General Questions

Manuscript Preparation

Advertising & Marketing

On this page, you will find answers to most frequently asked questions.  If you cannot find an answer to your question, please contact us and we will gladly assist you.

What services does the publishing house offer?
We offer a complete range of publishing services from editing and proof-reading to press and creation of advertising postcards. Please visit the Services page for more details.

Where do I begin, if I am interested in publishing my book with you?
Please browse our site.  Many questions you have may be resolved on the site's pages.  If any questions still remain, please contact us.

What size can my book be?
We can prepare book in any size, however there are some book sizes that are more economical for printing: 4.5 x 7, 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, or 8.25 x 10.5 (in inches)

We can also prepare and print books of other, non-standard sizes. Please contact us for more details.

Do you offer books in electronic format (e-books)?
Yes, we can prepare an e-book for you in PDF format.  We can also provide you with a CD-ROM with all final PDF files of your book, including the cover(s), so that you can create an e-book yourself.

Can you publish a book with color illustrations, such as children's books?
Yes, we can.  Please consider the fact, however, that the cost of preparation and press of such a book will be very high.  A minimum order for such books is 500 copies.

Can I place black-and-white illustrations in the text of my book?
Certainly! You can have black-and-white photographs, images, maps, diagrams, etc.

Should I need them, can you prepare special illustrations?  How much does it cost?
We can definitely do special illustrations for you; please contact us if you need them.  These can be art, graphics, maps, diagrams, icons, etc.  Depending on their complexity, the price starts from $60 per image.

Do you work with books in foreign languages?
Yes, we can prepare any book that uses Latin or Cyrillic alphabet (i.e. European languages, Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian). Please contact us if you have additional questions.

Can you re-publish an out-of-print book?
Yes. If the publishing house, in which your book was previously published, does not publish it anymore, we can help you. Please contact us for obtaining further information.

How long does the process of publishing a book take?
Preparation time and press of the book strongly depend on the degree of readiness of your manuscript, type and level of services you require, and the time you need to check and approve the proof.  In general, this process can take from 3 to 6 months.

Do I get to see the final proof of the book before its transfer to press?
It is required! Your book will not be printed if you do not approve the final version. As soon as cover design (approved by you) is finished, and the final checking and proof-reading of the book are completed, you will be presented with an electronic control copy of your book for final checking, a PDF file for text and JPG file for the cover. You can choose to have a print proof of text and cover, at an extra cost ($45). You have the option to accept or reject (in writing) the obtained proof.

Can I use the publishing house to perform only certain tasks, such as cover design or editing?
Yes. Despite the fact that we ensure an entire range of publishing services, we can work with the manuscript of an author who has signed, or is preparing to sign, a contract with another publishing house. In this case, you should keep in mind that many publishing houses do not accept work not prepared by them.

Who owns the rights to my book published with participation of M·Graphics Publishing?
You, the author, do. We always indicate copyright to the name of the author on copyright page. Additionally, we recommend registering your copyright in United States Copyright Office; we can help you with this.

What binding should I use for my book: soft or hardcover?
This is your decision. Each format of binding has its advantages and drawbacks. We can supply all the information for you to compare various types of binding, but the decision remains yours, and we will not influence it.

Can you publish my book free of charge?
M·Graphics Publishing works with authors who wish to invest into the publication of their books. At present time, we do not offer our services free of charge or with deferred payment.

In what form must the manuscript of my book be presented?
We advice that authors only give us completed manuscripts. Any text changes performed after the manuscript is delivered incur additional expenditures. Please verify that your manuscript is submitted in its entirety, and contains all the necessary pages, including dedication, acknowledgements, preface, image captions, table of contents, text for back cover, author's photograph, and so forth.

We prefer to receive your manuscript in electronic format, as one Microsoft Word file. You can also send us your file as email attachment, or on CD-ROM or floppy disk via postal service.  We can also accept printed text but we will have to scan it to convert it into electronic format (for an additional fee—please see Services page)

Please note: we do not accept handwritten text and we do not perform typing services.

Please contact us if you have the additional questions concerning manuscript preparation and submission.

Can I make text changes after the manuscript is submitted?
Changes PRIOR to submission to press:
If changes are insignificant, such as correction of spelling errors, or word replacement, wait for the proof. You will be able to verify it and make all the necessary insignificant corrections.  Additional payment in this case is minimal. If you want to substantially change the text (to add or completely change several paragraphs, move paragraphs around, add or remove illustrations that will involve changes in imposition)—please contact us for a consultation, since changes of this type can involve substantial additional expenditures.

Changes AFTER the book is sent to press:
If you decided to make changes to text and/or cover after examination and approval of the control copy – contact us without delay! All changes of this type can not only lead to considerable delay of book release, but also to significant additional costs, related to additional typographical expenditures (from $150 and above).

