Sherrill’s SBPRA Info
I just answered a question from a reader about my experiences with SBPRA and thought I should include my answer here as well. I have been very happy with SBPRA, and will have my fifth book published by SBPRA to be released in 2013. Here is why: (By the way, I am not an employee of SBPRA, I am only one of their many successful authors. I am happy to post relevant comments from readers that will help other authors, but I will not post derogatory propaganda… there is way too much of that already!)
“After several years of sending occasional queries to various publishers who, if they responded at all, either informed me that they were “no longer accepting unsolicited manuscripts” or recommended I find an agent, (who responded that they only chose to accept published authors), I made the most important decision of my literary life: I submitted Santa’s Birthday Gift to SBPRA (Eloquent Books and Strategic Books) which has ultimately resulted in my receiving twelve National Awards in 2011-12 for my four books, including also The Magic Word and Peter and the Whimper-Whineys and Gimme-Jimmy. SBPRA has been with me every step of the way: connecting me with my awesome illustrator (the Kalpart team), and then helping with marketing opportunities, offering progressively better contracts as each book was submitted and showed evidence of strong sales – as well as providing entries into the world of eBooks and iTune Apps and international expos. I have discovered that their philosophy of giving every qualified new author a chance – rather than have an over-worked editor in some large publishing house determine whether or not a book will be successful – has worked very well for me. I had faith in my books, and made a commitment to get them into print and let the children decide their worth…”
Addie
SBPRA has also provided me with two Fundraising Websites, enabling me to help others by offering to send 50% of the cost of the books to the participatingFundraiser organization. This is now available for the Women’s Economic Council Foundation (http://sbpra.com/wecf/) which provides programs and scholarships for women. My newest one is for CureJM (http://sbpra.com/curejm/) which is to help find a cure for Juvenile Myositis – which affects 17,000 kids in the US alone. This photo is of 7-yr-old Addie, who suffers from this disease. I learned about her while preparing Gimme-Jimmy for publication, and put her name on the Acknowledgements page as one of my “Prayer Children” for whom I wrote the book. You can see she is happy about it! She and kids like her are the reason for my CureJM Fundraiser. SBPRA has been wonderful – setting up the websites and handling the administrative portion – and should be credited for also sharing their profits. Not many publishers I know will do that! Please check out these websites if you get a chance!
If anyone has any further questions, please let me know. I will be happy to help if I can…
Since this post, I have received several questions about how I feel about SBPRA, so I have decided to add a condensed version of my latest response to a potential author who has had his manuscript accepted by SBPRA. He had some reservations after reading some feedback he found online.
“I am sorry you have read some negative propaganda, although it is good that you are doing some research about something so important. I will try to answer your questions as best I can. First of all, let me say that I do not want to try to talk anyone into anything. I personally have been very happy with SBPRA – and go on record about that often. I can only speak for myself – although I know lots of other authors who are very happy with SBPRA as well. It seems that one can find a lot of griping and complaining on line, but not so much praise… There are also a few linked websites that seem to be on somewhat of a witch-hunt as far as I can see. I try to stay out of the fray as much as possible!
I am often asked about royalties, and I must stress that each contract is different, so I only know about mine. However, I have found that many authors don’t understand the allocation of royalties as determined by the amount of books sent to online stores by the printer. Amazon sales, for instance, does not immediately translate into royalties – because there’s always quite a lag, and difficult to track. Amazon will buy so many books, but the author and publisher get no payment until after the books are actually sold, so there is delay involved. Eventually it evens out…and I have never had a problem getting paid.
It also seems that many authors do not read or understand the contract offered to them. SBPRA is pretty clear about what they expect from you and what you can expect from them. They are not a Self-Publish Press which has authors buy a set amount of books upon publication. I refer to them as “Help-Publish” since they do a lot and we, the authors, have to do a lot too. They get your book to the marketplace, such as amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and lots of others, and then you have to help with social networking and responding to things like Google Alerts and looking for other marketing opportunities, to get your work recognized. Their philosophy seems to be that they will offer to publish books that they feel have potential, giving opportunity to many authors who otherwise might not find a publisher willing to even read their manuscript, and then provide extra support to the “break-out” authors. You have to be willing to help market your book, although you will be given a lot of advice on how to do that. If you wish to pay for extra help, that is also available – according to what you think you need. This year there were about twenty authors who reached 1000 sales, and they have been provided with a lot of free marketing. I was lucky enough to be one of them!!
