History books wanted -
If your book is about California or American history, you might want to consider a partnership with James Stevenson Publisher.  We are looking for history books from every region of America.  We have, in fact, co-produced several books with genealogical and historical societies, in both hard and soft cover.  

We can print and bind a paperback or hardback book up to 700 pages.  Please request  information using the email address at the bottom of this page.  We do not produce temporary plastic or staple bindings.  We do produce industry standard hard and soft cover, using major binderies and we offer you discount prices. 

Here is what we do:
We select a book which has black ink only in the text portion of the book, including illustrations. If a book has color illustrations, they must be converted by James Stevenson Publisher to a black and white format.  Our books can have a 4 color cover.

There is no cost to a group which nominates a book for publishing.  Here is the process:  We scan text, illustrations and good quality book cover (4 color cover included if original is in color),  or pull files from a CD for layout and design a bookcover.  Then we assign an ISBN, establish a bar code and Library of Congress number and enter the book into the distributor's database.  The book is then printed and bound.   If the manuscript has never been published before, it must be saved ("burned") on a CD. The text will be laid out by James Stevenson Publisher from files on disk at no cost to the author.  (If you are working on a book that you intend to submit, a great deal of time can be saved if you contact us before work is nearing completion.)   James Stevenson Publisher reserves the right to determine suitability for publishing of all manuscripts prior to publication.

About James Stevenson Publisher:
James Stevenson Publisher does not author books.  We  publish new and out-of-print books, and sell to giftshops and book stores only the books that we produce.  We place the book with Ingram, a major distributor known to all bookstores, and with other distributors.  Our distributors fulfill most book orders.  We produce books for historical or genealogical societies at no cost for setup - which includes assignment of ISBN and Library of Congress number and at no cost for printing, binding and distribution.  An historical society pays nothing until the book is ready for sale, and then buys the book at regular wholesale prices.    

A newly published or the reprinted book could be available through your society, or from  any bookstore, in the nation or overseas, that uses the gigantic Ingram Distributing Company.  As a small company, we pride ourselves in our fast order fulfillment to museum giftshops and bookstores.

What is not included.
Editing or proofreading of new books, indexing, or similar work is not part of our plan.  This publishing plan is intended to print manuscripts  that need no corrections.  Books must be less than 700 pages in length, including un-numbered pages, and books with initial roman numeral systems.  Capacity issues prevent us from printing books with over 700 pages.   (To clarify, 350 sheets printed both sides constitutes a 700 page book.)  No interior color illustrations or text are possible, since book interiors are entirely black and white.  This keeps costs low.  (If you have a great book, but it does need some extra work, please contact us.  We may be able to find a solution which would get your book into print.)

Frequently asked questions:

What kind of discount would we get from you if our society buys books to sell?
You can buy 20 to 100 or more books from James Stevenson Publisher, at the wholesale price, a significant discount from the retail price.   For a 200 page, 6 x 9 inch, softcover book, the retail price would be about $15.95.  The wholesale price is about half of retail!   Contact James Stevenson Publisher to get our catalog which contains our  discount schedule at each sales volume level.  We have 3 discount levels based on sales volume for resellers who may be interested in any of our books.

Could we sell books as a fund-raiser?
With our discount program, which is available to your organization, you can purchase in larger volumes at significant savings.  A sales campaign can work as a great fund raiser for your organization.  Some organizations have a pre-publication sales offer to minimize out of pocket purchases by the group.  Ask for details.

Our society have never published a book before.  What problems are usually encountered?
Two major problems prevent many historical or genealogical societies from having books reprinted.  The first was the high cost for many, often hundreds of books, and now that obstacle has been removed.  You need not purchase a large number of books.

The second problem was fulfillment.  After initial sales, fulfilling book orders can be a nuisance.  There usually are many books left over that sit for years in a dusty closet, selling only a few books each year.  It can be difficult to find volunteers to properly pack, ship and maintain a count of inventory over several years.  With our new program, an historical society can sell just a few books each year, ordering only enough to have some on hand as needed.  If there is no one to tend to shipping, the society need only refer a book buyer to James Stevenson Publisher's online retail sales outlet or to a local book store, which can special order the book, handling all of the paperwork and shipping. 

I have a book which has gone out of print.  Do you only do books for historical or genealogical societies?
We prefer to  produce history books with groups, however we welcome inquiries about individual projects.

What if I want you to produce a book for me, but I want to handle all sales?
We cannot put our ISBN and bar code on the book.  The ISBN indicates that we have the book for sale.  We can act as your agent to produce the book for a group.  If we are not selling the book it will not have our ISBN, bar code, Library of Congress Number or be offered by our company to Ingram Book Group.  We could print your ISBN for you if you are electing to "self-publish" and are simply looking for a way to get your book printed and bound.  Also, we do not bear the setup or printing charges.  We would have to prepare a quote for a book produced in this fashion.

We encourage correspondence or a phone call.  Please call to discuss the subject of your book.  Naturally there is no obligation, and perhaps we can help you decide about producing a book.