First of all, the decision to self-publish should not be viewed as failure following unsuccessful attempts to secure a royalty publishing deal. We often hear best selling authors telling us how many publishing houses turned down their manuscripts before securing that first royalty based publishing deal.

There are hundreds (thousands, perhaps) of manuscripts lodged with literary agents and publishers for great lengths of time, while their authors wait for a decision with growing uncertainty. Only a small percentage of these books will ever find a route to market by conventional means. Traditional publishers are by necessity risk-averse due to the mechanism by which books get onto the shelves. Publishers almost always have to stand the cost of books that the wholesalers cannot sell.

The Tagman Press’ publishing paradigm is different because we have our own print division and commercial publishing divisions. When a manuscript is received, one of our publishing panel gets an overview of the book based on the synopsis and any information you provide about your target audience and rationale and then decides if the book is to be read or rejected. As with any publisher, this part of the process is where great books can be lost in amongst the bad, so the importance of manuscript preparation and support materials cannot be understated.
If the book is to be read, it will be queued for review or given directly to a reviewer if the initial review was particularly positive.

If the reviewer thinks the book has potential, a case will be made to the publishing panel who will then explore the commercial possibilities for the book.

This approach to royalty publishing takes a lot of resources and, in order to ensure we continue to offer authors the best arrangement we can, we greatly appreciate authors giving us the courtesy of not distributing their work to other publishers or literary agents while our decision is pending.

If we believe a royalty publishing arrangement is appropriate for your publication, we will discuss with you in detail how we plan to move the project forward and draw up a marketing plan and timeline.

Should we not be in a position to offer a royalty arrangement, our consultants will advise you of what self-publishing options may be available through our print division, but please feel that you can submit your manuscripts to other publishing houses or literary agents.

Please note that for many publications (particularly those aimed at niche markets) a third way, the joint venture (JV) may be most beneficial to all parties. This often works in a similar way to performance and sales related royalty agreements. An example would be a publication for a niche market that cannot be reached through retail, where the marketing plan would require approaching the end-user directly.

Such a project would begin with a heads of agreement detailing responsibilities, ownerships and exclusivity rights.
In many cases, the decision to self-publish is taken at the outset by the author, e.g.

Niche markets where the author is known to his /her audience
Local markets where the author can canvass local outlets and generate interest for their work in the community
To retain complete editorial control of the work
Where the author already has a route to market, e.g. through his or her own business

Whether your ambitions for your book includes great sales success or just the hope that your work touches a small number of readers, The Tagman Press can help and advise you. Should your requirements fall outside what we view as publishing per se, you may be better served by our parent company, CLE Print Ltd who offer a full design, Print and fulfilment package.

The Tagman Press firmly believes that the way books reach their target audience is changing, particularly with the ability to find content (not just synopses) online. Our aim is to empower authors to get their work in print, whether through conventional means or by giving them the tools and resources to do so themselves.

Why offer self-publishing?

The decision to offer a royalty-based publishing deal to an author is not solely based on how good we believe that book is. It depends on a complex analysis of risk with some or all of the following points affecting that risk:

Other books we are currently bringing to market
Current market trends
Anticipated future market trends
The cost of bringing the title to market balanced against the estimated possible return

This means that any manuscript, however good, has only a limited chance of hitting a publisher’s desk at the right time to get a royalty deal. By offering a self-publishing service, the author has an economical way to get their book in print and we get a second chance to spot potential best sellers!