LoneTree Publishing Agency

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself." -- Galileo Galilei

FREE Manuscript Reading and Evaluation!

Have you written “The Great American Novel?” Have your submissions been returned with a form letter saying, “Sorry, not for us!” In any genre, in any format, we're ready to read your work and return your FREE evaluation!

Our goal is to help writers produce quality published works (novels, short stories, etc.) at the least possible start-up expense and greatest possible profit to the author. We’ll look at your material (for FREE!) and provide an evaluation (also for FREE!) of your efforts. Let us represent you and your work in the Literary World! Click on prione@LoneTreePubAgency.com to e-mail us and let us know your needs.

Send us your work as an e-mail attachment (again, to prione@LoneTreePubAgency.com or through the postal system (to LoneTree Publishing Agency, P. O. Box 566, Logan, OH 43138-0566). Your manuscript (MS) can be typed, handwritten, or even taped! See Submission Guidelines below.

WHAT WE WILL DO FOR YOU

We will read (or listen to) anything you send us. Although an agent is usually not required (or cost effective) for short stories or articles, your material could be considered for a collection. When you send us such items, please include potential markets for your material, if you know where you would like the story or article to appear.

Our primary concern is in acting as agents and editors. We can and will have your books published using Print-On-Demand (POD), if desired, generally at a lower cost than other publishers, since we do this more as a courtesy to our customers rather than our main line of income. As a result, several options are available:

AGT Option: If you have a sound concept (i.e., a good story-line), a decent build from start to finish, and a manuscript of sufficient length (Refer to: FAQs, What length should my story be?), we will offer you a contract to allow us to act as your literary agent in presenting your work to "Big Name" (traditional) publishers. For this we charge $250 up front; this money is used to cover editing for spelling and punctuation errors in of your material, making copies as needed, and mailing costs where publishers require printed copies. This fee is expected to cover all needs for a period of six months. The number of publishers contacted in this period is dependent upon the genre of your material; you will receive copies of all return correspondence (acceptance or denial). When your book sells, this cost will be returned to you. This representation process consists of sending your book to publishers with our attached query letter explaining why we believe your book has merit in the marketplace. Most publishers today will NOT accept unsolicited manuscripts from writers. As agents, we provide the reader evaluation service for which publishers used to hire parttime workers.

EDT Option: If your manuscript meets the requirements above (good story-line, decent build, sufficient length) but needs editing, you will be given an opportunity to have our group do the work, or you may opt to go with someone else. If you use our group, you choose the level of editing desired. First, however, you will be given a computer-generated listing of the possible problems with your manuscript. You may then choose to edit your manuscript yourself using the data provided. (Readings and evaluations after the first will incur a $50 to $75 fee, depending on length of your work.) See Do I need an Editor?

PRT Option: If your sole desire is to have copies of your book in hand to give to friends and family (and maybe to sell to your local area, i.e. church congregation, business partners, etc.), we will have your text edited for punctuation and spelling and a cover created. You will receive copies of both prior to publication for your approval. Once we have your approval, the text will be made printer-ready and the print process will begin. Costs are as follows:

Basic Fee: $500.00. This fee includes all editing and setup fees, cover preparation (Note: Custom covers are extra), assigning an ISBN number, and printer related fees. Copies of books sent to you will be an additional cost based on the amounts given below. Find the estimated page count of your book and multiply by the number of copies desired. (NOTE: Final page count and, therefore, final per book costs, will probably be less than you anticipate.)

Pages:	Cost:	Pages:	Cost:	Pages:	Cost:
48-125	$4.34	326-350	$7.76	551-575	$11.18
126-150	$4.72	351-375	$8.14	576-600	$11.56
151-175	$5.10	376-400	$8.52	601-625	$11.94
176-200	$5.48	401-425	$8.90	626-650	$12.32
201-225	$5.86	426-450	$9.28	651-675	$12.70
226-250	$6.24	451-475	$9.66	676-700	$13.08
251-275	$6.62	476-500	$10.04	701-725	$13.46
276-300	$7.00	501-525	$10.42	726-750	$13.84
301-325	$7.38	526-550	$10.80	751-775	$14.22

Copyright fees: Costs of applying for the official copyright number, providing the paper copy (electronic filing is currently in a test phase), mailing envelope or box, and postage. This is normally NOT recommended at this stage. (See Copyright below and FAQs, Do I need a copyright?) Cost: $100.00.

