On Writers

Do writers get paid?
Writers rarely get paid much, ask one. In our case, we can definitely guarantee that they won’t get paid—can a traditional publisher promise that?

How about you, do you get paid?
No. No one gets paid. The writer gives us the manuscript for free. Our design director, Chris Defrancesco of Alphabetica Design, does the typesetting, design, and production for free. We have a cheap office over a really good bakery. And our printer, Recycled Paper Printing, gives us a major break on printing. Kodak, our technology partner, has also been phenomenally generous. All this enables us to give away books for free without requiring a lot of money. Publishing books is fun. Making money at it isn’t—it’s a hard business. We leave that to the pros.

Why would a writer want to be part of Concord Free Press?
It’s an interesting way to put out an unusual book. And being published by the Concord Free Press doesn’t preclude having the work published in a traditional, for-profit edition, either in the U.S. or abroad. Or selling the film rights. So a book that we publish can go on to bigger and more lucrative things for its author. For example, our first novel, Give + Take by Stona Fitch, is out now in a beautiful, commercial hardcover edition from Thomas Dunne Books. HarperCollins published our third novel, The Next Queen of Heaven (by Gregory Maguire) in a commercial edition. And other CFP books have a second life as actual for-pay publications.

How do you run a business without selling something?
We’re a registered non-profit corporation in Massachusetts and an IRS-approved non-profit foundation. We rely on donations from our Advisory Board and supporters—and sales of our stylish t-shirts—and books from the Concord ePress. Donations are tax-deductible, and very much-appreciated.

Do you have contracts with your writers?
Our unique, one-page agreement with our writers is 100% lawyer-free.