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Pookiestoop

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Hi, got yet another question!
I have been searching the Preditors & Editors site for book publishers. On the publishers pages I have found very few that are written in pink- pink indicates the compay has good standing. Are there other sites that have listings of newer publishers, in particular? Thanks
 

Aconite

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Pookiestoop, if you're looking for SF/fantasy publishers, you may want to check out www.ralan.com. Note that it just lists publishers; it doesn't rate them.
 

victoriastrauss

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Pookiestoop said:
I have been searching the Preditors & Editors site for book publishers.
Here's an even easier method. Go to the bookstore. Spend some time in the area where books in your subject or genre are shelved. It's one of the best ways to find out who's publishing what (and it saves you a step, because you already know they can get their books into bookstores).

- Victoria
 

Robin Bayne

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Plus in the stores you get to buy more books while you're there. :)

You can also search the online stores like Amazon & B/N, just make sure you check out the publisher along with the titles/genres.
 

HapiSofi

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Inspiewriter said:
You can also search the online stores like Amazon & B/N, just make sure you check out the publisher along with the titles/genres.
No. You have to go to a brick-and-mortar bookstore. A lot of publishers can give a good appearance online. You have to physically be there in the bookstore if you're going to see what's actually being distributed and shelved.
 

DaveKuzminski

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I agree with HapiSofi that the only way to check on whether a publisher gets books into bookstores is to physically visit a brick and mortar bookstore.

Use the online stores only to see who published a certain book if you're checking to see if a book an agent claims to have sold to a particular publisher was actually published by that company or to check if a particular book was published by a specific author.

But placement on bookstore shelves requires visits to actual bookstores.
 

Aconite

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victoriastrauss said:
Go to the bookstore. Spend some time in the area where books in your subject or genre are shelved.
One of the problems with starting your search this way is that, depending on the size and type of bookstores in your area, they may not stock anything from decent small presses--or even from some of the major lines. I live in a fair-sized city, but none of the B&Ns here (at least four in easy driving distance) stock the Luna line, frex. The Borders (three of them close enough that I visit them regularly) carry Meisha Merlin books every so often, but you could easily miss them if you were there at the wrong time. (The situation was much worse when I lived in a small town and the only bookstores I had access to were a small, mall-based Little Professor and a used bookstore.) Now, of course, that tells you something about the distribution of those publishers' books, and of course you should check out any publisher you're interested in by searching the shelves, but starting that way may mean you miss some decent publishers.
 

Aconite

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Start high and work down, absolutely. But...is Luna really that small? I was surprised that B&N didn't carry them at all.
 

Kasey Mackenzie

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Luna isn't that small these days, to my knowledge. Last year when they started, sure. I haven't had trouble finding their books at Waldenbooks or Borders, but I've never tried at B&N. Of course, unless the book is by a more well-known author they usually only ever carry a couple of them at a time. Sometimes I'll only see one on the shelf.
 

Richard White

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Seems odd that some stores aren't carrying the Luna line of books, considering they're an off-shoot of Harlequin.

I know Catherine Asaro and Robin Owens are doing books for them and don't seem to be having any problems getting them into the locak B&N or Borders near me (just outside of Baltimore).

Can't speak for Borders Express (formerly Waldenbooks), since they've cut back a lot of their titles with the changeover. The BE increased their YA section, cut way back on their SF/F section and seem to be concentrating mainly on Best Sellers and Local Interest at the mall store nearest me. Also selling a lot more calendars, etc., but that could be seasonal.
 
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CaoPaux

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Fairly random comment: my local Borders just installed taller shelving to double their display space. Happy, happy, joy, joy! :hooray:
 

victoriastrauss

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Aconite said:
Start high and work down, absolutely. But...is Luna really that small? I was surprised that B&N didn't carry them at all.
My local B&N, which is not a superstore and has a fairly limited SF/fantasy section, carries Luna.

- Victoria
 

Aconite

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victoriastrauss said:
My local B&N, which is not a superstore and has a fairly limited SF/fantasy section, carries Luna.
Maybe it's a regional thing, then. After not finding them in two stores, I asked at the third, and was told immediately, "We don't carry those." I was surprised. Had I been searching the shelves for possible publishers, I would have missed that one because it wasn't at those stores.