The straight in H&H
It’s always good idea to check with authors, though I've never done it myself. Here's my personal opinion on Hilliard & Harris.
Positives:
-- Generally good production quality, but you have to scour for errors in the galleys and then make sure they get corrected.
-- If you are a mystery writer, they are strongest in this area and seem more eager to push their mystery authors. Mine is not a mystery.
-- Some marketing support, but not nearly enough to make a difference. You have to tell them about your leads and send them specific names and addresses.
Negatives:
-- Poor distribution at every level, since they are essentially a print-on-demand publisher which I didn't find out until after the book was published.
-- Most bookstores would rather not bother ordering your book and will not stock it unless you have some kind of personal relationship with them.
-- You'll have to sell the book yourself, with your own marketing campaign (direct mail, public appearances, etc.) and at your own expense. But this is common among all publishers until you've made it big.
-- Big red flag: I've learned that no royalties are paid to authors until the company has recouped its costs. In effect, this results in back-door subsidy publishing. I didn't find this out until after the book was published. If I had known this, I could have considered that in my decision making process. You can't see this coming in the contract, but they can say it was there in the word "net." It's just that "net" seems to mean one thing to most commercial publishers and something different to this publisher. Furthermore, while there must be some H&H authors who have received a royalty check, the authors I have spoken to have never received any royalties.
Should you go with them if they make you an offer?
Sure, but not if you can get a better deal. If you do go with this publisher, let it be for the love for your book and the desire to get it published by a "professional" house, not because you need to make money.
Would I publish with them again?
I might if it were the only way to get my book out there. Sounds pretty dumb, doesn't it? My problem now is that my work-in-progress is a sequel to the book the company published. H&H has a very strict non-competition clause in effect for ten years for each time you renew the contract. All future contracts will remain the same as the origninal. This is stated in your first contract.