Not to get off topic, but I WISH someone would provide a list of small and indies that put out spec fiction print books and have solid distribution. After four years of research, I'm not seeing it. I have a list of 78 potentials, and I can pick about three that have a sales force, distribution, offset, and bookstore placement. I've never seen the industry glutted with so many POD publishers in my life, as I restarted the sub process.
My agent considers about 16--19 large houses worthy of submission. After he throws a pitch at all of them, we're damn lucky to get requested fulls from 10 of them. Maybe 12 on a good day, downhill with the wind.
After that, we're done, and so is the book. From there on, it's my job to attack what's left. And 98% of what I'm seeing out there for SF, Fantasy, and Horror is POD. Mainstream/literary could be a totally different ball game, I don't know. I just know that I'm extremely hobbled in my genre.
Re Mundania (on topic): They have a pretty site, lots of links, lots of books, and lots of authors. Too many. For me, at least. They are seriously, IMO, brushing dangerously close to author mill status, if not there already. We've heard it before, and you know where it comes from: if you get enough authors to buy their own books from a HUGE stable of authors, you've got yourself quite a lucrative business plan in place. That's provided you are POD, do little editing, and print fast.
I would have thought, that by now, Mundania would have made some strides toward obtaining solid distribution and offset runs. No way, Jose. I don't see that. Just curious, has anyone seen a Mundania book in any book store, other than one where the author might have put it?
Tri