Publishing Then and Now

Authors in former times often oversaw the printing and distribution of their own books, but the last two centuries have witnessed the paramountcy of the commercial publisher, whose business it has been to organize various services under one roof: choosing and editing manuscripts, designing and typesetting books based on those manuscripts, printing the books, then distributing them and promoting them - all time-consuming and costly. Given the commercial risks, only a minority of authors could hope for acceptance by such a publisher.

Now, as the 21st century gets underway, we find ourselves in the midst of a technological revolution that has reduced the cost of production and enlarged the possibilities for distribution and promotion. It's true that the editorial and artistic skills that publishers have always called upon remain irreplaceable, but the publishing universe is in a state of flux that has no equal since the invention of moveable type.

More on all that at The Publishing Landscape, but let's get down to present cases.

 

Ocean Cooperative Publishing

We are cooperative publishers. Authors accepted by Ocean Cooperative enjoy the range of skills and services offered by any publisher. These may start with a direct relationship with an editor and go on to include everything author and publisher require to see a book published under the OC imprint. We're a cooperative publishing house because, in the present state of the industry, we can't afford to do this alone, not even for our qualifying authors. We need your help and that's why we rely on a production fee. But if you're new to the publishing revolution, you're in for an agreeable shock. As an OC author, your contribution for a 120-page book under the basic OC Launch publishing program will be US$895. Your price per book will be the lowest available anywhere, allowing a generous margin for wholesaling through distributors and retail outlets. More extensive consultation and professional services are at the disposal of OC authors and tailored to their individual budgets.

Behind Ocean Cooperative Publishing stands me, Robert Buckland, and The Business of Words - one of the oldest literary and academic editing services on the internet.

What Types of Books are Eligible?

You're an academic with a book manuscript or thesis you believe deserves exposure. You're the author of a novel, a collection of short stories, a miscellany of essays. Your advisors, friends or family think others would enjoy your writing. You've produced a spiritual or self-help guide that is helping no one while it sits in your desk drawer. You've written a book for children, a photography or art book, a personal or family memoir. Or perhaps you're merely planning to complete such a book. In every case, we invite you to submit your work to Ocean Cooperative Publishing for consideration. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. It's your readers - not a reviewer or committee - who will ultimately decide its worth.

 

Launch: The Basic OC Publishing Program

The Launch program is a cooperative undertaking between Ocean Cooperative Publishing and our authors. Here follows a short description of the service elements OC delivers as part of the program. Have a quick look through, then, if you'd like more detail, go to Our Author's Agreement.

The Design of Your Book

We will commission the professional design of your cover and inside materials. However, as a cooperative publishing partner, you can instruct OC to execute your own concept or use your artwork or other materials: We will follow your instructions. There's no set limit on graphic concept and OC provides over 30 size formats in paperback, hardcover and color. As your publisher, we provide PDF and paper proofs at no charge.

The Layout of Your Book

This is the step once described as "typesetting" but in fact it includes much more. Layout determines the look of your book and makes the difference between mediocre production-line stuff and a beautiful object to hold and read. As part of the Basic program, your book will be prepared for press by an experienced technician and designer who is trained to avoid the many pitfalls in the layout process. The result will be professional in every sense.

The Production of Your Book

Print-on-demand technology has revolutionized the publishing world. As cooperative publishers, we no longer need stock thousands of copies, but on twelve hours' notice or less we can ship as many or as few copies as are required. We produce our books to technical standards that rival or exceed those of traditional industry publishers. And your book - the book you worked so hard to write - need never end up in the remainder bin. What you or we or our distributor sell, OC produces. That's the beauty of the revolution.

The Distribution of Your Book

Many new authors are unfamiliar with a key publishing truth: no one can buy a book if it's unavailable. Ocean Cooperative authors enjoy distribution through these major book outlets: Ingram, Baker and Taylor, Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com, NASCORP. The distribution channel of Ingram guarantees that your book always appears as in stock and available to all Ingram customers - more than 30,000 wholesalers, retailers and booksellers in over 100 countries. And as the OC imprint develops its list, all OC authors benefit from the company's growing clout with distributors and sales outlets.

