Publishing terms

Book Interior Formatting

• All book interiors submitted to Master Press must have been proof-read and edited by Author prior to submission.

• Master Press reserves the right to determine the manner and style in which the Work will be formatted and typeset, using styles that are consistent with popular trade books, and using a Times New Roman font.

• Master Press cannot guarantee it will perform any special or unusual formatting requests.

• Master Press cannot create an index for the Work, and cannot accommodate footnotes, only end of chapter or end of book endnotes.

• From time to time, though our accuracy is high, errors may occur in the formatting process. Master Press shall perform one free round of corrections to fix Master Press errors (proven by the Author) at no cost to the Author, prior to a proof being approved and printed. Typographical errors caused by Author will be corrected at Author's request and billed at our Interior Designer's hourly rate of $70.00 per hour, 1/2 hour minimum.

  All typographical errors discovered after a proof has been printed (whether by author or Master Press), will be corrected at Author's expense at our Interior Designer's hourly rate ($70 per hour, 1/2 hour minimum), plus interior resubmission fee of $40.00, plus proof reprinting fee of $30.00.

  Under no circumstances shall Master Press refund, reimburse, or otherwise replace books printed with such errors. Your interior draft should be reviewed very carefully for typographical errors before you sign off on it and a proof ordered."

Read tips for getting your interiors ready for formatting

Custom Cover Design Process

• When an Author requests a custom cover design, they will be provided with a “Cover Design Questionnaire”. Answers to the questions will be used to help our graphic artist better understand the vision for the cover and will minimize confusion in the rendering of conceptual drafts.

• After the completed questionnaire has been received by Master Press, two (2) draft cover choices will be provided to Author for review, normally within 5 business days. Author will be required to select one (1) draft from the choices provided and the process will move to the next step - draft refining.

• After a cover has been selected from the two (2) provided choices, Author is entitled to three revisions to the selected cover. Once revisions are complete, Author will be required to sign off on the cover before it is submitted for proof printing.

• The cost of any changes to a custom cover requested by Author after a proof has been printed (except in the case of error on the part of Printer) will be charged to the Author as follows:

Resubmission fee (actual cost): $ 40.00
Proof reprinting (actual cost): $ 30.00
Graphic design fees $ 75.00 per hour with ¼ hour minimum

Please see information below regarding color and trim variance.

• Author will be required to sign off on the cover before a proof is printed.

Three “sign off” stages

Author will be required to sign off on the following three phases of the project:

• Book interior design prior to proof printing
• Cover approval prior to proof printing
• Proof approval prior to book printing

Payment Terms

Author agrees to pay ½ of project cost up front as a non-refundable deposit. The balance of the project is due after a proof has been signed off on and before the book is sent to print.

Project Delays/Stalled Projects

Master Press and Author must work together to complete projects in a timely manner. We ask that the Author respond to requests for information and/or materials within 2 business days. In the event that Author cannot provide requested information and/or materials within that time frame, we ask that Author notify Master Press via email within 2 business days to provide us with an anticipated time frame for the delivery of the requested items.

All requests for additional information/materials will be made via email and Author is required to respond to the email for confirmation of receipt.

Projects should be completed within 60 days. Projects that extend beyond 60 days due to lack of Author feedback, information and/or materials will be placed on hold and a continuation fee of 15% of the total project cost will be required to restart the project.

If all information and/or materials have not been provided by Author within 12 months of the project start date, the project will be considered cancelled. Any monies paid to Master Press are non-refundable.

Color Variance

Book covers are submitted using CMYK colors as required by our printer. Please be aware that colors viewed on computer monitors vary greatly from monitor to monitor and are displayed in RGB colors, not CMYK. RGB colors can change drastically when converted to CMYK. Also, please note that when PDF's are printed out colors will vary greatly depending on the quality of the printer used. In order to match your desired colors as closely as possible, we ask that you provide Master Press with the CMYK color values for each solid color you plan to use. If you do not know the CMYK color values, please visit a local commercial printer and ask to view their Pantone swatches. Once a color has been chosen, you can ask the printer for the CMYK equivalent.

Trim Variance

A trim/cutting variance of 1/16” is normal with print-on-demand technology. Therefore a draft cover may move 1/16” in any direction when a proof is printed.