Being Approached By Publishers

[Guest]

I have been here before so I can help. I had the chance to be published. I sent them my work, went through the process and they liked everything. When it came time to sign the contract, it hit hard. They sound very un-professional, and wanted me to shill out $187.00 for some office fee stuff.

I declined there wishes. On another note, I also said no because they would not allow me to take my work else where. If I sent something to them, and suddenly dropped the publisher/agent, they would keep my work.

What I suggest you do, is get a background check on the company, and see if they have a history. Go to a government office for that. And read the fine print, read it twice, three times because that is how people get screwed. Other wise, congrats on your chance.


Ravin
-and maybe pass the company on to me as well

Hi Ravin!

Thanks so much for that, it's exactly the kind of thing I needed to know. I have heard some horror stories about people getting stung like that and it is quite shocking.

I doubt this publisher is like that (from what I've read about them and so on), but it always pays to be wary and go into it with both eyes wide open.

I'll be sure to keep you informed as to how I go!

Lou

 

[Guest]

On the page where they are promoting their new publications they follow each new release with a descriptive genre label.

So far I have found:

Contemporary Romance
Romantic Suspense
Paranormal Romance
Futuristic Romance
Fantasy Romance
Dark Paranormal Thriller
Dark Fantasy Erotica

They even list two as:

Paranormal/Time Travel Romance
Futuristic, Paranormal, and Fantasy Romance

If anybody is even a little bit fond of someone else, in amongst the sex and horror, your story should qualify.

I'd say gofer it!

Good luck!

And keep you hand on your wallet.

Cheers, Burley!

I thought I'd thoroughly looked through the site, but must've missed that. Every genre lable I'd come across on there had included the word "romance". Good to know that isn't exclusively the case. Seems like my stuff could be suitable afterall.

I think I just might gofer it! After a little more research and pondering.

Lou

 

[Ravin the Poet]

and another thing. Send what ever you are sending to them, to yourself in the mail. Mail yourself, ith a stamped envolpe your story or what ever, and don't open it when you get it. Instant copywrite, well proof that it's yours. Stops them from just taking anything and gives you some pertection.


Ravin

 

[Guest]

and another thing. Send what ever you are sending to them, to yourself in the mail. Mail yourself, ith a stamped envolpe your story or what ever, and don't open it when you get it. Instant copywrite, well proof that it's yours. Stops them from just taking anything and gives you some pertection.


Ravin

That's a great tip, thanks for mentioning it here!

I've actually been told that little nugget before and it is well worth repeating to anyone considering sending out manuscripts for publication.

Lou

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Conrats, Lou!

I was approached by an editor from Ellora's Cave publishing some months ago after he read some stuff here on Lit. TEC publishes Romantica, and they're starting a new label (Ghede) featuring erotica.

I checked them out online by googling on them and they seemed fine. (There's a "Authors Beware" site somewhere online that lists places to stay away from, but I lost the link.) I talked to some people who'd dealt with them and said they were legit, and they sent me contracts that also were legit, so I signed with them. The books are due out in a month or so, both as e-books and hard copies.

The editor I'm working with sent all the Ghede authors this link:

http://www.epicauthors.org/redflags.html

It's kind of interesting. It tells you what to look out for in crooked contracts.

---dr.M.

 

[thenry]

and another thing. Send what ever you are sending to them, to yourself in the mail. Mail yourself, ith a stamped envolpe your story or what ever, and don't open it when you get it. Instant copywrite, well proof that it's yours. Stops them from just taking anything and gives you some pertection.

I'm so sorry to to be stepping in for a third time, but the Poor Man's Copyright, as it is known, is worthless. Modern copyright laws protect anything you create as soon as it's in a recognizable form. The only additional advantage a registered copyright gives you is the ability to sue for monetary damages resulting in copyright infringement.

In addition, the price of a registered copyright isn't significantly more than the postage on an entire manuscript.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Conrats, Lou!

I was approached by an editor from Ellora's Cave publishing some months ago after he read some stuff here on Lit. TEC publishes Romantica, and they're starting a new label (Ghede) featuring erotica.

I checked them out online by googling on them and they seemed fine. (There's a "Authors Beware" site somewhere online that lists places to stay away from, but I lost the link.) I talked to some people who'd dealt with them and said they were legit, and they sent me contracts that also were legit, so I signed with them. The books are due out in a month or so, both as e-books and hard copies.

