HAVING A TOUGH TIME GETTING PUBLISHED?
WANT TO PUBLISH YOUR OWN BOOK?
DON'T WORRY -- YOU'RE IN GREAT COMPANY!

Great publishing company? Yes, in fact, exceptional publishing company. Leo Tolstoy... Walt Whitman... Charlotte Bronte... Virginia Woolf... Edgar Allen Poe and Stephan Crane are a few of the famous authors who had difficulty getting published in their early days. So they self published.

George Bernard Shaw financed the publication of his early plays to attract theatrical producers. Ernest Hemingway was privately published for a time until he gained fame for his collection, In Our Time. And Joseph Conrad self-published his first novel.

LARGE BOOK PUBLISHING COMPANIES: TOUGH NUTS TO CRACK

Let's face it, the large book publishing companies have such high overhead costs, they must sell at least 10,000 copies of a book to break even.

That means that only writers who are established or well-known will break through...or those who have developed an idea that convinces the publisher she can sell thousands of copies. And if you have a perspective that is really new, provocative or controversial, you have even less of a chance finding a publisher.

Just the other day a New York publishing house announced that it was accepting manuscripts only from writers who have agents. There just doesn't seem to be much encouragement for newcomers.

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JOINT VENTURE ASSISTANCE TO SELF PUBLISHING: The Cutting Edge Solution

Yes, you're in great company. And maybe it's time for you to consider the same route that Tolstoy and other famous writers took-with a twist. I'm talking about joint venture assistance to self publishing...an exciting new alternative for writers who believe in their writing...are willing to invest in it...and want control over it.

In addition to publishing your own book, you receive many other benefits from joint venture publishing:

• You call the shots
• You receive more attention
• Smaller print runs mean lower costs
• You get full support including marketing and distribution
• Profit potential is greater than the usual seven to 10 percent royalty

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NOW YOU PUBLISH YOUR OWN BOOK: Quickly, Professionally, Inexpensively

More importantly, this isn't vanity or subsidy publishing. You know: some companies will publish anything if you pay them. They give you little input, charge you excessive fees, and then drop the marketing and distribution in your hands.

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THE BECKHAM PUBLICATIONS GROUP JOINT VENTURE APPROACH TO SELF PUBLISHING: A Real Difference

When you enter a joint venture arrangement with Beckham Publications, you'll get the attention you need and deserve...professional editorial support...state-of-the art book production...expert marketing advice...niche distribution marketing. Plus we have a solid track record of publicity successes. We've been covered in Newsweek, USA Today, Mademoiselle, Black Enterprise, The Washington Post, Chronicle of Higher Education, Publishers Weekly, Ebony, Emerge, and others.

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JOINT VENTURE ASSISTANCE TO SELF PUBLISHING -- An Exciting New Alternative

A joint venture occurs when two parties decide to invest in a project and share in the profits generated. In publishing, the investing partners are you, the author and the publisher. Typically, you pay us a fee for a three-fold arrangement.

• First, we design the cover, edit, typeset, print and bind, and deliver a quantity of books for you to resell.
• Secondly, we print copies at our expense, sell to retail markets and pay you a royalty on each copy sold.
• Thirdly, we reprint additional copies at your request for you to resell.

In addition, you can contract us for extras promotional materials including order takers and press releases.

You, as a partner in the project, have a great deal to say about the cover design, editing and even marketing strategy. It's an arrangement -- unlike conventional subsidy or vanity publishing -- that gives authors unprecedented authority over their works.

Joint venture publishing has so many advantages. Today's world of publishing is dominated by larger commercial houses that shun works which don't have mass appeal. Further, larger houses take 12 to 18 months to produce a book, and control all aspects including whether it will ever be reprinted. Some houses are not even accepting manuscripts unless submitted by a literary agent. Writers of new, provocative, or of limited interest material don't have much of a chance.

However, your joint venture self-published book can be produced in half the usual time commercial publishers take. And in this age of specialization, many more outlets other than the routine mass market centers are available for your book -- including your own network of friends and colleagues.