Many of the large publishing houses offer advancements (although most of them require you to pay them back if sales don’t equal the advance you were given.) Small Presses, as far as I know, do not. I contributed a relatively small amount to the publication of my first book, Santa’s Birthday Gift, because I had faith in my book and a willingness to help get it out to the children and let them decide whether or not it would be worth buying. The book has won two awards, and was on the amazon best-seller children’s list in November & December. At this point, my book is over 2000 – and my other books are also doing very well.
As for editing, I don’t know. Children’s picture books require much less editing. I don’t know about novels, but I would think that it might be a good idea to invest in editing if you haven’t done so already. Books with grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors are not going to get very far…and you can’t rely on spell-check which sees aisle, isle and I’ll as perfectly acceptable!!!
I have found the SBPRA client communication very profesional. They make books available to the authors at a reduced rate, and will allow you to get them for review purposes at about the wholesale rate. I do not try to sell my books, preferring to let them be purchased on-line or at the stores that carry them – although I do have several fund-raisers where schools or organizations can buy the books at a reduced cost to them, and then sell them for whatever they wish to their supporters. I usually go to those events to sign them and read to the children as well – because that is a lot of fun for me!!! I also have had quite a lot of Barnes & Noble book-signing events in my area, where they sell very well even if they are not on the shelves. (My printer does not put the title and author on the spine of picture books, so they tend to get lost on the shelves.) I set these up myself by going to the store and talking with the CRM (Community Relations Manager) and giving her a copy of my book. It sold itself.
My first book was published in Nov. 2009. SBPRA has provided opportunities to send my books to their international expos, they have offered me support and advice whenever I have asked – and I have been very happy there. I do not want to talk anyone into anything, but I will be happy to answer questions. My only other point is that you also need to take into consideration how long you want to wait to get feedback from other submissions you may have made to any of the big publishing houses. It’s really up to you!!!
2/15/12 – I just received a couple more emails with questions, so I will post my answers here… One of these days, maybe I will have answered them all! (not)
Pitch us now and if we like your pitch, there is no charge to publish your book. (from SBPRA information website) Does this happen often? – It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. They have all kinds of different contracts for different types of books – and it would depend on your ability as well as your marketability, and what they think will sell well. I know they used to have an offer that if you would guarantee a certain amount of books pre-publication, they would offer a contract along those lines.
What do they do to help the author (author help) personally from beginning to end publish a manuscript? Do you pay for each segment like the illustrator, editor, designer, printing, etc? – I really can’t comment except about children’s picture books. Yes there are illustration expenses if you don’t have your own illustrator – and that was the largest part of my investment because I fell in love with Kalpart’s illustrations and was willing to invest in their artwork to help sell my books. Their illustrations are awesome– and I can’t say enough about their covers. You know the “don’t judge a book by its cover” line? In the children’s picture book world, your cover helps sell the book!!! Anyway, once you are under contract they walk you through the rest, which is included in the initial charge. Their contract is very clear about what they will do, and what you will have to do to help market the books. I covered a lot of this in my Sherrill’s SBPRA Info link on my website.
Do you feel comfortable giving me some idea of the “author help” cost? – I am willing to tell you what my initial “help-publish” cost was in 2009: $399. The illustrations were a per/illustration cost, and I don’t feel comfortable quoting anything about that, since I have no idea what kind of book you are hoping to publish nor what kind of illustrations you need. That would be between you and the illustrator. I also have no idea what the initial costing is now – but the best way to find out would be to submit and find out what they offer! You don’t have to accept anything!
