Who owns what
Copyright is the legal right to own and control a creative work. Here is exactly how it works at Cochain Books.
| What | Who owns it | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The story, plot and characters your child created | Your child — 100% | Forever. No time limit, no exceptions. |
| Cochain characters used in the book (such as Mr. Pomp) | Cochain Books — 100% | Licensed to your child's book permanently — including after the 3-year term ends |
| Royalties from sales | 100% to you | Paid quarterly once the balance exceeds $50. |
| The finished print-ready files (PDF) | Yours to keep Delivered on completion | Yours to keep and use for reprints. The underlying layout templates remain ours. |
| The illustrations | Cochain Books | Licensed exclusively to your child’s book — they will never appear in anyone else’s. |
| The book cover design | Cochain Books | Licensed exclusively to your child’s book. |
| The ISBN | Cochain Books Where one applies | Print editions only. eBook-only books use Amazon’s own identifier and need no ISBN. Where an ISBN exists it is linked to your child’s book exclusively; a new edition published elsewhere would need its own, which is free or inexpensive to obtain. |
The short version: everything that makes the book your child’s — the story, the characters they created, the earnings — is theirs and yours. What we own is the craft we added around it, and it is licensed to your book alone.
Author Rights & Royalties
What your child owns. What you earn. What happens next.
Last Updated: September 2026
The short version: Your child owns their story forever. You keep 100% of net royalties from every book sold. Cochain Books is your publisher — not your partner in earnings.
1. Your Child Is the Real Author
At Cochain Books, we believe that a child's imagination is the most valuable thing in the room. Our editors, illustrators, and publishing team are here to serve that imagination — not to own it.
From the moment your child tells their story — in their own words — that story belongs entirely to them. Our editorial work polishes the grammar and flow, but the plot, the ideas, any characters your child invented, and the creative soul of the book are 100% your child's.
This is not just a marketing claim. It is built into the legal framework of every project we undertake through our Publishing & Distribution Agreement, which explicitly confirms the child as the author and copyright holder of their story.
2. Copyright Ownership — Plain Language
About our characters. Many of our books feature one of Cochain's ten signature characters — Mr. Pomp and friends. Those characters stay ours, but your child's book keeps the right to use them permanently: in the title, on the cover, in the retail listing, and inside the book. That right does not end when the 3-year publishing term does. It lasts as long as the book does.
What it covers: this book, exactly as it was published. What it doesn't: using our characters in new books, sequels, or merchandise outside this one.
3. Royalties — How They Work
Every time someone buys your child's book on Amazon or any other retail platform, that sale generates a royalty. Here is exactly how the money flows:
• Amazon deducts a platform commission and the printing cost from the sale price. Books distributed to bookshops and libraries through IngramSpark work differently: a trade discount for the retailer comes off the cover price as well as the printing cost, which is why the same book earns less through that channel than it does on Amazon. This is standard practice for all books sold through these platforms, including books by major publishers.
• What remains after platform deductions is called Net Receipts. Cochain Books passes 100% of Net Receipts to you.
• Cochain Books keeps nothing from your royalties. Our revenue comes entirely from the service fee you pay at the start of the project.
• Royalties are calculated quarterly and paid to you via your preferred payment method (Zelle, PayPal, or bank transfer) once the balance exceeds $50.
• When the 3-year term ends or rights revert early, any remaining balance is paid in full in the final quarter — the $50 threshold does not apply.
• You will receive a royalty statement each quarter showing units sold, platform commissions, and net amount payable.
What this actually looks like
Real figures from the retailers’ own royalty calculators, August 2026, for a 26-page full-colour picture book. Your book’s figures will differ.
| Format | Printing cost | List price | You receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| PaperbackAmazon | $3.60 | $12.99 | $4.19 |
| eBookKindle | — | $2.99 | $1.05 |
| HardcoverIngramSpark — bookshops | $8.47 | $19.99 | $0.16 |
| Hardcoverthe same book, priced higher | $8.47 | $24.99 | $2.31 |
List price matters enormously — particularly for hardcovers sold into bookshops, where the trade discount and the printing cost together can consume nearly the whole cover price. Compare the last two rows: the same book, five dollars apart, earns fourteen times more.
Before your book is published we will show you the estimated net receipts per copy at the price we propose and at any materially better alternative, and we will set the price as you direct. Exact amounts vary by format, trim size, page count, paper stock and territory, and are set by the retailer rather than by Cochain Books.
4. The Publishing Agreement — 3-Year Term
When you sign our Publishing & Distribution Agreement, you grant Cochain Books the exclusive right to publish and distribute your child's book for a period of 3 years from the date of first publication. This is why:
• It gives us the authority to manage the book's listing on Amazon and IngramSpark on your behalf, including pricing, metadata, and distribution settings.
• It is a standard term in children's book publishing agreements and significantly shorter than traditional publishing contracts (which typically run 5–10 years or longer).
• At the end of the 3-year term, all publishing rights revert to you — we only finish printing any orders already placed. You are free to self-publish, find a new publisher, or continue with Cochain Books under a new agreement.
5. What Happens If the Book Goes Out of Print?
We believe a book should never be unavailable to its readers. However, if for any reason the book is unavailable for sale on major retail platforms for more than 6 consecutive months, all publishing rights revert to you automatically — even if the 3-year term has not yet expired. You do not need to ask us.
You would then receive all final files and be free to publish through any other channel you choose.
6. What Cochain Books Will Never Do
We want to be completely clear about the limits of our rights:
• We will never claim co-authorship of your child's story.
• We will never sell or license your child's story, characters, or book to a third party without your explicit written consent.
• We will never take a percentage of your royalties. Our fee is the service fee paid at the start — nothing more.
• We will never use your child's name, image, or story in our marketing without your explicit consent as confirmed in the Parental Consent Form.
• We will never prevent you from buying physical copies of your own child's book at cost from Amazon or IngramSpark.
7. Your Rights at a Glance
• Own your child's story and every character they created — forever.
• Receive 100% of net royalties from all book sales.
• Receive all final print-ready files upon project completion.
• Receive reversion of all publishing rights automatically at the end of the 3-year term, or earlier if the book is unavailable for more than six months.
• Update the book's pricing, description, and categories on retail platforms by contacting us at any time.
• Request a new edition or updated version of the book as a new project at any time.
8. Questions?
If you have any questions about your rights as a client and parent, or your child's rights as an author, we are happy to talk you through everything before you purchase. No pressure, no jargon.
• Email: info@cochainbooks.com
• Phone: (346) 588-5426
• WhatsApp: wa.me/13465885426
• Website: www.cochainbooks.com
Your child's story. Their name on the cover. Their royalties in your account.
That is the Cochain Books promise.