PUBLISHING FAQ

What is TCK Publishing?

TCK Publishing is a book publishing company. We publish both fiction and nonfiction books in all major genres. We strive to provide our readers with the best books possible, and we work hard to give our authors the support they need to produce exceptional books.

How do I submit my manuscript for publishing consideration?

Authors without a literary agent, you can submit your manuscript directly via our submissions guidelines page.

Literary agents can send submissions on our literary agents page or by emailing rights at tckpublishing dot com.

Do you charge any fees?

No, we do not charge fees to publish books.

Like all traditional book publishing companies, we earn a profit when we sell books to readers through our distribution channels and marketing campaigns.

Do you offer advances?

We do not currently offer advances on royalties.

How much royalties will I earn?

We pay our authors 50% gross royalties. That means 50% of all money we receive from the author’s book sales or licensing revenue is paid directly to the author.

If we earn $10,000 in royalties for your book, you get paid 50% of that amount, or $5,000.

If we earn $5,000 for a 5-year deal to license German language rights for your book, you earn 50%, or $2,500.

For every dollar your book brings in, you get half. It’s just that simple.

For a full explanation of our royalties and how they’re calculated, see our royalties explanation page.

What services do you provide?

All of our book publishing and marketing services are free for our authors.

We are a full-service publishing company dedicated to helping you build your author brand and promote your books for long-term success.

Here’s just a small sample of the services we provide our authors (all of these services are provided at no cost to the author):

  • Developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading
  • Help with book title ideas and selection
  • Cover design
  • Formatting and publishing for eBooks
  • Interior book design and layout with InDesign for print books
  • Audiobook narration, editing, mastering, and publishing
  • Distribution
  • Ongoing marketing campaigns
  • Marketing advice, mentorship, and guidance
  • Tracking sales and royalties
  • Foreign language rights sales and marketing
  • Website design, landing page design, and email marketing systems setup
  • Introductions to leading bloggers, podcasters, and book reviewers in your market
  • PR outreach to journalists and media outlets
  • And more!

Where is TCK Publishing located?

TCK Publishing is headquartered in Granger, Indiana, but our international team works remotely from various locations across the globe. Please note that we do not accept paper submissions; to submit your manuscript, please follow our submission guidelines.

Will I still own the rights to my book?

Yes, you will still own the copyright to your book when you publish with TCK Publishing. If we decide to publish your book, you will simply grant us an exclusive license to publish the book for a term of five years (which you can renew if you want).

Does my book have to be professionally edited?

You don’t have to hire a professional editor for us to publish your book.

Our editors provide free developmental editing, copyediting, line editing, and proofreading services to our authors.

Will my book be available in international markets?

Absolutely. Your book will be available all over the world in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Australia, Germany, Japan, and many other countries through Amazon and other distribution channels.

In addition, we actively market our titles to international publishers year-round, as well as at the Frankfurt Book Fair and London Book Fair.

If you’re interested in foreign language rights for TCK Publishing titles, please contact us at [email protected]

Do you accept submissions for books that were previously published?

No.

How do I submit a manuscript for publishing?

We are currently accepting submissions for nonfiction book proposals on our submissions guidelines page.

Fiction submissions are currently closed.

You will need to email us your typed manuscript in a digital format. We prefer Microsoft Word files in .doc or .docx format. We do not accept PDFs. 

We do not accept physical manuscript submissions sent by mail, and we are not currently accepting submissions for fiction manuscripts.

Do you accept unsolicited submissions?

Yes, we do accept unsolicited submissions from both literary agents and unagented authors.

How long will it take to publish my book?

At TCK Publishing, we strive to work hard and get your book published as quickly as possible.

Once the contract is signed, it may take between 5-11 months for your book to be released depending on how many revisions your book needs during our thorough editing process.

Where will my book be sold?

For eBooks:

  • Amazon
  • iBooks, Kobo, Nook, Google Play, and other eBook retailers (Usually we release eBooks using KDP Select and then distribute our backlist eBooks to all retailers through an agreement with Open Road Marketing)
  • In Libraries
  • In Fortune 500 companies and large organizations through a licensing deal (maybe, usually for non-fiction only)

For Print Books:

  • Amazon and all major online book retailers
  • Bookstores
  • Libraries
  • Bulk sales direct to Fortune 500 companies and large organizations (maybe, usually for non-fiction only)

For Audiobooks

  • In digital format on Audible, iTunes and Amazon
  • In CD format at CostCo and other retailers (if our audiobook distributors are interested in your book)

What kind of marketing will you do for my book?

