BookStart is a program designed to vet and crowd-fund books for publication by MQuills Publishing.
A question that comes to mind might be, "But why doesn't the publisher just pay all costs out of pocket, since that is what publishers have always done?" There are several good reasons for BookStart, and it brings value to all parties involved, including authors, book developers, and readers.
Let us start by explaining the mentality and methodology that a publisher must traditionally have to continue to exist. The first thing that must be known is that not all books are profitable above their production cost, in fact, we and others have estimated that only about 1 in 8 are profitable. The vast majority of a publisher's costs of novel production are made up for by only a minority of the books in the catalog. In the past, this has caused publishers to become extremely discerning, to examine meticulously each book and then, to the best of their ability, place their bets on which will be winners. This would be great if publishers were ever really any good at forecasting sales by unknown authors. Unfortunately, publishers are demonstrably fallible at estimating what will work and what will not work. That 1 in 8 figure above? That wasn't one in eight books they examine for publication, that was one in eight they actually publish. Even with the best research and fingers on the pulse of the current zeitgeist, publishers still cannot reliably predict sales. Conversely, they even sometimes turn otherwise good books away since they have to focus their attention. Hedging your bets on a few select titles for return on interest is gambling, and unless you are extremely affluent, this means you have to be very selective with your bets, and can only bet on so many things at a time.
But that was how it was. There no longer should be guess work. You are here. We are here. Together on the internet. A pre-publication fundraising campaign that successfully meets its goal goes a long way toward justifying investment in a title; it proves at least some interest. Crowd-funding allows for a process that scales, where no one needs to be turned away due to marketing concerns. No longer does a limited viewpoint, taste, or survey opinion decide whether a book is publishable.
That said a publisher should still be a gate keeper of sorts, and all of the titles that can be seen on BookStart have been pre-screened for legible writing and meeting our ethics and genre guidelines. Titles viewed on BookStart may not be polished and edited yet, but we still insist on a certain level of quality and readability. What we are proud to be able to say though is that we will no longer be obliged to accidentally stand in the way of ideas. The public can decide what content ought to be read.
Roughly twenty five percent of a manuscript is downloadable through BookStart for anyone to read. Readers can feel free to share the PDF files: the more attention the better. And if they enjoy the story and want to be able to read the end, they can give a little to enable those who would bring forth the completed work – while often receiving a funding reward at the same time.
Speaking of those that will bring you the completed work, BookStart crowd-funding allows the return of something that has otherwise vanished from the publishing industry for all but famous authors: advances. Any funds raised over the goal (minus a percentage to cover our tax obligation for cash flowing through our company) will be given to the author as an advance on royalties. They will then commence receiving royalty payments after this amount has been earned back by the book for the publisher, but unlike other publishing firms, no matter how the book performs on the market after publication the author will keep this money – no strings attached.
But what is the crowd-funding goal amount? With our connections, ability to purchase in bulk, and other advantages from experience in the publishing industry, we aim to keep the goal nice and low compared to what other crowd-funding campaign sites and publishers usually set for books. The goal for most MQuills book publications has been set to $1,500.
One of the qualities that has made crowd-funding so successful has been transparency as to where the funds go. Wishing to preserve this quality, the breakdown of the $1,500 is as follows: 18.2% to the unfortunate burden of taxes, 33.3% toward editing and interior formatting, 14.6% toward cover art development and layout, and 33.9% toward a combination of administration, legal and/or marketing. Any additional costs to any of these areas (or others) will be paid for from the assets of the publishing house. And as stated above, any amount raised above the funding goal goes to the author as an advance.
With BookStart:
BookStart generates value for all involved. Write a book. Sponsor a book. Read a book. We'll efficiently remove the obstacles.
* Books as funding rewards do not count as sales for the purpose of royalties, as monies are divided and spent instead according to the above scheme.
A question that comes to mind might be, "But why doesn't the publisher just pay all costs out of pocket, since that is what publishers have always done?" There are several good reasons for BookStart, and it brings value to all parties involved, including authors, book developers, and readers.
