WHAT YOU'LL
FIND ON THIS PAGE:
GRATUITOUS
DEAD-GUY QUOTATION
WHAT WE DO • GENRES &
SUBJECTS
DO YOU HAVE
QUESTIONS ABOUT GHOSTWRITING? (links to
more info)
ARE YOU
CONFUSED ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING v. TRADE
PUBLISHING
(& OTHER
MATTERS OF CONSEQUENCE)? (links to
more info)
WHAT WE DON'T
DO
7 SERIOUSLY
GOOD REASONS TO HIRE US
OUR
PHILOSOPHY (the 8th
seriously good reason to hire us)
A LITTLE
REALITY (but not
enough to hurt you)
WANT MORE
INFORMATION? • WORTHY
DIVERSIONS
"It is as
easy to dream a book
as it is hard to write one."
~
Honoré de Balzac
Balzac
(1799-1850) knew what too many of us
have learned the hard way. Dreaming
about writing a book is only the
beginning; the real labor lies in
actually producing an engaging and
readable work, and then letting the
world know about it.
That's why Schmidt
Kaye & Company is here. We
are Ron Kaye and Connie
Schmidt, two experienced
wordcrafters and book designers who
specialize in services for authors.
We will write, edit, co-write or
ghostwrite your book — and, if
you're going to self-publish, we'll
also design it inside and out, and
even create material to help you
promote it.
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To us, there's
nothing more satisfying than being
part of the process of
"birthing" a book, of
helping authors realize their dreams.
Whether you're planning to
self-publish or take the traditional
route and solicit a trade publisher,
here are some of the ways we can help
you
bring your
book to life...
- Ghostwriting,
rewriting or editing your
book (or E-book)
Click here for
samples of our editing or
rewriting (but not
samples of our
ghostwriting; as they
say, "Discretion is
the better part of
ghosting.")
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BY
THE WAY... Do
you have some questions
about ghostwriting
— what it is, who
owns the rights to a
ghostwritten book...or if
it's even ethical to have
someone else write your
book for you? Click here. |
- Critiquing
your manuscript
- Cover
design (for
self-published authors).
- Page
design and layout (for
self-published authors)
Our new cover
design and page layout
galleries are coming
soon; meanwhile, here's
a portal to the galleries
on our old web site.
- Production
/ printing supervision
and hand-holding (for
self-published authors)
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BY
THE WAY... Are you
befuddled and bewildered
about words and terms related
to publishing? For example,
do you know the difference
between traditional vanity
publishing and self-publishing?
And where does print
on demand fit
into the picture?
And...what's with this word
"trade"...what's a trade
paperback, and
a trade publisher?
We'll try to clear up some of
the confusion. Click here. |
- Preparing
your manuscript for a
traditional publisher
- Writing
book proposals and query
letters for publishers or
agents
- Consultation
and to help you decide
the direction for your
book project(s)
- Coaching
(on a limited basis; we
may be expanding these
services soon, so stay
tuned!)
But we
don't just do books. We also
offer...
- Writing
and graphic design for
newsletters, brochures,
flyers, and just about
anything else for the
printed page and
electronic media
- Copywriting
and ad design (yes, we
give great ad!)
- Design
of other promotional and
marketing material (we've
even designed panels,
backdrops and signage for
trade show booths)
- News
releases
- Set
up of blogs & social
media sites (Twitter,
Facebook, etc.) to
promote your book (and
ghost-blogging,
ghost-tweeting, etc. if
you wish)
- Simple
web site design and
content to promote your
book
- Coming
soon: Infoproducts to
help you make the most of
your writing and
publishing journey
What
types of books do we handle?
By
far, the majority of our
projects have been adult
nonfiction on a
variety of topics —
including but not limited to
biography/autobiography,
self-help/motivation,
relationships, human
sexuality, health and
nutrition, spirituality,
politics, humor, business,
and personal finance. We have
also edited and/or laid out
legal reference books,
cookbooks, workbooks and even
doctoral theses. (Note: We do
NOT ghostwrite theses.)
