If you’ve clicked here, you’re interested in researching and writing a book for your own town or village that fits within one of our existing in-house ranges:
- At War – histories of the Home Front during the Second World War.
- Past and Present – old and new photographs, taken on the same spot, with historical commentary.
- School histories – histories of individual local schools.
We offer commissions for these titles under a traditional publishing arrangement: that is, we will undertake the cost of producing the books and you will be remunerated for your work with a royalty on net sales.
If you are interested, please email info@canterley.co.uk and tell us about yourself, with details of the book you think you could research and write. It would be most useful to us if you could send an example of any previous similar work you’ve undertaken. We’ll then arrange a time to have a chat with you to take things further.
What does Canterley Publishing pay for?
We pay for the cost of editing, typesetting, proofing, printing and publicising the books.
Do you meet any expenses connected to researching and writing the books?
We will be glad to assist in the research process by sharing resources as far as possible, and we pride ourselves on the help we give to authors in this way. But we regret that we cannot generally pay research or writing expenses. Our titles are produced for relatively small audiences and consequently the available margins are low by publishing standards.
Do you offer an advance on royalties?
Sorry, but no, for the same reasons as above.
What’s a royalty on net sales?
A royalty is a proportion of the sale price: we typically offer authors 10%. Net sales refers to the sale price to the retailer rather than the retail price to the customer. A book is sold to a retailer with a trade discount applied, and the royalty will be calculated from this price, rather than the higher price a customer pays for it. This effect is lessened by directing customers to buy from Canterley Publishing directly, which authors are asked to encourage as far as possible.
How much can I expect to receive in royalties?
These books are produced in small quantities for individual towns and villages, and we print between 200 and 500 of each title at a time. If the net sale price is between £10 and £15 then the royalty on each copy will typically be between £1 and £1.50. So to be completely honest, unless you’re extremely prolific, you won’t be able to retire on the proceeds. But this can be a fulfilling project for a hobbying author, or a useful fundraiser for a group without funds to invest in the book themselves.
I’ve got more questions to ask.
In which case, please don’t hesitate to email us at info@canterley.co.uk and we’ll be pleased to help you.