Hi Sharon,

This is a great resource.

I've had an excellent small press experience myself, but over the past six months or so less-than-satisfactory stories have come to me from friends and colleagues who signed on with other companies that billed themselves as 'small press', but aren't really a true press at all. The link you posted gives some useful guidelines for telling the difference. 

I still say, if you land a solid well-respected small press, it's a much better option than self-publishing.  But you gotta make sure they are well respected and _real_ before you sign on. 

I've been thinking about working up some thoughts on this for my livejournal blog.  If/when I get around to it, I'll let you know, in case you find it helpful.

Crap I thought I commented on this yesterday at work but my reply must have gotten eaten. ANYWAY, thank you, Sharon. This was a great, informative post. I traveled to the fifth level of Google hell the other day trying to find out what a "boutique" publisher was. Turns out it's a publisher who specializes in a certain genre. Why can't they just say "We publish fantasy and sci-fi." "We publish lit fic." Sighhhh jargon.

Diana,

AbsoluteWrite is a great resource. Thanks! I was able to spend some time reading through it this morning and came across this about Briona Glen Publishing. Since they're active' on this site, I'll post the link: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthr … 13out:home (Maybe they'll want to reply.)


Excerpts plucked from the BEWARES & BACKGROUND forum thread discussion, I quote:

"But, really, if your goal here is to disabuse us of our notions regarding Briona Glen, then why not answer the points Momento Mori and others bring up? If that isn't your goal, then why did you stop by here in the first place? Did you expect us to take your assertions regarding publishing (that don't have much in the way of facts behind them) and simply shut up?"

"(Point: No one gets a free pass on AW, especially in the Bewares & Backgrounds section.)"

"And, really, the reason we're asking these questions and making these points is because we want to know the answers you have to give. (Well, that and we don't want what we see as misinformation spread around for the unwary to find. Granted, if you provide support for your assertions, maybe you can prove that what your saying about commercial publishing isn't misinformation.)"

^ I can't speak for BG myself, but I saw that post a while ago and I think BG has drastically changed their "mission" and goals since then. The writers I have spoken with who have work forthcoming from BG are nothing but satisfied with the experience so far. Their new website has eliminated all the stuff that thread mentions. They're a very new press but have recently acquired some employees with extensive publishing backgrounds and I think that's helped them.

Guess you gotta start somewhere. But the creative director apparently brought a bunch of experienced people with her who aren't mentioned. BG would do good to at least address that thread, though - it's the first thing that comes up when I googled their name besides their website. Doesn't exactly help their image.

JElizabeth wrote:

By the way, I remembered you saying Linen Press was on your to-sub list... don't. The owner emailed me yesterday saying she is booked for publication through 2012. So nice that her website doesn't say that - I wasted a bunch of time tweaking my synopsis to her specifications.

Don't you hate that? I hadn't gotten around to them yet, so thanks! I think the best thing we writers can do is keep each other informed of whatever we find out there. Good or bad. It DOES take an enormous amount of time tailoring cover letters to each publisher. I feel like such a bullshit artist by day's end...

(Can you believe I was interrupted in the middle of writing this post to be handed my own SASE that came in the mail, with a rejection inside?)

I know... They have egos you have to appeal to. Like we writers. We want to be told how great we are, and they want to be told how great they are and how we admire their catalog yada yada... (and all of the places I send to, I do admire their stables.)

I must've seen it in a different thread, but a good synopsis is important in the novel-in-progress Faulkner category. It's ridiculous how important! But a lot can be made of the story's start when it's accompanied by a really good synopsis that shows the judges there's a NOVEL that's IN progress. Good luck next year. It's never too early to start, if Eggshells isn't published by then.

I am suspicious of any publisher who randomly appears with a foreign address. Maybe that's just me - but whenever I post something on Craigslist the scammers have Europen addresses.

So I'm an idiot and didn't scroll down to read your entire post. To me they're as good as a scam, plain and simple.

