Is anyone familiar with Maple Lane Books and/or their writing contest? They seem to be only a couple of years old and the only thing I can find online about them is their own info, with the exception of mentions from two writers, who don't seem to know much about them either.
I would read the fine print of the contest rules. Do they own the rights to publish your work if you enter and who gets what if they do?
The one author/two books they published: One has an Amazon Best Sellers Rank of #2,099,184 in Books. I haven't followed book sales ranks but if it's akin to Kindle ranks, it's a common, not selling much rank. The other book has an Amazon Best Sellers Rank in the paid Kindle store of #719,887. That's not too shabby two years after release. My questions would be, is MapleLane the author's company? Are the publisher's his friends? Or did he enter and win their contest and/or is he happy with their publishing? They've only published one author, and two books. What are they going to do for an author who wins the contest? I'd read that fine print twice.
Especially: 10. There is a $50 fee to enter the contest. This fee must be paid or the entry is not valid and will not be considered. Scam, sez me. Ten entries and they've covered the $500 'advance'. Anything over ten is pure profit.
If they have just published one or two books then why to go for them. Better search for some other group. There are many.
