- your family history
- your novel
- memoirs
- travelogues
- poems and ballads
- letters
- out-of -print books, journals, photographs, event programmes or any facsimile publications
- books of specialist interest.
These are your options:
Self-publish
The author may wish to self-publish with our assistance.
We will format, proof read and edit the two required files – the cover and the interior - to a print-ready standard. This the author may take to any printer, however Clachan can direct you to reputable internet printers, if requested.
The author will be the publisher and responsible for purchasing the ISBN. S/he will also be responsible for ordering the required number of copies, their sale and distribution.
Alternatively, the author may publish through Clachan Publishing,
in which case we will format, proof read, edit the two files and sell the author any number of copies required. The advantage is that the author may purchase as many or as few copies as required on an ongoing basis to avoid over-ordering. The author may wish to sell these through social media outlets, to bookshops, at book launches etc. The title will also appear on Amazon, Barnes Noble and many other websites. The author will receive royalties on these sales at approximately 8%.
In both the above cases we will sell you copies of the book at a price discounted from the list price by 30% to 50%, depending on number ordered.
Our price for book production
Proofreading, editing and publishing is charged at £1.50 per thousand words. This price involves Clachan receiving a largely accurate, proofread text requiring only minor editing. Substantial revisions and late alterations will incur additional charges. A Style-based Word document is preferred.
Inserting images will be charged at £2.00 per image. These should be of high definition (300 dpi). More may be charged if cleaning and enhancing is required,
The cover will usually cost £20 to £50 if an image and the book’s blurb are supplied, depending on quality of image and complexity of layout.
An ISBN can be supplied for £10. An ISBN is required by all websites and bookshops. It is not required if the book is for private distribution.
EBook editions of print books Clachan has already prepared will usually cost £50. Otherwise a new text will be subject to the proofreading, editing and publishing prices quoted above. It will also include costs for an ISBN, preparing the cover and inserting images.
Statutory Legal Deposits and other bodies require/request one free copy each of any print publication in the UK. Clachan will dispatch these and charge 50% of listed price to the author + P&P. These are The British Library, Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford, Cambridge University Library, The National Library of Scotland, The Library of Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, The National Library of Wales, The Linen Hall Library, Belfast (non-statuary).
Our books are also distributed through the following web sites:
We offer a wide range of book types: paperbacks, hardback books, books with dust jackets, spiral bound books, pocket books, photo books.
We offer full colour covers and full colour or black and white interiors.
You can reduce your costs by following these guidelines.
However, we specialise in assisted self-publishing. So if you need help with proof reading, copy proofing, formatting or editing we can assist you as indicated above.
Even professional writers use proof-readers. It is a special skill and not every well-educated person is good at it. It certainly does not involve just using spell and grammar check.
We will proof read the entire text for you, at the price quoted above. However, if we consistently find we have to make corrections we will ask for an additional proof-reading fee.
In some cases we may wish to save you money and return the text to you for further work.
Use style-based formatting
This involves creating headings and normal or indented paragraph styles etc. through the word processing programme style box. This creates consistent styles that can be altered easily and uniformly. Authors should avoid using direct formatting, i.e. creating headings by increasing the size of normal text. Also they should avoid inserting additional spaces between paragraphs using the Enter key. Rather, they should create additional space between paragraphs and headings through the style box. New pages should not be inserted into on-going text as the position of page breaks will change as editing is done. Insert a new page only when required, e.g. for a new chapter or to mark a full page illustration.