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LazyDay Publishing

Momento Mori

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eqb:
While they have not engaged in the usual name-calling here on AW, they did just that on their blog:

Wow. So professional. I find myself suddenly convinced and must send my novel to them post haste.

LazyDay Blog:
We don’t mind the questions in the slightest.

Oh really? Your blog post and answers here suggest otherwise. Compare and contrast your behaviour with that on the guys behind Dystopia Press who answer questions on this thread. They're open, they tackle questions head on, they are able to meet concerns by the fact that they have previous publishing experience and they don't whine on blogs about how mean people are being about them because people are asking legitimate questions.

LazyDay Blog:
Some authors on a particular forum, which I will not name, feel that our lack of once working for a publisher makes us “gormless”.

That's pretty gutless. If you're going to have a whinge about something, at least have the guts to name the people you're whinging about. If only because people are going to find out who you mean anyway.

LazyDay Blog:
On this same forum, these authors also offered their “all knowing” advice on how to become a successful publisher. How they became “experienced”, I’m not sure.

Really? Are you not capable of reading people's signatures then or do you just not know how to ask people what their experience is?

There have been commercially published authors, agented authors and at least one professional editor commenting on this thread.

LazyDay Blog:
But many of those 2,000 views sent e-mails with questions, nice comments and more importantly…submissions!

Ah yes. "The people support me in secret" defence. Always convincing.

LazyDay Blog:
I was happy to see that not ALL authors on that forum are bitter, inappropriate and negative. I was happy to see that the positive authors were busy writing and creating great stories, instead of bashing a new company.

How is asking questions and pointing out potential pitfalls for authors "bitter, inappropriate and negaative"? Unless you can show that someone on this thread has submitted to you and be rejected, I don't really see what we have to be bitter about.

LazyDay Blog:
I took the higher road on this forum.

But sank to their level by moaning on my blog. (I just filled that bit in for you).

LazyDay Blog:
This was not an easy thing to do.

So I see. Taking the high road sure didn't last long. Maybe that high road was more a pathway.

LazyDay Blog:
How these cranky, arrogant and rude authors suddenly became the voice of the forum, I’m not sure.

Oh, I know the answer to this. We post on the thread, read other people's posts and generally participate. That's how it usually works on message boards.

LazyDay Blog:
I guess the better question would be how they became so negative in the first place?

If you bothered to take a look at some of the other threads, you'd see it's because we've seen dozens and dozens of enterprises exactly like yours promising great things and failing to deliver, leaving authors frustrated, angry and in the worst cases, out of pocket. All too often, new epublishers go under within the first 2 years of trading, taking an author's first publishing rights with them.

LazyDay Blog:
Maybe it’s all the rejection letters they have received in their lifetime.

Please. You can do better than that. The whole "you're just jealous because you've been rejected" line has been used so many times it's on our Bingo card. And not only that - it's blatantly untrue. eqb and Jim are just 2 of the people here who've been commercially published by advance paying and respected publishers.

LazyDay Blog:
They would also bash anyone who dare try to stick up for the new guy.

No, I think we pointed out the potential use of sock puppets. Mocking sock puppets isn't only allowed, it's actually mandatory in some parts of the world.

LazyDay Blog:
These few authors who fuel the negativity on this site are doomed to an unhappy existence of barely making it as a writer.

Wrong. But even if it were true, barely making it as a writer is a damned sight less damaging to people than barely making it as a publisher, don't you think?

LazyDay Blog:
I feel sorry that they have forgotten about the art of storytelling.

Whereas the gift for outrageous fiction is clearly alive and well on your blog. Congratulations on maintaining a fine tradition of bullshit.

LazyDay Blog:
We at LazyDay are not mad at them.

Sorry, I couldn't make that out through the gritted teeth. Care to repeat it?

LazyDay Blog:
The next post will not be for those few authors who are simply hateful.

Aw, shucks. How very disappointing.

LazyDay Blog:
We thank all the authors, review sites and industry professionals who have welcomed us with open arms!

Review sites? I thought they weren't going to have anything out until December.

Pft. I have to say that I find their effort a little unconvincing really - not quite enough on there for me to call bingo so I'll give them 2 out of 5 stars for their general classiness and whiny arse bullshit.

