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Immortal Ink Publishing

MysteryRiter

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http://immortalinkpublishing.com/

I don't have any questions about this press, but I follow one of their authors on Twitter and since there was no thread already here I thought I might as well start one.

They appear to be a new press with only one book out but that one book also seems to be doing pretty well. I've seen it around a lot, too.
 

LillyPu

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They say they accept literary fiction, but seem to have a misinformed interpretation of it. They have one book out, which seems to have gotten a lift from being on authonomy? A community where everyone supports the writer, buys it, drops in a review? (Which is nice.) The awards are... not well-known, prestigious? Who are the editors? What's their experience? I'm not sure what there is to be humbled about? I sure would like to know, though. I'm no expert. I'd love to learn more about them.
 

LillyPu

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As for their website, I can barely see what to click on... It's so black. I just noticed they're closed to submissions.
 

ladyinpink

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*1/27/2013 UPDATE*
Current Immortal Ink Publishing Titles (as of 1/27/2013):
*UPDATE* The Forever Girl - Now to also be published in the German language by a imprint of Harlequin! (and even bigger news soon to come!) No edits were required! Way to go IIP team for doing such a great job on the editing! The Forever Girl was also voted one of Suspense Magazine's Best Books of 2012!
*UPDATE* Mirrors of Anguish is now bestselling it's genre!
Her Sweetest Downfall -- Best Selling!
The Portrait of Alatiel Salazar -- Best Selling!
Infernal Machines -- Over 50 copies sold on release day alone! Best Selling!
After the Fear -- Over 100 copies sold on release day alone! Best Selling!

To date, every IIP title has made a kindle bestseller list on their release day! We are working on amping up our marketing to help some of our authors who are too busy to contribute to marketing, but so far all of our authors get paid every month, many of them very well! Very excited about the 2013 line up as well. Congrats, authors, keep up the great work!

* * *

*waves*

Current Immortal Ink Publishing Titles (as of 6/4/2012):
*The Forever Girl, by Rebecca Hamilton: over 5000 copies sold in 4 months. Bestselling for Amazon Kindle in US, UK, Germany, France, and Spain! Rebecca signed with TZLA!*
*Four in the Morning, by Christi Goddard: over 200 copies sold in the first two weeks!*
*Mirrors of Anguish, by RP Kraul: over 50 copies sold in the first week!*

FAQ Page for Immortal Ink:
http://www.immortalinkpublishing.com/faq.php

Newly Signed Authors:
Steven Katriel
Will Millar

*More to be announced soon!*

We also added a new team member this week. She has a degree in Creative Writing and will be assisting our marketing department and heading up our PR in the future.

Hi! I am the author! And, as I don't want to deceive in any way, I'm a co-founder of the publishing house as well. I'm one of the acquiring editors.

I'm in the top 1% for editing on elance.com, but we have other editors we work with as well. Around the same time I decided to self-publish, several books I'd previously edited were getting publishing contracts. My partner and I had the idea that maybe we could also help support other authors with our knowledge.

At Immortal Ink Publishing, we support indie authors (even if we can't financially support or publish all of them). We don't just publish our own books, though. We also publish submitted books that really grab our attention.

Because we're so small but want to do so much for the people we do publish, we will be keeping our list small. This isn't because we think many of the books we pass on don't deserve to be published; it's because we can only afford to publish a certain number of books, because we are investing and want to invest more into each author than most small publishers do. We pay for a professional book covers, we pay for marketing (and put a lot of time into marketing), and we pay for professional editing (beyond what services we offer ourselves).

Authors can do many things for themselves, and those authors won't need us. Our authors, however, are the people who don't want to invest the money or spend time marketing when they could be writing their next book. It's up to those who submit to determine whether what we offer is what they are looking for. I trust authors will be able to decide for themselves what publishing options would be best for them personally.

For those interested, we have another book coming out in May. I'm excited about this book (and this author!) and expect her sales to exceed my own. She's extremely talented. We got lucky.

For those who are reserving their feelings about us until they see how we do, THANK YOU. It's always wonderful to meet people who are willing to wait and see, rather than those who aim to be detractors from the get-go. That said, I do understand skepticism.

