[ePub] E-Lit Books

Moonchild · Jan 12, 2015

Hi all,

I looked for this e-publisher all over AW and P&E, but I couldn't find them at all, so I'm assuming there's no thread on them yet...

From their website (http://www.e-litbooks.com/), I can't suss out if they're a pay-to-play or if they're just an indie e-publisher with a more traditional model. Or hybrid? (Whatever that actually means... The whole 'hybrid' thing still makes me twitchy).

My suspicions lean towards the former (pay-to-play), because they have a tiny 'terms of service' link hidden at the very bottom and when you click on it, there's talk about payment. But that could be referring to buying books off their website.

Anyone has any info about or experience with these guys?

aleighrose · Jan 12, 2015

Nothing about them says "vanity press" to me. Most publishers (most businesses, in fact) have a Terms of Service link at the bottom of the website. Also, on their submissions form, they ask for agent contact info. People who use vanity publishers don't have agents. I'd say E-Lit is a traditional small publisher.

The sales rankings of their books on Amazon are pretty mediocre, and the highest ranked one was written by a staff member (the others weren't). They only have 6 books so far. This looks like a "wait and see how they're doing in a few years" situation.

Thedrellum · Jan 13, 2015

According to their site, E-Lit is a publishing arm of agent Frances Black's agency Literary Counsel. Their AW web page is here.

From a quick scan of their agency site, it doesn't seem like they have a ton of sales to big publishers--some to William Morrow, Month9, and Entangled. A number of AWers have signed with them, so they might have more to say about that, as well as the subject of E-Lit Books. What sticks out to me is that the agency lists sales to their own publishing arm as sales, which seems disingenuous.

victoriastrauss · Jan 13, 2015

Thedrellum said:
What sticks out to me is that the agency lists sales to their own publishing arm as sales, which seems disingenuous.

Not just disingenuous--potentially, a big conflict of interest (since you hire an agent to sell your work to others, not to publish it herself).

- Victoria

Karoline · Feb 8, 2015

I am a client of Literary Counsel. This is an awesome agency. My first book, The Art of Being Rebekkah was published by E-Lit Books, but they just got me a 2 book deal with Berkley. This agency is the best. I would never go anywhere else! They work tirelessly and believe in and encourage their authors. I can't say enough good things about them! And no, E-Lit Books is NOT a vanity press. Did not pay one penny to them for my cover or for marketing.

CaoPaux · Mar 27, 2016

Hmm. Of the six books shown on the site, five are from '13, and the last, Algorithm, is from '14 (it comes up on Amazon as self-published, although copyright page does list E-Lit as publisher). At Literary Counsel, they list a second "sale" to E-Lit for '14, which was published, but isn't on E-Lit site (and, again, shows on Amazon as self-published 'cept for E-Lit on copyright page).

So. Anyone have recent contact?

[ePub] E-Lit Books

Moonchild

I write fluff and that's OK.

aleighrose

Thedrellum

Grr. Argh.

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess

Karoline

Author/Reader/Nancy Drew fan

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless