Below, you will find a list of the most frequently asked questions we receive about the publishing process with Vanilla Heart Publishing. We believe that by reading our website and checking the FAQs below, we should be able to answer most of your questions so you feel comfortable submitting your query and manuscript to Vanilla Heart Publishing.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does Vanilla Heart charge me to publish my book?

2. Vanilla Heart publishes mainstream fiction, but are there certain preferred genres in which you specialize?

3. How do I make money if my book is published with Vanilla Heart Publishing?

4. How long does the submission process take?

5. Do I have a say in artwork and/or the cover of my book?

6. Does VHP offer editing and formatting, and if so, does this cost me anything?

7. Will my book appear on bookstore shelves?

8. Who promotes and markets my book?

9. Will my book appear on online retail websites, like Amazon.com?

10. Will I get to do book signings and special book events and other media publicity?

11. Do I get free books for myself and my family and close friends when I publish with Vanilla Heart?

12. Can I see a sample author's contract before I submit to VHP?

13. Do I have to pay full price for my book if I buy it from the publisher myself?

14. Who will hold the copyright to my book?

15. How long will my book be in print for people to buy?

16. Can I submit more than one manuscript or query to VHP at the same time?

17. Can I submit a query or a manuscript to VHP that I have already submitted to another publisher?

18. Can I submit a query or a manuscript for a book or for works that have been previously published by another publisher or printer, or that has been self-published?

19. Can I submit writing (poetry, prose, essays) or novel manuscripts to VHP if I've posted the writing or portions of the writing on another website or on my blog?

20. Does VHP charge a reading fee or manuscript assessment fee for submission?

21. What format and style will my final product, my book, look like? Paperback? Hardback?

Frequently Asked Questions Answered

1. Does Vanilla Heart charge me to publish my book?

NO! Absolutely not!

Vanilla Heart Publishing is not a typical publisher per se, but we are also not a POD or vanity press.

What this means is, if we like your manuscript so much we decide to offer you a contract on it, we feel it has potential and want to make money on the book, for you, sure, but for us. Afterall, that is what being in business is! Vanilla Heart Publishing may, at our discretion, offer an advance against royalties. We have offered advances before and hope to do so again. 

Whether we offer an advance or not doesn't change the fact that we never charge an author to publish their book.

2. Vanilla Heart publishes mainstream fiction, but are there certain preferred genres in which you specialize?

Vanilla Heart Publishing seeks query submissions for all genres.

That being said, we do have a soft spot for romance, coming of age, overcoming hardship stories, enticing memoirs, light erotica, fantasy, paranormal, inspirational, and fantasy with science fiction elements.

3. How do I make money if my book is published with Vanilla Heart Publishing?

Vanilla Heart Publishing has several ways authors might make money with their books. The first way is that for some authors and some books, we do provide advances if we think the book is highly marketable and will perform well.

The second way is through our standard author royalty contract in which the author will receive a percentage of the actual selling price for every book sold through the publisher, distributors or retail locations that purchase through either the publisher or a distributor.

The third way an author can make money with their book is by purchasing the book directly from the publisher without a royalty for the discounted author's price set in your contract, and then selling that book at a higher price yourself on your own website or at special events.

4. How long does the submission process take?

The submission process time will vary depending on a number of factors, such as the number of current submissions, how many books are in the processing/printing phase of publishing, current revenue streams for the publisher, current marketing or special promotions, and many other outside factors.

Vanilla Heart Publishing will usually respond to your query within three (3) weeks or less. We will then either request a copy of your completed manuscript or will send you a reason why we have chosen not to request your manuscript. In some instances, we will reject a query but ask that you resubmit at a later date, so please read our query responses carefully for further instructions.

If we request a copy of your manuscript, it does not automatically mean we are interested in publishing your book. We have editors who review your manuscript to determine how much work will be required to prepare the manuscript for publishing to determine if the manuscript is marketable and would be cost effective for use to extend a contract to you.

If we like the storyline, but the grammar and writing style are weak, we will likely send the manuscript back to you asking you to make certain revisions and resubmit once those are made or we will reject the manuscript.

