During my lunch break I decided to catch up with all the gossip in the UK legal profession by flicking through Legal Week (a magazine distributed free to UK lawyers). There on The Diary page was a small snippet about someone who used to work in marketing and PR for a law firm who has just had their first novel published.
I'm not going to name the author because that's not fair, but The Diary had no such moral qualms and even published a small example of the writing from the book, ending with the somewhat snide rhetorical question "Did someone say 'Booker Prize'?". It wasn't a great excerpt, but I've read worse so I figured I'd look it up on Amazon to see who it was published with.
I'd give you three guesses, but the title of this thread kinda gives it away.
Anyway, I toodled over to the Raider website and it seems that they're now offering 3 routes towards publication:
1. Bronze Package ($699 (USD)/$750 (Canada)/500(Euro)/450(UK))
Paying this gets you:
- 51% royalties
- quarterly royalty payments and reports of sales
- World Wide Availability
- Professional Proofreading (which I hope isn't of the same level as used for the website, which still contains numerous typographical and grammatical errors)
- ISBN Number Registration
- Personal Assistant (I have no idea what this means or includes)
- Text Design
- Book Layout
- Printing around the world, including the US and UK
- Binding (hardcover optional) (great - because I'd hate to drop 450 quid on a book that doesn't have its pages stuck together)
- Cover design (which having looked at their on-line book store seems to comprise of pretty horribly compiled clip art)
- Review proofs of the cover and book interior (no mention of number of copies)
- Press releases to local newspapers (no mention of which local newspapers - hopefully local to the author but you never know)
- Free copies (number unspecified)
- Promotional Opportunities (if desired) (also unspecified)
- Distribution to our network of 25,000 retailers around the world (given that we live in a pretty big world, 25,000 isn't a lot of retailers)
- Three years of distribution (no mention of whether this means the contract ends after 3 years or if they just stop having to fulfil their side of the bargain)
And if that isn't enough to tempt your appetite, with this package and on payment of an
additional $199(US)/$250(Canada)/150(Euro)/100(UK), you can also get:
- Entry into the Ippy and Pulitzer Book Prize Awards
- Interview on Global Talk Radio (no idea what this is - maybe somone can explain for me)
- Extra Press Releases (suggesting that you only get a limited number with the 'standard' bronze package)
- Book Signing Arrangements (unspecified)
Alternatively (in addition to the other extra) you can pay
$399(US)/$399(Canada)/200(UK)/300(Euro) and have your book "broadcasted" [sic] as a Radio Podcast over the Raider Broadcasting Network, itunes and other podcasting databases.
2. Silver Package ($1799(US)/$1899(Canada)/1299(Euro)/1000(UK))
As you'd expect, you get a little more for your moolah with this package:
- Full Cover Design (which makes me wonder how this is different to the "cover design" you get with the Bronze Package - maybe it's a wider choice of Clip Art).
- Complete Editing/Proof Reading of your book (which makes me wonder if you only get a partial proof read with the Bronze package)
- World Wide Printing and Distribution for 5 years (see my comment on the Bronze Package's 3 year deal)
- Book Layout Services
- 51% of your Book's royalties
- 40% Author Discount on all Raider Publishing Titles
- Availability at over 25,000 retailers world wide (see comment on Bronze Package)
- 30 Free Copies of your book
- Personal Promotion Assistant
- 100 Press Releases sent to the local/national media
- Book Signing Arrangement (no mention of where or how)
- Your Book Submitted for shelf space consideration with all major retail chains (consideration is not the same as placement)
- Your Book broadcasted in Podcast form on iTunes (suggesting that you're signing broadcast rights to Raider with your print rights)
And if having spent £1000 to get published, you still have a little money to throw at this vanity operation, for
$349(US)/$400(Canada)/300(Euro)/175(UK) they also offer a personal website with a separate URL designed by Raider (and let us hope, considerably more attractive), "devoted to your book and its success..."
3. Gold Package (Price on Application)
With which you get:
- Professional Consultation at our main office in the EmpireStateBuilding (including flights to New York, hotel stay, extras) (my guess is that this is why the price is only available on application - the idea of having to pay to see your vanity publisher did make me LOL though, purely for the chutzpah)
- Personal Website Creation
- Your Book broadcasted in Podcast form on iTunes
- Full Cover Design
- Complete Editing/Proof Reading of your book
- World Wide Printing and Distribution for 5 years (this is the same as the Silver Package)
- Book Layout Services
- 61% of your Book's royalties
- 50% Author Discount on all Raider Publishing Titles
- Availability at over 25,000 retailers world wide
- 100-2,000 Free Copies of your book (This is a bit of a WTF because it makes me wonder whether the intention is that the author be able to sell these at a profit, but that in itself creates problems if you're (presumably) going to have to pay a lot more than 1000 quid to take up this option)
- Personal Promotion Assistant
- 500 Press Releases sent to the local/national media
- Book Signing Arrangement
- Your Book submitted for shelf space consideration with all major retail chains (again, no guarantee of placement, suggesting no actual distribution in place for books to be stocked in stores)
Interestingly, there's the following in the News section on the Raider Website:
As of July 2008, WHSmith's with hundreds of stores in the UK and Ireland have decided to carry all Raider Publishing titles as the result of a new landmark agreement between the two companies. Executives at both RPI and WHSmith's were excited about the new agreement, which includes all future Raider Publishing International releases through 2012.
No mention as to whether this is to stock books on shelves or simply make available to order. However, WH Smiths has recently been reducing the amount of space available for book sales as part of its internal reorganisation - if the commercial publishers are finding it difficult to be stocked there, I'd suggest it's unlikely that Raider authors will be (unless by individual negotiation with their local store manager).
The good news is that some Raider authors are apparently up for consideration for an IPPY Award and one has been nominated for the Pulitzer. Finger's crossed for all ...
Edited to Add:
Raider apparently has a European office with an address in London. What's interesting though is that the telephone number for the European office does not have a London code (in fact, it's a Birmingham number). I know the street where the European office is supposed to be based, and there are a number of 'holding' offices (effectively post box offices) set up along there, suggesting that it could be a forwarding address..
MM