Although
we specialize in nonfiction,
we have worked with and will
consider adult
fiction of most
genres as well.
We
are fairly liberal about our
choice of topics. We will,
for example, consider
erotica, but not hard
pornography. We will not
handle projects we feel are
unduly violent, racist or
sexist.
We
will consider young adult or
juvenile titles. However, if
we believe you would be
better served by someone who
specializes in these
categories, we will be happy
to refer you.
Although
we prefer to deal with
book-length manuscripts, we
will consider short stories,
or portions of manuscripts,
in any of the genres listed
above.
We
generally do not handle
poetry, unless it is strictly
a page design / layout and/or
cover design project.
Curious
about costs? Here's information
on our fees.
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Here
is what we DON'T do...
- We
are not a publisher, so
we do not solicit
manuscripts. In other
words, we do not pay you
for your manuscript. If
you pay us, however, we
will do everything
possible to make your
manuscript
"publisher-worthy."
And, as noted above, we
also write book proposals
and queries — your
key to getting a
publisher interested in
the first place!
- We do
not issue ISBNs or
Library of Congress
numbers, though we have
frequently helped guide
our clients through these
processes. See our "Links"
page for more
information.
- We
are not printers or book
manufacturers; we don't
own a printing press
(although the way we go
through reams of paper,
and toner cartridges,
when printing out
manuscripts, we sometimes
wonder!). However, we do
everything up to the
printing / manufacturing
stage, so if you hire us
for any of the services
for self-published
authors, we will be more
than happy to assist you
with finding a book
manufacturer, and
providing quality control
and technical assistance
throughout the printing
process. (Note: We do not
accept
"kickbacks"
from any book
manufacturer or printer;
we base our
recommendations strictly
on our experience and
research.)
- We
are not literary agents,
so we cannot find a
publisher for you. We
can, however, provide
general guidance and
suggestions for finding a
publisher or an agent.
And again, we can and
will do everything
possible to help you make
your work as marketable
as possible — and
therefore more attractive
to an agent or publisher.
You'll find links to more
information about agents
on our "Links"
page. And in the future,
we may have some direct
links to selected agents.
- We do
not do extensive
marketing or publicity
work. Although we do
create marketing
materials for print and
the Internet, as noted
above, we leave the
"heavy work" of
marketing and publicity
to the experts in those
fields. Again, we can
make recommendations; see
our "Links"
page.
- We do
not handle distribution
and fulfillment, although
we often help our clients
with basics such as
getting their books on
Amazon.com. (We will also
be adding distribution
& fulfillment links
to our Links page soon.)
Having
said all that, we're always
looking for ways to expand our
services. At some
point in the future we may be
working more closely with select
small publishers and/or book
manufacturers. We are currently
engaged in talks with a couple of
firms about the possibilities for
publishing alliances that will
enable us to offer easier access
to even more services than we
currently offer on our own. When
this happens, rest assured that
we shout it from the rooftops (or
at least we'll put it
on our Clients/News page, as well as
this one), in order to maintain
transparency about all of our
operations. In other words, when
we recommend a company to you,
we'll be upfront about whether or
not we're getting a piece of the
pie.
Now
that you know more about what we do,
and what we don't do...what can we do
for you?
Send us an e-mail at info@schmidtkaye.com
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7 seriously good
reasons
to hire Schmidt Kaye & Co.
for your next book project
(just
a few things that set us apart from all
those others)
We
hope that many of the advantages we
offer to authors will become apparent
as you browse this site. Here's a
short list for starters:
1.
You get "two for the price of
one" (the
"most ghost" for your
money!). That's right; you
get both Ron and Connie, with our
individual but complementary talents.
Ron, a "quick-start"
person, has a knack for jumping right
in and creating something from
nothing — writing a book
completely from scratch, if need be.
Connie's forte lies more in rewriting
and attending to the details,
smoothing out the rough spots in a
manuscript (redundancies,
inconsistencies in "voice,"
etc.), while shaping it into a
cohesive whole. On the other hand,
Ron can also be a "detail
person," and Connie can also
create from scratch. Both of us have
a talent for design and layout, and
we have tons of creative ideas. Ron
has a considerable amount of
technical expertise in areas such as
photo retouching and prepress work,
not to mention computer technology.
