  Hard Shell Word Factory is a royalty paying publisher of works by established and new authors, for sale in electronic format (ebooks), and publish in multiple formats for the new e-reader and hand-held devices. We also publish most titles in trade paperback format. We don't offer advances, but our royalties (paid quarterly) are much higher than those offered by traditional publishers, plus the author's work is available a full year with option for renewal, instead of a few short weeks. There are NO fees of any kind required of our authors. Our editors will edit the work, but they won't edit the heart out of it! We publish book-length quality non-fiction and fiction--Romance (all categories), Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Western, Historical, Mainstream, Young Adult and Children's books. Company History and Who We Are: Hard Shell Word Factory was started in 1996 by Teri Lea Chandler of Independence, MO. Mary Z. Wolf, who first worked with Hard Shell as an author (THE MARRIAGE PATENT, Dec '96), bought the company at the end of 1997. She's worked as a freelance journalist and also as a corporate newsletter editor. She's had numerous non-fiction articles published, one published romance and another "waiting for word" which has won or placed in many RWA chapter contests. Mary also has a background in business management, accounting, and graphic and fine arts. Her husband Rodney, an invention engineer who owns and operates a somewhat unique manufacturing company, is her silent partner. He is a great strategic planner and excels at playing devil's advocate when discussing Mary's many ideas. Rodney's extensive technical writing expertise compliments the many creative writing skills found at Hard Shell. Editors: Hard Shell has a number of freelance reader/editors. Most have backgrounds or degrees in writing or English, or have worked as teachers, editors, and/or are published authors themselves. Cover Artists/Illustrators: Hard Shell is one of the early epublishing companies online and has assumed a major role in setting standards for quality ebooks and author friendly contracts. Since purchasing Hard Shell, Wolf has expanded the line from about a dozen books to well over a hundred. Many Hard Shell books have won or placed in writing contests and readers choice awards, including a finalist for best first novel in the International Horror Writers Guild Awards ("Dream Thieves"), and the winner of the 1998 Sapphire Award for SF Romance ("A Wizard Scorned"). Many Hard Shell authors placed in the top 25 in the 1998, and every year since, Preditors and Editors Reader's Polls for best electronic novel. Hard Shell itself was voted #2 Electronic Publisher in the Universe in the same poll. Hard Shell was chosen as the only electronic publisher to be part of the Rocket eBook's list of Charter Publishers. They are also working with other ereader companies to provide content in those formats. Hard Shell also won the Digital Literature Institute's Achievement Award for Electronic Publisher. The offices of Hard Shell Word Factory are located at: PO Box 161, 8946 State Hwy 161 Amherst Jct. WI 54407 USA    |