“What does your name mean?
Something that is worn from frequent use—and something that often indicates a reader’s FAVORITE portion of a book is called “dog eared”. We want to be that “favorite” spot for authors on the internet.”
Dog Ear Publishing is a US author solutions service located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Formed in 2004 by co-owners, Ray Robinson, Miles Nelson and Alan Harris, all three have had varied careers in the book world, from Waldenbooks, Pearson Education Publishers, as well as backgrounds in book packaging and the graphic design and print industries. This mix of both production and publication certainly provides the kind of firm foundation for an author solutions service many other companies do not possess.
“Dog Ear Publishing was founded in October, 2004 by Miles Nelson, Ray Robinson and Alan Harris. Nelson has an extensive graphic design and printing background. Robinson was previously a book packager for traditional publishers and a buyer for a major retail bookstore. Harris, like Robinson, has experience as a buyer for a well known bookstore chain and performed as an acquisitions editor for a major traditional publisher.”
“All too often, authors are lured by a low up front cost – but, it’s not the publishing fees that ruin your profit, it’s the book printing costs! If you think your book will sell 100 units or less, then going with the least expensive book publisher is your best choice. Plan on selling some books? Click here to see why it is your cost of book printing that will make the MOST difference. Dog Ear Publishing is the book publisher that can help you sell MORE books.”
What is Self-publishing?
What are ‘self-publishing companies’?
“Getting Rich – The vast majority of the books in the “traditional” publishing industry barely ever break even – and an even smaller percentage of self published books ever see a profit. A tiny minority of self published books are ever a big success or achieve fame.”
Basic Package ($1099):
- Paperback or Hardcover format
- Completely unique, custom interior and cover design
- Up to 30 interior images
- 5 free paperback books or 5 hardcover (1 color); 5 color paperback (dependent upon format and page count)
- Your own Author Representative who provides support throughout the publishing process
- Book and author web page within the Dog Ear web site
- Registration with all major online booksellers and national distributors
- Registration with Books in Print database providing worldwide availability
- Assignment of International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
- Library of Congress control number and US Copyright information on the copyright page (to learn more about copyright, click here)
- Inclusion in Google Book Search program
- Availability in one digital format (Google Editions)
This is a strong basic package and even at $1099, it includes services like LCCN, Custom cover design and the option of hardback or paperback. Many other author solution services charge an extra $150 – $300 for the hardback availability, although, authors should note that it is one or the other here and not a combination. The ‘Book and author web page within our site’ bothers me. This means that the web page is hosted and listed on the Dog Ear Publishing website with access to buy links on Amazon, and this bears no comparison to a proper author website.
The Professional package adds on the following ($1699):
- Paperback of Hardcover Format
- 30 interior images (author supplied)
- Completely unique, custom interior and cover design
- Your own Author Representative who provides support throughout the publishing process
- Book and author web page within the Dog Ear web site
- Registration with all major online booksellers and national distributors
- Registration with Books in Print database providing worldwide availability
- Assignment of International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
- Library of Congress control number and US Copyright information on the copyright page (to learn more about copyright, click here)
- Availability in one digital format (Google Editions)
- 5 free paperback books or 5 hardcover books (dependent upon format and page count)
- Consultation with a Dog Ear Publishing design professional
- Aggressive Marketing Campaign that includes:
- – Media Release created by our copywriting staff and released to 250 targeted media outlets
- – Full-color print marketing materials
1,000 business cards
100 postcards
10 full-size posters - Custom SEO Web site
Now we get the unique author website, together with the promotional materials and media press release (I would suggest the author have a hand in who gets some of these media press releases) by today’s standard in competition is a little excessive at $600 extra.
The Professional Plus only adds in the following ($2199):
- – Author Store Shopping Cart
To process orders and payments, dramatically increasing the profitability of your book. See more here - Inclusion in Google Book Search program
Unless I am missing something here, the author is paying an extra $500 for inclusion in Google Books and a store shopping and payment facility. My own service provider offers this on my business website for an extra $5 a month, that’s $60 a year! This really isn’t worth it.
