Why should I use TEACH Services, Inc. as my publisher?
It is best to have your title published under a well-known imprint. Most national chains and book distributors will not purchase self-published titles. We have an excellent reputation and distribution system that makes your book available nationwide, and even internationally. We also offer excellent features such as e-book publishing. For additional information on our imprints and printing go HERE.
Will ABC's buy direct from me, or my non-Adventist publisher?
Would you as an Adventist bookstore buy a book from a non-believing publisher, selling mostly worldly books, offering you an unknown book, from an unknown author, that is purportedly a believer just like you?
Unlike other, non-Adventist publishers, our retail buyers and bookstores know that we only publish materials that are in accordance with Adventist beliefs—thus saving them the worry and time of reviewing new titles or hassle of getting them approved before purchasing. Bookstores also know they can purchase 1 or 100 books with fast service and huge savings on bulk shipping.
Why do I need BISAC, ISBN and LOC codes on each book?
Most chain and larger bookstores require correct bar codes on each book for their electronic scanning at check-out counters. Your title will be registered with Books In Print using the industry’s BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communications) topic codes, ISBN (International Standard Book Number), and LOC (Library of Congress) number at no extra charge to you.
Is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) involved in my payments?
We are required by law to report all royalty sales over $10 to the IRS as follows:
For USA Authors:
For those of you who receive a royalty payment and are a United States citizen, you must mail us a completed W-9 before a royalty payment will be mailed out. You can find a W-9 copy online at: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf
For Non-USA Authors:
U.S. tax law requires us to report royalty payments made to entities and persons residing outside of the United States and to withhold and remit taxes on such royalty payments to the IRS. You may also be required to report and pay taxes to your own government, but we are not involved in this process, and we must follow U.S. tax laws on this matter.
The standard tax-withholding rate applied to royalty payments made to residents outside of the United States is 30%. If you are a non-U.S. author and your country of residence has an existing income tax treaty with the U.S., provided you furnish us with a valid IRS Form W8-BEN https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf and/or other required documentation, you may be eligible for a reduced rate of U.S. tax withholding on the royalty payment you receive. Without the completed forms we are required to withhold, report, and pay 30% in taxes. To learn more about this requirement, please refer to the IRS 515 Publication https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p515.pdf and go to page 39 and 41 to find your country under the "Copyrights" section.
Should I have the copyright in my name?
When you wrote your book, your book’s content was automatically copyrighted. However, you may want to have the copyright officially filed with the Library of Congress by filling out the required paperwork yourself—there is a filing fee for this process. Copyright information can be found at www.copyright.gov.
How long does it take to get my book published?
The typical timeline for publishing a book is 6-9 months, though more complex projects may take longer. This includes time for editing, typesetting, design, and proofing stages where you review drafts and final proofs. NOTE: Delivery estimates do not include weekends or public holidays.
The publishing schedule depends on how quickly you provide feedback on drafts and proofs. Significant changes or delays you make during production can also extend timelines. Even small delays in returning proofs can add much longer increases in delivery as now other jobs are ahead of you. A three-day delay on approvals could result in 7-12 days increase on delivery. Adding addition work (i.e., formatting requests, indenting, adding addition copy or updating material all will require additional time. Requests or adjustments to artwork and artist's scheduling can increase delivery too.
Your Publishing Agreement will provide an estimated total production timeframe. With this, you can estimate how long each stage — editing, design, cover, and marketing implementation — will take. For example, on a 270-day (9 months) schedule:
Editing: 45% or 4 months
Interior Design: 35% or 3 months
Cover Design: 20% or 1.5 months
Marketing Implementation: 10% or 0.5 months
Do I have to pay for my job all at once?
No. Most books are paid in three (3) equal installments. One-third down when you begin, the second third when editing of your manuscript is complete, and the last third before your book goes to press. (Six-, nine-, and twelve-payment options are also available.)
May I sell my book retail, through seminars, book signings, etc.?
Yes. TEACH Services sells your book via our Web site and to wholesalers. We encourage you to sell your book by any means you choose and retain all the profits from the sale.
What happens should I be unable to finish my book? Can I get a refund on my Publishing Agreement?
