Who We Are
Bespoke Books from the Heart of Delmarva
Secant Publishing, LLC is an independent book publishing company located in Salisbury, Maryland. We have been in business for ten years and have published many award-winning books in both fiction and nonfiction.
We are a regional publisher whose primary focus is on Delmarva - the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia, along with a dollop of Delaware. Our greatest interest is in titles and authors with a strong regional identity and association.
Historically, we have commissioned some of our books and accepted others as unsolicited submissions. That will continue to be the case, with one important added wrinkle.
Hybrid Publishing Alternative
As of January 2025, we will be offering a suite of services in which prospective authors whose manuscripts are accepted for publication will be asked to share the financial risk - as well as the potential reward - of publishing with Secant. This is frequently called a hybrid model of book publishing.
Variables to Consider
Every book is different, depending in no small measure on the goals, motivations, experience, and sales history of its author. All of these factors and many others will come into play as we reach a mutually satisfactory agreement for any given publication.
- Genre
- Length and format
- Type of binding and page stock
- Complexity of design (i.e., premium cover illustration, number of photos or other figures, color vs. black and white, scholarly apparatus such as footnotes or indexing)
- Complexity of editing and manuscript review
- Scale and mix of marketing and promotion
Author royalty rates will also scale proportionately higher. A typical hybrid publication will return 50% of net print sales to the author, as opposed to 15% in the traditional model.
What We Ask Authors
Our fundamental questions for each prospective author are:
"What would success with your book look like to you?" And then, "Can Secant Publishing help you achieve that success?"
This is usually the beginning of a frank and fruitful discussion, whose resolution is sometimes Yes, and sometimes No.
In short, we are not a cookie-cutter press. We are not the right publisher for every book - nor is every book right for us. But we may be the right answer for you and your manuscript.
Contact Information
Ron Sauder
(410) 845-3193
editor@secantpublishing.com