Last edited by JElizabeth (09-06-2011 07:57:34)

Thanks ladies - I thought it was too good to be true!

JElizabeth wrote:

^ I can't speak for BG myself, but I saw that post a while ago and I think BG has drastically changed their "mission" and goals since then. The writers I have spoken with who have work forthcoming from BG are nothing but satisfied with the experience so far. Their new website has eliminated all the stuff that thread mentions. They're a very new press but have recently acquired some employees with extensive publishing backgrounds and I think that's helped them.

I checked on their website again and see they only have one book in their 'store'. I don't see where there is anyone with any real publishing experience. Nor do I see anyone with any editorial experience (having a published book which they edited--novel, not an anthology or comic). Their main areas of expertise seem to hinge on their IT guy. For putting on smashwords and Kindle, etc. Start-ups are nice, but not if they don't have the expertise to back up their 'project'. I'd like to see how they're doing a year from now. If they go belly up, what happens to the author's rights, I wonder?

rita aguilar wrote:

Hi Sharon,

This is a great resource.

I've had an excellent small press experience myself, but over the past six months or so less-than-satisfactory stories have come to me from friends and colleagues who signed on with other companies that billed themselves as 'small press', but aren't really a true press at all. The link you posted gives some useful guidelines for telling the difference. 

I still say, if you land a solid well-respected small press, it's a much better option than self-publishing.  But you gotta make sure they are well respected and _real_ before you sign on. 

I've been thinking about working up some thoughts on this for my livejournal blog.  If/when I get around to it, I'll let you know, in case you find it helpful.

I can't believe how much I've learned about publishing. I could write a book. How are you doing on your thoughts--still working them up? One thing I'm finding is a glut of new 'publishers' with no prior publishing experience (other than self-publishing, and downloading on smashwords), with no professional editing experience, stepping in to fill the voracious appetites of over-eager unpublished writers. Many of these new 'publishers' are 'writers' themselves, and claim to identify with "all that good writing going unpublished, O the humanity." I think the fledgling writer's rush to publish is easily exploited. Usually regretted. These types of new 'publishers' give well-respected small presses a bad name. The road to publication is like surfing: Be patient and your wave will come.

s_thatcher wrote:

rita aguilar wrote:

Hi Sharon,

This is a great resource.

I've had an excellent small press experience myself, but over the past six months or so less-than-satisfactory stories have come to me from friends and colleagues who signed on with other companies that billed themselves as 'small press', but aren't really a true press at all. The link you posted gives some useful guidelines for telling the difference. 

I still say, if you land a solid well-respected small press, it's a much better option than self-publishing.  But you gotta make sure they are well respected and _real_ before you sign on. 

I've been thinking about working up some thoughts on this for my livejournal blog.  If/when I get around to it, I'll let you know, in case you find it helpful.

I can't believe how much I've learned about publishing. I could write a book. How are you doing on your thoughts--still working them up? One thing I'm finding is a glut of new 'publishers' with no prior publishing experience (other than self-publishing, and downloading on smashwords), with no professional editing experience, stepping in to fill the voracious appetites of over-eager unpublished writers. Many of these new 'publishers' are 'writers' themselves, and claim to identify with "all that good writing going unpublished, O the humanity." I think the fledgling writer's rush to publish is easily exploited. Usually regretted. These types of new 'publishers' give well-respected small presses a bad name. The road to publication is like surfing: Be patient and your wave will come.

Oops, I, uhm, forgot to let you know.  I wrote up something very informal for my livejournal blog.  Mostly referring folks to the SFFWA site you'd already mentioned, and then a few personal tips of my own.  I think it just comes down to doing one's research, and not getting carried away with the excitement of the first offer.  Which you are doing, and seem all set to do.

Anyway, here's the link:  The Perils and Pitfalls of "Small Press"

Don't think you'll find anything new in my post, but thanks for following up in any case.