FAQ

Independent publishers are usually self-publishers, but not us! We’ve currently got over a dozen authors writing under the Provoco brand, and they benefit from having a larger audience to sell their books through. Traditional publishers do still rely on shelf space in large book retail outlets and often books are removed from limited shelf space to accommodate new titles. Independent publishers can seek to get your book stocked in retail outlets, but here at Provoco we also use other avenues to get your book sold! 

We also pay you differently, too. You don’t have to wait until you have amassed enough sales to pay back an advance against royalties, because we don’t work that way. We pay a higher royalty rate, and you earn money from the first book sold! 

NO! Definitely not. Whilst there are certain services which an author can opt to pay for, such as cover design or publicity, you don’t pay Provoco a penny up front. You sign your contract and then, if you opt for a standard publishing service, there is no other cost to you. All our additional services are there for you to take advantage of, but only if you chose to.

We accept queries from agents and directly from authors. 

You’ll meet the team, either online, by telephone or in person and we will start planning your book! You will be given information at various meetings about the publishing process, which starts with your book being edited. We speak to our authors monthly at progress meetings and we invite them to call one of their team anytime to discuss any queries you may have. 

Generally, the publishing process can take up to 18 months from the date the first draft is delivered to publication day. 

It’s a special pre-publication copy, usually we call them ‘draft copies’, or ‘ARC’s’ which stands for ‘Advanced Reading Copy’. We make these available to reviewers.

We look after your cover design, although is you chose to use a bespoke image, there may be a charge for our services.

We do that too! Again, depending on what type of edit your book needs, there may be a charge for our services. For example, if you send us a raw, un-proofed manuscript, the editing charge may apply because we will have to engage a proof-reader or a beta-reader as well as an editor. If you’ve had your work proofed, usually the edit will be included in our administrative services.

No! You will find a lot of indie publishers who do sell on Amazon, which owns a huge share of the book sales market, so it’s important to be on there, but we use various distributors who can get your book onto online platforms and into the bookshops, so you will have your book distributed through several different channels.

Yes. You will receive standard publicity and marketing both before and after your book is published. This is part of our service, although we do recommend opting to purchase one of our publicity packages, for which there is a charge. The cost depends on the type of campaign you decide upon. Some campaigns can start at least a year before your book is due for publication and obviously, others will start a few months beforehand. It’s up to you what you want, and you always have a choice, which keeps you in control of your publishing process.

No, although it would be nice, wouldn’t it? We would steer clear of anyone who guaranteed book sales for you because this is impossible! What we do say to you is that if you have a good, well written book that has a strong storyline and a great cover, we will help you achieve the best sales possible through the publishing process and beyond into publicising your book and marketing it once it is published.

We invest a lot of time, money and effort into making your book the best it can be, but even with this investment, sometimes books just don’t engage with the public and your sales are unexpectedly low. When this happens, we discuss your options with you and we will either re-invest in the book, suggesting things like book tours, book blitzes, advertising campaigns or we will let you know we are withdrawing the book from the market. It is always disappointing when this happens, so we try not to let it! 

Yes! Sometimes a book just doesn’t engage with people. It doesn’t mean the author is a bad writer, or that there is something wrong with the book. Therefore, we would never judge an author by the number of sales for one book, when we have taken an option on others. Always remember, some books take years to ‘hit their appeal with the market’, and suddenly, that book you wrote back in 2016 is at the top of the Best Sellers list!

Send us your manuscript! Write it in word format, using 12-point, New Times Roman font. Don’t number the pages and don’t use headers and footers. Click this link and start your journey with Provoco Publishing & Publicity!