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WHAT DO WE DO?

Beckham comes as a partner offering editorial, production, marketing and distribution capabilities to complete that "publish your own book" project. Obviously, each project has a different set of needs. Every title will require entirely different levels of support in each areas. Some will need considerable editorial assistance and others will need very little. What Beckham determines as its fee is based on these factors. Basically, then, our efforts fall within one or several of these areas: editorial, production, marketing and distribution.

• Editorial

The author of a good book must give adequate attention to its theme, style and structure. Our editorial philosophy is based on the importance of these three elements. Accordingly, we do what is necessary to assure that the finished product, the published book, is written in the most readable and appropriate style, is well-organized and smoothly structured. Some manuscripts require simple proofreading; others, line-by-line editing. Still others may need extensive re-writing. Our editors are prepared to correct textual matters like grammar, punctuation and spelling, as well as make changes to improve the manuscript overall.

• Production

Everything must work together. The physical appearance of your book must reflect its thematic uniqueness--its set of ideas that makes it different from any other title. Production is the process of putting the book together physically. It includes text design, jacket design, typesetting, printing and binding. Each detail like title page design and chapter headings receives individual attention. We design and layout pages, position chapter headings, titles, folio numbers, table of contents and an index. We layout pictures, graphs, and illustrations, placing them in proper position. You review your manuscript before final approval is given to the printer. We fill out necessary forms and pay for your Library of Congress copyright.

We give you one of our pre-assigned International Standard Book Numbers as part of the system for numbering and identifying books in print. We supply a bar code, used by libraries and resale stores to monitor inventory and to reorder.

• Marketing

Many have said that writing the book is just the beginning. Now it has to be sold. Beckham offers a number of marketing packages that will bring the book to the attention of your primary readers, the larger audience beyond them, libraries, reviewers and other distributors. Our basic package can be customized to include additional services.

In this package, we first prepare and mail news releases (capitalizing on the unique selling angle we devise for your self publication) to reach local or specialized radio and television stations, newspapers, magazines, reviewers, librarians and wholesalers. Then we mail direct response flyers announcing your book to names supplied by you. Each contains an order coupon to be used to purchase copies of your book directly from Beckham.

We can also supply you with 500 direct mail pieces for your own use.

Do not expect to receive reviews in national media; your book probably doesn't have so large an audience. But be prepared to receive some local and specialized exposure like news items, feature stories and radio and television interviews. Publicity generated through these efforts can help stimulate interest in your book.

• Distribution

Most of our joint venture publications will not attract a large reading audience. Therefore it is unlikely that it will attract the interest of the big chain buyers. But they will be aware of your book, so you will certainly have a fair shot at being distributed nationally in addition to making the expected sales to your narrowly defined target market. And remember that our web site is seen by readers all over the globe. Between 1998 and 1999, books sold online tripled their market share from 1.9 percent to 5.4 percent. Nobody expects that trend to slow down.

Authors who travel in wide circles and enjoy a large following will be able to market their books exclusively to their already established audience. Some pastors of large churches, college professors and workshop presenters have an excellent opportunity to market their own books, recoup their investment, and enjoy handsome profits.

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JOINT VENTURE ASSISTANCE TO SELF PUBLISHING: What Does It Cost?

Each book is different. Our fees are determined by how much editorial and production work must be done, by the trim size, illustrations, charts, number of pages and words, and number of books printed. After these variables have been evaluated, we can provide you with an estimate.

Still, we cannot quote exact prices until we examine the entire manuscript. Our terms are at least 50 percent with order, the balance due upon approval of final page proofs for printing. Shipping is billed with final invoice.

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HOW TO GET STARTED

Fill out the estimate request form today, and email us requests@beckhamhouse.com sample pages so that we can send your quote. Or if you feel confident about Beckham and want to save time, include your manuscript with the request form and we'll send a binding quote and agreement letter. We prefer to work by email.

With best wishes,

Barry Beckham
President

Contact us and we'll do the rest: