Pricing and Distribution Basics

Writing, Editing and Collaborating On Your Book

FastPencil is a FREE book writing service, you only pay when you publish, distribute and order copies of your finished book. Here are some basics to help you understand how it works:

  • Using the FastPencil writing tools costs nothing. Signup, it's free.
  • You can obtain editing and reviewing help from friends, colleagues, and family, who can also use FastPencil for free.
  • Need help pulling your book together? Check out our cost-effective Publishing Packages, which take you from start to finish. With a Bronze, Silver, or Gold package you can get the help you need in one convenient bundle.
  • For specialized design, editing, illustration, marketing, and other needs, take a look at our Publishing Services.
  • We also showcase independent author services professionals in FastPencil Connect, so you can find the perfect match for your project, whether you need design, editing, illustration, layout, marketing, photography, or other services.

Publishing Your Book in Printed Formats

FastPencil publishes everything "On-Demand" so you don't have to pay printing costs up front. When a book is purchased, the cost of printing is incorporated into the retail price and paid by the buyer.

All our books are printed to the highest industry standards. We print hardcover, paperback and coffee table photobooks. FastPencil customers have published everything from Family Photo Books to Mass Market Novels. Our system is extremely flexible and easy to use. Plus it's free to create and publish your book to the FastPencil Marketplace anytime! You can also publish private editions free. You only pay for the cost of the book when printing.

Use our Book Manufacturing Price Calculator to play with different sizes and page-counts to see what your book will cost.

Publish Your Book in eBook Formats (EPUB and PDF)

On-Demand doesn't just apply to printing, it's a wave overtaking the publishing industry and eBook publishing on-demand is growing fastest! You can quickly and easily publish an eBook using the same FastPencil project you created for your printed book. Just choose eBook as the option when you publish. We take care of all the formats for you.

If you want to publish eBook only, just copy your chapters into the FastPencil editor, follow our simple Publishing Wizard and we take care of the rest.

Distributing Your Book

Publishing your book is done, now it's time to sell it. FastPencil can put your book into Wide Distribution and make sure it's available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, iPad, Sony eReaders, and the entire Ingram Network. That's a lot of places! And it's only $299 bucks to put it everywhere. We handle all the transactions, you don't have to do anything.

If you want to sell it yourself, choose the Private publishing option, or the FastPencil Marketplace option. It's free and we provide you with a web page, BookBuy Widgets and take care of all the transactions, sales taxes, shipping and delivery of your books. You just sit back and collect the royalties. This is the cheapest way to publish and sell your book, it's free!

Here's how the costs break down:

  • Private Edition = Publish FREE. You only pay for at least one copy of your book or eBook.
  • FastPencil Marketplace = Publish FREE. You only pay for at least one copy of your book or eBook.
  • FastPencil Marketplace, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, iPad and Ingram Digital = $249.99 for eBook only, $299 for both formats (print and eBook).

Author Services

You can do everything on FastPencil yourself. But if you need help we have a professional Authors Services department to help you every step of the way. Take a look at our Publishing Packages and Publishing Services or contact author_services@fastpencil.com to put together a custom package.

Click here for some Frequently Asked Questions on distribution.

  1. Once I submit my publication for distribution through the FastPencil Marketplace, when will it be available for purchase by others?
    Immediately, once you have completed the Publishing process.
  2. Once I submit my publication for wide distribution, i.e. to Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, etc, when will it be available for purchase by others?
    When a title in our wide distribution program is published, we begin sending out the catalog metadata to our distribution partners the following day. For a publisher's first title, it usually takes a week or two to initially get set up, and after this, a title usually goes live within a few days. We send our data feed out daily, and it is up to our channel partners to pick it up. A title is usually available within 4-6 weeks after it is published. It can definitely happen faster, it all depends on when our channel partners pick up our feed.

  3. Where can I distribute my book online?

    FastPencil gives you distribution flexibility that is unmatched in the publishing industry.

    Your printed Color (interior) books can be distributed via Amazon.com, Alibris.com and the FastPencil Marketplace.

    Your printed Black and White (interior) books can be distributed via Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Baker and Taylor and the FastPencil Marketplace (excluding 8.5x11 page size, which is only available on the FastPencil Marketplace).