For LillyPu—None of my sales (that I know of) came from Authonomy. I'm not exactly popular over there (more like I was ran off the boards. There were even points where people were making fun of my Autistic son). It was so bad, that for a long time I feared Authonomy finding out my book was published. I waited until I had many sales and reviews before even mentioning it on Authonomy, out of fear that those who hate me there would send a flurry of one-star ratings on my book. I did reveal the publication of my book eventually, though, and I'm glad to learn I underestimated the community. So far, there haven't been any reviews on my book based on anyone's personal feelings about me, from Authonomy or otherwise. Most of my sales came through pre-release sign ups (which I gained through sample Sunday) and through reviews on book blogs (from STRANGERS). The only family that has read my book is my dad, my sister and law, and my uncle is reading it now. None of them have left a review (and it's not because I didn't ask them to, but I guess they forgot and didn't want to nag them so I won't be reminding them).

As for editors, Angela Zoltners is Deirdre Knight's editor. Leslie Holman-Anderson is on staff at Twilight Times Publishing. Lynette Labelle is a freelance editor who hosts workshops at writing conferences (that is how I met her). I also spent some time mentoring with Sol Stein and Toby Stein (Sol's sister), and I learned a lot from them in that time that I have since been able to pass on to others authors I have worked with. One of those authors' books was just released by Wild Rose Publishing. Another landed an agent and currently has several of the major publishers in a bidding war over her book. Another was getting no "bites" through querying; after I edited her opening fifty pages, she immediately began receiving full requests and winning contests on agent blogs.

As for literary fiction, I'm an avid reader of the genre, but I do have my tastes. I am not part of the camp that feels literary fiction needs to be slow-paced and heavy-handed. Take for example "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." It's a quick read, and the writing-style is brilliant in its simplicity. You may not agree with my assessment of such novels, but the reality is that the lit-fic community is divided in regards to what makes literary fiction "literary". I know where I stand and respect if you feel differently.

I think the thing to remember is that no one is obligated to submit to us. If you think we "have it all wrong" or that my book is only doing well because of a community full of people that either a) hate me or b) feel indifferent toward me, then do not submit to us. Submit to the publishers you believe in! I think that is important. It's one of the reasons I started my own small publishing house. I simply couldn't find a small publisher that was "just right" for me, though many are lovely and simply perfect for others.

Some people may reserve their opinions while others may make up their minds before they have anything factual to base it on; that is up to the person, and I would never criticize either approach.

I would, however, ask that it be kept in mind that we're not trying to poach authors from all over the web. We aren't telling every writer we meet that we want to publish them. We aren't having anyone pay us to publish their books (quite the opposite lol). We aren't letting authors do all the work while we take a cut of their money—if they wanted that, they could self publish. We aren't publishing every book that crosses our desk and then throwing those books against the wall to see what sticks. We have a lot of respect for authors of all publishing paths, but we're selecting the authors we personally feel we are the best fit for. Those authors will receive a tremendous amount of attention and support; you will not see any lack-luster efforts from us. We will work for our share of the royalties.

While we might not be right for everyone, we aren't scam artists (of which there are too many). Instead, to those authors who make a good fit with us, we are another publishing option (of which there are too few). And beyond that, we also BUY, READ, REVIEW (and sometimes promote) other indie authors. We don't make any money doing this. We just do it because want readers to learn about great reads out there that they might not have heard about otherwise.

Any questions, feel free to send to [email protected]. Thanks for your time, and thank you (again) to those who have approached our publishing company with an open mind. Feel free to sit back and watch from the sidelines before making a decision about us. We absolutely don't mind and completely understand.
 
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LillyPu

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For LillyPu—None of my sales (that I know of) came from Authonomy. I'm not exactly very popular over there. To the point that I waited until I had many sales and reviews before even mentioning it there, out of fear that those who hate me there would send a flurry of one-star ratings on my book. I did reveal the publication of my book eventually, though, and I'm glad to know I underestimated the community. So far, there haven't been any reviews based on anyone's personal feelings about me, from Authonomy or otherwise.

That's funny!! :) Thanks for answering. *waves back*
 

ladyinpink

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That's funny!! :) Thanks for answering. *waves back*

:) No problem.

So yeah, those 2 and 3 star reviews ... totally based on my book. Not cuz anyone hates me haha. Bummer. There goes my scapegoat.

I should add that I've also been lucky because I've gotten some great authors to read my work (and like it enough to recommend it to their readers).