Selling Your Book

With your book available to booksellers everywhere, you can promote it with confidence, purchasing copies at the lowest publishing price possible but only as many as you want and only as you require them. Meanwhile, your author's royalties from distributed sales through Ingram and others will be considerably higher than those offered by publishers employing traditional business models.

Your Rights as Author

When authors are accepted for publication under the OC imprint, they surrender none of their rights as they often do with traditional publishers. You as author retain full control of all rights, including copyright and rights to film and other media derivatives of your work. You also own outright the design and editorial work of our OC team.

The OC Publishing Timetable

Traditional publishers often require a year or two to move books through their system from contract to delivery. It depends on your book, of course, and your own requirements as author, but OC generally manages to ship within 30 days of our signing a contract.

Book Industry Standard

As your publisher, Ocean Cooperative obtains national and international registration of your book, including ISBN numbers, a commercial barcode and applicable Library of Congress or National Library of Canada listings.

Again, all this is laid out in greater detail in Our Author's Agreement.

Ocean Cooperative: More Support

The Launch program may be all a book needs to meet your and our requirements for success. But authors often ask about a range of editorial and promotional help and even additional design work. We'll provide this at modest cost.

Editorial Consulting

Working with a professional editor can be a gratifying experience for many authors, just as working with a director is often a rewarding (and necessary) part of acting. The relationship is a direct and personal one. A good editor stands in for your future readers and is a mentor and guide, not an exam marker. You can read more about my editorial work at our sister web site: The Business of Words

Although editorial input is not included in OC's Launch package, you can submit your manuscript and, if it meets OC standards, see it progress all the way to book design, production, distribution and sales without editorial help. Unfortunately, we can't accept every unedited manuscript for the Launch program (see "The Ocean Cooperative Selection Process", below), but we can guarantee publication of every manuscript when you, the author, have worked with me, your editor, on editorial problems that might otherwise make your book unpublishable.

As to simple copy editing and proofreading, we'll offer you the best advice we can to enable you to perform these jobs yourself under the Launch program. Or, of course, we can apply our expertise as part of the The Business of Words editorial service.

Additional Design

The Launch program allows up to ten hours of our designer's time without additional cost. This is normally more than enough to satisfy all concerned. But in exceptional cases, where more elaborate cover or interior work is required, our designer is available to you at a discounted hourly rate.

Additional Promotion

Our distribution network and promotional program is designed to get our books underway. But book promotion is an intensive and ongoing challenge to every author and publisher. Ocean Cooperative can act as your promotional and public relations consultant to keep this process moving forward.

 

The Ocean Cooperative Selection Process

Ocean Cooperative cannot presently accept every manuscript submitted to us. We do give every manuscript careful consideration but some are simply not yet ready for publication. There are two reasons why we must apply this limitation. First, during any given year, our staff can handle only a limited number of projects. Second, achieving and maintaining high standards for the Ocean Cooperative imprint benefits the company's reputation and our authors' on-going prospects of book sales. Writing is a process, a book is a considerable undertaking, and we encourage all authors to make future resubmissions as their project develops.

 

How Do We Get Started?

Don't waste time on e-mail. Pick up the phone anywhere in North America and speak with our editorial desk at any time. I'm usually on duty. My office telephone number is:

1-888-377 7007

If you live outside of North America, you can reach us by e-mail at:

words@oceancooperative.com>

and by telephone at:
(613) 659 3666

And we are real people with a real address:

Ocean Cooperative Publishing
640 Sand Bay Road
Lansdowne, Ontario
Canada K0E 1L0

I hope this is the beginning of a memorable experience for you. There are few greater pleasures for any writer than seeing her or his book in the hands of another person.

Very best wishes!

 

Robert Buckland