We create and implement custom marketing plans for each of our authors because much of the marketing we do varies from author to author depending on the market for the book and the opportunities available to the author.

Here are some common free book marketing services we provide for all of our authors:

Packaging and Branding

  • We help you select a great book title that is Memorable, Repeatable and Searchable, and which represents your brand so that readers can easily remember, recognize, and find your book online and offline.
  • We design a custom book cover that draws attention to you and makes your book stand out from the crowd (our professional book cover designers will send you several mockup designs to choose from).
  • We help you craft an extraordinary book description for Amazon and other retailers so that potential readers know what your book is about and why they should buy it right now!
  • We create a list of at least 1,000 book reviewers who have written reviews for books similar to yours and then provide outreach to help you get legitimate, honest, and ethical book reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and blogs from influencers and top reviewers in your market or genre.

Book Promotion

  • We help you with thorough market research and competitive analysis for your book and market. You can learn more about some of the tools developed by TCK Publishing CEO Tom Corson-Knowles for market research at BestsellerRankingPro.com.
  • We submit your book to major book promotion sites, including the two largest ebook promotion sites in the world: BookBub and Buck Books, as well as other book promotion sites.
  • We promote your book on our social media channels with more than 50,000 followers.
  • We promote your book to our email list of more than 35,000 active readers. (You can sign up for our book deals newsletter here).
  • We promote your book to key influencers in your market or genre, including professional and amateur book reviewers, bloggers, podcasters, social media influencers, and more.
  • We introduce you directly to leaders in your market for author newsletter swaps and joint venture (JV) partnerships to help promote your book via email marketing and other avenues.
  • We create, pay for, and optimize ongoing PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ad campaigns with Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) book ads and BookBub ads targeting your ideal readers and customers.
  • We take screenshots when your book hits #1 on various bestseller lists and categories on Amazon (see examples here).
  • Because we are a traditional book publishing company, we can also submit your book to industry trade reviewers like Kirkus Reviews, Midwest Book Review, Publisher’s Weekly, City Book Review, Library Journal, Booklist, and more.
  • We pay for email promotions (sometimes called email solos) to promote your book to your ideal readers in your market or genre.
  • We do detailed keyword research and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to help your book stand out in search results on Amazon, Google, and other search engines and shopping platforms.

Lifelong Marketing Services and Training for Authors

  • If you don’t have a website yet, we will build it for you (if you want, we can also teach you how to build a website). We also provide ongoing training and support to ensure you know how to manage and grow your website without having to pay expensive web designers or programmers.
  • If you don’t already have an email marketing system in place, we will build it for you or teach you how to build it yourself. We will also provide ongoing coaching and support to ensure your email marketing systems, email copy, and landing pages convert more of your readers into email subscribers and lifelong fans.
  • If you wish to invest money in marketing or advertising programs to build your platform, email list, or sales, we will help you get the best results for your advertising budget and goals. (To clarify, we do NOT charge any fees or sell marketing services—we simply want to ensure that any money you choose to invest in a marketing program like Facebook Ads is spent wisely instead of being squandered.)
  • We send you targeted leads from journalists looking to write or publish stories about authors like you or related to your areas of expertise.
  • We provide personalized coaching to help you with every part of your career from writing to marketing and beyond.
  • We can provide accountability coaching, followup, and support if you’re looking for a little extra help staying on track with your career goals.

Custom Marketing Plans

In addition to all of the marketing services mentioned above, we will also help you create a custom marketing plan tailored to your unique strengths, skills, and weaknesses.

We will help you identify your ideal readers, find the best marketing channels to reach them given your unique strengths and skills, and provide you with detailed action steps and support every step of the way.

1. Market Research

The first step in our custom marketing plan starts with doing thorough market research for your book.

2. Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Once that’s done and you understand exactly who your target readers are, what they want, and where they spend their time and money, we’ll help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. This will help us get a clear picture of the kind of work you love to do and the kind of work you’d rather avoid.

