Production
Printing Services
Print-on-demand setup and offset print run coordination, with a physical proof before anything is committed.
Laureate
Our most complete publishing program
Laureate is a managed publishing program rather than a package. It carries the complete editorial chain, bespoke design for complex or illustrated books, every commercial format including audiobook, an author website, and twelve months of marketing and platform support with a named publishing manager.
Starting from $12,500
Editable placeholder price. $2,500 reserves your production slot; the balance is invoiced against milestones.
- Ideal for
- 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.
- Timeline
- 9–15 months from manuscript handover, scoped precisely after review
- Word count
- No word limit; complex and illustrated books scoped individually
- Revisions
- Unlimited queries throughout; revision rounds agreed in your statement of work
The deposit is fully refundable until your written scope is approved. Nothing begins until you have signed it off.
Some books are more complicated than others. Illustrated non-fiction with two hundred images and permissions to clear. A business book that has to launch alongside a speaking tour. A children's series where the illustrator needs art-directing across three titles. A scholarly work with apparatus, tables and an index.
Laureate exists for those projects. It is built around a named publishing manager who owns the schedule, coordinates every specialist, and is your single point of contact for the whole year. Everything in Signature is included, plus the things complex books actually need: image permissions research, colour-managed production, indexing, an audiobook produced with a professional narrator, an author website, and a marketing programme that runs for twelve months rather than ninety days.
Because these projects vary so widely, the price shown is a starting point. Your final scope is written up as a detailed statement of work after a full manuscript and asset review, and nothing begins until you have approved it line by line.
Everything included
The complete Laureate 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.
- Manuscript assessment before any work is scoped
- Developmental edit with a written report and two consultation calls
- Full copyedit with no word limit
- Independent proofread of typeset pages, plus a second proof pass
- Professional index prepared for nonfiction and academic titles
- Fact and citation check for referenced works
Design
How the book is made to look like a book.
- Cover design phase with unlimited exploration and photography direction
- Bespoke interior design for complex, illustrated or colour layouts
- Colour-managed production with printer proofing
- Hardcover with printed case, endpapers and foil or emboss options
- Illustration art direction across a title or series
- Image permissions research and rights-clearance coordination
Formats
The editions readers will be able to buy.
- Paperback and hardcover, print-on-demand
- 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
ISBN & metadata
The record that makes your book findable and correctly credited.
- ISBNs assigned across every edition and format
- Complete metadata programme including Thema and BISAC codes
- Library, academic and wholesale records to full trade standard
- Rights and permissions register maintained for the title
Distribution
Where the book becomes available, and to whom.
- Global print-on-demand plus offset print coordination where suitable
- Wholesale catalog listing to bookstores, libraries and academic suppliers
- eBook and audiobook distribution to major platforms
- Territory, edition and pricing strategy managed with your publishing manager
- Bulk and special-sales fulfilment coordination
Marketing
Activity delivered around publication.
- Twelve-month marketing programme with a named coordinator
- Author website built, hosted and handed over to you
- Author brand kit: logo treatment, palette, templates and photography brief
- Advance reader copy programme with review outreach
- Press campaign with targeted media outreach and interview preparation
- Book trailer produced for social and retail use
- Quarterly performance review against agreed activity metrics
Timeline, revisions and limits
- Estimated timeline
- 9–15 months from manuscript handover, scoped precisely after review
- Revision rounds
- Unlimited queries throughout; revision rounds agreed in your statement of work
- Word count included
- No word limit; complex and illustrated books scoped individually
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 Laureate
Add any of these at the start or part-way through. You pay only the difference.
Marketing
Social Media Marketing
A sustainable content plan and designed assets for the platforms where your readers actually are — not all of them.
Multimedia
Book Trailer Production
A short, well-made video that gives your book something to say on platforms where static images get scrolled past.
Marketing
Author Branding
A consistent visual and verbal identity across everything with your name on it — because readers follow authors, not just books.
Questions
About the Laureate package
Because Laureate projects genuinely differ. A 60,000-word business book and a 250-image illustrated history need different amounts of work. We scope your project after reviewing the manuscript and assets, then give you a fixed written price before anything starts. The figure shown is the floor, not an estimate of your project.
They own your schedule and coordinate every specialist — editors, designers, illustrator, narrator, printer, marketing. You talk to them rather than to eight different people. They send you a written progress update at every milestone and flag risks to the schedule before they become delays.
We research what needs clearing, identify rights holders, and coordinate the requests. Licence fees payable to rights holders are yours to pay directly, and we will tell you the likely cost before you commit to using an image. We do not guarantee that any particular permission will be granted.
Yes. Laureate is normally invoiced against production milestones over the life of the project rather than up front. Your payment schedule is set out in the statement of work.
No obligation
Discuss the Laureate 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
Foundation
A complete, professional first edition
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.
From
$1,690
Placeholder price. $400 reserves your slot; balance invoiced against milestones.
- Professional proofread, up to 60,000 words included
- Documented style sheet applied consistently throughout
- Original front, spine and back cover design
- Two initial cover concepts, one selected and refined
- Paperback, Reflowable eBook (EPUB) for major reading apps
- One ISBN assigned for the paperback edition
- Listing submitted to major online retailers
- Timeline: 10–14 weeks from manuscript handover
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