Hello All,
As one of the founders, I thought I might weigh in here, if that's all right. I may get pummeled for even trying, but such is life.
Hello, Mr Vogel, and welcome to AW.
We insist on good standards of respect and courtesy here, and won't put up with "pummeling". If you see any posts that you find rude or objectionable, click on the Report Post button--it's the little red triangle with the exclamation-mark inside it, down in the bottom left of each post. That'll bring the post to the moderators' attention, and make sure it's dealt with appropriately.
Our website is intentionally non-specific, not to hide how we work from authors (I answer a lot of questions by email regarding specifics), but to avoid giving away our entire business model to the world. We're a business, after all. We'd have nothing to offer if it was all offered for free through aecstellar.com.
It's important that writers who are considering submitting to you know what your business model is before they submit: otherwise they might well be wasting their time and yours. And it isn't an issue which requires secrecy: you'll lose nothing by letting the whole world know how you operate. It's not like you have a secret recipe for publishing, which has to be protected: the writers you publish are the ones who provide that special ingredient.
Except in unique circumstances articulated transparently in contracts and driven by the authors, we do not accept funds from authors. So the question of "how much" is difficult to answer. We state clearly on the website that we are not a vanity publisher.
I'm pretty sure that PublishAmerica says on its website that it's not a vanity publisher too. That doesn't mean that it isn't.
Those two sentences I've bolded contradict each other. The first one says that you do accept funds from authors (albeit only in special circumstances); the second one says you're not a vanity publisher.
If you take money from your authors to fund the publishing of their books then you are a vanity publisher, no matter how infrequently you do so.
We do not accept everyone, but we avoid rejecting on the basis of "needs editing" or "not already famous." This has left us at an acceptance rate currently hovering just below 30%. I'd like it to stay there, but I do expect that to decrease over time.
Blimey O'Reilley.
When I ran my own slush-pile I accepted less than 1% of submissions.
I've seen a lot of slush, and unless your slush-pile consists solely of submissions from good agents, there's no way that 30% of it is good enough to earn its keep when published commercially.
If the majority of the books you publish can't turn you, the publisher, a profit then you're going to have to fund your publishing endeavours by other means. In other words, you depend on the money you take from your authors under those "unique circumstances articulated transparently in contracts and driven by the authors".
Although we're growing about as fast as we can handle, we ARE a small, new company. We still have teeth to cut and pudding to prove. Of course, I'm also personally confident in our approaches, or I wouldn't be doing it. But if new isn't your thing, there are other publishers with more experience and lower submission rates. I'm a fan of writer success, no matter how it's achieved. I mean that sincerely.
It's not that "new isn't [my] thing", it's that I prefer publishers which can help make my books the best that they can be, and which can publish them well and sell them in good quantity, so that I can continue to earn my living writing them.
Yes, I'm also an author and have signed the same contract as our other authors. I've seen other publishing contracts, including ones offered to me, and, frankly, I was floored by the boldness with which they try to own you - like, forever.
There are always going to be dodgy publishing contracts, but then there are always going to be dodgy publishers. Good publishers offer reasonable reversion clauses and don't expect to "own" writers or their books in perpetuity; and their contracts are negotiable. I wonder which publishers you've worked with.
As you can guess, that was one of the factors that led to the start of this business.
Being unhappy with a contract you've been offered is not a good reason to start a publishing house.
Having several years' experience in publishing, understanding the business, having a lot of funding behind you, and wanting to bring wonderful books to the reading public is a far better one.
Our contracts are as author-centric as our business can handle. This may prove to be less profitable than we'd like in the end, but it's the kind of company we wanted to be.
Good contracts benefit both the author
and the publisher.
The "How We Got This Way" page is an opinion piece, nothing more. One intended only to express frustration over the publishing industry as it exists. A lot of folks disagree (some of you, it seems) and many more have agreed with it (perhaps more than they should have), but I'm convinced it's more than rhethoric. Very unfortunately.
There's much in that opinion-piece that I disagree with. It doesn't match the experience I've gained from my years working in trade publishing. Not only is it misleading, bitter and factually incorrect, it's disrespectful towards publishers, agents, writers, and self-publishers.
Anyway, I sincerely appreciate the thoughtful discussion on this forum. I also hope my presence doesn't dissuade you from expressing honest opinions and impressions - they're the only ones that help us grow.
Best of luck to you all,
Ray
Your presence here won't put any of us off speaking honestly about your publishing company. I can promise you that.
