Editing
Copyediting
Line-by-line work on clarity, consistency, rhythm and continuity, delivered as tracked changes you control.
Foundation
A complete, professional first edition
Foundation covers the production essentials every book needs: a careful proofread, a custom cover, professional interior typesetting, your own ISBN, and paperback and eBook editions listed with major online retailers. It is the shortest honest route from finished manuscript to a book you can hold.
Starting from $1,690
Editable placeholder price. $400 reserves your production slot; the balance is invoiced against milestones.
- Ideal for
- First-time authors with a finished, self-edited manuscript who want a properly produced paperback and eBook without paying for services they are not ready to use.
- Timeline
- 10–14 weeks from manuscript handover
- Word count
- 60,000 words included; additional words quoted per 1,000
- Revisions
- Two rounds of author corrections at proof stage; one cover revision round
The deposit is fully refundable until your written scope is approved. Nothing begins until you have signed it off.
Most first-time authors do not need every service at once. They need the book made properly. Foundation exists for exactly that: a manuscript you have already revised, turned into a paperback and eBook that stand comparison with anything on the shelf next to them.
You work with a production coordinator who stays with the project from file handover to retail listing. Your manuscript is proofread by a professional working to a documented style sheet. A cover designer reads your synopsis, researches how your genre presents itself, and designs an original jacket. Your interior is typeset — not auto-generated — with proper running heads, chapter openers and a typeface chosen to suit the book.
You keep your copyright, your files and your royalties. If you later want developmental editing, audiobook production or a marketing campaign, those services can be added at any point without repurchasing anything you already own.
Everything included
The complete Foundation scope
This is the same list that appears in your written scope document. If something is not on it, it is not included — and we will tell you what it would cost to add.
Editorial
What happens to the writing itself.
- Professional proofread, up to 60,000 words included
- Documented style sheet applied consistently throughout
- Spelling, punctuation, grammar and formatting corrections
- One author review round before files are locked
Design
How the book is made to look like a book.
- Original front, spine and back cover design
- Two initial cover concepts, one selected and refined
- Professional interior typesetting with chapter openers
- Front and back matter set up (title page, copyright, dedication)
Formats
The editions readers will be able to buy.
- Paperback, print-on-demand
- Reflowable eBook (EPUB) for major reading apps
ISBN & metadata
The record that makes your book findable and correctly credited.
- One ISBN assigned for the paperback edition
- One ISBN assigned for the eBook edition
- Bibliographic metadata prepared and submitted
- Copyright page prepared with your details as rights holder
Distribution
Where the book becomes available, and to whom.
- Listing submitted to major online retailers
- Print-on-demand fulfilment in the US, UK and EU
- Retail trade discount and returns settings configured with you
Marketing
Activity delivered around publication.
- Author profile page in the Winfrey Publishing bookstore
- Digital press-ready book information sheet
Timeline, revisions and limits
- Estimated timeline
- 10–14 weeks from manuscript handover
- Revision rounds
- Two rounds of author corrections at proof stage; one cover revision round
- Word count included
- 60,000 words included; additional words quoted per 1,000
Production timelines are estimates. Actual schedules vary with manuscript length, revision rounds, author response time and third-party retailer processing. We do not guarantee sales, reviews, rankings, media coverage or acquisition by another publisher. Outcomes depend on many factors outside any publisher's control.
Optional upgrades
All services
Commonly added to Foundation
Add any of these at the start or part-way through. You pay only the difference.
Editing
Developmental Editing
Structural work on what the book is doing — plot, argument, order, pacing — before anyone touches a single sentence.
Production
eBook Conversion
A properly built EPUB that reflows cleanly, navigates correctly and passes retailer validation first time.
Websites
Author Website Development
A fast, accessible website you own outright — with the mailing list that is the only audience nobody can take away.
Marketing
Book Marketing
A defined 90-day campaign of listing optimization, reader outreach and launch assets, reported on activity delivered.
Questions
About the Foundation package
Foundation assumes your manuscript is structurally finished — the story or argument works and you are not planning further rewrites. If you are unsure, a manuscript assessment will tell you honestly before you commit. Books that still need structural work usually do better in the Craft package.
You do. You retain full copyright in your work, and at the end of production you receive your print-ready PDF, cover files and EPUB. You can take those files elsewhere at any time.
Longer manuscripts are quoted per additional 1,000 words at the rate shown on your written estimate. We calculate this from your actual file before you sign anything, so there are no surprises later.
Yes. Authors regularly add services mid-project — copyediting before proofreading, or an audiobook after the print edition is live. You only pay the difference for the service added.
No obligation
Discuss the Foundation package
Tell us about the book and a consultant will call you. If a different package would suit you better, they will say so.
Other packages
Compare with the alternatives
Craft
Deeper editorial and a design-led jacket
Authors who want their manuscript genuinely improved before it is produced — a full copyedit, more design exploration, and a hardcover edition alongside the paperback.
From
$3,450
Placeholder price. $750 reserves your slot; balance invoiced against milestones.
- Full copyedit, up to 90,000 words included
- Tracked changes plus an editorial summary letter
- Three original cover concepts, one selected and refined
- Competitive category research informing the design brief
- Paperback, Hardcover with dust jacket, Reflowable eBook (EPUB) for major reading apps
- Three ISBNs assigned (paperback, hardcover, eBook)
- Listing submitted to major online retailers
- Timeline: 16–22 weeks from manuscript handover
Signature
Full production with a supported launch
Authors treating the book as a serious project — a developmental edit before the copyedit, a designed launch, and marketing activity in the weeks around publication.
From
$6,900
Placeholder price. $1,500 reserves your slot; balance invoiced against milestones.
- Developmental edit with a written structural report
- Editorial consultation call to discuss the report
- Cover design phase with unlimited concept exploration
- Category and comparable-title research pack
- Paperback, Hardcover with dust jacket, Reflowable eBook (EPUB) for major reading apps, Large-print paperback edition set up on request
- Up to four ISBNs assigned across editions
- Global print-on-demand across our full fulfilment network
- Timeline: 24–34 weeks from manuscript handover, depending on your revision time
Laureate
Our most complete publishing program
Authors publishing at the highest production standard — illustrated or complex books, audiobook and translation-ready assets, an author website, and a full year of marketing support.
From
$12,500
Placeholder price. $2,500 reserves your slot; balance invoiced against milestones.
- Manuscript assessment before any work is scoped
- Developmental edit with a written report and two consultation calls
- Cover design phase with unlimited exploration and photography direction
- Bespoke interior design for complex, illustrated or colour layouts
- Paperback and hardcover, Colour or premium-stock print run quoted separately, Reflowable eBook and fixed-layout eBook where the design requires it, Audiobook produced with a professional narrator, Print-ready assets prepared for translation licensing
- ISBNs assigned across every edition and format
- Global print-on-demand plus offset print coordination where suitable
- Timeline: 9–15 months from manuscript handover, scoped precisely after review