Q: What type of services do you offer?
Answer: ZLS offers both Traditional as well as Self-Publishing. Our other divisions offer other services.
Q: Where do I begin, if I am interested in publishing a book with ZLS?
Answer: To being, fill out our questionnaire in the Submit Here section of our website.
Q: What kind of publishing services do you offer?
Answer: We offer both traditional and self-publishing options as well as e-book publishing.
Q: How does this work?
Answer: For children, teen, tween fiction and non-fiction, we offer traditional publishing. For other genres such as poetry, cookbooks, photography, and other fiction genres, we offer self-publishing options.
Q: Why do you do this?
Answer: We are often asked if we publish poetry or why we don't publish certain things, so to eliminate such questions and be more helpful to authors, we have offered authors and writers a one-stop shop for getting their dreams published.
Q: What kind of authors do you work with?
Answer: We work with all kinds. We even work with authors who don't publish with us. We provide marketing services for authors who aren't published with us but whose publisher doesn't offer marketing services or whose marketing services are too expensive.
Q: What kind of books do you select for publishing?
Answer: Unlike Lulu, Xlibiris, etc. We are very selective in what we publish. That includes everything from cookbooks to fiction. Even if you are choosing our self-publishing route, we will not publish any old thing submitted to us via this route. We only accept books that provoke and invoke, so please remember that before submitting your work to us.
Q: If I self-publish with you, do I still have a chance of getting a contract with a major publisher?
Answer: Yes, of course. Our self-publishing contracts are non-exclusive. We're more interested in helping you brand yourself than in keeping your work. We are going to be more than happy for you as this is a great achievement.
Q: Do you publish e-books?
Answer: Yes, we do but only in a PDF Format.
Q: Do you charge the author for publishing e-books with you?
Answer: No, we do not. E-book publishing with us is free and like our other services we offer a 60% royalty on our e-book services.
Q: Do you convert manuscripts into pdf?
Answer: Yes, we do for the price of $30. You can easily do it yourself in Microsoft Office 2007 or by going online to AAnswer: dobe.com.
Q: How old do I have to be to publish my book with you?
Answer: We do not have an age limit for authors to publish a book with us; however, if you are a minor, you will need to have a parent or legal guardian co-sign your Publishing Agreement and authorize payment for your publishing charges.
Q: What size can my book be?
Answer: We offer the following standard trim sizes: Trade paperback sizes from 5*8 - 8.26-11.69 inches. Trade hardcover with or without a dust jacket (108-828 pages)-5.5*8.5, 6*9, 6.14*9.21 or 7*10 inches. Color picture books 4 t0 400 pages: 5*8-8.5*11 inches. We also print and publish booklets for companies.
Q: Is your contract nonexclusive?
Answer: It depends. Our self-publishing contract is non-exclusive. You retain the right to publish your book with another company at the same time, as well as you can cancel your publishing agreement with us at any time. In terms of traditional publishing, due to the financial risk we take in publishing your book, certain rights within our traditional publishing contracts are strickly exclusive.
Q: How long does it take you to publish a book?
Answer: The time required depends on the shape the manuscript is in when we receive it, the type of services you purchase if any, and on the legnth of time you take to review the proofs. We will publish your book 90 to 180 days from receiving all required materials.
Q: Will I see a proof of the book before it goes to print?
Answer: Once the cover has been designed and the book layout has been completed, you will be provided with an electronic proof (PDF file for the interior and JPG file for the cover). You can also choose to receive a printed proof of the cover and interiros for an additional fee. You will have the opportunity to accept or reject this proof in writing.
Q: Other books like mine in bookstores are usually less expensive. Why do you recommend a high retail price for my book?
Answer: There are five reasons to keep the price list of your book relatively high:
1) Books offered through the major book wholesales with regular discounts are likely to be discounted up to 40% by Amazon.com and other online bookstores. So, if the list price of your book is $21.95, for example, they are likely to sell it for $15.37.
2. A higher book price usually translaters into a higher perceived value for the book and the information on it.
3. A higher book price means higher royalties for you.
4. Initially, your book will not be stocked in bookstores, so potential buyers will not be making price comparisons between it and other books they see on the shelves. Your inital buyers will more likely be buying your book from an online bookstore, or at a book signing or other event where they won't be comparison shopping. Furthermore, they will probably be buying as a result of a personal recommendation, a review, advertising or a referral, and will therefore, not be "price sensitive."
