Self Publishing and Book Printing for the Self Publisher

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—Karen Hughes
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The Fine Print Write Up For RJ Communications

FORMAT OF BOOKS: Paperback or Hardcover, short run digital or offset printed

GENRES ACCEPTED: All

PUBLISHING FEE: Publisher offers à la carte services. There are no set packages.

Services include:
Editorial Analysis—$149 fee which is rebated 100% if additional editorial services are purchased.
Trade Book Editing—$.01 to $.035 per word, depending on complexity.
Children’s Book Editing—includes Critique, Text editing, and Illustration editing services by top New York children’s book editor.
Text Layout : $250 or more, and author owns the printing file on completion.
Cover and Dust jacket Design —$250 or more, and author owns the printing file on completion.
Bar code—$25
Worldwide Distribution (through Lightning Source service)—$49.95 plus $19.95 per year. This is the database of 26,000 stores, including Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, touted by most PODs. Author earns profits (not royalties) which are paid quarterly for the previous quarter. The only requirement is that the author must purchase at least 100 copies for her own personal inventory.
ISBN: The author purchases the ISBN directly from the US Agency, the only authorized seller of ISBNs. The author, not RJ Communications, is the owner of the ISBN, which is unlike virtually all the other POD practices where the Publisher owns the ISBN.

PROFITS PAID TO AUTHOR: Determined strictly by the author.

For POD books:
For example, suppose you sold your 256-page, 5 ½” X 8 ½” book for $14. You would figure a discount of 50% for the retail or wholesale outlet and subtract a printing cost of $.012 per page plus $1 per book for paperback (or $6 per book for hardcover). Your profit per book would be $3.03 per book. A higher retail price yields a higher profit. If you retailed your book for $16, the profit would be $4.03 per book.
For books printed for author distribution: A $100 administrative fee is added to all printing orders. Orders of 100 to 400 copies are printed digitally and orders of 500+ are printed on an offset printing press. For 100 copies of the same 256-page book, the per-book cost would be $5.89. For 500+ copies, the per-book cost would be $5.46, and for 1000+ copies, the per-book cost would be $3.15.
Marketing Programs:
RJ Communications offers various self-directed marketing programs on an à la carte basis, including online bookstore listing, web site development and design, press release service, and Author Audio Showcase. RJ Communications also offers an ongoing educational program in its Publishing Basics programs. Included in the cost of the programs are the books, Publishing Basics- A Guide for the Small Press and Independent Self-Publisher and Publishing Basics for Children’s Books, and the monthly Publishing Basics newsletter and Publishing Basics PodCast.

NOTABLE PROVISIONS OF THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT: This isn’t a contract as much as it is a purchase order. RJ Communications takes no rights; there is no term clause or any of the other contract provisions you’d normally expect after reading this book. Instead, you execute a purchase order and include the submission checklist found at http://booksjustbooks.com/bookrequest/trade_submission.pdf. If you don’t submit the files in perfect condition (for printing), RJ can fix them and charge you for no more than one hour’s worth of time, billed at $65. The purchase order and the submission checklist are subject to terms and conditions found at http://booksjustbooks.com/bookrequest/termsandconditions.asp, which are standard and reasonable.

ALEXA TRAFFIC RANK: 139,105

AUTHOR-FRIENDLY RATING: Ron Pramschufer, owner of RJ Communications, is one of the good guys in self-publishing who stands by the idea that anything an author pays to have done remains the property of the author (such as book covers and layout designs). Pramschufer is all about the author and it shows in the pricing. If you want to save money and are okay with the do-it-yourself approach, RJ is the best in the business. RJ is similar to Lulu.com, but probably less well known. Lulu.com was included in this book version because numerous authors contacted me about its services. RJ was included in this version because its service, in most cases, is as good as if not better than Lulu.com. In fact, RJ is more cost effective if you plan on printing more than 20 books.
Pramschufer hosts a radio show on self-publishing and often takes on the giants of the POD industry. He asks questions that need to be asked and demands answers that many self-publishing companies gloss over.
RJ Communications is one of the few companies that are 100% in the author’s corner.