Below is the actual review of BookPros for the 2008 edition of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing

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BOOKPROS
http://www.bookpros.com

FORMAT OF BOOKS: paperback and hardcover

GENRES ACCEPTED: BookPros states that it only accepts a certain percentage of submitted manuscripts, although it receives hundreds of inquiries a month. The low acceptance percentage, BookPros says, is due to the nature of their publishing program, the cornerstone of which is traditional book PR campaigns and traditional distribution. Most submissions aren’t accepted because the book’s PR hook isn’t strong enough. The company accepts all genres of books, with the exception of poetry and romance. In order to help determine a book’s PR potential, BookPros conducts a free analysis of each title submitted for consideration (http://www.bookpros.com/free_book_analysis).

PUBLISHING FEES:BookPros has three publishing imprints: Bridgeway Books, Synergy Books, and Ovation Books. The fees range from around $13,000 to publish under the Bridgeway Books imprint to as much as $35,000 for the top-tier Ovation Books imprint. BookPros does not offer set package prices; instead, the previously mentioned "media analysis" is conducted to determine what level of services an author's book would require based on its media and distribution potential. These individual services are charged by line item and presented to the author as a custom package. Services are not available on an à la carte basis.

Bridgeway Books:　The base price for this package (www.bookpros.com/bridgeway)is $4,950; total price typically ranges from $13,000–$16,000, plus the cost of printing a minimum of 500 books. This package includes, but is not limited to, the following services:

Included in the base price of $4,950:

• U.S. Copyright Office registration in the U.S.
• ISBN
• Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN)
• R.R. Bowker’s Books In Print registration
• National direct wholesale distribution through Ingram Book Group and Baker & Taylor, including listing in catalogs
• Listing in BookPros’ catalog, which is distributed at BookExpo America and mailed to bookstores around the U.S.
• Listing and monitoring of your book with online booksellers: Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com
• Submission of book to Amazon Search Inside and Google Book Search
• BookPros’ management of stock and inventory of book, which includes management of the author’s book at a third-party warehouse and transfers to author, company, and distributor (author pays fees associated with shipping and handling)
• Monthly sales and activity reporting via e-mailed reports to authors
• Guidelines for successful book signings and a list of the best bookstores for events
• Sell sheet: An illustrative sheet designed to sell an author’s book, for use by the author in scheduling book events (for Synergy Books and Ovation Books titles, the sell sheets will also be used by the distributor’s sales force when pitching the book to buyers)

Mandatory Additional Fees For the Bridgeway Imprint:

In addition to the base fee, there are additional fees an author must pay to participate in the Bridgeway imprint, which as indicated above put the total package between $13,000 and $16,000, not including printing.

• Editing: At minimum for Bridgeway titles, a professional copyedit is required and includes grammar, syntax, spelling, and content. Additionally, BookPros offers professional full edits that include a copyedit as well as critical analysis of plot development, character, flow, consistency, etc. Copyediting is priced on a sliding scale from $.034 to $.021 per word based on the total number of words (longer is less per word). Full edits are priced on a sliding scale from $.056 to $.035 per word, depending on word count.
• Layout: Includes manual formatting of the book, with up to 1 chapter and 3 sections per every 10 pages, as well as title page, dedications, table of contents, drop caps, etc.
• Cover Design: Pricing includes custom design of the book’s front, rear, and spine; creation of back cover text and author bio; 2 reviews of the design; 1 optional stock photo; and the development of up to 2 additional design files for special cover enhancements. Cover design price for Bridgeway titles is $1,995. (For Synergy titles, the price is $2,495, and for Ovation titles the price is $2,895.)
• Print method: Digital or Offset, depending on the quantity—inventory will be stocked in a third-party warehouse.
• Custom web site created to mirror the aesthetic design of your book. This web site consists of seven unique pages: a homepage with embedded blog, about the author/about the book, book excerpt, purchase page with shopping cart, media, events and contact information.
• Personalized marketing services including a copy of BookPros’ Literary Marketing Guide, pre-release contact of targeted bookstores, a list of local bookstores with full contact information for the author’s use, marketing training via webinar, and a marketing strategy created by BookPros with input from Phenix & Phenix.
• Professional book publicity campaign: BookPros uses Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists (http://www.phenixpublicity.com), its corporate partner. Services vary depending on book and campaign length, but basically include strategic planning; a media campaign including television, daily newspapers, radio, print and online; press materials creation; and detailed reporting. Bridgeway Books offers a 6-week local and online media campaign for $3495 (plus any associated postage).

