Welcome to Black Swan Services
HIP, HIP, HOORAY!
If you’re here it’s likely because you’ve written a book and are thinking about getting published. Congratulations! From working with authors who have toiled for months—if not years—on their manuscripts, we know how rewarding and all-consuming writing a book can be.
Give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back for doing what many dream of but relatively few people ever achieve. Now take a deep breath and get ready for the bad news.
Every year there are over 2 million unsolicited manuscripts making the rounds of publishing houses in North America—but fewer than 2% of these are ever published.
And despite the marketing hype of most self-publishing companies, most independently published books sell fewer than 100 copies.
WHY IS IT SO HARD TO GET PUBLISHED?
Manuscripts are rejected from publishing companies for a whole host of reasons, but most are sent back to their authors (usually with just a form rejection slip) because they simply aren’t ready to be published. Or, as Pat Walsh so bluntly put it in his invaluable book 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published & 14 Reasons Why It Just Might:
“The main reason your book, after you have written it, will not be published is because it is not good enough—it probably even stinks.”
HOW CAN YOU WRITE A BETTER BOOK?
At Black Swan Services we can’t guarantee that we will transform your manuscript into a New York Times bestseller, but we can promise you we will give your book time, energy, and attention—something literary agents and editors at publishing companies simply can't do. We’ll tell you what we like about your manuscript, where we think it needs work, provide an editorial plan you can follow to revise your writing, and direct you to other resources which will help you make your manuscript the best it can be.
We’re not literary agents and we won’t try to “upsell” any of our other services to you. We just offer frank advice, encouragement, and the odd bit of tough love.
Having said this, if you’re here because you would like us to help you self-publish your book, we do offer a range of book-development services for individuals who have used our manuscript evaluation services and are willing to submit to our tough editorial and book design standards.
WHY CHOOSE BLACK SWAN SERVICES?
When you submit your manuscript to Black Swan Manuscript Evaluation & Book Development Services you will enter into a collaborative relationship with a book editor who will work with you to make your book the best it can be.
We genuinely care about the creative process and regard each book as a unique entity that deserves special consideration and respect. Every manuscript evaluation we do—and every book we publish—is unique.
Our editors have worked as professional book editors, reviewers, or authors—so they have the experience to really know what works—and what doesn’t.
We will team up your manuscript with the editor we feel is best qualified to deal with the subject and genre of your book.
CONTACT BLACK SWAN
Please recognize that most professional editors are booked in advance, so the earlier you contact us the earlier we can begin working on your manuscript.
We can be reached by email at info@blackswanservices.com or by phone at 778-988-EDIT between 10 am and 5 pm PST, Monday to Friday.
