Not exclusively. Our editorial and design experience is mostly with Christian products. We don’t have a specific statement of faith, because we respect the wide perspective of Christian viewpoints in both fiction and nonfiction works. That said, it would be safe to say we wouldn’t publish blatant anti-Christian viewpoints or immoral content. Beyond the Christian market, we have also published teacher resources for the general education market.

There are two aspects to this answer—the production of the book (which we will answer here) and the way the book is recorded within the context of other traditionally published books (see FAQ #3 below).

Basically, if an author pays for the services of creating a book, this author is self-publishing. There are other terms—subsidy or the not-too-nice vanity publisher (do you like to be called “vain” because you want to get your book out?). Some self-publishers go to great lengths to try and convince you they are not “self” anything, but as the saying goes, a wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf. Why not just be what you are and if there is bad press out there, then do your best to be a better self-publisher? That is what IMD Press is striving to be.

Compare the above model to the so-called “traditional” publisher (it’s not the best way to describe conventional publishing houses, but the name has stuck). Authors submit works to publishers (almost always through author agents these days) and if a publisher takes you on, they usually pay you a royalty advance. If your book sells more than your advance, you get royalty payments on those sales. But the reality is, traditional publishers are often unwilling to take on new authors and the ones they do, don’t get as much marketing support as their top few bestsellers. The reason is simple economics—the bestsellers cover the costs of the others, most of which are losing money. Now, most major Christian publishers are owned by mainstream publishers, and they operate the same way. So it’s not hard to see why self-publishing has become a viable alternate to the daunting task of getting published via the traditional route.

There is a lot more we can say about the different publishing channels out there. To find out more about this and other topics, sign up for our free newsletter.

Yes and no. Yes, in that you are subsidizing (paying for) the production of your book—hence the subsidy publisher label. And we don’t mind getting called a “vanity” publisher (see FAQ #2 above if you’re saying, “huh?”). What’s more important is understanding how a self-published book is recorded within the book world. There are three areas that concern this: ISBN, LCCN, and copyright. Each of these items are covered in FAQ #5-7 below. Remember, in this context, self-published or IMD Press as the publisher has an impact for these three items. If after reading FAQs #5-7 you still aren’t sure, just call or email us and we’ll be happy to help you.

No. We use the similar digital presses, but we print 100 copies on up. That is why we call our process short-run printing. Visit our home page to see why we believe this is a better deal for you.

See FAQ #3 for the info about self-published vs. IMD Press publisher. We generally use our ISBNs (the 13 digit number on the barcode of the book). Numbers are sold in blocks of 10 and up. Our Basic Service includes this number. This number, called the International Standard Book Number, registers the book with the Books in Print database through the authorized U.S. agency, Bowker. When someone enters the ISBN searching for your book, IMD Press is listed as the publisher of record through Bowker. This isn’t an issue because you still have all your books and have 100% control of what you do with your books. But if you want to become the publisher of record, you can buy an ISBN number directly through Bowker, making you the publisher of record. The cost for a single number directly through Bowker is $125. Some self-publishers make a big deal about having your own ISBN, but there are other issues when you do (see FAQ #5 below). It’s just not that big a deal. If you’re interested in this route, we can help you with the process. In either case, we provide the EAN barcode next to the ISBN. Bowker charges $25 for the barcode. Brand X POD Publisher may charge you, too. We don’t.

More numbers! The LCCN is the Library of Congress Control Number. There is a catch about this number. The government does not issue LCCN (and CIP data) to self-published books. But they will issue numbers for small publishers. In fact, 40% of titles they accept are from publishers who publish five titles a year. The CIP number Cataloging in Publication “creates bibliographic records for forthcoming books most likely to be widely acquired by U.S. libraries.” So, if you have any desire to get a CIP or LCCN (similar #s but hey, it’s the government!), you need us to be your publisher. Remember, there is no guarantee you will be accepted. Oh, and by the way if Brand Y charges you $100 to complete this service for you—you’re getting fleeced—it’s free. We’ll be happy to complete this for you with our Basic Service.

First, you already own the copyright. U.S. copyright law basically says once you put something in a “tangible form” (book, photo, music, web, etc.), it automatically becomes copyrighted for a lot longer than you’ll live (your lifetime plus 70 years). You can register the copyright, but that is not necessary to actually own it. The benefit of having it registered is if you get sued by someone who claims you took something they wrote (created, etc.) first, the court can look up the copyright records. And here’s another one that friendly Brand Z will be happy to complete this service for “only” $179. What’s involved? Paying $35 online and sending a pdf of your book. We’ll even give you the pdf and walk you through the process. Aren’t we nice?

