Our Publishing Philosophy
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Point Petre Publishing was established in late 2016 with a mandate to publish honest, compelling literature that values language and its use above all.
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Point Petre Publishing is a small, literary house committed to publishing poetry and fiction of the highest quality by both new and recognized CANADIAN writers.
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Point Petre Publishing is, by design, a regional operation dedicated to publishing writers who live and work within a relatively loosely defined geographic area of Ontario … Hamilton to the west, Algonquin Park to the north, Ottawa to the east, and Prince Edward County to the south.
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Point Petre Publishing would like to be known as “a different kind of publisher”.
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So, if you are a literary writer grown tired of navigating the traditional avenues to publication, you should read on ...
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... the traditional erects many hurdles in a writer’s path. First, a
writer seeking publication is encouraged to find an agent ... if s/he
can. Sadly, most can’t and, without an agent, s/he must make
many submissions over many years to many houses. All the while
waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting for someone – anyone! –
to reply. Often, when a response finally materializes, it is a terse,
but polite, thrashing of what has taken years to incubate.
Alternatively, if the writer is among those fortunate few who do find
acceptance, the house either seeks to alter the work (often rendering it
less than recognizable) or provides little substantive opportunity for
the writer to be a partner in the process of seeing the book through
to print. Finally, the norm is that the literary writer earns next to
nothing.
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If this sounds even a little like your life as a writer, you owe it to yourself to give Point Petre Publishing a look.
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We want to humanize the process, to make YOU a part of everything that happens. After all, you were there when you had the idea for your book. You were there during the writing. You were there for the revisions. And you were there – all alone, we might add – during the submission process. It is only when the publishing stage of the game is upon you that, to a greater or lesser degree, you become less important in the process. The acquisitions department, the editors, the designers, the sales and promotion people, etc. ... all seem to appear as if from nowhere and, collectively, in whole or in part, remove too much of you from the picture.
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It’s demeaning and it’s unfair. We have experienced it and we are not well disposed to accept it any more.
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We believe that the process should be about you, the writer, and that’s what we propose to make it.
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Rest assured, though, we will maintain a rigorous editorial standard, bringing years of experience in this area to bear. This dedication, we believe, will single out Point Petre Publishing, in time, as a serious publisher of fine Canadian literature, but we will be a publisher you are comfortable with. One you will be proud to have been published by. And because we plan to publish only 2 to 4 books a year, the opportunity for this to happen is there.
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It should be noted, too, that our books will be designed to enhance the worthiness of their contents. A Point Petre Publishing book will be instantly recognizable ... it will have a consistent “look”, one in keeping with the reputation we wish to achieve.
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We will remain small so, also for the time being, our books will be sold in select bookstores and through the Point Petre Publishing website ... because marketing is, indeed, another story!
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The home office, from which our books will be secured, edited, designed, promoted, and often sold is by the lake, in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
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Our Publishing Programme
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In an effort to make this as inclusive a process as possible, the financing of all the books we publish — the cost of editing, designing, printing, promoting, selling, etc. — will be shared equally by the writer and the publisher.
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As will the financial benefits. What your book earns from bookstore/website sales and, if we are fortunate, from rights sales, will also be shared equally.
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We invite you to measure that against the dictates of tradition.
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Because this is how we intend to proceed, there will be no monetary advances from Point Petre Publishing. Why? Because, we have issues with tradition. To put it plainly, when a publisher advances dollars (and it does not matter how much is advanced), this money must be earned back for the publisher before the writer sees anything further. And with royalty payments (keeping in mind that earning back of that advance) never breaking a heady 10% of the selling price of a book, the opportunity for you to earn something from your publication varies between little and nothing at all.
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Alternatively, we believe that if you put something in, you should have the opportunity to take more out.
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So, once the shared start-up costs are invested in the publication of your book and it begins to sell, you will begin to earn immediately. And, hopefully, your investment will be returned before long.
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It’s as simple as that.
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