I've chimed in before on this thread, because I've been watching them pretty closely ever since they bought a short from me (and paid as promised) and then showed great interest in my still in draft form novel. I didn't agree to a contract with them for said novel because as I mentioned before I want it to be a product I'm comfortable with going out to market before even really considering my options. To me, my book's not good enough yet to be out there.
Zharmae is on my high consider list of small publishers. I've actually done a fair share of research into small publishers whop publish F/SF since the last time I posted and I think I can give an informed opinion to compare to quite a few pretty reputable others at this point. I've kept really close tabs on them in particular because I'm intrigued. Something about them has felt *different* that other small presses and I've been dying to know why, and a lot like you guys, whether they're bad news, especially as they've shown so much interest in my baby I've dropped hundreds of hours into.
Since my last post I've:
1. Met the publisher, Travis Grundy in person.
2. Met one of their senior editors in person.
3. Followed their book sales and progressions, talked to a couple of their full novel authors.
What I found from meeting with them in person is that the proprietors are on the younger side from what I've seen in the publishing industry. This explains a lot of their social media presence, their willingness to participate in online forums such as this one, some of their learning mistakes in the business and also, which I find extremely intriguing -- their energy. They're aggressive. They want to go out there and take over the world of publishing, and they've got the energy to try as many avenues as possible. This means signing up a lot of authors, putting out a lot of books, pushing as hard as they can. Is it scary from the outside looking in? It can be. However, from the personal meetings, I trust that they're doing that and that there's not a bait and switch going on as implied/said here.
As I've mentioned before on the contract side: the ask for a lot is there. The reason is that they really want to try to push and market all these avenues if possible. I've also mentioned if you really just don't want something in the contract, they're easy to get to back off on non-standard provisions. As a writer, know your contracts going in. Know what you're willing to do and not. They're not pushy from what I've seen, and that's fair, business is business.
I've found that most small press doesn't give advances. Zharmae is on par or better on the royalty scale than most small presses. Nothing to say there really.
They are getting a lot of people to work on royalties or commissions. This is pretty standard in small press, and pretty standard as a start up business. Bottom line is, who could fund an operation putting out 50 books a year (their target is at least that from my understanding)? The only option otherwise would be to do it yourself, and if you've self-pubbed or run a small press, there's no way you could output that much solo. Only difference I see here is the scale of what they're doing. It's ambitious, it's energetic, harkening back to what i said above.
Is it a good job? Well, do you want experience in the field and do you want to just jump in and get your hands dirty? That's what's being offered, and I think pretty nakedly. Anyone getting into publishing, especially small press should know for sure this industry is hardly likely to make you a fortune. Some people dig that kind of experience, some people like more structured learning. That's an individual's call. Again, they're honest about what it means going in, so it's your choice on how you want to spend your time. I don't have any issues with that here as a small press start up. No one questions it when it's on a smaller scale and it's a circle of friends trying this. Good on them for expanding.
From the authors over there I talk to: They're happy. Most are newer authors, a couple have been around the block and are republishing out of print books with them, but they knew what they were going for going in. With a small press, a lot of what you get is what you push for sales wise. At least with the editor I met with in person, the authors I've talked to who have worked with this editor have the HIGHEST praises for that editor's work. I am pretty darn fond of the vast majority of their book covers too, they look sharp and poignant. Marketing seems to be working okay. I've seen a few books go close to the tops of their categories on amazon. I don't think they're in bookstores currently, but most small presses wouldn't be.
I'm confident in at least the following:
1. Zharmae isn't out there as a scam trying to screw authors or people working for them. It's pretty apparent what you'll get unless you've really done zero research on the industry at all.
2. Zharmae as a start up seems to be doing better than a lot of other start ups about the same age that I've seen. They have more product, they seem to know what they want to do vision wise.
3. They've got a lot of ideas. Maybe it is a throw against the wall and see what sticks mentality, but if they can sustain that, I think they'll do just fine.
Hope that helps!