Do you accept unsolicited submissions?
Yes. We are accepting submissions at this time, however, we are currently only considering ebook titles at the moment.
Do I need an agent to make a submission on my behalf?
No, an agent is not required. See our Submission Guidelines for more information.
What genres will you consider for publication?
We will consider non-fiction books. We will also consider fictional books from any genre except Children’s Books – unless the book in question was submitted fully illustrated, in which case we would consider it.
What is the percentage of successful submissions/how likely am I to get a contract?
It depends. Just going by the numbers, contracts are currently offered to only about 20% of our submissions. But, that doesn’t mean that you won’t get it. It has a lot to do with your personal writing ability, the content of your story, and the marketability of the final product.
I got a rejection letter for my submission. What now?
We reject titles for many reasons. In some cases the writing needs a lot of work before it can go to print and the author isn’t ready. In other cases the book may contain topics or subjects that are highly political or controversial. We may carry such titles, but we consider each one carefully and ask why the scene or topic is present and try to evaluate each piece from there. In other cases there may not be anything wrong with the writing or the concept, we just might not be sure what to do with it. If we don’t think it’s a good fit for our marketing team, we will reject the book. In those cases we try to be very clear about the reason. If you’ve received a rejection letter, you are certainly welcome to resubmit your book at a later date, or you are welcome to submit a different book. We have several authors who have submitted multiple books before getting a contract offered.
Do you charge a “reading fee” to consider my book?
No. We will read your manuscript submission at no cost. Our business model is set up to work with you as an author, not to charge you fees.
If I publish with you, who gets the copyright to my work?
Authors who publish with us retain full control over their copyright.
Will you file an official copyright claim for my book?
No. We can help you with this process if you wish, but we won’t file it for you. The paperwork and the filing fee are the responsibility of the author. This is because we aren’t laying any claim to your copyright – it’s yours – so it makes sense that you file the claim on it.
Do you charge authors for cover design and editing?
No. If we extend you a contract to carry your title then we will provide editing services and cover design at no cost to you. We’re making an investment in your work. Our business model is such that we make money when you make money and we want your book to succeed, that way everyone wins.
You said that you don’t charge for editing, but I see editing as a service. What’s that about?
We sometimes work with authors who independently publish. Either we’ve elected not to carry their title or they have decided that they want to try publishing on their own. We do offer contract services to authors in these situations for a nominal fee. But this fee is not for authors that we carry.
As an author will you help me refine/finish my story?
If we’ve offered you a contract we will certainly work with you to make sure the book is the best that it can be. We can offer our editorial advice on content and story development. We also have a selection of beta-readers available who can pre-read your book and give you feedback before it is officially published.
For whatever reason I’ve decided to cancel my publishing contract. How do I do that?
We’re sorry to see you go. We hope that it’s because you’ve made it big and not because of a bad experience here. In either case, simply notify us via email or in writing that you wish to cancel your contract. There is no fee or penalty for canceling. We will begin the process of removing your books from print and closing your account. Note that in some cases it may take a while for all of your books to be fully removed from circulation. But, we will remove all of the books from our end within 30 days of receiving your notice.
Can you put me in touch with one of your authors?
It depends. A lot of our authors have a social media account or a website. In those cases we’ve included that information on their author bio page. If it’s not there, we won’t provide author’s private email addresses or contact information. If you have something urgent you’d like us to pass on, you may send it to us and we will make an effort to pass it along, but we cannot guarantee a response.
Do you print paper books too?
Yes. We do also print paper books. We’ve recently changed our operational model and we are starting new titles out as ebooks, and then potentially introducing paper versions later.
I noticed that a lot of your titles are only for Kindle. I have a Nook or some other non-Kindle reader. Will a version be available for that?
Yes. In order to try to stay current with the market trends we are publishing our ebooks as an Amazon-exclusive first, and then opening it up to over formats and platforms later. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
I found a typo. Where do I report it?
We’re very sorry to hear about that. We make every possible attempt to catch typos before books are published, but we aren’t perfect. If you do find a typo please let us know and we will take a look and get it corrected. You can email ClaybornPress @ Gmail.com. Please put “typo” in the subject line and be sure to include the title of the book, the chapter number, and other information that will help us find it.