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the info! I had a partial manuscript looked over by SBPRA (the prologue and first 3 chapters) and they have agreed to publish the work based on just that and sent me 2 separate contracts. Each contract would result me me sending them x amount of money to cover what I assume is the cost of the book going to the presses. There seems to be an equal amount of good and bad things people are saying with SBPRA and I am concerned that either I am getting some how scammed or that I am being taken advantage of. I do not mean to accuse anyone of anything but my question is in your dealings with SBPRA did you have to also give x amount of money up front for your books? And does the negative flak out their have an affect on the authors such as yourself that they are publishing ?
Hi Jason – I decided just to answer questions here… I already answered the one about “in your dealings with SBPRA did you have to also give x amount of money up front for your books?” (see my other answers in case you missed it.) As for “does the negative flak out their have an affect on the authors such as yourself that they are publishing ?” I have won 7 National Awards with my three books in 2011, so I would have to say no. I am proud to be a SBPRA author, and happy that I have had all these wonderful opportunities to share my books with children! If you really are
“concerned that either I am getting some how scammed or that I am being taken advantage of”, then you probably should look elsewhere. I was honored and thrilled that they were willing to take a chance on me – and I had enough faith in my books to help get them published. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
jasondimpel@yahoo.com
jason
0
Thank you for your post in regards to SBPRA. I am working on a novel and it is in its raw version and I understand that there are many cases of first time writers stepping into the quagmire of contracts, etc but I have always been with the knowledge that no money should part hands from the writer to anyone they send their work to unless they advertise costs through advertising (which usually ends up being in the vanity publishing fold that should be avoided.) My concern is this…I am writing this book in order to get it out of my head and I am in no financial position to contribute any financial stakes up-front, so would this mean my work would never be seen? Also, there are many cases regarding copyright infringements, mistreatment of first time writers etc and I know for a fact that after the months of torment in my head getting this out, then if I got abused or mistreated by anyone financially or contractually I would be extremely miffed off possibly to the point of insanity as I do not like not accept mistreatment of others let alone myself. What guarantees would I have this wouldn’t happen to me?
Hi Sean- This is a difficult post to answer. It sounds as if you have a wonderful novel in process and wonder where to submit it. Most help-publish and self-publish publishers require some financial investement from the author. SBPRA has many kinds of contracts which are dependent on the quality of the manuscript as well as its marketablilty, so there are no “set fees” advertised. Once you submit your manuscript, and it is accepted, then a contract would be offered – which would be enitirely your decision whether or not to accept it. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees! The big publishing houses do not require any kind of financial upfront money from the author, and even provide an advance if the manuscript is accepted (usually with the understanding that enough copies will be sold in order to cover the advance.) Since you feel you are not in a position to contribute right now, my suggestion would be to try submitting to the larger houses – and try to find an agent who will help you with that. Good luck!
I have already had a book published through Amazon’s Creatspace. For the book I am working on now, I wanted to find a literary agent. I submitted part of what I have to them and they have offered me the choice of two different contracts. The first is Option 1: Joint Venture Publishing Agreement:Bonus To You at 1000 Sales and 2) Option 2: 100 Pre-Sales Publishing Agreement. Which one would you choose?
You didn’t mention the initial outlay for either option, nor what kind of book you are hoping to publish, but the answer would depend on whether you feel you know 100 people who would be willing to pre-pay for a copy of your book. Since you already have one book out, at least your friends and fans know your writing style so it might be easier. If you feel your book is very marketable, then the bonus sounds great – but keep in mind that it takes a lot of marketing effort to reach 1000 sales. (You also didn’t mention the royalty structure for each contract.) Since you asked, I personally would go for the bonus, since I know 1000 sales is possible – but it doesn’t happen right away, so be prepared to wait. However, I hope you know that this is a decision that only YOU can make! Congratulations on having received not just one but two contract offers for your book. That is awesome!!
