Want to publish a book? Goa1556, while alternative and small, awaits your proposals and suggestions. Some tips:

• Almost everyone has a book fighting to emerge: if you have a good story, and the persistence to tell it.
• We are particularly keen to “create space” for new  and unheard voices.
  
• Our priority: non-fiction directly related to Goa.
• If you have a book that doesn’t fit in with our priorities, we could point you to some other potential publisher.
  
• Ideally, the book should be meant for a general audience.
• It should be written in a non-techincal, easy-to-read style. It needs to be accurate and well written.
  
• We will offer editorial tips and suggestions to writers/editors working with us, and also anyone else whose work is worth supporting.
• You can either write the book by yourself, or invite a series of chapters from collaborators. See the models of some of our already-published books and e-books.
• Normally, an edition of a Goa,1556 book runs into a thousand copies. Sometimes 500, if it addresses a niche audience. There are other options too, with publishing for even smaller (or online) audiences.
• It is possible to come out with an e-book (at minimal cost), or a limited-copies print-on-demand book if you feel your work appeals to a sectional audience and limited numbers.
• In Goa itself, it is possible to outsource editing, layout and printing work. If Goa,1556 commits itself to publishing your book, we will undertake this work.
  
• We encourage copylefted (such as Creative Commons’ “some rights reserved”) rather than copyrighted “all rights reserved” approaches to publishing. We encourage our writers and editors to share their work online, which we believe will help them to gain wider audiences, and enhance the possibility of the book’s visibility and success, not deter from it.
• We encourage the use of Free Software — on principle — in the book-production process. Currently, we find the Lyx, the document processor, to layout our books and create PDF-based e-books. You can download Lyx for Windows, and more information about using it is here.
• Financing a book can be tricky business; but we can discuss options available. Goa,1556 — while having limited resources of its own — has been able to find supporters for its projects, and to successfully publish or co-publish books.
  
• The biggest challenge is to ensure that one has plans for the distribution of the book before you proceed with it. While Goa,1556 undertakes the distribution aspects of books it commits to, the help and involvement of the author in the same is also crucial. Authors can play a key role in building the visibility of their book projects.
  
• Pricing your book right needs some thought and calcuations. Make sure to keep distributors’ and retailer’s margins factored into the price of the book while deciding on it.
• There are some (limited) sources of government and other funding available for book projects related to Goa. These include the Directorate of Art and Culture (Panjim) grant to authors and publishers, the Official Languages Cell grant, and some Konkani/Marathi publishing support.
• Get in touch with us with your proposal. 
• To repeat: if we cannot help you, we’ll put you in touch with someone who might.

Publishing with other publishers:

• If your book deals with a wider (beyond Goa) them, it might make sense to publish it at the national level.
• You can also publish your book through print-on-demand networks like Lulu or Instabook. There are advantages and disadvantages for following this model.
• One Goa-based firm offering print-on-demand is the young and efficient (in our experience) Cinnamonteal
• Major publishers in places like New Delhi would generally require you to submit a book-proposal form, expressing the outline of your book, which would be vetted by an editor who would then get back to you if interested.