Getting your book published
As any aspiring author can attest, crafting a book is only half the battle – the real challenge happens when it’s time to get your book published. Many a finished manuscript that has been slaved over for weeks, months… even years, are currently languishing in people’s home around Australia, destined never to see the light of day.
That’s where Sid Harta Publishers comes in – a book publisher with a fresh approach and a dedication to supporting authors who are passionate about having their work in print.
The Sid Harta approach
Sid Harta Publishers (SHP) operates its own manuscript assessment service, the doorway for authors to have their works read by a professional editor. With an estimated 20,000 manuscripts submitted to publishers each year in Australia – and with so few published – many writers with works of merit are missing out on publishing opportunities. That’s why Sid Harta Publishers currently only consider manuscripts that have been professionally read (in entirety) by our own listed editors. A fee is charged for this service, based on the word length of the manuscript.
This is a mandatory step required by our publishing house and one which provides the necessary ‘filter’ to enable management to determine which projects we would support. Even established authors who submit their titles for our consideration are required to undergo the assessment procedure.
Subject to the assessment, should our editors recommend a manuscript for publication, SHP negotiates with the author to have the work polished by our team, liaising with the author until the work is considered ready for book design.
A small number of review copies are then produced (usually 20 copies) to test the market and solicit reviews. Copies are sent to the SHP distributors and reviewers, who examine the work and offer an opinion as to the market viability of the title. Subject to that report and review response, SHP will then offer the author one of a number of publishing options, ranging from a traditional publishing royalty-based arrangement to co-publishing or simply managing the printing and distribution of a limited print run on behalf of the author.
When printed, the Advance Review copies look exactly like the finished product, without any reviews on the cover. Visit our main site to see a range of the Advance Review (galley) covers on display.
For works of merit
This is not vanity press. SHP will only publish works that have merit. To ensure the quality of our titles, we have engaged highly-skilled, professional editors to prepare the final manuscript for publishing. SHP management is conscious of the need to maintain the highest level of integrity in the quality of works published. Testament to this is the substantial list of high-profile authors published – amongst these, three titles with forewords by the current Governor-General of Australia, His Excellency the Hon. Peter Cosgrove, the most recent past Governor-General the Hon. Quentin Bryce, and the previous Governor-General, the Hon. Michael Jeffery.
Once the Advance Review (galley) copies step is completed and one of the publishing options has been agreed to by the author and SHP, reviews are added to the pre-print files and the author is given an opportunity to make corrections to the text, after which the book is printed in China. This step requires approximately eight weeks to have stock printed, shipped, cleared and delivered into our contract warehouse provider in Melbourne.
Advance release information precedes delivery and our Australasian distributors commence offering the title to book buyers through their widespread services. SHP also promotes the authors’ titles electronically.
SHP titles are printed in hard copy for Australian and New Zealand distribution, and as we have signed with Amazon EU, UK and North America, our titles are also sold on the basis of “Print on Demand” worldwide and also uploaded to all major eBook platforms.
Authors are provided with the necessary tools to assist with the promotion of their title, including PR introductions and launch opportunities. Authors are also provided with the opportunity to sell copies of their books directly into the marketplace at a discounted price.
SHP shares income with the author from sales.
The successful conversion rate from a completed assessment to a commercial publishing arrangement with our authors is in excess of 90%.
More than 650 Advance Review (galley) projects have been undertaken by SHP over the past 15 years and we currently average 40 to 50 titles annually.