What font should I use in the manuscript? Must I format the text?
Do not use exotic and rare fonts! Widely available fonts, such as Arial or Times New Roman, are perfectly fine! Do not forget that we will select appropriate fonts with you, for the final layout of the book; if you have font preferences, you will be able to discuss them with us.

You can use italics to accentuate text, when necessary. Try to avoid underlining, semi-bold fonts, and use of CAPITAL letters to emphasize. Use your word processing program's (MS Word) format function to correctly space and indent paragraphs, instead of Enter and Tab keyboard keys.

I have footnotes in the text. How do I format them?
If you use a program such as MS Word, use its built-in footnote formatting option.  Make no additional formatting other than this! If your program does not support footnotes, or you are not entirely sure how to do this, simply place each footnote into brackets and arrange them neatly within text, where they are supposed to be.  Do not forget to indicate whether you want footnotes at the bottom of the page, or endnotes at the end of the section/chapter/entire book. We will place footnotes in appropriate locations during the layout of your manuscript.

How do I format tables?
Separate tables from text and save every one as a separate file (MS Word or MS Excel).  Name tables successively—Table 1, Table 2, etc. In your manuscript, mark appropriate locations with brackets: [insert Table 1 here]. Please make sure the tables are no larger than 4.5" x 7" and print them out to ensure this size.  Tables of a larger size will not fit on a book page.

My illustrations are made on computer. Are they fit to press?
Yes, illustrations made on computer will work if their resolution is of press-quality—no less than 300 dpi (dots per inch) for full-sized image.

What if I scan photographs myself?
This is perfectly fine, if you are certain that your scanner creates good, high quality images (1200 x 1200 dpi), and if you know how to process images post-scanning, to remove defects and artifacts, and perform color-correction and retouching.  Otherwise, we recommend that you give us all your illustration materials, and let us do the scanning for you for an affordable price.

How should I submit illustrations for the book?
Same as with tables; please separate illustrations from the text and save each one as a separate file.  All images should be saved in JPG or TIFF formats in their maximum size, such as you wish to use in your work. (If you use JPEG format, save the file with highest possible quality and resolution). Do not forget to mark illustrations, and to indicate places in the text where you want to put them. Illustrations submitted electronically should be at least of the size they are to be printed, and should fulfill the following requirements:

• photographs: 300 dpi (dots per inch)
• book cover images: 300 dpi, CMYK (RGB or grayscale are also suitable)
• maps and figures: not less than 600 dpi
• figures and images with text (graphs, newspaper cutouts, etc): not less than 600 dpi

All in-text illustrations are printed in black and white (except for children's and color books).  Diagrams and charts are best created in MS Excel.

Please note: images taken from the internet usually have low resolution and are not suitable for printing!

What do I do with table of contents?
If you want to include a table of contents, please prepare a list of chapter titles without page numbers.  Make sure that chapter titles in the table of contents are the same as chapter titles in the book.  In case of differences, we will use actual chapter titles from the text to create the final version of the table of contents.

I have quotations in my book.  Should I get permission for their use?
This very much depends on size of quotation and degree of usage.  Small quotes, phrases, and lines from poems can be used, to a degree, without permission.  We suggest that you consult with us.

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Advertising & Marketing

How should I advertise my book?
There are many ways in which the author can draw attention of readers. You can present your book for a review, organize book presentations with autograph signing. You can distribute postcards and booklets at appropriate locations, advertising about your upcoming book release. You can contact local libraries, newspapers, radio and TV stations to organize interviews or programs about your book. Do not forget about your friends, family, and relatives; the more people learn about you and your book, the greater your chance of achieving success.

How do I organize a book presentation?
Contact local book stores; many of them frequently host literary events, evening readings, etc. to introduce new books to readers. You can also contact your local library; they will be glad to help you since you live in town and perhaps you will be famous one day!

Can you arrange for sale of my book in book stores?
Unfortunately, no. We do not have the possibility to place your book on book shelves, and we cannot promise that which we cannot carry out.  You can contact your local bookstores yourself, as well as large bookstores in Boston, New York, Chicago, etc and contact such retailers, as Barnes&Noble and Borders, regarding distribution of your book.

Are there advantages to selling books in online stores?
The term 'online store' refers to those bookstores that can be accessed through the internet, such as Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.  There are also a large number of online stores that sell exclusively Russian-language books.  Online stores are quickly gaining popularity due to their easy accessibility from any part of the world, ease of ordering, and an impressively large stock selection.  We offer all books we publish in our online store; that is one of our services.

Do I have to indicate where the book was published?
Yes, if the book was not published in the USA, and was imported into the country for the purpose of its distribution and sale in the country.  Not only should it be indicated where the book was published but also, the font of the line indicating that fact cannot be smaller than the font indicating the publishing house, on the verso of the title page!  If these rules are not followed, there can be serious problems with book import.  If a book has a dust-jacket, then the line 'Printed in…' should be placed there, as well.