“Discovering tomorrow’s great minds -- today”

At Cambridge Ivy Press, we know what you’ve done to get where you’re at. 

We also know that, for the most part, no one wants to talk to you now—at least about a book.  We also know (because we’ve all walked those same hallways) that you’ve done a lot of really good research and probably have an outstanding dissertation or thesis that should get published.  We also know that, if you’re graduating soon, once you hit the working world, you’re going to be consumed by it for a while, and that beautiful little dissertation will fall by the wayside until it’s no longer relevant.  We know what it’s like to watch someone else (who already has a reputation) publish the same conclusions that we had arrived at years before but hadn’t bothered to publish. 

Guess what? Nobody cares when you stand up and say “I said it first” ……it has to be in writing.

Cambridge Ivy Press believes in discovering tomorrow’s great minds today. We know that you’re getting ready to do great things or that you’ve already been out there working hard to make a name for yourself.  Now that you’ve done the work and you’ve gained the expertise, you’re ready to put it on paper and get recognized for everything that you’ve done.  We know where you’ve been and where you’re going; we’re here to help you today.

Are you ready to be discovered?

Cambridge Ivy Press was started by four Harvard graduate students from different disciplines that, after entering the working world and attaining success, pooled their respective talents to help their friends who were still struggling.

Yeah … really.  That’s the truth.  The idea was hatched on the way to a Harvard / Yale football game as we were sitting in 15 miles of traffic in New Haven on that stupid one-lane road trying to get to the stadium so we wouldn’t miss the entire game.

We were talking about some of our friends still in grad school that were doing brilliant work – as well as some other bright undergrads that we knew – and about how difficult it was for them to get published because they were still relatively “unknown.”  We talked about the brilliant associate professor who didn’t make tenure because she hadn’t published enough – and, to make matters worse, was only given a humiliating six gratis copies of her first book as her total remuneration. 

We talked about the entire process of submissions – sending numerous hardcopies of manuscripts to multiple publishers who never write back—which quickly discourages even those who know they have a great book in the works. It’s so hard to get your foot in the door until you’ve already established a reputation – it doesn’t matter how good your work is or how brilliant your ideas are; to sell books, publishers want a “name.” 

And, if you’re an associate Professor who needs tenure, you’re in a really tough spot.  Sure, one of the academic publishers will publish your book, but how much do you get from all your hard work – six free copies and no royalties – for years of research – for original, brilliant ideas?!?  One of our friends wrote a book about how to get into one of the most prestigious law schools in the world; it sells thousands of copies every year, but he doesn’t get a single penny because the contract that the publisher gave him to sign doesn’t allow him to audit the company’s records.  The publishing company claims the book isn’t selling – but go to any bookstore and you’ll see it on the shelves.

The publishing world is a racket.  We know.

Two of CIP’s founders have had books published by other companies, another is a produced screenwriter, and yet another has financed large deals for entertainment entities.  As we discussed the obstacles that we had each encountered and how frustrating it had been for each of us to get our work into print or on the screen, we also realized the practical experience that each of us had gained in the process.

We also realized that because of that experience, we were now in a unique position to help.

So, four Harvard grads -- one lawyer/author/future president, one finance/banking/business guru, one actor/TV personality/screenwriter/graphic design genius and one magazine editor/warrior poet/NPR radio host pooled their money and their talents and created the publishing company that we wish had been around when we wanted to publish our first works.

The publishing and production world is tough.  We know -- we’ve fought through it.  But much of the publishing world is being transformed by the information age and many publishers are still locked in by old methods and paradigms. They have to pay huge overheads and, as a result, they start royalties at 10% (if you get them at all for an academic book); we start higher and actually promote your book.

There is a better way – a smarter way – Cambridge Ivy Press.  Look through the catalog of books that we’ve published and you’ll see that we really are about finding tomorrow’s great minds today.