Why Choose Three Ravens Books?
Officially founded in September 2010, Three Ravens Books is a vision born from the desire to make publishing about the author. We are not a Print on Demand publishing house. When we say we are utilizing print on demand technology it means we are using that as our press – the actual printing process. While POD is not new, this is a new way to use it. It is no longer just the venue of vanity press. Larger companies are beginning to use POD for their older catalog offerings because it reduces waste and provides products quickly without having to maintain a warehouse of books. We don't do what many so-called POD publishing houses do either, and that is let you publish your book then start adding on the costs of marketing etc to make your book more visible.
We are endeavoring to create an atmosphere for the new author that gets their works out there and, in the end, perhaps will even get them noticed by a larger publishing house. Yes, we are a small start up house, but we do have a wide distribution. Including, just recently, being added to Kalahari Books which is the Amazon for South Africa.
We actually intend to focus on hard copy distribution as well as ebooks. Sadly, for those of us who like the experience
of paper, the days of hard copy books are coming to a slow end. The reasoning behind the ebook popularity is "When I can instantly receive a book, why should I wait for a paper edition that costs more and then is just wasted paper?” At Three Ravens Books, though, we understand the importance to the author of seeing their book in paper, seeing it on the shelf of the local bookstore and that gold star moment--signing the book for someone.
Yes, we sell on Amazon, it is the largest book distributor on earth and our authors are listed on the international Amazon sites as well. Other major book sellers have internet sites, and not taking advantage of all of those would be a disservice to our authors. Bricks and mortar bookstores are dropping like flies, leaving only Borders and Barnes and Noble, which makes it even more difficult to market small press books. Because we are printed by Lightning Source we are included in Ingram catalog, which includes the Barnes and Noble catalog, some storefronts (particularly in the author's hometown) and on their website. This can be easily verified. We are also proud to be listed on IndieBound, a website that encourages local bookstores, and purchasing from local bookstores.
The publishing industry has always treated first books as a "sign your baby away" kind of deal, knowing that the author is generally so excited to be published they will sign their rights and everything else away. But even getting a large publishing company to pick up a first time author is nothing short of a miracle. Every publication an author can present to one of the big publishing houses makes their resume that much more attractive and increases the chances of being picked up. Even then luck can play a huge role in the chance of actually getting published. As one author stated recently she was extremely lucky to have her manuscript fall on the right desk on the right day. Larger publishing houses are looking to make money. They are guiding the trends and have very specific ideas about what makes a bestseller.
Do we want to make money? Sure we do – for us and our authors. Will we have a New York Times Bestselling novel? Probably not, because that has very specific rules to it, not just based on total books sold, but on a variety of other factors that date back to the pre-internet days. BUT the potential is there. It takes time to build a business like this.
We can also offer something a big house can't, at least right now, a fairly fast turn around. To get a book published by one of the large companies can take up to three years after the query process is begun. We hope that we can
get books up within three months. This gives us time to start the marketing during the editing process.
Furthermore, unlike many POD companies that expect you to just toss your book up on their site, we have a staff of
professional editors to work with you. In fact, all of our editors have credentials including former managing editors, professional translators, editors and university professors. We do not charge for cover design, editing or marketing; this is what book companies are supposed to do.
We are not looking for your rights, we want to publish your book. In fact, we will even help our authors go step by step through the copyright process so you can be assured that you will maintain your intellectual property.
Finding an agent these days is almost as tricky as finding a publisher – sometimes even more so. Many will not consider unpublished authors, and most major publishers will not consider copy that is not presented through an agent, so the author is caught in a catch-22. One of the advantages of going with a publisher like Three Ravens Books is that we provide a publication to present to an agent. Every publication helps. Something else to consider, though, agents take a cut – a pretty hefty one, especially for first books.
