Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A UTHOR’ S G UIDE
TO
S UBSIDY P UBLISHING
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A UTHOR’ S G UIDE
TO
S UBSIDY P UBLISHING
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MISSION STATEMENT
Building lasting relationships—
If you do not write for publication, there is little point in writing at all.
— George Bernard Shaw
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CONTENTS
Looking Ahead............................................................23
Our Location............................................................23
Electronic Publishing...............................................24
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“T hank you for all your efforts on my behalf. I have been so pleased with
the professionalism of the entire staff at Dorrance Publishing.”
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W H AT I S A SUBSIDY P UBLISHER?
A subsidy publisher charges an author a fee to mechanically edit,
typeset, proofread, and manufacture a specific number of books
from a manuscript. Also provided for this fee is a limited and
specified promotional program with a defined budget,
warehousing, and other administrative services. A subsidy
publisher can act as an intermediary between the typewritten
manuscript and the typeset book, the author and the printer, the
illustrator and the illustrations, the printer and the bindery, the
bindery and the warehouse.
There’s much more to publishing a book than writing and
printing it: mechanical editing of manuscripts by an editor to
correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and inconsistency;
proofreading galleys and page proofs; securing a copyright. What
size should the finished book be? What paper stock should be used?
Which typeface is best? Should the book be bound and covered in
cloth or paper? What color? What texture? What weight?
Paperback, casebound, or saddle-wire?
Who will provide “print-ready” charts, maps, graphs,
photographs, or illustrations, if included in the work? What goes
on which pages? Who will design the jacket or cover and write the
“about the book” and “about the author” copy?
With today’s rapid advances in printing technology and the
wide-spread use of the Internet, you may be asking yourself
questions about “digital publishing”:Who can provide PostScript or
PDF files?
When production decisions involving print-ready art, repros,
mechanicals, bluelines, page proofs, PMS colors, halftones,
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duotones, dies, and F & Gs are made, it may make sense to have the
assistance of a subsidy publisher.
Where will the books be stored? What specific promotional
activities will be performed within the parameters of an agreed-
upon, limited budget? If orders should be received from outlets
and individual bookbuyers, who will arrange to prepare invoices
(with appropriate industry discounts), wrap, ship, and collect
payment? That useful intermediary... the subsidy publisher.
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his or her own work and willingness to pay for publication, even
when wide distribution is unlikely.
Subsidizing a book you have written can result in enduring
value on a personal level. Publishing your own book can be an
effective means for creative self-expression or sharing an
experience with others. It may also bring recognition and
accelerate your career. If only books considered to be potential
best sellers were published, some of our most important writers
may not have reached their audiences: George Bernard Shaw,
Stephen Crane, Ernest Hemingway, Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
Alexander Pope, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Alfred Lord
Tennyson, Edgar Allan Poe,Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound,T. S. Eliot,
Henry David Thoreau, and Rudyard Kipling all paid for the
publication of their first works.
Every year thousands of worthwhile books are financially
backed by universities, religious and business organizations,
philanthropists, and government agencies as well as by individual
authors or their sponsors.
Subsidy publishers offer authors, who otherwise may find no
hope of publication, a means by which they can have the
satisfaction of seeing their work in print.
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D ORRANCE :
T HE F IRST N AME IN S UBSIDY P UBLISHING
Dorrance was the first subsidy publishing company in America.
Originally known as Dorrance & Company, Incorporated, it was
founded in 1920 by Colonel Gordon Dorrance and other members
of his distinguished Philadelphia family to provide a service for
new or unknown authors.
In 1989, the Dorrance name, book inventory, and assets were
purchased and moved from the Philadelphia area to Downtown
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as pictured above, and a new company,
Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc., was formed.
Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc. is continuing the Dorrance
philosophy that the opportunity to publish a work should be
available to all who have something which they wish to communicate
to others and are willing to purchase subsidy publishing services.
We publish all categories of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry and
offer a choice of programs to suit the needs of various authors and
their particular manuscripts. Dorrance authors, including some
with previously published books to their credit, appreciate our
services and the extent to which they can participate in shaping the
presentation of their work.
We are particularly pleased to publish books which contain
information, ideas, or insights which will add to reader enjoyment,
wisdom, or awareness. A book designed to help or educate a
relatively small number of people is as worthy of publication, in
our opinion, as a book written for millions. A small collection of
poetry by an unknown writer may offer as much real truth about
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... previously published authors, as well as scholars and diplomats who might have published
commercially a few years ago, are turning to subsidy houses.
—Bruce Manuel, Book Editor, Christian Science Monitor
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A C HOICE OF
D ORRANCE P UBLISHING P ROGRAMS
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Self-publishing/private printing is an
alternative we offer for those who do not
wish to have Dorrance perform promotion,
warehousing, distribution, and support
services and, instead, elect to undertake
these efforts on their own. In this program,
we manufacture a specific number of books
under your imprint to your specifications.
We handle all aspects of production and
deliver the completed books to you.You are
responsible for the storage of the books and
the distribution of any orders you generate.
We will work closely with you to determine your requirements
and produce an appropriate and appealing volume for you or your
group. We have the flexibility to manufacture hardcover and
paperback books in a variety of sizes and quantities, while assuring
you quality book production at a reasonable cost.
The manufacturing options available for self-publishing/private
printings are widely varied. We would be happy to discuss the
details you have in mind when we speak in person.
We are also pleased to make available a Private Promotion
option. Under this program, we implement the standard promotion
plan we undertake for Dorrance subsidy books as outlined starting
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When you send in your manuscript, we will review the work, and
if acceptable, offer you a detailed publishing proposal that will
provide specific production information for your book and an
exact, firm fee. Our review will take about two to three weeks.