3. Select the Best Marketing Strategies and Create a Step-by-Step Plan for Implementation

Once you know what kind of work you love to do for marketing, we will help you select the best marketing strategies for your market based on your strengths and interests. We will then help you create a detailed plan so you know exactly what to do every step of the way.

If you ever get stuck or confused or just need a bit of help, our team will be here to answer your questions and get you back on track ASAP.

Here are examples of custom marketing strategies we can help you with:

  • Getting booked to do interviews on podcast shows, radio, and TV to share your message and promote your book
  • Getting booked as a public speaker at conferences, seminars, industry events, and corporate events
  • Writing guest blog posts for top blogs and websites in any market or niche
  • Becoming a freelance writer with top news sites and blogs like Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Time, and more
  • Creating your own authority site or blog and using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to attract hundreds or even thousands of new email subscribers every month
  • Creating your own video marketing campaigns and YouTube channel to attract new readers and fans (and how to get paid for creating videos)
  • Creating your own podcast show
  • Creating your own online course or courses, or increasing sales for your existing online course(s)

Will you do all the marketing for my book?

No publisher is capable of doing all the marketing for an author. You must learn to connect with fans and influencers directly, because it is your fans who will buy your books, tell their friends, and ultimately help you pay your bills.

The truth is, fans don’t care who your publisher is. They care about connecting with you—the author. That’s why we invest so much time and money into helping you build your unique author brand. We focus on all the busy marketing and publishing work so you can focus on what matters most: writing great books and connecting with your audience.

Here are some common marketing tasks we will help you to do so you can grow your fan base faster:

  • Creating and maintaining an author website (we can also do this for you at no cost)
  • Creating and maintaining an active email subscriber list (we can also set this up for you at no cost)
  • Responding to emails and messages from readers in a way that helps you create lifelong fans
  • Creating regular content for your fans (this could mean more books, blog posts, social media posts, images, videos, interviews, merchandise, etc.)
  • Creating a content schedule and strategy so you can continue to be a productive writer and creator

How long does the publishing contract last?

Our standard publishing contract has a five (5) year term, and you can renew it if you wish. After the contract expires, you will retain all ownership of your work and will be able to republish it as you see fit. We do not take all your book rights forever like a traditional publisher.

What happens if you reject my submission?

If you submit your manuscript and our editors decide it’s not a good fit for us to publish right now, we will let you know via email.

If your first manuscript submission is rejected by our editors, you are welcome to submit a second manuscript for consideration. However, please only submit one manuscript at a time. We do not review multiple submissions from the same author at the same time.

Do you publish every manuscript submitted?

No. We accept less than 1% of manuscripts submitted. If we do not accept your manuscript, we will let you know within 14-21 days and provide resources and education so you can improve your book.

Do you accept agented submissions?

Yes, we accept submissions from literary agents and agented authors.

Do I have to have a big following, fan base, or author platform to get a publishing deal?

No. You do not need any fans, followers, or any kind of platform to get a publishing deal with TCK Publishing. We invest heavily in training and coaching authors like you to help you build your platform. Remember, every great author once started with zero followers and zero fans.

We also invest heavily in marketing and promotion so we can help build your fan base from the ground up.

If you have a large following of fans already, that’s great! However, it’s not necessary to get a publishing deal. We consider the quality of your writing and message to be far more important than how many people happen to follow you on Facebook or Twitter.

How long do I have to wait to hear back from an editor after I submit my manuscript for review?

Our average time to respond to a submission is currently 14 – 21 days.

The industry average response time for submissions is somewhere between 90 days and never. Unlike other publishers, we strive to deliver as much value as possible to every author who submits their manuscript even if we don’t decide to publish your book.

What is the breakdown of sales by format for eBook, print, and audiobook sales?

We report the breakdown of sales by format as a percentage of revenue, because that’s the best way to understand how our authors are earning their income.

As of 2022, 53% of our book sales revenue comes from print sales, 32% from eBook sales, and 15% from audiobook sales.

How many books do you publish each year?

We currently publish between 5 to 10 new book titles each year.

What is TCK Publishing’s Phone Number?

We do not currently accept unsolicited phone calls. If you’re interested in publishing a book with us, you can submit your manuscript online for consideration on our submissions page.