Straight answers, no spin.

You own 100% of your book — the content, the copyright, the ISBN, and every penny of royalties. Penscribe Publishing is a service provider, not a co-author or publishing partner with a stake in your work. We will sign an IP Assignment Agreement with every client before work begins, confirming in writing that all work product transfers to you upon final payment. We do not retain any license to use, reproduce, or reference your work without your explicit written consent.

Timelines depend on the service and scope. Standard estimates: Ghostwriting (50,000 words) 12–16 weeks; Book editing only 3–5 weeks; Cover design 2–3 weeks; Full publishing (editing + design + distribution) 8–12 weeks; Author website 3–4 weeks. Your Scope of Work document will include a specific milestone calendar before any work begins. Timelines are contractually agreed — not estimates that expand without notice.

Yes — always. Penscribe Publishing does not seek co-authorship credit on any project. Your name, and only your name, will appear as the author. All ghostwriting work is covered by a full confidentiality agreement. We have never disclosed, and will never disclose, that we assisted with a client's book.

You receive 100% of royalties from your book sales. Penscribe does not take a royalty cut. When we publish your book through Amazon KDP, you receive approximately 35–70% royalty depending on your chosen price point and format. When distributing through IngramSpark to physical bookstores, standard industry trade discounts apply (typically 40–55%). We walk every client through the royalty math before distribution so you know exactly what you'll earn per sale.

Every project includes defined revision rounds (outlined in your Scope of Work) and milestone approval gates — you must approve each stage before we move to the next. If work does not meet the agreed deliverable standards, we revise until it does at no additional charge. If we fundamentally cannot deliver the agreed work, we issue a pro-rated refund for incomplete milestones. Full details are in our Refund Policy.

Yes. We maintain a portfolio of published titles that clients have given us permission to reference, available on our Portfolio page. For ghostwriting clients with confidentiality agreements, we can share anonymized writing samples in the style and genre of your project during your free consultation call.

Our team includes professional writers and editors with backgrounds in traditional publishing, journalism, and academic writing. Every team member has published independently or worked with recognizable publishers before joining Penscribe. When you sign on for a project, we introduce you to your assigned writer or editor by name and share their relevant writing samples. You have the ability to request a different team member if the match isn't right — before the project begins.

No. Your Scope of Work document lists every deliverable and every associated cost before you pay. The only potential additional costs are third-party distribution fees — for example, IngramSpark charges a setup fee per title (currently $49) and an annual catalog fee. We disclose all third-party costs in advance. We do not add administrative fees, handling fees, or revision surcharges within the agreed revision rounds.

Absolutely. Every client signs a mutual NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) before sharing any project details. We treat your ideas, your story, and your partial manuscripts as strictly confidential. Team members assigned to your project are individually bound by confidentiality as part of their contracts. We have never disclosed client project details in marketing, case studies, or any public forum without explicit written permission.

Revision rounds vary by service and package: Essentials — 2 rounds of editing revisions; Standard — 3 rounds of editing revisions plus unlimited cover design revisions within scope; Professional — 3 rounds editing, unlimited cover revisions, 2 rounds on marketing materials; Elite — unlimited revisions across all deliverables until client approval.

Yes, all publishing packages include ISBN assignment. The ISBN is registered in your name (or your publishing imprint name, if you have one) — not in Penscribe's name. You own the ISBN permanently. We use Bowker (the official US ISBN agency) for all assignments. If you want to establish your own publishing imprint name, we guide you through that process at no additional charge.

Standard publishing packages distribute to: Amazon (print + Kindle), Barnes & Noble (print + Nook), Apple Books, Google Play Books, Kobo, IngramSpark (wholesale distribution to 40,000+ bookstores and libraries worldwide), and OverDrive (libraries). We provide login credentials and sales dashboard access for every platform so you can monitor your own sales in real time without going through us.

Standard and above packages include both print (paperback) and digital (eBook) formats. Essentials includes eBook only. If you want a hardcover edition, we add that to any package as an additional scope item. Audiobook production is available as a standalone add-on service.

Every Penscribe client receives access to a private Client Dashboard from Day 1. The dashboard shows: your project timeline with every milestone and its current status, your draft files available for download at each stage, a direct message channel to your project manager, your invoice history and payment schedule, and a document vault for your signed contracts, NDA, and Scope of Work.

Yes — for all Standard and above packages, we can connect you with a previous client in a similar genre or project type who has agreed to be available as a reference. This is something we arrange during your discovery call.

No. We have a strict Human-First Content Policy: all writing, editing, and creative work delivered to clients is produced by human professionals. We do not use AI text generation tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Jasper, or any equivalent) to produce client manuscript content. Team members may use AI-assisted research tools or grammar checkers, but all creative writing is human-authored. We run all delivered work through AI detection software before submission so you can verify this independently.

Our team has experience across: memoir and personal narrative, business and leadership books, self-help and personal development, health and wellness, biography and autobiography, children's books, spiritual and faith-based books, romance, thriller and mystery, and narrative non-fiction. For highly technical genres or specialized fiction, we discuss team matching carefully during the discovery call.

Our refund policy is milestone-based. If you choose to cancel before a milestone is completed, you receive a refund for that milestone's uncompleted portion. If Penscribe fails to deliver a milestone as agreed, we either revise at no charge or refund that milestone. Deposits (typically 30–50% of total project cost) are non-refundable after the Scope of Work has been signed and the project kickoff meeting has occurred. Full policy details are in our Refund Policy page.