Why are we different? What makes us special? Three Ravens Books was created with the idea of a new book company, ahead of the curve, where authors and staff work closely together to create something that can compete in
a market full of huge publishing companies. The Internet allows us to do this, as does the new print on demand technology. Like the Indie film market, now is time for the Indie book market. We like to think of ourselves as a Indie house, striving to make our way in a world of huge companies with the goal of getting our authors out there. It is one of the reasons we have chosen to focus on specific genres, ones we know, and can work with and can make our presence known at conventions and other gatherings.
We are endeavoring to create an atmosphere for the new author that gets their works out there and, in the end, perhaps will even get them noticed by a larger publishing house. Yes, we are a small start up house, but we do have a wide distribution. Including, just recently, being added to Kalahari Books which is the Amazon for South Africa.
We actually intend to focus on hard copy distribution as well as ebooks. Sadly, for those of us who like the experience
of paper, the days of hard copy books are coming to a slow end. The reasoning behind the ebook popularity is "When I can instantly receive a book, why should I wait for a paper edition that costs more and then is just wasted paper?” At Three Ravens Books, though, we understand the importance to the author of seeing their book in paper, seeing it on the shelf of the local bookstore and that gold star moment--signing the book for someone.
Yes, we sell on Amazon, it is the largest book distributor on earth and our authors are listed on the international Amazon sites as well. Other major book sellers have internet sites, and not taking advantage of all of those would be a disservice to our authors. Bricks and mortar bookstores are dropping like flies, leaving only Borders and Barnes and Noble, which makes it even more difficult to market small press books. Because we are printed by Lightning Source we are included in Ingram catalog, which includes the Barnes and Noble catalog, some storefronts (particularly in the author's hometown) and on their website. This can be easily verified. We are also proud to be listed on IndieBound, a website that encourages local bookstores, and purchasing from local bookstores.
The publishing industry has always treated first books as a "sign your baby away" kind of deal, knowing that the author is generally so excited to be published they will sign their rights and everything else away. But even getting a large publishing company to pick up a first time author is nothing short of a miracle. Every publication an author can present to one of the big publishing houses makes their resume that much more attractive and increases the chances of being picked up. Even then luck can play a huge role in the chance of actually getting published. As one author stated recently she was extremely lucky to have her manuscript fall on the right desk on the right day. Larger publishing houses are looking to make money. They are guiding the trends and have very specific ideas about what makes a bestseller.
Do we want to make money? Sure we do – for us and our authors. Will we have a New York Times Bestselling novel? Probably not, because that has very specific rules to it, not just based on total books sold, but on a variety of other factors that date back to the pre-internet days. BUT the potential is there. It takes time to build a business like this.
We can also offer something a big house can't, at least right now, a fairly fast turn around. To get a book published by one of the large companies can take up to three years after the query process is begun. We hope that we can
get books up within three months. This gives us time to start the marketing during the editing process.
Furthermore, unlike many POD companies that expect you to just toss your book up on their site, we have a staff of
professional editors to work with you. In fact, all of our editors have credentials including former managing editors, professional translators, editors and university professors. We do not charge for cover design, editing or marketing; this is what book companies are supposed to do.
We are not looking for your rights, we want to publish your book. In fact, we will even help our authors go step by step through the copyright process so you can be assured that you will maintain your intellectual property.
Finding an agent these days is almost as tricky as finding a publisher – sometimes even more so. Many will not consider unpublished authors, and most major publishers will not consider copy that is not presented through an agent, so the author is caught in a catch-22. One of the advantages of going with a publisher like Three Ravens Books is that we provide a publication to present to an agent. Every publication helps. Something else to consider, though, agents take a cut – a pretty hefty one, especially for first books.
Why are we different? What makes us special? Three Ravens Books was created with the idea of a new book company, ahead of the curve, where authors and staff work closely together to create something that can compete in
a market full of huge publishing companies. The Internet allows us to do this, as does the new print on demand technology. Like the Indie film market, now is time for the Indie book market. We like to think of ourselves as a Indie house, striving to make our way in a world of huge companies with the goal of getting our authors out there. It is one of the reasons we have chosen to focus on specific genres, ones we know, and can work with and can make our presence known at conventions and other gatherings.