Synergy Books: The base price for this package
(http://www.bookpros.com/synergy) is $6,950; the total price typically ranges from $19,000–$24,000, plus the cost of printing a minimum of 1,500 books. This package includes everything in the Bridgeway Books package, plus:

• Cataloging-in-Publication (CIP) registration
• Direct distribution in the U.S. and Canada through Midpoint Trade Books
• Publicity and marketing updates to distributor
• Print method: Offset—requires minimum run of 1,500
• Publicity campaign, including media training, pre-publication mail outs when applicable: Minimum of 9 weeks for $6,950 (plus any associated postage, galley book fees, etc.)

Ovation Books: The base price for this package (http://www.bookpros.com/ovation) is $7,950; the total price typically ranges from $25,000-35,000, plus the cost of printing a minimum of 2,500 books. According to the literature, BookPros only offers this imprint to five to ten titles per year and is extremely selective in determining the titles that qualify for it. The package includes everything in the Synergy Books imprint (but with a different distribution program), plus:

• National distribution through National Book Network, Inc:
• International distribution opportunities in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand through National Book Network, Inc.
• Print method: Offset—requires minimum run of 2,500
• Publicity campaign: Minimum of 3-4 months—fees range from $3,000–$3,500 per month (plus any associated postage, galley book fees, etc.)

RETURN OF DIGITAL COVER AND INTERIOR FILES: Per BookPros’ contract, departing authors take all of the book’s artwork and production files with them, should they determine to leave BookPros, without further fee.

RETAIL PRICE OF AUTHOR’S BOOK: BookPros works with authors to set a retail price. For example, a visit to the Bridgeway Books website found books between 215 and 228 pages ranging from $13.95 to $16.95.

PRICE AUTHOR PAYS FOR BOOK: BookPros manages the printing process for each author. Although book printing prices are not listed on the website, BookPros requires printing larger runs of books, from 500 books to 2,500. BookPros does not print the books themselves; instead, they act as a "print broker" and take competitive bids from a wide range of printers both in the U.S. and abroad.

Since you are paying all of the setup fees and printing costs, BookPros does not require you to work with one of its printers; however, if you choose your own printer, the publisher will require you to present it with three samples of the printer’s work and reserves the right to reject the printer’s services. If they approve your printer, you will have to manage the printing process yourself, from start to finish, including shipping and customs clearance if your printer is outside the U.S. Whether you are printing small digital runs or offset through BookPros, the printing markup is harder to quantify as pricing for larger print runs can vary. However, BookPros provided a cost of $3.50 per unit for 1,500 books of a 250 page, 5.5 x 8.5, standard paperback. Average pricing for this type of print run directly from a printer is about $2.38 per unit. Based on this one example, the printing markup is 47%.

ROYALTIES PAID TO AUTHOR: BookPros does not take a royalty. Authors receive 100% of the amount paid by the distributor. Unless the author is selling the book through their own website or directly to the consumer, author payments from the distributor are as follows: a Bridgeway Books author will make 45% of the retail price, a Synergy Books author will make 36% of the retail price, and an Ovation Books author will make roughly 32% of the retail price, depending on the wholesale discount offered by the distributor. It’s harder with this company to figure out exactly how much the author’s profit will be on each book because there is no way to know exactly what the author paid for printing. The book printing cost of $.015 per page and $.90 per cover, which is often quoted in this book, does not apply here. The majority of books published by BookPros are printed offset, and are therefore individually cheaper to print.

Let’s say you publish under Bridgeway Books, and your publishing package total is $14,000 (this is the cost to edit, design, publish, and publicize your book). Assume also that the book will retail for $15.95, and the cost to offset print 1,500 copies of your book turns out to be $3.50 per book. So your total cost for printing is $5,250.

Your royalty per book is 45% of the retail price, which is $7.18. If you subtract the printing cost ($3.50) of the book from this royalty, you have a net of $3.68 per book.

