How Publishing With Mojo Creative Forge Works
Your Work. Your Rights.
Every finished story begins as something unfinished. The work of shaping it takes patience, attention, and a willingness to keep learning. Finding a path to publication is part of that process.
Mojo Creative Forge exists to give independent and emerging authors a practical publishing framework while the work remains their own. Our current publishing work centers on JKLucas and Program: Ashen. The principles below describe the approach we would bring to an author relationship, with the fit, scope, and availability of support considered individually.
The work remains yours
You retain 100% ownership of your underlying intellectual property. Your authorship, creative direction, and ownership remain with you. Mojo Creative Forge never requires ownership of your work as a condition of publishing it.
A publishing agreement would grant only the limited rights needed to publish and distribute the agreed work. The scope of those rights would be written down clearly so that both sides understand the arrangement from the beginning.
A small publisher with a clear purpose
Mojo Creative Forge is a small independent publisher. We offer a framework for bringing work into the world, with a realistic understanding of our scale and resources.
Before a project begins, we would agree on what needs to be prepared for publication, which responsibilities belong to each of us, whether outside help is needed, and how publication, distribution, and financial records would be handled. The practical work and support would be defined for the individual project rather than assumed to be part of a standard package.
We do not have a large marketing or publicity department, national advertising budgets, or the reach of a major publishing house. Promotional efforts would be modest. We cannot promise bestseller status, media attention, or a particular number of sales.
Our commitment is to be candid about what we can contribute and what an author would need to pursue independently.
Clear expenses and shared information
Documented direct publishing expenses agreed as recoverable are covered first from the money the work earns. Those expenses, incoming receipts, amounts recovered, and the remaining unrecovered balance would be recorded in an author-accessible ledger. You should be able to understand what has been spent and where the money goes.
Expected recoverable expenses would be discussed and documented at the outset. Major or unanticipated expenses require your approval before they are incurred.
The written agreement would identify who initially pays each expense, how author-paid costs are treated, and how later expenses and any remaining balance are handled. These details would be clear before the project begins, not left to assumption.
How the income is shared
The calculation starts with the money actually received by Mojo Creative Forge from the work, not the book’s retail cover price. These are the net publishing receipts. Fees or production costs already deducted before the money reaches Mojo Creative Forge are not deducted a second time.
Receipts are first applied to any remaining balance of agreed recoverable publishing expenses. Money remaining after that recovery is split 97% to the author and 3% to Mojo Creative Forge.
The ledger would show receipts, expense recovery, and the amounts allocated to each party. An expense is recovered only once.
Respect for time and labor
Routine Mojo Creative Forge administrative labor is ordinarily not billed separately. If a project would require unusual or substantial additional work, a modest charge may be proposed. That work and its cost must be discussed and agreed upon in advance.
Room to grow and freedom to leave
We hope you outgrow us.
If your work creates an opportunity that Mojo Creative Forge cannot offer, we would want you to be able to pursue it. Helping a story find its beginning should leave room for whatever comes next. An ongoing relationship is equally welcome when it continues to serve both the work and the author.
The cost-recovery commitment remains in place until the agreed recoverable expenses have been covered by earnings or repaid. An author may clear that commitment earlier by paying the documented remaining unrecovered balance.
Once the balance is cleared, whether through earnings or repayment, either party may end the publishing arrangement with 30 days’ written notice. Recovering the expenses does not automatically end the relationship; it removes the cost-recovery restriction on leaving.
There is no termination penalty, no charge for projected royalties or lost future profits, and no other early-termination fee. The only buyout amount is the documented balance of agreed recoverable expenses.
There is no penalty for outgrowing us.
A conversation about your next chapter
If this approach feels right for your work, you are welcome to ask about it. An initial conversation is a chance to understand the project, discuss what support would be useful, and consider whether working together would make sense.
Projects would be considered individually, according to fit and available capacity. An inquiry does not commit either side to a publishing relationship. This page explains our approach; any publishing relationship would begin with a separate written agreement reflecting these principles and the needs of the project.
For an author inquiry, email programashen@gmail.com with the subject “Author Inquiry - Mojo Creative Forge” and a brief introduction to your work.
Mojo Creative Forge.
Everything starts unfinished.
Intention shapes potential.