The best moment for me so far, though, was when my FAVORITE AUTHOR OF ALL TIME (Nancy Pickard) bought a copy of my book. I don't know if she'll ever read it, or if she'll hate it if she does, but it was an honor. The only thing that would make it better is if she eventually emailed me her thoughts, even if they were critical, because there is no critical opinion I would respect more!
 

LillyPu

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As for literary fiction, I'm an avid reader of the genre but, yes, I do have my tastes. I am not part of the camp that feels literary fiction needs to be slow-paced and heavy-handed.
I'm not aware of anyone in that camp. Not one. It's a cliche idea. Literary fiction needs to be just as compelling a page-turner as the thriller. For the reader. If *quirky* (which I also like) is your preference, I hope it's stated in your guidelines. Good luck with your company, and with your novel. :)
 

Parametric

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I had a brief and friendly interaction with Rebecca Hamilton at Immortal Ink. I can attest to the rigour of her testing process for editors. :tongue
 

ladyinpink

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I'm not aware of anyone in that camp. Not one. It's a cliche idea. Literary fiction needs to be just as compelling a page-turner as the thriller. For the reader. If *quirky* (which I also like) is your preference, I hope it's stated in your guidelines. Good luck with your company, and with your novel. :)

Thank you :)

I agree it's a cliche idea! Sadly, I know more people in that camp than not. They often like to tell me that the literary fiction books I like aren't literary fiction. Oh well. For literary fiction we ask for "well-paced and accessible". We didn't put "quirky" in there because we also have a "what we look for in general" which includes "characters who are unusual". Yeah, we want those unusual characters in more than just our literary fiction LOL

Parametric, thank you for attesting to that. I think we actually pissed off a few people with our copy-editing test. Many felt it was excessive. All I know is that we really are doing our best. We're bound to still have some things to learn, though :) To be honest, I'd be afraid if we ever stopped having things to learn, as that would probably only be an indicator of delusion on our part.

(And I can also attest to your editing skills, since you're on our short list. I'm not sure if you saw, but you're on our blog as a recommended editor to those looking to hire a freelance editor!)
 

veinglory

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If would be good if the site listed the owners and editors -- if it does I did not find it. My feeling was that the overlap between staff and authors was pretty high. Mainly because novel editors are not usually credited.
 

ladyinpink

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If would be good if the site listed the owners and editors -- if it does I did not find it. My feeling was that the overlap between staff and authors was pretty high. Mainly because novel editors are not usually credited.

First, we want the site to focus on the authors. Editors and other contributors are noted on the blog.

If by "staff" you mean editors and authors, then yes, the overlap currently IS high. At this time, we have 3 editors and 3 authors. 2 of those authors are the founding partners (my partner and myself). We haven't opened for submissions yet, so this is to be expected. We open in May. But don't expect the list to grow very fast. As I said earlier, we aren't aiming for a large list. We'd like to take on 4-6 authors a year max and put all of our time and money and focus into them.

If by staff you also meant assisting editors, interns, and book cover designers, then your ratio would be 3 authors to 6 staff members. That said, we do utilize more than just our 3 staff editors.

"Mainly because novel editors are not usually credited."

That was my doing, for my novel. Our authors are not required to do this. As a person, though, I'm the type to give as much credit as possible to those who deserve it. My editors were such a fantastic support and without them I don't think my novel would have gotten the reception from readers that it has. (I am too close to my work to edit it myself, at any rate!) In my eyes, my editors deserved that credit. None of the editors credited on my book are authors with Immortal Ink Publishing.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Feel free to withhold a firm opinion until you see some of the other titles we release and how they do.

As of yet, our most recent acquired author has said about IIP:
"The staff of Immortal Publishing have been so great about everything. They listen to my ideas, are easy to work with, and let me set my own pace for the work I plan to release, both with the two books coming out in the near future and the books that will follow them. I couldn’t be happier with any other publisher than I am right now with Immortal."

We'll see what she thinks about us after her book is released this May (possibly April! We're a bit ahead of schedule!). We're thrilled to have her, and we look forward to finding more authors of equally amazing talent :)

The wonderful thing about this process is that while there are some skeptics that might not submit to us anytime soon, there are a ton of brilliant and talented people who have taken the time to get to know us, what we're about, and how we work. These people are willing to take a chance on us if we're willing to take a chance on them.

You won't find many other publishers as small as us that will invest near as much time and money into each of their authors as we are prepared to invest in ours. My husband runs a successful business and has taught me a lot on that end.

