This is all one person: the boss, the employee, the author, the book promotion people, the in-house media department, the book cover designer, the sockpuppets, and for all I know the sisters as well. If there is a separate sister, she must be a silent partner.
The employee talks like the head of the company, and says she's been there "since its conception." Her remarks betray no hesitancy about speaking for her employer, no suggestion that her boss's opinions, his priorities, or his strategies for dealing with the public might be different from her own. This is someone who's certain that she and the company are as one.
She also sounds that way when she's speaking as the author, the book designer, and so forth. None of the XOXO personae we've seen here have out-of-synch understandings of what XOXO does, or what their own place is in it. Neither do they have differentiated vocabularies, tone, attitudes, or styles of argument. They mistakenly believe themselves to be well-educated, and aren't afraid to say so at irrelevant moments. They all have exactly the same bad grammar, which is impossible. And they're all certain that our failure to admire and respect them can only mean that we don't understand them.
Moving on --
Miss XOXO's writing advice and her grasp of how publishing works are both deeply flawed.
I must say that, as with any publishing company, rudeness, attitude and outright decline to help promote yourself will get any and all offers withdrawn.
Excuse me while I roll on the floor laughing. This universal custom of publishing companies is the reason all authors (especially the bestselling ones) are always meek, reasonable, and well-behaved, right?
Here's a prize quote:
You are under the assumption that ALL Publishers are the same, but as the times are changing, nothing stays the same, you should know that, and note I said "should".
The reason I dislike the annual Bulwer-Lytton competition is that people who are trying to write bad sentences never come up with the kind of masterpieces bad writers can toss off without a moment's thought.
If a company like the manuscript from reading only a portion of it what is wrong with that?
There are a lot of things wrong with it. I'll go with the two biggest. First: someone who doesn't know how often books fall apart past the halfway point is not an acquiring editor, and probably don't qualify as a slush reader.
Second: like most sockpuppeteers, Miss XOXO can't keep her characters straight. The cover designer ought not be the one defending XOXO's editorial practices.
Obviously they noticed potential in it, and therefore decided to give it a go, its called "trial and error" in most cases, but that publisher seen more into it and wanted to publish it. How hard is it to understand that companies run things the way they chose to as long as they follow guidelines and regulations, which this company is doing, if you liked in Canada, you would know that, providing you knew anything of the company at all, and im not talking about what you think you know either.
This is a deservedly frustrated writer.
Hi All ~
Right up front I want to state I am the Public Relations Director for XOXO Publishing. In that respect I have read this thread with great interest.
A startup e-publisher has hired a PR Director? Furthermore, someone with a name this distinctive, who works in public relations, has no footprint on Google except for hits that are directly tied to XOXO publishing? Do they think we were born yesterday?
, other than something that would warrant a justified smack from a mod.