Sure. Click here. We think you’ll like our easy-to-understand contract. What does it say? The cliff-notes version basically says you tell us that your book is legal and ethical, and we agree to complete the publishing job to your satisfaction. Because you get all your books from us—there is no long-term POD commitment—we are done, contract wise, when you get all your books. We do use some of the legalese terms, but we explain them in plain English (gotta love lawyers for their elegant vocabulary).

The native production files are available for $100 (you do get jpegs for marketing purposes as part of the Basic Services). We work with the Adobe Creative Suite (CS4 currently). You may still need to purchase the fonts if your new book designer doesn’t have them. You probably won’t be able to do anything with these files (unless you are a designer and you use the same programs), but any book publisher will be able to modify them. This allows you to take your book files to any other publisher (self or otherwise) and they can edit or work with the design files.

Most folks don’t care, since they reprint their book with the same publisher (because it’s usually cheaper to do it that way), but if you want to go somewhere else (or you become the next Christian bestseller, our congrats!), you have the option. By making it an option, we can save most folks more by only having those who want this option to pay a reasonable fee for the time it takes to archive the files and get them to you. If you decide later you want the files, we’ll honor this agreement, provided nothing has happened to the files beyond our control (we back up files multiple ways so this shouldn’t be an issue).

Average turnaround is about 90 days. This is the time from when you send your formatted manuscript to when we deliver your books. Additional time might be needed for extra editorial work or complex projects, but we will give you an approximate delivery before the project is started. We also have a rush schedule that shortens the turnaround to about 45 days. The fee for this optional service is determined on a per-book basis.

See the details under Getting Started and the forms under the Forms tab. Follow the Manuscript Guidelines and complete the Publishing Services Worksheet. Each project is handled on a personal level and we can help you navigate the numerous choices. Regardless of the services you choose, you’ll receive excellent service with our goal of providing you complete satisfaction!

The base price of 100 copies is $1295 for a 5.5 x 8.5 inch perfect-bound (paperback) book of up to 152 pages. Books are printed in page groupings of 8 pages (called signatures). Costs for each additional 8-page signature vary based on book trim size and quantity ordered. See the Cost Chart below for two trim sizes and four typical short-run book quantities. Remember this price includes a custom professional typeset (not MS Word) interior and custom full-color cover (not templates).

Note: we also print 8.5 x 11 inch trim size. Typically this size is used for manuals or workbooks and their page count can vary widely based on the number of words, graphs, charts, or spaces for writing. Download a Publishing Services Worksheet to give us some of your details. Return this with your formatted manuscript and we will give you a custom quote.

Basic Service prices include custom typeset interior and custom cover (see FAQ #12 above). Optional Services include five general areas: Editorial, Design, Printing Options, Rush Production, and Marketing Helps. (Personal websites for your book are under construction as of June 2009. Check back soon or sign up for our newsletter to know when this service goes live). The only other extra is sales tax (Colorado addresses only). See the Publishing Services Worksheet for details.

We require a 50% deposit when you return a signed quote (based on the Publishing Services Worksheet) and signed contract (Publishing Agreement). The other 50% is due before the books are printed. You may pay with a check/Money Order or via bank/credit card PayPal payment options.

Click on the PayPal button if you'd like to make a payment now:

We provide a marketing kit that consists of images and promotional copy for your book in electronic form for use on printed promo materials, your website, newsletters, email or blog. We would also be happy to help you produce printed promotional materials for a reasonable fee. Also, when we register the ISBN, your resource in recorded in the international database, Books in Print. Any bookstore can access this information. We will assist you in the other registration steps for CIP/LCCN and copyright registrations (See FAQs #5-7 for more details).

We can also help you set up a personal Amazon.com account and explain how this sales channel works. You may have been led to believe that having a book on Amazon will mean lots of sales. The reality is you will make more sales by promoting your book in every way possible. One real benefit of Amazon is people can post reviews of your book and you can set up a search inside feature of showing the contents and some interior pages. See FAQ #16 below for details about having your book on this website's Showcase page.

In all honesty, you are always the best person to promote your books! Even if your book is published with a traditional publisher, they will recommend that you do everything you can to market your book. Your current network of contacts is the best place to start.

Soon we will have personal websites for your books! The program is in development as of June 2009. Check back soon, or better yet, sign up for our FREE newsletter that provide valuable insights to help you become successful in the rapidly changing world of publishing. Sign up for our Free Newsletter!