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YouWriteOn.com / New Generation Publishing / Legend Press

Old Hack

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According to Companies House, the company YouWriteOn.com Ltd was dissolved last week, on 18 October 2011. Its business is listed there as "Publishing of books", so perhaps this is the publishing arm it set up rather than the entire YouWriteOn site, which seems to still be active.

Perhaps it's now transferred all of its publishing business to other names, bearing in mind the huge amount of negative publicity which its publishing schemes rightly attracted.
 

Momento Mori

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Old Hack:
According to Companies House, the company YouWriteOn.com Ltd was dissolved last week, on 18 October 2011. Its business is listed there as "Publishing of books", so perhaps this is the publishing arm it set up rather than the entire YouWriteOn site, which seems to still be active.

It would be good to know which company those people who previously published with YouWriteOn/Legend Press contracted with. If it was with YouWriteOn, then I hope those rights were reverted prior to the voluntary winding up.

If YouWriteOn did have contracts with any authors and rights have not been reverted, then the author should look at the assignability provisions as to whether YWO could assign without consent.

MM
 

Old Hack

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MM, that was my concern too. I've had a quick look at the YWO forum but could find no threads about this, so it could be that the writers concerned aren't even aware that the company has been dissolved. And from what I remember of the contract that I read, there was no provision for nor mention of this situation.
 

pangalactic

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Does anybody know what the deal is with Legend Press these days? I've been invited to attend a workshop being run by then in February 2012 and having read this thread I'm starting to feel that I'd be better off spending the £50 (plus transport to London) on something else.

Thoughts?
 

Old Hack

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As far as I know, Legend Press and YouWriteOn no longer have any business connections.

If you're wondering if Legend Press's workshops are worth going to, consider what your goals are, and if you think Legend Press could help you achieve those goals. For example, have any of the books they've published hit the best-seller lists? Have they won any significant awards, been reviewed in the best publications, or even reached bookshop shelves?

I note from the link you provide that these are the speakers at the event:

Catherine Coe - Children's Books Editor and Author, formerly Senior Commissioning Editor at Hachette Children's Books
David Barry – Actor (aka. Frankie Abbot in Please Sir!) and Author
Darin Jewell – Author and Managing Director of The Inspira Group, literary agency
Tom Chalmers – Managing Director, Legend Press and Paperbooks Publishing
Daniel Cooke – Sales & Marketing, New Generation Publishing

New Generation Publishing morphed out of the YouWriteOn publishing scheme and is, as far as I know, a pay-to-play affair.

I'm not sure why appearing in a 1970s sitcom is significant when speaking at a "how to get published" seminar.

The Inspira Group is discussed here. It's a short thread, but the most important part is Victoria Strauss's comment here:

They are still charging: £350 up-front. The most recent report of this I've received is from late October of this year.

- Victoria

So their speakers are someone who used to be an editor; some bloke who appeared in a UK sitcom in the 1970s; the MD of an agency which charges reading fees, and high ones at that; the head of a small publisher which has been involved in a notorious vanity scheme; and a sales and marketing person who works for a pay-to-play publisher.

I'd not bother.
 

Momento Mori

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I have seen Legend Press mentioned in trade press. The problem is that although I've read about their company, I don't see a lot about their authors. When I went to their website, the top item on the front page today is touting the fact that one of their books got a good review ... on Amazon.

If that's the kind of thing they want to shout about, it doesn't fill me with confidence.

MM
 
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Spanishdreamer

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FeedaRead.com

Hello everyone.glad to be here. Has anyone had any experiences with FeedaRead.com. I'd like to know whether they are a good thing to try.
 

ianh

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youwriton.com

I don't know if anyone knows anything about this publisher,
youwriteon.com. It looks like self publishing but I am unsure as when reading the site they say they can get deals with Orion/Harper or even penguin.
Any ideas?
 
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aliceshortcake

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I just came across New Generation Publishing whilst looking for info about another publisher. From their FAQ section Who Self Publishes?

Career authors
This is the author who wants make a career out of writing and book publishing – in most situations the goal of this author is to be published traditionally and give up the day job to become a full-time author.

In most cases the author has received rejection letters from agents and publishers and this is often nothing to do with the quality of their work, more often than not it is because their book does not fit with the agent/publisher and, in virtually every case, it is because the publisher does not want to take on the risk of a new author, preferring instead to rely on their stable of existing authors, in particular celebrities who will guarantee a return.

The option of Self-Publishing gives the author a chance to prove themselves in the market, and also creating a business model to show an agent/publisher that they are less of a risk.

Lets face it, if an agent/traditional publisher is approached by an author who has Self-Published a book, proved the book has a market through sales and reviews, then it is likely they will be taken more seriously for their second and third books.
http://www.newgeneration-publishing.com/who-self-publishes

*sigh*
 

victoriastrauss

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Here is Tom Chalmers' latest venture: IPR License, a licensing platform for literary rights that can be used by individual authors, including self-publishers. More info here.
Initial membership: £99 (+VAT). This includes upload/registration of up to five full-length manuscripts (novel, non-fiction or finished collection of poetry/stories). £25 per additional manuscript you wish to upload, £10 per upload of supporting materials or updated work.

Annual renewal: Full site membership: £60 plus £5 for each additional manuscript beyond the initial five. Copyright registration only: £10 per manuscript.

- Victoria
 

Old Hack

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A display site with a new twist.

I wonder how many people will pay to sign up to this.
 

HJW

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Don't know if it is a coincidence, but YWO seems to have died today. May just be a blip, though.
 

Kate JR

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Anything new on this? I see Legend Press is still running under the same person with New Generation Publishing and Paperbooks still as imprints. I have heard many alarm bells over the years about this set up eg annual payments for distribution and problems with payment. Things may have changed though...
 

Old Hack

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Legend Press is still running. I don't know about the others but why would you work with any of them if you know they are a vanity press with problems with distribution or payment? I'd not even consider them.
 

Freya Yuki

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Does anyone have any experience with YouWriteOn.com as a critique site? From what it says on the site, it seems similar to Critique Circle in that one can post their stories and other people can then give feedback/critique on these stories. They also say posted stories that have high ratings can get free feedback from Random House and Orion. I've tried searching around for more info and reviews, but most of what I've found is about this site as a publisher, not as a critique site. So am wondering if anyone has tried this before?
 

Old Hack

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I was told the YWO discussion forum, where the critique part is based, is pretty much overrun with spam now, and that the moderator/owner of the site seems to have lost interest in it. Can you see if anyone has had their work seen by major publishers recently? Because I wonder if that is continuing, given the sad condition of the place.
 

writera

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So, as of 2017, is Legend Press legit or not? Any updates? I'd heard they were a respectable small UK press, had books longlisted on the Bailey's Prize, etc. But looking at these old posts, now I'm wondering!
 
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Old Hack

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Legend Press has published some good writers, and agents have made sales to them. But they have supported a vanity press, and I will always worry about that. I wouldn't work with them.