Decadent Publishing

DruidKitt · Apr 22, 2013

LaurelCremant said:
Hello All,

However, I really want to know how other authors who feel about this publisher. I'd love to here from anyone who's submitted to them regardless of getting a contract. I'm very new to this whole process and want to get a feel for the company and the players.

How is there response time? do they communicate well? How are they with marketing? Are your sales generally good? How about editing and cover design? Is there a strong DP author community? Are you basically satisfied?

Your input is MUCH appreciated. Thanks!

*Edit--I forgot to mention that the book I plan on submitting is an erotic contemporary romance

Hi Laurel,

I have published one story through Decadent, and there are two things that I disliked about the experience. YMMV.

1. My editor. I love hard edits, but the edits I got from Decadent were more about erasing voice than they were about correcting errors. My other (larger) publishers I've never had a problem with. I disliked this editor's approach. It was more like a dictatorship than a meeting of minds. When I politely disagreed with a note, it was responded with a "tough turkey, we're doing it my way." Did Not Like.

2. The way they handle piracy. They require their authors to send out the DMCAs, follow up, etc. They don't handle it at all. My other publishers do, so I vastly prefer to deal with them.

For these two reasons, I won't submit anything else here.

I'm sure that there are other, better editors at Decadent than the one I had, but that was my experience. Their royalties have been on time. The sales for my title were small, but I wasn't too disappointed.

I hope this helps you. Good luck with your decision.

LaurelCremant · Apr 23, 2013

DruidKitt said:
2. The way they handle piracy. They require their authors to send out the DMCAs, follow up, etc. They don't handle it at all. My other publishers do...

Hi DruidKitt,

Excuse another blatantly newbie question, but what are DMCAs? What does handling them yourself actually entail?

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

LaurelCremant · Apr 23, 2013

Hi KT, I have heard great things about their editing process and purchased a fee of their book and have notbeen dissapointed. Thanks for your feedback.

I'm anxious to learn about yheir turn around time as well since I did actually decide to submitto them

I know they havecdifferent lines so the response tinesbmay be different. I submitted to their general.

DruidKitt · Apr 23, 2013

LaurelCremant said:
Hi DruidKitt,

Excuse another blatantly newbie question, but what are DMCAs? What does handling them yourself actually entail?

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

NP, Laurel!

A DMCA is a notice of copyright infringement. Here's a post that will give you the basic idea: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/09/dmca-notice-of-copyright-infringement.html

If you're spending all your time chasing pirates (which Decadent won't help you with) then you won't have as much time to write. That's my take on it anyway.

Decadent doesn't place a copyright on their books (to my knowledge, most do. My other pubs do, anyway). Another duty they put onto their authors. So if you sign with them, be aware that they're going to ask you to shoulder even more of the burden than other small epubs will.

I hope this helps. I don't mean to bash them, but I don't agree with the way they handle these things.

LaurelCremant · Apr 23, 2013

DruidKitt said:
NP, Laurel!

A DMCA is a notice of copyright infringement. Here's a post that will give you the basic idea: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/09/dmca-notice-of-copyright-infringement.html

If you're spending all your time chasing pirates (which Decadent won't help you with) then you won't have as much time to write. That's my take on it anyway.

Decadent doesn't place a copyright on their books (to my knowledge, most do. My other pubs do, anyway). Another duty they put onto their authors. So if you sign with them, be aware that they're going to ask you to shoulder even more of the burden than other small epubs will.

I hope this helps. I don't mean to bash them, but I don't agree with the way they handle these things.

Thanks Druid! Is there any benefit to the author or publisher in regards to who does the copyright? I understand why something is copyrighted, but is there a benefit in regards to who does it?

Parametric · Apr 23, 2013

DruidKitt said:
Decadent doesn't place a copyright on their books (to my knowledge, most do. My other pubs do, anyway). Another duty they put onto their authors. So if you sign with them, be aware that they're going to ask you to shoulder even more of the burden than other small epubs will.

Could you clarify what you mean by "doesn't place a copyright on their books"? Any manuscript is automatically copyright to the author the moment the author writes it down, so it's copyright long before Decadent ever sees it. What is it that Decadent doesn't do?

James D. Macdonald · Apr 23, 2013

Regardless of whether the publisher or the author registers copyright, copyright is usually registered in the author's name.

The advantage of registering copyright is that, should infringement occur, you can sue for statutory damages, not just actual damages.

KT Grant · Apr 23, 2013

LaurelCremant said:
Hi KT, I have heard great things about their editing process and purchased a fee of their book and have notbeen dissapointed. Thanks for your feedback.

I'm anxious to learn about yheir turn around time as well since I did actually decide to submitto them I know they havecdifferent lines so the response tinesbmay be different. I submitted to their general.

Decadent used to be a lot faster, usually within a month, but they have been getting a lot of submissions. It usually depends on what line you submit for. To be safe I would say 3 months. If you don't hear back from someone by then, I would email them back.

KT Grant · Apr 23, 2013

Parametric said:
Could you clarify what you mean by "doesn't place a copyright on their books"? Any manuscript is automatically copyright to the author the moment the author writes it down, so it's copyright long before Decadent ever sees it. What is it that Decadent doesn't do?

You have to purchase your own copyright. It's usually a $35 you can do online and it's pretty easy to do. Some epubs will buy the copyright, others don't and it's up to the author to do it to protect their work.

Old Hack · Apr 23, 2013

KT Grant said:
You have to purchase your own copyright. It's usually a $35 you can do online and it's pretty easy to do. Some epubs will buy the copyright, others don't and it's up to the author to do it to protect their work.

You absolutely don't "have to purchase your own copyright". You own the copyright to your work the instant you create it.

Electronic publishers don't "buy the copyright" either.

What you're referring to is the registration of copyright which, as James has already pointed out, means that "should infringement occur, you can sue for statutory damages, not just actual damages."

It's important to get your terms right, especially when giving advice like this.

KT Grant · Apr 23, 2013

Old Hack said:
You absolutely don't "have to purchase your own copyright". You own the copyright to your work the instant you create it.

Electronic publishers don't "buy the copyright" either.

What you're referring to is the registration of copyright which, as James has already pointed out, means that "should infringement occur, you can sue for statutory damages, not just actual damages."

It's important to get your terms right, especially when giving advice like this.

Sorry you found my wording incorrect.

What I meant is the registration of the copyright. Some epublishers don't register the copyright through the US copyright office, and if they don't, they recommend the author register it themselves.

https://eco.copyright.gov/eService_enu/start.swe?SWECmd=Start&SWEHo=eco.copyright.gov

Old Hack · Apr 23, 2013

KT Grant said:
Sorry you found my wording incorrect.

Getting your words right is kind of important if you're a writer, don't you think? Especially if getting them wrong when you give advice means that you're misleading people.

veinglory · Apr 23, 2013

Some epublishers also make no recommendation about registering copyright at all. I can't remember most of mine ever mentioning it beyond saying they don't register.

Ann_Mayburn · Apr 23, 2013

I was gonna say, the epub's I write for have made no mention of it. The only one that has, Decadent, also included a tutorial on how to do it and left it up to the authors. Ie, here is the info now do with it as you choose. I believe I write for some good sized epubs so not sure what the author above was talking about.

In the same line of thought, I've never had a publisher that has a anti-piracy person that constantly search for their books and sends take down notices. If yours does, awesome. I can contact my epub with a complaint and they'll work with me on taking it down, but I don't believe any of them have a dedicated anti-piracy person that sends out DMCAs all day. I'm proactive about my books, I search for them everyday, and I also utilize a paid for service that does searches for me as well. Even with both of us searching, piracy sites and piracy books still get through.

Oh, and with Decadent if I send a DMCA I cc Decadent and they'll send their own letter to the site as well.

So, I guess it's all a matter of your personal experience and perspective. If any ePublisher's have a dedicated DMCA person that sends out and follows up on notices all day every day, I'd like to know who and do a quick test to see if I can find their books on piracy sites.