If you were to sell all 1,500 books through retailers, you would receive:

1,500 number of books
x $3.68 net author royalty per book
$5,520 net profit

You invested $14,000 for the initial package. If you sell all 1,500 books, you recoup $5,520, but still have another $8,480 to go before you’ve paid for this investment. Obviously, this is not the best way to make your money back. So let’s look at a different scenario that includes direct selling, as well as retail sales. To recoup your investment faster, you will need to figure out a way to engage in direct selling. When you sell the book direct (i.e., "back of the room" sales at an event or direct from your website), you make the full margin between what you sell it for and what it costs to print, because there is no retailer or distributor to take a cut. So, in this case:

$15.95 retail price
– $3.50 printing cost
$12.45 net author royalty

Let’s say you plan to sell 40% of your inventory through retail and 60% direct. Of your 1,500 books, that’s:

600 for retail

900 for direct

So for the retail sales, you would make:

600 number of books
x $3.68 net author royalty per book
$2,208 total net author royalty for retail sales

For direct sales, you would make:

900 number of books
x $12.45 net author royalty per book
$11,205 net author royalty for direct sales

Your total net sales would be:

$2,208 net royalty for retail sales
+ $11,205 net royalty for direct sales
$13,413 total net sales

It gets you closer to recouping your initial $14,000 investment, but you are still $587 in the hole, and keep in mind that these scenarios are not taking into account miscellaneous shipping or storage fees. Also, you can’t just assume you will sell 1,500 books that quickly. It could take you months or even years to sell your entire inventory—or you may never sell it. On the other hand, if your book takes off through publicity and marketing, you may sell your entire inventory within a matter of weeks. There’s no way to predict whether or not a book will be successful.

NOTABLE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT: The contract isn’t available online; you’ll only receive one if your book is accepted. I do not like that you cannot see a contract prior to submitting your book. However, because I have worked with the publisher in the past, it sent a contract to me.

The contracts for the imprints are similar, but there are some differences, mostly in the media sections. This review only covers the company’s Bridgeway contract.

The biggest problem with the contract is that there are no timelines on any of it. There is no time period set forth as to how long it takes to edit your book, do the interior layout, cover design, website development, etc. BookPros certainly provides the services it says it will, but when you have a contract with no deadlines, you are a slight disadvantage when it comes to knowing when aspects of your book’s production and publication will be completed.

The first five sections spell out the services BookPros provides and the prices of each service. If you are unclear about any of the services or prices, you should request clarification.

Subsection 5.11.10 states that the author is responsible for all shipping and postage fees incurred during the publicity campaign, up to a cap of $500, after which the publisher must seek permission from you before spending more. The author will be invoiced for fees and has 15 days from the invoice date to pay the invoice.

Section 6.1 states the minimum number of books the author must print. Subsections of 6.1 state that the author is not required to use the publisher’s printer, but any other printer they use must provide three sample books and is subject to the publisher’s approval. Further, the publisher will not manage the printer found by the author, so you’ll be on your own dealing with the printer.

Printer payments are also outlined in subsection 6.1.1., which states that the author will receive a price quote including printing costs and shipping and handling fees, which the author must pay 50% of within 15 days of receipt. The rest of the payment is due 10 days from the author’s notification that the book is ready to print.

Sections 6.2 and 6.3 cover off-site storage (not to exceed $100 per month/every 2,500 books) and annual service fees ($250).

Section 7 addresses expenses associated with additional services requested by the author that are not outlined in the contract—such as last-minute additions of images or indexing—stating that the publisher must inform client of expenses associated with these services.

Section 8 deals with accounting and payments to the author. Since each imprint has a different distribution arrangement, the amount that you make for retail sales varies, but the Bridgeway Books contract we looked at offered 45% of the retail price of the book.

Subsection 8.1.1 also states that the author will be subject to various fees charged by the distributor, which are here undefined, and the author may ask the publisher to provide definition and documentation of the fees. Payments come from the distributors, and the method of payment is very different from other self-publishing companies. Typically, the distributor pays BookPros about 120 days after the reporting period. Then BookPros pays the authors about 15 days after that. So, for sales made in January 2010, an author would be paid on or about May 15, 2010.

Section 8.2 deals with accounting and payments.

Subsection 8.2.1 says that returns will be charged against the author’s royalty payments and clarifies the payment schedule. Payments of net amounts (meaning sales less any of those undefined fees) will be paid:

50%—120 days after the close of each accounting month, with a 30-day grace period

50%—150 days after the close of each accounting month, with a 30-day grace period

Subsection 8.2.2 says that if the author doesn’t make enough money to cover distributor fees, the publisher will carry the negative balance forward, but also has the right to demand payment of the author (due within 30 days of receipt).

Subsection 8.2.5 says that all returns are charged against the author’s royalties, and the distributor will withhold a percentage of royalties as reserve payment for returns. If no returns are made, or the reserve is unspent, the money will be returned to the author a year from the date it was pulled for the reserve. The specific percentage isn’t stated, but the company tells me it’s approximately 15%.

Subsection 8.2.7 indicates that the author will be paid monthly, once his or her royalties equal $50 or more; otherwise, payments rollover until the next period.

