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Wild Horse Press

Stacia Kane

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Started as an erotica/erotic romance/romance epublisher, now seems to have moved into other genres as well. I don't know much about them except that a lot of their authors have free "webs" websites; their publisher site looks fairly amateurish, their Yahoo group only has like 10 members. So a very small press.

http://wildhorsepress.webs.com/index.htm


I'd be very interested in finding out more info.
 

jennontheisland

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This looks familiar... are we sure there isn't one of these around already?

(yes, I know, you searched, but still... familiarity... )
 

MumblingSage

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WHP Liquid Heat - paranormal stories with no holds barred sex, using graphic language, bondage, S&M, menage, same sex partners, and any other wild thing you can imagine...
So same sex partners are 'no holds barred'? If/when Veinglory drops by, remember: head bang against the wall, not the monitor. Although at least they're open to 'alternative lifestyles'...

That, among other things (erotic romance/YA?) makes me look at them askance. The Wild Horse logo is very pretty, but the rest of the site seems amatuerish.
 

Old Hack

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Hang on. Graphic language, and any other wild thing you can imagine? They're publishing stories about my CHILDREN!
 

Winkgirl

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Stacia, I noticed you have two short stories on the Wild Horse site. I'm in the process of writing a short story that I'm thinking about submitting, and I was wondering if you had any feedback to give about your experience with this press.

Your stories look pretty intriguing, BTW. I might have to download them!
 

Jamiekswriter

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Winkgirl - Where did you see short stories on that site? I could find the novels. I didn't see any under Stacia's or her pen name there.

Oh wait I found a Stacia Caine (not Kane) in their author section. I'm 90% sure this isn't "our" Stacia.

http://staciacaine.webs.com/aboutme.htm
 
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Winkgirl

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Oops. My bad. Different person. Sorry Stacia (Kane)!

Looks like the website's changed since yesterday. I could have sworn that there were submission details for short stories (YA nibbles) yesterday. Now the site says closed for submissions until summer 2011.
 

MumblingSage

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Hang on. Graphic language, and any other wild thing you can imagine? They're publishing stories about my CHILDREN!

I admit I considered writing a YA romance featuring a same-sex couple involved in BDSM...although that would be combining two seperate imprints, I think.

Is YA romance a profitable genre for ebooks? I just can't see a lot of my peers owning ebook readers, and usually when we're on the computer we're not reading books besides those that start with Face-. This may be changing, though.
 

Stacia Kane

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Stacia, I noticed you have two short stories on the Wild Horse site. I'm in the process of writing a short story that I'm thinking about submitting, and I was wondering if you had any feedback to give about your experience with this press.

Your stories look pretty intriguing, BTW. I might have to download them!


Yeah, that is NOT me.

I have been in touch with the WHP people on the advice of my trademark/IP attorney, and we're hoping this gets cleared up quickly and amicably--the confusion is a definite problem, as you've just demonstrated.

I will say that thus far my dealings with the owner of the press have been very polite, professional, and friendly, which is certainly a good thing--and one you don't always get when dealing with a new micropress. So that is a point in their favor, though how much of one depends on what weight each individual wants to give it.



I do not believe YA romance is a popular/profitable genre for ebooks, no, but I suppose that depends on whether or not you can somehow give yourself a boost up to convince people to look at/buy your books. I imagine that would make a difference. But that's just conjecture, of course.



BTW, Submission Guidelines are still up, and it looks like yes, they are taking YA shorts:

http://www.the-wild-horse-press.com/submissionguidelines.htm


.
 
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JulieB

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Welcome to AW, Ashlynn!

Please understand that no one is putting down small presses. There are a number of wonderful small presses - and many of us have been published by them.

However, when we discover a new press, we scrutinize it. Please understand that some of us have been burned before by less than scrupulous operations, and we're careful. (I'm not suggesting that of Wild Horse.) The other reason we ask questions is that no press - large or small - is for everyone. I'm sure you did your research and targeted your submissions to appropriate presses. That's one of the reasons for these threads. It helps us all to know what type of works they publish, their turnaround time on submissions, that sort of thing.

This is just part of the business. As you write more (and make more sales, I hope!) I'm sure you'll appreciate this process.

Please stick around and discover what AW has to offer.
 

veinglory

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Close scrutiny of a small press is a form of respect. It means the press is being considered as a viable market for professional writers.
 

Jamiekswriter

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Just an FYI, they're closed to submissions until September 2011 according to their submission guidelines.
 

Momento Mori

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Ashlynnmonroe:
New authors like me start with small presses and honest reliable publishers like WHP are hard to find.

