—but has not yet gone to print—the cost to change the trim size is $400, resizing the margins is $300, and changing the font size is $50 per hour (with a one-hour minimum charge). The reason we need to charge for all of these things is that all of these revisions require that our designers re-format the entire interior to new specifications, and this takes a considerable amount of time.
Post-print revisions
You will be charged a fee of $50 per hour (with a one-hour minimum charge) to make changes to your book once the book has been printed.
There is also a $100 fee for each file that we must resubmit to the printer (the interior and cover are treated as separate files). We cannot waive this fee, because it is charged to us by the printer.
We will place up to twenty (20) images (pictures, graphs, charts, etc.) into your book’s layout as part of any publishing package. If you have more than twenty (20) images, the cost to include them in the book is four dollars ($4) per additional image.
EBOOKS (7)
Your ebook will never look exactly like the comparable print book. Every e-reader displays content slightly differently and some reading devices even allow users to customize the size and font preferences on their e-readers. For this reason, the ebook will never look exactly like the print book (It will, however, look great on every major e-reader).
The sample chapter will be formatted within 7 business days by one of our team of formatters. Once you approve the sample chapter, it will take another 15 business days for your formatter to complete the formatting process. We do have a rush formatting option available, and would be happy to quote you the costs for that service. See below for the rush formatting timeframes.
It may seem strange, but a PDF is not considered to be an ebook format. Basically, just because something can be viewed on a screen does not mean that it will work on everything electronic. E-readers require very specific types of files (MOBI and EPUB are the most common) to properly display on their screens. Because PDF files don’t convert well for all e-readers, they won’t even be sold by most of the major retailers (including Amazon.com and BN.com).
No. Unlike most ebook conversion services, we can accept your files without any preformatting. We can accept PDF, MSWord (.doc or .docx), and InDesign (INDD) files. In fact, we ask that you not add page numbers, page headers, or fancy typographical elements, as they will not be included in your final book. (Unlike print books, page numbers are determined by the e-reader, not by the formatter. This is because users can adjust the size of the font directly on their e-reading devices.)
If you purchase the rush formatting service, we can have your book completed in 7 business days instead of the standard 15. All revisions are made in 2 business days, instead of 5. If you are interested in rush formatting, we would be happy to quote you the costs for that service.
MOBI and EPUB are the types of files that most e-readers can recognize. (See the full descriptions on our Types of Ebooks page.)
Unfortunately, we are unable to take scanned documents at this time. The computer treats scanned documents as images rather than as documents with text, which leaves us unable to access the text contained in your book. We are able to accept PDF, MSWord, and InDesign files.