FAQs

This really varies depending on the project and the services that you as the publisher need to acquire for your book. If all you need is book printing, that can be 4-6 weeks (longer for a hard cover or full color book). If you need a full suite of publishing services, you can be looking at anywhere from 3-4 months or longer.

You can, as long as you can supply the file in a format ready for the press. You need to be able to provide the complete cover (front cover, spine, and back cover) as a single file (high quality, print ready PDF format), designed to the right size, in CMYK color, and with all fonts embedded. The artwork needs to be high resolution (at least 300 pixels per inch). If that sounds really complex, you’re probably better off getting your cover design from us.

Well, for one, you don’t have to worry about all that technical gobbledygook at the end of the last question. More importantly, designing a book cover involves a lot more than just grabbing a piece of artwork, slapping a title on it, and saving the result. A professional designer is trained for things like how to place elements for maximum impact, how to draw a reader’s eye, how to reach certain demographics. They are familiar with the trends in the industry, and they work to create a cover that doesn’t just suit the book, but actually helps it to reach its audience.

We do. We have a strategic partner in the US who can do both short and long run printing with full-color interiors. We’ll gladly get some quotes for you.

We do – BelieversBookServices is proud to be able to connect authors with the same editors, designers, printers, and marketers that large traditional publishing houses use.

We work with indie authors, which makes you the publisher. Your book needs an ISBN if you intend to sell it through retail establishments. If that’s part of your plan, then you can acquire an ISBN through R.R. Bowker (the United States ISBN agency), at www.bowker.com

We encourage you to register your copyright. Since it can be done online directly with the United States Copyright office (www.copyright.gov) for a fee of $35, we haven’t seen a demand to find or build a service that registers on your behalf. If you have trouble with www.copyright.gov, let us know and we’ll help you to navigate it.

The LCCN program is only open to publishers who publish three titles or more, so you may or may not be eligible for that program. You can, however, hire a cataloging company to do publishers Catalog-In-Publication info, if you feel it would be helpful to have cataloging info on your copyright page.

It’s almost impossible to stay current with this answer! Right now, the two most common formats are EPUB (Used on the Nook, iPad, and more) and MOBI (used in Amazon’s Kindle store). We provide eBook conversion in both of these formats, and you own the files.

eBook sales are one of the fastest growing areas in publishing. eBooks don’t ever tear, have binding issues, or discolor from prolonged exposure to the sun (well… your eReader might, but, we digress). They don’t have to be warehoused, they are portable, and if you lose your book, well, you just download it again from your account. eBooks are just plain convenient. They offer you, as the publisher, an additional avenue for sales and marketing.

However, eBooks have not even reached a majority of the sales for any category yet, and in recent months, growth has slowed to about 1% per year. eBooks should be a content strategy alongside traditional paper editions to maximize sales opportunities.

Print-on-Demand refers to a technology used to print and bind a single copy of a book at a time. Some publishers use POD as a method to maintain a book’s availability without maintaining inventory. Some publishers have gone to only ever producing books print-on-demand. You have to determine which method fits your needs better. Print-on-Demand is attractive because it doesn’t require any up-front investment in inventory, but you trade off the lower unit cost of books produced in larger quantities for that convenience.

If you are producing more than one copy at a time, this is referred to as short run printing, or micro inventory.

BelieversBookServices is a solutions company rather than a printer. That means that we use the process that best fits your needs. If Print-on-Demand best suits your needs, there are a number of options out there and we encourage you to go directly to them for short runs of less than 50 copies.

If it makes more sense to print short-run quantities , we’ll get your book into production with 50 copies or more. If going with a larger print run on offset lithographic presses makes sense because you’ll need a large number of copies as cost-effectively as possible, then we’ll get your books into production in our offset plant. Don’t even need physical books? We’ll work with you on your eBook. And we’ll help you to navigate those waters and to know when to make the switch from POD to Digital to Litho and back.

BelieversBookServices was created to serve independent authors and small publishers. We reserve the right not to publish or print defamatory or destructive content. We also reserve that right to cease production at any time any project that we deem to be in inappropriate, and will be responsible financially only to pro rate the project based on our existing investment.

We do work with authors who have quality content that may not have a faith element. Some of these products might be business books, gardening books, and even cookbooks. If you have a question regarding content, please contact us.

BelieversBookServies has strategic alliances with many printers and we match your project with the best printing options.

We print 50 to 50,000+!

Our minimum order quantity is 50 copies. There are plenty of digital POD options out there that can do less, but to have our expertise, oversight, and customer service involved, we need a minimum of 50 copies ordered in order to be involved in the process. However, there’s no maximum number that we can print, if you need millions, we can work with you.

Of course! At each step in your publishing project, you’ll have the opportunity to review the results electronically. Additionally, we standardize the proofing process with electronic proofs – that is, we send a PDF of the final output of the book before we print anything. We can do printed proofs as well.

From complete, press ready files, we can print books in as few as 4-5 business days with slightly higher RUSH costs. With normal short runs (less than 500 copies), print times are normally 3-4 weeks for softcover and 5-6 weeks for hardcover. With normal long runs (more than 500 copies), print times are normally 4-5 weeks for softcover and 7-8 weeks for hardcover. Please note: COVID protocols and supply chain challenges can affect these timeframes. None of these timeframes include time for shipping.

We normally ship books to a single location as requested by our clients. However, we can include the shipping/handling of up to 3 different drop ship locations (freight costs additional). If you need to ship to more locations than that, we add will add a handling fee for each additional location.

We use UPS Ground or FedEx Ground for smaller shipments (in some cases we may choose USPS), and a network of LTL (less-than-truckload) trucking companies for larger shipments. We estimate shipping on our quotes, but will adjust for actual shipping fees when the books ship.