The editor I'm working with sent all the Ghede authors this link:

http://www.epicauthors.org/redflags.html

It's kind of interesting. It tells you what to look out for in crooked contracts.

---dr.M.

Thanks for the link, Doc. And CONGRATULATIONS! Now I can say I knew you back when.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[Black Tulip]

Lou,

Congratulations. I do hope this is going to work for you.

By the way, the color of this post has absolutely nothing to do with that silly saying about being green with envy of course.

 

[mismused]

Conrats, Lou!


I checked them out online by googling on them and they seemed fine. (There's a "Authors Beware" site somewhere online that lists places to stay away from, but I lost the link.)

---dr.M.

=======================

Doc,

Would that be "Editors and Preditors?"

Also thank you for the link.

mismused

 

[dr_mabeuse]

=======================

Doc,

Would that be "Editors and Preditors?"

Also thank you for the link.

mismused

I don't remember the name of the site, but I seem to recall that it was a bulletin board where authors could complain.

There seem to be a lot of 'publishers' that aren't outright crooks, but that fall more under the waste-of-time category. A lot of the Print On Demand places are like that, like "PublishAmerica" (from what I've heard.) It's not that they rip you off, it's just that they don't do much of anything for you. They hold your mss on file, and if anyone wants to plunk down $10-$20 they'll print out a copy and send it off, so it costs them nothing, but you get no promotion or marketing to speak of, and your book just kind of sits there.

You know, it always struck me as strange that, although we have a lot of people here who'd really like to be published, we have no threads in how you go about getting published.

Any interest in a thread like that?

---dr.M.

 

[Sabledrake]

Thanks so much, Sabledrake.

Your advice and opinion on this means a lot to me. You are someone who I look up to and admire (but, shhh, don't let that out ).

Seriously, you know well of what you speak. There is absolutely no need to worry about me taking what you said there the wrong way. I have been having many of the same thoughts myself, hence my questioning and so on here.

Sorry to hear you are feeling that way yourself at the moment. I can empathise with that very well. I was feeling like that for quite a while over the past few months. I think I've managed to pull myself out of it now. Feedback like the one I mention in this thread certainly helps to do that!

Thanks, again.

Lou

You're most welcome, Lou. And thank you, too, for the kind words!

The last thing I want to do is discourage anyone; having earned my lumps the hard way these past ten years, I only hope to help other people avoid some of the same pitfalls.

I think the main reason I'm so stressed out at the moment is the suspense ... I've been waiting over a year now since a publisher actually requested my entire manuscript ... best book I've ever written ... and the feeling that if _this_ one doesn't make it I really should quit fooling myself ... so hard to concentrate on anything else until I hear back ... and so on.

So far, it seems this company may be looking pretty good, so I really hope it does work out for you! Just remember to read everything carefully, the large print giveth and the small print taketh away

Sabledrake

 

[mismused]

I don't remember the name of the site, but I seem to recall that it was a bulletin board where authors could complain.

There seem to be a lot of 'publishers' that aren't outright crooks, but that fall more under the waste-of-time category. A lot of the Print On Demand places are like that, like "PublishAmerica" (from what I've heard.) It's not that they rip you off, it's just that they don't do much of anything for you. They hold your mss on file, and if anyone wants to plunk down $10-$20 they'll print out a copy and send it off, so it costs them nothing, but you get no promotion or marketing to speak of, and your book just kind of sits there.

You know, it always struck me as strange that, although we have a lot of people here who'd really like to be published, we have no threads in how you go about getting published.

Any interest in a thread like that?

---dr.M.

=======================

Doc,

I think all of us who dream of it would love it, but that's probably most of us. Hope there's some souls out there who know that will do it for those of us less knowledgeable.

mismused

 

[ABSTRUSE]

You know, it always struck me as strange that, although we have a lot of people here who'd really like to be published, we have no threads in how you go about getting published.

Any interest in a thread like that?

---dr.M.

Definitly, most of us wouldn't know how to approach the subject.

 

[Black Tulip]

Seems to me that the people who do have a publisher interested in them, were kind of picked up from this site. Quality sells itself?

But I would love to hear tips and tricks to get out there too.

 

[snooper]

... So, is that how you got your contract with your current publisher? By contact from them through here, or was it completely seperate? ...

It was silly really. I bought an E-book, then asked for my money back on the grounds that I could write a better book myself. The publisher called my bluff and now I are a full time perfeshunal novelis wot rites buks.

