| Features & Services | Description |
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1. Top-Line Analysis of Your Book | We establish your genre and intended readership, and provide competitive analysis, retail pricing, wholesale discount, and financials. We'll help you understand your book's position in the marketplace and your publishing finances, including royalties, printing costs, and how you can make money by publishing with us, if that is one of your goals. |
| 2. Book Formatting | We help you determine the optimal length and trim size of your book based on how your book should be priced and what kind of wholesale discount is most advantageous. The relationship of design to printing costs is one of those hidden connections in publishing, not obvious at first glance. All on-demand publishing economic formulas revolve around the cost to print a single book. Print costs are primarily driven by page length, and page length can be controlled through design processes if the designer has a target page length based on the analysis performed in step 1. |
| 3. Marketing Before Publication | If you are participating in an Epigraph publishing program that includes traditional publicity services, you will have the option of bringing your publicist into relevant Epigraph design processes such as critiquing concepts and writing back cover copy and your author bio. If you are not signed up for traditional publicity, we will coach you at no additional charge. |
| 4. Marketing After Publication | We offer a wide range of marketing and publicity services, but even if you are not participating in a paid program, we offer free marketing consultation upon request for the lifetime of your book. |
| 5. Ready-to-Market Design Process | a. Our exclusive book packaging service which combines competitive design with marketing, design and print cost analysis:
This process can be used to price your book more competitively in the marketplace, lower your cost of books or to raise your royalty rate. This analytic process is available free of charge to full custom design as well as DIY clients who are preparing to design their book b. Your interior design: If you have a design you like, we can duplicate it into a print-ready format while suggesting/adding finishing touches that are often found in traditional publishing, including things like half title page, full title page, copyright page, distinctive chapter headings, and drop caps for the first word of each new chapter. Alternately, you can ask us to design the interior from conception to completion. We will provide you with 2 to 3 mock-ups reflecting our best thoughts on design for your particular book. The mock-ups will show key features such as font selections, new chapter pages, page numbers, and margins. Once the key design features are approved, your Epigraph designer completes the design and submits a PDF proof for your approval. Graphics: There are no set limits on the number of graphics you can use, including photographs, illustrations, and charts. We prefer graphics in the form of TIFFs or JPGs, but we can work with native InDesign and Photoshop files. We can also scan images from old photographs, newspaper clippings, etc. c. Your cover design: Front cover: If you have a precise idea, we'll work with you to make it become a reality. Alternately, we can provide mock-ups, typically 3 to 4 concepts. You can include any art that you wish. We will also search for and procure art upon request for an additional fee. If you have blurbs, these can also be placed on your front cover. Back cover: We'll make sure the back cover design matches the themes and colors of the front cover. We encourage authors to include author photos on back covers or flap jackets. We will also include marketing copy such as book description, author bio, and blurbs. Coaching and review of the back cover copy are part of the process at no additional cost. Spine: We make spines shine! The spine is often the only part of the book that shows on a bookstore shelf, so why not do something unique like include a graphic on the spine! Naturally, we'll also utilize the correct font size and type, and make sure the spine copy reads in the right direction: downward for U.S. titles but upward for U.K. titles. Your proofs: We supply final proofs for text block and cover in PDF format. Once you approve the final proof, your book is ready for printing and is made available for purchase through Epigraph's distribution network. |
| 6. Distribution and Sales Process | Upon final proof approval, your book is made available for purchase through Epigraph's distribution network, which includes a wide range of online booksellers and brick and mortar bookstores. When a customer purchases your book on the Amazon site, for example, that order is printed and shipped for you, and you are paid a royalty* on that sale. It generally takes about one month from PDF approval for a book to be ready for sale on Amazon. *(In self-publishing, royalties are the same as profits. Royalties are equal to the sales receipts from a sale [on Amazon, this would be the retail price minus the wholesale discount] minus the printing cost. Some self-publishing companies refer to this as 100% royalties, but we find that expression misleading.) |
| 7. Royalties | On demand royalties are based on the formula: sales receipts minus print costs. It should be understood that the terms "royalties" and "profits" are used interchangeably on this site and in our marketing materials. Epigraph's financial formulas are based on a unique flat-rate cost system that does not fluctuate either in the case of discounting by booksellers such as Amazon, or by adjusting the wholesale discount. This system offers optimal transparency, and typically results in royalty rates substantially higher than either traditional publishing or most other self-publishing companies. Using our onsite calculator (located in our site's footer) will allow you to explore and determine how best to price your book, what kind of wholesale to offer, and what your royalty rate will be.
Sales receipts are calculated by: Retail price minus wholesale discount. The minimum discount allowable is 20%. The current standard on-demand wholesale discount is 36%. In general, the lower the wholesale discount, the higher the royalty, and the higher the wholesale discount, the broader (more booksellers) the distribution. Example of a 200 page trade sized paperback: Single unit print cost: $6.30 Retail Price: $15 Wholesale discount: 36% Net Sales Receipt: $9.60 Royalty ($9.60 - $6.30): $3.30 Using Epigraph's onsite Print and Royalty calculator (b/w) Find your book's trim size on our On-demand printing page. If you are printing a trade paperback or hardcover, chances are good that Standard will be your size. On the calculator, the wizard will first ask you to choose b/w or color. Once you've chosen b/w, then you'll be asked for the size: Standard or Large. Next you'll be asked to enter the format, i.e. paperback, hardcover, or hardcover with dust jacket. Next you will need to know your book's page count. Your Epigraph team can provide you with a good estimate on page count once you've submitted your work to our book packaging service for analysis. Lastly, you will be asked to provide a quantity. You must enter a number, even one will do. The calculator will then show you your Single Unit Cost. Scroll down and the Royalty Calculator will appear. Enter the Retail Price and the Wholesale Discount and press Calculate Royalty. Using Epigraph's onsite Print and Royalty calculator (color) Find your book's trim size on our On-demand printing page. On the calculator, the wizard will first ask you to choose b/w or color. Once you've chosen color, then you'll be asked for the Category: Standard or Premium. This refers to the quality of the paper. Next you'll be asked to enter the size. In Standard, there are two sizes, Small and Large, while Premium offers three sizes, Small, Medium, and Large. Next you will be asked to select the format, i.e. paperback, hardcover, or hardcover with dust jacket. Next you will need to know your book's page count. Your Epigraph team can provide you with a good estimate on page count once you've submitted your work to our book packaging service for analysis. Lastly, you will be asked to provide a quantity. You must enter a number, even one will do. The calculator will then show you your Single Unit Cost. Scroll down and the Royalty Calculator will appear. Enter the Retail Price and the Wholesale Discount and press Calculate Royalty. Epigraph pays royalties on a monthly basis. Royalties are paid 90 days from end-of-month (EOM) from the date of sale. For example, sales in January are paid in May, February sales are paid in June. |
| 8. Print-on-demand | Print and ship any quantity of your book any time. Epigraph's book printing costs are among the lowest anywhere. Purchase bulk quantities (50 and up) and receive even deeper discounts. See our printing calculators on this site for actual costs. |
Epigraph Publishing Services
22 East Market Street, Suite 304
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
845-876-4861
Independent Presses Win Awards
Self-publishing authors would do well to learn about, and from, traditional small presses*. They have much in common with them.