Hi there, has anyone had any experience of the above publishers? Are they a vanity publishing house? I've looked online but can't really find much info about them. Any advice would be gratefully received! Thanks in advance!
from what i see on their site, i have to assume they're brand new and have no track record yet, since they admit their first books won't be out till the end of the year... they also have no submission info or guidelines, which is totally unprofessional... and there's no way to tell if they're a vanity press or a paying one... if i were you i'd steer clear of them till they've been around long enough to prove they can deliver marketable books...
I seem to remember this publisher being up on a list of fraudulent publishers, such as White Oak Press, and many many others.
Hello Shill-Shally. I have and am dealing with Blackstone Publishers. On First Writer.com they are listed as legitimate and mention "charging authors in certain circumstances." This may translate into "subsidy publisher in trade publishers clothes" but I don't know. But I have gone through the process with them and I hope to be finding out soon. They opened up in February of 2009 and they are at the address at Soho Square where they say they are. We'll see.
if they charge any author even a single penny for any reason, then they're not legit, or are not being totally honest about the fact that they're a vanity press...
Blackstone I used to agree with that. Then, a couple of years ago I contacted a trade publisher by phone. We talked a couple of times and finally she said she could do this for me......I could pay her the publishing costs (and believe me it was more than any vanity press I've heard of) and nobody except she and I would ever know it wasn't legitimate. To tell the truth, if it hadn't been so expensive I might have done it. Another writer I know had a similar experience. Ask yourself this? If your book is better them some of the crap out there and we know it probably is, how come they're in print and we're not? I'm not saying it's widespread. I am saying it is done.
Yog's law- money always flows to the writer. tom- sounds like a very unscrupulous editor to me quoting you prices to publish your book, are you sure that was a legitimate trade publisher?
Blackstone Yes I am. Not Random House, of course. But a medium market trade publisher who seemed to publish some of the subjects I wrote about. I agree with you....money should flow to the writer. There should be no more wars, too.
No, tombar, the flow of money to the writer is not a theoretical ideal, distinct from the reality. Fee-based publishing is a vanity press, and if it claims otherwise, it's a fraud.
Tom- did you think of reporting that editor to someone higher up? Or the Better Business Bureau or somewhere? It is a lot of work to get books published and make money doing it, but following yog's law means you are less likely to get screwed out of the money from all your hard work.
I agree. I didn't think of reporting her, no. For one thing it was my word against hers. Again, I don't believe it's widespread.
Hi there guys, I had been waiting to hear back from Blackstone for some time, as is common with publishing, I recently recieved my contract, and it talks about 23% royalities, and also wanting thousands of pounds to publish, my folks were so proud they offered to help me, but I have had a bad feeling in my gut about them since I recieved the first reply, it's just desperation you know, my books are like my kids and I want for them to be loved so much, But Blackstone have made a series of very unprofessional mistakes, which I'd like to make other forum members aware of in case they are offered similar 'representation' First off, they sent correspondence to me at my 'London' Address, I have never in my life resided in London, Their website has been 'under maintenance' for the better part of a year' They mis-spelled my name, in a ridiculous fashion They have consistently named the title of my novel wrong, even though I've politely corrected them several times, and have written the correct title on every piece of correspondence I've sent them, So I should go with my gut, and tear up the contract right? Apologies for the lengthy post Lex
Based upon what Wolfycharmer described, this sounds quite horrible (even for a vanity publisher) and something to doubly avoid. As an aside, there is much much more in a contract to be concerned about than the % royalty payment, but that is a topic for another thread. Terry
Here is what happened in my dealings with Blackstone Publishers. They sent me an email saying that they all liked my manuscript and that marketing felt that, with some reservations, they could sell it. But times being what they are, would I pay half of the cost to publish it. The contract came and it amounted to 39-hundred pounds or about-58 hundred dollars. I made them a counter proposal. I told them to go ahead and publish my book at their expense and then take out the 58-hundred from the proceeds of the first sales of the book before paying me anything. I also sweetened the deal and said they could round it up to eight-thousand dollars for their trouble. After all, "marketing" said, with some reservations, they could sell it. Eight-thousand dollars and I'd have done it. But I knew they had no intention of selling it or they'd have taken my deal. But a word to the wise. The contract looked perfect. Indeed everything along the way seemed to cry for the benefit of the doubt. This has become popular and with legitimate publishers trying to get in on the sea of money available in vanity press, they're calling it co-publishing or partnership publishing.....vanity publishing by any other name.
i am awaiting 'feedback' from these 'publishers'. Thanks for the low-down guys. They are in The Writers Yearbook 2010.....i shall be writing to inform them that they are a vanity publisher, assuming I receive a 'we will publish you for x amount of money', which I surely will!
"Vanity press" - it would interesting to know how many of the WForg members know about this 'industry'. Perhaps someone could write a piece on it? Barry G
i meant write to the writers yearbook - they are not supposed to list vanity publishers as far as i am aware
Black Hearts at Blackstone Alas, I too had got my hopes up, but from what appears on this thread, it seems that Blackstone will soon be asking me for financial 'assistance'. This will be the third time I have had my hopes raised, only to see them dashed on the pirate rocks of Vanity Press; flying false flags, bearded assailants of my wallet, as twisted as this tortured metaphor. T'is true, t'is pity And pity t'is, t'is true And I a foolish figure So farewell it Must they ruse such art?
yes, they must! this line falsely attributed to p.t. barnum says it best: 'There's a sucker born every minute and two t'take him.' it's up to you to be sure you're not one of the 'taken'... with the easy availability of info on the internet these days, there's really no reason to be... but wishful thinking and leaping before one leaps assures the takers of a perpetually plentiful catch, sorry to say...