Option 1: Joint Venture Publishing Agreement:Bonus To You at 1000 Sales
______________________________
My novel is a paranormal romance and will end up being a triliogy. Here is what they offered me:
option1:
When you achieve sales of your first 1000 books we will pay you a $1000 bonus and subsequent books by you will be published at no charge. Thus, you can really consider this a “no cost” option. The joint venture program allows you to go from your manuscript straight to a professionally printed book as quickly as possible. We include all typesetting and cover design necessary to finish your book and will make your book available to thousands of book outlets around the world as well as direct sales from the website we will create for you. There is a one time payment $995 that covers our costs of production. In the spirit of a 50/50 joint venture, we ultimately offer a 50% royalty.
We do offer a payment plan for the $995 if needed. The agreement below may be filled out online here, including signature if this is your preferred Option.
Advantages of the JV (Joint Venture) Publishing Agreement
1.Publishing can begin immediately
2.Royalty begins immediately on book sales
3.1000 dollar bonus at 1000 book sales
4.You get a World Class Professional Author Website
5.You get a professional Press Release
6.Payment plans available
7.Exceptional Customer Service
Option 2: 100 Pre-Sales Publishing Agreement
__________________________________
Our presell publishing program will cost you nothing to publish your book as long as you can pre-sell 100 books. Many of our authors know they will sell 100 books or they just buy them right away. Many of our authors have friends and family and organizations that support their writing and they buy the 100 books to help the author. Once 100 books have been sold, either by your direct efforts or via the website that we create for you, then we will move ahead with the publication of your book from start to finish. There is a one time fee of $150 for which you receive a permanent ecommerce selling website for you to use in achieving and tracking your sales. We will build the selling website for you, it is your responsibility to sell the books. Advance sales of books is fairly normal in the industry.
The 100 Presales Option Agreement is below. The agreement may be filled out online here, including signature if this is your preferred option.
Advantages of the 100 Presale Publishing Agreement
1.Initial cost is very affordable
2.We provide an immediate World Class Professional Author Website to help you sell
3.You receive royalty plus a $1000 bonus at 1000 book sales
4.You get a professional Press Release
5.Unparalleded Customer Service
Conclusion/Summary
Hi Julie – I really don’t think I can offer advice on this, because it is something only you can decide… My focus on my first book was to get the book out ASAP and let the readers decide its worth. You are very fortunate that you don’t have any illustration costs, because that is the most expensive part when publishing a picture book. I invested a lot in my illustrator, but I feel it was a wise investment for me. Only you can decide what is best for you! Whatever you decide, I wish you the best!
Thanks.
I’ve pitched SBPRA and in a few hours I received a reply saying that they have reviewed it and would like to take the next step with me.. Who has this happened to and what should I think of it? It sounds too good to be true:(
Hi Meera,
Congratulations on the quick acceptance of your submission. It’s usually a longer process. There have been several people who have asked me about my experiences with SBPRA, and most of what I have to say is already on my website. Perhaps you should see what the next step would be? Good luck and best wishes.
I am so grateful for the info, I just submitted my manuscript of poetry, being scared to send my novels, only my best friend/editor reads those. My manuscript got accepted, I was offer two contracts, but it is hard to decide which to select, I also have my lawyer looking over them. Your info has helped a great deal and now I think I can make my decision without regrets or questions. Thank you!!
Thanks for sharing, and please keep me up to date if you get a chance. I love poetry!
Hi Sherrill,
I’m a young author and have recently bucked up the courage to send in a query which I got an email back from SBPRA about saying that they are interested in my work. As I said, I’m a young author, older than 18 let’s say, and am a little weery about this kind of thing. Don’t get me wrong I’m also very happy that they want to take a look at my stuff, but I was wondering if you have any suggestions or advice for me about the SBPRA process or just the company itself? I don’t want to get scammed and you seem like an open honest person.
Hi Sam
Please read as much as you can of my SBPRA Info page, including comments to and from others, since I have tried to be candid about my experiences with SBPRA. I have been very happy, and feel that they have helped me a lot. Their philosophy seems to be to provide opportunities for qualified writers to get their books published, to offer guidelines for marketing (which is the other part of being an author!) and also additional opportunities to invest in more extensive marketing if desired – and then to give extra support to those who excel. You sort of have to determine how marketable you think your book really is, and then decide. There is some investment involved – more if you are a children’s picture book author who can’t draw – like me! – so then you have to invest in an illustrator as well. My fourth book is now at the printer’s, so you can tell that I am very happy with SBPRA – and I have another ready to go for next year! Good luck with whatever you decide.
