Rights
You Own Them
The author owns full rights to the materials: the manuscript, the book, and the work behind it.
For Authors
Publishing With Us. Your Book, Your Rights.
For authors invited to publish with the imprint: how a title is chosen, who owns it, who does what, and how the money works. MCG launched the imprint to make sure its clients get the best possible outcome, without being locked into intense contracts or giving up their rights and creative control. The process is streamlined, it builds on an existing relationship with Mashman Consulting Group, and you keep full rights to your work.
The Terms, Plainly
Four Things to Know Before Anything Else.
Mashman Publishing is invitation-only. There is no open call and no submission form: a title comes through the relationship an author already has with MCG. Every title is published under the MCG Code of Ethics (opens in a new tab).
Advances
None
The imprint pays no advances. Your book is published on the strength of the work, not against a sum paid upfront.
Commercial Structure
A Small Share of Sales
The imprint may retain a small cut of book sales. The exact terms are set out in your agreement before work begins.
Selection
By Invitation
Every title is considered individually, where the fit is right for both the author and the imprint. A book is never promised and never automatic.
Selection
How a Title Comes to the Imprint.
Every title falls into one of three tracks. None of them has an application: the work and the relationship come first.
Track 01
House Authorship
Isaac Mashman's own work, beginning with Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame & Influence. The flagship, and the standard every other title is held to.
Track 02
Circle Authorship
Titles from long-standing collaborators embedded in MCG's own work. Considered individually: not promised, not automatic.
Track 03
Client Imprints
For MCG clients with an established consulting relationship, case by case. Your MCG consultant brings the book to the imprint directly when the fit is right.
The Process
From the First Conversation to Execution.
Seven steps, the same on every track. Whether you arrive with a finished manuscript or an idea, the path is set out with you before any work begins.
01
The Conversation
Where the book sits in your personal brand: who it is for, what it should do for your name, and whether the imprint is the right home for it.
02
Manuscript, or Starting From Scratch
Together we decide where you begin: with a manuscript you already have, or from the first page. Both paths lead to the same standard.
03
The Timeline
A timeline for the whole book, set with you at the start: writing or revision, editing, design, and release.
04
Editing
Developmental editing, then line editing, copyediting, and proofing, held to the same bar as the house's own title. No title ships underprepared because of who wrote it.
05
Cover Design
Done exclusively with designflix (opens in a new tab), an MCG Certified Partner (opens in a new tab) and the studio behind the Manifesto's cover.
06
The Distribution Plan
The formats, planned together as one suite, and the trade and retail channels each will reach. How distribution works.
07
Execution
Production, distribution, and reach: the book released into its channels and fed back into the personal brand it came from, with MCG helping client imprints land press for the title.
Responsibilities
Who Does What.
A book built on a personal brand has to sound like the person on the cover. The author brings the substance and the voice; the imprint brings the process that turns it into a book.
The Author
The Substance and the Voice
- The manuscript, or the ideas and experience it is written from
- Time to work through each editing pass
- Decisions on your own book: you own its rights
- Putting the book to work in your personal brand, as yourself
- Certain production costs, set out before work begins (below)
The Imprint
The Process and the Standard
- The timeline and the plan, set with you
- Editing to the house standard
- Cover design arranged with designflix, an MCG Certified Partner
- Every format, the distribution plan, and its execution
- For client imprints, MCG's help landing press for the title
Costs, Plainly.
The imprint pays no advances, and it does not pay every cost of making a book. What the author covers is set out before work begins, so nothing arrives as a surprise.
- The cover. Designed exclusively with designflix, an MCG Certified Partner, and it may carry a cost, paid to designflix.
- ISBNs. The imprint does not pay for a title’s ISBNs.
- Certain audiobook software. Some of the tools an audiobook needs are the author’s cost.
- What does not cost you extra. Much of the work runs on tools the firm already uses every day.
An Example
The Process, Shown on the Flagship.
How Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame & Influence went from its 2021 original to the Second Edition the imprint published on March 7, 2025, step by step.
01
The Manuscript
A 55-page First Edition from 2021, expanded into a 376-page Second Edition: in the author's own words, a continuation and remarkably more mature look, and a far more thorough deep-dive rather than a light revision.
02
Development
Eight chapters and 78 subchapters, from Education and The 4 Laws of Personal Branding to Sustainability, with an essay on Identity Positioning™ set between chapters seven and eight. Each subchapter closes with Question, Task, or Apply prompts, so the book is worked through, not only read.
03
Editing
Edited by Eric Chow, who also wrote the foreword, and Michelle Fongeallaz.
04
Design
Cover art by Alexander Stephens of designflix, now an MCG Certified Partner.
05
Distribution
Paperback at Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million; hardcover at Walmart, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million; ebook at Kobo and Everand. The audiobook is in production.
06
Reach
A #1 New Release in Public Relations on Amazon, and in Amazon's Top 10 Best Sellers in Public Relations. The Second Edition surpassed its predecessor in both rankings and sales.
Questions
Publishing With Us, Answered.
Can I submit a manuscript?
No. Mashman Publishing is invitation-only, with no open call and no submission form. A client title begins with an established consulting relationship at MCG, and your consultant brings the book to the imprint directly.
Why did MCG launch an imprint?
To make sure its clients get the best possible outcome for their books, without being locked into intense contracts or giving up their rights and creative control. The author keeps full rights and the final say on their own book.
Who owns the rights to my book?
You do. The author owns full rights to the materials.
Does Mashman Publishing pay advances?
No. The imprint pays no advances.
How does the imprint earn from a book?
It may retain a small cut of book sales. The exact terms are set out in your agreement before work begins.
Do I need a finished manuscript?
No. The first decision, made together, is whether you begin with a manuscript you already have or from the first page.
Who designs the cover?
Cover design is done exclusively with designflix, an MCG Certified Partner and the studio of Alexander Stephens, who created the Manifesto's cover. The cover may carry a cost, paid to designflix.
Are there costs to the author?
Some. The imprint pays no advances and does not cover every production cost: the cover may carry a cost paid to designflix, and the imprint does not pay for ISBNs or certain software used to make an audiobook. Much of the work runs on tools the firm already uses. Every cost is set out before work begins.
What standards does the imprint work by?
The MCG Code of Ethics (opens in a new tab). Its first principle: perfection isn’t necessary, honest communication is. It also means transparent terms with no undisclosed fees, rights and expectations set out before work begins, AI always disclosed, and no bought reviews, followers, or press.
How long does it take?
It depends on where you begin and on the book. A timeline is set with you at the start, covering writing or revision, editing, design, and release.
I am not an MCG client yet. Where do I start?
With MCG. The consulting relationship is the front door: see how a consultation works (opens in a new tab).
Start a Conversation
Every Title Begins the Same Way. With One Conversation.
Already an MCG client? Ask your consultant: that is where a client title begins. Not a client yet? Start with a consultation at Mashman Consulting Group.