FAQs for authors

Why choose Rosa Mira Books? Publisher Penelope Todd is also the author of nine published novels (YA and adult) and a memoir. She’s experienced first-hand the full publishing spectrum, from submitting her first manuscripts publishers, to years as an editor for Longacre Press, to the full preparation and publication of ebooks at Rosa Mira Books. She’s keen to see writers receive a fair share from their ebook sales. Published ebooks are offered immediately on the global market, sold from this website and other platforms such as Amazon and Kobo.

What do you pay your authors? We don’t pay in advance. In keeping with the trend towards greater author autonomy, publisher and author share in both costs and revenue. If the author has no money (or services to offer in lieu), we’ll look for alternative funding such as crowd-sourcing, grants or pre-selling.

What genres do you consider? We are more interested in good writing with the qualities mentioned on the ‘About’ page than in genre. We’d like to see work for which the writer has had to delve, climb, or hang amongst the stars. We’re not interested in work that conforms to a prototype.

What is your position on DRM? ‘Digital rights management’ is a form of copyright protection for ebooks, music, etc, applying ‘access control technology’ that limits the use of digital content to particular devices and software. Its aim is to prevent piracy. We do not apply DRM to our ebooks (though a third party distributor may apply it), favouring an appeal in each ebook for the reader to consider the author’s copyright and right to earnings.You can read more here about DRM and the controversy it provokes.

Will my manuscript be edited? We work with our authors closely, making structural suggestions as required, then copy editing and proof reading.

Will Rosa Mira Books publish my ebook in print? We sometimes collaborate with a hard copy publisher to produce a small run of hard copy books, and we keep an eye on the possibilities for high quality print-on-demand editions.

Do you offer authors a contract? We currently offer authors a contract that may be renegotiated after two or three years. The short contract span allows us to assess and alter our practice according to changes in the ebook scene.

You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke. Arthur Plotnik, editor and author