Outstanding Author Support

I've been working on the revisions to the author guide for next year. It's our information piece that we send out (or you can look at by clicking the link there) to our prospective authors that are thinking about publishing their book with us.

Under our Basic Publishing Services, our baseline for all our publishing packages, we list all of the things you get by signing with Wheatmark. We start it out by saying we offer Outstanding Personal Author Support.

This, of course, makes me giggle because it sounds rather silly, like we offer a hotline or free hugs for our authors. (Actually, I have personally hugged several of our authors that have come by the office. Wheatmark authors are some of the best people!)

But what does it really mean to offer "outstanding personal author support?" What it means is always having someone willing to listen to your ideas, help you solve your book-related problems, and to guide you to the best possible version of your book--whether it means suggesting more editing, different cover photos, or just high-fiving you on your accomplishment. We are here to assist our authors through the publishing process.

Most independently published authors are coming into the process as newbies. There is a vocabulary to book publishing--trim size, front matter, etc. -- that is just the tip of the iceberg of things that may not be understood. (Trust me! When I started working at Wheatmark my background was in newspaper design. It was liking listening to a foreign language being spoken around the office!)

That's where our amazing staff comes in (you can read about them on our website). They are here to help authors navigate the process. They aren't here to judge your work, review your book, or make decisions for you. They are here to support you throughout the process to get the end result that you have worked towards.

And we will find someone to give you a hug, if you really need it. Remote authors, as one of the editors pointed out, can get virtual hand-holding if required.