Sometimes an author (or heirs when an author passes) find that they will be unable to finish the publishing process. Getting a refund on your Publishing Agreement is simple. Just request a refund by filling out this form HERE and choosing "Cancel my Publishing Agreement". Canceling after a book is completed has different requirements.
NOTE: You are still financially responsible for all work already completed. Review the steps below for more information.
EDITING (45% of total time–minimum 7 hours) includes pre-processing and scheduling all work steps, team selections, permission research, advance review and reading, and independent editing work contracted. Back cover write-ups (full, medium, and short) and biographical write-ups. Artwork selection and creation, charts, stock and custom photography, graphs, graphic editing, oversite review, and team meeting time. See our Style Guidelines (PDF) for details.
TEXT DESIGN (25% of total time–minimum 1 hour) includes layout and design of interior pages, scheduling all work steps, team selections, production review, and oversite.
COVER DESIGN (15% of total time–minimum 1 hour) includes the "pick-one" cover designs, oversite review, and creating 3-D samples. Finished cover designed (includes ISBN barcodes, BISAC Code, QR Code, and links) based on the final page count of the title.
MARKETING IMPLEMENTATION (15% of total time–minimum 1 hour) Marketing scheduling, copyediting of creative works, other marketing/promotional work, and advertising/promotional reservations or implementation which includes:
- Church poster design and creation.
- Bulletin insert design and creation.
- Banner Ads.
- Bookmarks front and back design and content writing.
- Church announcement copywriting.
- Scheduling and pre-placement of ads.
- Copywriting and final adjustments per author requests.
- Links and reviews.
Any advertising booked may have cancellation charges from the advertising company, and those changes will be deducted from your refund along with any shipments for the return of materials. All Royalty Advances applied to your work will be canceled.
As all sections begin simultaneously but finish at different times, there will be a minimum of 10 hours of work deducted from all refunds.
Publishing Trends
From an article written by Steven Piersanti:
- Book volume has exploded: Annual US publishing now reaches ~3 million new titles (2.3M self-published, ~500K-1M traditional), a tenfold increase from 2005's 282,500 titles.
- Market saturation is severe: Over 40 million ISBN registrations exist, yet the market isn't growing. Industry revenue stayed flat at ~$25 billion from 2000-2020, representing a 38% decline when adjusted for inflation.
- Sales per book are plummeting: Average new books sell fewer than 300 print copies through retail channels. Even among top publishers, only 6.7% of new titles sell over 10,000 copies in their first year.
- Bookstore placement is highly competitive: Each shelf space has 100-1,000+ titles competing for it. For example, business sections typically stock 100-1,500 titles, while hundreds of thousands exist.
- Marketing burden falls on authors: Publishers have shifted marketing responsibilities to authors to maintain profitability. Author platforms and marketing plans are now crucial parts of book proposals.
- Books mainly sell within communities: Most books now only reach the author's and publisher's immediate networks, as readers prioritize books considered essential within their communities.
- Industry faces ongoing disruption: Thin margins, high complexity, since Covid-19 hyper inflation has driven printing costs up, along with intense competition, and supply chain issues. This constant turmoil in publishing has created frequent closures and consolidations.
How do book royalties work?
Simply put, a book royalty is the amount a publisher pays an Author for the rights to publish their book. Royalties at TEACH Services are calculated as a percentage of the SRP (Suggested Retail Price).
Authors also have plenty of ways to make money besides selling their books. They can book seminars/talks, generate new clients, consult, launch a product, become a coach, or build a personal brand. Of course, having a book that sells a million copies is excellent, but that’s an infrequent event.
For publishers, royalties are the only way to earn money. It doesn’t matter if an Author gives fifty talks to packed rooms of thousands each year. If those talks don’t translate to direct book sales, they have no value for a publisher. Most Publishing Agreements include tiered royalty rates.
TEACH Services offers the following rates:
Trade paperback and hardcover sales: 10-12%
Mass-market paperback sales: 5-10%
Audiobook and eBook sales: 25-50%
TEACH Services pay royalties based on the SRP price of the book. That means for a $10.00 book where the royalties rate is 10%, you will earn $1.00 per book sold.