Let us start by explaining the mentality and methodology that a publisher must traditionally have to continue to exist. The first thing that must be known is that not all books are profitable above their production cost, in fact, we and others have estimated that only about 1 in 8 are profitable. The vast majority of a publisher's costs of novel production are made up for by only a minority of the books in the catalog. In the past, this has caused publishers to become extremely discerning, to examine meticulously each book and then, to the best of their ability, place their bets on which will be winners. This would be great if publishers were ever really any good at forecasting sales by unknown authors. Unfortunately, publishers are demonstrably fallible at estimating what will work and what will not work. That 1 in 8 figure above? That wasn't one in eight books they examine for publication, that was one in eight they actually publish. Even with the best research and fingers on the pulse of the current zeitgeist, publishers still cannot reliably predict sales. Conversely, they even sometimes turn otherwise good books away since they have to focus their attention. Hedging your bets on a few select titles for return on interest is gambling, and unless you are extremely affluent, this means you have to be very selective with your bets, and can only bet on so many things at a time.
But that was how it was. There no longer should be guess work. You are here. We are here. Together on the internet. A pre-publication fundraising campaign that successfully meets its goal goes a long way toward justifying investment in a title; it proves at least some interest. Crowd-funding allows for a process that scales, where no one needs to be turned away due to marketing concerns. No longer does a limited viewpoint, taste, or survey opinion decide whether a book is publishable.
That said a publisher should still be a gate keeper of sorts, and all of the titles that can be seen on BookStart have been pre-screened for legible writing and meeting our ethics and genre guidelines. Titles viewed on BookStart may not be polished and edited yet, but we still insist on a certain level of quality and readability. What we are proud to be able to say though is that we will no longer be obliged to accidentally stand in the way of ideas. The public can decide what content ought to be read.
Roughly twenty five percent of a manuscript is downloadable through BookStart for anyone to read. Readers can feel free to share the PDF files: the more attention the better. And if they enjoy the story and want to be able to read the end, they can give a little to enable those who would bring forth the completed work – while often receiving a funding reward at the same time.
Speaking of those that will bring you the completed work, BookStart crowd-funding allows the return of something that has otherwise vanished from the publishing industry for all but famous authors: advances. Any funds raised over the goal (minus a percentage to cover our tax obligation for cash flowing through our company) will be given to the author as an advance on royalties. They will then commence receiving royalty payments after this amount has been earned back by the book for the publisher, but unlike other publishing firms, no matter how the book performs on the market after publication the author will keep this money – no strings attached.
But what is the crowd-funding goal amount? With our connections, ability to purchase in bulk, and other advantages from experience in the publishing industry, we aim to keep the goal nice and low compared to what other crowd-funding campaign sites and publishers usually set for books. The goal for most MQuills book publications has been set to $1,500.
One of the qualities that has made crowd-funding so successful has been transparency as to where the funds go. Wishing to preserve this quality, the breakdown of the $1,500 is as follows: 18.2% to the unfortunate burden of taxes, 33.3% toward editing and interior formatting, 14.6% toward cover art development and layout, and 33.9% toward a combination of administration, legal and/or marketing. Any additional costs to any of these areas (or others) will be paid for from the assets of the publishing house. And as stated above, any amount raised above the funding goal goes to the author as an advance.
With BookStart:
- More authors bring well-edited attractive books to market
- Books can be proven to have market appeal before release
- The campaign generates pre-release marketing buzz
- Books are (effectively) preordered before release*
- Free samples of the book are distributed to potential readers
- Potential cross marketing with other authors via funding rewards
- Authors have a straight forward path to publication
- Authors potentially receive an advance on royalties
- The public decides what they want published, and niche voices are heard
- People can download a sample of an upcoming release before buying it
BookStart generates value for all involved. Write a book. Sponsor a book. Read a book. We'll efficiently remove the obstacles.
* Books as funding rewards do not count as sales for the purpose of royalties, as monies are divided and spent instead according to the above scheme.
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