MM
 
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jennontheisland

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Wow. Yeah, way to kill any possibility of being considered professional.

I took the higher road on this forum. This was not an easy thing to do. How these cranky, arrogant and rude authors suddenly became the voice of the forum, I’m not sure. I guess the better question would be how they became so negative in the first place? Maybe it’s all the rejection letters they have received in their lifetime. :)
http://lazydaypub.com/blog/?p=65

That's a lovely little high road there. I wonder how they plan on reacting if their books receive less than glowing reviews.

ETA: Mori, you type way too freaking fast.
 
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Bubastes

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:nothing

Amazing keyboard-fu, MM.

They clearly have no idea who posts on AW. It's not your average writer's forum.
 

eqb

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Whatever lingering sympathy I had for them is gone. Clearly they don't take criticism well, and they would rather run off the cliff at full speed than take any advice.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to fulfill my scheduled hour of bitterness and rejection. *rolls eyes*
 

Bubastes

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Oh eqb, why are you spending so much time wallowing in negativity and bashing a new company instead of writing stories? You've obviously forgotten about the art of storytelling and are doomed to an unhappy existence of barely make it as a writer. Doomed, I say! [/sarcasm]
 

jennontheisland

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You'll have to use a larger font. eqb and I can't see for the stacks and stacks of rejection letters piled up around us.
 

mscelina

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Fortunately, the matter is now very simple.

A company that cannot stand the pressure of questions from professionals within the industry--an industry that they self-admittedly are new to themselves--is unlikely to withstand the pressure of competing within that industry and providing a safe and reputable environment for the work of the authors they are attempting to attract.
 

Bubastes

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Fortunately, the matter is now very simple.

A company that cannot stand the pressure of questions from professionals within the industry--an industry that they self-admittedly are new to themselves--is unlikely to withstand the pressure of competing within that industry and providing a safe and reputable environment for the work of the authors they are attempting to attract.

Quoted for truth. Well, it looks like we have all the information we need.
 

thothguard51

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Well, I just responded to the blog, politely but pointedly about their view of professionalism. I suspect it will disappear soon, but I did get a snap shot of it...

I just could not let this one go buy, as they were treated honestly...
 

Bubastes

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Here's their Twitter feed. Hint to LD: If you've never read steampunk, don't ask potential authors to submit it. How are you going to know whether it's sellable if you don't know what's already out there?
 

Topaz044

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*bashes head against wall*

I actually do support small presses just starting out, but this one does not make me want to submit anything. I mean, if I worked for LazyDay and I had a problem, how do I know they won't post a blog insulting me the next day? That seems to be their attitude, although I would love for them to prove me wrong. I might try again in a year or two, when them have more experience.
 

Amadan

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Scanning the LazyDay blog, I see that the publishers still don't get it. While they have not engaged in the usual name-calling here on AW, they did just that on their blog:

http://lazydaypub.com/blog/?p=65

Sigh. These latest blog posts alone convince me that they are a poor choice for authors.

Wow. Truly classless.
 

BenPanced

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Popular mantra they keep hitting on Twitter and their blog:

We own 3 other businesses with experience in business,sales, marketing
We own 3 other businesses with experience in business,sales, marketing
We own 3 other businesses with experience in business,sales, marketing
We own 3 other businesses with experience in business,sales, marketing
We own 3 other businesses with experience in business,sales, marketing
We own 3 other businesses with experience in business,sales, marketing

I'm convinced.:sarcasm

:mob <--group photo taken at the last AW picnic
 

LazyDay

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The post has been removed, because in no way did we mean to offend everyone on this site. As I mentioned before, there are many opinions I respect and value on this forum. We at LazyDay went on this forum with 100% good intentions, and leave with the same. We have taken some of the advice and have decided to act on what many of you have said. We do value comments on other posts as well, and have used this site for our research. We are sorry to anyone who took offense.
 

BenPanced

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And, unless I'm not clicking far enough and I'm actually missing it, it looks like you also deleted the post that offered no further explanation beyond the three businesses you have started the past (which also remain yet unnamed), and your partners' backgrounds in marketing and PR and two people, myself included, asked your qualifications to operate a publishing business.
 
