The partnership model
For Authors.
We don't sell you services. We don't take your rights. We build your entire author business as our investment — then we split what your book earns.
The pitch, in three sentences
You write the book. We build the business around it.
Traditional publishers take world rights, pay a small advance, and hand you an 8% royalty. Vanity presses charge you five figures for the same production work you could have done yourself. We do neither. We treat every author as a partner: no advances, no upfront fees, no rights grab. What we bring is the entire back end of being a published author — the website, the email, the hosting, the listings, the launch, the ongoing marketing. In return, we split the print & eBook English royalties, and only those. Everything else stays with you.
The Backend Partnership
Three tiers. You pick.
The tier you sign under is determined by what you need us to build. More build on our side, larger share of print & eBook English royalties. Less build, smaller share. All three tiers keep the same rights carve-out and the same core terms.
You have a platform. We handle distribution.
What we provide
- ISBN assignment (from our Bowker pool)
- Amazon KDP paperback + Kindle listing setup
- IngramSpark listing setup (bookstore & library distribution)
- Bowker registration
- Ongoing catalog administration
- Quarterly tax & royalty reporting
What you provide
- Edited, print-ready manuscript
- Cover design (front, back, spine)
- Your existing website, email, and audience
Print & eBook English royalty split
75% Author
You wrote a book. We produce and launch it.
What we provide
- Everything in Foundation
- Cover design (front, back, spine)
- Interior formatting (paperback + Kindle)
- Launch marketing kit (social graphics, press release, launch email sequence)
- Amazon Author Central setup
- Goodreads Author profile setup
What you provide
- Edited manuscript
- Willingness to promote to your existing audience
Print & eBook English royalty split
60% Author
You have a manuscript. We build the whole author business.
What we provide
- Everything in Launch
- Custom author website (built + hosted by us)
- Author email on custom domain
- Domain registration + ongoing hosting
- Social media handles + starter graphics kit
- Ongoing marketing support & content pipeline
- Peer channel with other Federation authors
What you provide
- The manuscript. That’s it.
Print & eBook English royalty split
50% Author
Splits are the starting point. Exact percentages can move ±5 – 10% based on scope and services delivered. Every partnership is a negotiated conversation, not a form.
The rules under every tier
What’s true regardless of which tier you sign.
The tier defines the build. These terms define the partnership itself.
Fixed across all tiers
- You keep every right we’re not using. Audio, film, TV, foreign, translation, merchandise, direct sales, speaking, and adaptation rights all stay 100% with you. We take print & eBook English distribution rights only.
- You keep your copyright. Copyright registration is in the author’s name. We are a distribution and services partner, not an owner of your work.
- No advances. We’re not that publisher. Our investment is the infrastructure we build for you, not a check. This lets us take partners without gatekeeping by cash.
- No upfront fees. We don’t charge you to publish. If we take you on, we pay for what we build. If we don’t take you on, you owe us nothing for the conversation.
- 90-day termination, either side. Either party can end the partnership on 90 days written notice. You walk with your manuscript, your rights, and your author identity. Assets we built are negotiated at fair cost or transferred outright.
- Quarterly royalty payments. Direct deposit, on a public schedule. Statements include unit sales by channel, gross revenue, our cut, your cut — itemized.
- The rate card is public. Every service in every tier has an imputed retail value posted on the model page. You see exactly what you’re getting.
- The contract is public. Every term above — and every one that isn’t on this page — is written into the model author agreement. Read it before you query.
- Your numbers are yours. Company-side data (what the imprint spends, publishes, and does) is public in the Company Ledger. Your sales, your royalty payments, and any figure tied to your title are never published. Author financial data belongs to the author, always.
Current capacity
Are we taking partners right now?
We’re small on purpose. When our roster is full, we say so — we don’t stack a slush pile.
How to query
Send us what you have.
No form. No portal. No agent required. Send an email — a real one, written by you — to the publisher's mailbox. Read the model & agreement first so we can skip the small talk.
What to include in your query
- Who you are. Two paragraphs. Real ones. Not a bio, a conversation.
- What the book is. The one-sentence version. Then the one-paragraph version. Then, only if we ask, more.
- Where it is. Manuscript status: drafting, finished, edited, publication-ready.
- The tier you’re asking about. Foundation, Launch, or Federation — and a sentence about why.
- What you’ve already built. Website, audience, prior work, social presence — whatever exists.
Want to see the actual contract first?
Every term above — and every one that isn't — is written into our public model author agreement. Read it before you query.
The Model & Agreement →