Cherry House Press... Any thoughts?

I came across a new publishing service called Cherry House Press while looking for submission calls. I submitted a short story to them last night but this caught my eye.

https://cherryhousepress.wordpress.com/services/

What are your thoughts? Do you think publishing with them would be a success or would you have better luck quearing to agents?

 

Only one way to find out.

 

Looks like Vanity Press where you pay them for the privilege.

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The websites are compelling - this one is for the 'old farts with ye swords & ships.' [e-pub]

http://penmorepress.typepad.com/home/

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Meanwhile, here at 'Ladypen' https://www.greenhouseliterary.com/

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Then, for the magazine publication - beware the one man, solo operations, although, y'know, bravo for...

Fancy your sonnet wedged aside these beauties? The 'poetry' section http://www.decasp.com/poetry-sectors.html

 

I don't have anything against people who have a passion for starting a literary magazine as I started one myself last year. Of course, I may humbly say that mine looks better than that collection.

But... When the big names are nearly impossible to get into and print magazines are nearly impossible to find, there's only the online journals left.

 

Sure, I back the guy, he's doing just fine. I hope I wasn't too sneery. Sorry.

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Yeah, of course - I've been/gone to online journals... ...yesterday I was looking for somewhere to send a poem, so...when I found the page 'ub dub dub/thanks for the grub,' poetry special, it stuck in my mind.

Even some of the bigger on-line/20$ paying sites are one guy and an anthology to pay his bills.

 

I wouldn't submit there. It's a wordpress.com site and their email to send submissions is a gmail account. Nothing is impossible, but it is hard to break into this world of literary journals and publishing of sure. How many times have you submitted to these places you think are impossible to get in? Whatever your answer is, my answer back is that it's not enough. And I was just in the bookstore yesterday and there is a big section of literary journals and magazines so I don't know how these are impossible to find. I could easily list off 100 print magazines that would be better options than some of the places it seems you're looking. And here's the big secret -- read the publications you think you want to be in. It can make such a difference. Join duotrope. I think it's totally worth it. Cherry House Press -- I'm not a fan. Look, this is supposed to be really, really hard and most people give up. But people break in at the top and impossible level and it isn't so impossible. It might take everything you've got, but I see no reason you can't make it. Shortcuts and no-name publications might seem easier to get into, and that's because they sure aren't the same thing, and I don't really see things like this brining you closer to what you really want.

 

I know there are good print journals out there but if they're getting 8k submissions and have a 1.8 acceptance rate it might not be worth waiting for. Journals like Image, Apex, Ruminate and The Minnisota Review have a very low acceptance rate and my writing style is very peculiar at times. It's a style I personally love but it's not what most editors look for.

My goals in writing have already been met. I've been able to publish two short stories that were very close to heart in print and have a copy in my bookshelf.

Of cours though, I'd like to keep writing and getting a wider audience. I'm not shooting for the easiest catch but places where I think I'll have a good chance of being accepted and a good chance of it being read by others.

 

This is where I'd be concerned. Are there any statistics about their past sales?

And is there a sneaky point where the authors submitting will be asked to contribute funds to the publication, so that the profit for the publishers would be established before the first sale?

 

I agree with the previous post--their acceptance rate is pretty much irrelevant, except in the sense that it probably means that they're not going to give a flawed piece a deep reading to find the jewel within, because they have so much reading to do.

If someone mailed them an additional quarter-million pieces of gibberish, they'd be getting 258k submissions, but your odds of acceptance wouldn't be changed. What matters is how many good, publishable submissions they get--that's who you're competing with, and that's probably a tiny, tiny percentage of that 8K.

 

A wider audience and a good chance of being read by others... I think we all want that, and though there may be several ways to achieve this, probably the easiest way for a short story writer is to break into those places that are a long shot which I know is the farthest thing from easy. But if you want more readers, it makes sense to aim for the places people are reading and not the places no one has heard of and where you as the writer even question the authenticity. I know how discouraging the submission process can be when it comes to short fiction. Believe me, I know. But I also know those places with low acceptance rates and high submission numbers do want to publish good works, find new authors and are always looking to increase readership. Just because there is a lot of competition doesn't mean you have no shot or that it's necessarily any harder than places that look to have less competition. The more people have heard of a place or read the magazine, the more writers will be attracted to send their work to. But just because a place gets hundreds of submissions doesn't mean all or any of those submissions are any good. I used to read submissions for a literary journal. Most of the submissions you could tell right away, by the first page, that it wasn't going to work for this journal. A lot of the submissions were of poor quality or not edited enough to yet be a good story. I'm just saying that if a place has an acceptance rate of 1 percent, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it took them reading 99 stories to find 1 that isn't awful. Don't let numbers and statistics scare you out of submitting places. Sure, more people submit to the popular places, but that doesn't mean they are submitting work better than your work. If your goal is just to have something to put on your bookshelf, that's fine. But don't be afraid to dream big. It's work, and it's hard, but it's not impossible by any means.

 

Hi.

