Peak City Publishing / All Booked Up

badducky · Mar 12, 2011

I know nothing about them, came across their website in my travels, and couldn't make much sense of their website.

Website:

http://www.peakcitypublishing.com/

I have no opinion, no experience with them, and I have heard nothing.*

If anyone has any information or personal experience to share, I assume that would be, as always, appreciated

*edit to add: I have heard that they are not a vanity shop. If my sources are mistaken, they are mistaken. Personally, the website gives me such a headache that I could not be bothered to sift through the clipart. Also, and for what it's worth, my source on them being not vanity is a reliable one: a respectable indie publisher of note and acclaim.

CaoPaux · Mar 12, 2011

The vision of Peak City Publishing, LLC is to be the premier publisher of choice by providing world-class publications and services. We are driven by integrity, teamwork, community and innovation.

We will accomplish this by:
Providing comprehensive packages to support our customers from production to worldwide distribution
Offering our customers the most competitive earning potential and the end-user with reasonable prices
Supporting our community through new and innovative fund raising opportunities

Vanity, straight up.

Sister company, All Booked Up, is a used book store: http://www.allbookedupsalemstreet.com/

PVish · Mar 12, 2011

Bolding mine.

From the submission requirements page/cover sheet:

Summary of how you came to write about this topic, and any interesting experiencces while researching the book.

From the submission requirements page/competitive titles:

Use this section to outline at least five popular competitive titles which are similar to yours, and highlight how yours is different than the others. Explain why the same readers would be interested in your material.

Remember, your examples should be succesful and your comparison should show how your story is unique but also destined to be as popular.

Helpful resources for this section would be the New York Times, Amazon and Barnes and Nobels Best Seller Lists.

Finding "five popular competitive titles" might be tricky if you're writing about an obscure topic—especially ones that are similar to your unique story.

Different from, not "different than." Sheesh!

badducky · Mar 13, 2011

CaoPaux said:
Vanity, straight up.

Sister company, All Booked Up, is a used book store: http://www.allbookedupsalemstreet.com/

The store is correct, but I've heard that they are, in fact, not a vanity operation from the source that told me about the place. We might be wrong, but...

DreamWeaver · Mar 13, 2011

Depends if in their vision statement talking points, "customer" means the author or the reader (and if "customer" means reader, to whom does "end-user" refer?).

But then, I'm extremely unfond of TotalQualityManagementSpeak, so maybe I'm picking nits.

However, following the money is almost always definitive. A good way of identifying a vanity press is by its customers. Publishers sell to readers, vanity presses sell to their authors.

brianm · Mar 13, 2011

Company started in March 2010 by co-owners of the bookstore. Seems they hung out their shingle in order to give local artists a chance at publication. Neither appears to have any publishing experience.

The two friends and business partners are honored to be part of the Apex community and downtown experience. Both feel strongly about looking at the publishing experience as a partnership with writers, readers and the community. Peak City Publishing, LLC has an exciting vision for the future of aspiring authors and artists which will turn the traditional publishing experience upside down

~brianm~

CaoPaux · Mar 14, 2011

badducky said:
The store is correct, but I've heard that they are, in fact, not a vanity operation from the source that told me about the place. We might be wrong, but...

Mmm hmm. If a publisher which talks of "packages" and "customers" isn't a pay-to-play operation, then they're so clueless as to how a commercial publisher operates that they might as well be for all the good they'll do your book.

CaoPaux · Jan 15, 2012

"Get Published" page is now more professional. Questionnaire is .docx, though.

Updating bookstore link: http://www.allbookedupsalemst.com/

CaoPaux · May 8, 2016

Domain changed to peakcitypublishing.co in '13, but is now expired (an older Wix site is still available.) Last book published early '15, yet relatively recent activity on FB.

ETA: nothing new published, FB ceased Jan '17, and TW is nothing but spam for the same two books pubbed in '12.

Peak City Publishing / All Booked Up

badducky

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

PVish

Cat hair collector

badducky

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.

DreamWeaver

Shakespearean Fool

brianm

Brian Boru

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless