The publishing world is a very different place than it was a decade ago. With the advent of self-publishing as a real option for authors, publishers could consider new models to fulfil author’s need for greater independence. Why? Because though many authors want the high royalties enjoyed by self-publishers, they don’t all want to do all the publishing themselves, and many still want the confidence in their book that comes from passing a quality selection process.
So to fulfil this need, I, Tahlia Newland, created AIA Publishing, which is short for Awesome Independent Authors Publishing. That’s me in the photo looking into the future.
“Tahlia has been a genuine pioneer of an open press, of the drive towards quality publishing outside of the publishing temples, those traditional near-closed, often incestuous, bastions. She has a great grasp of the nuts and bolts as well as the art, the ‘spirituality’ of writing wonderful prose. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. So if in doubt about her ability, then feast on both her original works and the books of others she has so much improved.” Richard Bunnings, author of Spiderworld and other books.
A unique model
AIA Publishing is a selective publisher that provides authors with 100% royalties on ebooks and 90% on paperbacks. We can only do that because our authors pay the publishing costs, but we are not a self-publishing service provider because we are very fussy about what we’ll publish. I’ll only consider books that have a special something that excites me, and quality is paramount, so the books we select have to be well written and edited. Acceptance for publishing by us is the independent author’s equivalent of a mainstream publishing deal but with one difference, we do not consider commercial viability in our selection process, we are more interested in unique voices, interesting ideas and quality writing.
AIA Publishing is situated in Foxground, NSW, Australia, but we are an international publisher with an international team. Our books are available in all major online retailers and by order in all bookstores world wide. Lightning Source in USA, UK and Australia print our paperbacks on demand. Our editorial team is experienced in working with both US and UK English conventions, and we have staff in Australia, New Zealand, USA, and the UK.
Our Australian Business Number (ABN) is 60524816736
“Going with AIA Publishing and Editing was one of the better decisions I have ever made. While I’m sure there are others that offer equally good services, I found that dealing with Tahlia Newland to be easy, non-stressful, and just simply nice. She was always responsive to my emails with questions and concerns, always getting back to me within twenty-four hours with direct and concise answers. She had my book professionally proofed and designed easily and quickly. Her cover designer was great, coming up with something totally fun, receiving complements by everyone who has seen it.‘All in all, my experience with AIA Publishing and Editing was easy and cost friendly. Her hourly rates are more than reasonable and I have been amazed at what she gets done for me for so little cost. I always felt that Ms. Newland had me and my books best interest in the forefront, wanting it to be a success. For that I thank her. If and when I publish a third novel, I will certainly look forward to again working with Tahlia Newland at AIA Editing and Publishing.” Ed Lehner, author of The Awakening of Russell Henderson.
History
AIA Editing and Publishing came about as an offshoot of the Awesome Indies Books accreditation service, but is now completely independent.
I started AIA Publishing with the aim of helping authors to publish high quality books by providing a reasonably priced publishing service that makes sure books meet the standards of mainstream publishers. I also wanted to provide a publishing outlet for authors of books I edited that I felt were particularly worthy of publication.
My Team
Managing editor: Tahlia Newland
Publishing Assistant: Imogene Nix
Editing team: Tahlia Newland, Charles Ray, Brent Meske, Barbara Scott Emmet, Alida Sewell, Bruce Elder and Amy Spahn
Book Cover Design: Velvet Wings Media
Formatting: Barbara Scott Emmet, Imogene Nix and Rose Newland
Experience
I started my publishing journey back in 2007 as an author, then I became an editor and publisher. I first published under the name of Catapult Press in 2010, worked as a publisher for S&H Teen for one year and have been publishing books ever since. You can read my full CV on Linked In and find out about the rest of the team by following the links on their names above. Most of us first worked together on the assessment team for Awesome Indies Book Awards.
Not vanity publishing
Vanity publishing is a publishing model where authors are lured into thinking they’re getting a real publishing contract only to find that they have to pay high fees and receive a book with poor editing. AIA Publishing makes it clear to the author from the start that this is an author-funded proposition. Vanity publishers make it seem as if they have a selection process, but in actual fact they publish anyone who comes to them – after all, it’s how they make their money. My team are all sub-contracted so they have other means of income – for example I’m an editor – so financially speaking we don’t need to publish anyone, hence our selection process is genuine. I’ve even turned down authors previously published by mainstream publishers. Also we charge by the hour for our publishing services, which make our prices flexible according to how much support an author needs. In most situations this makes us a lot cheaper than a vanity publisher. On top of that we give almost all the royalties to the authors, whereas a vanity publisher retains a high percentage of income from sales. We also provide authors with the files and give them management of the ebooks and control over pricing.
