How to publish a Pinchpenny book

Faculty advisers: Beth Martin Birky (bethmb) and Bobby Meyer-Lee (bobbyjm)

You can get more complete information on the English department bulletin board in Newcomer Center. Members of the Goshen College community have the opportunity to produce a Pinchpenny book through Pinchpenny press, the publishing house at GC. Pinchpenny books are normally 20 to 70 pages in length, which equals 10 to 35 folded pieces of 8 and 1/2" x 11'' paper.

Publishing Process
Authors must submit five copies of prospectus and sample of the manuscript to the Pinchpenny Editorial Board for consideration. The final date for student submissions of a prospectus to the board is the first Monday of the spring semester, with a final manuscript completed by Feb. 15.

Prospectus
Your prospectus must include:

• title of the proposed book
• one-paragraph description of the contents (theme, topic, literary form, genre, style, etc.)
• one-paragraph rationale for its contribution to the mission and educational program of Goshen College
• precis of the introduction
• description of the structure of sequence of contents
• statement of stylistic, artistic features (layout, design, graphics, cover, typeface, etc.)
• a schedule, indicating:

  1. date for submission of all copy (first reading)

  2. date for submission of all copy (second reading)

  3. date for completion of design, layout, typesetting

  4. date for completion of printing

  5. a plan for marketing the book

  6. a brief, but revealing, sample of the writing to be included in the book

Acceptance of the prospectus means tentative approval of the manuscript. Final approval will follow examination of the entire manuscript. If the prospectus is accompanied by the whole manuscript, final approval is possible at this initial stage of consideration. Allow a few weeks for this process, as the board meets weekly and must have time to read manuscripts. The board may request a second draft or editorial revisions. Early submission often yields better sales of your book. We have found that fall and early spring sales are more successful than late spring sales. A GC student can get up to two hours of college credit for preparing a manuscript for publication. The board consists of five members: three students and two English department faculty members.

Manuscripts
The editorial board considers a manuscript on the following criteria:

1. Inherent quality of the material.
   
2. Size of the market among the various constituencies of the college (students, faculty, staff, alumni, church, community).
   
3. Degree to which a manuscript complements and contributes to the mission and education program of the college

Publishing info
A manuscript that recommends itself on quality but not on size of market or degree of contributions to GC may be published by Pinchpenny Press under the following conditions:

1. The author agrees to pay all expenses associated with production of the book (editing, typing, printing, assembling, etc.) as well as a 20 percent mark-up for general college overhead costs.
   
2. The author is responsible for sale, promotion and distribution.
   
3. Pinchpenny Press receives complimentary copies for its permanent file (3) and Pinchpenny Board members (6), as well as 10 copies free of charge for its own sale and profit, normally those sold in the college bookstore.
   
4. The author holds publication rights, upon which Pinchpenny Press claims first option in case of a sale of rights.

IMPORTANT: Authors are responsible for the artistic design and production of a book. Most students use desktop publishing programs, such as Quark, for lay-out. Contact the printing office for assistance in layout and paper selection.

Contracts
Pinchpenny Press offers three different publishing contracts, depending on the nature of the author.

1. Student: Since the press exists primarily to serve GC students, it will subsidize, as necessary, student books, provided that the terms of the student contract are met.
   
2. Faculty/staff: The press will publish books by faculty and staff if they agree, in advance, to pay any unrecovered expenses at the end of two years of sales. Although the press cannot subsidize books by such authors, faculty members should remember that Faculty Research Grants can sometimes be used to help support faculty members' research or creative writing.
   
3. Off-campus. Manuscripts accepted from off-campus authors will usually be published under the terms described above.