5. If your book's sales take off, i.e. sells in thousands of copies, we can print in longer runs and lower the retail price without having to lower the discount through the wholesalers.
Q: What will my royalty percentage be?
Answer: It depends. Royalties for our Traditional Imprints pay 10% for first books and negotiable for other books. Our self-publishing ranges. Our ebook division pays royalties of 45% if the e-book is sold in our store and 30% if sold elsewhere.
For example, if your book has a suggested retail price of $13.95, these are the royalty payments you could expect to receive, per book sold, using us: $6.27 (=.45*13.95)-If your book is sold on our website, ZLS payos royalites of 45% of the retail publisher print receipts less any returns. $3.48 (=.25*13.95)-If your book is sold through any other bookstore, ZLS pays royalties of 20% of wholesale publisher print receipts, after any receipts. This is an estimated figure.
You will receive your royalty payments monthly, along with a report of book sales and royalty payment details. This royalty payment applies to both self-published and traditional publishing.
Q: How will my books be sold after it is published?
Answer: We will submit your book to the largest online bookstores: BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, Borders.com and BooksAMillion.com.
Q: What marketing services do you offer?
Answer: Everything from branding you as an author to creating focus groups to ensure customers will buy your book. Please see our Marketing page for more information.
Q: Will you publish my book for free, or, can you withhold my royalties in lieu of publishing charges?
Answer: It depends. If you are chosen for our traditional book publishing services we publish you for free. If you order our self-publishing services, please note that we will not start in publishing project until payment is made in full.
Q: How should I prepare my manuscript before submission?
Answer: Please see our Submission Guidelines page for more information.
Q: Can I revise or make changes to my manuscript after I have submitted it?
Answer: You should submit your final manuscript to us. There is a Manuscript Updating Fee of $75 per hour for content changes to the manuscript made at your request after the final submission. After you have approved the proof, if you decide to make changes in the test, there will be a Book Interior Updating Fee of $75 per hour to enter these changes. There will also be a New Edition Set-up Fee ($350) to cover our printer set-up costs.
Q: How should I submit images or charts for my book?
Answer: Be sure to seperate all images from the text and save each of them individually. ALl images must hbe saved either as high-resolution JPG, TIFF, or PDF files and at the maximum possible sixe at which you would like to see the image used. Name the image files consistently. Indicate in the manuscript where each image is to be placed, for example:[Insert image01]. Digitally submitted photoes should be at least as large as the desire printed size and must have the following image resolution: photographs: 300 dpi (dots per inch); Cover image: 300 dpi, CMYK (RGB or grayscale also Ok); maps: 600dpi, line drawings or cartoons: 600dpi, images with legible texts (newspaper clipping, charts, cartoons) 600dpi. All images inside the book will be printed in black and white. Images obtained from the Internet are generally 72dpi; too low quality for print. Charts are best created in and submitted as Excel spreadsheets.
Q: Do you take foreign authors?
Answer: We are currently unable to work with authors who live outside of the United States. We can work with Canadian authors only if they have a United States address.
Q: What's the best way to submit my manuscript to you?
Answer: Please see our Submission Guidelines for more information.Q: Do you take foreign authors?
Q: Why should I choose you to publish with?
Answer: You shouldn't unless you want a partnership. We have seven divisions within our company, so that means you work with all of our divisions. Regardless of whether or not you Self-Publish with us or have a manuscript ready for our Traditional Publishing division, you will get the opportunity to talk with and if you're local, meet with the members of all of our divisions. Our passions is books and we're interested in seeing you do the best you can do as an author.
Q: What experience do you have in publishing?
Answer: Our CEO, Lishone' Bowsky has been published in five books. In addition, she was a writer for over 10 years for a company called Youth Communications-www.youthcomm.org. She wrote for their national magazine called, Represent and has also had an article published within the Buffalo Law Review. Ms. Bowsky has won several awards for her writing as well as a Scholastic Writing Award in her younger days. Our other partners have experience in publishing, radio, television, graphic design and public speaking. .