- – Media Release created by our copywriting staff and released to 1,000 targeted media outlets
- – Full-color print marketing materials
2,000 business cards
250 postcards
10 full-size posters
- – PPC Marketing Campaign
- Including up to 250 search terms and 5 ad categories to direct search engine visitors to your store front or site.
- – Professional copyediting(Up to 53,000 words at the Copyeditor level)
“Dog Ear Publishing has for many years provided editorial services to most of the “traditional” publishing houses. There are certain “standard” editorial processes each and every book receives when we do this work for a publisher. These processes include proofreading, copyediting, and/or development editing. Copyediting is the single most important service because it makes or breaks every book’s editorial success.”
Dog Ear Publishing also provide other services including expedited and a Book Returns program:ICE:
RETURNS
Royalties:
Retail Price minus Wholesale Discount minus Print Cost equals Net Sales Profit.
Let’s say you have set a Retail Price of $14.95
You are offering a Wholesale Discount of 40% (which you have also set)
Your book has a Print Cost of $4.28 (based upon format and page count – see our Book Printing Prices page for more details)
$14.95 – 40% ($5.98) – $4.28 = $4.72 per unit Net Sales Profit – PAID TO YOUYour net sales profit is $4.72 per book.
e-Book Sales
e-Books are only distributed via our e-retailer partners; Amazon.com (Kindle), Apple (iBookstore), Barnes&Noble (Nook), and Google (Google Editions). Dog Ear does not sell e-books direct to the end consumer.
Exact profit on e-book sales can be complex, due to the many levels of Wholesale Discount applied and the various fees assessed by our partners. In general, however, the Net Sales Profit on an e-book sale is calculated much like that of a print book.
Unlike print books, please note that we have NO control over the level ofWholesale Discount required for your book to be listed with a specific retail outlet. In most cases, each retailer has their own requirements.
Retail Price minus Wholesale Discount equals Net Wholesale.
Net Wholesale minus Digital Distribution Fee equals Net Sales Profit.
Let’s say you have set a Retail Price of $9.99 for your e-book
The retailers require a specific Wholesale Discount, which can vary; let’s use Apple’s of 30%
Your book has a Digital Distribution Fee of 20% of Net Wholesale(meaning 20% of the price paid by the Retailer)
$9.99 – 30% ($3.00) = $6.99 per unit Net Wholesale
$6.99 – 20% (the Digital Distribution Fee ($1.39)) = $5.60 – PAID TO YOUSo – your net sales profit is $5.60 per book.
Biographies of Dog Ear Founders & Publishers:
Alan Harris
Miles Nelson
Ray Robinson
Also, Dog Ear Blog by Miles Nelson here.
RATING: 6.5/10
I’m surprised you didn’t challenge the “5 free books.”
They’re _not_ free if an author first has to pay $1,099 or more.
Michael N. Marcus
author of “Become a Real Self-Publisher” — on sale next month
http://BookMakingBlog.blogspot.com
http://real-self-publisher.blogspot.com
http://www.SilverSandsBooks.com
They all use these ‘free books’ semantics in their packages when the author is actually paying.
And now you mention it, Marcus, the 5 free books is pityful for $1000 packages.
I was wondering if your opinion still holds true today in 2017 as in 2009. I appreciate all of your information and found it, and the posts below very helpful.
Mick,
Thanks for a thorough and balanced look at this self-publishing service. I really appreciate that you took the time to cut through the hype and present the facts. I will link to this as a resource for my clients.
Thanks Joel.
Attempting to hit the right balance in any of these author solution reviews is always uppermost in my mind.
I am not in the business of showing companies who provide author solution services in a bad or unreasonable light if I can help it. I have tried to explain in a number of articles here on the site the process and criteria, if you like, of how I go about researching and assessing companies.
I think the most important thing you have to remember is that different authors have their own set of ‘needs’ and ‘requirements’ for book projects, but equally there are some core issues which result in me deciding against reviewing certain author solution services.
In fact, those ‘needs’ and ‘requirements’ are the first things any author considering self-publishing should think about. Until they do, they can’t hope to find the best ‘fit’ for them and their book project.
Thanks again for your comment and support.
I plan to make my own book website and Dog Ear says they will give me an “Open for Business” link for my site that goes directly to the internal Dog Ear page for purchasing the book. Plus they will do fulfillment of the order for a small fee and ship to purchaser.
