Preparing a manuscript
What a submission-ready draft looks like, and the checks worth doing before anyone reads it.
Author Success Center
Everything an author needs to publish across borders, explained plainly.
A long-term publishing career is built on understanding the mechanics: what you are granting, what each stage costs, and how money finds its way back to you. This is the reference we give our own authors.
The journey
From manuscript to global distribution.
Eight stages. Hover or focus a stage to read what happens in it, and what you are asked to approve.
Stage 01
Manuscript
A complete draft and a written assessment of what it needs before anything is scheduled.
Stage 02
Editorial
Structural, line and copy editing, then a final proofread against the typeset pages.
Stage 03
Production
Cover, interior typesetting, accessible EPUB and print-ready files from one source.
Stage 04
Metadata
Categories, keywords, comparative titles and descriptions written for each retailer.
Stage 05
Translation
Where a market is agreed, a translator matched to genre and register, then edited in-language.
Stage 06
Audio
Casting, direction, engineering and mastering to retailer specification.
Stage 07
Licensing
Territory strategy, submissions to publishers, negotiation and contract tracking.
Stage 08
Distribution
Channel selection by territory and format, then royalty reporting on a fixed schedule.
Guides
Publishing guides, written for working authors.
Short, practical notes on the decisions that shape a book's life. Longer versions are published on the blog as they are written.
Editorial levels explained
The difference between assessment, structural edit, line edit, copy edit and proofread.
Choosing markets
How to decide which territories are worth pursuing first, and which can wait.
Metadata and discoverability
Why categories and comparative titles move more copies than advertising early on.
Reading a contract
The clauses that matter: grant of rights, term, reversion, accounting and audit.
Budgeting a publication
Where money genuinely has to be spent, and where it usually does not.
Copyright and IP
What you own, and what you are granting.
Nothing here is legal advice. It is the working vocabulary you need before you read a contract or take proper advice on one.
You own the copyright
Copyright arises automatically when the work is fixed. Registration, where available in your country, strengthens enforcement but does not create the right.
Licences are divisible
Print, ebook, audio, translation, film and serial rights can each be granted separately, per territory and per term.
Term and reversion
Every grant should state how long it lasts and what happens if the licensee stops exploiting it. Open-ended grants are worth questioning.
Moral rights
In many jurisdictions you retain the right to be identified as author and to object to derogatory treatment of the work.
Infringement
If a copy appears without a licence, evidence and dates matter more than volume of complaint. Keep records of your files and correspondence.
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Country-specific registration steps will be added here as we publish the regional notes. [Placeholder]
Translation
How a book becomes readable in another language.
A translated edition succeeds when a reader in the target market forgets it was translated at all.
Translation is rewriting
A literary translator produces a new text that carries the same effect. Word-for-word accuracy is not the goal; equivalence of voice is.
Localization
Measurements, idiom, cultural reference and humour are adapted so a reader in the target market is not stopped by them.
In-language editing
Every translation is edited and proofread by a second native speaker before it is typeset.
Author approval
You see the translation brief, and where you read the language, the finished text, before publication.
Audiobooks
Audio publishing, from casting to quality assurance.
Audio is a separate edition with its own production standard, its own retailers and its own royalty line.
Casting
Narrators audition against your actual pages, not a generic sample. You hear the shortlist.
Direction
A directed session catches mispronunciation, pace drift and character inconsistency while the narrator is still in the booth.
Engineering
Editing, noise floor control and mastering to each retailer's technical specification.
Quality assurance
A full listen-through against the manuscript before delivery, with a written QC note.
Rights licensing
Licensing a book into other languages.
Rights are divisible. Each language below is a separate conversation with its own publishers, advances and reporting.
Spanish
German
French
Italian
Portuguese
Dutch
Arabic
Japanese
Chinese
Korean
Royalties
How rights turn into payments.
Six things worth understanding before you sign anything, and before you read your first statement.
01
Royalty base
Check whether the percentage is calculated on list price or on net receipts. The same number means very different money.
02
Format rates
Print, ebook and audio are normally rated separately. Digital rates are usually higher because there is no unit cost.
03
Advances
An advance is paid against future royalties, not in addition to them. Earning out is the milestone that matters.
04
Sub-licence splits
When a publisher licenses your book onward, the agreement states how the licence fee is divided.
05
Reporting cadence
Statements should arrive on stated dates, with units, territory, format and returns visible.
06
Audit rights
A well-drafted contract lets you inspect the accounting behind a statement. Use it if the numbers do not reconcile.
Download center
Checklists and templates.
These are in preparation. Each becomes a download as it is finished; nothing is listed here that does not exist as a working document.
Manuscript readiness checklist
PDF, in preparation
Translation brief template
PDF, in preparation
Rights and territory planner
Spreadsheet, in preparation
Royalty statement reading guide
PDF, in preparation
Questions
Author questions, answered.
Do I have to publish with you to use these guides?
No. Everything on this page is written to be useful whether you work with us, with another publisher, or independently.
Will you tell me what my book is worth?
We will tell you what comparable titles have achieved in the markets you are considering, and what the realistic range looks like. We do not quote figures we cannot support.
Do I keep my copyright?
Yes. Copyright stays with the author. What a publishing or licensing agreement transfers is a defined set of rights, for a defined territory, format and term.
How long does a translated edition take?
Allow three to six months for translation and editing of a full-length novel, plus production time. Shorter or technical works vary; we schedule per title rather than by formula.
Can I license only one language?
Yes. Rights are divisible by language, territory, format and term. Licensing one market does not commit the others.
Next step
Talk it through with an editor.
Bring a manuscript, a contract you have been sent, or a market you are considering. We will tell you what we would do and what we would not.