Kunati Book Publishers

Could be they are overwhelmed with queries, being that everyone writing a book has glommed onto a new publisher. My take on them is that they like controversial subjects. Maybe they have a hard time making up their minds, or the editorial staff is on the fence about a lot of books. Budget plays a part, too.

DP

I just got a request for a full from Simon & Schuster, when the query went out in May. They even admitted that they had received the query some months ago, but were so swamped that they were just getting around to requesting fulls now. I can imagine what the wait will be for an answer to the full.

DP

I also nudged them a month ago. Still waiting...

Tri

Have you noticed that they haven't updated their blogs? Does that have any significance?

I also have a query out to them which they said they had received. It went out the beginning of summer (2008), and I'm ready to give up. I assume an email withdrawing the query will allow me to send the query to another publisher.

Not just the blogs, grump. If you go on the site and look at many of the pages, they're old. They also change their web site every few months, y'all. What publisher has time to do that? So far I've heard back from 1 out of 5 authors I emailed. He said there's trouble brewin over there and told me to run the other way. What's that say?

The Grump said:

I assume an email withdrawing the query will allow me to send the query to another publisher.

Click to expand...

No need to withdraw it, as it's okay to send simultaneous queries.

Thanks

Thanks ... I'll just read the guidelines carefully so see if they accept simultaneous submissions.

Actually, the whole question is a moot point now. I decided to rewrite the thing when I get my WIP edited (maybe next weekend, with luck). Christmas time is almost here, and I don't have time to think about starting my new book.

Marketing two books? I think I'm a glutton for punishment.

I'd say, based on 10+ years of doing this, that 3 months with no response qualifies the author to send it wherever else they please. Life's too short to wait forever.

YMMV.

We're visitng family for a month so I'm checking out publishers online while my daughters get spoilt. LOL.

I'm new to all this but I think 3 months is good enough. We can't just sit waiting around indefinitly. I got an email from a writer who said she's had her manuscript with Kunati INC for almost a YEAR. She sent an email and got told they were looking at it but are backlogged. A year is too too long to wait on a query!!!!

I talked to a publisher I met at a conference in Seattle. He said there was some talk about Kunati at B.E.A. this year and it wasn't all good. He didn't tell me what was said, just that people are starting to wonder if their all just a big splash. Y'all hear anything?

I looked at the website for Kunati. The top part of the Home page is mostly all about one author whose also the PUBLISHER. Thier news link is the same. What's up with that?

Nahhh. I'm gonna move on and look at some others on my list. Sometimes new and bold aint better, people.

Not a peep out of them from my direction. Don't care about them anymore.

Tri

triceretops said:

Not a peep out of them from my direction. Don't care about them anymore.

Tri

Click to expand...

Tri, that is a very good idea.

Well, after exactly seven months...contact. He passed on the chapters, after saying he enjoyed them and apologized for the delay. He says he's not taking on any more fiction. Whether that's for now or forever, I don't know. I'm scratching him.

Tri

Same here. My manuscript is still an orphan.

Actually, my rejection said Kunati was concentrating on non-fiction for 2009. To be honest, I have to say that's a good business move. Too bad I gave up business writing and do fantasy now.

Whatever, I'm having more fun.

I've been hearing way too many jaw dropping stories about this company. Please. I urge you to ask questions before you query these guys. Not a happy place right now.

Glad they're working out well for you, Kimmi. I'm getting many reports of the exact opposite. And you're right; this is a tough time in the industry right now, but I fail to see how alerting people to the fact there are some real abuses taking place with this publisher as hurtful. I see this as education. That's why I urged authors to please ask a lot of questions first.

I asked their authors and got more than I bargained for

priceless1 said:

Glad they're working out well for you, Kimmi. I'm getting many reports of the exact opposite. And you're right; this is a tough time in the industry right now, but I fail to see how alerting people to the fact there are some real abuses taking place as hurtful. I see this as education. That's why I urged authors to please ask a lot of questions first.

Click to expand...

This is good advice, y'all. I also heard back from 8 of their authors now. A couple saw my messages here and emailed me. None is happy. As for Kimmi here, good luck, dear. I really hope they do all they say. The authors I spoke to had horror stories like review copies not going out on time (or ever), bullying from the publisher in their group emails, too many broken promises, royalty checks that are months late, too much promotion of the publisher's books and other stuff. This is just the stuff they've told me. One told me he knows of at least 20 unhappy authors at Kunati. Considering the many sources I've heard from there has to be some truth in all this. Priceless is right. Ask questions. I did exactly that when I was interested and I can't believe what I've heard.

Any authors who want to share their stories, please contact me at Writer Beware: [email protected]. All information shared with WB is held in confidence.

- Victoria

Cao, Victoria, I've had now four authors contact me anonymously, all with the same stories of ARCs not going out, verbal and written abuse by Derek for any author asking questions about why their books aren't being marketed and why he's spending more time marketing his own book.

There are concerns about royalties, and he refuses to send out royalty statements that would put those questions to rest. Their contracts state that if authors make less than $25 in a period, no statement will be issued If that's what the contract says, that's one thing. But where you have a group who is concerned about his claims that returns canceled out royalties (which is perfectly legit), a simple royalty statement would quiet those concerns.

I've seen emails where he verbally abuses the author, accusing them of not promoting their books, and threatening to take their titles out of print. Sure, if a book isn't selling, OP is a viable option, but I'm shocked that any publisher would talk to their authors in this demeaning manner. If an author asks questions, Derek either ignores them, or he sends a very nasty message.

The authors I heard from today said that he's not talking to any of his authors right now. It's all so sad. These guys were lauded by PW and named Foreword Publisher of the Year. From what I've seen, it's an illusion, and his tactics are frighteningly reminscent of a certain vanity publisher who is famous for the same kind of behavior.

And so another publisher starts to tank. Unless they're all lying, which while possible seems a little unlikely in this case. It's really sad

M.R.J. Le Blanc said:

And so another publisher starts to tank. Unless they're all lying, which while possible seems a little unlikely in this case. It's really sad

Click to expand...

Sad to say, they're not lying. I've seen the emails from Derek. They're...horrible...shocking.

It's hard to watch. Almost makes me want to not bother with commercial publishers, seems like lately a lot of them end up like this.

The failure rate for small publishers is high, but much of that failure rate is concentrated among amateur publishers and micropresses. The actual commercial ones--and the personal issues of the owner aside, Kunati has been operating like a commercial publisher--do better.

I was skeptical of Kunati initially, because the owner really didn't have any commercial publishing experience. But I put my skepticism on hold because Kunati seemed to be making the right moves, with a prestigious distributor, industry reviews and marketing, and handsomely-designed books. Still, there were things that made me uneasy--the owner publishing so many of his own books, the poor quality of some of the Kunati books I received for review. So I have to say I'm not totally shocked to hear that there are problems now.

I really think that one of the things that makes a huge long-term difference is the experience of the founders and the staff. If they're publishing people, the odds are better that they'll make a go of it. Obviously, there are exceptions. But if you're thinking about approaching a smaller press that has been in business for two or three years or less, it's a good idea to check into the background of the people running it.

- Victoria

Iota Publishing recently announced that they were closing their doors too. They also tried to go the 'right' route with IPG for distribution, but simply found it too expensive to do what they wanted to do.

I agree -- these type of shops would do much, much better if they were started by someone with plenty of industry experience. I think the chief problem they have is picking the right book in the first place -- if you don't pick the right books, you aren't going to get the sales needed to keep in business as a commercial publisher.

I had my reservations about Kunati too. If I recall correctly, the founder was touting the publishing house as proof that his business methods worked -- almost as if Kunati publishing was a case study in a research project.

I also thought it was odd that they were going to do electronic tracking of submissions to give prospective authors an easy way to check on their submissions, but then axed it saying it wasn't technologically feasible when, in fact, it would be extremely easy to program. Of course, programmers aren't cheap, which is probably what he found out.