Hi, I’ve been reading the questions on here and I’m in a similar position to Sean. When you say ‘Bigger Houses’, who would you recommend? I’ve been offered the same two contracts as Julie more-or-less, which was quite a surprise (regarding the fact that I am a teenage writer). Obviously, I would not be able to pay the costs currently due to the fact that I am yet to leave school etc.
is SBPRA trust worthy…i mean they arent fraud cause i found about it on the internet and i am really confused about it…so can you advise me on this.
Hi Angelina -
I would have to offer you the same advice as I gave Sean and Sam. Please take the time to read through my website’s SBPRA Info page, since I have tried to answer most of the questions there. I am very happy with SBPRA, they have just published my fourth book, and I will be releasing another in 2013. Each author has to decide whether or not you feel your book is marketable, and then only you can make the final decision.
Thanks for all of the great advice. I just submitted the manuscript for my second novel to SBPRA yesterday. This morning I was having second thoughts about having done it. The information here sets my mind at ease.
Hi Jeffrey -
Thanks for letting me know, and good luck with your second book. Please keep me posted!
I am the founder/managing editor of a literary journal, a selected collection of poetry, prose, aesthetic essays and art by 20 contributors. I have self published the first two issues through AuthorHouse. My book is submitted as a combined manuscript with all the layout, fonts, cover art all press ready. I approached SBPRA because I wanted an alternative to self publishing costs. I have pre-sold books. Was this a mistake? I gave them the full manuscript without a copyright. Now I’m worried.
Hi Ann -
No worries. SBPRA will send you information about how to apply for a copyright when they publish the book. You do have to be careful that you have permission to use the collection from the contributors. It sounds like a wonderful book, and congratulations on pre-selling the copies!
Dear Sherrill Cannon
I have written a self-help book and I come from South Africa. I was offered a contract by SBPRA and I spoke to some of my close friends and even my mom – and they seem negative about SBPRA and think it is a scam as having read negative comments on the internet. I want to sign on with them, but they encourage me to look at South African publishers – which I did, but again, you get the entire: “You need an agent. We don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts. We won’t respond to your e-mail if we choose not to sign you on, but a response takes 6-9 months (or some other ridiculously long time frame).”
Your website seems very encouraging about them and I want to know if you think it would not be a risk to sign with them.
Hi Gemma,
I can only speak from my own experience with SBPRA and I have found them amazing to work with. I know that there is a lot of unfortunate negative information out there – most of it generated by a former employee (I have heard) who seems to be on some sort of witch hunt. It really depends on how quickly you wish to become published, and how much you and your family feel that your book will be marketable. (It takes a lot of effort to market a book, once it is published, so you need to be prepared to do your part to help with that too.) As I mentioned before, I have just had my fourth book published – and also my fifth book accepted for next year’s release. You are the only one who can decide what is best for you – and I wish you the best in whatever you decide. Please keep me posted…
Dear Sherrill
Like Gemma, I am also an aspiring writer from South Africa. I signed a contract with SBPRA almost ten months ago and things have been going smoothly up until now. We’ve reached the ‘Print Production’ stage, which was only supposed to take a few weeks, but has already stretched out over almost three months. The publishing process seems to have come to a grinding halt and nobody over there can give me a straight answer. I know there a lot of factors that determine the amount of time it takes to get a book published, but how long did it take them to publish your work? Some of my family members think that my novel has been set at a lower priority because I’m stuck all the way down here in South Africa. Any new information you could give me would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Gerhard,
I am sorry you have experienced delays in the print production stage of your book. My last book took a much longer time as well, perhaps because there are so many more new authors all waiting for their books to be printed. I know that books do tend to get stuck in a long production queue, which has less to do with where the author is located than which production facility is printing your book. I know there is a “when will my book be ready” selection on the SBPRA author site. http://sbpra.com/clientcare/ Have you tried submitting the “Contact Author Support Form” on the page? I will do what I can to try to find more information, but please let me know if you have tried these procedures – and whether or not you have received any news. My email is sherrillcannon@aol.com, if you would prefer to communicate that way. Please keep in mind, though, that I am merely a SBPRA author and not connected to the publishing company in any official capacity!
Thank you very much for the info, Sherrill!
I’ll try out your advice. It’s not that I’m being impatient, it’s just that this is my first novel and I’m very eager and excited to get it published (especially after all those damned ‘It’s just not South African enough’ rejection letters from the local publishers down here). I’m particularly looking forward to the cover design phase, and when the process came to a stop it made me restless and uneasy.
Thanks again, and have a happy Worker’s Day!
Hi Jimmy -
I have tried to answer that question in comments to others who have wondered the same thing… The problem is that no one can answer that question but you! I wish you the best in whatever you decide.
Hi Robin -
Please read all the comments at the end of this rather long page, since it describes the contract offers and choices provided to qualifying authors. No, it is not anywhere near as costly as Tate!!! If you have any further questions after reading all of my previous answers, then please get back to me. I’m here to help as an SBPRA author, but I have no official capacity there!
Hi Allie -
Since I am an author of children’s picture books, I really have no knowledge of procedures with novels, so I cannot answer your questions. (I am only an author there, not part of the organization.) I would think that it would be best to wait until your novel was complete, but I really don’t know. I do know that there will be some expense – because SBPRA is a “help-publish” publisher which means they help you and you help them. It differs from self-publish because you will have qualified professionals advising you. I think that the type of contracts they offer are listed here on this page in the comments somewhere (from potential authors who have asked.) I wish you the very best in your writing career, and I hope you will keep me informed.
Hi Victor – I really have to say that I have no idea. I am a children’s author, so I’ve never been asked this before. But my suggestion would be to direct this question right back to Tom Wallace! Just copy and paste your email right to him! I wish I could help – but this one is beyond me! I do wish you the best, however! A male version of “Fifty Shades of Grey” would be worth pursuing!!
Hi Sherrill,
My name is Brenda Chaput and I am a new release through sbpra. I agree with you. Strategic Publishing has been wonderful to me; as you stated they’ve been to you. I’m glad someone is letting others know. I hope others read my little message: Don’t fear to do business with sbpra (Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency), as long as they fit your needs. And check out my book: Wake Me Nots // Please Don’t Disturb Me Till I Find Out What Happens! (FINALLY, SOMEONE READ MY WORK)!! I STILL can’t believe it! But it is on its way to market.
Thanks Sherrill. I’ll be looking at your books.
Yours truly, Author Brenda Chaput………………….
Thanks for the positive input for SBPRA and good luck to you in your marketing efforts!
sbpra seems to be good by what you say but is it really trust worthy wont they use any of our information about the submitted books in a wrong way, are they really safe, is my money safe because i cant risk losing any money as i am not so rich and am just out of high school, need money for collage so i just cant risk any thing but i have already submitted my book and was accepted quite easily that’s what freaks me out i am new at this . I have faith in my book so i just signed the pre-sales contract i just don’t know if i did the right thing.
I can verify that SBPRA is trust-worthy and that they won’t use any information about submitted books in a wrong way. Yes, SBPRA is safe, and since you have elected to use the pre-sales contract there should be a minimal outlay of money. SBPRA accepts many qualified authors, with the philosophy that everyone should have a chance to let the reading public decide which books are successful, rather than restrict those decisions to a few editors with way too many manuscripts to evaluate. That is why you feel your book was accepted “easily” – although if it did not have potential, it would not have been accepted at all. I am glad that you have faith in your book, and I am sure you have done the right thing – but don’t forget that publication is only the first step. Marketing is equally important, so start thinking about ways to get your book (when it is published) to the reading public! Good luck, and please keep me posted!
thanks a lot your words are really soothing you are kind and speak well, thank you and please help me with any other information you have about the market.
Hi Sherril,
I have read all of the above comments and found them very useful, so firstly, thanks! Secondly, I read that you have done quite a bit of work in marketing your books (talking about / reading your books to kids at schools, signing sessions, discount prices etc), however, after reading my contract offer – Contract Option 1 (same as Julie’s Post – 22 Feb 2012 above) it reads ‘We include all typesetting and cover design necessary to finish your book and will make your book available to thousands of book outlets around the world as well as direct sales from the website we will create for you’. In ‘making available’ I read that as get it out there and let the readers decide its value (as you stated). I have several questions:a)What other marketing did they do for you?
b)What marketing would you be expected to do for yourself?
c) If you’re really happy with your book (kids book with great illustrations completed) would it be possible to be successful in the marketplace based on the book and SBPRA’s efforts or would you have to work hard yourself to market the book?
Thanks in advance, John.
Hi John – Thank you for your nice inquiry. As far as I am concerned, an author always has to help market his books. SBPRA gets your books into the marketplace, and offers ways to send out a press release as well as a notice to list of email addresses they ask you to send to them (for friends, family, and anybody you can possibly think of who might help you spread the word about your book!) But you will need to use some of the social marketing tools available – and also help maintain your website. Some of the ones I use are Facebook, Pinterest, BookBuzzr, Authors Den, and LinkedIn. Interestingly enough, there was just an article about this on a blog, from Michael Hyatt who is the author of a best selling book Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. He wrote, “I wasn’t expecting the publishing company to make me famous or make my book successful. I’ve been in this business a long time, and that’s not how it works. If you expect this, you will be disappointed. I assumed the role of Chief Marketing Officer for this project. Why? Three reasons: No one knows the product better than I do. No one can be a better spokesperson than I am. No one has more at stake than I do.” I find this excellent advice, and hope that you do too!!! Congratulations on receiving a contract, and good luck with your book!! Best wishes…
Hi Sherrill,
Just want to say THANKS for writing such words as: “I can verify that SBPRA is trust-worthy”. I truly feel that they are, by experience, because I’m very happy with them and the way they keep up with me. They keep me informed; and they have done for me everything they promised. My book is out there. I love my cover. I’m on the Nook and Kindle. I’m published!! To those who read this, check out my cover (sbpra.com/Brenda Chaput)WAKE ME NOTS). It is sooo nice to have a publisher who CARES.
Sincere Regards,
Brenda Chaput (sbpra author)…………………….
Thanks so much for your positive comments, Brenda. It’s nice to have more verification!!
Hello Sherrill,
I’ve been reading some of your “HELP” advice. Mentioning “Client Care” is very important for new authors. And let me say: Client Care has always gotten back to me. And it’s neat, too, that SBPRA has a place to go, for worried authors. Strategic is very aware that new authors might worry; and is the reason for “Client Care”. Strategic worries too. Especially about new authors. New authors can think just about anything, because of all the fraud out there. They know it, so they have what new authors need: A CARE-PLACE FOR CLIENTS.
I really do love your work, Sherrill. And THANKS for answering worried authors.
My very best, always,
sincerely, Brenda Chaput (SBPRA AUTHOR)………………………
Sherrill,
Thanks for your great posts! I have recently had a novel accepted by SBPRA. However, after reading some negative comments about them, I have been hesitant about going with them.
I guess like any business there will always be some unhappy clients that are usually the loudest.
Thanks again,
Jeffrey Littorno
Hi Jeffrey – thanks for the positive conclusion. One always has to remember that a publishing company like SBPRA strives to allow talented authors a chance to become published authors, instead of waiting for an editor to get around to approving a manuscript, especially if you haven’t been able to find an agent. The success of your book will be up to you, because you will have to have faith in its marketability, and then get the word out about your book. You can also pay for extra marketing help, but I’ve done most of mine myself – and the more successful my books become, the more free help I get! Best wishes, and keep me posted!
hello, I have reviewwed about SBPRA. I have been already offered a contract. I’m not yet 100 % sure to agree. The company requires $175 in order to publish That’s a lot of money to put out, since I’m from the Philippines and still a college student. My family is second-guessing about SBPRA since it may just be a scam r what. I have also read SBPRA in Writer complaints. “Writer Beware has received hundreds of complaints and advisories of fees for literary agency services, fees for publishing, and paid critique and editing referrals. Other questionable practices include selling marketing services to authors, charging authors to attend book fairs, and referring clients to other branches of the business without revealing the connection.” How’s that? can’t decide.
I agree that $175 is a lot of money, especially for a college student no matter where you live! But SBPRA does charge a fee to publish – and usually less than many of the others. When you publish with a “help-publish” publisher, you contribute to the publication of the book, but usually your royalties at some point will help cover the initial investment. Unfortunately this takes a relatively long time, so you must be prepared for that. Writer Beware has some sort of hang-up about the company, so I wouldn’t rely too much on that – but it is true that there are other fees along the way. This is true of most help-publish and self-publishing opportunities – especially since you retain all the rights to the book. All of these fees are voluntary, however, so you can invest as much as you feel comfortable about. No one forces you to purchase any of the extra services. You should keep in mind that if you wish to have a minimal investment in your book, you should submit to the traditional publishers. The downside is that takes a LONG time! So it’s really up to you – How much you can afford, and how marketable you feel your book is! I wish you the very best in whatever you decide.
Hi Sherrill,
I’ve just about completed my follow-up book with SPBRA and have no issues with the contract or the publication. Certainly a good deal more professional than Author House (whom I would recommend people avoid). My question to you is the Foreign Rights/International Fairs. Have they worked for you? If so, which one/s were successful? Have you received any Foreign Rights deals and how long did the process take for you?
Hi Neil -
I am glad things are working out for you! Yes, the Expos are working for me (I think) since I am hoping to be part of an agreement with the Chinese government for a couple of my books. But you are fortunate, in that it takes a long time to establish a relationship for foreign rights. SBPRA has diligently pursued this path for several years, and it is beginning to work for them. So the newer authors will benefit a lot more quickly than those of us who have been part of the negotiations from the beginning. I would advise taking part as soon as possible, at least for a year, to see how things develop. It’s a wonderful opportunity for those of us who have participated for several years, and an even greater one for those who can take advantage of the groundwork which has already been laid! Good luck, and best wishes!
Hi Sherrill,
Firstly, may I offer my congratulations on a stunning run of publishing and selling success.
Secondly, I would like to add my weight to the argument in favour of going with SBPRA. I have just completed the process of getting my first book published and must say that I have experienced nothing negative with SBPRA. On the contrary, the process was smooth, and the staff friendly and efficient. It is true that I have had costs along the way, but at no time were these costs unknown to me before I decided to go with the company.
Like most people I tried the traditional route, but I was faced with the problem that has been highlighted here of not being considered due to the fact that I was an unknown, and “don’t come back again without an agent”. This being the case, I would like to suggest to anybody out there who is unsure of what to do, you have a simple question to ask, “Do I want to invest nothing and wait for a lucky break that may never come, or should I take matters into my owm hands and speculate to accumulate?”. SBPRA works.
Finally, as I have a variety of young people in the family, could you advise me as to which age group your books are targetted? I may be in line to buy one or two. My own book, if you think someone may be interested is Nostradamus: Killing the Myth and looks in detail at the works of Nostradamus, disproving the idea of him being a seer of the future.
All the best,
Mark Harrison.
Hi Mark,
Thank you for your nice endorsement of SBPRA. There are many of us out there who are happy with SBPRA, but we tend to focus on promoting our books and working with the publisher, rather than complaining. It’s always nice to get another vote of confidence!
Congratulations on the publication of your book, and I will go take a look at it. My books are rhyming children’s picture books, for ages 3-8, and they try to teach good manners and consideration for others, disguised as fun books! (They are all also on Freado.com, and Bookbuzzr.com where there is a better selection of the “look-inside-the-book” feature than there is on amazon.)
Hi Sherrill, I was offered a contract with SBPRA. Do you know if they ever turn any books down? It seems they replied very quickly, and did not even use my name in the email. It seemed more like a form email. Just curious if I actually got selected or if they send an offer to everyone.