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Does anyone have any positive or negative information about this e-book publisher? Here's their link.
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Blade Publishing
- Thread starter Matthew Warner
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I saw some basic grammar errors, they offer to publish all genres instead of focusing on something more specific. Don't know the experience behind either the publisher or senior editor. Only one book on the front page. The covers are okay, I suppose. Some are really bad photoshop jobs.
I only quickly looked and I would not submit to them. There covers look horrible. A attractive cover pulls people in. I also get the feeling it's a group of authors trying to sell there books. I noticed a lot of the authors where the same.
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No COVID yet. Still masking.
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Never heard of them.
The fact that they take all rights in their contract (as per their FAQs) and the placeholder cover art they have for their gay/lesbian line (all of which appear to feature a man and a woman) are enough to cross them off my list.
The fact that they take all rights in their contract (as per their FAQs) and the placeholder cover art they have for their gay/lesbian line (all of which appear to feature a man and a woman) are enough to cross them off my list.
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Red flags all over. So hard to pick just one!
It looks to be an overly ambitious e-publisher hoping to cash in on the demand for e-books.
Nothing wrong with that, but---
Moses on a pogo stick. ONLY 6 books a month? It takes me that long to edit ONE book, never mind that they also have to do the cover art, interior design (even an e-book needs it!) and a few thousand other details if one is going to make a good job of it.
With the amateur "art" I wouldn't go near this bunch on a bet.
They have fake covers with "coming soon" as page fillers. Let's assume that means they have no books for sale.
Dear publisher--when you have just a couple books to sell, please just list THOSE. All the blanks are frustrating to customers.
The Inspirational section has the same steamy "covers" as the Historicals, Non-Fiction, etc. Hilarious. I can take that to mean they have a limited supply of stock images.
They're not SURE??? Clearly no solid business plan is in place, so writers beware. This reeks not of ill intent, but howling inexperience.
See if they're still around in a year. Ellora's Cave had a similar rocky start and crappy art. (Heck, some of the art is STILL crappy!)
But they were focused, not all over the map like a GPS with a wonky battery.
Contrast this e-house with DarkStar Books, which has only a few titles, but they make the most of what's there.
Mathew--in shopping a novel don't start at the bottom. That's a rookie mistake.
Start at the top with the biggest house you can find and work your way down. Start with the big print houses that pay real advances.
By the time you reach this bunch it's time to start over with a new book.
It looks to be an overly ambitious e-publisher hoping to cash in on the demand for e-books.
Nothing wrong with that, but---
Moses on a pogo stick. ONLY 6 books a month? It takes me that long to edit ONE book, never mind that they also have to do the cover art, interior design (even an e-book needs it!) and a few thousand other details if one is going to make a good job of it.
With the amateur "art" I wouldn't go near this bunch on a bet.
They have fake covers with "coming soon" as page fillers. Let's assume that means they have no books for sale.
Dear publisher--when you have just a couple books to sell, please just list THOSE. All the blanks are frustrating to customers.
The Inspirational section has the same steamy "covers" as the Historicals, Non-Fiction, etc. Hilarious. I can take that to mean they have a limited supply of stock images.
They're not SURE??? Clearly no solid business plan is in place, so writers beware. This reeks not of ill intent, but howling inexperience.
See if they're still around in a year. Ellora's Cave had a similar rocky start and crappy art. (Heck, some of the art is STILL crappy!)
But they were focused, not all over the map like a GPS with a wonky battery.
Contrast this e-house with DarkStar Books, which has only a few titles, but they make the most of what's there.
Mathew--in shopping a novel don't start at the bottom. That's a rookie mistake.
Start at the top with the biggest house you can find and work your way down. Start with the big print houses that pay real advances.
By the time you reach this bunch it's time to start over with a new book.
Time for a flog ...
As has been said by other posters here, it's usually a better idea for a new epublisher to focus on one or two specific genres, so that they can build up a reputation in that particular market and focus their marketing and promotion activities.
This suggests that they're looking to publish from monthly submissions, which means there's a risk of this becoming little more than an author mill. If an epublisher isn't properly geared up to sell to the public and finds itself dependent on selling to authors, then the temptation is to increase the number of authors it takes on.
It also suggests that they're not focusing so much on finding and publishers authors that they can sell in accordance with a set publishing business plan. They're not looking forward to decide how many slots they can effectively promote and sell in a year, they're looking no further than each month at a time.
As others have pointed out, 6 books per month will still be too much for a small epublisher to effectively market. This again points to cluelessness on how best to market and sell books.
There's no information on either of these lady's credentials to do their job. A quick Google search only turned up that there's a romance author called Shonna Brannon (no idea if she's the same one) but I can't find any books published on Amazon under that name.
This suggests that they're not paying advances.
I'd want to get more details on how that termination right works and whether there's any fee payable in connection with its exercise.