If the storyline is sound and consistent, compelling, and the writing style only requires a polishing edit to make the book perfect, we will respond within 2-4 weeks on average with a contract offer to publish your book. Though we cannot promise an advance to every author on every title, under certain circumstances, we may offer an advance against royalties on your title.

Any unsolicited manuscripts will be rejected without any consideration and no notice will be sent to the author.

5. Do I have a say in artwork and/or the cover of my book?

Absolutely! We encourage our authors to be an active part of creating their book that they have put so much time and effort into writing. However, final say on the artwork and the cover belongs to the publisher, and we are limited by several factors on what can be used for artwork and cover art.

For example, one of the printers we use has certain file requirements and low quality graphics and images may not work with the printer, so we can't always use pictures you have. Another printer has requirements that differ a bit and require more complicated processes. Additionally, there are copyright issues and royalty payments and licensing rights for artwork or cover artists to create the images that must be considered when we work on your title.

Additionally, the covers have to be attractive and compelling, as well as meeting the requirements for shelf placement at the locations in which we would like to promote your books, and we know what those requirements are and must stay within those guidelines.

We will send all cover work and/or illustrations to you prior to using them, and your input will be taken into consideration, provided we can meet your vision within the budget assigned to your book and the guidelines required for our promotional efforts.

6. Does VHP offer editing and formatting, and if so, does this cost me anything?

Yes, we do and no, it won't.

We have a team of in house editors, proofreaders and formatters as well as contracts with professional editing companies whom we pay to work on your title. The cost of preparing, publishing and printing your title falls on the shoulders of the publisher, and should never have to be paid by an author, in any way.

7. Will my book appear on bookstore shelves?

We are listed with all the major US book distributors, including but not limited to: Ingrams, Coutt's, Blackwell Book Services, Gardners, Baker & Taylor, and Holt Jackson. We also have relationships with several niche distributors for some of our titles.

Per industry standards, Vanilla Heart Publishing offers wholesale discount rates to retail locations and through the distributors, as well as accepting full returns, and thus we meet all the industry requirements for shelf placement in retail locations.

However, we do not have auto-shelf placement for all titles from our lineup. Because of this, each book we publish until we achieve automatic shelf placement with the major US retailers must be individually submitted for consideration and marketed to the retail locations by both Vanilla Heart Publishing and you, the author, especially in your local area bookstores and retailers.

Different books will be placed in different bookstores (particularly true with niche genre books) depending on what the bookstores are currently seeking and what is currently selling well on the market.

Because we are interested in publishing your novel as quickly as possible after it is printed, so that you can begin making money and get your name and novel out to the public, we do not hold the books from release until shelf placement is received. In addition to offering distribution through the major US book distributors and shelf placement with major retailers, VHP also niche markets your book to specialty shops, small specialty bookstores, and other specialty or niche retailers for which your book may have a special interest market.

8. Who promotes and markets my book?

Well, quite frankly, everyone who can!

Vanilla Heart Publishing will create a marketing and media kit that we send to you once your title is approved through the printers' premedia quality control departments, to help you begin the pre-sell and marketing phase of your book. We expect all of our authors to do as much marketing and promotion of their books as possible. We do not expect any author to spend their own personal money to market or advertise their book, but we do hope you will be interesting in promoting your book and helping the public become aware of you as the author. We highly encourage our authors to  fully utilize the venue lists we send you to increase name and title recognition, and this step is an important  piece of the sales puzzle, often increasing bookstore sales as well as creating interest in general.

In addition, we will provide marketing and promotional efforts as well, such as selling your books to organizations that may be interested in the subject matter of your book, seeking shelf placement, sending your books for sale at conventions, vendor fairs, fairs and other venues where we can have a booth or table, and hosting special events centered around your book. We will sell your book online on our site, provide and submit press releases, gather and disseminate reviews, send review copies out to selected media outlets, set up author interviews, and much, much more.

However, our efforts can only be successful if you, the author, make yourself available to your reading public and are willing to put in as much effort promoting your book as we do. If we set up events for you, especially in your local area, we do expect you to attend those events and promote your books. We will never require (though we may suggest) you attend an event in which you will have to pay to promote your book.

