The Imprint
Ross House Press books are custom-designed using old-school bookmaking aesthetics. The editor-in-chief for Ross House is Phil Rice, an editor and book designer with 30+ years experience in the business. Authors are in direct contact with Phil from the moment the manuscript is accepted until their book is officially published and available for purchase. In addition to Phil, Ross House has a network of professional editors and book production artisans on call to provide the talent and expertise to suit any project. If a book requires special insight beyond Phil’s experience, he will bring in a professional to make sure the book is properly edited. This network includes Sarah Hasty Williams, Canopic Publishing’s artist-in-residence. Sarah is an internationally recognized artist who can provide customized illustrations and cover designs; she is also available for consultation regarding artwork provided from other sources.
For books published under the Ross House Press imprint, the production process consists of four primary steps.
Step 4: Fulfillment & Distribution
If you have a manuscript or project that might be a good fit for the Ross House Press, please send a query to Phil at editor@rosshousepress.com or leave a message at 412.953.4244.
This drawing of the John Ross House by Cesar Biojo (2003) served as the frontispiece for The View from My Ridge by Charles Rice. Cesar Biojo, who was just beginning his art career at the time, has since achieved international acclaim as a painter
Step 1
Editing: In addition to basic proofreading for grammar, punctuation, spelling, consistency and word usage, our editor will thoroughly review the manuscript for clarity and flow. This includes an evaluation of stylistic choices, which may lead to suggestions for pragmatic revisions.
Premium Option: For manuscripts that need deeper content editing, the editor will conduct a thorough professional reading for inconsistent character behavior/speech, style issues, thematic variances and readability. Content editing includes verifying that the language matches the target audience, the dialogue is believable, and the plotline is plausible.
Unless a specific style guide or dictionary is requested, our editors refer to The Chicago Manual of Style and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as needed; however, we always defer to the author’s stylistic choices. In our view, art should lead the way.
The basic Package includes one full-round of corrections and revisions to the manuscript prior to placing the text into the book design. The Premium Option includes two rounds of corrections and revisions. After receiving the author’s approval, fees may apply to additional changes to the text.
Step 2
Interior Design: Custom design elements include font selection, header and footers, and graphic embellishments, but we also focus on the aesthetic nuances. White space, margins, placement of blank pages, and the inclusion of half-titles are just some of the old-school techniques we bring to our books.
Our interior design ensures your book's content is ready for a smooth and organized print and eBook reading experience. The basic package includes the optional placement of one author photo, which appears alongside the author biography, and one frontispiece image opposite the title page. For more author-provided photos or images, additional fees may apply.
Premium Option: The Ross House Press can match the manuscript with a professional artist who will provide custom illustrations to accompany the text. For historical subjects, we have an archivist who can locate historical photographs or drawings to illustrate the text.
The basic package includes one full-round of corrections and revisions to the interior design. The premium option include two rounds of corrections and revisions. After receiving the author’s approval, fees may apply to additional requested changes to the design text.
Step 3
Cover Design: A book’s cover is its marketing vanguard. At Ross House we work with a network of artists and designers in order to produce cover art that represents the literature, reflects the author, and speaks directly to the potential reader.
Custom Cover Design includes
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The use of a single author-provided, hi-res image (image manipulation not included);
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Custom book cover layout;
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Custom cover background colors;
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Stylized typography that features a unique look for your book title, author name and back cover text;
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One round of revisions (changes to image not included);
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Custom placement of your synopsis, author photo and Ross House supplied barcode on the back cover, plus cover formatting and sizing made to your book's specific trim size.
Premium Option: A professional artist can create a unique cover image specifically for your book. Other premium options include locating archival photographs or artwork to use for the cover design.
The basic cover design and the premium options include one full-round of corrections and revisions. After receiving the author’s approval, fees may apply to additional requested changes to the cover.
Step 4
Fulfillment & Distribution: The Ross House Press currently sets up an individual CreateSpace account for any published book bearing the Ross House imprint. For print, we only offer soft-cover (paperback) print editions. The books are print-on-demand and are distributed to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online retailers. In addition, the books are available to independent booksellers worldwide through CreateSpace’s expanded distribution network.
The eBook edition will likewise be distributed worldwide, including Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. Once the production process is complete and the book is officially published and available for purchase, Ross House authors retain all of the publishing rights for their work. This means our authors may choose to alter the production and distribution options as they wish at any time. More importantly, while we will continue to advertise the title on our website for a minimum of one year, 100% of the royalty payments go directly to the author.
Contact
If you have a manuscript that you think might be a good fit for the Ross House Press, please send a query to Phil Rice at editor@rosshousepress.com; or leave a message at 412.953.4244; or fill out the form below.
