Newman Springs Publishing

I just want to take a minute to give a quick shout out to Newman Spring Publishing. I know that I've mentioned them in other blogs and even written at some length about my journey getting my first book, The Ascension Legacy - Book 1: The Shamed Ranger, published using their services but I think it is important to promote and encourage those who have promoted and encouraged me.

Recently I was able to release my second book, The Ascension Legacy - Book 2: A Legend Confirmed, with the help of the team from Newman Springs Publishing. References and positive experiences are hard to find these days for services as the Internet is largely a sounding board for those wanting to express disappointment and dissatisfaction as a means of taking business away from those they feel wronged them.

And, if I'm honest, I'm not innocent of that either. There are plenty of good reasons to post negative experiences online to serve as warnings to others. But at the same time, the Internet can also be used for good, to promote positivity. And that is what I choose to use today's post for, positivity.

At a time when there are literally dozens of services out there to help people like me realize their dreams and desires of being a "published author" it is good to know which of those services are good services. You can pick a name and Google it but it seems that you are much more likely to find negative posts than anything positive. It is almost as if when people are happy they are too distracted to post about it but when they're angry they are quick to let everyone know.

Well, the team at Newman Springs Publishing have been absolutely terrific through publishing not one but two of my works with a third currently going through their processes for a future release. The prices, which will remain private to avoid confusion, were very reasonable for what was promised in return. They were comparable, or even better, than the prices of some other similar providers. The process was smooth for the most part in each project but when hiccups did happen, the team at Newman Springs responded with a level of professionalism and courtesy that continually encourages me to maintain my partnership with them as I prepare to publish more books.

But are they perfect? No. But nobody is.

I've made no secret about the hiccups I encountered while working to see my first book published. But at the same time, I've made no secret to how the team at Newman Springs responded to those hiccups and how together we were able to successfully get the book launched much to my overall satisfaction.

Are there things I wish were done different? Absolutely.

Sales reports are only provided quarterly but I would love to see sales in a real-time report. That's not really an option though when the reports they provide are compiled reports from a variety of vendors. It would be difficult to provide a real-time view to each author to see their sales from each market. I wish I could see it but I understand the limitations.

Each project is treated as a separate account. Right now I have 2 books (The Ascension Legacy - Book 1: The Shamed Ranger and The Ascension Legacy - Book 2 - A Legend Confirmed) published with Newman Springs. For each book I have a different login. This means that to look at project statuses and quarterly sales reports that I have to login to one account, see what's what there, logout, login with my second account, and see what's what there. There is no unified portal for 1 author to see all of their projects and related information. It is inconvenient but not impossible. I just don't like the idea of having to login to 12 or more accounts to manage my different books and reports later on when all of my works are out there. This is just a technical design by choice on their end when their portal was built or a limitation of the technology purchased but I hold out hope that one day an upgrade to the portal will bring all of my works under a single sign-on allowing me to manage and view my projects easier.

The quality of their editors leaves something to be desired. We go through multiple rounds of editing with each book and it seems that I find almost as many errors as they do. Sadly, I don't have anything to compare this experience to though so I'm not sure if this is better than others, worse than others, or just what is to be expected from any similar providers. The end result is one I'm happy with so I'm not too interested in seeing if the grass is greener on the other side or not though. It is an annoyance to me but that's it. Between their efforts and mine, I think we correct enough of the issues to not make it a huge concern for me but for others who may need to rely on them more, it may be a bigger concern.

Issues aside, what does Newman Spring Publishing excel at? Why should I use them?

I love their flexibility in typesetting. My first books are of the high fantasy genre with very unusual names for many of the characters. Names like Nordahs, Riorik, Bjiki, and Ammudien. Most books throw names out there and just leave it to the reader to decipher the name's pronunciation. I wanted something different. In my original manuscripts, I included in the footer on each page that a name first appeared a pronunciation guide for how I wanted each name pronounced. It is something unusual in the world of fiction books but something that I absolutely had to have in my finished work. When I asked if that would be possible I was told an immediate yes by Newman Spring Publishing. They never batted an eye at my oddball request and then they implemented it to perfection in the final work.

Likewise, when there was a disagreement between the typesetters and me regarding the book's overall layout, they gave me what I wanted, not what they wanted. The typesetters had adjusted the format of my original manuscript to fit their printing standards but I was not 100% on board with the changes. I wanted the lines spaced a little more apart and the font a little bigger so it would be easier for everyone to read. The changes would mean the book would cost more to print but I was determined to have a book everyone could read, not the most cost effective layout. The team at Newman Springs listened to my concerns and feedback, took it back to the typesetters, and a few weeks later delivered a new layout that I was happy with. Sometimes its not always about profits but personal satisfaction and the team there understood that was it for me and worked to make me happy.

And there's other things that Newman Springs Publishing has done to gain my loyalty and to maintain this partnership but those will remain largely private for now. Not because they pay me to do things outside of royalties for my books (they don't) but because I'm not sure how some of my experiences working with the team there relate to the experiences of other authors and I do not want to give anyone any expectations of things that aren't typical or are no longer available.

I will say that they have helped me find ways to increase my marketing. They have pointed me toward others to work with that cover areas they don't such as social media management and audiobook recording services. When I have a question, the team there usually can at least point me in the direction of someone that can help if they can't. I trust that they have my interests in mind regardless of the situation and I trust them to deliver what they promise enough that I keep going back.

My loyalty to Newman Spring Publishing is not due to a lack of options but rather their ability to consistently deliver. I'm not a best seller but they treat me like one. I'm not a popular author, heck, I'm barely an amateur, but they make me feel like a professional writer. There are always going to be things that could be better and things that I might want different but my partnership with Newman Springs Publishing has been everything I could have asked for and more.

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Buy your copy of The Ascension Legacy - Book 1: The Shamed Ranger at

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3gMhHlp

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3gMKxCc

Also available as eBook

 

Buy your copy of The Ascension Legacy - Book 2: A Legend Confirmed at

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wzL7Zl

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3cL5meW

Also available as eBook