Book design & production services for independent publishers.

Overflow capacity for presses publishing six to thirty titles a year in non-fiction, cookbooks, illustrated, and regional books.

When your production load outruns your capacity.

EVERY PRESS HAS A SEASON WHERE A LOT OF PROJECTS LAND AT ONCE. The design and production work doesn't shrink to fit, and hiring for a peak you'll only need for three months is an expensive way to solve it.

I take the overflow. Covers and/or interiors, produced to your printer's specifications and delivered to suit your schedule.

This is a capped overflow agreement: an agreed number of titles per month, over a set window of time and service.

What you get

• Print-ready, preflighted files to your printer's specification
• Scope and turnaround agreed per title before we start
• Priced per title rather than per hour, so your costings and budget will be easier to calculate
• Capped volume and an end date, agreed upfront
• Paid trial on one title first, so you can audit the files before committing to more
• Deposit on acceptance, balance on delivery, 14 day terms.

Why the time difference works in your favour

I LIVE IN DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND. We are in Timezone One. Instructions that you send at the end of your working day are returned to your Inbox as proofs by your morning.

You’re not waiting on a freelancer who has gone to bed, and you’re not losing a week to timezone complications.

Timezone overlap means that I'm available for communication at key parts of your working day. My availability is 4 pm–8 am GMT/UTC (overnight).

What I don’t do.

I don't publish. I don't acquire rights. I don't sell into trade. And I don't approach your authors.

YOUR IMPRINT GOES ON THE BOOK. Your authors stay yours and you remain their key point of communication.

The only thing that changes is that you’ve got a skilled, reliable, trustworthy freelancer on your Team now that you can truly count on.

I've worked successfully with other independent publishers, like Watersprings Media House and Quentin Wilson Publishing, for many years in this way.

You may have worked with freelancers in the past who’ve vanished and stopped replying to messages mid-project. It's an understandable reason why presses keep work in-house.

Working with me runs on fixed scope, a fixed turnaround per title, and a deposit before I start. Your risk is mitigated with our paid trial so that you can experience what working with me is really like. 

Who you’re working with.

MY NAME’S LEESA ELLIS. I've spent over 30 years in book design and production, including in-house at Hazard Press and Orca Publishing Services. 3 ferns has been operating since 2011 as a done-for-you self-publishing and custom publishing studio. 

This work is my vocation and my purpose in life. I’d be honoured to serve you in this way with my skills and experience.

How to begin.

SEND ME THE WINDOW YOU NEED COVERED FOR SERVICE. I'll reply with scope, turnaround, and a price per title.

We can start with one title and you can judge the files from there. You won’t be disappointed.