Recently, the investigative journalism television programme, Carte Blanche, exposed a South African publishing company who scams authors wanting to self-publish out of large amounts of money without delivering on their promises. The dubious way in which they conduct business and the well-deserved bad press this has generated may reflect negatively on reputable small businesses such as ourselves who offer similar services. So we thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about what we do for independent authors as a boutique publisher. 

Creating a realistic expectation of the publishing process and a clear understanding of what being an independently published author entails is the first point of order when having an initial conversation with a prospective author. New authors are often wide-eyed and excited to jump in. It would be quite easy to exploit this by making false promises of how ‘easy’ it will be if you just pay someone to do it for you. We know that it is never easy and it requires a lot of hard work and determination to get anywhere as an independent author. Furthermore, an independent author can never step away from the responsibility of marketing his or her own book. Being able to present a professionally produced book to the market will be a good starting point, and that is one thing that we can offer our clients with confidence.

At Kwarts Publishers we do not offer ‘all-inclusive deals’ promising authors that their books will be showcased on the shelves of retail bookstores across the country. In some cases, we do refer authors to distribution agents, but we also point out that working through a distribution agent can be costly and not without risk. We do our best to give good and honest advice, and authors are always encouraged to do their homework properly before signing any distribution agreement.

We offer various services according to the needs of our clients, and we stress that no two books are the same. That is why we do not offer ‘package deals.’ Each manuscript is reviewed, and the client’s requirements are discussed before we can provide a quotation for the creation and production of the book. Once a manuscript has been edited and approved, the author will submit it for the design and production process to begin. Unless there are unforeseen delays, it should not take more than eight to ten weeks before the author will have a printed proof in hand and Kindle book live on Amazon.

Inevitably one of the first things we are asked is how much it will cost to publish a client’s book. And, while our rates are certainly a very affordable option, it is our willingness to work with a writer throughout the publishing process that bring so many of our authors back to publish a second or third (or even more!) book with us. It is a jungle out there for independent authors and it is so important to work with someone you can trust Give us a call for a chat about your book – we are passionate about our clients and we are passionate about creating books that reflect the huge amount of effort that went into writing them.

Anita Stander
Kwarts Publishers