At Jumping Cats, we see our role as a matchmaker. We need to find the right readers for the right author. And vice versa.
We want both to live happily ever after (or at least, for a very long time).
To accomplish this, we must find authors who write good books and readers who appreciate good books. It may sound simple, but
there are a myriad of hidden obstacles that can appear in the process. Our goal is to provide the introduction between the
author and the reader and to try to resolve or ameliorate the obstacles.
One of the most common is price. Authors want the highest price possible for their work. Readers want the most reasonable
price. Our job is to negotiate an arrangement that both are happy with.
But readers also want a book that is well-written, well-edited, well-designed. It must be welcoming and satisfying both in
appearance and content. Our job is to help our authors rise to the levels expected by our readers.
Authors want everyone to know about their books and to buy them. Readers want to know about only the books that appeal to them
and that meet their standards, so they can decide if they want to purchase them. Our job is to be sure that our readers know
about books that appeal to them and to make sure they don’t feel unnecessarily pressured to purchase. And to make sure we don’t
waste their time with announcements of new titles in which they have no interest. However, we must also ensure that our authors
have the widest possible exposure for their books. And that is a challenging tight-rope walk with no safety net.
To fulfill our role as matchmaker and to resolve these competing interests, we find the best talent available in each area so
we can meet both readers’ and authors’ needs. We further focus on resources with particular and specialized skills. For
instance, we don’t ask a book editor to design a book. We welcome their input and their opinions, but we rely on book designers
for their knowledge and expertise. Similarly, we don’t ask a digital services specialist to be a social media marketing and
promotion specialist.
We are strongly committed to collaboration. We rely on all members of our project team to contribute their opinions and advice
on all aspects of the project, but we pay special attention to what our experts tell us. And we pay particular attention to
what our readers and our authors have to say. After all, they have the most invested in this effort.
We think readers want a quality book that meets their standards in terms of appearance, content and readability. They want the
book in a format that makes accessibility simple and satisfying whether that is as a print book, an eBook in any of the existing
formats, or as an audio book. And, of course, they want the price to be reasonable and competitive.
Readers often turn to books produced by established publishers to reduce the chance of buying a book that fails to meet one or
more of their criteria. Established publishers have the expertise and experience to reduce the risk to the reader because they
have a track record. Self-published authors often do not. Since self-published authors are paying for all services directly
from their own pockets, they may try to cut corners in order to save money or in order to speed the publication process. They
may have no experience in marketing and promoting their work and may have little desire to do so. Without that activity,
however, readers may never even know the book exists, much less be given the opportunity to purchase it.
Jumping Cats provides readers with the services of a curator and reviewer at no charge and with little risk. You can rely on
our high standards to deliver to you, from our catalog of titles, only works that satisfy your tastes. We will not publish or
promote works that we don’t endorse and recommend to friends and family. Or want to read ourselves.
So, if you’re a reader looking for books to purchase or consume, whether they are print books, eBooks or audio books, consider
yourself a member of the Jumping Cats family. We can help you choose.
We believe that authors want both the best book possible and the maximum remuneration for their work. They want the services
provided by a “traditional” publisher without relinquishing the vast majority of their share of book sales to the publisher.
EBooks came into being, largely, to meet this need. And eBooks have been successful in opening the door to publication to more
authors than at any time in history.
But there has been a cost. The quality of self-published eBooks and print books has suffered. With self-publishing, there no
longer is a publisher with the resources and expertise to provide such core activities as editing, design, illustration,
distribution and marketing. Self-published authors must negotiate and manage these services alone and at their own expense.
And that can be a high price to pay in both actual dollars and in sub-par results. And in time lost from writing the next book.
Today, with the rise in popularity of audio books, the gulf between author and expertise may be even greater than has been
previously true. The intricacies of recording and narration make this a particularly challenging endeavor for the
self-published author.
The conventional publishing model has always lent itself to the importance of an agent or other go-between just to navigate the
process. Today’s marketplace with numerous distribution and publishing rights, the advent of the international market,
conflicting copyright laws between countries, and other and myriad legal, administrative and procedural complexities make the
life of a self-published author distracting at best. And the role of the agent is not well-represented in the self-publishing
world at present.
At Jumping Cats Publishing, our process is more transparent and is streamlined. Jumping Cats takes your book from manuscript
through design, editing, format conversion, production, and marketing and promotion and delivers an audio book, a
print-on-demand book , and an e-book all in one cohesive and comprehensive process. You can choose a single format for your
book, a single production (print-on-demand, eBook, or audio book), all formats and all productions, or any combination of
formats and productions. And it is all done in a single process. The cost is clearly disclosed and it’s a guaranteed contract
price. And since it is shared by the publisher and the author, you know from the beginning what your expense will be.
Our goal is, not only to produce the best and most successful book we can for you, but to facilitate the authorship and
production of more successful books from you. We believe that we can achieve the greatest success together and over your career. We hope you will feel the same.