(Please send only a copy of your manuscript and retain the original
for your files.)
We can offer publishing contracts only for completed manuscripts,
and we will accept most manuscripts.We do not evaluate manuscripts
for literary merit or market potential.There are, however, categories of
manuscripts which we choose not to accept.We do not accept libelous
or racist material, hate literature, or pornography.
Our proposal will be written in straightforward language
which clearly states how we plan to handle the publication of your
book and what it will cost. Dorrance will outline the general
production specifications of your book and how long it will take to
complete.
Dorrance offers you a variety of book design options. Your
book can be hardbound or produced as a quality paperback,
saddlewire (stapled in the spine), or other specialty binding and in
a 5½” x 8½”, 6” x 9”, 8½” x 11”, or special trim size that we
suggest and/or you prefer. All of these options are considered in
planning the production of your book. We will recommend a
design which is appropriate for you.
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MECHANICAL EDITING
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PRODUCTION
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Upon publication two copies of your book are filed in your name
with the Register of Copyrights of the Library of Congress to
obtain a Certificate of Copyright.
The year in which your book is copyrighted
appears on the copyright page of every book. The
copyright law now mandates that for works created
after January 1, 1978, the copyright runs from the time
of the work’s creation, through the life of the author,
and for fifty years thereafter.
Manuscripts and unpublished works are protected
by common law and statutory law. That is, from the
point of creation of the work copyright protection
exists. The need to obtain a formal copyright before
submission to us for review is not necessary. As a
reputable company, Dorrance will not use material
submitted to us without your written permission.
WAREHOUSING
PROMOTION
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D'ARCY
~ DONNA DOE SOUTHALL
“I recommend D'Arcy for students and adults, alike.The book gives us a good view of life
in the early 17th century.” — Sussex-Surry Dispatch
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SUBSIDIARY RIGHTS
ORDER PROCESSING
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primarily because you want to see your work in print, not because
of expectation of sales, and you should not jeopardize your
financial security to accomplish publication.
Only in a very small percentage of cases are sales sufficient for
authors to recoup the entire sum paid to Dorrance for production
of the work.
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BRIGITTE HUBBARD
THE STORY OF BRIGGIE: ONE MAN'S JOURNEY WHOSE GOAL IS TO
FIND A SOLUTIONABLE RESOLUTION AND HEAVEN ON EARTH
“I want to thank you for all your assistance and help editing my
manuscript. I'm very proud of it!”
BEVERLY NORSWORTHY
CHILD REARING FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
“…Thanks very much for the swift manner in which the printing
was completed.The cover looks very nice.”
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LESLIE C. FERRER
WITHOUT A DOUBT
“You made this book possible for me and for the world to see.The
Dorrance company is the greatest.”
MARY VANSHER
SHELTER IN THE STORM
“I am very pleased with the fine artistry work that was done for my
book.You have a group of very talented people at Dorrance. I just
want to thank everyone at Dorrance that has worked hard trying to
put together my manuscript into a professional quality and appealing
book.”
B.J. STRONG
JAKE’S PRIDE
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Y OU A RE I NVITED
TO S END U S Y OUR M ANUSCRIPT
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Dorrance can help you take a children’s story and develop it into a
full-length manuscript through the resources of our design
services.As with other books, we require at least 16 book pages for
manufacturing purposes. These pages may include illustrations,
which can be supplied by you, by an artist you hire, or by a
Dorrance artist at additional cost.
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MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
You may send your typed manuscript to us in its present form. Let
us reiterate:You should retain at least one copy of the manuscript.
You can mail your manuscript to us via regular first class mail or
via a special carrier such as UPS or FedEx. We also accept
manuscripts for review on disk or CD or via e-mail (manuscripts
submitted in this manner will not be returned).
If there is to be a dedication,
contents page, list of illustrations,
foreword, preface, introduction,
list of acknowledgments, notes to
chapters, bibliography, appendix,
or index, it should be included,
or its intended position clearly
marked, in the manuscript.
Photographs or illustrations should
be numbered in crayon or soft
pencil on the back to avoid
damaging them. Corresponding
numbers should be inserted in the manuscript, indicating clearly where
in the text the illustrative material is to be placed.
Your manuscript represents your own personal accomplishment,
and we would be pleased to have the opportunity to work with you
in bringing it into print.
It is important to note that the Dorrance imprint has appeared
on titles continuously since 1920. In fact throughout the years,
hundreds of authors have published more than once through
Dorrance, and currently more than thirty authors on our list have
subsidy published more than one book with Dorrance.
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L OOKING A HEAD
Dorrance could not carry on the tradition of quality subsidy book
publishing associated with its name since 1920 without a forward-
looking attitude. As we study the book industry, we are impressed
by the growing need for alternatives for authors who have a strong
desire and are willing to pay to see their books in print. It has been
exciting to be able to provide our services to a growing number of
persons with the motivation to communicate their thoughts and
express their feelings in a range of prose and poetry styles.
We encourage you to move your interest in writing ahead and
to share your insights and knowledge with others. We understand
the challenges you face and are pleased to offer a choice of two
Dorrance subsidy publishing programs, either of which may be
appropriate for satisfying your needs. Write, call, or visit us to
discuss any of our services. Our author relations staff is prepared
to answer your questions.
OUR LOCATION
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ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING
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e-mail: dorrinfo@dorrancepublishing.com
www.dorrancepublishing.com