Almost every epublisher I see on this Forum talks about internet marketing and submitting to review sites and what concerns me every time is that it shows they're either either not able to or not prepared to actually spend money on a marketing programme, with advertising in trade press and other initiatives to get the book out there.
I'd definitely want to question them further about the marketing strategy they want to use for me book before accepting an offer from them and I'd want to see something more concrete than this - i.e. specify how they intend the campaign to work and what they're actually going to do and on which sites.
If I had a quid for every epublisher that emphasised how dedicated it was to its authors ...
If you're not satisfied with the performance after a year, then even if you terminate you've lost first publishing rights, which means you're stuck with a book that probably hasn't sold many copies and which will therefore make it difficult to find another publisher willing to take it on.
You need to find out what the average sales figures are for existing authors with this company. If they're low (or the company won't tell you) then my recommendation would be to walk away.
So they're paying 35% on net. I don't like the "35% of the download price determined by Blade Publishing Ltd" line. There should be an agreed cover price for the book and your royalties are charged against that cover price. If they're going to pay on net, then the royalties should be calculated against the cover price less the agreed net costs (which would typically be listing costs but should in any event be clearly set out). The fact that Blade is paying royalties based on the cover price as they decide it, means that they could very easily make a decision to reduce prices to 1 cent, leaving royalties as being 35% of that 1 cent. This is obviously not a good deal for authors.
If you check out the publication clause, then you can see that Blade has 12 months from the date of signature of the contract to publish the books. Therefore, if they delay publication until the last day of the 12 month after signature of the contract, the final contract term could be 4 years instead of 3. I'd therefore want to amend this clause to make it clear that the agreement runs from 3 years from the date of signature. If Blade then delays in publishing the manuscript, it's at their risk.
This is a unilateral termination right and I would strongly resist it - not least because I don't see why they can terminate on 30 days notice, but the author must give 90 days served by certified mail.
In addition to my objection to the notice requirements, I'd also point out that:
1. this effectively ties in the author to a minimum of 2 years before s/he can terminate the contract if Blade has waited the maximum period of time before publishing; and
2. I would want to see an addition to this making clear that on termination all rights will be reverted to the author.
This is all the publisher's job and while the author may have a say in it, they shouldn't be producing it.
The "best of ability" wording has strong potential to be used as a get-out by the publisher for not doing their own marketing (and I don't see why they are not being held to the same standard in this clause).
I don't like the requirement for authors to link to the publisher on their own website. They're not advertising the publisher, they're promoting the book and I don't see why Blade should have any say in what I put on my website.
I'd want to check with a Canadian insolvency lawyer to see whether this is enforceable in practice. In the UK in an insolvency situation, the publisher will usually seek to exist or will be deemed to have ceded all management control to the liquidator who is under no duty to honour any such requirement as their function is to dispose of assets to recoup money for creditors.
I'd want this deleted in its entirety. Blade should not be disposing of my manuscript to anyone without my express written agreement and I should be under no obligation to give it. If Blade wants to dispose of my manuscript and I don't agree, then I should have the option to terminate the contract and have all rights reverted to me.
There's no governing law and jurisdiction wording - presumably it's intended to be governed by Canadian law and the Canadian courts, but I'd want something inserted to make it clear.
MM
As has been said by other posters here, it's usually a better idea for a new epublisher to focus on one or two specific genres, so that they can build up a reputation in that particular market and focus their marketing and promotion activities.
This suggests that they're looking to publish from monthly submissions, which means there's a risk of this becoming little more than an author mill. If an epublisher isn't properly geared up to sell to the public and finds itself dependent on selling to authors, then the temptation is to increase the number of authors it takes on.
It also suggests that they're not focusing so much on finding and publishers authors that they can sell in accordance with a set publishing business plan. They're not looking forward to decide how many slots they can effectively promote and sell in a year, they're looking no further than each month at a time.
As others have pointed out, 6 books per month will still be too much for a small epublisher to effectively market. This again points to cluelessness on how best to market and sell books.
There's no information on either of these lady's credentials to do their job. A quick Google search only turned up that there's a romance author called Shonna Brannon (no idea if she's the same one) but I can't find any books published on Amazon under that name.
This suggests that they're not paying advances.
I'd want to get more details on how that termination right works and whether there's any fee payable in connection with its exercise.
Almost every epublisher I see on this Forum talks about internet marketing and submitting to review sites and what concerns me every time is that it shows they're either either not able to or not prepared to actually spend money on a marketing programme, with advertising in trade press and other initiatives to get the book out there.
I'd definitely want to question them further about the marketing strategy they want to use for me book before accepting an offer from them and I'd want to see something more concrete than this - i.e. specify how they intend the campaign to work and what they're actually going to do and on which sites.
If I had a quid for every epublisher that emphasised how dedicated it was to its authors ...
If you're not satisfied with the performance after a year, then even if you terminate you've lost first publishing rights, which means you're stuck with a book that probably hasn't sold many copies and which will therefore make it difficult to find another publisher willing to take it on.
You need to find out what the average sales figures are for existing authors with this company. If they're low (or the company won't tell you) then my recommendation would be to walk away.
So they're paying 35% on net. I don't like the "35% of the download price determined by Blade Publishing Ltd" line. There should be an agreed cover price for the book and your royalties are charged against that cover price. If they're going to pay on net, then the royalties should be calculated against the cover price less the agreed net costs (which would typically be listing costs but should in any event be clearly set out). The fact that Blade is paying royalties based on the cover price as they decide it, means that they could very easily make a decision to reduce prices to 1 cent, leaving royalties as being 35% of that 1 cent. This is obviously not a good deal for authors.
If you check out the publication clause, then you can see that Blade has 12 months from the date of signature of the contract to publish the books. Therefore, if they delay publication until the last day of the 12 month after signature of the contract, the final contract term could be 4 years instead of 3. I'd therefore want to amend this clause to make it clear that the agreement runs from 3 years from the date of signature. If Blade then delays in publishing the manuscript, it's at their risk.
This is a unilateral termination right and I would strongly resist it - not least because I don't see why they can terminate on 30 days notice, but the author must give 90 days served by certified mail.
In addition to my objection to the notice requirements, I'd also point out that:
1. this effectively ties in the author to a minimum of 2 years before s/he can terminate the contract if Blade has waited the maximum period of time before publishing; and
2. I would want to see an addition to this making clear that on termination all rights will be reverted to the author.
This is all the publisher's job and while the author may have a say in it, they shouldn't be producing it.
The "best of ability" wording has strong potential to be used as a get-out by the publisher for not doing their own marketing (and I don't see why they are not being held to the same standard in this clause).
I don't like the requirement for authors to link to the publisher on their own website. They're not advertising the publisher, they're promoting the book and I don't see why Blade should have any say in what I put on my website.
I'd want to check with a Canadian insolvency lawyer to see whether this is enforceable in practice. In the UK in an insolvency situation, the publisher will usually seek to exist or will be deemed to have ceded all management control to the liquidator who is under no duty to honour any such requirement as their function is to dispose of assets to recoup money for creditors.
I'd want this deleted in its entirety. Blade should not be disposing of my manuscript to anyone without my express written agreement and I should be under no obligation to give it. If Blade wants to dispose of my manuscript and I don't agree, then I should have the option to terminate the contract and have all rights reverted to me.
There's no governing law and jurisdiction wording - presumably it's intended to be governed by Canadian law and the Canadian courts, but I'd want something inserted to make it clear.
MM
Appears to have shut down.
Notice may or may not have been sent directly to authors, but at least two found out through the grapevine, then went to the site to see this: http://www.bladepublishing.org/
Notice may or may not have been sent directly to authors, but at least two found out through the grapevine, then went to the site to see this: http://www.bladepublishing.org/
Well, it's good that Blade are at least trying to do the right thing by sending out accrued royalties and rights reversion letters.
Sadly though, I've seen this type of thing all too often since I've been here in AW. It just goes to show why it's so important to do a background check on a company and make sure that it's well capitalised and staffed by people who know what they're doing.
MM
Sadly though, I've seen this type of thing all too often since I've been here in AW. It just goes to show why it's so important to do a background check on a company and make sure that it's well capitalised and staffed by people who know what they're doing.
MM
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Just noting that I'm aware of several Blade authors who are having a very difficult time getting in touch with the owners of this house for their revision letters; as far as they (and hence I) know, no revision letters have been issued. The email address they had for the owners just bounces or end them an auto-reply saying the house is closed. No one has heard from the owners.
*shakes head*
We informed them thusly...sigh.
*shakes head*
We informed them thusly...sigh.
As one of their authors I have to say that up until this summer, I had absolutely no complaints about the company. Unlike some of the authors, I always stuck to my guns on cover art, did promotions and such, and was always able to contact the owner.
Having said that, I must admit that I'm still awaiting my reversal of rites letter and final royalties - but as soon as I have that I'm looking forward to moving on.
Having said that, I must admit that I'm still awaiting my reversal of rites letter and final royalties - but as soon as I have that I'm looking forward to moving on.
Reveral of rites from Blade
Sadly, no. Nothing yet. I'm going to be emailing her yet again today in the vain hope that she responds. Being familiar with Canada post, my letter should have been in the beginning of the week...but nothing so far.
So I'm back to doing an email a day or two...or three...until I get some closer.
Sadly, no. Nothing yet. I'm going to be emailing her yet again today in the vain hope that she responds. Being familiar with Canada post, my letter should have been in the beginning of the week...but nothing so far.
So I'm back to doing an email a day or two...or three...until I get some closer.
Send a registered letter to make sure you have proof that the person received it. It may help you to know that in future dealings with them, if you have to take other action.
The registered letter is on my desk and due to go out tomorrow or Friday morning. I think its only fair to those of us who have been dealing with this that what belongs to us is returned. LOL - No sour grapes here though. Its been a learning experience.