That's one way of doing it. New authors can, however, also go down the route of trying to get a decent agent who can then submit their manuscript to commercial publishers who pay an up front advance for manuscripts.

Ashlynnmonroe:
Writers who are disrespectful of small presses and their authors surprise me. I try to support my fellow author’s by blogging about them, giving them encouragement, and buying only indie books. I use my facebook page to spread the word about other indie authors.

Okay firstly, where has anyone here been "disrespectful" of Wild Horse Press's authors? Because reading this thread, I don't see that anyone has.

Secondly, it is not being "disrespectful" of a publisher to point out where they are potentially disadvantageous to authors. That's what this site is for - to help authors make an informed decision.

Wild Horse Press is a publisher that's taking electronic and print rights, even though it appears to lack any in-store distribution for print books (the clue there is in the fact that the site only describes them as being available from websites). Why is this bad for authors? Because people do most of their book buying in stores - even people who eventually go and buy a book on Amazon are more likely to have seen it in a store first. However even if Wild Horse wanted to get books into stores (which, from its FAQ, it seems ambivalent about), it appears to be a POD operation which means they're not going to print enough to offer the discounts that stores need. In fact, Wild Horse's website says that the publisher doesn't even keep copies of its own books - stores/libraries wanting them for booksignings are told to buy them from Amazon or Ingrams. That's not the way most stores/libraries operate.

The royalty rate of 10% on print books is ridiculously low given that the publisher has not paid an advance. In practice, people will know about an author's books because the author has told them about it - why should an author therefore only get 10% of the benefit of their labour (and I notice that it's not stated on the Wild Horse website whether their royalties are paid on cover price or net).

Wild Horse doesn't seem to talk about doing any marketing beyond submitting to reviewers. That isn't enough. In fact, Wild Horse's website talks about how it's the author's responsibility to promote and market - it is not. Their advice to authors on how to promote their book is generic, involves the author spending a lot of time, energy and effort that the publisher should be doing and (without proper distribution in place) won't result in large sales.

Ashlynnmonroe:
Small presses are nothing to fear.

But not all small presses are equal and honestly, I don't see what Wild Horse gives an author that an author couldn't do for themselves using Lulu or another self-publishing company (and in respect of which, you'd get to keep more of the money from your labour).

Ashlynnmonroe:
I love seeing the success of other authors; sadly, I’m finding out that I’m a minority.

I find that offensive.

No one here hates seeing other authors be successful or want authors to fail. What we don't want to see is authors throwing their hard work away for pennies when there are other options out there for them to make more from their work.

If you're one of those authors who isn't bothered about making money from their writing, then that's fine. It's a personal decision. But please don't accuse others of wanting to see people fail just because they're raising points about your publisher that you'd rather not consider.

MM
 

Stacia Kane

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A publisher having a free "webs" website implies they haven't got any money to fund their business (and it is a business first and foremost, or it should be).

An author using a free "webs" website implies their books aren't earning enough money for them to afford the $10 for a proper domain name registration. (Or that they habitually create new sites under new names for a few months then move on to a different name and so don't want to pay every time they do so, or something like that.)

Both of those things are important for writers to know when considering whether to submit to a new press.

It's not criticism. It's not disrespectful. It is something people need to know. Would you be more likely to buy something from "Cooltoys.com," or from a free "Cooltoys.webs.com" site? Seriously, when it's your money on the line, would that make a difference to you?

It might or it might not. But for some people it definitely would.

Believe me, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to see new writers succeed. Given the hundreds of hours of my personal time I've given to that very goal over the years, I think that should be obvious to anyone who cared to look.
 
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Adobedragon

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I think webs.com is fine, and if you’ve never used them, you’d be surprised how easy and enjoyable it is to set up your website. I doubt that a costly website will sell more books than my freebie webs. The readers who come looking for information about me are able to find my website and contact me.
I see it as a matter of credibility. Sadly, a free page doesn't convey much commitment to writing as a craft and as a business. Money should flow to the author. But every business requires some financial investment. So I see a paid web host as a necessary part of the business, even though I've only made about $100 on my writing--ever. It's a necessary expense, just like a computer or a printer.

I have my own domain and I pay for a host. Costs me less than $100 a year. For that I get unlimited space; unlimited email addresses; backups; and various scripts and other programs (Wordpress, php, SQL database, etc.) My host, like most, also provides web site designing software, so it's easy to set up a page.

I get one domain free and for $10, I added on another for my small business. Given the limited storage available on most free hosts, I have a hard time seeing how anyone wouldn't quickly outgrow free hosting.

Anyway, just something to consider. I wish you the best of luck with your books.