Connie's a stickler for research and
fact checking. And so on.
When you
hire us, you are also hiring two sets
of sensibilities and perspectives.
Many of our clients have told us they
felt it was an advantage to have both
a male and a female perspective. We
agree. Just to confuse the issue,
however, Ron sometimes thinks and
writes "like a woman,"
whatever that means, and sometimes
Connie thinks and writes "like a
man," whatever that
means. (Even some of our clients to
whom we've become pretty close have
been fooled by "who wrote
what.") At least in theory,
though, you have two differing gender
perspectives...not to mention our two
wildly different but somehow
compatible personalities.
You also
have two editors and quality-control
checkers. We're constantly checking
each other's work to make sure that
we haven't overlooked anything. Two
heads really are better than one, as
are two sets of eyes.
We're a
"company," but we are a
small company that doesn't take on a
huge number of projects at one time.
That's why we can give you and your
book the personal attention that's so
often lacking today. And unlike the
notorious vanity presses and
"author mills," we truly
care about literary merit and
production quality.
The two
of us are a team, and we will both
put our very best effort into making
your book the best it can be.
2.
You get the advantage of
"one-stop shopping." Well, almost
"one stop," anyway! We're
not "just" ghostwriters, not
"just" editors, not
"just" book designers. We do all of
these things and more. In fact, we do
just about everything for your book
except printing, marketing and
fulfillment. We can even steer you in
the right direction for those
services too. (Note: Be cautious
about companies that claim to
"do it all" — writing,
editing, designing,
printing/publishing, marketing and
fulfillment — for one low price.
These are NOT necessarily vanity
presses, but very often, you either
sacrifice quality in one or more
areas, or you give up control, or
both. Some of these companies are
really in the printing business
primarily, and they offer low-cost
but negligible editing, design, etc.
to entice you to buy their printing
service.)
3.
We'll come to you if you need us to. Much of the
time, we don't need to meet our
clients face to face, though of
course we always welcome that
opportunity. Thanks to the wonders of
technology, we can and have done
projects for clients all over the
world without ever setting foot
outside our door. But sometimes
in-person meetings are necessary. And
although travel expenses are paid by
the client, we make every effort to
keep costs down as much as possible.
In fact, if it's cheaper for us to
drive than to fly, we will gladly hop
into our minivan and make a
"mini-vacation" of it. (And
we won't stay in five-star hotels or
eat at hoity-toity restaurants along
the way. That is, unless you
absolutely insist on it.) If we do
fly, we don't demand first-class
tickets (believe it or not, there are
service providers who do!).
4.
We're honest and upfront. We're honest
about our prices — no
"surprises" or hidden
charges. Unless you make significant
changes or additions to the project
after the contract is signed and the
project begins, we stick with our
original price. (Here's the link
to our Fees page.) We will also be
honest with you about the merits and
potential of your work, as we
perceive it. And we will be honest
about what we can and cannot do. If
we think you would be better served
by someone else, we'll let you know,
and will do our best to point you in
the direction of a service provider
who can help you.
5.
We're fun to work with. Or so we've been
told! We have a great sense of humor
(and we like long walks on the beach,
a roaring fire on a winter night,
puppies, and world peace...) We're
open to creative ideas. We're not
easily offended (and try not to be
offensive ourselves). And as much as
we love books, we care even more for
the authors of those books.
6.
We've been doing this for a long
time. We (Ron and
Connie) have been in business
together since 1995, and our
individual backgrounds as writers and
graphic designers go back even
further. We are not just a couple of
displaced dabblers who recently got
laid off from cushy corporate jobs
and decided to give ghostwriting and
book design a whirl because we heard
they could be lucrative. We are
dedicated and experienced book
doctors, literary collaborators, and
designers. We were here
yesterday...and we'll be here
tomorrow.
7.
