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Frequently Asked Questions
Got a Question not on the list below? Ask at
info@archebooks.com
ArcheBooks Corporate Profile (Download PDF Document)
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Author Questions
Hardcover First Edition Questions
eBook Questions
Other Questions
Do you need an Agent to submit a Query or Manuscript? Yes! Please go to the Agents page for complete submission requirements.
Why does ArcheBooks only publish in Hardcover? ArcheBooks Publishing is dedicated to bringing PREMIUM ORIGINAL WORKS to market. In general, especially in the context of FICTION, Hardcover books, while more expensive from a retail perspective, tend to be more respected in the market by reviewers, booksellers, and ultimately readers. We believe in the concept of building a lasting treasure of a personal library in the home (see our Renaissance of Reading article), and Hardcover books are meant to last a lifetime. With an emphasis on providing new publishing opportunities to new talent and new voices, it's important that the first impression made is one of quality and distinction. Far too many new authors are debuted to the market in paperback, and consequently aren't taken as seriously as perhaps their work merits. Thus, what may be nothing more than an effort to reduce production costs by a publisher results in less favorable medium to introduce a new work. Our view is that mass-market paperback books are most appropriate to those titles which have succeeded in establishing themselves in the marketplace and created a high consumer demand, which can then be satisfied by a lower cost high-volume version of the product. Yet, during the Demand Creation ramp-up phase, a book's best chance to be viewed favorably is packaged as a Hardcover first edition. Also, due to the higher retail price of Hardcovers, Royalty paid are higher as well as profits for Booksellers. Lastly, ArcheBooks Publishing does offer some NON-FICTION titles in Trade Paperback from, where the benefits of hardcover aren't applicable in terms of garnering reviews, etc.
Does ArcheBooks Publishing Pay Author Advances? Yes, we do, in accordance with the author's prior publishing history and corporate policy. We do, however, have compensation elements that most publisher don't offer. Such as:
The concept of Author Advances, in a traditional publishing model, is effectively to "buy" the book for that particular amount of money, with no intention of ever paying the author another cent. It is more common than uncommon for Authors to never earn out typical advances due to the simple fact that many publishers don't initially print enough books to even make paying out the advance mathematically possible. And in those instances, unless the book really takes off and creates a substantial backlog of demand, it will never be reprinted, and will therefore be Out-of-Print in a matter of months. This effectively renders all "royalty rates" specified in contracts a moot issue. On the other hand, if the book does take off, then reprints may occur, and the Author may receive additional royalty payments -- but only AFTER the full advance has been earned out, and after the current six month reporting period, and after all Reserves against returns have been satisfied. We at ArcheBooks Publishing believe the model described above is in no way designed to help an author develop a viable professional career as a novelist. That's why we don't use it. Our goal is to pay Authors monthly, just like a real paycheck -- and we do. As authors work in collaboration with us to build their audience and introduce new works to market and see sales volume increase, so do they see their monthly paychecks. And due to our hybrid production model, our authors' titles never go Out-of-Print and never have any Print Run limitations.
