The Black Spring Press Group is three limited companies, linked together to form one larger independent publishing group.
As a small boutique indie publisher, we cannot compete with mega-dollar companies, so we offer traditional contracts that we not only believe in, but that we see a demand for in the market.
We offer two publishing models
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1. Traditional Publishing with Eyewear and Black Spring Press
Email us if you would like to submit your manuscript or have any further questionsA traditional approach to publishing whereby an author approaches us, or we approach them, and if both parties agree, a traditional publishing contract is signed - whereby the publishing company pays the writer, and undertakes the full costs and risks of production: the gold standard Eyewear/Black Spring model.
You do not need an agent to submit to us, we know how important it is to keep an open door policy. So many presses nowadays only read work sent by agents, or by famous writers. As a small press run by writers and creatives, we want to be different. We distribute our books worldwide, especially in the UK and Republic of Ireland and the USA. BSPG seeks to balance the reality that we cannot read thousands of submissions a year easily, with the need to give every budding author a chance, since the history of publishing is replete with rejected geniuses who deserved better. -
2. Co-op/Partnership Publishing with Maida Vale and Dexter Haven under the BSPG banner.
Email us to discuss if co/op publishing is the model you think would best fit your manuscript.Our second business model is undertaken by Maida Vale Publishing and Dexter Haven. It is limited on a case-by-case basis; your book will be published under one of these imprints. This an example of hybrid publishing, like that of Red Penguin, it is legitimate and better than self-publishing as it offers bookshop distribution. We created this imprint especially for co-op models; a mutual investment, where the publisher partners with the author, and invests 50% of the costs, taking half the risk.
The Partnership-Publishing model offers the chance for an author to invest in their book, alongside the publisher. This model helps us as a publisher in our mission to discover unique talent and keep the door open for more writers. While most of the team are writers, art lovers and believe in expression for all, we do have to be particular with the choices we make in order to meet the market of demand halfway. Bookshops have a responsibility to fill their shelves with books they know their customers want to see.
Submission Fees
Due to the very large number of submissions BSPG receives daily, we will now require a processing fee of £20/$25 USD per submission. This is not a fee for our editors to read your entire novel/non-fiction work or poetry manuscript and offer extensive comments, but to consider your submission letter and writing sample, and read a sufficient excerpt to offer a decision usually within 2-4 weeks.
Please note: many major agents now respond within 3 months. As a small press we cannot afford to offer an open door policy without the money to provide the hours of work required. To submit just email us, and we will issue a PayPal invoice. Unfortunately, if you cannot use PayPal we won’t be able to invoice you. Thank you for understanding.
Our main ethos is to remain an alternative publisher for excellent writers who may not have the advantage of an agent so they need not self-publish.
FAQs about Co/op Partnership Publishing
How does Partnership Publishing work?
Practically speaking, the author gets a standard contract and all the usual editorial, design, production, publishing and marketing support we offer. This means your book is entered into prizes, sent for review, and sold into good bookshops across the USA, UK and Ireland, as well as online at Amazon. The difference is that the author is offered 50% of the sales profits. In exchange for this better deal (offered because the risk is shared) the author invests in some of the production costs up front, sometimes only as a temporary loan, sharing the risk equally with the publisher, who becomes their business partner for this project. Depending on the marketing spend and levels of editing or ghost-writing required, this can cost around £4000.
Why would a writer invest in Co/op Partnership Publishing?
Partnered publishing offers writers the chance to create a bespoke, completely unique project, with more control than most publishers will offer. Some books are huge, strange, eccentric, unusual, or even too commercial or personal for some publishers. Collaborating authors may have been frustrated by making endless rounds of agents and publishers, and tired of hearing no as an answer. With the Maida Vale Publishing and Dexter Haven model, they have an opportunity to achieve their goal.
Is this Vanity Press Publishing?
No. The hybrid model is a partnership, and an eyes-wide-open business deal based on mutual respect. Because the publisher continues to invest a minimum of 50% of the expense of creating the book and also continues to share in the royalties, the publisher will want to help sell and promote the book for years to come. Far from being a short-term scam, it is a respectable, reciprocal, co-operative model. Some major authors have been involved in such co-operative endeavours. It is more like how A-list actors becomes producers of, and owners in, their major motion pictures, thereby retaining more control and profit.
Do you work with self-publishing authors?
Black Spring Press publishes books that are negotiated and signed according to a standard contract template, where the author receives industry-competitive royalties. Its prestigious Eyewear imprint does the same.
However, as self-publishing and collaborative or hybrid publishing becomes more common, respectable and useful for some writers, we have begun to offer distinct and professional collaborative services under the Maida Vale Publishing imprint.
Under this arrangement, authors invest in their own project in exchange for considerably higher royalties. See co/op partnership above.
Does BSPG keep authors on its list?
Yes. Publishers generally build lists where authors are expected to feel they have a long-term home. Although we do not tie our authors down, we hope they will stay with us. We believe in nurturing talent.
What makes a book 'unpublishable'?
A work judged by experienced editors to be without any redeeming intellectual, emotional, or artistic merit; a book without any sense of literary or genre tradition; or a profoundly offensive work that breaks hate speech or obscenity laws.