Chipmunka Website:
Chipmunka was set up in 2002 after several months of research by the two Founders Jason Pegler and Andrew Latchford.
Wow. A whole "several months of research".
Chipmunka Website:
Since 2008 Chipmunkapublishing has probably offered contracts to about 10% of people that contacted us although some people we ask to work more on their manuscripts and contact us again in the future.
10% is meaningless without knowing how many manuscripts they receive so that you can work out what that 10% actually translates to in figures.
Chipmunka Website:
Yes Chipmunkapublishing does accept unsolicited manuscripts. You do not need to have a literary agent to be considered by us. Chipmunkapublishing also receives manuscripts from literary agents around the world.
I'm surprised that any literary agent would submit to Chipmunka given that it doesn't pay advances. It would be interesting to know who those agents are.
Chipmunka Website:
Chipmunka does edit books although not in as much detail as a traditional publisher. Chipmunka editors are volunteers and are either arts university students or retired editors. Chipmunka will look for repetition, potential legal, copyright issues and will look to correct typos in your book although the responsibility of the text remains with the author and how the quality in which they submit their book in the first place and when they sign off the text and cover at paperback stage.
So editing is at best cursory and there's the potential for your not having it edited by a professional.
Chipmunka Website:
Most e-books we sell for £5 and the lowest we sell paperbacks for is £10 if sold to a customer via the booktrade or £12 if delivered to the customer's home address. If your paperback has more than 250 pages we may have to sell it for £12.99 or more.
The paperback cost is v. expensive - especially for books over 250 pages. Walk into any bookstore and you can pick up a paperback for upwards of £5.99.
Chipmunka Website:
Chipmunka publishes about 100 e-books and 70 paperbacks a year.
If that's the 10% figure that I mentioned above, then that is a hell of a lot of books and it suggests that they don't all get solid marketing or promotion support.
Chipmunka Website:
Books can vary in length. E-books can be from 50 up to 1000 pages. Paperbacks can be between 80 and 752 pages. Average lengths are about 100 for e-book which turns into about 150 pages at paperback stage.
So they're basically charging £5 for a 100 page ebook. That's really expensive.
Chipmunka Website:
We use Print on Demand at our core and do not charge. Most print on demand companies are either not integrated to market and/or charge authors for setting up of fees and some even charge for marketing. Chipmunka sets up the e-book and paperback for free and also does communication/pr/marketing for free. Not bad considering there are only 3 permanent staff and some volunteers and supporters/ambassadors etc. We publish as many books a year as a company that would have about 35 staff. This is because we are so committed, think dynamically, have great volunteers and support and do not want to change the voice of the author.
Actually, the lack of full time staff and the reliance on volunteers could be used to argue against the professional attitude of the company. The comments on what POD companies do is somewhat misleading as well.
Chipmunka Website:
Chipmunka is a modern publisher that has a fantastic internet presence (nearly all of our titles are already on kindle on amazon.com as well as through more traditional mediums) and a core following of supporters who believe in the brand.
A listing on Amazon is meaningless - even PA does that. The trick is getting people to know about your books on Amazon and I'm not seeing anything on the website that demonstrates how they get the word out (in fact, their website extolls people to buy via its own store).
I don't think I've ever seen a book from this company in a bookstore.
Chipmunka Website:
How do e-books sell compared to paperbacks ?
From 2005 to 2009 paperbacks have mostly out sold our e-books with one or two exceptions. We expect this to change with the increase in popularity of digital media sooner rather than later.
Yeah, I note that they don't give any actual ballpark sales figures here though.
Chipmunka Website:
Do not worry if your royalties are low. Chipmunka is still committed to publishing you as we want to give you a voice.
If your royalties are low, then it means you haven't sold many books and if Chipmunka isn't worried about that, then it's because they still receive a chunk of cash for each book sold (and that chunk of cash will be more than the author earns).
Chipmunka Website:
For advice on how much money you can receive on the benefits you are on please refer to the appropriate government website. Of course your royalties are paid annually and not weekly so you need to be aware of this. The Chipmunka Team cannot advise on this. We strongly recommend that nobody comes off benefits as a result of signing up with us.
