Advice to Light Sword
To me, "proof" that Light Sword is a real, commercial publisher will happen when the books are clearly shown as returnable, and I can find them on shelves in a couple of bookstores in my area.
Until that time, they strike me as just another startup POD company. Well intentioned, in all likelihood. But not a commercial publishing house.
Victoria and I have seen these startup efforts come and go, and they have a history of crashing and burning, because they're run in an unprofessional manner. I've worked with Simon & Schuster, Warner, Tor, the old Pinnacle, Berkley Ace (now Penguin), and Bantam. I know how the pro outfits behave, and Light Sword isn't doing that. Their heavy emphasis on having the authors buy and market their own books is the hallmark of a POD company started up by authors who have been burned by PA or other skunks. There have been others, for example, NF. None of them have lasted long, or succeeded. Yet.
If Linda Daly were here, my advice to her would be:
1. Tighten your editorial gatekeeping, and only accept high quality books.
2. Stop soliciting writers to submit manuscripts. Real publishers don't do that.
3. Get rid of every vestige of following a "business plan" that is identical to PublishAmerica's. The one dollar advance, the royalties paid on net, the required list of 100 "family and friends" that the book will be marketed to...all that stuff. Stop encouraging authors to buy their own books and emphasizing that all marketing is up to them. The best "marketing" tool in the world is getting books onto the shelves in bookstores. It's not bookmarks, or offering cookies at booksignings, or any of that tail-chasing.
4. Fix the grammatical and syntax errors on LS website.
5. Hire at least one person for the staff who has had real editorial and publishing experience with a commercial publisher.
6. Ditch the defensive attitude. The proof of legitimacy is in the pudding. Arguing with people on message boards without providing solid data, or encouraging authors to do this on your behalf is the mark of an amateur POD company.
But nobody asked me, so...
Adios!
-Ann C. Crispin