    Your eBooks can be distributed through:

    • Epub: Apple iBookStore, Amazon Kindle Store, Barnes&Noble.com, Borders.com, Kobobooks.com, Powells.com, Ebookmall.com, Diesel-ebooks.com, Booksonboard.com, Lulu.com, Lybrary.com, and the FastPencil Marketplace.
    • PDF: Powells.com, Ebookmall.com, Diesel-ebooks.com, Booksonboard.com, Lulu.com, Lybrary.com, and the FastPencil Marketplace.

    Outside of Amazon.com for printed books, and the Amazon Kindle Store for ebooks, it’s important to remember that FastPencil has limited control over which book retailers actually list your ISBN title, i.e. we place your title in catalogs, and it’s up to the retailers to fetch and list them for sale on their websites. If you have further questions about your book in wide distribution, note the page size, binding type and if the interior is printed in color & send an email to support@fastpencil.com for further information.

  4. What Digital Rights Management (DRM) alternatives are available?
    We only sell non DRM enabled ePub and PDF ebooks on the FastPencil Marketplace. The Amazon Kindle, Apple iBook Store and the Ingram Digital eTailer partners use their own forms of encryption (DRM)
  5. Is my title guaranteed to be included in these third party retail catalogs?
    If your title is not showing up on a specific retailer site, this is probably isolated to that retailer. If it is one of our above distribution partners, we will work with them to resolve the issue. If it is not one of our distribution partners, please contact them directly. Since Baker & Taylor targets libraries they will, on occasion, elect not to carry a specific title-- regardless of the printer or publisher--if they feel it won't generate interest from their target audience.
  6. What additional information is required when I list my published title(s) in the FastPencil Marketplace or Retail Distribution outlets?
    We need to collect the mandatory fields from the IRS W9 form:
    • Name
    • Business Type
    • Business Name
    • Tax ID# (TIN or SSN)
    • Citizenship Status
    • Payee Address
  7. How do I collect my Royalties if I’m not a US Citizen?
    If you earn money in the U.S., you must pay taxes on your income. U.S. tax laws requires us to report royalty payments made to non-U.S. members and withhold and remit taxes on the royalty payments to the U. S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Although you may also need to report and pay taxes to your own government, we are not involved in this process.
    Determining Tax Rates
    The standard tax-withholding rate for non-U.S. members is 30%. If you are a non-U.S. member and your country has an established tax rate treaty with the U.S., you may be eligible for treaty withholdings rates if you provide us with a valid W-8BEN.
    Here are some common tax withholding rates by country, which are subject to change without notice:
    Canada: 0%
    Australia: 10%
    UK: 0%
    Japan: 10%
    India: 15%

    For more information, see IRS Publication 515.

    1. Obtain a U.S. Tax Identification Number (TIN) Apply for a U.S. TIN through either a W-7 form (for individuals) or SS4 form (for businesses), which you can find at the IRS website. If you are an individual applying for a TIN, you may also be required to submit a document to the IRS, which confirms your business relationship with FastPencil. We call this an IRS commitment letter. Please contact us to receive the commitment letter before applying for a TIN.
    2. Enter your TIN in your FastPencil account Click on Account link in upper right hand corner, and go to Payee Information. Enter your TIN in the field labeled Tax ID. Complete all other required fields on the page, then click Save.
    3. Send us your complete W-8BEN form A W-8BEN form states what country you reside in and which treaty, if any, determines your tax rate. Download a W-8BEN, complete the form it its entirety, including your TIN and FastPencil user ID, and provide it to us either by mail, fax, or e-mail:

      FastPencil, Inc.
      307 Orchard City Drive, Suite 210
      Campbell, CA 95008
      1-408-540-7572 fax
      ATTN: FastPencil Accounting

      email: support@fastpencil.com

      Neither a TIN nor W-8BEN form are required to receive royalty payments, however, if you choose not to provide a W-8BEN, we will withhold 30% of your earnings for tax purposes regardless of any tax treaties your country may have with the U.S.
  8. How can I monitor the sales of my publications and royalties accrued during and by quarter?
    Click on Account, then My Author Royalties. The Author Royalty page details your publication sales by period and sales channel. Click here to see a screen shot
  9. How and when do I get compensated for my publications sold through the FastPencil MarketPlace and third party retailers?
    FastPencil accumulates author royalties by calendar quarter, and then pays them out to authors using NET30 terms.