Why You Should Publish With Us
You don’t have to give up your dream of becoming a best selling author. Even if it might happen, we know that it may take a long time, certainly years, to get there, and, as we all really know, the chances of (1) getting published at all by the big publishers are slim to zero and (2) even if eventually published by a publisher, the chances of a “best seller” (that is, making a living from writing) are also doubtful. So while you await the fulfillment of your dreams, why not take advantage of our service, connecting you with readers, building a following. Maybe, at least, the bottom line can be fulfilled: to get read, the true reason anyone writes. Here, you can be read, something that Amazon and the others cannot guarantee you. We aim at over a 90% acceptance rate. Your rejections (or even current submissions to Amazon or wherever else) we will also accept. You can still sell your published books elsewhere, while at the same time you offer your work free on our open access site. Finally, we will ensure that your work has eternal life! We will place it on the Internet Archive where it will join the knowledge of all humankind, and will remain available to all in digital perpetuity.
No Royalties
In line with our dedication to free and open access publishing, please understand that we do not pay any royalties at all and we do no marketing, except what we do on our web site. However, we do not object if you submit your work simultaneously to other publishers such as Amazon and to us, so long as you accept that by submitting your work to us, you agree that we have exclusive right to give away our version of your work free, on our web site. In place of royalties, at your request, we will provide feedback to you on a regular basis of the number of downloads of your work and other related information.
No Fees
OK. You are outraged that we put “No royalties” up front. We’re not stingy. Just honest. We don’t promise you 70% royalties, or even 100% as some publishers promise. They know that the majority of books they publish for their clients will probably not sell more than 20 or 30 copies, and even then most of those are probably bought by friends and relatives. They also know that they can make money by selling you expensive marketing packages, few of which result in sales of any magnitude. So if you can’t make a living from your books, maybe you can enjoy getting read, which is after all, one of the two big reasons why we all write. (The other reason is, of course, for ourselves).
What You Can Send Us
We will accept any type of work that falls within our focus on Justice and Equity. These works may be fiction including novels, short stories, plays, film treatments, movie scripts, poetry; nonfiction including essays, histories, biographies, memoirs, books academic or trade, music scores and art works. We will also accept any out-of-print work, so long as you own the rights. You may also send us anything you have already published, so long as you own the rights and did not sign a “non-compete” clause in your contract with your publisher. Generally, if you have published with the likes of Amazon, you can also publish your work with us. Our experience is that providing your works free on our site will not affect sales on Amazon (or other similar platforms). For those publishers who are picky about this, you might choose to publish a sample or first chapter of any book you have already published (with publisher’s permission).
Your Rights
Keep them! When you send us your works, please add a copyright notice at the end of the document. If you do not do so, we will add that for you. Should you want to register your copyright with the Library of Congress, go here to do so. Fees start at $45. For more detailed information, see our Terms of Use Policy.
Formatting Your Work
We encourage you to practice designing the layout of your work so that it’s pleasing to the eye, and suitable for reading online. We will make minimal changes to the look and feel of your work. It will be published “as is” - just as you sent it. The layout should conform, generally, to the usual practice in the field, whether poetry, play, movie script, etc. If your work is of book length, you may want to format it according to a common size, such as, for example, 6 inches by 9 inches with .5-.75 inch margins. Probably, it is easiest to set up your work in MS Word, then save it as a .pdf file.
Digital Submissions
For regular submission, we prefer searchable .pdf files, but will accept .docx and .jpg files. When you upload your file, you will be asked to indicate what type of work it is: letters, essays, short stories, novel, poetry, play, non-fiction book, biography, memoir, movie treatment, movie script, etc. You will also be asked to sign a disclaimer, which assures us that you have the publishing rights to this material, or that it is public domain, and that it is not defamatory, nor violates anti-pornography laws. We will also ask for your home address, phone number and of course, email. A short bio of yourself that is relevant to your work is also required. Finally, with every submission, you will be asked to provide a brief 200 word summary of its content. UPLOAD YOUR FILE HERE
Hard Copy Submissions
We would prefer that you send us digital versions of your previously published works, but if you are unable to, for whatever reason, please send a clean copy of the paper version and we will convert it for you. However we must remove the pages from their binding in order to scan them properly, so any hard copy you send us will not be returned. You must fill in the hard copy submission form soon after you ship the works to us. Send hard copy to: Read-Me.Org Inc., 29 Tice Rd. Albany, NY. 12203. To repeat: the hard copy will not be returned to you, so you should keep a copy for yourself. GO HERE FOR THE HARD COPY SUBMISSION FORM.