Six commitments, and six things we refuse to claim

Editors query rather than rewrite. Every suggestion arrives as a tracked change or a margin comment you can accept, adapt or reject individually, and rejecting one costs you nothing — not goodwill, not a difficult conversation, not a note in your file.

Where a change is stylistic rather than corrective, it comes as a question. A deliberate sentence fragment stays a deliberate sentence fragment. If you disagree with a pattern of edits, say so once and the editor adjusts for the rest of the manuscript.

On covers, you choose the direction. Designers advise — sometimes strongly, because category conventions are real and consequential — but the decision is yours, and we will produce a fresh round rather than talk you into something you do not like.

You have one named coordinator for the whole project. You talk to a person rather than a shared inbox, and that person owns your schedule.

You get a written update at every milestone: what has been completed, what is happening next, and anything we need from you. If your schedule moves — and schedules do move — you hear about it when we know, with the reason, not when you email to ask why it has gone quiet.

We also tell you when we think you are making a mistake. Choosing a package heavier than your manuscript needs, insisting on a cover that will not read at thumbnail size, setting a launch date that leaves no room for revision. You are free to overrule us. You will not be able to say nobody mentioned it.

Interiors are typeset, not formatted: a typeface chosen for the book, a comfortable measure, hand-resolved widows and orphans, correct page furniture and front matter. Covers are designed from a brief and category research, then tested at thumbnail size and in greyscale because that is how readers meet them.

Files go out built to specification — correct bleed, embedded fonts, right colour space, spine width calculated from your actual page count and paper stock. eBooks are built semantically and validated before submission, not exported from a print PDF.

For illustrated and colour books, nothing goes to press without a physical proof in your hands. Screens do not tell the truth about paper, and we would rather add a fortnight than send you a book you did not expect.

Support begins before you have paid anything. The initial manuscript read is free, and if the honest answer is that you should revise for another six months, that is the answer you will get.

During production, your coordinator is available for questions that are not strictly within scope: how pricing works, whether a trim size is sensible, what a retailer listing needs. We would rather answer than have you guess.

After launch, your dashboard and files stay available. Authors come back years later for a second edition, a sequel, or because a retailer changed something and they want to know what it means. Those conversations are part of the job.

You retain full copyright in your manuscript and in the finished book. Your name is the rights holder on the copyright page and in every metadata record.

Royalties are paid to you by the retail channels under their terms. We take no share of your sales revenue at any point. We are paid for the work you commission and nothing else.

At the end of production you receive your print-ready interior PDF, cover files, EPUB and any audio masters. They are yours. You can take them to another provider, publish elsewhere, or query agents with the book — and nothing in our agreement restricts you.

Your manuscript is confidential throughout. It is shared only with the people working on your project, all under confidentiality obligations, and is never used for anything else.

Every engagement is defined by a written scope. It lists each deliverable, the word count included, the number of revision rounds, the estimated schedule, what we need from you and when, and — importantly — what is not included.

Nothing begins until you approve it. The price does not change unless you change the scope, and if additional work becomes necessary we quote it and wait for your decision rather than proceeding and invoicing.

The exclusions section is the part most publishers leave out. Ours names them: print run costs beyond print-on-demand setup, licence fees payable to rights holders, advertising spend, and anything you have told us you will handle yourself.