Welcome Authors!

Our name says it all: The Laurus Company. Laurus is a genus or class of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family. The foliage of the true laurel (Laurus nobilis) has long been used as a crown of distinction honoring outstanding achievement. At The Laurus Company, our authors are treated as laureates, deserving of honor and our TLC.

As a first-time author, or even a seasoned one, do you often feel like a fish out of water on a beach full of cats when seeking to publish your book? Unfortunately, that is the environment much of the time in the world of book publishing today. We are glad you have found your way to The Laurus Company where you will find “TLC”. That’s right, “Tender Loving Care”.

As you can see from our motto above, we understand that publishing a new book can be a scary proposition, and rightly so. There are many choices to make and much to be considered. If you are inexperienced, you are vulnerable to a lot of unknowns and to predators, which can translate to many unnecessary costs and disappointments. Working with someone you can trust to guide you along the way, someone you can reach when needed, is crucial for your peace of mind (and your pocketbook).

At The Laurus Company, we endeavor to make your new venture an exciting and pleasurable one. This may very well be one of the great milestones in your life. We hope our TLC will fill it with great memories that will last a lifetime.

When TLC is contacted by an author, we typically ask to see a partial manuscript. This is to determine the genre, the author’s style, and the amount of copyediting needed. After evaluation, we provide an estimate of the production costs. There are typically three chargeable areas—the set-up fee, copyediting/emending, and design. Children’s books and other works that require illustrations, drawings, or photographs will have additional fees for those costs on a per-book basis. Our artist fees are very reasonable.

TLC has a one-time set-up fee to be paid up front. The set-up fee covers most of the out-of-pocket costs pertaining to setting up and publishing your book—ISBN numbers, your product page on our website, inclusion in the catalog of new releases that goes out to all of the booksellers, the first five years in the world’s largest wholesale catalog, and a full-color media release.

We design covers to be relevant and complementary to a book’s topic. One of the first things we do is ask the author if s/he has a vision for the cover. Since front covers are critical to the success of a book, a lot goes on behind the scenes in this design phase. When we are satisfied that we have the right cover, we then submit the design to the author for approval.

The cost of the cover design for each book is based on the amount of work needed, the complexity of the design, and the cost of a photo if one is needed. We are “cost conscious” in all we do.

Authors may submit their own designs and artwork, but we reserve the right to decline any author-furnished artwork we deem substandard or inappropriate to a book, but we may create new artwork using that design. It’s for the benefit of the author, always.

The back cover is the last step in building a book and is usually done after the interior of the book is completed. This enables us to become familiar with the book so that we can make the best use of the back cover space in describing and selling the book.

At TLC, we don’t just edit your work, we “emend” it. We don’t mark where changes are needed and kick back the manuscript to you for repairs; we make the changes for you. We correct grammar, punctuation, syntax, sentence structure, continuity, and flow. Some rewriting may be needed, and we do that as well. However, if we find any inconsistencies or “holes” in the storyline, we will go back to the author. On completion, a final proof is sent to the author for approval. We don’t go to print until you are happy!

“Sloppy copy” can ruin a book and an author. Each manuscript we receive is graded for the amount of copyediting that is needed, and an editing price is determined from that grade. The final copyediting cost will be determined by the grade and the number of finished book pages. We can give a close estimate of cost, but a final price cannot be given until the layout is complete. Be assured, there are no hidden “surprises” at TLC. You will know within a few dollars how much it will cost.

Authors will never be asked to give up rights to their manuscript(s) at TLC. Your text copyright remains yours. The ISBN number, however, belongs to Laurus. This means that the books cannot be reprinted by another printer or publisher using our ISBN number. Your manuscript remains yours, but the layout files are retained by Laurus.

The Laurus Company currently publishes under three different imprints:

• Laurus Books

This is our premier imprint for Christian non-fiction and fiction, ministerial resources, educational materials, and other non-fiction and fiction works not conflicting with Christian principles and values.

• Marbry Books

Although The Laurus Company is known for being a Christian publisher, we do publish fiction that is not Christian-specific through our Marbry Books imprint, as long as it does not violate Christian values and ethics. We will never publish anything that is considered profane or pornographic in nature, or “dark” fantasy.

• Laurus Junior Series

Children are very important to us, and books for children and youth are published through Laurus Junior Series. We love and encourage “books with a message” for children of all ages. Our illustrated books are among the best.

It is well known in the industry that authors must bear the responsibility for marketing their book(s). TLC is a publisher, not a marketer or promoter. However, because we are an author advocate, we want to help in any way we can. We are always on the lookout for resources that might benefit our authors, and we try to assist whenever there is a need for publisher involvement. If you need marketing materials, please check with us about supplying artwork for you, for a nominal fee (and schedule permitting), that you can have printed by your local printer.

For a very competitive price, TLC creates formats for electronic books and audio books and posts them to the appropriate distribution sites. Authors will receive royalties for these sales as well.

Before suggesting a retail price on a new book, we must consider the actual cost of printing each book. The print cost is based on the type of binding (hardcover, jacketed, or paperback), the dimensions of the book, the number of pages, and whether the inside pages are black and white or color. We try to figure a retail price that will be attractive to both retailers and consumers, yet allow authors a fair profit after discounts and printing costs. Authors will also have a voice in this process.