About A.P. Lee & Co., Ltd.
| A.P. Lee & Co., Ltd., Publishers is dedicated to publishing the finest quality books, eBooks, CDs, and DVDs. Our graphic artists create exciting original designs that reflect not only the work's content but also its spirit and artistry. We want our cover designs to say as much about our authors as their words do. Book interiors are designed to assist the reader with the flow of the work. Our printers can use first-quality recycled paper to help save our planet from excessive deforestation, as well as any other book-quality papers. We believe the pages of our books are designed and printed to be as beautiful as the covers and subject matter. Marketing is done inhouse, in partnership with each author. A.P. Lee & Co., Ltd.'s books are distributed by Pathway Book Services of Keene, NH. Our wholesalers include Ingram Books, Baker & Taylor, and Brodart in the US. Our retailers include Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kindle, and various independent book stores around the US. Our books are available on-line at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and many other fine retailers. We publish and distribute CDs and DVDs, which are available through this website and our auther website of www.backwardsbooks.com |
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Authors who wish to submit their original, unpublished work to us should either e-mail us at
APLeeCo@sbcglobal.net, or snail mail us at A.P. Lee & Co., Ltd., PO Box 340292, Columbus, Ohio
43234, a proposal package that includes the following:
- a detailed outline that includes a summary of each of the chapters of the book along with a
one-page summary of the book's entire contents. If you are submitting a CD or DVD, send the
CD or DVD. Sorry, but we do not accept material that has previously been published on-line,
such as in a blog, on a website, or as an eBook.
- a statement of why you believe your material fits within our publishing guidelines.
- 3 sample chapters, including the first chapter and any others you feel represent your best
work. We will not consider your work unless it is in professional manuscript form and in
compliance with the writing, grammar, and formatting standards of the Chicago Manual of
Style. If you are submitting a CD or DVD, send the CD or DVD.
- an author's biography that identifies all of your previously published works and/or details
your credentials in the topic of the book, CD or DVD (such as academic degrees, personal
experience, specialized training, etc.).
- an identification of your platform, such as the numbers of people whom you are currently
reaching with your work -- such as documented sales of your previous work, confirmed
listeners to your radio show, number of your newsletter subscribers etc. If you have
previously self-published, send sales data from the time of publication, including number of
units sold and at what retail price.
- a list of the activities you are willing to engage in to promote your book, such as personal
appearances, blogging, book tours, etc.
- a self-addressed, stamped return envelope with sufficient postage to return your manuscript,
CD or DVD to you, if you want it back.
Publication Process in General
After we receive your proposal, the owners will decide whether they are interested in seeing more
of your book. You may be asked to submit three chapters or the entire manuscript. Someone will
advise you in writing within a couple weeks whether the Company is interested in publishing your
book, CD, or DVD. We accept only a small percentage of the submissions we receive.
Once a book, CD, or DVD is accepted for publication, you will be asked to sign an exclusive
publishing contract that details what each party will do, including an initial marketing plan tailored
to your specific work. Your work will be assigned one of our ISBN numbers and be published
under the A.P. Lee & Co., Ltd., name. We will register the copyright for you, but it will be in your
name.
Royalties are determined at the time of contracting. Royalties are paid quarterly in April, July,
September and December.
It can take nine months or more to publish a book. CDs and DVDs can usually be published within
one month.
Editing is the first step. We expect an author to provide us with a professionally edited finished
manuscript. We may then make some edits of our own. How much time it will take cannot be
determined in advance because it depends on each party's turn-around time. Although we do not
change the message of your work, the Company does insist upon proper English grammar,
sentence structure and punctuation, and Chicago Manual of Style formatting, in addition to a well-
written manuscript. We also expect the author to create any Bibliography or Endnotes. If any
publisher permissions are required to reprint quotes contained in the manuscript, those must be
obtained either by the author or us before the book can be published. The author must pay the
licensing fees. We will create the introductory pages (such as title pages, copyright page, table of
contents, etc.) and any end pages (such as author biography). CDs and DVDs may require editing
as well, which we will do and have you review and approve.
Book interior and cover design work generally takes one to two months. CD and DVD cover design
takes weeks to a month. We have designers who create four-color covers and black and white
interior designs known to be acceptable to the book industry, but we are open to the author's
designs and suggestions. We ask book buyers for input on a cover design in order to maximize its
sales potential, so an author's suggested cover may not be in the book's best interests. We have
no limit on graphics, photographs or customized text treatments. For a first edition, we will publish
either a hardcover volume with dust jacket or a trade paperback in sizes compatible with current
book industry standards.
We start marketing the book, CD or DVD, as soon as we have a final cover design and interior
design. We also set the publication date. On-line retailers, like amazon.com, borders.com and
barnesandnoble.com start taking prepublication orders usually four months before the scheduled
publication date.
Prior to the publication date, an experienced book printer will make the first print run of your book.
We usually use Friesens, Inc., in Canada. Its website provides more printing details. The author
receives ten free copies of the book and can purchase as many as he/she wants from us at a
significant discount.
We also publish eBooks under an exclusive contract with Kindle. Kindle editions are distributed
worldwide. EBooks may be released at the hard cover book publication date or at some time in the
future, depending upon market conditions and sales.
Just prior to the publication date, the printer will print and ship books to our distributor for
warehousing and sale. The distributor takes all orders, fills them, collects the money and pays the
Company ninety days or more after the sale.
Just prior to publication, the CD or DVD manufacturer will create and ship copies to us for our
inhouse inventory. CDs and DVDs are sold through our website. If a CD or DVD sells particularly
well, we may offer it through Amazon.com as well. Payment is made through our Company's
PayPal (or Amazon) account.
Our marketing program, in addition to soliciting good reviews for your book, will be customized to
your particular book. Marketing always includes distributing press releases to radio stations, TV
stations, newspapers, magazines, and former and potential customers. In addition, a book's
marketing program may include distributing eFlyers through New Leaf Distribution (the largest
book wholesaler to metaphysical stores), Amazon "Look Inside" feature, Amazon Author Page
maximization, on-line search engine optimization, blogging, soliciting post-publication reviews
from national and regional reviewers, special events at bookstores, postcards to bookstores,
pitching the book to book buyers, and much more.
All sales are tracked daily and cumulative reports are given to the author quarterly when royalties
are paid.
Updated 11/16/20
| INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE AUTHORS |
| General Information |