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Marian Perera

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The post has been removed, because in no way did we mean to offend everyone on this site.

If "hateful", "unhappy", "bitter, inappropriate and negative" and "cranky, arrogant and rude" is what you normally say when you don't mean to offend people, I can only imagine what you say when you do.
 

eqb

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If "hateful", "unhappy", "bitter, inappropriate and negative" and "cranky, arrogant and rude" is what you normally say when you don't mean to offend people, I can only imagine what you say when you do.

Perhaps the keyword is "everyone" and they only meant to offend a couple people? *g*

Ben: Googling shows that they own Element Tanning, LLC (started in October 2006) and The Fountains Senior Care, Inc (web domain registered in 2003). I can't find any info on the third business.

Seriously, I hope they mean it when they say are willing to take advice and that they are using this site for research. I wish them the best of luck.
 
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Momento Mori

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We own 3 other businesses with experience in business,sales, marketing

I for one am relieved that they own a business with experience in business ... I hate it when I encounter businesses with no experience in business - it's so unbusiness like.

More seriously, one thing that I keep seeing with start-up new publishers is an assumption that because they have sales/marketing experience in another industry, then they automatically have the tools to start themselves up as a publisher. Although there are key skills and aspects to sales and marketing that go cross sectors, the key to making a sale is having a product that people want to buy. If you've got no experience of selecting and getting that product out there, then you're doomed from the start - particularly in publishing where you really are stuck with a buyer's (whether an end reader/customer or store buyer's) subjective tastes on both the cover and the contents, with the only objective yardstick being previous sales history.

Start-up epublishers seem to think they can get around this by just having a store out there on the web, but if customers don't know about your store or your books, why is anyone going to buy anything.

MM
 

Bubastes

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Does anyone else find it strange that a publisher who plans to use electronic media as a primary marketing tool seems so clueless about, well, using electronic media? I hope LD uses this latest snafu as a learning experience.
 

Jersey Chick

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I'm still baffled by the fact that asking questions automatically constitutes negativity and bashing and all that other hateful nonsense people throw out when they don't want to answer a question directly. Oh, and of course the inevitable "must have a pile of rejection slips to be so negative" and "what experience they have, I don't know," lines that get tossed out when you're called on the unwillingness to answer certain questions.

Running 3 successful non-publishing businesses bears no reflection on how well you'll run a publishing business. My brother in law owns three very successful tanning salons, but he knows jack squat about publishing.
 

FallenAngel

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I'm trying soo hard not to let my 4chan side appear on what seems to be one of the rare safe havens away from anonymous. Resisting to troll the original poster is difficult. However because I don't want to taint this site with as***** of the dark side of the internet. I will try and be respectful with this post.



Lazyday, The blog you posted clearly did offend many of the great authors on this site. While I understand the frustration of being asked questions. ranting about it was NOT professional. You proved in this thread how poor you handle criticism instead of taking advice. I find it somewhat disrespectful that you offended many of the great people/community here.

Most of which take time away from their busy schedule to help people like myself improve on their writing. I have only been on this site a short while, but I have found the community here to be quite friendly and helpful. The community here is very rare to encounter and very much educational. You learn things here that is taught at University level.

I am sorry for my harsh comment, however It's not as harsh as I could be; like I said I am not letting the internet hate machine side of me taint these forums.

One other thing I will add: If you lurked around long enough, you would clearly see why many authors ask questions on your capability. The bad experiences with publishers, and constant heart breaks that still occurs every day, just makes a person more skeptical when a new company arises with promises too good to be true. There are hundreds of threads with horrific experiences with publishers. Go check the PA threads and you will see what I'm talking about.

Coming here offering your business and beating around the bush instead of answering the questions head on and later creating a blog ranting about it is frowned upon. I mean no disrespect here, this is my honest opinion based on what I have read in this thread so far.
 

Jennifer Robins

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I have to agree with Fallen Angel after having my own bad experineces. I recently had a book "Jeffrey" out with Hearts On Fire and no sooner it came out in print they closed the doors and now I descover they opened under another name after giving me a release and left me holding the bag so to speak. I also fell for the PA thing back some earlier years ago and was released from another book.
So I know what it's like not to completely trust a new pub. and want to know more about them.