There are traditional publishing houses - both large (think Simon & Schuster) and small (ShelteringTree.Earth) and every size in between. We share the same heart: the book. We make money from your book. You make money in the form of royalties AFTER the book sells. 

So we choose books which we believe will sell well and bring in more readers. 

We make our money on the book, not the author. 

Traditional publishers do not charge you, the author, for editing, copying, cover design, or postage. Their emphasis is on developing your book into a world-class item (the sales of which are intended to cover the costs of producing the book.)

Now, traditional publishers may charge you for buying copies of your own book (hopefully at discounted prices) so that you will have a stash for your book signing events and/or to give to friends and relatives. They also may expect you to pay your own expenses to those events. But the cost for producing a book falls on the publisher, not the author.

A podcast is like a log, it just has a different modality. Think - a Log is a book in which someone writes all the details of the day. A Blog is a typed article posted on a website. Then came the Vlog - a video log. There are also audio logs. In February of 2004, Ben Hammersley coined the term podcast by combining iPod (developed by Apple) and broadcast (the common term for news distribution systems). 

A podcast can be singular - one episode.

A podcast SERIES is plural and sequential - a series of episodes grouped under specific seasons. 

They can be hosted anywhere one can link to an MP3 (video podcast) or MP4A (audio podcast). However, if a podcast plays in a forest where no one listens to it, is it actually relevant? 

Sheltering Tree Media develops your audio or video logs, creates energetic and appealing openings and closings, monetizes them if you wish, and posts them on one of the largest podcast sites with over 5 million listeners. And then we curate your series - we maintain the series, schedules, and interpodial communications, and provide you with analytics and comments from your fans.

We contract your video or audio podcast series one season at a time.

I consider this media company as a ministry. I began it with books that were inspiring and helped the readers through any obstacle in their physical or spiritual path. Then we expanded into videos - book trailers and interviews, and then audios - The Ambitious Authors' Guide. From there, ministers began asking us to develop podcast series from their sermons, and authors who were not self-published asked us to interview them, and we are in the process of expanding into the gaming world of board and video games. 

ShelteringTree.Earth Publishing became Sheltering Tree Media. And the word media covers any technological advancement to come, too!

I am in this to help others - as authors, readers, speakers, listeners, rabbis, ministers, teachers, creators - as we all walk together through this life. 

Like smelters who refine gold and silver, a publisher needs to make sure that the end result will be able to withstand the refining process. 

We start with a 3-week query review - did you follow the directions on the website?

Then we review your manuscript for 6-weeks by reading randomly chosen chapters out of your entire book - to see if you know how to professionally set up a manuscript document (nuts and bolts of today's technology) and if you can develop a storyline with characters or concepts which come alive (are you a writer or an AUTHOR). Part of this process also lets us determine how much editing we might have to do for simple spelling, grammar, and mechanics which you as the writer should have taken care of before submitting it to us. 

Then we offer a contract.

The publishing process after the contract is signed can be shown here. 

Yes, you can write 40,000 pages of words and self-publish it in less than a month (refer to the Infinite Monkey Theorem about monkeys and Shakespeare, or the rants and rages against AI books). If that's what your goal is - go for it - without us.

If you want to become a professionally published and successful author producing books which will change the world (think: required reading for high schoolers in the year 2397), it takes time. 

There are ways you as the author can speed up the process:

1. Follow Directions

2. Have a manuscript in Word, 1" margins all around, one of the True Fonts, size 12, double spaced, nothing embedded (see August's article on triangles), hard tabs - not spaced tabs (look it up).

3. Ensure there are no blue or red squiggly lines (correct all spelling, grammar, mechanics errors).

4.  Allow the refinement process.

We consider AI a tool, not a creative source. 

Illustrations: We do not accept AI-generated or AI-assisted illustrations in our children's book division. We do not accept AI-generated but will consider AI-assisted illustrations (as long as there is proper legal citation available) for middle reader, YA, and adult fiction and nonfiction.

Book Covers: AI-assisted pictures may be used as part of the cover designs, but the entire design is done under the creative direction of our house.

Writing: We do not accept AI-generated nor AI-assisted writing. We actively check samples of each manuscript submitted for possible AI-generation and possible plagiarism. We solidly maintain a policy of no more than 5% exact match  of what might be possible plagiarism (and no more than 10% partial match) and no more than 10% possible AI-generated. 

1. We have a terrific editor

2. We have a very good in-house team

3. We build incredible books and covers

4. We publish high quality books

That's what we do. That's what we love. That's what we promised to do through the contracts and on the website. 

ShelteringTree.Earth, LLC is a publishing house, not a publicist. (The difference is as important as that between a farmer and a grocery store clerk).

We'll grow your seeds of writing into a ripe and wholesome book. 

That's our job. 

Then we distribute it to bookstores throughout the world. 

But the book does not fall off the shelf and sell itself. You must market your book. 

Begin with reading all you can online about Book Marketing. Buy a book or two on developing Author Platforms. Fill out a marketing plan

Research realistic expectations of publishing with a small press. It can cost $300 for one book review. It can cost $70 a week to place one book ad online through a reputable advertising agency (NOT social media). It takes hours to find and apply for specific awards which match one book; and the application fees can range between $50 and $1000 - for one book. 

At time of writing (March 2025), we have over 50 books already published, over two dozen authors, and three dozen book projects in line to be published before the end of 2025. Each book is treated equitably with all the others; see the list below of what we do for each book. We don't have the manpower to research and request reviews and apply for awards for all books equitably. We certainly don't have the money to purchase reviews and pay entry fees - because if we do this for one book, we must do so for EACH book.

And that's not the job of a traditional small press. That's the job of the author. 

We do spend $70 per book on reputable advertising. We do provide information through our monthly newsletter about marketing and advertising. We hold monthly zoom meetings where we discuss ideas and real-world marketing successes. We do create press releases and email them out to schools, libraries, and other organizations about all our books - and we pay for those email listings. We do create and post book trailers. We do post release announcements and book trailers through social media. We do provide each author with local festivals and fair information so they can set up book signing events. We provide informative videos and audio podcasts which teach our authors how to market and promote their books through various venues. We promote our authors through our Authors in the Shade interviews which are posted on Youtube and on social media.

And believe me - this is much more than most small presses do.

The bottom line is: we are publishers, not publicists. We will help you promote your book, but you must be the one who sets up and follows through with your plan.