And the wait goes on...

I was with Berkley (Penguin Random House). They did promo for me.

I think you're repeating a lot of misinformation you've picked up maybe on sites that are really pro-self-publishing? (Although that wouldn't explain your lack of understanding of what vanity publishing, is, so... maybe not?) The point is, though, that I have first hand experience with this, and I don't think you do, so at the very least maybe you could express your ideas in the form of "In my opinion" or "I've heard" or something? Just to make it clear that you're not the authority you seem to think you are...

 

That is crazy fast from what I have seen of other small publishers.
Granted I am a nobody, and nobody would dare move faster than
3-6 months to tell me that I am not worthy.

 

You may be right. But then I can't say I am the worst writer anymore.
It will probably come about some point after my second or third if I
decide to try that route again.

 

=======
Nope repeating what I heard about real publishers and how they operate these days.

 

======

Truth sounds crazy to people with no knowledge.
Try asking a real publisher how the economics work these days.

 

========
Yes they are a real publisher. I imagine most authors who get published are happy. Very few are willing to self publish and do their own marketing.
And most people don't write more than one book. Even more never write that first book.

LT3 may be traditional but they are not the norm. They have a niche market. They offer no advances but do offer big royalties. I can only guess they are using POD for most books and are happy to accept most authors and take a slice of anything they can sell. So the question is how selective are they as long as the author fits into their LGBTQ niche.

 

Ok, Joe. I've selectively deleted because I want my post to come on the heels of the obvious post it is addressing. You got a reprieve earlier today because another mod handled things, and I am not in the habit of undermining their authority. That is not cool. But I knew that I wouldn't have to wait too long for you to give me this segue. Basically, dismissing @Laurin Kelly's achievements out of hand - an author who, btw, has received accolades for her work - as little more than dressed up vanity is the cause for the following - well, more like the last straw of many straws - and yes, I most certainly had this one ready and waiting.

Buckle up, here we go:

<monologue="magniloquent">

In the Hindu religion the gods and goddesses are endless and without count because they are understood to be reflections of us, and we of them, the division between the mortal and the divine being only a construct of our own and not reflective of autonomous reality. Of the major gods and goddesses, all of them are understood to be facets of one another since they are all, in fact, representations of the All-Thing known as Brahman, of which we are also a part.

Though my preferred form is Jacked Ganesh, I came to you initially as Radha, the goddess, divine lover of Krishna, who is often depicted as a milkmaid. I lifted my celestial bosom unto you so that you might suckle from the milk of experience and understanding. This, when you said you did not grok how to engage others herein.

You have spat that milk out, O recalcitrant child.

Thus spurned, I rescind the offer of my sidereal boobage. I flip and fold in directions that have no name, parthenogenetically giving birth to myself in my other form, Kali.

Even Shiva knows to lie prostrate at my feet.




You were given a time-out that one of the mods asked be lifted, and I did that. You earned another time-out not days later, which ended just the other day and here you are being a git once more.

And so we are done. I cast you into the ether whence you came and pray - as Nataraj dances his ecstatic dance across the Universe, leaving tabula rasa in his wake so that Creation may begin anew unhindered by what came before - that you have better luck next time 'round.

</monologue>

Was I guilty of omniscient boobs here, anyone?

 

This thread is now open for continued conversation. The above post should make it clear who is no longer with us, so please just ignore whatever posts remain by that one-time member and continue with the conversation. Thank you.

 

Thank you @Wreybies - I appreciate your intervention and the re-opening of the thread. Because of the respect I have for my publisher and for future searches folks might do on Less Than Three Press, I just want to address the following:

• While it is true that LT3 is owned by three women, all who publish their works through the press, they are far from the only staff. They have a robust roster of authors, editors and graphic artists they call on that makes their publishing house a small but successful company.
• LT3 does not accept every MS - I know of authors who have been rejected (mostly because they have vented bitterly on social media about it). In fact, LT3 is now closed to general submissions overall.

 

I am not going to lie, I nearly fell off my chair when I got the contract so quickly. I'm not sure exactly what clicked with the Editor in Chief of LT3 and my UTK manuscript that caused such a quick acceptance, but I am grateful for it daily. My subsequent submissions have not been accepted nearly as fast.

 

Don't you ever feel lonely in this super-mega-ultra tiny little "niche"? I had to zoom my screen just to see it.

From Amazon...

 

O Srimati Radharani, eternal consort of Sri Krishna... I hope it's okay to continue clearing up misinformation that one-time member diarrhoeaed all over the thread and, well, the forum in general?

The Rejector of the Divine Bosom repeated something I've seen quite a lot: that only the big bestsellers make money for publishers, and effectively subsidise the other 95% which are all loss-making.

Of course, that would be an absolutely mad business model and, of course, it isn't true. Sometimes it's repeated innocently but it's also put out there deliberately by people with agendas: places like AuthorEarnings who try to make out trad publishing is based on guesswork and trad publishers are running scared as well as running out of money.

I think the innocent kind of confusion comes from the fact that many (probably most) debut books don't earn out. This means sales don't exceed the author's advance, so s/he never sees royalties from that book. But - and this is the thing people miss - that doesn't mean the publisher didn't make a profit. The advance is carefully calculated against projected sales, which are based on reams and reams of data that publisher has about past sales. Now, if the book really tanked and the advance was high, then the publisher may well make a loss. But if the advance was modest - as the vast majority are for debut authors - and sales were also modest, the publisher probably made their anticipated profit and will be happy with that book's performance.

Which is, perhaps, an argument that bigger advances are not necessarily better for authors, but that's another thread.

So, please, don't be scared by the misinformation that people with agendas like to put out there.

 

Absolutely true. I also enjoyed the book a lot, despite the Romance tropes. I always admire an author who really knows her or her 'stuff,' and she really does understand food and contests ...and personalities, and how people work together (or don't.) I thought it was very very good. I can see why it won awards.

 

Well now y'all got me blushing. Thank you!!!

That was really my goal with writing UTK, actually - to write a book that was enjoyable for the reader, whether due to the food porn, gay porn, or both! It's honestly one of the best compliments when readers say that they don't usually like X (romance, gay relationships, food-centric books, or reality TV) but still liked UTK. Hopefully I'll write other good books in the future, but I feel like that one will always be my magnum opus, so to speak.

 

For the record, it's not something I enjoy doing and I have occasionally paid a gestalt price in the past when I have wielded the hammer, but, if it's to be done, may as well be done creatively and in the spirit of the venue.

 

Good grief...all I wanted was people's opinions on whether I would be overstepping by reaching out to publishers or not.