PUBLISH WITH MET PRESS

In September 2010, MET Press / Modern English Tanka Press stopped soliciting new manuscripts for publication. As of May 2012, we will not accept any new manuscripts. Any change in this policy will be posted on this page.

MET Press Publishing Arrangement

Copyright © 2006–2010 by Modern English Tanka Press

P.O. Box 43717, Baltimore, Maryland 21236 USA

Last Revised: November 25, 2010

MET PRESS (METP, THE PUBLISHER) CONTRIBUTED SERVICES

Production. Manuscript copy-editing; consultations; book design and layout; desktop publishing; uploading text and cover files to online production and distribution vendor. No separate charge.

Book Text. The book text in PDF file formatted for printing. No separate charge.

Book Covers. Two JPEG files, front cover and back cover, or a one-piece PDF cover. No separate charge.

Sales Links. Sales links on METP’s Lulu.com storefront & METP website. No separate charge.

Proof Copy. One galley copy per book project, for partner proofing. No separate charge.

ISBN. ISBN and distribution, through MET Press, from R. R. Bowker, LLC. Includes unique ISBN & registration with the US ISBN Agency. No separate charge.

LoC Deposit. Two copies of your book sent to the Library of Congress for sec. 407 mandatory deposit. No separate charge.

COSTS TO PARTNER(S)

∙           Initial purchase of fifty (50) copies of the book at the initial author’s rate (unit cost + [{retail price – unit cost} ÷ 2]).

∙           Art Acquisition, but only if special art is required for the project. (Optional. Cost depends on any special art that is required by the partner.) Free art is available for most projects.

∙           For optional formal certification of copyright registration, partners must apply directly to the Library of Congress.

∙           All review and promotional copies are the expense of the partner.

∙           Subsequent bulk purchases direct from the publisher at a deeply-discounted author’s rate (unit cost + [{retail price – unit cost} ÷ 5]).

This arrangement facilitates authors’ marketing and selling their own books. Under this arrangement there are no up-front purchase amounts nor royalties based on sales. The quid pro quo is this: MET Press assumes the governmental compliance costs of publication (ISBN and Library of Congress deposits; roughly $75-$100 USD for a title), so the author does not participate in these up-front publishing costs. The author is obligated to make one bulk purchase directly from the publisher of 50 (fifty) copies at the initial author’s rate (unit cost + [{retail price – unit cost} ÷ 2]). MET Press recoups costs through that first bulk purchase. Subsequently, the author may make as many bulk purchases as wanted directly from the publisher at a deeply-discounted rate (unit cost + [{retail price – unit cost} ÷ 5]). The author retains all profits made on author-sales. MET Press sells the title, e.g., on its website(s), and retains all profits on those sales. Purchases at discount cannot be made from the retail vendor (currently, Lulu.com). Authors are well-advised to make their purchases larger and fewer (rather than smaller and more frequent) in order to obtain significant savings on shipping and handling. If an author wishes to make a purchase of more than 50 copies initially, only the first 50 copies will be at the initial author’s rate while the additional copies will be at the lower deeply-discounted rate.

Pricing Example: Assuming that a minimal cover price is set at $10.95 for this title and that Lulu's costs do not change (they rarely change but it is possible), then the two applicable rates (not inclusive of S&H) would be as follows.

1. For the first 50 copies: Unit cost $5.94 + [{Retail price $10.95 minus Unit cost $5.94 = $5.01} divided by 2 = $2.51] = $8.45 per copy. Your gross margin on these 50 copies is $2.50 each.

2. For all subsequent copies, at initial purchase or later: Unit cost $5.94 + [{Retail price $10.95 minus Unit cost $5.94 = $5.01} divided by 5 = $1.00] = $6.94 per copy. Your gross margin on these copies is $4.01.

Guidelines for Publishing Book Projects with Partners

1.          Modern English Tanka Press (“METP”), also dba “MET Press,” is a for-profit business and cannot undertake publishing projects without prospect of some profit. On the other hand, METP wishes to make partnered projects feasible without the negative aspects of vanity presses or the poor practices of subsidy presses. Every project will be undertaken by METP only pursuant to mutual agreement with our partner(s) regarding the particulars of our arrangements with them, for that specific project. A “partner” will usually be an author (poet, writer, editor), but other parties may be partners.

2.          These guidelines apply to book projects (not periodicals) in which an item is to be published by METP or an imprint thereunder (e.g., “MET Press”). In all such projects, METP will need to use an ISBN in its own name for the book. METP provides a unique ISBN & registration with the US ISBN Agency, R. R. Bowker, LLC.. The ISBN will necessarily apply solely to METP’s publication of the book and will be owned by METP, being non-transferable.

3.          A book project will be initiated by either an author’s query to METP describing the proposed project, or a METP solicitation to an author, for an existing, in development, or prospective, work. A work must be provided to METP in a clean manuscript that is electronic and is sent to METP by email. Acceptable program files include: Corel WordPerfect (.wpd, preferred), MSWord (.doc), Rich Text File (.rtf), and ASCII Text (.txt). Other formats that can be converted to one of the preferred files may be acceptable. A “clean manuscript,” for these purposes, is one that is minimally formatted, virus-free, carefully proofed and a final version, as it is intended to be printed, not a draft for ongoing revision. METP provides copy-editing but does not provide literary editing without special arrangements.

