Publishers Marketplace: Howard S. Smith

Robot Binaries & Press publishes mass-market technothriller fiction, science fiction and technologically-based nonfiction.

We are interested in publishing speculative fiction, science fiction based on strong science (we tend to avoid fantasy), technothrillers, medical fiction and certain technologically-based nonfiction.

We have strong distribution in the USA and Canada through AtlasBooks Distribution (Ashland, Ohio) feeding US wholesalers (Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and others) and Canadian distributors (Quanta, ScholarlyBooks), as well as some distribution to European (via Gazelle) and Australian/N.Z. (via Inbooks) markets.

We exhibit in our own booths or through representatives at major industry shows including: PLA, BEA, BEC, ALA, Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Our books are offset printed on industry-best presses and paper in Quebec, and we are capable of producing high-tech metallic covers and spines (which can make an important difference for a sci-fi title in the bookstore). We have outstanding graphics talent to produce eye-catching covers.

We currently do not offer e-book or audio-book releases, but plan on doing so for the 2009 year.

We have strong publicity channels set up and can offer a relatively high level of promotion for very promising titles.

We do NOT provide in-house developmental editing and will summarily reject any manuscript that is not close to being print-ready. However, we work with authors to enhance promising manuscripts that are already suitable for publication.

We use an industry-standard contract. Royalties are computed on net sales and are paid bi-annually. Advances are generally based on assumption of a 5000 copy sell-through and we make all our internal accounting figures available in such computations. Higher advances are possible for extremely promising manuscripts. In some cases, acceptance of a manuscript may be conditional on submission to a review service (we will pay the costs for doing so) and the production of a positive review.