We take our authors and our publishing house seriously, and I have confidence that in time we'll even gain the respect of the skeptics. They may never want to submit to us, and that's okay. As long as those who DO publish with us are satisfied with their experience (and as long as readers are satisfied with the product we provide them) then we'll be happy :)

I look forward to seeing the outcome in May. I've already checked out the work of some of the authors planning to submit at that time, and it's truly humbling that some of these authors would even consider us (being that we're so new and they are so talented). We will easily find talent, even if the skeptics never come around and never submit themselves. And I think that's a good thing. I think it's important that people submit their manuscripts to a publisher they trust and believe in. For some, that publisher will be us. For others, it won't.

The only thing I can promise right now is that all of our authors will get our best effort: a book cover THEY approve of, editorial support from one of elance.com's top 1% editors, editorial support from my partner (who I swear must be a walking encyclopedia of copy-editing knowledge, even if he is a bit pedantic at times!), editorial support from a copy-editor who has experience editing for newspapers, a team of proofreaders, and a tremendous amount of marketing support. We also have "vision meetings" with our authors to discuss their ideas, concerns, goals, and wishes—and those are the things we will work for with them.
 
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eternalised

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Hey there :)

This may already be on your website, but I couldn't find it right now.

- Do you only bring out eBooks or paperbacks as well?
- If you do bring out paperbacks, who's your distributor?
 

ladyinpink

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Hey there :)

This may already be on your website, but I couldn't find it right now.

- Do you only bring out eBooks or paperbacks as well?
- If you do bring out paperbacks, who's your distributor?

Currently, we're offering Print on Demand up front. If a title does well, it will be moved to print (if the author wants). We're still deciding on a few of the smaller details where this is concerned.
 

eternalised

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Thanks for answering my question :) I know your press is still in the starting stages, but as an author I'd like to know if there would be actual distribution for my book if it went to the printing stages if I were thinking of submitting my work to Immortal Ink Publishing.
 

writerjohnb

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Lady in Pink,

I also went through the Authonomy inquisition and ran screaming away. After 3 novels published by small publishing companies, I decided to self-publish and quickly realized I sucked at marketing and promotion. Now, a year later, I've learned a lot and would have done many things differently.

I've considered also going into publishing, but two things stop me: The tremendous investment of time (I have a day job) and the investment of money (which is why I have a day job-to pay the bills). You're putting a lot on the line, but it sounds like a great idea and I wish you success.

JohnB
 

MysteryRiter

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Just to make it easier for anyone else, it looks like this is where they have their staff bios.
 
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ladyinpink

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Lady in Pink,

I also went through the Authonomy inquisition and ran screaming away. After 3 novels published by small publishing companies, I decided to self-publish and quickly realized I sucked at marketing and promotion. Now, a year later, I've learned a lot and would have done many things differently.

I've considered also going into publishing, but two things stop me: The tremendous investment of time (I have a day job) and the investment of money (which is why I have a day job-to pay the bills). You're putting a lot on the line, but it sounds like a great idea and I wish you success.

JohnB

Thank you, John. Congrats on publishing! Time and money are the two hardest factors, whether self-publishing or starting a small publishing house. Time-management is also a must. I work 36 hours a week myself and I have 3 kids (ages 6, 5, and almost 4). My oldest has autism and my youngest has PPD, so several hours each week are spent in therapy. My work is slipped between my time spent caring for them. My daughter is in gymnastics and made the team, so she has team practice two times a week as well. I try to do work while I'm there, but I just end up watching her. LOL Maybe I'll get more work done when she hits the age that parents don't stay at practice?

I want to encourage you by telling you that even when things are crazy, if you have a dream, you can work toward making it happen. The first thing you have to do is figure out some reasonable goals. I tend to set my "long-term goals" high, but my short-term goals I keep manageable.

That said, I think marketing and investment are two areas of self-publishing that many authors don't want to deal with. (Others love it and/or are great at it). This can cause some people not to publish or cause some people not to see the sales they deserve.

Investment isn't always possible. For the level of formatting my partner provided me (and will provide out other authors) it would have cost me a small fortune. (If you'd like to see, I can send you a copy of my book so you can see the level of formatting there. It's above and beyond what even the big six seem to offer with their e-books. Gorgeous does not begin to cover the magic my partner did with formatting.) I could have cheaped out and did it myself or had one of those cheapie $50 or $100 places do it, but I wanted the formatting to be top quality. Same goes for editing and book covers. These things cost money. You can do them yourself, but the result is not always the same. Or you can hire someone cheap, but you often get what you pay for.

