On WFHW I have reviewed many of these publishing websites and most were what I can only describe as “bad news” for any author.
Yet after a fair amount of searching, I have discovered another publishing house in the shape of Mill City Press and while there are some negative comments online about the service offered, we feel it’s worthy of a review here at Work From Home Watchdog.
Introduction
Mill City Press was founded in 2005 following an investment from Click Industries – a business owned by Mark Levine who is an accomplished author himself.
Mark is probably best known for his highly successful book called “The Fine Print of Self Publishing”, a book about negotiating the minefield of self-publishing for would-be authors.
In 2009 Mark became the CEO of Hillcrest Media Group, the majority shareholder of Mill City Press.
Professional Service
Mill City Press has a publishing philosophy that I wish many other publishing companies had and these are as follows:
- Wholesale printing costs on any size book order
- Opportunities for traditional book distribution
- 100% royalties (after third-party retailers’ fees)
- Use our ISBN or yours
- In-house editorial, production, and retailer sales teams
- Patented ebook conversion and distribution
- We won’t sell you what you don’t need or can’t use
- Real-time sales, royalty, and inventory reporting
- Complete transparency – every fee is disclosed upfront and we encourage you to read our contract
The Packages
The Basic Package starts at $1697 rising to $5997 for the Professional Package and although these do seem expensive they are complete and do overdeliver.
Marketing Your Book
Marketing anything is time-consuming but necessary, so if you want people to come and buy your book you have to tell them that it exists.
Nobody is going to know about it unless a marketing campaign has been conducted.
This can be through your own website or through someone else’s plus the normal channels of sharing on the social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.
If you have prior knowledge a lot of this can be done by yourself, but if you have no idea then using a service like Mill City Press will greatly enhance the overall aspect of getting your book noticed amongst the hundreds of thousands that are published every year.
Overall
I do like what Mill City Press has to offer and the attention to detail with listing everything that you can get and what you can add.
Professional publishing services do cost money, but if you have put a year’s worth of work or more into creating your book, then surely you would want to use a decent publishing site.
One thing in particular that I do like is that you have the choice of using their ISBN or using your own. You will know how important this is if you have read any of my other publishing house reviews.
Conclusion
My advice is simple: I would use Mill City Press to publish my book because I like what they offer and have everything that I may need to be covered.
If you simply just want to get your book into print without any of the added extras then Mill City Press might be too advanced a service for you.
But if you are not sure what you may need then I suggest that you contact them and ask what they can do for you.
Mill City Press is a professional solution to getting your book published and it’s one I would most definitely recommend.
Neil – WFHW
I just completed the self-publishing process for my first novel. I used Mill City Press for this effort, and could not be happier! Their process is very well organized, and I received the handholding and one-on-one assistance that any first time author desperately needs.
Like writing a novel, publishing a book is a learning process. The folks at Mill City carefully walked me through all of the decisions that needed to be made along the way, and were only a phone call or an e-mail away when I needed them.
I published a paperback book using Mill City’s editing, book cover design, book formatting/interior layout, book fulfillment marketing, back cover copy, and, of course, printing services.
Before choosing Mill City I wasted a lot of time trying to get the attention of an agent or conventional publishing company. (Don’t bother.) I then chose another self-publishing company and, after numerous issues, I had to cancel my contract.
From day one with Mill City I received top-notch service. In addition to all of the above, their printing prices are by far the lowest I could find. This, of course, allows an author to price his or her book more competitively.
I am in the middle of writing my next novel and will definitely use Mill City Press to have it published. I can’t describe the joy you will get when your novel arrives in your mailbox and it is everything you were hoping for.
Hi Patrick,
That is great to hear, and thanks for taking the time to let us know.
We found Mill City to be a good service when compared with MANY poor quality companies offering a similar service.
We are pleased to hear that things are going well with your novel, and we hope this continues with your next novel.
Wishing you all the best for the future, Patrick.
Marcus
WFHW Team.