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[Publisher] Black Opal Books

Marian Perera

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They have lived up to all their promises and if you're expecting perfect in this world, it doesn't happen.

I don't expect perfection, but I do expect competence. There are several factors that make me doubt Black Opal's competence, and the book not being available on Amazon until now is just one of them.

The quality of editing is another. I read part of the first chapter you have on your blog, and I'm afraid it doesn't say much for Black Opal's content editing. It's great that you're happy with them, but I wouldn't recommend them.
 

AdrianLynn

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Thank you for clearing that up, Inkblot. I'm sorry if my original post seemed accusatory, but it's incredibly weird to have Amazon reviews on your website for a book that hasn't been published. If we noticed around here, I'm sure others have too. You don't have long until your book is released so I hope those two reviewers do agree to re-post their reviews ASAP, otherwise other people might notice the discrepancy and question what's going on. (Hmm, actually, according to Amazon, your book was released today. How do they have it released before your publisher does?)

Good luck. I sincerely hope you do well and I hope Black Opal Books is everything you want it to be.
 

Round Two

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I'm happy that I've generated some interest in myself and Black Opal Books. To address your concerns and for me, I'll clarify. I was Bruce Castle, and my novel was The Mistake. When I terminated my previous publisher last year who not only did not live up to meticulous editing, but had many other issues detrimental to my work, I found that I couldn't get Amazon to remove the book, even though I held the copy write. To avoid confusion, I became S. B. Redstone and the name of the novel is A Sinister Obsession. It is exactly the same as The Mistake, but with a double professional edit now. When I queried Black Opal Books, I did in fact tell them what happened to me. They saw great value in my work and felt sorry for me as well. They have lived up to all their promises and if you're expecting perfect in this world, it doesn't happen. The reviews on my website and on Amazon are for the same book as I just said, just a different title. I was fortunate to receive excellent reviews despite the grammatical errors of The Mistake. There is no deception. I am in contact with the two Amazon reviewers to have them put their reviews for the new title. I am now preparing for extensive marketing. It is a daunting task. I hope one of you will read my novel. It is good.

Steve

Having copyright in a book doesn't mean you can tell Amazon not to sell it.

The question is, who holds the print/ebook rights? If your first publisher does, then Black Opal Books is complicit in you violating the terms of your contract, and if the stakes were higher (they aren't), could be be sued.
 
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Inkblot19

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I owned the rights before Black Opal Books became my publisher. I terminated the first contract legally and on good terms with the first publisher. There is no hanky panky here. I just answered the thread because Black Opal books is a professional independent publisher with dedicated people and it bothered my to see misinformation about them. If you are a writer, I recommend them highly. Some folks wish to point out supposed issues, I can't change minds. That's all. My novel, A Sinister Obsession comes out tomorrow 8-31-2013. No one has said it is for sale yet. Good luck to everyone on your endeavors.

S. B. Redstone
 

LindaJeanne

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I just answered the thread because Black Opal books is a professional independent publisher with dedicated people and it bothered my to see misinformation about them.

What, specifically, did you find to be misinformation about Black Opal (as opposed to just an opinion you disagree with)?

(Congrats on the re-release of your novel! Hope it does well for you.)

~~Linda
 
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CheG

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Well, my novella Carmine Rojas: Dog Fight has been acquired by Black Opal. So far I'm on the second round of edits.

They seem pretty good so far! I can't say anything about sales or promotion yet, but I think it's pretty typical of authors to have to self-promote these days, small press or no! So I'm game!

Anyway, if anyone is interested I'll keep you all updated as to how it's going.

OH! An they let me do my own cover! Which I'm pretty proud of :) *points left*
 

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Black Opal Books - Thumbs Up or Down?

Hi y'all - I've done a search on Black Opal Books here at AW and the only thread dates back to 2011. Is there anyone with current information on this publisher? Thumbs up or thumbs down? I've done a lot of Googling but have come up with precious little info. Any first-hand info you can offer will be appreciated. Thanks.
 

fourlittlebees

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Just for curiosity's sake, no one asked about the reviewer statement? I'm not sure what a "reviewer at the big houses" means. I can tell you that I review for a major reviewer. The majority of us are freelancers, and I don't know how being a professional reviewer is a detriment? Also, I've never known one of this publisher's books to be submitted to the outlet I review for, and I do wonder if -- due to the fact that they're a micropub -- some outlets file them the same as self-published books and require a fee for a review? Does that mean the same thing as "not independent"?
 

CheG

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Well, I can say a little something about BOB now.

I have seen one of their books in print in person and it looks great! The interior design is topnotch, as is my novella (I've seen the galley). It is indeed a small pub and a lot of things are very DIY. They did send me bookmark designs, and postcard designs which I could use to print promotional materials, but I don't think they send out the book for review. Though they sent me a list blogs to send carmine out to.

They do have two reviewers who write blurbs for EVERYTHING. Which is annoying and I took it upon myself to get a couple blurbs from authors. It seems tacky, but they do it for ALL the books, so unless you specifically ask them not to it's going in your book. A friend of mine who is a more established small press mystery author has a book coming out from them and she asked them NOT to have their in-house (I'm not sure that they are in-house, maybe default is a better word) reviewers blurb her book. She has good author connections and can do better. I believe she said BOB said it was fine.

The community of authors at BOB is very friendly and welcoming!

So far everything has been very polite and professional too. They seem pretty flexible too, which is nice. I designed my own cover, front and back. They seem very open to further submissions and I have a novel I'm going to send them this week when I finish the 9th draft! LOL!

The contract was very simple and straight forward and only 10 pages long. They don't ask for anything outrageous like 'right of first refusal'. They don't contract for future work. You are free to submit more books, or no more books. There are also several authors who books out by other presses and BOB and it doesn't seem to be an issue.

I hope this helps!
 

ironmikezero

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They seem to be having some persistent issues with their site. A number of links appear broken; and 404 errors are common - to include submission guidelines...
 

CheG

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They seem to be having some persistent issues with their site. A number of links appear broken; and 404 errors are common - to include submission guidelines...

That is chronic, unfortunately. You can get in touch with them on FB and tell them the links aren't working. You can probably ask them for the submission guidelines too.

They are open to mystery, fantasy, YA, thriller, and romance for sure. Novels and novella length are fine. But that's all I can recall for certain.
 

dasartwrite

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This is years later now, but I had signed with Black Opal about the time of these previous last posts on this string. I have two titles published with Black Opal and both were heavily edited. Yes, the books are printed by Amazon for print copies and marketed on that basis and in ebook formats including Nook 1st B&N. I have a third book in the queue for editing to be released in October. All are conspiracy type thrillers, but the the second one released a year ago is a love story and part science fiction.
About 18 months ago I was in a contact with a younger author with high sales as a self published guy with fantasy/science fiction books series. He thought it was great I had a traditional publisher until he realized I was with a Create Space based publisher who was "ripping me off of royalties" .... instead of me doing my own pubishing on Amazon. I explained I do get editing, with a wait, and cover art done. He pays for his editing and cover art.
Yes, marketing is a learning experience that has evolved over the past ten years ..... (actually past 25 years), and there are lots of modes and pros and cons.
I don't recall being required to do anything with their website. I do remember there was problems with some of their page links.
I am not happy about my sales, but that has improved this past year. No publisher seems to release sales data. I am not sure what Amazon's ranking numbers mean either.
I had a previous Lightning Source print only novel out with an author mill publisher in 2006 and outrageous 7 year contract. A second ebook only novel in 2009 was with a Toronto publisher, and went nowhere. That book became my first book with Black Opal ..... and was heavily revised.
With or after three books (includes the up coming October 2017 title) with Black Opal, Am considering a new avenue with my fifth book. I read there are 700,000 self published out there. So, to me, it's all a crap shoot .... like starving artists and garage bands.
 

Kathl33n

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Saved twice. Edited to stop duplication. See next post.
 