We will pay for and provide books for all special events and book signings that we set up on your behalf and ask you to attend, and you will receive the contracted royalty on those books at your regular payment interval.  However, we cannot always pay for you to attend events you find yourself and want to participate in on your own.

If you find an event in which you'd like to participate to promote and sell your book, we ask you to contact us as soon as possible before the event so we can determine if we can provide financial backing for the event.

If, for whatever reason, we are not able to provide financial backing for an event you have found on your own, we do offer special event agreements in which we can provide you a specific number of copies of your book in advance against sales of the book at the event. These are determined on a case by case basis

9. Will my book appear on online retail websites, like Amazon.com?

Absolutely! We will submit your book's listing with Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble's website, Booksamillion, Forbes, Target.com, independent online book retailers, Google/Froogle, MSN and Yahoo! shopping, Bookhitch and many, many more. Within a month or two of your book being published, you will find your book sold online at many different online retailers. And each title has a listing and promotion on our Vanilla Heart Books and Authors Bookstore, as well as on your VHP author page.

10. Will I get to do book signings and special book events and other media publicity?

Definitely! In fact, we almost demand that you do! Okay, maybe that's pushing it, but we do hope that you will want to actively promote your book to your reading public, and especially in your local areas, find venues and signings and radio or internet interviews and the like. We will help you set some event appearances and we expect you to seek out and participate in events that fit with your schedule and your book. See FAQ #8 for more info.

11. Do I get free books for myself and my family and close friends when I publish with Vanilla Heart?

We wouldn't have it any other way! You worked hard to create your book, so you should be allowed at least a few copies for free, right? At least, that's what we think!

Vanilla Heart Publishing provides between two (2) and ten (10) author copies of your book to you at no cost to keep, give to friends and family, burn, or do anything else with them that you'd like, including selling them for pure profit if that's what you want to do.

All anthology contributors will receive two (2) copies, while our single author writers will receive ten (10) free author copies, and dual author/co-writing books will split the difference at (5) copies each for free.

After the initial free copies, all authors will be able to purchase their own books at a special discounted rate, provided only to our authors on their own titles. This rate will vary from author to author dependent about the cost to manufacture their book and the final suggested retail price of the book, but will be between 25-45% off the suggested retail price.

12. Can I see a sample author's contract before I submit to VHP?

In a word, yes.

However, keep in mind that the contract you will see as a sample is the standard contract and will not include the actual royalty percentage, retail sales prices, number of author copies, author price, and a few other factors that are going to be specific to each individual author. We do not do blanket contracts for everyone, because every person and every book is unique, but the basic contract is consistent with the exception of these unique attributes, and you are welcome to request to view the sample contract.

13. Do I have to pay full price for my book if I buy it from the publisher myself?

Nope, never, in fact, we give our authors generous discounts, so generous that they actually make more money than selling their books on a royalty only basis. We do this because some authors want the cash immediately, while others would rather not spend their own money, and wait for the royalties. 

 

14. Who will hold the copyright to my book?

Why, you will, of course! In fact, Vanilla Heart Publishing will pay for the copyright registration as part of the process of publishing your book. The US and International Copyright law indicates that you hold a natural copyright on your work once you put it in tangible form. That is, once you write the words, you hold the copyright. We will pay to register that copyright in your name with the copyright office when we publish your book, providing you an additional level of copyright protection.

When we offer you a contract on your book, we are basically securing First North American publishing rights on your book (unless it is a reprint), in addition to a few other rights that are spelled out clearly in your contract. Vanilla Heart Publishing will only hold these particular rights until such time as six (6) months has passed since your contract is terminated. You retain all rights to your characters, the title, the text. The rights to the completed cover art remains with the publisher and the artist, with the exception of any images you may have provided to the publisher.

15. How long will my book be in print for people to buy?

That will be dependent upon how well your book is selling. Most authors can expect their book to be in print with VHP for at least three years from date of first publication.

