About Us

Much information about who we are can be gained from reading the interview that was done with our president, Francis Baumli, on January 8, 2006.

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Who We Are

Viaticum Press International is a worldwide consortium of exclusive publishers with a focus not only on quality of writing but also on garnering quality readers.

Our Philosophy

The quality of writing in our books is evident to anyone who is familiar with even one of our titles. Our emphasis on quality of readers is, we believe, most unusual in the publishing industry. For more than a decade it has been evident that people in North America are reading very little, or are reading material that has little quality. We hope to remedy this to some extent. Our publishing approach is intended to meet the purposes of actual readers. We have not conducted formal studies, but the evidence which we do have suggests that with our books, there is a proportion of at least three readers for each book sold. This proportion is vastly better than the national average for most books. We are more satisfied with selling 100 books with the realistic hope of gaining 300 readers, than the marketing (and very profitable) approach which might sell a million books but garner no more than 100 readers for those books.

Policy on Promoting

We do not follow the usual promotional avenues, such as sending authors on book-signing tours, putting them on talk-shows, or otherwise distracting them from their authorial inclinations and duties. Authors occasionally give lectures, but this is of their own choosing, and is never arranged by ourselves. Our promoting involves limited advertising along with direct contact with individuals or organizations who might wish to buy our products.

Editorial Policy

We are not looking for, or accepting, submissions. (See the interview with Francis Baumli, linked above, for an explanation of this.) The authors we publish have total control over how their work appears. Nothing is altered by our editors. We prefer to let the creator's true and unique voice, even if occasionally flawed, come through to the reader as authentic and individual rather than altered and "packaged" by an interfering editor.

Pricing

Some of our books are priced very low. These books are not remaindered copies. When the pricing is modest, this is because there were what we in the industry call "print over-runs." We, or the ancillary press, printed too many copies. If you want to buy this book at regular price from the usual channels, feel free to do so. When purchasing from us, quantity pricing is available on most, though not on all, titles. Feel free to inquire.

Some of our titles are priced very high because they are limited printings. In these cases we are not printing only a few copies so we can list them as collectibles and accordingly charge a high price; rather, with these higher-priced titles we have printed as many books as we think we can actually sell – not to people who buy on the basis of advertising or impulse, but to actual readers. But it costs more to publish a book with a small number of printed copies; hence, the higher prices on these books.