Authors are needed by The Nazca Plains Corporation.
Book length manuscripts of 50,000 plus words can be submitted to us at
NazcaPlains@aol.com. Put “New Author” in the attention line please.
We are looking for undiscovered new authors who can truly
write and draw us into their story.
Standard Author contracts are offered. While there is not a lot
of money to be made, you just never know when a new book will take off and make
serious money. Give us a try. We will read your manuscript and let you know of
our interest within one working day.
The Nazca Plains Corporation
Questions we have
been asked in the past:
1. What percentage of the book’s sales
goes to the author?
Our industry standard contract calls for 10% of the wholesale
price of the book to be paid to the author after collection; 8% for out of the
US sales.
2. Is a book that’s 80,000 words too long?
Every book is judged on its own merit but generally we like to publish books
that are around 50,000 words for two reasons. First, it obviously helps to
keep our costs down. Second, the book can be popularly priced for better
sales.
3. Do I have to take my story offline
it it’s posted on an internet web site.
We would prefer it -- no sense in having a free version of the book online as
competition for sales -- but it depends on the agreement you have with the site
that's hosting your work. This is something we can discuss.
4. Is this like publishing on demand or
ePublishing?
Yes and no. We use on demand presses and we use regular presses depending
on the final product we are seeking. Some of our full magazine size
publications are printed in South Korea to get the best price while some 6” X 9”
books are printed on demand both in the US and Belgium depending on the market
we are supplying. We are very different from the usual on demand printers
as we make no charge to the author for any part of our process. On demand
printers can charge up to $4,000 per book if you use all of their services.
5. I don’t have anything ready right
now. How much time do I have to work something up?
There is no rush here. Take your time; make certain your writing is the
best it can be and that you’re comfortable submitting it…whether it takes a
week, a month or longer. We publish from five to 10 books a month so there
is usually no problem fitting you in when you are ready.
6. What about sex between two 17 year
olds? What about kissing and making out between teens?
All characters in a sexual situation have to be over the age of 18; we
will not publish anything depicting sex with anyone under that age, period.
As to non-sexual situations, so long as it does not lead to a sexual encounter
between individuals under the age of 18, it should be all right…but we’d have to
review the manuscript before we could say for sure.
7. Do you edit the book?
We review the book and if something major jumps out at us we’ll point it out and
ask you to change it; but editing for typos and grammar is the responsibility of
the author. We suggest you have a friend or fellow writer review your work
for errors.
8. What do I need to do to submit my
manuscript? How long before I hear a decision on publication or when the
book will be published?
When the book is submitted it will be read and you should have a word back from
us in one or two days depending on our current load. You must submit the
material in MS Word format. You may want a dedication, perhaps an
acknowledgement page, a short one page bio and a head and shoulders photo; then
the book will take us about one week to format and send you an electronic proof
copy. From there, if no corrections are needed, the cover is created by
our art department and we generally get the book on the market within three
weeks from original submission. We can’t publish until you have signed our
contract and mailed it to us.
9. What sort of promotion do you do for
the book? Do I have to do any?
This a very complicated and lengthy process and
some of that process is proprietary. The parts we can tell you about are
as follows:
a.
Proliferation: When we assign one of our ISBN numbers to your book, the
book is then listed on many retail booksellers computer systems. You will
find the ISBN and your book listed in about two months on Amazon-US, Amazon-UK,
Amazon-Germany, Amazon-Japan, Baker and Taylor (owns B Dalton and many other
retailers and is the world’s largest wholesale system for books), Barnes &
Nobel, Borders and many smaller chains too numerous to mention.
b. Wholesale
Distribution: All Nazca Plains titles are available from SCB Distributors
– US and Canada;
Turnaround Publisher Services – Europe and
Africa; and Bulldog Book – Australia
and the Far East. We have world wide distribution
and are well known for our books and especially our covers.
c. Specific Book
Buyer Notification: Each month we send direct emails to our extensive list
of book buyers. This list includes all the stores we have been able to
locate around the world that have an interest in our books. Orders are
then faxed to us by those stores. Some stores are shipped to directly by
Nazca Plains while others are directed to our regional distributors.
d. Flyers:
Some buyers insist on having a physical full color flyer produced and sent.
These buyers usually have a large sales staff and the flyers are used by the
sales staff when they physically call on store buyers.
e. Seasonal Full
Color Brochures: Each six months (the book industry still uses a two
season method) we produce a 24 page full color 8.5 X 11 inch brochure will our
entire line of books arranged by imprint for the buyers and direct sales staff
to use in presenting to store buyers.
f.
Direct Phone Contact: A select group of store buyers maintain a personal
relationship with Nazca Plains and we talk to those buyers each month about our
latest offerings.
g. Book Fairs:
There are basically two major book fairs in the world. One in June each year
called the BEA usually in Los Angeles
or New York and the other in the
fall in Frankfurt Germany.
Nazca Plains books are shown to thousands of buyers at these fairs with booths
and handout material. Occasionally, we are able to negotiate rights for a
translated book at these fairs.
h. Writer Support:
From time to time, we have been asked to provide a special delivery of books
for use at a book signing arranged by the writer. We have done so very
quickly as these usually don’t have much lead-time.
In our experience over the last few years we have found that the
authors that make the most money are those who attend events and gatherings and
sell their books directly to the public they know. We provide those books
for you to sell at the wholesale price, just as we would to a store. One
such author is Dr. Robert Rubel who generally takes home more than $20,000 a
year from speaking and presenting at events around the US and Canada.
10. What about getting reviewed?
There may have been a time when the book business was stretched out over a two
year ramp-up period for the promotion of a new book. Those days are really
gone for anyone other than well-known authors being promoted by major
publishers. These days, the best one can do is when the book appears on
Amazon to have a few friends write a paragraph or two appreciating the book.
Most store buyers today simply review the new offerings on Amazon, paying
attention to the reviews and ranking system, and place orders from distributors
based on what they see.
11. What about copyright?
Under the contract, the author grants Nazca Plains the use of
your manuscript. You maintain your
copyright and can even contact the US Copyright office and register your story
if you want. In the book, Nazca
Plains expresses a copyright which has to do with the physical book (the cover,
the layout, the artwork, etc.)
12.
Can I put my email or web site in the book?
No. This is not the
internet. In the past it has been allowed with almost catastrophic
results. It is amazing what kind of stalking can take place when
troublemakers have contact information. We never give out your information
to anyone.