If you desire distribution of your book to places like Amazon.com or book sales sites, then there is an additional $50.00 one-time fee plus a fee equal to 10 times the announced price of your book with shipping included. (Example: If your book is set to sell for $18.95, shipping is usually based on $3.00 per book, so the full price is $21.95. Ten times this would be $219.50.) This total, $269.50 in this case, will be used to cover expenses in the event books are returned to the sellers, then to the printer, then to the publisher. All we get back, though, are the front cover and the expense sheet. Internet and independent book sellers are no longer willing to accept books for sale unless the Author, through the Publisher, agrees to accept returned books. As the Publisher, we will stop sales distribution when the number of returns reaches 10 books. The Author, however, is responsible for paying for all returns that occur, no matter when or where. Consider this when offering your book for world-wide distribution.

TOTAL Fee: $500.00 plus cost of books plus fees for distribution (if desired), without copyright; $600.00 plus costs of books plus fees for distribution (if desired), with copyright.

We will offer further copies of your book to you at the prices listed above plus shipping (usually about $1.00 per book when shipped in large quantities -- a box contains about thirty 300-page books -- or $3.50 or more when shipped individually!) Individual book price and shipping are set by the printer and the shipping companies, respectively. We will update this site as we receive information of changes.

CMB Option: If you would like us to act as agents for your book and also to provide you with copies for your own use, we offer this combination. This option includes everything listed under the PRT Option above, plus the actions listed under the AGT Option.

Calculating the sales price of your book: Multiply the cost of your book times 2.5, add $1.00, and round UP to the next $.95. Example: If your book costs $7.00, then $7.00 times 2.5 = $17.50 plus $1.00 = $18.50, rounding up = $18.95.

BIG NOTE: We must, IN ALL CASES, see your work before we can begin evaluation, negotiation, representation, offer you a contract, or conduct any other effort on your behalf! We will read and evaluate your work for FREE; beyond that, depending on what you have and what you want, costs may be incurred. When you submit your material to us, please include all files you have available, including any cover files or pictures you desire us to use.

OUR ULTIMATE GOAL: publication of your work by a major publishing house!

WHAT WE CAN'T DO FOR YOU

We cannot pretend your book will be a best-seller, no matter how much we like it. Nor can we tell you it will fail no matter what you do. There are no assurances in this business.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Currently we are accepting all submissions without regard to genre or format. We will take handwritten and audio file (taped, MP3, etc.) documents, e-mail ( prione@LoneTreePubAgency.com) or snail mail (regular postage: LoneTree Publishing Agency, P. O. Box 566, Logan, OH 43138-0566) submissions, full manuscripts (MSS) or just the first 30 pages or so, or whatever you have. We will then read and evaluate your submission and return those documents to you in the same manner you sent them (snail mail to snail mail, e-mail to e-mail, etc.). If using snail mail, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) of sufficient size to allow return of your materials plus a 2 to 5 page evaluation. If your work is good "as is," or if your work shows promise, we will offer a copy of our contract along with the evaluation.

As a minimum, we need to see the equivalent of the first 30 manuscript pages (no title or contents pages). It's best to send all you have completed. In every case, we would like to see a synopsis (a detailed outline in prose form is preferred, bullet type outline is okay) of the book, finished or not. Your should also provide the answers to the following questions:

--Genre: ________________________________ (mystery, sci-fi, etc.)

--Problem for hero to solve: ________________________________ (lost love, lost dog, etc.)

--Time limit for hero to solve problem: _______________________ (one month, two days, etc.)

--One sentence that summarizes the entire book: __________________________ (boy chases girl, boy loses girl, girl catches boy -or- aliens capture world, hero destroys aliens, world saved) Be more expansive than these examples, but, still, keep it simple.

Your work is copyrighted, by law, as soon as you commit it to paper or an electronic file. (Telling the story to someone else is NOT covered!) The Copyright Office will maintain a paper copy of your work, for a fee. (They do NOT currently accept electronic files!) This official copyright ensures that questions of legitimacy can be answered with a date of copyright; in this way, questions of who first created a work can be answered and put to rest. We do NOT recommend acquiring a copyright until a big house publisher contracts for your work. (Also see FAQS, Do I Need a copyright?

FINAL NOTES

We want to see new writers published. These activities do not provide our livelihood; we can afford to be somewhat altruistic. We also want to treat writers and published authors as we want to be treated. We want to make our help as painless and positive as possible.

If we cannot currently provide your project with our services due to time constraints or other problems, we will let you know as quickly as possible so you may look for another solution. If we agree to take on your project, we will let you know when we return your evaluation.

In any event, we wish you Good Luck in your endeavors!

Again, Click on prione@LoneTreePubAgency.com to e-mail us and let us know your needs.

Back to the Top