I seriously hope that no one comes off benefits as a result of receiving a contract from this company because you are very unlikely to receive an amount sufficient to pay bills.
Chipmunka Website:
Any author whose royalties are over £50 will be paid upon request after their address is emailed. Anyone's book whose royalties is below £50 will roll over each year until £50 has been accrued. (unless you signed one of the first 60 contracts signed before or during 2006 where royalties do not roll over until they reach over £50 and no annual digital fee is applicable).
That is disgraceful. Given that this is a POD operation, with authors doing much of the selling themselves, setting such a high threshold for £50 is a recipe for making people wait for years, given that royalties are only paid annually. Before signing a contract, I'd want to know how many authors hit that £50 threshold each year and on average, how long authors have to wait before getting a royalty check.
Chipmunka Website:
Paperback pricing is as follows.
£10 - up to 200 pages
£12.99 - 200 to 300 pages
£15.00 - 300-450 pages
£20.00 - 450-600 pages
£25 - 600pages +
This is the RRP of books. Of course books may be sold cheaper by the book trade, especially online depending on how competitive the particular bookseller is. The pricing structure is reviewed on an annual basis by the Chipmunka team. See books on the Chipmunka website for pricing in different currencies. All pricing is standard. There are no exceptions.
Those pricing levels are obscene and I would suggest that in practice authors would have to discount to get people to buy their book.
Chipmunka Website:
I am excited about being published ? What should i expect ?
- Expect to be given a voice through your writing and being published
- See being published by us as recognition for you being recognised as a mental health or mental health educational/related artist.
- See being published by us as an opportunity to be recognised as a human being who can contribute to society, breaking down the stigma on mental illness and helping others have a voice.
- Expect to become part of a literary period in history that documents how people with mental illness, disability and carers give themselves a voice to improve the world in which we live and improve the lives of others.
- Expect to help others whenever a copy of your book is sold or you give an interview about your experiences.
Note that you shouldn't expect to make any money.
Chipmunka Website:
Chipmunka offers the same contracts to all new and existing authors. Our contracts are non negotiable.
No contract should ever be non-negotiable. This is the sign that authors should walk away from this company.
Chipmunka Website:
We advise that no author pays a lawyer to advise with a contract as the amount of money given to a lawyer may be more than royalties received later on. Also the contract that we offer is non negotiable so it is pointless a lawyer or anyone else suggesting changes. If they are advising for free then great. Chipmunka can explain to you what the contract means if you email questions to Jason and of course if you want to then you can get out of the contract later on anyway. Lawyers often help for free for an hour and sometimes help pro bono so be specific and get them to be specific in their response.
This shocks me a great deal because they are basically encouraging people not to go for legal advice unless it's free. It's possible that you can get free legal advice on a publishing contract from your local CAB and some law firms may do an hour's pro bono but you should by no means expect it.
Chipmunka Website:
45% From mental health charities such as Mind, Rethink, Sane or related organisations
20% referral from the medical profession, e.g psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health workers
15% The internet, search engines, websites, links etc..
5% of referrals from existing authors who recommend other people to us.
5% referral from the media
4% from literary agents
6% from other sources e.g ambassadors, politicians, government departments, social workers, writers groups, service user groups, poetry groups, etc...
I'm very surprised that charities such as MIND would recommend the company and wonder if they are aware that contracts are non-negotiable.
Chipmunka Website:
From 22nd of July 2010 we started offering digital contracts only. So there will be a back log of contracts that need to be posted for the rest of 2010. Both contracts are the same digital contracts just speed up the publishing process and are better for the environment.
We will email you a digital contract. You will beed to fill out all the boxes on pages 1 and 12 and then email it back to our contract department.
Interesting. Although there's a lot of talk in the UK about digital contracts and their use (e.g. it's common for them to be used in consumer transactions over the internet), I don't know many commercial companies using them for business relationships.
