Publishing

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Peter Fludde has its origins in the founder helping friends to self-publish. As the number of projects increased, with the associated critical reading, Peter Fludde & Partners came into being, with a small editorial team sharing the work of manuscript assessment, and identifying of individual needs and ways to meet them. We are now a small independent publisher able to offer a variety of services, from informal advice to full publication and distribution. Peter Fludde remains happy to advise gratis on the basics of entry into the world of self-publication, which has almost entirely lost the old stigma associating it with what used to be called the vanity press - always a questionable term, given the various famous authors who began by paying for publication of their work, not least Miss Jane Austen.

Submissions

We give serious consideration to all manuscript submissions, which fall broadly into three categories:

1. Submissions which we do not wish to handle. This is rarely or never because a text lacks all merit. The most usual reason for non-acceptance is that we do not believe we can do our best work in that instance. This may be due, for example, to the manuscript’s subject matter, stage of readiness or specialized genre.

2. The second broad category of submission, and for understandable reasons the less common, is a finished manuscript of clear commercial potential. When a book is clearly market-ready we tend, on principle, to recommend approaching (initially) a larger publisher or agent with greater means and weight to get behind the author and promote their work as it merits. In such a case we are happy to make an agreement to work with the author on the submission of their text and, on request, fulfilling part or all of an agent's role. Notwithstanding this approach, if an author wishes to be published  under Peter Fludde's imprint or self-publish with our assistance, we are of course delighted. 


3. In the third category fall manuscripts of undoubted literary interest whose authors wish or need to organize publication independently. Sometimes the author will have tried the 'traditional' route and been summarily rejected; more often a writer will wish to place their work before the public without embarking on the lengthy and often frustrating cycle of application and rejection by agents and mainstream publishers. We will usually offer to take on such manuscripts, working with the author to see them through to publication.

Acceptance 



Peter Fludde will only formally accept a submission once an author has been fully informed regarding the process of textual finishing, set-up, printing, publication and distribution. We believe it is important that clients know that none of these stages (except perhaps the last) is beyond a creative and well-motivated individual to achieve. We do not wish to make a mystery of the trade. A publisher's role, as we see it, is chiefly to spare the author work and worry and encourage them to write. The services we offer are no different to what happens in any traditional publishing house; the difference is that our authors share in the investment and receive by far the greater part of any sales income. They are effectively partners in a co-operative publishing venture.

Publication options

Once an author understands the process and if they wish to be supported in publishing their book with a paid service rather than going it alone, we will work closely with them to prepare the text for printing and publication, either under their own imprint or as a Peter Fludde book. If the latter, we will also arrange trade distribution of the title. This means that it will appear on the UK booksellers' database and will be available to order from high street book shops and online sites. It also makes it more likely that book shop managers will agree to host a talk by the author or a book launch. Books on our list will carry the Peter Fludde & Partners name and logo on the spine and inside on the copyright page.

Fees


Our policy is to match and if possible undercut the lowest fees we can find advertised for comparable services. Fees depend partly on the length and content of the submission. Setting up a heavily-illustrated manuscript in which the images are closely integrated with the text requires more time and skill, as does editing, especially proof-reading, a long novel.

Sales income, discounts and percentages

If a book is produced with our help but not under our imprint the author receives the whole retail sale price; we do not take a percentage. Where a book is added to our list as a Peter Fludde publication, we may agree, in a simple clear contract, to take a fair percentage of the wholesale price of each order to cover distribution costs. When we arrange trade orders via booksellers, the distribution company expects a discount off the stated retail price; against this must be weighed the immense potential of one's book being available nationally, in the high street and on demand.



Caveat

As we hope has been made clear above, in its role as an author services provider Peter Fludde is not a traditional publisher as the term is generally understood. We work with the author, cost our part of the work and charge fair fees accordingly, payable via a proportionate deposit and payment on completion. Be aware that a known and reputable traditional publisher will never ask for fees in advance of work. They operate on quite a different basis, more risky for them and therefore heavily loaded in their favour in terms of editorial control and share of sales income. Simply put, they pay the editing and production costs, which they expect to recoup from sales. You may see websites presenting themselves as this kind of traditional publisher which do not make it clear in the first instance that you will be paying up-front for editing, production and placement of your text. This is a perfectly understandable business strategy but it does throw the responsibility on the author to proceed with care - caveat emptor!

To enquire about publication or to submit a manuscript, please email publish@peterfludde.com