10-12-2005, 04:43 PM #
26159 momwrites vbmenu_register("postmenu_356719", true);
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 70
Has anyone heard of Olympia Publishers in the UK?
They offered me a contract for my adult novel, Stepping Out of the Dark. Just wanted to see if they were legit, etc...
======================
0-12-2005, 05:26 PM #
26162 Sassenach vbmenu_register("postmenu_356771", true);
Board fanatic
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 439
momwrites said:
Has anyone heard of Olympia Publishers in the UK?
They offered me a contract for my adult novel, Stepping Out of the Dark. Just wanted to see if they were legit, etc...
A troubling question, IMO. Did you or an agent submit to them? If so, shouldn't you have already known if they were legit?
========================
0-12-2005, 05:37 PM #
26163 Bufty vbmenu_register("postmenu_356795", true);
Board fanatic
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Scotland
Posts: 393
On 3/9/05 under a thread LDS in Christian Genre Forum, Momwrites, didn't you post -
I got a contract with American Book Publishing but thank goodness didn't sign it! I will NEVER pay to have my book in print-my first book was published with Xlibris, when they did it for FREE!! How gulliable do they think we are? VERY~
How did your book get into Publish America's hands?
======================
10-12-2005, 05:51 PM #
26164 momwrites vbmenu_register("postmenu_356808", true);
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 70
I was SCAMMED! Plain and simple! PA didn't make me give them one red dime to publish, but then I found out they were a scam and I didn't buy one single copy, therefore; they didn't make any money off of me, period! Since that time, I have pushing two other books around to publishers and got an offer from Millennial Press to publish my young adult trilogy, which...well, you know the rest...
The reason why I asked about Olympia Publishers is because they are in the UK, new and from their website, I know they are legit...maybe I should have rephased the question. they sent me a letter, along with titles they have published, saying they wanted to offer me a contract. I scrutinized the letter looking for any red flags. One part of it said I would need to be available for books signings, interviews, etc...and that the local promoting would be my responsibity, because, well, their in the U.K., and I'm in the U.S.
They said in the letter they wanted to offer me a contract based on me, myself contributing an amount towards the final cost, which to me, reads, vanity publishing, but I am not sure if they mean with marketing and promotion or the whole publishing costs. I emailed them and told them I wouldn't pay to have my book published and if that was indeed what they wanted me to do, I would have to decline their offer.
I am soooooo leery about publishing companies and there are so many out there, not just the big wigs, that are legit, but how am I to know if they are fairly new and I've never heard from them?
==========================
10-12-2005, 05:53 PM #
26165 Richard vbmenu_register("postmenu_356809", true);
13th Triskaidekaphobe
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: England
Posts: 1,206
If they want money, it's subsidy publishing - or 'vanity', for short. Genuine publishers don't need your money to put a book out.
===============
10-12-2005, 05:54 PM #
26166 momwrites vbmenu_register("postmenu_356812", true);
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 70
I submitted my manuscript to them. At first it was a synopsis, then they wanted the whole manuscript. I sent it and then yesterday, I got a letter in the mail, saying they wanted to offer me a contract.
I was not familiar with them and know they're not a scam. Like I said, I should have rephrased my question. I just wanted to see if anyone knew anything about them was all.
===================
10-12-2005, 05:56 PM #
26167 momwrites vbmenu_register("postmenu_356816", true);
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 70
Sorry, the last post was meant for Sassenach.
====================
10-12-2005, 06:05 PM #
26168 Aconite vbmenu_register("postmenu_356823", true);
Full sun to light shade
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine
Posts: 1,080
momwrites, Richard is correct. So-called "subsidy" publishing, in which an author contributes part (supposedly; that portion of the costs often turns out to be the full amount) of the cost of publishing, is vanity publishing. Period. No matter how they dress it up, what they call it, or how they justify it. It's vanity.
=========================
10-12-2005, 06:11 PM #
26169 Richard vbmenu_register("postmenu_356831", true);
13th Triskaidekaphobe
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: England
Posts: 1,206
I was not familiar with them and know they're not a scam. Like I said, I should have rephrased my question. I just wanted to see if anyone knew anything about them was all.
I don't know them at all, but I'm curious how you know they're not a scam.
=======================
10-12-2005, 06:21 PM #
26170 momwrites vbmenu_register("postmenu_356847", true);
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 70
Richard said:
I don't know them at all, but I'm curious how you know they're not a scam.
Richard,
they have sent me titles of their published books, and no, that doesn't mean they are legit or not, but I didn't just "happen to find them." I subscribe to FirstAlert which lets me know when publishers are looking for authors to submit manuscripts to them. I checked their name on Google and I'll I see is a few books that were published by them, but nothing else.
I am very leery and don't know what to believe anymore, that is why I am questioning, questioning, questioning...so I don't get SCAMMED again!
======================
10-12-2005, 06:23 PM #
26172 Richard vbmenu_register("postmenu_356851", true);
13th Triskaidekaphobe
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: England
Posts: 1,206
Momwrites, that's a lot of words to not answer my question.
======================
10-12-2005, 06:30 PM #
26173 momwrites vbmenu_register("postmenu_356861", true);
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 70
Richard said:
Momwrites, that's a lot of words to not answer my question.
Ok, then hears a short, simple answer to your question. No, I don't know if they are legit. That is what I am trying to find out. When I sent my manuscript to PA, I didn't find anything bad about them; their contract was read by three people, including a lawyer. So, my bad.
=======================
10-12-2005, 06:45 PM #
26174 Aconite vbmenu_register("postmenu_356882", true);
Full sun to light shade
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine
Posts: 1,080
momwrites said:
I subscribe to FirstAlert which lets me know when publishers are looking for authors to submit manuscripts to them.
This alone should set off alarms. Legit commercial publishers don't have to advertise for submissions. They have more submissions than they know what to do with. Have you ever seen Random House advertise for manuscripts? (Rarely, you'll see major publishers put out calls for submissions for themed anthologies and the like. But that's rare, and it's a different situation.)
I checked their name on Google and I'll I see is a few books that were published by them, but nothing else.
What you want to do is go to your area bookstores and see if this publisher's books are on the shelves. If not, odds are good they have no distribution--and I can already tell you they're not, because this is a vanity publisher. Online listings mean diddly squat. I can list books that don't physically exist and never will.
You do not want to go any further with this publisher. What you want to do, instead, is go back and read this entire thread, which will give you an excellent education in how publishing works, how to find a good publisher, and how to weed out the scammers and bad deals. It's a long thread, but it's worth it. Look around the rest of AW, too. There's a lot here you can use.
Good luck!
=========================