Chipmunka Website:
The importance of e-books is in getting them out quickly so that you can market in preparation for the release date of your paperback. You do not get to see your e-book before it comes out but you will get to approve your paperback before it comes out. If you want to make changes to your e-book wait until we contact you about your paperback. This way you keep your position in the paperback queue and can carry on promoting your e-book whilst making any final adjustments at the paperback stage. Ask us for the word file back as you will not be able to make changes to the PDF file that we send you. Please promote the e-book even if you are only 95% happy with it. This way we maximise the viral marketing of your e-book and your paperback comes out on time and is not delayed. E-books are a viral marketing tool to start your publishing fame. E-books are hugely important for your presence on the internet, for the popularity of The Chipmunka website and for our presence on the internet and in the media.
It's worrying that they are prepared to rush out eBooks without giving the author the opportunity to correct mistakes. Also, eBook success is dependent on lead-in and marketing, which it's going to be difficult to do properly on such a quick turn around.
It's also concerning that so much emphasis is placed on the author doing promotion for the book - even if they're not happy with it.
Chipmunka Website:
Whilst our editors will do everything they can to ensure that the manuscript is perfect, the responsibility for spelling, grammar, and content ultimately lies with the author and the condition in which they submitted the manuscript and their final online file checking at paperback stage
No publisher should be allowing books out with spelling and grammatical mistakes - that's what editors are employed to correct. Further, publishers shouldn't be accepting books that are simply unpublishable due to spelling, grammar etc.
Chipmunka Website:
All e-books will become paperbacks as long as the author treats our team with respect, carries out instructions as requires and there are no legal issues with the book.
This sounds dangerously like "don't make complaints about us or we won't release the paperback".
Given that the company takes all rights, this could be argued to be akin to holding books hostage.
Chipmunka Website:
Chipmunkapublishing prides itself on the fact that we achieve a huge amount of media coverage for our authors and on the fact that our authors achieve a huge amount of media coverage for themselves and their books.
I took a quick look at the website's sale page and I've never heard of any of the authors or the titles or recall seeing coverage about them. I'd want to know what that media coverage is before signing a contract with them.
Chipmunka Website:
As with any best selling book, the best promoter is the author themselves. JK Rowling is not only a great author but she is also a great self publicist.
Bullshit. Bestselling books are bestsellers because the publisher has got behind them, people know about them and they're there in bookstores for people to buy.
Chipmunka Website:
Throughout this guide we will be using the way that our CEO Jason Pegler has managed to successfully promote his book ‘A Can of Madness and his other five books’. Your book will have a different theme but the same principles will apply. One moment Jason Pegler may appear in the media as a former manic depressive, one minute he may appear as the author of A Can of Madness, or the author of Curing Madness or the author of The Ultimate Guide To Well Being, or as a rapper, or as a charity person, social entrepreneur, former mental health service user, or a publisher or to comment on mental health legislation that the government announces or is proposing, or talking about dangers of Cannabis or dangers of internet bullying etc.. Jason has appeared in the national and international media hundreds of times in the last 8 years and most of the time has managed to have his book mentioned or displayed. He has only ever had two book reviews in the broadsheets but sold more copies of ‘A Can of Madness’ than many publishers sell for most of their titles.
Yet for all this successful promotion, I'd never heard of Jason Pegler or his books until I saw this thread.
Chipmunka Website:
Soon after your paperback comes out your book will be available to order from bookshops around the world. Our books are printed in the UK and the USA. Your book will be available on amazon.co.uk and next day delivery on amazon.com. Your book will also be available in a host of other online and actual book stores around the world. Some of these you will have heard of e.g. WH Smith, Waterstones, Blackwell's etc.. and others you will not have heard of e.g. play.com. Google or Use Microsoft's search engine Bing to view the name of some of our books and you will see.
Well that's why I've never seen a book in a bookstore. Available to order from is not the same as being placed in. And of course, for people to know to order your book from a store, they have to know about your book.
On their site it looks like promotion consists of listing in wholesale catalogues, direct mail to customers who've previously purchased books via the Chipmunka website, attendance at trade shows and NHS conferences and getting volunteers to post reviews (which, interestingly, could soon be a tactic that falls foul of EU legislation).
Interestingly the site also gives all the usual bullshit about bookstores dying out, new technology being the way forward blah blah blah.
All in all, there's nothing that I see being done here that an author with mental health problems couldn't do for themselves via Lulu or some other self-publishing company (and at least with Lulu, you won't be waiting to earn £50 before getting paid).
MM