FAQs

Welcome to our Frequently Asked Questions.

If you don’t see the question that’s on your mind, please get in touch.

About the IOOPP Programme

To get started, book an exploratory call with one of our advisers. They will discuss what stage you’re at, and what help you need. If you decide to work with us, and we think we can help you, you sign up on the Join page. And we’ll create a tailor-made programme for you.

You can log in to the portal using the username and password. 

If you have any problem, email us at Support@nonfictionfoundry.com

You receive a coaching session with your Book Coach every month.

 

You get an accountability call every month for 12 months. Your accountability coach will check in to review your progress and help you move forward.

Rather than build all costs into the package, we provide the core services that every author needs. The rest are provided as optional extras.

This means the programme costs less.

Here’s a list of the optional services:

  • Printed edition delivered to your door. You get a box containing the portal content, the Workbook, and lots of authors’ resources.
  • Professional book formatting
  • Cover design
  • Blurb writing
  • Amazon optimisation package (descriptions, keywords and categories)
  • Author website with lead-generating popup and autoresponder
  • Social media campaign
  • Amazon advertising campaign
  • Promotion using book promotion sites
  • Additional one-to-one coaching
  • Ghostwriting

 

Support

You get phone and email support throughout the programme. This is in addition to the monthly coavhing call and monthly accountability call.

The best way to contact us is by phone on 01373 470 270, or email us at Support@NonFictionFoundry.com

Payment

The cost of the programme is £1,950.00 for 12 months’ membership.

Yes, we offer a no-quibble 30-day refund period.

Cancellation and refunds

You can cancel your agreement with us at any time within 30 days of enrolling.

We provide full refund of the fees you have paid as long as you cancel within 30 days of enrolling

Am I right for the Programme?

Talk to us about your book idea.

As long as you’re motivated to write your non-fiction book, you’re right for the programme.

Neither age, gender, race nor any other issue is a drawback. Publishing is open to everyone, thanks to Amazon. If you have something to say, we’ll help you get it into print.

 

Routes to getting published

Getting a book deal with a leading publisher such as HarperCollins is prestigious, and you’ll get to see your book in the book shops.

You get royalties of around 10%, so a book that sells for £10 in the shops will net you £1. And you may also get worthwhile international sales and translations.

Once you’ve delivered your manuscript, the publisher will do everything, including proofreading, printing, distribution and marketing.

It’s hard to get a deal, however. These days, fiction and general non-fiction publishers are mainly interested in celebrities and TV personalities. Fortunately, If you write for business or technical readers, it’s easier because there are specialist non-fiction publishers.

But even if you get a contract, there are drawbacks. You make less money than from self-publishing (see below). Once your book is launched, they’ll be on to the next author. The marketing and support disappear in as little as one month. And publishers rarely do much marketing, with the exception being for high profile writers.

Tip: Start by sending a proposal to around 10 agents who work in your field. And make sure your proposal is focussed and persuasive.

Nowadays calling themselves ‘hybrid publishers’, hybrid publishers are basically printers. They’ll respond to a proposal by praising your book, exploiting people’s desire for the kudos of a publishing deal, and telling writers what they want to hear.

They’ll charge you up to £10,000 and what you’ll get is a box of 75 books that will sit in your garage. They may also take a cut of any sales made to bookshops.

A report by the Writers’ Guid of Great Britain and the Society of Authors found that the average loss on a vanity deal was £1,861. The average author sold 67 books.

Vanity publishers are a hangover from pre-Amazon days when they were the only option if you couldn’t get a deal with a proper publisher. And because they focus on printed books, they won’t get you into the lucrative eBook market.

Tip: You need to have a very good reason to choose a vanity publisher.

Like ‘em or loathe ‘em, Amazon has upended the world of book selling. It accounts for 50% of all printed books in the UK and 70 – 80% of all print books bought online. It has almost a monopoly of eBook sales, with its share around 88%, and it owns 41% of the booming audiobook market.

