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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the advantages of self-publishing?

You have complete control over all aspects of the publishing and production of your book(s). We will give you advice and make suggestions but the final decision on format, page and cover design, paper, cover material and finish and binding style rests with you.

YPS will provide all the relevant information and cost alternatives.

When the production is complete the stock of books and resulting sales are yours. You are the publisher!

Why are YPS different?

As experienced publishers we have been working with and for mainstream publishers for years. This publishing experience and knowledge is available to you to assist in the publishing of your books. Our advice and assistance is always free, you just need to ask. We give honest advice and will not make extravagant claims about how successful your publishing will be just so you will place work with us.

What is the difference between YPS and a publisher?

Publishers commission books and pay all the production and associated costs. They make commercial judgements regarding the potential success of the books they commission.

YPS do not publish their own books, preferring to work for publishers, assisting them in the production of their publications. YPS now offer this professional service to individuals who wish to publish themselves.

Do you print the books yourself?

Yes, we have an in-house print department that specialises in the printing and binding of all types of publications.

Is YPS a vanity publisher?

Certainly not. We make no extravagant claims as to how successful you will be or offer high royalty rates which seldom add up to much in reality. Nor do we ask for money in advance.

You are the publisher and we provide you with a publishing service. The printed stock of books is yours.

How many do I need to print?

You can print as many as you want! The cost-per-book is always less the more books you print. It is tempting to overprint to take advantage of the lower unit cost. However it is a false economy to print more than you are likely to need. We will advise you and provide quotations for different print quantities.

Legally binding documents and contracts?

YPS never offer authors one of our own ISBN numbers, we always recommend that they get their own from Nielsen Bookdata.
YPS is perfectly happy to help you do this. This is because all the ancillary rights to books  electronic (ebook), translation, foreign, serialisation etc are held by the publisher. The publisher is defined as the holder of the ISBN number. We think that self published authors should hold ALL the rights to their book, not just copyright.
Otherwise you would need a watertight contract with your partner’ publisher, reverting all rights back to you and with the current cost of lawyers to check everything over, it’s safer and cheaper just to do it yourself and SELF publish.

How much will it cost?

If you provide us with an outline of your ideas or proposal we will provide an initial quotation. There is a quotation form in the Guide to Self-Publishing. This requests the information we need to prepare a quotation.

We constantly revise our quotation as details become clearer.

Remember our advice is free and we do not ask for any payment in advance.

Can I visit YPS?

You certainly can. We are located close to the centre of historic York, so you could combine a visit to York with a visit to YPS! We would gladly discuss your publishing plans with you and show you around and introduce you to the people that work here.

Do I need an ISBN?

If you intend to sell your publication widely, particularly through the book trade an ISBN is essential. Full information about obtaining an ISBN is in our free Guide to Self Publishing. We cannot do this for you, although we can give you every assistance.

How do I get my book(s) to bookshops and other purchasers?

You can do it yourself, in which case you should direct orders from individuals and bookshops to yourself. You would need to raise invoices and pick, pack and despatch the orders. You would also need to process the payments received and chase any unpaid invoices/accounts.

Alternatively we can do it for you!

What royalty percentage would YPS pay me?

YPS do not pay you a royalty! The books belong to you so all the sales revenue is yours.
YPS are not accountants. If you Distribute with us, YPS will send you a monthly Book Sales Report. We do not pay Royalties.
ALL of the revenue from book sales belongs to you.
YPS charge a flat fee for Distribution and take NO commission.
YPS will send you the revenue from sales the month after the sales are recorded. International clients are paid every quarter.

How do you work with non-UK resident authors?

We do have clients from all over the world. It can mean that proofs may take slightly longer to arrive, but this is not usually a problem.
We accept international payments via bank transfer or Paypal. We would expect currency to be in GBP.
All quotes will be in GBP and any conversion rate will be taken on the day of invoicing.

I've sold all my books, it's a best seller now what?

Firstly well done this is brilliant news
YPS is quite happy to do reprints. The cost of reprints is usually quite a lot cheaper because all the fixed costs like design work would have been paid on the initial run.
It is up to you to tell us how many copies you would like to reprint.