Is ArcheBooks Publishing a "POD" Publisher? NO! Many people mistakenly use the phrase "POD Publisher" or "Print-on-Demand" Publisher as synonymous with Vanity or Subsidy presses, i.e. those publishers who have authors pay for some or all of the production costs of a book, who don't screen submissions for professional quality work, who have little to no editorial resources, who do little to no marketing and promotion, and who basically view desperate unpublished authors as their primary revenue source. ArcheBooks Publishing is a "traditional" Trade Publisher in the sense that we NEVER charge authors fees for anything. We invest heavily in the marketing and promotion of our authors and titles. All of our books are professionally edited and produced. We're very "non-traditional" in the sense that we take a long-lifecycle view of each of our authors and titles, and work diligently to promote and grow our authors with the intent of helping them establish long-term, viable, professional writing careers. Now to the question of whether we at ArcheBooks Publishing employ Digital Manufacturing technology, the answer is: like most major publishers, we employ ALL book production technologies available to us inclusive of both high-volume Offset Printing and short-run Digital Printing as is appropriate to the market demand requirements of our products. Both methodologies produce the same result for the same retail price. While the underlying Cost of Goods (COG) price is significantly different, that's simply a gross-margin financial issue for the publisher -- not the consumer or the bookseller. Bear in mind that while Vanity Presses have placed an unwarranted negative stigma on a revolutionary manufacturing technology due to their predatory and often misleading "business model" practices, Digital Printing technology is what can enable a book to remain in print forever, after the peak of its high-demand phase has waned; and should that title enjoy high-demand again at some point in the future, it can be easily reprinted via Offset manufacturing once more to meet that demand. Digital Printing Technology is also what can satisfy an unexpected spike in high demand. For example, if a million people logged onto Amazon.com and purchased a book that was available via Digital Production, everyone could have one, and have it soon. Yet if that same title were only Offset printed, with say 10,000 copies sitting in a warehouse, then 990,000 people are going to be disappointed when they're told it is out-of-stock and backordered. The publisher may be delighted to hear he has 990,000 backorders, but it will take him a month or two at a minimum to commission and receive the reprint. For a detailed discussion of this topic, we invite you to please read our Author's Corner article: "The Vanity of an Industry."
What Marketing and Promotional Help does ArcheBooks provide its Authors?
What do I do if my local bookstore doesn't have an ArcheBooks title I would like to purchase? Ask them to order it for you. Make sure you request it by its ISBN number. Many books have similar, if not in some cases, identical titles. Titles can't be copyrighted. Many authors also have similar or common names. So ordering a book merely by its title or author isn't the most precise way to do it. Use the ISBN! That's what it's for. If a particular retailer can't get the book in their system, you can always get it via this website, or fulfilled through Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. We also invite you to use the BookSense feature of the website to find your nearest local independent bookseller who will get our titles for you.
The major wholesalers (Ingram Books and Baker & Taylor in the US, and Bertram's in the UK) update their databases/catalogues faster than many of the online retailers do. The lag is typically around four weeks. All ArcheBooks titles may be ordered by consumers via our ArcheBooks Direct Program which is offered via this website in our Bookstore at a discount of 25% off the list price.
What are ArcheBooks Publishing's Book Specs? Our First Edition Hardcover books are cloth-bound with full-color dust-jackets
How long will it take to download an eBook? It depends on the size of the book, and the speed of your Internet connection. On average, eBooks are approximately 1 MB for a 300 page book in Adobe Acrobat Reader format. One megabyte on a slow dial-up connection can take five minutes or more to download. The same file downloaded on a DSL line can take ten to twenty seconds. Worst case, downloading a 1.5MB to 2.0 MB file, should take no more than ten minutes on the slowest of dial-up connections. Conversely, on a DSL or LAN connection, it's a matter of seconds.
What is something goes wrong with my download? The the first rule of thumb is "try again." If you are on a dial-up connection and loose your session during download, leave your browser open, reconnect, then click on the download page again. If your browser closes, or your machine reboots, and you no longer have access to your download page, you will need to send an email to support@archebooks.com, and upon confirmation of your purchase, your eBook will be emailed back to you promptly. HINT: Unless you clear your Temporary Internet Files, your download page will likely still be in your History files! Open that page and simply download your book again.
How much disk space will eBooks take up on my computer? The file sizes of all ArcheBooks eBooks are specified both on the Book Description page and on the Download Instruction page you receive after you've made a purchase. Typically, eBooks are approximately 1.0 MB. In most cases your eBook can fit on a 1.4MB floppy disk, and doesn't take up a great deal of space on your hard drive. Adobe PDF files are put into whatever directory you specify at the time you save the file.
