Writing For Humanities-Ebooks
THINGS AS THEY ARE, AND AS THEY MIGHT BE
Things as they are you will know already.
Sales to libraries are low and diminishing; private purchases a dream. Academic titles are ludicrously priced, and rarely return enough in royalties to cover your costs in consumables and permissions. Notional royalties (as little as 5% of receipts) are bad enough; but the true royalty rate on overseas sales can be as low as 1.1%. Much of your work is pulped. Library space is at a premium.
Humanities-Ebooks intends that the largest share of a book's sale price should go to the author. We publish elegant, high quality ebooks, well designed, easy to use, and affordable by individual scholars, graduate students, and smaller libraries. If you wish, your title will be protected by encryption and licenced to one computer. New titles are peer-reviewed. Publication is rapid, and revisable.
PROPOSALS
To propose a title, however provisionally, please email the appropriate Editor as listed on the Monographs, Insights, or Contacts page. If you have an idea for a peer-reviewed monograph series dealing with cutting edge research in your specialism, and of which you would like to serve as General Editor, please email
D-i-Y PUBLISHING
Authors, editors and small publishers may find it useful to sell finished work online for a low commission without the expense of e-commerce and encryption. To sell finished ebooks through Humanities-Ebooks, please contact richardgravil@hotmail.com
REMUNERATION
Humanities-Ebooks is a profit-sharing enterprise. There is no fixed royalty.* In April each year the auditor will declare a dividend at whatever level ensures the distribution of all net profits between authors and editors (that is, after the costs of credit card processing, licensing and encryption, running costs, peer review fees, where applicable, and any salaries).
Dividends may be as low as 15% in the first two years, but should exceed 50% of net receipts after three years and 70% may be attainable. Authors of free-standing titles will normally receive 100% of the declared dividend. In the case of works belonging to an edited series, 20 to 25% of the dividend will go to the editor.
The profit-sharing scheme is designed to relate authors’ remuneration directly to the sales (and sale price) of their own work, while giving each author a vested interest in everyone else's success, and in the overall profitability of the enterprise. The higher the turnover, the higher the royalty rate. Online paid promotion will be undertaken, and its cost effectiveness reviewed each month. There will be some print advertising of the site, and review copies of new titles may be circulated, but it will be in each author's interest to use all networks available to them to promote their own work and the website in general. Humanities-Ebooks will provide promotional copy for this purpose and will encourage design input from authors.
- Costs incurred in formatting work that is not submitted in production-ready form will be deducted from the sums due.
"WHO IS" Humanities-Ebooks?
See Personnel