White Cottage
Publishing Company

We will make your book stack up with the very best!

For many new authors and even for very seasoned authors, their new first choice is to use the services of a self-publishing company or co-publishing company. Authors pay these companies to walk (shepherd) them through the publishing process. Many of these companies do not offer editing services, but give the client a list of possible editors whom they can hire on their own to edit their work. Some companies will edit the manuscript, but with a very hefty price tag attached. After the manuscript is edited, these companies then use a software program (often without human hands and human oversight) to typeset the manuscript into a book. In the end, it is not unusual for an author to end up disappointed with the overall quality of the book and frustrated with the entire process.

While most self-publishing companies do offer to assist the author with marketing for additional fees, their help in this area is usually minimal. Some of them will see that their book is listed in the Ingram Distributor's Database (which then goes to bookstores), and then make sure the book is listed on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and other related book-selling sites. Other companies will only list the book on their own website where it is unlikely that many people will actually find the book to purchase it.

While many of these companies feel proud of themselves for doing all this "marketing work," authors soon learn that they will have to "peddle their book on street corners." The harsh reality is that listings in the Ingram Database and on book-selling websites do not necessarily translate into book sales. Unless authors are willing to do their own marketing work, the prospects of people knowing about and buying their book is grim. Those who have their own website, send out their own review copies, schedule their own public events, and perhaps have their own following due to a radio show appearance, or sending out a newsletter, etc, will have a better chance at getting their book into circulation.

The fact is that "there are self-publishing companies and then there are self-publishing companies." There are some companies that do good work, but the author has to pay dearly for the privilege. There are other companies that use a flashy website, coupled with a high-powered pitchman to convince the author they are the ones for the job. Then, when the author signs on the dotted line, the company takes the author's manuscript, pushes it through their "assembly line" "cookie-cutter" book development process and produces a very generic and low-quality product that impresses no one. Even worse, they find out that these companies' so-called "marketing program" does not translate into book sales.

Typically, these self-publishing companies will print your book, then make you buy your own books from them at a discount. When they do, if they do, sell any of your books, they give you a royalty on the sale of your book. Imagine how many authors feel when they have to buy copies of their own book!

White Cottage Publishing Company is not your everyday book publishing company. We don't use fancy websites and slick pitches to convince you to pay for a cut-rate "assembly-line" book production process. We also don't charge high prices to give you a mediocre-quality product. We believe that producing a good quality book doesn't have to be expensive and that it is wrong to sacrifice quality at the altar of lower production costs. Your book is a direct reflection of you. We build your book with that understanding.

Say good-bye to the likely rejection of traditional publishers and their 18-month publishing cycle. Say good-bye to the self-publishing companies that only pay you royalties instead of giving you the total profit on your book sales, and make you BUY back copies of your own book from them. Say hello to the flexibility and control of White Cottage Publishing Company self-publishing combined with the full-service support and confidence of a book publishing company, all under one roof.

A well-edited book can be your best legacy!

The backbone of every good book is quality editing. For that reason, we don't farm out our editing to third parties! And, we don't make you pay extra to hire someone on your own to edit your manuscript. We understand that typos, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and factual errors can quickly discredit a book and demolish potential book sales! For these reasons, we do all our editing in-house. On the other hand, we don't edit out large chunks of your book because the words may not be "politically correct." Authors still maintain control of their manuscript. We use "track changes" which allow each author to either accept or reject each edit we make, thus maintaining control of the content and style of his or her book.

Our services don't stop at editing. Unlike many "assembly-line" companies, we customize our typesetting by presenting the author with multiple typesetting choices so their book will look the way they want it to look. We also don't mind if the author wants to use multiple pictures in their book. (We do however, have quality standards on our pictures, check out our Interior Design Page to learn more.) Many companies limit the number of pictures authors can place in their book and some even discourage illustrations. We like illustrations and diagrams in books and strive to develop them at a reasonable cost. We understand that in the end, it is the author's book and he or she should be in control of the process.

When it comes to book marketing, we are not going to promise that your book will be the next best-seller. We partner with CreateSpace and Lightning Source, the premier "print-on-demand" printing companies in the world, used by most self-publishers today. They will get your book listed in the Ingram Distribution database. They will also list your book on the Amazon website, the Barnes and Noble website and because of those listings, other bookselling websites will list your book.

The real truth is that books don't sell themselves! Authors often find that selling a book requires more effort than writing a book. Different authors have different ways of selling their book. Some authors are already frequent guests on radio and television programs, and can use these venues to sell their book. Authors have to develop their own marketing program, including a system of Press Releases, a Website, a Website Marketing Program, and other promotional options.

When you choose White Cottage Publishing Company, you retain all rights to your book! If you go with a traditional publisher, they will own the rights, and the success of your book will be dependent on whether or not they stay interested and are willing to continue to print more copies. With our services, you may keep your work available for distribution through online bookstores and retailers for as long as you like, or suspend or withdraw availability should you decide to go exclusively with any traditional publisher at any time of your choosing.

We don't pay you royalties because it's YOUR book. You can print as many or as few as you like with our print-on-demand service, and you sell them and keep ALL of the profit. Once your book is printed, we are out of the picture, except for when you want more books printed if you are using our printer that only works with publishers. We will NOT take a commission on this. You pay the printer for printing and shipping. In the event that bookstores order your book for their customers, we will pass along to you the ENTIRE amount owed you. If you choose your own printer, then you will deal directly with them, but we cannot guarantee that your book will be in the Ingram Distribution system and we cannot guarantee that it will be in any bookseller's system. You will need to check with the printer you choose to see what they will do for you.