16. Can I submit more than one manuscript or query to VHP at the same time?

The simple answer is no. We would prefer that you only submit one query at a time and wait until we review and respond to that query prior to sending another. Additionally, if we request a manuscript from you based on your query, we would like you to wait until a decision is made on that manuscript before submitting another query to VHP. We would like you to include in your query, other works you may be interested in contracting to VHP, especially in the case of series ideas, or related themed books.

Because of needing time for proper marketing and promotional efforts, we will only publish one title from the same author at a time, with the exception of anthologies and books we’ve contracted as companion or bonus books.

 

17. Can I submit a query or a manuscript to VHP that I have already submitted to another publisher?

Yes, but if you do, we do request that you state in your query that you have submitted this to other publishers, and we ask that if you accept an offer with another publisher, you let us know immediately so we can pull your manuscript or query from consideration.

18. Can I submit a query or a manuscript for a book or for works that have been previously published by another publisher or printer or that has been self-published?

Yes, you can, provided all of the rights to your writing have reverted back to you completely and you can provide Vanilla Heart Publishing proof of the release of rights from the other publisher, AND we believe that your book can still sell even after it's been in print with another publisher. If your book is to be a second edition, a revised edition with new information, or simply a reprint of the original work, please let us know this upfront when you submit your query and tell us where your work has been previously published so we can make our determination.

19. Can I submit writing (poetry, prose, essays) or novel manuscripts to VHP if I've posted the writing or portions of the writing on another website or on my blog?

We prefer you do not. Why would a reader want to purchase your writing in a book if they can find it online for free? However, we will accept submissions of poetry and prose and essays for our anthologies and contests that appear online in other venues, provided you have not sold the publication rights (exclusive or non-exclusive) to the other venue. Additionally, we will request that you remove those writings from the other website, blog, or venue online prior to us publishing the writing in the anthology.

As for excerpts of novels, we highly encourage you to NOT post sample chapters of your novels-in-progress on your blogs or websites prior to submitting a query or manuscript to any publisher, not just Vanilla Heart. There are many reasons for this, including but not limited to: the writing may change prior to publication, the writing may reveal crucial plot twists or elements, the writing will not reflect the final edited version of the book (so if there are errors it will appear unprofessional and it will reflect poorly on writer and publisher), and because this will make sections of your book 'previously published' and can actually make a publishing contract difficult.

20. Does VHP charge a reading fee or manuscript assessment fee for submission?

Vanilla Heart Publishing will NEVER charge a reading or assessment fee for accepting your query or manuscript, EVER. Any publisher, literary agent, business manager, promoter or publicist who does is NOT working within industry standards for publishing and should be avoided.

This being said, we do sometimes hold contests for anthologies where we may charge a small contest entry fee. This is NOT a reading fee, and all the fees collected for the anthology contest will be used to award the cash and merchandise prizes we award to the top winners. All anthology contest winners (including those who receive cash or merchandise awards and those who receive only honorable mentions) will receive either a standard anthology royalty contract or an upfront payment to publish and two free copies of the printed book in which their writing appears, as well as discounted author copy pricing for that anthology.

We also offer anthologies without contests where we have open calls for submissions too.

21. What format and style will my final product, my book, look like? Paperback? Hardback?

The majority of Vanilla Heart Publishing's books are printed on high quality 50# bright white or creme paper, paperback, perfect bound, in the following standard sizes: 5 X 8, 5.5 X 8.5 and 6 X 9. For workbooks and other non-fiction, we will probably use a larger format that is more easily used for included exercises, quizzes or practice sections. Your book's size will be determined by the number of words, number of pages, the color of paper we choose for it, and the cover graphics.

Our books are trade paperbacks, not mass paperbacks, and we will never use a laminate cover. Our covers are high gloss, color covers, and are quite striking.

Should your book perform well, we may consider doing a special print run of a hard cover, perfect bound edition, or a limited hardback edition or collector's edition or special on your book, complete with cloth or gloss cover and/or a dust jacket that matches your paperback version. These will be considered on a case by case basis and will be determined solely by the popularity and sales records of your book.