The Insider's Guide to Self-Publishing:

Tate Publishing

Tate Publishing is an anomaly - not so much because they offer any unusual services (they provide the exact same things most self-publishing companies provide) - it's simply because Tate Publishing and the Tate Publishing web site are so unwilling to provide any information about Tate. If you've been to the Tate Publishing web site, you'll know what I mean - it is, for the largest part, devoid of any information that would help you make a decision about whether or not to use Tate Publishing to produce your book.

Most companies offer pretty much the same services for just about the same price - until you compare their services and the cost of printing about 100 books. When you fully explore the true costs of producing a salable book with a realistic wholesale discount and decent profit margin, you may find what you thought was a great deal actually costs more in the long run.

I've dug through the Tate Publishing site (the welcome email is another thing... look below for this) to see if anything can be gleaned without having to commit money - here are my notes, though comments may only reflect bad copywriting on their part, not an intent to mislead.

1) Bookstore availability - most of the self publishing companies make their books available at the exact same places as Tate Publishing. The 'Why Choose Tate Publishing' page seems to lead readers to believe the books are physically on shelves in Barnes & Noble and Borders stores. In 9-out-of-10 title I checked, that was not true. Just like most self publishing companies, the books are available to special order. Just like most self publishing companies, some books were available in stores, on shelve.

2) "only 4 percent of manuscripts submitted make it through the acquisitions rigorous requirements" - This is a quote from their web site, and it's funny because we submitted 4 manuscripts to Tate and each was accepted for publication if we were willing to pay the fees. I'm guessing that unless your book violates their publishing rules (hate, pornography, etc.) or you can't pay the fee, you'll get published by Tate Publishing. I'm also guessing that 96% of the customers who submit manuscripts are unaware that it costs over $3,900 to publish with Tate Publishing.

3) "The highest royalty earnings!" - again a direct quote from their site and it isn't true in the broader market. Dog Ear and many others pay much higher author profit rates. See below for more detail on this part.

Since we can't get firm numbers from the site, I started the process with Tate Publishing (submitting my own manuscript). I was stunned by the email I received in response. (bold text is quoted from the "welcome" email I received.)

"We are not a self-publisher in our approach, operation, or philosophy." - of course they are! Anyone you pay to publish your book is a self publisher. They are selling services (design, production, editorial, distribution) to authors - since Tate Publishing is the 'publisher of record' for your book, they are a self-publisher. To say otherwise is deceitful - they are different from many of my competitors, but they are still a self-publisher.

"We will actually place our resources in a first-time author's work." - this is important - and valuable. Many self-publishing companies don't do any editorial, design or marketing work for your book; they are simply a printing resource for whatever you create. You know these companies as Lulu.com or Wordclay.com. Tate Publishing uses real editors and provides real design for your project - it's just too expensive.

"...we pay the highest royalty in the industry (15%)..." - no, they don't. Many companies pay this rate - and Dog Ear Publishing pays far more.

"...and still participate with our investment in your book of anywhere from $15,700.00-$19,700.00 of our resources for the production and nationwide marketing of the work. With a new author we expect an author participation of only $3,985.50." - this is an interesting number

I'll provide you with a framework around which to phrase some very direct questions to your author representative - here is what I believe is important in choosing a company to self-publish your book.

1) - CONTRACT - do you keep all your rights and can you terminate your agreement at any time without penalty? The author contract should be short and easy to understand. It appears you do.

2) - RETAIL PRICE. Can you set your own retail? Does the publisher force you into ridiculously high retail prices? (see our page on setting your Retail Pricing here.)Remember, to sell in retail outlets you need to set your book's retail price at about 2.5 X your cost... chains, big retail outlets, and wholesalers want at least a 50% discount (though Dog Ear can go as low as 20%). So - if your book costs $4 to print, you need to be able to sell it at $9.95 to pretty much break even... which brings us to... Now, that doesn't mean we can't offer a different discount structure - as a matter of fact, we can offer your book to the wholesale channel with as low a discount as you'd like - many books (usually textbooks or business books) offer only a 20% discount.

3) - BOOK PRINTING COSTS. Your Retail is almost always a function of your cost to print the book. If your book costs more to print, you need to push your retail price higher just to break even.

4) - AUTHOR PROFIT. Some call it ROYALTY, we call it a NET SALES PAYMENT. Whatever it's called - it's the amount you receive from each book sale. Don't let the rep get away with talking 'percentages' - you don't pay the light bill with a percent. Make them give you an example, based on page count and retail price, of how much you'll make - in DOLLARS - for each sale through Amazon.com (where 90% of your first year sales will occur).

Be careful of any company that gives a huge royalty but forces unreasonable retail prices on your book. It makes no sense to get a "50%" royalty on a book that will never sell. Also watch for royalties that are increased by REDUCING your WHOLESALE DISCOUNT - again, if no store will buy it, what's the point of a royalty?

4) - CUSTOMER SERVICE - Tate Publishing appears to excel at this. Staff seems incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. Can you actually speak with someone who actually knows something about the book industry? Do you have access to "decision makers" that can make things happen for your book?

5) - BUSINESS MODEL - what is their business model? Everyone is in business to make money - and that's an honorable thing... but watch WHERE they make their money - look for hidden charges, or charges that show up to actually create an effective and salable book for you.

All of the companies we review here will be very different in "personality" - but for the most part, they share the exact same business model: bring authors in with an unrealistic price and heavy direct marketing campaigns - then up sell each author to to create a book that is actually viable. The most important thing they have in common? Their entire business is based on moving authors through the system as quickly as possible, and with as little human interaction and a few real options as possible. It's all about "cookie cutter" services and book building. Imagine if McDonalds produced books.

Here are some numbers to let you get more in-depth with Tate Publishing. Ask your rep to provide a comparison amount for each item. Write 'em down, add 'em up - see what comes out.

The specs are pretty typical of the books produced in the trade category at any self publishing house. Information and self publishing costs are derived from the Tate Publishing web site and contract.

- 6X9 trim size, 150 pages, one color interior, 4 color cover, 5 interior images
- Paperback or hardcover
- ISBN and bar code included, Library of Congress Control number
- Custom cover and interior - not just choices from existing templates
- PDF or laser proofs delivered to author,
- 100 additional paperback units purchased
- Available at Amazon and most major online retailers
- Available through major distributors like Ingram and Baker and Taylor
- Available for order at over 25,000 retail bookstores.

(click here to see the Dog Ear breakdown - our total cost for this package and options is $1,327, and our per unit book printing price is $4.28, and you get 10 free author copies of your book.)