Peppertree Press

Here is their URL: http://www.peppertreepublishing.com/

I desperately need information on this publisher for someone in my writers' group. A few things are sending up red flags for me:

1) She said they told her she gets to choose the illustrator (it's a children's picture book). I do non-fiction, but I thought that for kids' books the publisher chose. But if you're paying, i.e. vanity, it would make sense that you get to choose. Made me think is might be vanity.

2) In looking at their site, they say in their description of the process that the writer gets to say yay or nay to the edits. I haven't got that far with my own book yet, but I thought the publisher pretty much had that say. But again, if you're paying then YOU would.

3) Their website is centered around recruiting writers rather than selling books.

4) They offer other professional services, like editing.

Am I just being paranoid or is this a vanity press? I can't find any direct reference on their site to the author paying, nor does google or a search here at AW turn up anything.

I tried to convince my friend that if she really wants to self publish rather than seek a commercial publisher, Lulu is much better than vanity. She says with Lulu she'd have to pay an illustrator and with Peppertree she wouldn't, which I don't necessarily think is correct (yes, yes, I've already tried to convince her to try to sell the book to a publisher, but she has specific reasons for just wanting to take a quick route).

Help and facts much appreciated since I have a gut hunch here and can't find anything to back it up!

Oh, and:

5) Their business email is a Yahoo address.

Thanks! I think the post with the cost to one of the authors will give me what I need. I think my friend believed that it wasn't going to cost her anything up front. For the benefit of those who might come to this thread later, here is what one person posted on another site about the costs:

$2800 for editing, ISBN/barcode, copyright, Library of Congress title set-up, one full book proof, placement on publisher's website, three ads in publisher's literary magazine, launched on major bookseller websites, assistance with local book signings, and a custom cover and layout.

It looks like that did not include illustrations. I have no clue if that's cheap or expensive.

I think my friend got the impression that they were a regular publisher because they appeared at a writers' conference. I will pass along the cost info. to give her a heads-up.

Well, I got a response from her, and it looks like she's going to rethink this. Whew. But the following scared me:

"(Writers association who sponsors the conference) don't really place judgement only to provide possible opportunity. As far as I know most small presses do charge a fee and sometimes a hefty fee."

WTF? First, when a writers' association is sponsoring an educational conference, I think they DO have a responsibility to do some screening or at least to make sure that writers know how things should work so they can make the right judgment. The second sentence in her response shows that that's not the case. Heck, I'm with a small press, and it works the same as with a big one...Yog's Law.

I did a little Google-fu and found a slew of writers from the association who have "published" with PublishAmerica. Some are leaders of local branches, and at least one bragged on PA's testimonial page about how she recruits other writers for PA. It frustrates the snot out of me to see a group that is supposed to be educating writers but that appears to be doing the opposite in some ways.