 

[Guest]

Conrats, Lou!

I was approached by an editor from Ellora's Cave publishing some months ago after he read some stuff here on Lit. TEC publishes Romantica, and they're starting a new label (Ghede) featuring erotica.

I checked them out online by googling on them and they seemed fine. (There's a "Authors Beware" site somewhere online that lists places to stay away from, but I lost the link.) I talked to some people who'd dealt with them and said they were legit, and they sent me contracts that also were legit, so I signed with them. The books are due out in a month or so, both as e-books and hard copies.

The editor I'm working with sent all the Ghede authors this link:

http://www.epicauthors.org/redflags.html

It's kind of interesting. It tells you what to look out for in crooked contracts.

---dr.M.

First off, I've been meaning to come back to this thread for some time. Other events kind of took over my "serious writerly" head. Apologies for not responding sooner.

Secondly, thanks for the congrats and the link. Very useful stuff! I am still very seriously considering submitting something to New Concepts, but will probably write something new as opposed to submitting something I already have. I have been discussing it with my self appointed muse and he suggested a very cool storyline which, I believe, would be very fitting for them. I'm just gonna give it a shot and see how it goes, and hold back my erotic horror stuff for that particular market.

Finally, congrats to you! All the best with your venture, it sounds very cool indeed.

Lou

 

[Guest]

Lou,

Congratulations. I do hope this is going to work for you.

By the way, the color of this post has absolutely nothing to do with that silly saying about being green with envy of course.

 

[Guest]

I don't remember the name of the site, but I seem to recall that it was a bulletin board where authors could complain.

There seem to be a lot of 'publishers' that aren't outright crooks, but that fall more under the waste-of-time category. A lot of the Print On Demand places are like that, like "PublishAmerica" (from what I've heard.) It's not that they rip you off, it's just that they don't do much of anything for you. They hold your mss on file, and if anyone wants to plunk down $10-$20 they'll print out a copy and send it off, so it costs them nothing, but you get no promotion or marketing to speak of, and your book just kind of sits there.

You know, it always struck me as strange that, although we have a lot of people here who'd really like to be published, we have no threads in how you go about getting published.

Any interest in a thread like that?

---dr.M.

Most definitely. I think there would be a lot of interest. Go for it!

Lou

 

[Guest]

You're most welcome, Lou. And thank you, too, for the kind words!

The last thing I want to do is discourage anyone; having earned my lumps the hard way these past ten years, I only hope to help other people avoid some of the same pitfalls.

I think the main reason I'm so stressed out at the moment is the suspense ... I've been waiting over a year now since a publisher actually requested my entire manuscript ... best book I've ever written ... and the feeling that if _this_ one doesn't make it I really should quit fooling myself ... so hard to concentrate on anything else until I hear back ... and so on.

So far, it seems this company may be looking pretty good, so I really hope it does work out for you! Just remember to read everything carefully, the large print giveth and the small print taketh away

Sabledrake

Thanks again, Sabledrake!

No wonder you are feeling stressed right now. Be sure to let me know when you do finally hear from them! Requesting your entire manuscript is indeed a biggie, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Your advice is always very welcome. I'll be sure to remember all you said.

Lou

 

[Guest]

It was silly really. I bought an E-book, then asked for my money back on the grounds that I could write a better book myself. The publisher called my bluff and now I are a full time perfeshunal novelis wot rites buks.

Ah, yes! I remember reading that somewhere here before.

Very cool!

Lou

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

Some of the sites mentioned recently in this thread.

Predators & Editor

Authors Den

AbsoluteWrite EZBoard

 

[mismused]

Many thanks, Burly

Some of the sites mentioned recently in this thread.

Predators & Editor

Authors Den

AbsoluteWrite EZBoard

=========================

Appreciate you taking the time to provide the links.

mismused

 

[Guest]

Re: Many thanks, Burly

=========================

Appreciate you taking the time to provide the links.

mismused

Yep, me too!

Thanks, Burley.

Lou

 

[Omni]

There is alot on these forums about different publishers, POD, ect.


writers.net



Plus I have too many links about publishing erotica/porn bookmarked. I had to make a folder for it all. lol~ So Dr M. if you start that thread I have some fodder.


Omni

 

[CrazyyAngel]

So if I read this right, you are basically still in the process of deciding to send them something, right? I know I just repeat was already has been said, but that new keyboard of mine is just too cool and I really like typing with it ... Ok, I'll shut up now

CA