Plot Monkeys

Stacey (aka December Quinn, aka Stacia Kane) and I have “met” online and are of like minds on many topics, so we’ve had the pleasure of corresponding from time to time. I was thrilled to visit her website recently and find this fascinating and dare I say it, brilliant, article on publishing. I immediately thought it would be a GREAT topic for our Saturday Guest Blog series on the craft and business of writing! As the article appears in two parts on her website, I asked her to do half this weekend and the other half on February 15th. I’m also pleased to announce that her first urban fantasy book, PERSONAL DEMONS, will be released in April! Great cover, don’t you think?

So without further ado, here’s she is…talking about choosing a publisher!———————————–

A lot of writers give writing advice. I personally don’t think I’ve achieved anywhere near the kind of success that would make people yearn for my words on that subject. You won’t see me doing workshops anytime soon, anywhere—if I ever do, which I most likely wouldn’t.

But I do know rather a lot about how to spot a scam publisher or one that won’t necessarily advance your career, and since this is a topic I’ve blogged about off and on since for some time and one I care a lot about, I decided to give it a go.

Several months ago on a different site, one of my friends asked about an anthology and whether it was worth submitting to. I’m going to use that particular publisher as an example of a legitimate, if small, press.

For the bad? I’ll use the Champion Scammers, Publish America. (And they ARE a scam; they claim to not be a vanity press but have admitted in arbitration that their business model is to sell books to authors and not to the public. That’s vanity press; whether they take your money up front or after the book is printed makes no difference.)

(Note: None of my comment are absolute absolutes, as you’ll see [although there is absolutely NOTHING to recommend Publish America]. But hopefully this will be a good base.)

So first. The house I looked at for my friend was this one: Cleis Press. I chose them because they’re small, so the chances you’re heard of them are also small. Because they’re niche, which also lessens the chances you’ve heard of them. Because their site is a good example and their reputation is stellar. Plus because I was just there. (I’ll find a different publisher to use for epresses.)

Okay, so there’s the Cleis website. What is the first thing you notice on this page?

You notice that it’s a professional-looking site. The colors mesh. There are no visible typos. The layout makes sense, too. You can see a couple of book covers, with blurbs. There’s a description of what they publish, and a link to an interview with the owners.

That last is important why? Because right there, you know who runs this business. Nobody’s hiding.

Go to the bottom of the page at Cleis. See the little menu? Notice the options. “How to Order”. “For Booksellers”. “Academic Resources”. “For the Media.” “Best Sellers”. Etc.

Those options tell you something important as well: that Cleis considers its job to be selling books to the public, and to booksellers. That they have a media/publicity department. That they keep a list of their best sellers and make it available.

Okay. Now let’s look at our scam publisher, Publish America. What is the first thing you notice on their website? What’s right near the top? (Aside from the slogan “We treat authors the old-fashioned way: we pay them!” which is a red flag because, that should go without saying.)

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