4.          METP may partner with one or more individuals on a single project; e.g., one or more co-editors, illustrators, etc., as well as with the author(s) of the subject book.

5.          METP, upon acceptance of a manuscript, will provide copy-editing, book design and layout, and desktop publishing services such as to produce deliverables that include:

             •           TEXT FILE — The book text pages, formatted and paginated, in black ink on white background, with black and white illustrations as agreed to in advance, and including standard front matter and back matter. Book text pages will include, at the end of the book, advertisements for other METP publications. The book text will be in an Adobe Acrobat PDF file formatted for printing as a paperback or hard cover book, unless otherwise mutually agreed upon in advance.

             •           COVER FILES — Two JPEG files, front cover and back cover, or a one-piece PDF file, designed and created by METP with partner input and approval. Any costs related to cover art are to be discussed and a mutually agreeable arrangement made at the initiation of a project. Otherwise, stock art, or copyright-free art, or METP-created art, may be used. Acquisition costs for special art are direct expenses to the partner unless and except as otherwise specifically arranged for in advance.

             •           UPLOADING — METP will upload the project files to a METP online production and distribution vendor. The current vendor is Lulu.com and any other vendor is to be mutually agreed upon at the initiation of a project.

             •           SALES LINKS — METP will include a sales link to the project book on its own and, as available, the vendor’s, online websites with purchasing capability, e.g., at http://stores.lulu.com/modernenglishtanka and also at its own website(s). NOTE: METP does not routinely offer any additional marketing and/or distribution services and any such must be agreed to mutually at the initiation of a project. Authors must take primary responsibility for marketing and promotion of their books.

             •           LAYOUT — METP will consult the partner in advance with respect to text layout, font type and size, etc., and will make reasonable efforts to accommodate the partner’s preferences in these respects. Excessively labor-intensive formatting and/or formatting which is outside the vendor’s printing parameters are not on offer by METP.

             •           GALLEY PROOF COPY — METP will provide one galley proof copy to the partner. Errors will be corrected before the book is approved. No more than two weeks will be allowed for the partner’s proofing of the galley copy. After two weeks, the project will move forward to publication and any future costs for correction of errors will be borne solely by the partner.

             •           LIBRARY OF CONGRESS MANDATORY DEPOSIT — Two copies of your book will be sent to the Library of Congress for its sec. 407 mandatory deposit requirement.

6.          METP publishes using vendor-provided print-on-demand technology and book distribution and fulfillment services from its vendor (currently, Lulu.com). Accordingly, so long as the vendor does not impose time-related fees or expenses, books once published will remain on the METP Book List and will be available for sale. Unforeseen interruptions of vendor services or termination of vendor services are not the liability of METP. Withdrawal of a book from METP’s Book List by the partner shall terminate the publishing business relationship between said partner and METP without prejudice to METP. Mutually agreed-upon withdrawal of a book from METP’s Book List will be on whatever basis is agreed to in that event by METP and the project partner.

7.          The pricing of books is crucial to their salability. METP will consult with the project partner and seek to find a mutually agreeable price for a project. In the case of disagreement, METP shall decide the price. For the same reasons, the primary publishing offer of METP is for the publication of paperback books. METP may refuse to publish hard-cover editions of any project title if it does not believe they will be salable at the market-driven price.

8.          The above-described general arrangements provide for genuine partnership in which METP bears most of the up-front expenses for production and publication of a book project, except for direct costs (e.g., special art acquisition) to the partner.

9.          These are guidelines, not a contract with any party. Every book project must be individually negotiated with the partner(s) involved and may include other provisions as may be mutually agreeable to METP and its partner(s).

10.         Poetry books do sell. But no one, neither MET Press nor any of our authors, is getting rich on poetry books. Experienced poets know that poetry very rarely, if ever, makes it to the mass market level of success. MET Press makes NO express nor implicit promises, guarantees, nor warranties with respect to book sales under any circumstances whatsoever. The success of poetry book sales depends very largely on the individual efforts of the author or editor to market and promote the book. Authors and editors who do not promote their own books can expect poor sales or even no sales. This is a hard reality, but you need to know it. If you don’t believe it, or if you still nurture expectations of great sales and wealth, please do not choose MET Press for your publisher. [A Benchmark: In 2004, of 1.2 million new books, only 4% sold more than 1,000 copies. 17% sold from 100–1,000 copies. 79%, the majority, sold less than 100 copies. Keep your expectations realistic.]

11.        METP is a sole proprietorship of Denis M. Garrison of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Therefore, the death or disability of the owner will end his services summarily. This mention is made in the spirit of full disclosure. The METP business arrangements are possible only in the context of an extremely-low overhead business operation.

www.modernenglishtankapress.com www.themetpress.com

   dmg@themetpress.com