I am Ariana R Cherry of Cherry House Press. We are a brand new publishing press. We aren't out to take advantage of authors..... Actually we are out to help new authors (and seasoned authors if they are interested). We know how hard it is to break into the publishing business and we want to help all the "little guys" too. I myself am a self published author - have been since 2004. We don't charge new authors a DIME to publish with us... Profits are split 50/50 at this time... Now we have author services for authors who do not want to publish under us - like editing and marketing- but we do not charge to publish.

We publish poetry, science-fiction, horror and fantasy. We are also taking submissions for a new anthology - "The Fears of Us All." .... We are legit.... I come from a small town, I have publishing experience and I know the dream of wanting to publish a book - and that is why I started this company. We may be small but we have BIG dreams....

So - I just thought I would provide you the explanation since you were all talking about my company....

OH and we have a WORDPRESS website - because 1) We are NEW....2) We are small....but sometime soon - we will have our DOMAIN.
and yes - we have a GMAIL account- but doesn't everybody else? It is free!

GOOD Luck with your publishing endeavors and I hope maybe you might decide to give us a chance. We have had MANY submissions - there are tons of authors giving us a chance to be in our anthology and we already have a few authors who want to publish their novels with us....Just FYI

https://cherryhousepress.wordpress.com/

Have a great day!

 

Hmm... You don't charge to publish, but you do charge for editing and marketing? Most publishers don't do that. Most publishers want the books they put out to be fully edited and do well (marketing). So, you can say you don't charge for publishing, but I see these extras as part of publishing. And sorry but there is no excuse for a legit business to not have a proper website and professional email. And is it easier for new writers to publish with you because your standards are lower? Because that's the only reason I can see it being easier. Or, perhaps, that's your own marketing at work. I bet you make a killing off the editing fees. If not, I would hate to see the unedited work you're putting out by new and unexperienced writers.

 

IDK, 50/50 sounds a bit high from what I have heard around the proverbial water cooler.
Though I'm inclined to agree with @deadrats on his points.
For an even split on the profits, the company better be taking care of the editing and
most of the marketing (assuming you don't cut an advance check to the author once
you decide to publish them or not).

 

Are you not being a little dogmatic toward the different markets? One that serves, for example, a demographic not inclined to, or intimidated by lofty words like 'literary' or 'university.'

I understand there is exploitation in areas with ye vanity press - but isn't there - aren't there various thriving cottage industries - example - serving the 'local writer' or the 'Wuthering Hump' scene? Same with horror, same with erotica?

Not that this describes Cherry Books at all, in any way.

And one of the forums I blab on has an editing service attached, and all the people attend away-conventions and weekend workshops for a fee, and talk about 'us' and 'we' and 'we writers, together,' and they seem very happy-enough.

 

Even if they were giving advances (but I'm pretty sure they're not given the cost of a website and email is too much for them), writers should't have to spend that money on their own editing and marketing. The way an advance works is that you don't see another dime until the advance is earned back. And since quality and professionalism seem not to be top priorities. I say this mainly because if they are charging for any services, they care more about making a quick buck than putting out the best work they can. What if an author can't afford those services? Then what was the point of going with this gmail-using press?

I've got nothing against startups and alternative outlets, but this one seems not to have the writer's best interest. Again, if they did, they would not be charging for editing and marketing. I bet they make more off those services than they do selling books. Okay, maybe I am being harsh, but I see some red flags I thought were worth pointing out.

 

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We only charge for editing and marketing for those who WISH NOT to publish with us. If an author is already published with someone else but wants our editing and marketing services - then we will have to charge..ALTHOUGH - if an author chooses to publish with us - THEN marketing and editing services are included Hope that clears things up.

 

And no - we aren't making a "killing" off anything. I actually have a day job. The only money we will be making will be from the sales of books and any sales that we get from selling our anthologies. BUT the sales from anthologies will go back into the company so that we can pay the authors that we publish in the anthology with either cash or print copies.....

Honestly - we aren't out to take advantage off anyone and I feel it is fair to charge an author to use our services if they do not want to publish with us and are already published with someone else. We can't do everything for free....

 

And so you can get to know my personality and who I am - here is my author page... I am just a small town author living in a small town - not to mention - I am an administrative aide at a church. I am just an author with some big dreams- nothing wrong with that. We will have more of a "professional website" once we have more money. Did I note - we are a NEW company just starting out. We just opened up the company in January of this year.

http://arianarcherry.wordpress.com.

 

We totally have the writers best interest at heart. We charge authors nothing to publish with us. We have extra services (with fees) for authors who are already published with someone else or if they wish to publish under a different publishing house name.

 

Cherry House Press is not out to make a quick buck. We are two self published authors just starting a new venture. We have every author's best interest at heart....

 

We are a brand new publishing press. We just opened in January 2018. The sales from the first anthology will go back into the company so that we can pay our future contributors to our anthology with print copies or pay monetary... We aren't trying to be sneaky at all.... You make us out to sound like we are some type of thieves. We are self published authors - probably like many of you- who are trying to help other authors too.... Aren't we all out to help each other? ...isn't this what this is all about?

 

Yes- we provide editing services to our authors free of charge.