Printer and Publishing Style FAQ

Is WestBow Press a traditional or non-traditional publisher?
What is Print on Demand publishing?

E-book Digital Formatting & Distribution

What is an e-book reader and how will it benefit me?
Do I choose how much my e-book costs?
How much royalty do I earn from e-book sales?
When can I expect to see my e-book on a retail site?
Can color books be formatted as e-books?
Will my e-book have an ISBN?
Why isn't my book in the iBookstore?

Is WestBow Press a traditional or non-traditional publisher?

WestBow Press is a non-traditional, indie publisher. There are many advantages to indie publishing. You remain in complete control of the finished product because you get to decide what text, images, illustrations, fonts, etc. to use in your book. You retain the rights of your manuscript, unlike a traditional publisher. The timeline from start to finish is much quicker than a traditional publisher, which often takes two or more years to complete.

You have the ability and control to set the price of your book including how much royalty you earn per copy sold. Additionally, you do not need an agent, eating into potential profits, in order to get your manuscript noticed, accepted and published. Also, unlike traditional publishers who only market their most promising titles, we offer marketing materials and promotional services.

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What is Print on Demand publishing?

Print on Demand publishing, or POD, is a method of book printing using digital technology that makes it easy and cost-effective to produce books as they are ordered, either one at a time or in large numbers. Instead of a more traditional mode of printing, which only prints a large number at one time, POD is an "as needed" printer so there are no wasted books and no need to store them. This also means that the book can be available for an extended period of time, instead of the book being "out of print" after one print run.

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E-book Digital Formatting & Distribution

What is an e-book reader and how will it benefit me?

E-book readers are wireless handheld devices capable of downloading an electronic version of a book and making it available for a customer to read anywhere without a physical copy of the book. Formatting physical books into e-books gives you as the author another avenue to connect with readers and give them the book they want in the format they want. Companies like Barnes & Noble and Amazon have the largest e-book stores in the nation giving readers access to hundreds of thousands of books.

• Amazon Kindle (a wireless reader)
• Sony Reader (a wireless reader)
• Barnes & Noble eReader (an application for iPhone, Blackberry, Windows PC or Mac)
• The nook (a wireless reader)
• Scribd.com (an online site that turns files into web documents for easy sharing)
• BooksOnBoard (an online bookstore carrying 280,000 titles)
• Google eBookstore (customers can buy books through their Google accounts and access them on just about any device with a modern Web browser)
• Kobo Distribution (a leading global eReading service for smartphones, laptops, eReaders and any other device used for reading digital content)
• iBookstore* (a free app available to iPad, iPod touch and iPhone users)

Note: Color books are ineligible for this service.

*Apple reserves the right to accept or deny content for availability on iBookstore.

Do I choose how much my e-book costs?

We will set the default and maximum price of all e-books solely at our discretion. However, if the paperback format of the Work has a price less than the default price, the Work will be sold at the lower price. Additionally, the price can be modified prior to channel submission at the author’s request.

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How much royalty do I earn from e-book sales?

You will receive 50 percent of the net payments received from sale of your e-book. Royalties will not be paid on copies provided free of charge or sold to the author.

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When can I expect to see my e-book on a retail site?

It will take approximately four weeks after your book is printed for your e-book to appear on retail websites.

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Can color books be formatted as e-books?

Due to the file sizes for color books and the inability of most wireless e-readers to properly display color books, color e-books are currently not an option.

Will my e-book have an ISBN?

Yes. The e-book will have the same ISBN, regardless of the channel of the format it is sold in.

Why isn't my book in the iBookstore?

It can take up to three months for your book to appear in the iBookstore. If your book is still not available after that period of time, it is possible that Apple did not accept your content. Reasons that Apple may choose to deny content include typos, poor editing, poor formatting and subject matter.

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