Paul,
I’m puzzled. Arn’t these services already provided for in their basic package, or do you mean you are taking the fulfilment and web purchase page as stand alone service?
Mick,
I used Dog Ear Publishing’s services for my first book, Game Strategies and Tactics for Basketball. Very happy customer. For what I paid I got good editing, a great cover and an interior that looks very nice.
Had I not discovered CreateSpace and the fact I could have the same services freelanced for less and my price per copy was less with CreateSpace, I would still be using Dog Ear Publishing.
I’ll even let you in on a fact most “author solutions” companies would shudder at, my Dog Ear rep talked me out of using some of their services to save money and told me over the phone how to do the tasks myself. You seldom hear such a statement about an author solutions company.
I have a positive relationship with Dog Ear and would recommend anyone searching for an author solutions company to at least call Dog Ear and talk to them.
This information was extremely helpful. I am using Dog Ear with the clear understanding that any aggressive marketing and pres/post publicity for my book will have to come from me as the author. However as someone who has limited free time and lacks the expertise to format edit and design a cover I like Dog Ear. They were up front and honest and very helpful every step of the way not to mention patient answering all my questions….no matter how many times I asked. Dog Ear has exceeded my expectations and I would recommend them without reservation or hesitation. The final product was a professional book I could be proud of and not something that looked like I constructed it in my basement. To me that alone was worth the price. Side note it was 100 free copies not 5.
Kathy Plummer MHS
Author
I appreciate this write up and the comment from Kevin Sivils. I have just completed my first book and I am onto #’s 2 and 3. I have been looking at DogEar and liked what I saw. I hope to be into production by April. Still considering who to use and this was helpful.
Thanks, Brett,
Dog Ear is a company I intend having another look at soon. I haven’t checked in with Miles at Dog Ear in a while and will do so and update this review.
Very Best,
Mick.
I am considering Dog Ear for, what will be my first book. They seemed very direct… nothing hidden. Now I haven’t read the contract/terms and conditions… will see once that comes.
I can’t say enough great things about Dog Ear Publishing. After extensively reviewing of a lot of the self publishing companies (including reading the BBB complaints of all the companies), we decided to use Dog Ear for my 15 year old son’s debut novel, The Legend of V, Book 1: The Solar System’s Prophecies. The book came out looking even better than we could have imagined! The recommended matte finish is stunning. Throughout the process, we worked with Ray, Megan, Amber and Matt. All were very helpful and quick to reply to our calls and emails. The personal attention we received from Amber who patiently and professionally replied to our queries was exceptional. Extra marketing informational emails from Matt were definitely helpful. We took some of his advice and it’s made a big difference. Working with Dog Ear has felt like we are part of a team and that they genuinely want us to succeed. We will use them again for my son’s next book.
Please see my comment re ‘archaeology’ below
Jason
Which package did you and your son choose? Thank you.
Anthony
Good Afternoon,
when I looked up your sons book it says it was published by Create space, any reason for the change?
Good article – many thanks.
I used a company called Dizzy Emy Publishing (DizzyEmuPublishing.com) who were by far the cheapest publishers I found after much searching online. I’m delighted with the service and with the end product of my novel, which they made available in print via Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and as an e-book on Kindle, iTunes, etc.
To the lady above me in these posts, I checked out your son’s book and noticed that ‘archaeology’ was spelled incorrectly in the description. Just thought I would mention it so that you could get in amended! (I had plenty of mis-spellings in my own novel!)
Thanks,
Jason
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Calling into Dog Ear to see where I may be able to take my series. I am starting a six part series dubbed Saving Merigway. I looked into Xlibris and only got negative reviews, and scholastic is refusing any unpublished authors (pity). I can only hope that Dog Ear will be successful in helping me figure out how to take my Marketing job to the next level! If you get your hands on a copy and wish to leave me any kind of review, you can email me at Aamartin117@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading!!!
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We are having the worse experience with this publishing company. They are not attentive and at times when there is a question, they are down-right rude. I have attempted to reach out to the owner after having multiple issues with the staff and the mailbox is full and not accepting messages.