AGENT FAQ

Is TCK Publishing reputable?

Yes! We’re a true small press—a traditional publisher with a twist. We are not a vanity press or fee-charging publisher. We offer marketing, coaching, and support (all free) that most traditional publishers don’t. For example, our tech support team designs websites, landing pages, and email marketing campaigns for our authors at no cost.

As an agile company, we also offer increased flexibility, faster time to publication, and better terms than most large presses.

There are no fees and no surcharges for you or the authors you represent.

We have published over 400 books across multiple genres, and we currently publish between 10 to 20 books per year.

Does TCK Publishing pay advances?

We currently do not offer advances on royalties. Instead, we offer 50% gross royalties.

What types of books do you publish?

We publish meaningful books for the trade market in most major fiction and nonfiction markets.

For more detail on the genres we’re currently looking for, check out our submission guidelines page.

Please note that we do not publish textbooks, children’s picture books, or poetry currently.

What royalties will my clients earn?

We pay 50% of gross royalties and 50% of all payments received for subsidiary rights licensing deals, if you choose to allow us to handle subsidiary rights.

Of course, you can choose to keep subsidiary rights in house as well. It’s up to you—at TCK Publishing, we believe in offering flexibility to choose the publishing path that’s right for you and your client.

What formats do you produce?

We publish all of our books in eBook, print, and audio (assuming the book is a good fit for each format). We often produce hardcover versions for nonfiction as well.

In each of these formats, we offer our typical 50% gross royalty arrangement.

Where will my client’s book be available?

Ingram is our distributor, so our titles are available through all major online channels and can be ordered through Ingram and Baker & Taylor for bookstore, retail, and library sales.

Audiobooks are distributed through Audible, iTunes, and Amazon. Select audiobook titles are also available in CD format through our audiobook distributor.

The majority of our sales come from our digital marketing efforts for eBooks, print, and audio, not from retail stores or libraries.

What’s your time to market?

Our typical publishing timeline is between four to nine months once the contract is signed and mainly depends on the turnaround time of the author for revisions and feedback and the amount of editing required to produce the quality of content our team demands.

What services do you provide?

We are a full-service publishing company dedicated to helping you and your client build an author brand and promote books for long-term success. We provide many services that other publishers do not, including website design, landing page design, and coaching for our authors.

You can see a list of our services on our publishing page.

What marketing support do you provide?

We offer a comprehensive suite of marketing supports to authors. You and your client won’t have to go it alone!

Much of the marketing we do changes depending on the market and the opportunities available to the author.

Here are some common marketing tasks we do for authors:

Packaging and Branding

Ensuring a great book title is selected that is Memorable, Repeatable and Searchable and represents your client’s brand
Designing a custom book cover that draws attention and makes your client’s book stand out from the crowd
Writing an extraordinary book description for Amazon and other retailers so that potential readers know what your client’s book is about and why they should buy it right now!
Helping get legitimate, honest and ethical high-quality reviews on Amazon from influencers and top reviewers in your client’s market or genre

Book Promotion

Advanced market research and competitive analysis for your client’s book and market (learn more about some of the tools developed by TCK Publishing CEO Tom Corson-Knowles for market research at BestsellerRankingPro.com)
Emailing our list of targeted and active TCK Book Deals Readers
Submitting your client’s book to major book promotion sites: BookBub, Buck Books, and other book promotion sites
Sharing your client’s book on our social media channels with over 50,000 followers
Promoting your client’s book to our email list of more than 60,000 active readers
Promoting your client’s book to key influencers in your market or genre, including reviewers, bloggers, podcasters, social influencers, and more
Introducing your client 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
Creating, paying for, and optimizing ongoing PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ad campaigns targeting your client’s ideal readers and customers
Taking screenshots when your client’s book hits #1 on various bestseller lists and categories on Amazon (see examples here)

Naturally, your client will still be responsible for helping with their own marketing—as with any publisher, whether small or large—but we offer one-on-one coaching and training services to help them become an expert, as well as support in getting their book in front of their target audience.

For more information about our marketing services, see our publishing page.

What sets your marketing apart?

At TCK Publishing, we specialize in bestseller optimization. We know what it takes to launch your client’s book right and to get onto Amazon’s bestseller lists…and beyond.

We’ve published more than 100 #1 Amazon bestsellers—see the proof here.

We do this using a combination of marketing expertise, our industry-leading proprietary software, and smart optimization tactics to help get your client’s book in front of thousands of eager readers to help propel it up the charts.

By optimizing for bestseller status, we also help ensure that your client will earn long-term fans—and long-term sales. Rather than letting your client’s book languish on the backlist, we seek sustained sales growth over the long term, helping your clients build and create a successful career.

We also have industry-leading launch expertise, enabling pre-orders for strong first-week sales, getting extensive reviews—in trade publications, book blogs, and on Amazon and Goodreads—and helping build word of mouth for your client’s book.

We go out of our way to make sure your clients have all the marketing resources they need. That’s why we will build or optimize their author website for free and help them set up their email marketing systems, opt-in forms, squeeze pages, and other marketing materials to build their fan base and business for long-term success.

You can see some of our case studies below:

How long is your standard contract?

Our standard publishing contract has a five (5) year term, which is renewable if you and your client choose. If you choose to let the contract expire, all rights revert to your client and you can republish the work as you see fit.

We do not take all your client’s book rights forever like a standard traditional publisher.

What rights do you take?

We license exclusive digital, print, and audio rights for a term of five years; your author retains their full copyright.

Subsidiary rights arrangements can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

Will my client’s book be available in international markets?

Absolutely. Your client’s 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 an agent interested in foreign language rights for TCK Publishing titles, please contact us at [email protected]

Do you publish every manuscript submitted?

No. We accept less than 1% of manuscripts submitted.

Why should I work with TCK Publishing?

Because we care about you, your clients, and your long-term success and we have a track record of success since 2011.

TCK Publishing cares about helping authors build long-term, sustainable careers. We want to help authors and clients learn the skills they need to succeed as an author and earn a full-time income from their writing.

We want to provide value by helping our authors create an incredible author platform, brand, and great books. We offer not only professional industry expertise, but also personal coaching and guidance to eliminate the many barriers to success that often stop authors from achieving their dreams. That means we can work with you and your client to identify areas of challenge and deal with them—not just in terms of their writing, but in terms of marketing, creativity, and personal life too. For us, it’s all connected. When our authors achieve their personal and professional goals, that’s a big win for us too!

We invest heavily in our authors and build long-term relationships. If you’re interested in working with a publisher that wants to provide value through every step of the process and that goes the extra mile to help you and your client excel, please get in touch!

Email us at [email protected] to start the conversation!

Learn More About TCK Publishing

Here’s a video from our founder and CEO, Tom Corson-Knowles, to tell you more: