Book Publishing
We know what it’s like to finish a book – awesome and intimidating all at the same time. Once you think you’re done with your book and you’ve decided you’d like to publish it with Sixth Element, we have a fairly straightforward submissions procedure to make the process easy.
The deal we have with our authors is that:
We won’t publish a book unless we think it’s ready.
When a book is submitted to us, we give it an initial appraisal to make sure that we think it’s ready to be published and to assess what work we think is necessary in the project. If we think your book needs more work before we can handle it, we’ll say so. We’re nice but we’re honest. We won’t take on a book project if we don’t think it’s ready. However, we don’t say whether we think it’s good. That’s too subjective and we all love to read different types of books and writing. At Sixth Element, we believe that every book, once it’s had the care and attention it needs, will find its audience out there.
And, most importantly, you retain all rights to your book.
This is not a joint venture or a royalty deal. We give you a proposal that includes costings for the work involved (basically our time) and the print cost. Once the project is complete, you own all the books produced and you own all rights to your book.
If you would like to submit your book to us for consideration, please either give us a call on 07970 065628 or email us at hello@6e.net. Once we have your details, we’ll put together a proposal with itemised costings and get back to you. We’re happy to talk through any aspect of the process at any time.
Children’s Books
We love working on all sorts of children’s books including illustrated picture books for young children, chapter books for young readers, Middle Grade stories and Young Adult novels. We offer illustration services as well as our full range of editing, production and publishing services.
Genre Novels
We publish all types of genre fiction including crime, thrillers, historical adventure and romance, science fiction, fantasy and horror. All our books are published in eBook and paperback, with additional options for hardback editions and audiobooks.
Non-Fiction
We have published a whole range of non-fiction books including textbooks, handbooks and general interest books including sport and music, photo books and true life stories.
Memoirs
We love working with people on memoirs, whether autobiographical or biographies of family or well-known characters. We have published memoirs for general release and sale to the public, but can also produce private print run copies for family only.
SHORT STORY Anthologies
We’ve published a host of short story anthologies including short story competition winners, writing group collections of short stories, and humour and anecdotes based on real life experiences. We’re also the home of the awesome Harvey Duckman series of sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk and horror short stories.
Poetry Collections
We love working with poets to curate and organise their work into beautiful collections. We’ve published illustrated books of poetry, as well as volumes with poems intermingled with short fiction and memoirs.
AudioBooks
As well as eBooks, paperbacks, printed hardcase books and hardback books with dust jackets, we also offer audiobook production, including working with narrators to produce the audio files.
“I have dealt with Gillie and Graeme of 6e Publishing since my second novel, Echoes of the Stones, was published in 2017. Since then they have been responsible for my two further novels, Smugglers Moon and Stolen Innocence. In all the years I have had the pleasure of working with 6e I have experienced only professionalism, a keen eye for detail in their editing processes and boundless advice on the whole publishing process. I whole heartedly recommend 6e Publishing for any writers seeking a reputable, established and totally first class company as their route into publishing.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Learn How it Works!
Do you just work with local authors (ie from the North East of England)
We do work with a lot of local authors and we always enjoy sitting down over a coffee to chat about the books we’re working on. However, we do work with authors from across the UK and around the world through phone, email, drop boxes, Zoom and Skype – it’s then great when we do get to meet up in person.
Do you just work with local authors (ie from the North East of England)
We do work with a lot of local authors and we always enjoy sitting down over a coffee to chat about the books we’re working on. However, we do work with authors from across the UK and around the world through phone, email, drop boxes, Zoom and Skype – it’s then great when we do get to meet up in person.
If I publish my book through Sixth Element, do I get to keep all the rights to my work?
Yes, absolutely. All copyright is yours because you wrote it, and more importantly, if you work with us on a book project (rather than a traditional publishing arrangement) you retain all ownership and all the rights to your book.
Do you run any writing competitions?
We manage and run the annual short story competition for the Crossing The Tees Book Festival, and publish the anthology of shortlisted stories each year.
We sometimes also run other competitions so sign up for our mailing list if you'd like to find out when.
How much does it cost to indie-publish a book with Sixth Element?
We always provide a bespoke price for each book project after discussing your book with you and taking an initial look at your manuscript. If we feel your book needs more work in the writing and creative process before publishing, we’ll say so and give you constructive feedback. If we all agree that your book is as ready as it can be, we produce a proposal with itemised costs for each stage of the production process. As an example, a typical 70,000 word novel costs £1,295 to publish including final edit, typesetting, cover design, and proofread to produce files ready to upload for KDP Kindle and print on demand paperbacks.
I haven’t finished my book yet, can I still work with you?
Yes, we offer author mentoring at £25 per hour for one to one sessions, either in person or on the phone. We can read through works in progress, offer feedback on manuscripts or help with writing a synopsis, and we also offer editorial services on a chapter by chapter basis.