NOTE: Some publishers pay Authors “royalties on net sales.” Publishers sell to book outlets at different prices. For example, a publisher might offer a sizeable wholesale discount to a national distributor while offering a lower discount to bookstores that only buy a few copies. Royalty rates that are based on net sales (after deducting all the price differences, deals, and operating costs), may have a higher royalty percentage but offer less income to the Author. For example, a book with a $10.00 SRP that is sold at 70% discount would be a $3.00 sale. If TEACH Services pays a 10% royalty on a $10.00 book, you would receive $1.00 for each book we sell, while another publisher paying 12% of Net would pay the Author $0.36—about a third of what TEACH Services pays their Authors for this same sale.
Book royalties sound great at this point. You’re making money on every sale, and 10-12 percent of the SRP on every sale the publisher and their distributors sell can add up very quickly.
Who makes all the profit on a sale? We sell most of our books to bookstores with discounts of 40-50% and to distributors with discounts of 50-70%. They promote in store and online, hire sales people, take care of rent on their store, utilities, advertising, etc.
What is the difference between Exclusive and Non-Exclusive Publishing? Will either option allow me to have someone else print my book at the same time as TEACH Services?
If you choose Exclusive Publishing with TEACH Services, we will be the sole publisher and printer of your book. This means we handle all promotion, printing, and distribution. Because we do not have any competitors, we are able to offer double the royalty rate compared to Non-Exclusive Publishing.
With Non-Exclusive Publishing, you can have other printers for your book in addition to TEACH Services. However, since buyers can get your book from another source, our promotional efforts are cut in half. Since we don't control all distribution and sales with Non-Exclusive Publishing, we can only offer the lower standard royalty rates.
What is a Royalty Advance and how does it work?
When TEACH Services, Inc. is interested in acquiring a book manuscript, it usually offers the writer an advance against royalties, or Royalty Advance for short. You may have heard about an Author receiving million-dollar advances for hot-topic or in-demand books. Most advances are much more modest. There is no average advance, but five and six-figure advances are relatively rare, with four-figure advances being far more common.
A Royalty Advance is assigned to your Publishing Agreement to reduce your upfront costs. Royalty Advances are against future royalty earnings, which means that for every dollar you receive in your Royalty Advance, you must earn a dollar from future book sales before receiving any additional royalty payments.
So, for example, if you were to receive a $1,000 advance with a royalty rate that works out to $2 per book sold, you only need to receive sales of 500 to recoup the Royalty Advance. Royalty Advances are guaranteed, we will not require you to pay this back just because it does not sell well. For additional information see HERE and the infographics below:
When are royalties paid?
After a title is finished and released, the author will receive monthly sales reports for the current and next calendar years (you can request additional years at no charge if desired). These reports show all sales for the previous 365 days.
In the spring of each year starting around March/April royalty checks are mailed with a yearly report. There are a few notable exceptions:
- Minimum check amount is $10.00
- Any individual sales that create a royalty payment of over $1,000 will be paid at time of sale
RIGHTS QUESTIONS:
How do I request a Review Copy of a TEACH Services book?
TEACH Services will provide reading copies of most titles we publish for those wishing to translate or print after rights are approved and paid. Copies desired before rights are approved must be purchased online.
I want to use material from a TEACH Services, Inc. publication, or translate a book published by TEACH Services, Inc. into another language. Do I need permission?
Answer: Yes. Whether it is just one chapter, a small segment or excerpt (e.g., “only a few recipes”), or the entire book, if TEACH Services, Inc. used someone else’s copyrighted material in the publication, we may have permission only for that specific use. Please apply for usage from us just like you would from any other publisher you would seek permission from. Fill out the Rights Request Form and we will return to you cost estimates in a few days.
How are Rights charges calculated?
The royalties we pay our authors and agents serve as the starting amount for determining rights fees. These fees vary for each title based on your specific requests and restrictions. For example, restricting sales to certain countries like Mexico or regions such as South America, the size of print run or views/listens and adjusting for income disparities between the U.S. and your target markets, will impact your final fees.
COMMON SCAMS AUTHORS RECEIVE:
The publishing industry is experiencing a rise in sophisticated scams targeting writers. Many sites are reports from members of those who have been tricked or barely avoided fraud by scrutinizing suspicious offers. With generative AI making impersonations easier to execute, these scams are harder to detect. It's not just authors at risk—publishers, literary agents, and film professionals are also targeted. Remember: if an unsolicited opportunity seems too good to be true, approach it with caution!
Below are a few author scam sites:
