Dark Oak Press and Media / Kerlak Enterprises

Has anyone submitted to this publisher? They appear to a small publishing house with a wide variety of genre. I was really curious about their reputation. I went to a writing seminar where the owner was on a panel along with other writers (some best sellers) and a larger (well known) publisher.
I bought several books so I could look at the overall quality of their printed material but other than my own personal observations I haven't seen much information on them.

Any experience or information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

JulieB said:

Adding link:

http://www.kerlak.com/

They don't have any distribution (check the About Us page). They do have excerpts of some of their books up, so I suggest you read through them and see if you're happy with the editing.

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Well, like I said, I actually bought a few of the books at the seminar. I am not, by any means an editing expert. Which is why I hired an editor for my manuscript. Personally, I couldn't see a typo unless it practically bit me, but there were things (particularlly in one book) that bothered me. But again, I'm not an expert. The other three books didn't have what I saw in the one (which some may argue was a case of writing style). To me, in those last three, the stories were very generic. But then, I think that about a lot of books out there. The one that I felt had the most editing problems was actually the best story. But again, it could have been style.
And I've only read a few books from them, hardly anything to judge them by. I mean, I've read lots of books from other publishers that I thought were just boring stories or not very good, and those were established, well known publishers...

That's why I was asking for an opinion. I don't know if I'm being difficult or if it's a trend.

ChristineR said:

You might find this thread to be of interest.

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I think maybe I missed something? I saw three posts, one brag, nothing else.
No information, at least nothing hard core.


As for covers.


Yes, I agree. The cover art is blah. But you know what, I have two books on my desk right now from Bantamdell. The cover art is, well to be honest, pathetic. Personally I've noticed a HUGE trend in cover art lately...publishers seem to be going as cheap as they can. And quite often that seems to equal out to, boring, tacky, and very-very unprofessional.
I see this more with Romance books than any other. They even go so far as to recycle covers and think that by changing the color or adding a half picture or different background, you won't notice. I see the same "necking faces" on multiple books. If they aren't the same covers then they seriously need to get some new models.The Sci-fi/Fantasy Genre still seem to have "cover pride" but as for every one else....ick.
I see a few good ones in Urban Fantasy, but not many. Most are very, blah-blah-blah. It just seems to me that they don't want to invest any more than they do, just in case the book doesn't sell.

While I don't think every cover has to be a Larry Elmore, it would be nice for it to at least be original.

ChristineR said:

The most interesting thing in that thread is that someone sold to Kerlak--he got money out of them, which implies that they do pay at least some sort of advance. Also, you asked for people who had experience with them, and that thread has at least two people in it who did have some experience. They're probably long gone, but you can always PM them and you might get an answer.

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That I will do (PM them). I sure do wish there were more people with some personal knowledge. Even then, I know that's not always reliable.