We charge for our services, and we're not sorry about it.
That line tends to raise eyebrows. Some people assume that if you're paying a publisher, you're being scammed. The truth is, every publishing model has costs and trade-offs. Ours just happens to put the power back where it belongs, with you.
We share many traits with hybrid publishers, like high-quality production and paid author services, but we don't fit the full definition from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). The IBPA says hybrid publishers:
We meet many of those standards, but we never take royalties or split profits. We're proud IBPA members, and we describe ourselves as an Author-First publishing house.
You keep 100% of your rights and earnings. Always.
Vanity presses will publish anything, for anyone, as long as they get paid. There's often little to no editorial support, no quality control, and no real care for the end product. Many also make authors buy back huge quantities of their own books, and some have been known to scam authors.
We only put the Garden Wolf Publishing House logo on books that meet our editorial standards. We provide real guidance, expert editing, and vetted collaborators.
Our books are thoughtfully crafted, never churned out.
We don't acquire manuscripts, pay advances, or control your creative decisions. Traditional publishers typically own at least some of the rights and make the final calls on everything from your title to your cover.
Here's what we offer that many traditional publishers can't:
And we don't pretend to be anything we're not.
Garden Wolf Publishing House is a boutique publishing partner for mission-driven professionals. Our Author-First model helps experts like you create children's books that extend your impact and leave a lasting legacy.
We don't fit into a neat category, and that's the point. We're building something different, because your book deserves better than a broken industry model.
Every model has a cost. The question is who pays it, and how.
| Traditional | Hybrid | Self-publishing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who pays to make the bookediting, illustration, design | The publisher | You, in full or in part | You |
| Who pays the ongoing costsprinting, distribution, marketing | The publisher, though you’ll often help with marketing | Depends on the contract | You |
| Who holds the rights | You license them to the publisher | Depends on the contract | You |
| Who earns from sales | You get a royalty, often 5 to 10%, after your advance earns out | You and the publisher share them, and the split is often flipped from traditional, with you getting the lion’s share | You keep it all, minus printing and retailer costs |
| Who makes the final calls | The publisher | Usually you, with the publisher’s guidance | You |
| Who does the work | The publisher's team | The publisher's team | You, or people you hire |
| How you get in | An agent and a query, then the publisher decides | A mutual decision. Good hybrid publishers only take on books that are a good fit, both ways | No gatekeeper |
| A good fit if | You want no upfront cost and wide bookstore reach, and you can wait for a deal | You want control and ownership, but you also want a professional team to reduce the cognitive load, and are willing to invest in your book | You want full control and you're happy to manage it yourself or hire help |
Every publisher and every contract is different. This reflects the typical model, not every company.
We work most like a hybrid publisher. The difference is we don't take any royalties, so every dollar from your sales is yours. And every book we publish comes from an expert with a mission.
In traditional publishing, the idea of an author paying to publish is considered taboo. You're told that if a publisher asks for money, it's a scam.
Sadly, there are plenty of scams and low-quality "publishers" that prey on people who dream of becoming authors, take their money, or trap them in exploitative contracts. But it isn't so black and white that paying for publishing services means a scam.
Here's the truth: in traditional publishing, you don't pay up front, but you pay in other ways. You pay in profits, because you don't get much. You pay in creative control, because you don't control the process. Whoever takes more financial risk tends to have more control. That's how business works.
With traditional publishing, you would typically:
And all of that only happens once a publisher acquires your manuscript. Most writers wait months or years for responses to queries, which often never come. You can be an excellent writer with a powerful story and still never land a book deal. It's not because you're not good enough. Traditional publishing is a business, betting on what will sell to the widest market, not necessarily what will matter most. In their defence, they're fronting the risk, so they're naturally very selective about who they bet on.
With self-publishing, hybrid publishing, or publishing with Garden Wolf, you're betting on yourself.
An Authors Guild survey of 5,699 published authors found that in 2022, their median gross pre-tax income from their books was $2,000. Reported in Publishers Weekly.
Traditional publishers take the financial risk up front, which is why they take the lion's share of the profit and the control.
In our model, you take the risk up front, and in return, you keep every dollar of profit. Most hybrid publishers charge authors and also take royalties. We don't take a cent from your sales.
It's not better or worse, just a different kind of ownership for a different kind of author.
We're selective about working with authors who share our priorities and values, and you should be selective about working with us, too. You're not waiting for a gatekeeper's approval. You believe in your book, and you're investing in doing it well.
Publishing with us isn't the cheapest option up front, by design. We don't settle for less than the best, and that takes careful, detailed work. Our clients are often busy professionals who care deeply about their message and want it done right, so we step in and fill that gap.
Publish in 6 to 12 months, not 2 to 5 years.
Keep all your rights, your vision, and your profits.
No juggling ten vendors or figuring it out alone.
Create something lasting and meaningful that fully reflects you.
Don't get us wrong. We love traditional publishing. We're grateful for the incredible books it brings into the world, the stories we've learned from, and the industry standards it helped build. It's a path worth pursuing for the right author, the right project, and the right moment.
But it's not the only path, and for many purpose-driven professionals, it's not the most aligned one. There's a lot of judgment in traditional publishing circles around self-publishing and hybrid models. There are bad actors out there, but we believe it's unfair and outdated to dismiss entire models simply because they work differently. The publishing world is evolving, and there's more than one valid way to bring a meaningful book into the world.
Garden Wolf exists for people with a vision they're not willing to compromise, who are ready to move forward, own their voice, and publish a book that makes a difference. We'll never pretend this path is for everyone.
Book a free 30-minute discovery call. No pressure, just a conversation about your book and whether this path fits.
Book a Free Discovery Call