Nimble Books LLC

Nimble Books is an innovative and, frankly, idiosyncratic independent publisher  that focuses on publishing timely, colorful, thought-provoking and concise books on a variety of topics that are of interest to, well, me.

The business model is nimble, too: no fees to the author (ever), no inventory, no advances, no returns, better royalties. It’s the wave of the future because it fixes a lot of things that are broken with traditional publishing. Want to join the fun? If you are interested in publishing with Nimble Books, read on. If …

• You want to know what kinds of books I publish …
  • See the Nimble books  store;
  • This list of series;
  • The list of forthcoming books;
  • Tips on editing collections for Nimble Books; and
  • This analysis of which books seem to be most profitable for me.
  • Warnings:
    • I have not yet published any fiction, and it is not high on my priority list;
    • I am generally quite skeptical about memoirs, unless you are a notable public figure with a broadcast marketing platform, or your story is truly extraordinary;
    • I only publish religious books with avowedly Christian themes–no “spiritual” or New Age books, please;
    • I am not impressed by claims that tens of millions of Baby Boomers share your interest in a topic; and
    • Nimble Books is not a service provider.
  • But …  don’t limit yourself: if you have a good idea for a book or even a new series, I do want to hear about it
• You want to know how long your book can be … (but remember, there is a direct relationship between length and price)
• You want to know if
• You want to know about our standard contract …
• You want to know how much money you will make when  you write a book for me …
• You want to know about our approach to marketing …

Once you’ve reviewed all the above, submit  a proposal for a Nimble book.

• I will generally respond quite promptly.  If I like the idea, we’ll discuss and iterate (preferably by e-mail), until we have agreed (or failed to agree) on scope and approach.  At that point, I’ll send you a personalized version of the standard contract.

• Get started writing, don’t procrastinate!  Remember, in the Nimble business model, neither of us can make any money whatsoever from a book that is planned, in progress, “working,” or “almost done.”
• Follow the Chicago Manual of Style, volume 15 (BTW–it is available on-line for $30/year!);
• Consult the posts tagged  Nimble Books Style Guide;
• Include a bibliography if it’s appropriate to the material…
• Let me know your thoughts on whether an index is appropriate …
• If you can, find someone well known to write a Foreword …
• Remember that “complete” means complete;
• Deliver the manuscript using one of the recommended file transfer methods in one of the following formats (listed in the order preferred):
  • in Word with consistent paragraph styles;
  • Word (.docx or .doc both ok);
  • RTF;
  • Common wordprocessor formats such as Word Perfect will probably be ok;
  • ASCII text;
  • PDF page images (by prior agreement only, please).
• Deliver images using one of the recommended file transfer methods as follows:
  • separately (not embedded in the manuscript);
  • minimum 72 dpi, 300 preferable;
  • final versions (don’t send me low-res then send high-res along later!)
  • TIF, PNG, JPEG, GIF, PDF ok (if you need to use compression, try to make it lossless);
  • as many pixels as possible;
  • RGB ok;
  • meaningful filenames (e.g. battleship-montana.jpg);
  • figure locations marked in the text with {squiggly brackets on a separate line roughly where the figure should go};
  • captions provided (ideally, in Word’s “Caption” format already).

Once you have turned your manuscript, the following articles provide useful guidance about subsequent milestones:

• What will the trim size be?
• What sort of paper do you use? Is it acid-free?
• Your ISBN number is …
• You have an idea for the cover …
• Your proof has been approved …
• You want to understand how we set the price for your book …
• Your book is available for distribution …
• Your new book is only available on booksmoreplusstuff …
• Getting a bookstore to order your book …
• Getting the major chains to pick up your book …
• You want to know whether your book will be published as an e-book, via Kindle, via Google Book Search, and so on …
• Understanding your AdWords advertising campaign …
• Understanding your Amazon sales rank …
• How do you calculate author’s compensation in USD from UK sales that are earned in GBP?

Questions?