Start a Book Packaging Company

1. 1

   Understand what publishers buy from packagers

   Concept-driven projects publishers want but cannot staff: series fiction with fast schedules, heavily illustrated or design-intensive nonfiction, licensed and branded books, and celebrity projects needing managed execution. The packager sells reliability: a finished, on-brief, on-deadline book.

2. 2

   Develop properties, not manuscripts

   A packager's pitch is a premise, a format, sample chapters, art direction, and a production plan. Develop a small slate so one sale funds the next; each package should be conceived with a specific shelf and buyer in mind.

3. 3

   Contract talent honestly on work-for-hire

   Packagers typically pay writers flat fees (documented from a few thousand dollars up to around $1 per word on established projects) with no royalties, and the packager retains the property. State those terms plainly and pay promptly; your talent bench is the production capacity of the whole business, and word travels.

4. 4

   Sell to publishers with clear deal structures

   Packages sell as finished manuscripts, as print-ready files, or even as delivered printed books, with the packager earning either a lump sum or an advance-plus-royalty structure on the property. Relationships with acquiring editors matter exactly as they do for agents, so the apprenticeship path runs through editorial and production jobs.

5. 5

   Run production like a studio

   Multiple titles in different stages, freelance editors and designers, tracked schedules, and quality control that protects your on-time reputation. Late or sloppy delivery kills a packager faster than a weak concept.

6. 6

   Keep and work the rights

   The retained property is the long game: series continuations, foreign editions, and media options belong to the packager. A single durable series can fund the company for years, which is why concept selection deserves most of your thinking time.

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