What is a signature book, and why would my organization produce one?
A signature book tells the unique story of your school or organization through carefully crafted words and well-chosen images. Combining your archived materials with new and original content, a signature book can illustrate your organization's rich history, honor an individual, commemorate a special event, boost employee morale, and increase the loyalty of your supporter base—or all of the above. We work with you to develop the scope and content of your signature book to ensure it meets your objectives and captures the interest and imagination of your target audience.

Signature books serve a financial purpose as well. By selling your signature book to your constituent groups, be they alumni, donors, supporters or friends, your organization earns a royalty on each sale, which can be used to significantly enhance your current endowment.

What makes The Booksmith Group different?
Because there is no upfront fee for our publishing service, we are highly selective in choosing the schools and organizations we publish each year. That translates into a higher quality product—and assurance that your signature book will be not only beautiful—but marketable as well. Our editorial and marketing groups are the best in the business—with years of industry experience under their belts—so product and service quality from The Booksmith Group are guaranteed. The Booksmith Group produces custom content that's unique to each client—and follows through with sales and marketing support to ensure your book reaches the greatest number of people.

What makes an organization eligible for publication?
We publish clients based on a number of factors, including whether they have a unique story to tell—and a receptive audience. We'll talk to you about your current database of supporters, to project book sales and ensure a sufficient return on investment—and take a look at the marketing channels you already have in place. Our goal is for every client to be 100% satisfied with their signature book—so we do our research on the front end to be certain your organization is a good fit for our service. If you're interested in publishing through The Booksmith Group, chances are good you have a terrific story to tell—and we'd love to talk to you.

What is required of our organization in publishing a signature book?
Publishing a signature book is a cooperative process that requires some commitment on the part of your organization. While we do offer the most comprehensive services to reduce strain on your internal resources, we also ask that you assign an editorial committee to be actively involved in the production of your book. The editorial committee is typically responsible for providing the following:

• Cooperation in developing theme and scope of book
• Assistance in gathering and identifying appropriate content
• Access to archival materials and individuals who can help in content development
• Access to existing photography—and site access for new photo shoots as necessary
• Use of school logos for book and marketing materials
• Access to existing marketing channels to maximize effective sale of the book

How long does it take to publish a signature book?
From initial meeting to publication and delivery, the typical signature book project takes 12-14 months. If you have a specific event or seasonal timeline in mind to coincide with your book's publication, we can work to accommodate that. Publication schedules are usually defined following the initial concept and marketing meetings.

How much can our organization expect to earn in royalties?
Depending on their size, project scope, and existing marketing channels, organizations can expect to earn anywhere from $12,000 to $200,000 in royalties. Larger organizations, corporations and service entities have earned upwards of $1 million in royalties over the lifetime of their signature books.

How much does it cost to publish a signature book?
There is no upfront fee for publishing your signature book. We do ask clients to ensure pre-sales of our minimum print run of 3,000 books, however please keep in mind that we select projects based on our ability to effectively market and sell the books—and no Booksmith Group client has ever failed to sell the 3,000 minimum.

Because we offer comprehensive editorial and marketing services, you may choose to engage us beyond the traditional project scope. That could include requests for additional photography, custom design of direct mailings or promotional materials, or unusual book design specifications. For additional services, we will provide accurate good-faith estimates prior to beginning work. For the most part, we've found that marketing the book through clients' traditional channels—without added services—can effectively guarantee sales.

When you talk about our organization's existing or traditional marketing communications channels, what are you referring to?
Existing or traditional marketing channels would include any print or electronic communications you send to your constituents on a regular basis: newsletters, bulletins, email announcements, postcards, or alumni/customer mailings. Special events have also proven to be an extremely effective book marketing channel—and we will provide materials to help you market your book at special events as part of our regular publishing service. If you advertise on a regular basis, we can provide copy or graphic content to promote the book through those channels—and we'll also provide background content on the book for you to deliver to your local media.

Whom do I contact with further questions?
We'd love to talk to you further about publishing a signature book. Please give us a call at 615-330-9013 or email info@thebooksmithgroup.com and let us know how to get in touch with you.