What do I have to do to read my eBook on my Palm Pilot? First you must ensure you have Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or later on your PC. You can get it free from Adobe at www.adobe.com. Next, make sure you download the Adobe Acrobat version of the eBook you purchase from ArcheBooks. Adobe combined Acrobat Reader with their eBook reader in version 6.0. Lastly, you must have a Palm Pilot that can read Adobe PDF files. Acrobat Reader for Palm OS 2.0 and 3.0 is available from Adobe. If you don't have an Adobe Reader compatible Palm Pilot, your PDF file will need to be converted to a (.prc or .pdb) file. A variety of conversion utilities are available at www.shareware.com. For transferring your eBook to your Palm Pilot, please consult the manufacturer's instructions for Hot-Synching a file. If you have the full version of Adobe Acrobat, not just the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, we can also recommend a commercial conversion product called PDF2Doc, an Adobe Acrobat plug-in, which converts any PDF file to a Palm OS doc file.
Can I read my eBook on more than one computer? Yes. The Right to Use license for the copyrighted intellectual property of the eBook you purchase from ArcheBooks is a single user license. The user who purchases the eBook may copy the file to whatever computing devices, PDAs, laptops, Palm devices etc. that the purchaser wishes at his/her convenience. The file may not be copied and redistributed to others (see Lending and Gifts for more). Copying for redistribution is a violation of the copyright and illegal. A practical note: Like traditional printed books, an authorized user may allow other members of a single household to read a book at their discretion, inasmuch as other members of the household have access to the same computing platforms as the purchaser.
Can I lend my eBook to a friend, or give one away as a gift? "Lending" an eBook to someone outside of the household, or giving one as a gift to someone else, requires the purchaser to delete all copies in their own possession after sending, such that only one valid copy per single user license is respected. Redistributing copies of an eBook without deletion is a violation of the copyright and illegal.
What if I accidentally delete my eBook? If you accidentally delete your eBook, or your hard disk crashes, or if the individual file becomes corrupted in any way, send an email to support@archebooks.com, and provide us with the Title of the book, approximate date of purchase, and your Receipt Number. Always save your Receipt Number in a safe place (print it and file it). Upon confirmation of purchase, we will email you a new copy of your eBook.
Are ArcheBooks eBooks available as audio books? Adobe Acrobat Reader supports "Read out loud" functionality. It sounds like being read to by a robot, but it works. Consult the product help files for more information about operating this functionality.
How do I enjoy an eBook in bed, curled up on the couch, or in the bathroom? Get a Palm Pilot, Tablet PC, laptop, or other portable reading device. There are many of them on the market these days, and more being introduced all the time. Your ArcheBooks single user license allows you to read your eBook on any computing platform in your possession.
Why can't I print my eBook, or copy and paste text? These functions have been disabled in the security settings. It isn't the intention of eBooks to exist in paper form, and the other functions are there to protect the information from redistribution in other documents. In essence, eBooks exist to be enjoyed in an online manner, whether on a desktop PC, laptop, or hand-held. If you wish a printed version of a particular title, then purchase it in either hardback or paperback, if available.
Special Notes for Zone Alarm Personal Firewall Users If you use a Zone Alarm Personal Firewall, then depending on how you have it configured will have a bearing on how the ArcheBooks website appears. For example, in an effort to make our site more media rich, we employ a variety of animated GIF's and Flash animations. If your Privacy Settings on your firewall do not allow animation, you won't be able to enjoy them. To "unlock" animations, open the Zone Alarm control panel, go to the "Privacy & Ad Blocking" settings, and on the Ad Blocking tab, go to the "Customize" section. There you will find a series of check boxes. Merely uncheck the block on Animations. You can still leave blocking on all Pop-Ups and other Ads. We don't use Pop-ups. We have also noticed that Zone Alarm occasionally thinks some of our graphics are Ads and blocks them, but we endeavor to find these and adapt them to graphics and links that don't confuse your firewall.
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