We give you more than your money's
worth. We are not the
cheapest writers and designers you
will find (again, here's the link
to our Fees page), but if you do
a little shopping around, you will
find that we are far from the most
expensive either. And we always do a
little more than we were hired for.
Besides the complete range of
services we provide, there are many
intangibles — we offer not only
our creative talent and technical
expertise, but something just as
important: the emotional support that
is so crucial to an author. We know
what a nerve-wracking and yet
exhilarating process "birthing a
book" can be. And we never
forget your book is your
"baby."
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Our philosophy:
"Heart, Not Hype"
(the
8th seriously good reason to hire us)
"The
trouble with America isn't that the
poetry of life has turned to prose,
but that it has changed to
advertising copy."
~
Mortimer B. Zuckerman in U.S. News
& World Report
We don't have
a mission statement per se,
perhaps because we consider every
project to be a mission in and of
itself. And because we throw
ourselves so thoroughly into our
projects, each book we complete
truly feels like a "mission
accomplished." No doubt
there's a mission statement
buried somewhere in the copy on
our home page or this page. But
we'll leave that to the highly
paid consultants of the world to
figure out!
Though we
have worked for years without the
benefit of a mission statement,
we do have a guiding philosophy,
and that philosophy has always
been, "Heart, Not
Hype." We think Mort
Zuckerman hit it right on the
head with the quotation above.
Virtually everyone is selling
something these days — and
not just selling it, but hyping
it to the point of
meaninglessness.
We say,
"Enough already!" At
Schmidt Kaye & Company, we
are dedicated to the proposition
that not everything is
earthshaking, window-shattering,
roof-ripping, or life-changing.
To put it bluntly, we believe
that the language of promotion
does not have to be the language
of "hustledorks" (which term,
incidentally, was coined by our
very own Ron Kaye). And so,
whether we're helping someone
write a book, or creating back
cover copy or a website or a
brochure to promote that book, we
try always to move beyond the
buzzwords and hyperbole to get to
... well, the heart.
There is a
second level of meaning for
"Heart, not Hype." We
truly put our hearts into each
project, and, with the exception
of this web site, we don't expend
a great deal of energy tooting
our own horns. Frankly, we'd
rather have others toot our horns
for us. Towards that end, look
for a testimonial page, coming
soon. But for now, let's talk
about what we can do for you.
Follow the links on this page for
more information, or contact us
(our contact information is
below).
We'll see you
in print!
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If
you're at all serious about your book,
don't miss our "Reality Checks"
pages.
Keep scrolling down...
Are you ready
for a little reality?
Frank talk for
authors
who are more than just curious...
Reality
Checks For Authors & Prospective
Authors: We're not here
to dash anyone's dreams. On the
contrary, we became literary
collaborators to help people realize
their dreams of creating a book. But
these dreams have to be based on
reality, and that is why we have
provided a series of "reality
checks" for authors and
prospective authors. These include
our exclusive Author
Questionnaire...a list of what to
expect from your literary
collaborator...and a cautionary note
for authors who are absolutely sure
they have the next blockbuster
bestseller.
If you are
serious about your book, follow the
links on our Reality Checks page...and don't
be afraid! If the information here
doesn't scare you away, it will
make you — and your book
— stronger.
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Want more
information?
Just
send us an e-mail at info@schmidtkaye.com
Or
drop us a line via snail mail at:
Schmidt, Kaye & Company
Ron Kaye • Connie L. Schmidt
25661
Field Store Road
Waller Texas USA 77484-5930
We
recommend that before making an inquiry,
you read all of the pages linked on the Reality Checks page,
as well as our Fees page.
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Worthy
diversions
Links and
Diversions: Don't overlook
this page of colleagues, associates
and other persons of consequence. You
will also find links to, and a little
information about, several important
sites for self-publishing authors,
e.g., the ISBN site, the Library of
Congress site, and the US Copyright
Office site.
And for
those of you who really have time to
waste...you'll also find links to
information on Ron and Connie's
"night jobs," such as they
are...
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Good
news! We now accept Paypal payments, for
quick, easy, and secure transactions.
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