[Publisher] The Nazca Plains Corp.

http://www.thenazcaplainscorp.com/

I take it this is their site.

They say on their site they offer a 'Standard author contract'. One would take from this they are not 'pay-to-play', though did your friend indicate why they approached him. Even for a small press, this is unusual, and caution for that reason would be advised.

Erastes:
A friend has just been approached by Nazca Plains Press

Click to expand...

How did they find out about your friend? Was it a spam mailing or does your friend have a specific background in fiction/non-fiction that might make a publisher interested?

Erastes:
it's just I'm always abit suspicious of publishers approaching authors.

Click to expand...

With good reason - publishers don't usually approach authors. The only case I've ever heard of where an author was approached by a publisher, it was because that author had a very significant history of publishing short stories through professional magazines and the publisher was interested in publishing a collection.

Trying a Google of "Nazca Plains Press" doesn't turn up anything (which is never a good sign), but I did find a site for Nazca Plains Publishing, which appears to be in imprint belonging to Red Room (an off-shoot of The Red Room Writers Society).

Is it this company that's approached your friend?

I've never heard of them (although that could be because they seem to be US-orientated and based). They do appear to have had some books reviewed in the New York Times but the people listed seem to have backgrounds as lawyers rather than in the publishing industry.

MM

Ah, interesting - it looks like Nazca Plains Publishing and Nazca Plain Corp are completely different entities.

MickRooney:
They say on their site that they offer a 'Standard author contract'. One would take from this that they are not 'pay-to-play'

Click to expand...

Actually, I take the opposite view because they go on to say:

Nazca Plains Corp:
While there is not a lot of money to be made, you just never know when a new book will take off and make serious money.

Click to expand...

That suggests to me that they're not paying an advance, so authors are reliant on sales but there's nothing to suggest that they're actually capable of getting books in stores (which are what is needed to really shift volume). They also claim to be able to let authors know within "one working day" if their manuscript will be accepted. There is no way that any commercial publisher will be able to do a turn around that quickly.

MM

What have they published? Is it shelved in bookstores? Have you personally read anything they published? Has anyone you know ever read anything they've published?

From the website, it looks like they mostly publish erotica.

"Standard author contract" means precisely nothing, since the publishing company may not be experienced enough to know what a "standard" contract is. Nazca Plains also seems to have an excessive number of imprints--with a smaller publisher, often a marker for a less professional company.

On the other hand, the covers look good, and they have a U.S. distributor (as distinct from a wholesaler). That's generally a good sign--although I don't know what this distributor's reputation is.

Plus, this publisher has a well-defined defined niche, which makes marketing easier.

- Victoria

Nazca Plains publishes erotica -- fiction and non-fiction. A friend of mine's published two books with them, and while he hasn't made much money at it, he got copies of the books and they're available on Amazon all over the world. It's a print on demand kind of deal, and he gets paid a little for each book sold. My writing's not as erotic as his, so I haven't even tried, but he says they are looking to double their lineup f authors so...

Is there such a thing as non-fiction erotica?

That aside, being listed on Amazon just means your book has an ISBN. If your friend self-published, he could still list on Amazon. PublishAmerica authors are listed on Amazon. It's not the same as being avaliable in stores where buyers can see them.