Section 11 clarifies that not only do you own the book’s content, but also you own the layout, the design, the cover art, etc., which is important. BookPros allows you to take all the production files with you, so you won’t have to recreate the cover art or reformat the interior of the book should you determine to print the book on your own or with another publisher.

Section 12 says that the publisher will provide the author proofs to review changes made in preliminary revisions of the book. The publisher will also provide one opportunity to review the finished layout and edits. After these proofs, there will be a final proof; any changes the author makes after the final proof may be subject to undefined fees. Authors will have five days to review the proof, which is reasonable if you want to keep production of the book moving.

Section 13 says that the author indemnifies the publisher against any claims should the book, allegedly or otherwise, violate someone else’s copyright or intellectual property, which is reasonable. You plagiarize, you pay.

Section 15 says that either party can cancel with 60 days written notice. If BookPros cancels, they will refund all of the monies you paid that have not been spent in the production of the book. If you cancel, you will be refunded up to 15% of the monies you have paid at the time of cancellation. BookPros says this is because when you sign its contract, the publisher makes "commitments to different vendors and provides a lot of information and expertise to the author that can’t really be quantified." Nevertheless, 85% of a $25,000 contract is quantifiable: you’ll lose at least $21,250 if you cancel your contract after paying the full fees associated with your project. BookPros says it will consider special cases for terminating the agreement (death, illness, etc.), but this is not included in the agreement, so if you sign up with them be prepared to follow through or pay anyway.

Section 17 states that any arbitration over the agreement is subject to the laws of and must occur in Travis County, Texas. Such a clause is standard.

Section 19 says neither the publisher nor the author is responsible for acts of nature that may hinder the publishing of the author’s book—such as a flood, fires, strikes, etc. Basically, if the printer’s offices collapse in an earthquake, the publisher is not responsible for the fact that your book cannot be printed on schedule.

Section 20 states that the entire agreement is contained in the contract and that any amendments must be made in writing and signed by all parties.

AUTHOR FRIENDLY RATING: BookPros is one of the publishers that does not provide a contract or fee schedule to querying authors until it has accepted their book, which is generally a bad sign—in fact, at the beginning of the book, I say that this will often land a publisher in the "Avoid" section of The Fine Print. However, because I have worked with BookPros in the past and they were willing to send me a contract to review, I have more information about the company than I would if I were simply an author querying the publisher for information.

BookPros provides a high-quality service with a dedicated staff of people who know the publishing business. Is the BookPros model worth the money? That is something you’ll have to decide yourself. As with any business venture (or investment of any kind, really), if you can’t afford to lose the investment, then don’t make it. That’s true whether you’re paying a few thousand dollars or $13,000–$35,000 with BookPros.

Whether you use Bookpros or anyone else, the odds are that you will not recoup your publishing investment. You have to get out there and sell a lot of books to make your money back under the BookPros model. Unless you already have a following of some kind, are on the speaking circuit, or have other ways to sell large quantities of books, you have to be prepared to personally get out there and work hard at selling your books. That’s not to say you won’t have sales through BookPros’ distributors, but book sales are not automatic. No matter how good BookPros is, if you’re an unknown author, you still have an uphill battle.

The success of any book, especially those from new authors, comes down to the participation of the author. So, you need to be sure that the BookPros model will work for you. If, after you sign the contract and pay, you have second thoughts, it may be too late. BookPros makes it clear that once you pay and they start working, you are not getting your money back for services they’ve provided—and that isn’t just the stuff you see, like editing and design. Publishing a book requires a lot of background work with distributors and registrations, too. So keep that in mind, and don’t sign up with them unless you’re serious about seeing the project through to completion.

The BookPros model relies on book distribution and traditional book publicity to make a book sell. Can a $3,000-a-month publicist make your book sell? Every book is different, and even the greatest publicist can’t guarantee results. While BookPros’ corporate partner, Phenix & Phenix, is a highly respected publicity firm—the company handles publicity for some major publishing houses—whether that experience will pay off for your book is not something you’ll be able to measure until you’ve completed a publicity campaign.

Will BookPros provide a service that is $20,000 better than anyone else in this book? If your book takes off, then yes. However, if your book isn’t very successful, you may not think so.

I know the people at BookPros well. They are a professional, dedicated group of individuals, and the company will provide a publishing experience similar to what you might encounter at a traditional publishing house, with large distribution opportunities and experienced publicists. If you can afford to make the investment, and if you have realistic expectations, you will have a fantastic publishing experience.