Why Publish with Us?

There are lots of publishers out there, and it's hard to know who to choose. Plus, you could self-publish, so why choose a publisher at all? Here are some reasons to choose Shrimp Cult Press.

Marketing, Crowdfunding, Printing, Distribution

The biggest argument against self-publishing is that you have to do all the marketing yourself. If you already have an established fan-base, marketing your book might not be as much work for you. If you don't, you're in for a rough ride. Your book might be incredible, but in a world of information overload, it needs to stand out above the noise. That's where marketing comes in. Self-publishing with inadequate marketing is why most books published sell around 1 to 12 copies in their first year. 

We take care of the marketing and distribution for you. We run crowdfunding campaigns to build hype leading up to the launch of the book, so by the time your book is out, it's already broken the mold. We do all of the work that comes with running a successful crowdfunding campaign for you, so you don't have to pack a single box. deal with returns, or answer a million questions about t-shirt sizing. 

Laying out a book and making sure that it prints nicely on the right paper with a beautiful binding that opens nicely is an art, and it also happens to be our specialty. Your book will look beautiful and feel professional. 

Intellectual Property (IP)

It's a boring topic, but it's an important one. Your intellectual property - your characters, your environments, your world - is the core of what makes your story unique and valuable. Some publishers want to keep your IP for themselves so they can rake in the profits if it takes off. We don't. Our contract carefully states that we're borrowing your IP, and that we don't own it. If you publish volume one of your book with us, you can take volume two anywhere else with no problem. We hope you'll like working with us and come back, but you aren't forced to. This also means we can't steal your work and cut you out of the profits.

No matter who you choose to publish with, make sure you get your contract reviewed by a lawyer. There are non-profit arts organizations that offer free legal counsel, so check in your area. 

Feedback and Creative Vision

We don't just publish any work that comes our way, so if we've chosen to publish your work, we trust your creative vision and want to leave it alone. We're happy to provide guidance and feedback if you want it, and we'll look out for your work from a marketing perspective, but we aren't here to change your story around. 

If this is your first book and you want help scheduling milestones for getting the work done, we can work together on that too. 

Light-Hearted Fun

Our customers love light-hearted stories, so if your story is fun and a little silly with beautiful artwork, we know a bunch of people who already want it. 

No AI

A lot of big companies are racing to remove human beings from their processes as much as possible. Fewer people means more money, and the quality doesn't matter to them. Quality does matter to us. Paying people for their work matters to us. We don't believe AI should tell human stories, so we don't use it or publish anything created with AI. Your book will be produced, shelved, and sold along with other books that are created by real humans. 

Competitive Royalties

Our standard rate for royalties is 40%, which is a lot higher than the many companies in the industry. Why? Two reasons. First, we believe in paying people fairly for their work, and 15% of the profit doesn't sound fair. Second, we're small and new, so we can't afford to pay you a cash advance. In exchange, we share more of the profit with you. 

 

If you have an idea you'd like to pitch, check out our submissions page! We'd love to hear from you.