That said, marketing is something that anyone can do. (Doesn't mean they want to hehehe). With marketing, you can do a LOT for free. Currently, we're testing different paid marketing approaches to see what works and what doesn't, but as of yet, I can say most of our effective marketing was FREE. (Time consuming, but free!) If you need some tips, feel free to drop me a line sometime and I'll see if I can't help you out somehow.

Authors have a lot to think about with publishing. It's a long journey just to get to the point that your MS is ready, and once you get there, you have to decide what you want. Full control? Prestige? To make money? To share your work with whoever might enjoy it? It all depends. I know many people who have contracts with big six publishers, and they are MISERABLE. And I know people who have contracts with big six publishers who are living their DREAM right now. There are people who are content with self publishing and turn down offers from big six publishers. There are some people who wouldn't touch a small publisher with their neighbor's ten-foot-pole, and there are some people who adore the small publisher they are working with.

I don't think there is a "best". There is only a "best for you". I hope you can find/have found what is best for you so you can pursue that. Let me know if I can help :)

Other than that, I think you are taking a good approach. No one needs to be nasty to be skeptical, and that's what is great. A mature author knows how to be reserved and observant without being rude or condescending. This is something that other writers will respect, industry professionals will respect (including the "big players"!), and most importantly (to me) something readers will respect.

In the end, it needs to be about the readers. And while we all want to be judged on your writing, the reality is that some readers won't read someone's book if they know that person is nasty to others for no reason. And some readers may just take a chance on a new author if they know how kind that author is. So keep being you. You seem awesome and I think people will like connecting with you for that reason. From there, they may discover your work and love that was well.
 

ladyinpink

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Thanks for answering my question :) I know your press is still in the starting stages, but as an author I'd like to know if there would be actual distribution for my book if it went to the printing stages if I were thinking of submitting my work to Immortal Ink Publishing.

All POD books are put into the expanded distribution channel. Formal print runs will depend. They require more money up front, and that would take away from other things we could do that would do more for overall sales and exposure. This may be why many big publishers don't do much marketing for their authors anymore. I can't say for sure. That said, it's always better to create the demand and then offer the supply :) Ultimately, our goal is to invest money wisely. The first round of investments will be the ones that will have the highest return, thus allowing us to invest even more in other areas.

I've also noticed bigger publishers are starting to do the same in regards to not going straight to print. Harper Collins, for example, just started a digital imprint to test some of their debut authors instead of going straight to print with their books.
 
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eternalised

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All POD books are put into the expanded distribution channel. Formal print runs will depend. They require more money up front, and that would take away from other things we could do that would do more for overall sales and exposure. This may be why many big publishers don't do much marketing for their authors anymore. I can't say for sure. That said, it's always better to create the demand and then offer the supply :) Ultimately, our goal is to invest money wisely. The first round of investments will be the ones that will have the highest return, thus allowing us to invest even more in other areas.

I've also noticed bigger publishers are starting to do the same in regards to not going straight to print. Harper Collins, for example, just started a digital imprint to test some of their debut authors instead of going straight to print with their books.

I understand some POD printers (like Lightning Source) have an expanded distribution channel, but I was wondering if you have actual deals with a distributor, like Midpoint Trade Books, Greenleaf Book Group, etc.
 

ladyinpink

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I understand some POD printers (like Lightning Source) have an expanded distribution channel, but I was wondering if you have actual deals with a distributor, like Midpoint Trade Books, Greenleaf Book Group, etc.

We haven't needed that yet. For my own book, I'm not convinced yet that it's worth it based on current trends, but we would do it for any interested authors. All I can say currently is that we CAN get our books in Barnes and Noble physical stores, but it makes no sense to put money into this prior to creating the demand. So we put money in to exposure first.

We're a very young company, so our current deals will reflect that. And we're really excited about the authors who are getting in at the ground with us :)

At this time, we're more focused on sales and exposure. From there, authors may have the opportunity to move into physical stores if they wish. We won't force them to, though. It's really about assessing the authors goals and making that happen.

Meet enough people who know me, and they will tell you ... don't underestimate my determination. I make things happen. I look forward to making many authors' dreams come true :)