DruidKitt · Apr 24, 2013

Ann_Mayburn said:
I believe I write for some good sized epubs so not sure what the author above was talking about.

In the same line of thought, I've never had a publisher that has a anti-piracy person that constantly search for their books and sends take down notices. If yours does, awesome. I can contact my epub with a complaint and they'll work with me on taking it down,

The other epubs I've written for have the copyright registration agreement in the contracts. They haven't mentioned it other than that, because they don't have to. It's in what I've signed, and they registered for me. I liked that I didn't have to worry about it.

And as far as the piracy goes, I want my publisher to work as hard as I do at preventing and correcting piracy. So far, I haven't seen that from Decadent. I don't want to be the only one sending DMCAs and pushing for takedown. A company has more leverage than a single author, and I don't want to shoulder the burden alone. I'm glad they've helped you, but that wasn't how it went down with me.

I'm just offering my experience in hopes that it'll be helpful. I loved some aspects of Decadent. I loved my cover, for instance. The royalty statements come at the same time every month. But it wasn't all sunshine and roses, and I think information is power. So, there's that.

I'm glad you're happy with them, and I wish you the best of luck. No publisher is perfect, and I think it's best for authors to make the most informed decision that they can.

LaurelCremant · May 3, 2013

Thanks everyone for taking the time to give me both input and advice

I did end up subbing to Decadent but sadly got a rejection email this week. The turn around was quite quick (2 & 1/2 weeks). Luckily I got right back on the submission wagon and received an offer from Evernight so I'm good to go

gingerwoman · Sep 8, 2013

DruidKitt said:
Hi Laurel,

I have published one story through Decadent, and there are two things that I disliked about the experience. YMMV.

1. My editor. I love hard edits, but the edits I got from Decadent were more about erasing voice than they were about correcting errors. My other (larger) publishers I've never had a problem with. I disliked this editor's approach. It was more like a dictatorship than a meeting of minds. When I politely disagreed with a note, it was responded with a "tough turkey, we're doing it my way." Did Not Like.

2. The way they handle piracy. They require their authors to send out the DMCAs, follow up, etc. They don't handle it at all. My other publishers do, so I vastly prefer to deal with them.

For these two reasons, I won't submit anything else here.

I'm sure that there are other, better editors at Decadent than the one I had, but that was my experience. Their royalties have been on time. The sales for my title were small, but I wasn't too disappointed.

I hope this helps you. Good luck with your decision.

Samhain Publishing handles piracy the same way. If you find it, you have to send out the DMCA yourself, although they do provide the DMCA letter for you.

meg_b · Jun 12, 2014

Is there any updates on Decadent Publishing as to how they handle their books?

jduff · Jun 12, 2014

I have published two works with Decadent, a short story and a novella. I've been very pleased with them and intend to work with them in the future. The editing is thorough and the sales are solid from my experience. The authors are fabulous.

I'd be happy to answer more detailed and specific questions via PM or email.

LilithDarville · Mar 5, 2015

Any Updates on Decadent

Hi Folks - I see it's been almost a year since the last update. Any news?

Lilith

MsLaylaCakes · Mar 6, 2015

I'll echo Jen's experience. I've published a handful of novellas with Decadent and plan to send them more works in the future. The editing was awesome (made me a better writer awesome), and I love the author community they've created. If anyone has any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer via PM or email as well.

Filigree · Mar 6, 2015

Good to hear. I had some qualms about them, based off earlier parts of this thread and a professional association of theirs, but I'll upgrade them on my list and see where they're at in a year or so.

Ravioli · Mar 6, 2015

I was like, "Yay, sounds just right for my MS!"
Then I read "up to 60k words". And I'm like, dude, mine has 132k.

Trudging on.

S.C. Wynne · May 30, 2015

You have to email to request their submission form if you want to submit? You can't just submit to them? That's rather odd.

MsLaylaCakes · Jun 1, 2015

You do. I remember getting the form within 24hrs of requesting it, if that helps....

Decadent Publishing

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