This means Amazon will sell more of your books than all the book stores put together.

Not only that, but the royalties are much bigger, with many at 70%. So you get £7 for every book that sells at £10.

The drawback of self-publishing is that you have to do the work that publishers would otherwise do: the proofreading, layout, cover design and marketing. You also need to get familiar with the technicality of uploading your book to Amazon.

The good news, however, is that organisations like The Non-Fiction Foundry will help you finish your book, sort out the cover, get it on to Amazon, and help you with marketing. So if you’ve a hankering to become a best-selling author, the world of publishing has suddenly got closer and easier.

 

About publishing non-fiction

Non-fiction isn’t a phrase we particularly like, because it compares itself against fiction, and therefore implies it’s second best or not quite proper. Which is nonsense. And perhaps it tells us something about the snobbery of the publishing world? But the phrase has stuck, and so that’s what we use.

The statistics are usually out of date. But nonfiction outsells fiction by a margin of nearly 3-to-2. In 2017, way out of date, US nonfiction revenues totalled $6.18 billion compared to $4.3 billion in fiction sales, according to Penguin Random House.

We’re big, big fans of non-fiction books, because they change the world. Big (and small) changes in society often start with an author publishing a book that changes the way we look at our society. You’ll find radio shows discuss it, and newspapers write reviews, and slowly society moves that way. An example would be changing attitudes towards colonialism and the environment.

At a lower level, a self-help or business book helps people improve their lives. You only have to read reviews on Amazon to see how they affect people.

But your book doesn’t have to be huge. There is pleasure is writing and then publishing a memoir. It’s a gift to the future.

 

 

Publishing costs and income

You will need to create various elements of your book package.

  • Formatting your book
  • Cover design
  • Writing the blurb
  • Creating the Amazon descriptions, keywords and categories.
  • Uploading the book to Amazon
  • Creating an author website with lead-generating popup and autoresponder
  • Social media campaign
  • Seeking reviews
  • Marketing to your list

You can do all of this yourself, at no cost. You could get us to do it. Or you can hire a freelancer or agency to do it.

If you decide to outsource the work, the cost will vary depending on your budget and attitude. You can hire someone on Fiverr to create a design for as little as £9, or pay a London agency £1,000.

A social media campaign is free if you simply write posts, whereas if you spend money on Facebook ads, you can spend as much as you like (starting at, say, £5 a day).

And finally, there are some additional costs that some will decide to incur and others won’t:

  • Amazon advertising campaign
  • Facebook ads
  • Promoting the book on book promotion sites
  • Ghostwriting, if you feel you want to outsource some or all of the writing
 
Deciding how often to run ads, and how high to bid, will affect your costs. You could do it for one month or (as some authors do) keep your ads running on a permanent basis. These authors find the sweet spot that means the ads bring in more revenue than they cost.
 
Revenue
 
How much you earn from your book depends on:
  • How good it is. And that includes the appeal of the title, the cover design etc.
  • How much marketing you do
  • How much time you commit to supporting your book
 
In other words, the success of your book depends on quality, costs and time. We’d emphasise that promotion is essential to the book’s success. And much of this requires planning. By the time you launch your book, its fate is largely set. Did you create a list of keen supporters? Did you test the cover design? And did you choose the right Amazon categories? These things aren’t difficult, but you should give serious thought to using us to help you achieve the greatest possible success for your book.
 

Royalties

Royalties from mainstream publishers are usually around 10%.

With vanity publishers you normally keep 100% of the royalties – but that’s because you have to do the distribution and marketing. If they offer those options they will usually take a chunk of your royalties. 

Amazon royalties are set mostly at 70%. That’s one more reason to go to Amazon route.

Note: at the Non Fiction Foundry we don’t take any of your royalties!

Are you legit?

Coming soon

We’re happy to sign a non disclosure agreement. This protects your idea and your intellectual property rights.

Comparison with other programmes

Coming soon