Frequently Asked Questions - Book Authors

Do inform your editor if you are attending conferences, as they will be able to confirm, and they may be attending even if Sage doesn’t have a table or booth booked. Our conference plans are constantly under review, especially in light of Covid-19 when many conferences remain virtual, hybrid or on hold.

Conferences can be a great opportunity for you to promote your own book. Do take flyers – these can be downloaded from our website – to share with your network, and add details of your book to your email footer so it’s visible to any contacts you communicate with before or after the conference. You may also want to add your book cover to your Twitter background so that it’s visible if you Tweet using a conference hashtag.

How do I access Sage eBooks?

There are several different ways for institutions or individuals to access Sage eBooks:

Direct from eBook Vendor
Single Title Access Codes and VLE Integrations
VitalSource, Kortext, and BibliU Institutional Schemes
VitalSource Explore (Collections)
Library Textbooks (Talis)

Find out about the options and how to access each one here. You can also speak to your local Sage representative to discuss which of the options is best for you or your students.

Will my book be available for my library to buy as an eBook?

Yes. Sage are committed to enabling student access, accessibility and fair and sustainable pricing. Find out more about our ebook offering here, and read our statement on eTextbook provision here.

I have a question about sales and royalties

Authors receive royalty statements annually in October, unless otherwise agreed in your contract. Your statements will break out print and digital unit sales, and revenue, as well as your royalties share. Revenue share from any content included in sales of library products like Sage Research Methods will also be shown. For specific queries about royalties, please contact UKBookRoyalties@sagepub.com.

When will my book be available as an inspection copy?

If your book has adoption potential, as soon as your book is published it becomes available as an inspection copy (if applicable). Electronic inspection copies (E-ICs) are usually available by publication date, as we have the digital book files available right away. Any teaching faculty that have ordered or are being sent an E-IC of your book will receive an email from Sage advising that it is available with instructions on how they can access it. Anyone being sent a print IC will receive it around 2-4 weeks after publication, as the book stock will be sent to our warehouse then sent out again from there.

You can view an outline of your books publication timeline, including IC dispatch, here.

How can I find out more about marketing for my Reference book?

You can read our dedicated guide about sales and marketing activity for your Reference book here. If you’d like ideas on how to promote your Reference book, we also have a dedicated guide with suggestions here.

I have suggestions for contacts to send inspection copies and/or review copies of my books to. Who should I send these to?

You should have received an email from our Sage Author Team inviting you to fill out an Author contact sheet with details such as these. Please complete this if you haven’t already done so: you can access the Sage Author contact sheet here or your Corwin Author contact sheet here. Please remember to include the contact numbers of those you wish to receive inspection and/or review copies and fill this sheet out as soon as possible so that your suggestions can be logged on our systems. If you have additional suggestions to those you’ve already submitted, please complete the form again (making a note that you are providing additional information) so that these can also be processed.

Can Sage provide promotional materials to help me promote the book on social media?

Yes, when the cover of your book has been finalised, your editor will send it to you alongside a number of social media images that you can use to promote the book on social media. You can find tips on how to use these images, as well as a timeline for promoting your book on social media in this guide.

Can Sage provide flyers to help me promote my book?

Yes, you are able to customise and download PDF flyers directly from your book’s webpage on the Sage website, via the ‘Download flyer’ link. As part of our environmental mission to minimise paper wastage, we encourage the use of digital flyers.

Can Sage provide promotional materials to help me promote the book on social media?

Can Sage provide free copies of my book for marketing?

In addition to your contractual author or contributor copies, Sage can supply digital marketing copies for review purposes, or to your contacts who might be considering using the book on a course that they teach. Please complete the Sage Author contact sheet (or this version for Corwin Authors). If you have already completed this form and would like to request a review copy, please email reviews@sagepub.co.uk We may also be able to provide a limited number of promotional copies for other purposes such as in support of an event. If you would like to request a copy, please email details, including the full title and ISBN of your book to market@sagepub.co.uk.

Remember, authors are eligible to receive a 25% discount across any Sage title, and 35% off your own book. To place an order, contact our Customer Services Team at orders@sagepub.co.uk, or if based in North America, contact orders@sagepub.com.

I'd like help promoting my book online

If you would like to promote your book online, there are a range of online retailers to consider.

Amazon is the largest online retailer in the UK and globally. If you would like to promote your book on Amazon, please take a look through our guidelines for authors [PDF] on setting up Author Pages on Amazon. This is a free service from Amazon that can help book buyers connect and learn more about you, and may help improve discoverability of your book in search results. You may need to first set up an author profile with Amazon through Author Central.

Blackwell’s book stores and the online Blackwell.co.uk are all owned independently by the Blackwell family. Sage works closely with the Blackwell’s team on adoptions, and marketing and promotions. If you have Twitter, you can engage with Blackwells via @blackwellbooks.

You can also engage with other key online retailers via Twitter, including @hivestores, @WorldofBooksltd, @eBooks and @Kortext. When promoting your book, link to your book’s product page via these online retailers and tag the retailer on Twitter. For more general tips, our guidance on how to promote your own book [PDF] may also be helpful.

Can Sage help with my book launch or event?

There are a number of ways Sage can support a book launch or event that you are organising.

Books for sale or display:

If you are planning to buy 10+ copies, or would like to resell copies at your event, please contact Nicola Maullin at orders@sagepub.com who can arrange this for you
Your author or contributor contract with Sage indicates your provision of complimentary copies of your book, which you may wish to use for a book display at your event
As a Sage author you are also entitled to 35% off your own book; if you would like to buy additional copies please contact Customer Services

Promoting your launch:

Flyers for your book are available to download directly from our website - you can find instructions here. These can be used to share digitally or hand out to anyone you invite to your launch
If you would like a discount code to offer launch attendees, so they can buy your book from the Sage website, please follow these instructions to request your code
If we run a Twitter channel in a relevant discipline we can also add to the publicity for your event by tweeting about it. You can find out more here
If your event involves a discussion or speech, you may wish to write this up for the Sage Perspectives blog to broaden the reach of the event and create additional exposure for your text. Please ask your Editor for more information

If you have queries about any other aspects of support, please contact your Editor.

Query about PR and Sage Corporate Communications

Stay in touch with Sage news via the News Room and on Twitter. If you have corporate-level news you’d like to discuss with us, please contact pr@sagepub.co.uk.

How should I prepare my manuscript for submission?

If you are interested in publishing with Sage, check out our Book Proposal and Manuscript Guidelines page and view our guidelines for assistance with submitting your manuscript.

I have a pre-publication question about my book (e.g. about publication date, cover design, author/contributor copies)

Please contact your editor.

Why is the Amazon date for my book different to your publication date?

The publication date for external retailers such as Amazon is 14 days after the pub date on the Sage website. This external publication date takes into account when stock becomes available, when Amazon orders are likely to arrive and how long on average it takes to process and deliver stock. This prevents books from having an out of stock message on Amazon on publication. When stock arrives in our warehouse, the pub date on Amazon and via other retailers is updated to reflect the new publication date in our system. This will still be 14 days after the pub date visible on the Sage website, or the pub date your Editor has shared with you.

I'm interested in bulk ordering copies of my book (10+), whom should I contact?

Please contact Nicola Maullin at orders@sagepub.com. For more information, visit our Special Sales page.

Can Sage provide social media support for my book?

Sage social media channels aim to build awareness and drive engagement with the full breadth of our publishing. Our key areas of focus are teaching and learning, social and behavioural science impact, and research methods. If you are planning a book event or launch and would like social media support, Sage can tweet about your event to help drive awareness.

If you have a Twitter account simply tag the relevant discipline channel so we can RT your event announcement

Clinical Medicine @SageClinMed
Criminology @SageCriminology
Education @SageEducation
Health & Nursing @SageHealthInfo
Management @SageManagement
Media & Communication @SageMedia_comm
Politics @SageCQPolitics
Psychology @SagePsychology
Research Methods @Sage_Methods
Sociology @SageSociology

I’d like help promoting my book on social media

Check out this guide for Social Media Discoverability, alongside the social media section in this general guide; Ideas for Promoting Your Book

If you are active on social media, you can post about your text before and after publication. Posting when the book becomes available for pre-order and when it publishes often leads to an increase in sales. When linking to where your book can be ordered, links you can use include the Sage website, Amazon, the Bookshop.org platform, Blackwells, Hive, World of Books, eBooks.com and Kortext. Make sure you also tag the retailer on Twitter as this can be a great way to engage with them. Online retailer Twitter accounts include: @amazon, @bookshop_org_UK, @blackwellbooks, @hivestores, @WorldofBooksltd, @eBooks and @Kortext.

I am talking at an event (live or online) and I would like to offer a discount for my book for delegates. Can I have a discount code to share with them?

Yes! Please email market@sagepub.co.uk including details of your book and the event. Please give us 2 weeks’ notice in order to give us time to set up the discounts for you.

I'd like to promote my book within my emails

To promote your book to your network via your personal emails, you can add either a simple line of text and a link to your book or add a signature with an image included. You can save the cover of your book from our website - just go to your book's webpage. When linking to where your book can be ordered, links you can use include the Sage website, Amazon, the Bookshop.org platform, Blackwells, Hive, World of Books, eBooks.com and Kortext. A quick google search should offer guidance on how to then create your email signature, or you can use the help function within your email provider. An example of an email signature with an image, based on the templates provided by Outlook, is as follows:

Email signature

Can my book be translated?

Sage has a dedicated foreign rights team who promote and sell translation rights of our books. This team works directly with international publishers rather than with individual academics or translators. If you are approached by someone wanting to translate your book please suggest that they find a suitable publisher before approaching Sage. The rights team can be contacted here: foreign-rights@sagepub.com

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