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Kathl33n

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I am an author with BOB and during my first year in 2019, Lauri Wellington ran the place. She was great, and everyone there was great until they had a change in ownership soon after. Under the new ownership, all royalties stopped for me, and on the group message board, it was posted over and over again that other authors weren't getting paid, though they knew they had sales. Rights weren't being given back to authors even after multiple requests. Some authors wanted to give up on writing altogether because of how they were being disregarded. To revive an old post, I thought it would be necessary in case anyone else decided to give a look to see what BOB was like. Do not put your baby in their hands. This place has turned into a complete shit show.
 

dasartwrite

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Hello all here. I have three books published by Black Opal Books. Their editing process was rigid and not rushed. I though that my covers were well done also. I do art, was an art major, and have a Minor in art with my B.A. in Zoology. I have a fourth novel in editing with a friend now. I have considered going with a different publisher. My books honestly never did very well. I am hoping better for this new one, as being better written and better edited. This new one is a sequel to one of the previous books. A character driven meta-physicical story. Characters have a way of sticking around. So, I was looking at STORM publisher here. I may give them a chance. Black Opal, I may go back to with this latest. They gave me three books, that I was able to promote and create events with. Is this all a crap shoot? All the best to you all. And thanks for this forum.
 

RiderViv

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Hello all here. I have three books published by Black Opal Books. Their editing process was rigid and not rushed. I though that my covers were well done also. I do art, was an art major, and have a Minor in art with my B.A. in Zoology. I have a fourth novel in editing with a friend now. I have considered going with a different publisher. My books honestly never did very well. I am hoping better for this new one, as being better written and better edited. This new one is a sequel to one of the previous books. A character driven meta-physicical story. Characters have a way of sticking around. So, I was looking at STORM publisher here. I may give them a chance. Black Opal, I may go back to with this latest. They gave me three books, that I was able to promote and create events with. Is this all a crap shoot? All the best to you all. And thanks for this forum.
Well Tim, as I've mentioned on Facebook, Black Opal Books was great until the owner of the company was forced to retire due to medical issues (she lost her sight). She sold it to Susan (no last name that I can find) and it has gone not just downhill, but all the way to the bottom. Susan clearly bit off more than she could chew, and the rest is history. My novel was finally published four years after I signed the contract with the original owner of Black Opal Books. And that was because during the legal hassles of changing ownership my manuscript was lost. I produced a copy that had been through the first-round edits. THAT is what they published! No one ever looked at it again. It's an embarrassing mess. I have not received one penny of royalties. Now, Susan refuses to answer emails and phone calls. Her only employee (as far as I can tell) Gibby, (also no last name given) used to be pretty good at communication, now she's completely ghosting me too. This company was great when I signed with them, they absolutely SUCK now, and I rather imagine are going out of business.
 
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Well Tim, as I've mentioned on Facebook, Black Opal Books was great until the owner of the company was forced to retire due to medical issues (she lost her sight). She sold it to Susan (no last name that I can find) and it has gone not just downhill, but all the way to the bottom. Susan clearly bit off more than she could chew, and the rest is history. My novel was finally published four years after I signed the contract with the original owner of Black Opal Books. And that was because during the legal hassles of changing ownership my manuscript was lost. I produced a copy that had been through the first-round edits. THAT is what they published! No one ever looked at it again. It's an embarrassing mess. I have not received one penny of royalties. Now, Susan refuses to answer emails and phone calls. Her only employee (as far as I can tell) Gibby, (also no last name given) used to be pretty good at communication, now she's completely ghosting me too. This company was great when I signed with them, they absolutely SUCK now, and I rather imagine are going out of business.
Welcome, @RiderViv. Thank you for providing an update on this publisher. Your unfortunate experiences seem to mirror those of @Kathl33n.

I hope you'll stick around and introduce yourself to the community by starting a thread in the New Members subforum.
 

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Has anyone recent experience with Black Opal Books?
 
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mrsmig

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I assume you've read back through this thread? The last year's worth of posts are not favorable...