Printing your own book

We carefully consider all manuscripts that are submitted. Because we pay for the printing and distribution to shops, it is important that we are confident that viable sales will cover these upfront costs.

Many local interest books are well researched and valid pieces of social history, but cover a narrow or offbeat subject which are unlikely to generate sufficient sales to cover costs.

There are occasions when we will agree to print such projects at a competitve trade rate at the author's expense. We do not regard such local projects as 'vanity publishing'. They are a genuine piece of local history which may be read by a small circle of people. Often such books are submitted and accepted at local libraries and contribute towards a local area record.

We will advise on minimum viable print runs, often these days using our digital presses, and suggest ways of distributing books. However, we will also point out the costs and the risks involved in personal publishing.

Finally, our judgement is not infallible. We have rejected manuscripts in the past that have occasionally been self published and gone on to sell very strongly. Likewise, our predictions for your own project could be over optimistic.