Interview with Randy Zucco

Randy Zucco will be at this year’s conference for pre-scheduled meetings with writers. He was interviewed by Jim Barnhill.

What is Levellers Press?

Levellers Press is a full-service publishing house. With the consolidation of major publishers over the years, the increase in online buying, the means of production at our workplace, and one visionary co-worker/owner, Levellers Press was launched about nine years ago. It is a 100% worker-owned press that was spun off from Collective Copies, a thirty-five-year-old print house in Amherst and Florence, Massachusetts.

Levellers Press, like most presses, takes book submissions from authors. We publish all genres. When a book is selected, a point person is assigned to that author. We then work with the author to choose a layout, design, paper, cover finish, etc. that our author will be happy with. We have proofreaders on staff and fee for service proofreaders that we work with. We have several graphic designers on staff who will work on the cover design.

When the title is ready for production, our Amherst print and bindery facility takes it from there. There are close to two hundred years of experience represented in our print/bindery team. After the book is complete, we host a book launch party with the author. The book will go on sale in our stores, our online store, on Amazon, and in select local book stores.

How does Levellers Press decide what books to publish?

When books have been submitted, the title is reviewed by the designated team, non-fiction or fiction. We are currently reviewing our submission process for poetry which to this point has been only through an open reading period. We will also use outside readers to gauge reactions to a potential title. Titles do need to be agreed upon by the entire team.

As you know, we have also received a number of submissions through the WriteAngles conference meetings. DIRT ROAD TO DEATH by you (James H. Barnhill) was selected and published in June of 2018 as a direct result of an author/agent meeting. BAD SLEEP by Siegfried Haug will be out early next spring and was also received at the 2017 WriteAngles conference.

What kind of books is Levellers Press looking for?

When we started, we were primarily a non-fiction, local history press. Since then, we added a poetry team, through our Hedgerow Book imprint, and a fiction team. Our only requirement is that our authors be local. Local is relative in these times, but there is something pure about meeting face to face with our neighbors and community. But, I’m sure if Stephen King knocked on our door, we’d answer!

How do I submit a book for possible publication by Levellers Press?

All inquires are to be submitted to levellerspress1@gmail.com. Submissions will be reviewed by committee.

What does it cost me to publish a book with Levellers Press?

That is the beauty of publishing through Levellers Press. There is no direct cost to the author. We invest the time and money on your behalf in hopes that it will be recouped in the initial print sales. There are some authors, however, who have chosen to use other graphic design firms for cover design and layout. These agreements are usually negotiated and will result in out-of-pocket costs for the author but naturally reduce the start-up cost of the book.

What makes Levellers Press unlike most publishing houses is that once the title has broken even and start-up costs have been met, the author and Levellers Press split royalties after that point 50/50. The author retains the copyright for her or his title.

Can I self-publish a book through Levellers Press?

Levellers Press is Levellers Press and does not offer self-publishing. However, we do have another wing of our book operation, Off the Common Books, which is purely for self-publishing. The big difference with self-publishing is that the author foots the bill for all design work, print and bindery production, ISBN registration, etc. However, the author owns their book outright and all sales are the author’s. We do offer to sell the book in our stores, webstore, etc. for a transaction fee to cover logistics.

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