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Whitmore/ Publish America/ Mundania

Eugen

Eugen

New Member
Been down with the flu, hence silence, but I do cast a swift eye on things happening, Wabbit's quips for newbies, Cathy tossing mad penguins about, Martin being disagreeable, and Ell's Canadian smile! Quick query: anyone knows enough about the above US trade publishers? Good experience, bad experience? All accept electronic submissions, which is good in a dynamic world, away from paper and snailmail. But... is there a but? Anyone?
 
No *personal* experience, Eugen, but have heard lots of bad, bad things about PublishAmerica. They've been in the major press here quite a bit lately. Here are some links to read about them:

From Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America:
http://www.sfwa.org/news/atlantanights.htm

From the Los Angeles Times:
http://www.lisamaliga.com/AtlantaNightsLosAngelesTimes.htm

From the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A25187-2005Jan20

From the Pittsburg, Pennsylvania Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05022/446283.stm

Mundania Press was a small publisher who is expanding. They've been featured in Publisher's Weekly lately, as expanding into hardback in sci-fi, fantasy and romance. They seem to have major financial backing (don't know the source), but all reports are they're sound and growing.

Don't know anything about Whitmore, but I'll ask around. :)
 
The only thing I could find AT ALL about Whitmore was on the Another Realm site, where they rank book publishers of all sorts. They're not recommended.

Whitmore Publishing Company: a small publisher believed owned by Dorrance Publishing. No up-front fee, but requires purchase of multiple books at a "discount", which makes them a subsidy publisher. Not recommended.

Couldn't find anything pro or con other than that, but also couldn't find any books sold by them through BookScan, Ingrams or on Amazon, so don't know. But if they're not selling any books... :confused:

What genre are you looking to sell, Eugen? I can probably find several publishers who accept by e-mail since you're out of the country.
 
Thanks, Cathy, you are very helpful.

I guess my leg is broken on Publish America in that a collection of short stories is in the pre-production phase, including an award-winning one; the UK is never a good market for shorts, and by the time PA said yes, I'd had enough rejections to care any more about risk; better in print, I reckoned, than sitting on my computer. I'll just have to wait and see on that one, hoping the negative press improves their custom!

I am contemplating a move to Australia and would like to change publishers; preferrably American, who accept email submissions for full novels on crime/ mystery.
 
True crime (events that actually occurred) or fiction? If fiction, are the characters somewhat hard-boiled or do you write cozies?
 
Crime fiction, hardboiled characters, usually with serious sex. This one is more mystery than crime, based in Scotland, with a more beautiful-prose approach than hard-core whoddunit. Strictly speaking, a blend of genres, as it delves into the human, building up an eventual 'why' to everything they are from that which happened.
 
Have you thought about Bombshell, the new mystery/suspense/intrigue imprint of Harlequin? They've got a UK branch (Mills & Boon), so you wouldn't necessarily have to do e-mail. And since it's a new line, I know they're looking for new authors. Yeah, it's *technically* romance, but really they're looking for just sexy too. Our book is *technically* romance, too -- but it's really not. :rolleyes:

Here's the link if you want to see what they want. And if it would help, I'd be happy to forward things by mail here in the U.S., so you don't have to deal with the "electronic only" issue vs. overseas postage expense. You could send me the synopsis, query and first couple of chapters and I could mail to to wherever. It wouldn't cost more than a buck or two and I'm always happy to help fellow authors! :)

http://www.eharlequin.com/cms/learntowrite/ltwArticle.jhtml?pageID=021219wu01001
 
That's a gem, Cathy. Maybe I'll hold you to your suggestion on e-forwarding! No one's ever made me such a wonderful offer before, and I appreciate it. You should form an author's advisory web and charge a fee, as - from previous suggestions to other writers on the block - you're quite knowledgeable on the industry.

Bombshell won't do in this instance as, since Borderline, I've focussed on the male protagonist, even in the first person, and Bombshell is quite geared towards romance cum thrill but from a woman's fish-eye.
 
Yeah, others have suggested that too... ;) But then I'd be more worried about whether or not the information was 100% accurate. As it is, it's merely my suggestion for people to follow up on themselves. Besides, I'm not rich, but it's my little way of being philanthropic! :D
 
Eugen,

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but I first self-published through Trafford. A Canadian/American company that does charge a fee for their print-on-demand services. They have a pretty good web site that details how they'll accept electronic files. Plus that fee gets you an ISBN number, a handfull of copies of your book, a web page, and Library of Congress bar codes.

I was picked up by a publisher a little more than one month after signing a contract with Trafford and there was absolutely no problems. I really, and truely owned all the rights to my work and was free to do what I wanted.

I am always skeptical of any business that offers anything for free. Especially something like "publishing" a book. I've read a lot of really bad things about PA in the last week becuase I wanted to see if I had made a costly mistake by actually paying Trafford. After all that I've read I am quite content with my decision.

Check out www.trafford.com to see if that might be a viable place to do what you're looking for.
 
Motokid said:
Eugen,
I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but I first self-published through Trafford. A Canadian/American company that does charge a fee for their print-on-demand services. They have a pretty good web site that details how they'll accept electronic files. Plus that fee gets you an ISBN number, a handfull of copies of your book, a web page, and Library of Congress bar codes.

I was picked up by a publisher a little more than one month after signing a contract with Trafford and there was absolutely no problems. I really, and truely owned all the rights to my work and was free to do what I wanted.

I am always skeptical of any business that offers anything for free. Especially something like "publishing" a book. I've read a lot of really bad things about PA in the last week becuase I wanted to see if I had made a costly mistake by actually paying Trafford. After all that I've read I am quite content with my decision.

Check out www.trafford.com to see if that might be a viable place to do what you're looking for.
Click to expand...
Hi Motokid. I appreciate your input!

I began my writing career with Trafford, actually. A newbie, no one to touch my book, and a collection of short stories at that. The experience was good enough for another round - until they botched up a large order, and I mean large, with faded print at random in more than 20 pages in each copy. I spat the dummy and figured I could do better. By this time, my writing was a whole different level, and the biggest Trafford royalty I ever got was so small, even my bank wouldn't take it, as the commission to process it cost far more. PA is refreshing in this instance because it is just a collection of short stories that needs to break into print, and all for free. The work's good, I know, but it won't suck being tied to a contract for a while as within that time, I'll have written thrice if not more as many stories. I'm prolific in the right mood.

Now a novel is another story. You spend years on it and you want the best marketing for that baby. Trafford did jack - and godammit, they charged you for it.

Borderline has been my biggest step up with a proper publisher, and I don't want to go back to something less. I envision bigger things and, right now, I have confidence in my writing.
 
Wow. that's the first time I'd heard anything bad about Trafford. I'll keep that in mind the next time I recommend them to anyone. I had easy time with them, but as I mentioned, it was only for a very short period, and it was a children's picture book. I know it was a new process fro them when I signed up. Maybe they were taking better care of the process since it was so new.

I've just been reading quite a bit of bad things about Publish America as Cathy C. stated.

Hope all goes well for you, and keep us posted.
 
Cathy C said:
The only thing I could find AT ALL about Whitmore was on the Another Realm site, where they rank book publishers of all sorts. They're not recommended.
Whitmore Publishing Company: a small publisher believed owned by Dorrance Publishing. No up-front fee, but requires purchase of multiple books at a "discount", which makes them a subsidy publisher. Not recommended.
Click to expand...
Cathy, a quick update on this. I had sent some work to Whitmore, who promise no fee. Before I knew it, I had an unsolicited email from Dorrance, 'The Dorrance name has been associated with a tradition of quality subsidy publishing since 1920. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss our services with you and to review your manuscript to determine whether it meets our requirements for publication, and if so, if we can be of help. You may submit your completed manuscript to me for a no-fee, no-obligation review.'
Very cheeky of Whitmore.

Good news: I am in discussion with a couple of mainstream publishers for my next crime fiction, and an Australian agent has expressed interest. Won't say too much about it, lest I jinx it!
 
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