Yes! At BelieversBookServices, we’re not interested in taking your hard work from you. Everything we do is a work for hire. It’s all yours.

You have to start by figuring out who your target audience is. If your answer is “Everyone” or “Every Christian,” then you don’t have a target audience and you need to start over. Your target audience needs to be a well-defined part of the population that is identifiable by certain traits. Once you identify your target audience, it’s time to put together a plan. Here are some questions to ask yourself about your target audience.

• What are they reading?
• What are their other interests?
• Where are they most likely to buy a book?
• Who do they listen to when it comes to book recommendations?
• Are they already gathered somewhere online? Where?
• What magazines / newspapers / resources do they regularly consume?
• If you could secure one endorsement, who would have the most impact?
• If you could advertise in only one place, what would be most successful?

Answering these questions will help you to begin developing your marketing plan.

When should I start marketing my book? Yesterday. Really, it’s never too soon to start marketing a book. This should be a function of your marketing plan, but you should be doing anything (and everything) you can do to create excitement for your book launch.

If your target audience is active in social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc,) then you need to be finding ways to participate in the dialogue they’re having there. Don’t try to force it – they’ll know. Just participate. Be there. Be talking about the things that are important to you. Those are usually the things your book is about – great how that works out, isn’t it?

No. We are a printer and work with a network of printers working to provide revolutionary services for publishers. Publishers have ownership over content, pay royalties, and are responsible for marketing and selling content (books, e-books, etc.) to retailers and consumers.

No. We do not market nor sell your books. Authors and publishers are responsible for marketing and sales. The marketing and sales process can be a rewarding experience and no one can market their book better than the author/publisher.

We specialize in print runs of 50 or more copies. We can print as many units as is required.

No. You pay for printing and shipping/handling. That’s it.

Normally there is not a setup fee. However, once a file goes through pre-press, change fees will be applied to process new or corrected files.

None. We are printers and do not own any rights to any publisher content…therefore there is not a royalty to pay.

No. We are simply printers and service providers. The publisher always maintains full rights and control over their content and book files.

Yes! Contact us for more information.                                  

dave@believersbookservices.com

No. Publishers are free to print as little or as many books as they like and are free to print with other printers.

We offer customers shipping options through UPS Ground or FedEx Ground (sometimes the USPS) for short runs. Long runs are generally sent through LTL trucking companies. Generally, shipping in the US takes 2-4 business days.

Yes. Each print run is based on prevailing costs at the time, but the unit costs generally go down with higher order quantities.

All orders are prepaid.

Unless the book has a manufacturing defect, we do not take returns or replace books.

No. Popular books offer eBook editions alongside traditional print editions. In some cases, books are releasing in an eBook edition only, or prior to releasing in a bound edition.

Publishers only need an ISBN number if they are planning on selling a book at retail. This includes Amazon.com and other online retailers. If a publisher or author is only publishing a book for family, friends, conferences or direct-to-consumer distribution purposes, the book does not specifically need an ISBN.

The purpose of the ISBN is to establish and identify one title or edition of a title from one specific publisher and is unique to that edition, allowing for more efficient marketing of products by booksellers, libraries, universities, wholesalers and distributors.

There are over 160 ISBN Agencies worldwide, and each ISBN Agency is appointed as the exclusive agent responsible for assigning ISBNs to publishers residing in their country or geographic territory.

The United States ISBN Agency is the only source authorized to assign ISBNs to publishers supplying an address in the United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico and its database establishes the publisher of record associated with each prefix. Find more information at www.bowker.com

An ISBN should be assigned to each title or product, including any back list or forthcoming titles. Each format or binding should have a separate ISBN (i.e. hardcover, paperbound, VHS video, laserdisc, eBook format, etc.). A new ISBN is also normally required for a revised edition. Once assigned, an ISBN can never be reused. An ISBN is printed on the lower portion of the back cover of a book above the bar code and on the copyright page.

Not at this time. International shipments will need a forwarder in the US.

From complete, press-ready files, we can print books in as few as 4-5 business days with slightly higher RUSH costs. With normal short runs (less than 500 copies), print times are normally 3-4 weeks for softcover and 5-6 weeks for hardcover. With normal long runs (more than 500 copies), print times are normally 4-5 weeks for softcover and 7-8 weeks for hardcover.

Please note: COVID protocols and supply chain challenges can affect these timeframes. None of these timeframes include time for shipping.

Generally, we can print most trim sizes between 4×6 and 8.5×11. Larger format books may be available after consultation. Please consult with your Print2OrderPress specialist to find the right option for you.

We offer a variety of paper options from white, natural, gloss, matte, and uncoated. These also come in a variety of weights/thicknesses. Please consult with your Print2OrderPress specialist to find the right option for you.

Yes, we print excellent B&W photos and grayscale illustrations within the text of a book.

Yes! We print four-color books.

Yes! We print hardcover books.

Bleed is a printing term referring to printing that goes beyond the edge of the sheet after trimming. Bleed ensures that the color on the cover goes all the way to the edge and no “white appears at the edge.” In our case, the recommended bleed is 1/4th of an inch on each side.

When designing a cover for our system, the bleed should be designed into the cover size. For a book that is 6 inches wide, the cover will be 12.5 inches + the spine width (6″ for the front; 6″ for the back; plus 1/4 inch for front and back bleeds).

If there is not a digital file available, a publisher can pay to have the book scanned, and then load the scanned PDF files into their account per the normal uploading procedures. Please consult with your Print2OrderPress specialist to get a quote for interior and/or cover scanning.

We recommend using a Microsoft XPS or PDF/X-1a file for uploading to our servers. For a full discussion regarding how to make a PDF or XPS file, click here.

Yes! We provide both cover design and interior layout services. Please consult with your Print2OrderPress specialist to find the right option for you.