Levine puts his law degree to work as he breaks down and explains the usual set-up, clauses, and details of a publishing contract, allowing lay people to move into this territory with an additional level of confidence. While you can’t depend upon him for legal advice, his analysis of each publishing contract (provided further on in the details for each publisher) that he was able to obtain is priceless. Levine also explains the general principles of various techniques of calculating author royalties and provides a theoretical breakdown for each publisher as well. There are some editing issues present (somewhat disappointing for a notable reference title relating to self-publishing), most of which occur in the numerical notation for these royalty calculations.
Each publisher receives its own chapter which details: publisher website, format of books, genres accepted, publishing fees and packages, additional services offered, return of digital files, retail pricing, author pricing, royalties, notes on the publishing agreement, and the author friendly rating – Levine’s personal analysis of the publisher. The Fine Print deals mainly with publishers offering paperback printing services. Hardbacks are mentioned (though rarely offered by publishers) and children’s picture book packages are noted, though not explored thoroughly. If you’ve written a children’s book you’ll be able to benefit from the general advice and through observing Levine’s author-friendly analysis skills in action, but you won’t find many helpful leads on potential publishing houses here.
After reading through The Fine Print in detail, it’s easy to see why Levine has angered major self-publishing houses in past editions of this work. He is out to protect authors, their rights, and their pocketbooks, making no bones about a bad deal when he sees one. A few samples are sure to whet your appetite for more of his brass-tacks approach to analysis.
If you buy this service and make your money back from it, I will let you watch me rip out each page of this book and eat it.
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If this is true and (publisher’s name removed) can prove it, I’ll fly to the publisher’s offices and eat my book in front of all its employees.
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If what you read here isn’t enough to convince you to stay away, then P.T. Barnum was right – there really is a sucker born every minute.
It’s obvious that Levine is passionate about doing his best to ensure that authors receive a fair deal. However, it’s not all bad news – eight publishers are listed in the outstanding category, and nine are listed as pretty good. Levine does give praise where it is due when exceptionally fair terms and services are provided for authors.
Article comments
1 - T. Lavon Lawrence
Thank you, Jennifer, for your fine review. I definitely want to get my own copy after reading your perspective.