THE MILL CITY PRESS PUBLISHING PHILOSOPHY 

Mill City Press is the only self-publishing company that sets forth a publishing philosophy. Why? Because we want to make sure every author knows how and why we do the things we do before the author ever signs a contract.

Our book publishing philosophy is simple.  We believe that in the pool of published books, self-published authors only have a fighting chance to successfully sell and profit from their books if three things happen:

  1. The printing costs authors pay are not inflated by the publisher. Mill City Press authors pay the exact wholesale print costs that we do.

  2. A self-publishing company does not take a royalty unless it´s actually doing something to facilitate book sales for the author. Mill City Press authors make 100% from the sale of their books.

  3. The author embraces the internet as the most cost-effective and targeted way to find an audience.

Unless you have the first two pricing issues in your favor, you won´t make any money because by the time the publisher is done gauging you on printing costs and royalties, your book will need to sell at a ridiculously high price, thus pricing it right out of the consumer´s expected purchase price for books.  However, if you don´t have an effective way to market and sell your books, it doesn´t matter how competitively you can price your book.

If you still think the best way to sell your books is to sit at book fairs, plan book signings before you have a following, send out hundreds of non-targeted review copies, or by printing bookmarks and other promotional pieces, Mill City Press may not be right for you. That is not to say that such activities combined with smart internet marketing can´t be effective. But, conventional book promotion alone won´t do enough for self-published authors.  To succeed, you have to be able to spread the word to millions of potential readers without spending thousands on advertising.

Reviews are nice, but getting them from reviewers who matter (like the New York Times, etc.) is next to impossible. If you´d rather spend your time and money securing one great review instead of driving already interested internet surfers to your book´s sales page, you can still publish with us (our publishing package is the best value around), but you won´t get the full value of what we can offer.  For an in-depth look at how the traditional book reviewers view self-published books, click here.

You can´t sell your book without spending any money to market it. No matter how many friends, connections ("I know a guy who does a radio program") and outlets you think you have, in the end you must make some type of investment to have a chance at success. Whether you make that investment with us or anyone else, it must be done. If you cannot afford to invest some money to market your book without needing an immediate return, you have to decide if this is the right time for you publish. Getting your book out there and known is a marathon, not a sprint.   And, successful book promotion still depends on you.  The marketing services we provide help you jumpstart your book marketing and can drive potential book buyers to your website.  But, none of those things will work, if  you aren't actively involved.

When you make an investment in the internet as a tool to market your book, it will work. Treating your book like a mini-ecommerce company is what we do best. An effective online marketing strategy for your book will keep working for months and years to come, unlike a radio or TV interview that has little value after it's aired.  We have had a lot of success selling our own books and other services using the exact same techniques we use for our authors. In fact, every service we provide is tested on our own books before we ever offer them to you. 

By harnessing the power of the internet, we will specifically target potential readers for your book. Even having a good website and driving thousands of people to it can´t  guarantee that you´ll sell any books.  But you won't sell any books, if no one knows your book exists. One very effective way to generate a buzz for your book is by grassroots marketing on social networking sites .  Getting you and your book exposed to potential readers at a personal level by the hundreds and thousands, instead of meeting a few people at a time makes sense.

If you want a book publishing company that believes the only way to succeed is to step out of the box and smash it, then Mill City Press is for you.