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Timber Ridge Publishing – Company Profile
Background: Timber Ridge Publishing
is a small Saskatchewan publishing firm owned and operated by Dave and Kathy
Hepworth of Regina Saskatchewan. Its humble beginnings began in late 2006, a
few months after Dave published his first children’s book – the book that
served as “the learning curve.” As a result of the experience gained from publishing his
first book, he and Kathy decided to form their own company to publish Dave’s
second and third children’s books. Timber Ridge Publishing was conceived
because of their disappointment with the uphill battle authors face during
the publishing process. A process largely designed to put the lion’s share
of profits into the hands of everyone but the author. By forming their own
publishing company, they were able to retain complete control of their
publishing projects and significantly trim costs. At the time Timber Ridge became a reality (late 2006), neither Dave nor Kathy ever considered the possibility that other authors might look to them for assistance with publishing projects. Soon after the release of Dave’s second book though, Timber Ridge began receiving requests from other authors in search of assistance. As time went on, the number of requests increased. As a result, Timber Ridge became involved in the publication of two titles in 2007, one in 2008 and two in 2009. “One Extraordinary Man – the great escape” by Dorothy Nimchuk (2007) “Who’s On The
Train Today?” by Christy Henry, illustrated by Judy Swallow
Basic Information you need to know: Timber Ridge Publishing is not a “traditional” publishing firm - it does not purchase manuscripts and it has no organized distribution system other than its own web site: Timber Ridge Publishing is dedicated to helping authors who wish to “self-publish” their books. We provide technical assistance with the publishing process by providing such services as:
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Free evaluation of
a proposed project
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Basic manuscript editing (if required)
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Book design and
formatting
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Assistance with
cover design and internal book images
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Securing ISBN
numbers and cataloguing in publication information
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Preparation of .pdf
print files
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Printing services
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Assistance in
determining a book’s selling price - Web space to display books published With the exception of *children’s - full colour picture books, Timber Ridge Publishing uses environmentally friendly **print on demand technology. Timber Ridge Publishing encourages authors to become actively involved in the publishing process by participating as much as possible in their publishing projects. By doing so, they significantly reduce the cost/unit of their books. Authors have complete control over their publications and always maintain their copyright. Authors can terminate their agreement with Timber Ridge Publishing (upon payment of outstanding fees owing and providing written notice of intention) at any time without cause. While authors bear sole responsibility for the content of their publications, Timber Ridge Publishing reserves the right to refuse publication of material it deems to be unsuitable or offensive.
*children’s full
colour picture books are normally printed by offset printing. In order to
achieve lower cost/book, such print runs are normally set higher than 500
books per run. **print on demand
technology involves high-speed laser printing. These books are quality
(perfect bound) soft cover books. Any internal images are black and white
and the book covers are full colour with a glossy finish. Print on demand
technology allows books to be produced economically in small numbers since
there is no printing press set up involved. As a result, books can be
reordered and printed as needed vs. having large inventories on hand. ------------------------ Other Important considerations:
Pros and cons of “traditional” vs “self
publishing”
There is no doubt the computer era has gradually brought significant change to the publishing industry. In particular, “print on demand” technology has brought book publishing financially within the grasp of the average person. Since books printed on demand can range from one book to several hundred at a time, self-publishers can control their costs by having books printed as needed. On the other
hand, the dream of the big book deal is still the ultimate goal of many
authors. Unfortunately, the odds of landing that big deal are remote.
Traditional publishers are swamped with manuscripts for review. Sometimes it
takes months for manuscripts to be reviewed and even traditional publishers
can only produce limited titles per year. As a result, rejection rates are
extremely high. One must always remember that Traditional Publishers publish
books for one reason – to make money. Self-publishers are rarely motivated by money, they write because that’s what they do. They “self-publish” because they simply want to get their stories into the public domain. Ultimately, determining which road to follow involves a realistic self-examination of one’s motives. Why do you want your
book published? If your goal is to become a famous wealthy author,
self-publishing is not the road to follow. Self- publishing is a lot of work
and the entire process is an endless uphill battle. The biggest
problem involves the public’s unrealistic perception (sometimes championed
by the elite of the publishing world) that self-publishers write “second
rate” books. As a result, self-publishers struggle constantly to dispel the
negative image hanging over them. The truth is,
(for self-publishers) writing and publishing a book is the easy part. The
hard work starts after the printing stops and the promoting begins. Many
book stores, libraries and distributors refuse to handle books from
self-publishers. These comments
are not meant to discourage anyone from self-publishing, they are meant to
provide a realistic snapshot of life on the road of self-publishing.
Are your goals realistic? How many books do you expect to sell? Many authors
have unrealistic expectations. They print thousands of books when they
should only be printing two or three hundred books.
Where are your markets? When you self-publish, you have to market your own
product. One way or another you have to beg, borrow or steal exposure any
way you can. Self-promotion is the key. How comfortable are you with
promoting yourself?
Never rely on the Internet to sell books. While it is an advantage to have a
web site available to promote your book (exposure value), the number of
online sales generally represents a small fraction of book sales. It may be
due to reluctance of the public to purchase online, or it may be because
potential customers still like to pick up and page through a book before
they purchase it. The bottom line is -- having your book for sale online is
no guarantee it will sell.
A
Word About Costs
Timber Ridge Publishing has no fixed costs for services provided. Each project is evaluated individually and costs are based on the total work required/provided. We encourage authors (with our guidance) to do as much of the work as possible in order to reduce their costs. Our goal is to help you, the author, reduce your unit price per book to the lowest value possible. If you would like more information or want to discuss a specific project, send Dave & Kathy an email or give them a call. References will be supplied upon request.
Timber Ridge Publishing 3538 Evans Court Regina, SK S4S 0N5 (306) 789-6568 (306) 529-8100 (cell) Email: admin@trpublishing.ca |
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