[Publisher] Unbridled Books

Hadn't heard of them until now. I did find this about one of their founders.

A reputable publisher. They are a nice outfit that puts out some great books. I sent chapters and a query for a literary novel to Fred Ramey in 2010 and received a nice, polite rejection this January.

ETA:They are selling 25 ebooks for 25 cents through tomorrow. A steal.

I mentioned to my local indie bookstore owner that I had submitted a novel query to them and her response was something to the effect of that publishing with them would be like grabbing the brass ring of small presses. She thought VERY highly of them. They have established a fine reputation in a short time.

Alias Octavia: How long did it take for them to respond to your query?

Sushi said:

I mentioned to my local indie bookstore owner that I had submitted a novel query to them and her response was something to the effect of that publishing with them would be like grabbing the brass ring of small presses. She thought VERY highly of them. They have established a fine reputation in a short time.

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I personally would not assume that a bookstore owner knows what a publishers authors are earning. Their amazon sales ranks suggest sluggish online sales. How many of their books did she have in stock? Because that would be more telling, if indy stores are ordering them by the gross.

Unbridled is an excellent small press. They publish literary fiction, so I can't imagine that their writers make money hand over fist, but their books are reviewed in Publishers Weekly, New York Times, People, and other prestigious and popular outlets. I checked out The C0ffins of L1tt1e H0pe from my library -- pretty good.

veinglory said:

I personally would not assume that a bookstore owner knows what a publishers authors are earning. Their amazon sales ranks suggest sluggish online sales. How many of their books did she have in stock? Because that would be more telling, if indy stores are ordering them by the gross.

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I didn't take her comment as saying that their authors are making tons of money. (Seriously, very few writers are making a ton of money writing literary fiction.) But as a smart bookseller, she knows what small presses are putting out good books and are well respected. Having my book accepted by a strong indie press with an excellent reputation for both great books and taking care of its writers would indeed be grabbing the brass ring. For me, anyway. Your mileage may vary.

I was responding to the phrase "meal ticket" aka "a person or thing that is used as a regular source of income"

I would agree with you if anyone had used the phrase "meal ticket."

Unbridled's Coffins of Little Hope was recently on the Indie Bound bestseller list, so they appear to be selling well in the indie bookstore world.

Sushi said:

I would agree with you if anyone had used the phrase "meal ticket."

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They had. I assume editing occurred. Or I was hallucinating.

I queried 8/3, followed submission guidelines, which at the time was a query, synopsis, and first chapter snail mailed to Fred Ramey.

I just now checked and they're saying:

please query first by email. Due to the heavy volume of submissions, we regret that at this time we aren’t able to consider uninvited manuscripts.


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LillyPu said:

I queried 8/3, followed submission guidelines, which at the time was a query, synopsis, and first chapter snail mailed to Fred Ramey.

I just now checked and they're saying:

For works of fiction, ​

please query first by email. Due to the heavy volume of submissions, we regret that at this time we aren’t able to consider uninvited manuscripts.


​

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They mean full manuscripts. I'm sure your submission falls within the guidelines.

Sorry I am late in responding to this thread, but I sent my query and 1st chapter in February 2010 and received a rejection (but a kind one) in January 2011. It took a while.

alias octavia said:

Sorry I am late in responding to this thread, but I sent my query and 1st chapter in February 2010 and received a rejection (but a kind one) in January 2011. It took a while.

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Wow! Postage on my SASE will've gone up by the time I get my "kind" rejection. Unbridled is among the last of my dwindling top tier smallpress submissions yet to reject. On to Tier 2...

Thanks for the update!

I emailed a query & first 50 pages as per their guidelines on January 31. I'll let you know how it goes.

For those of you who queried by email, did you send pages as an attachment?

I pasted mine in the email.

Sent mine as an attachment back in October. Waiting patiently. Just re-checked their website. It doesn't specify one way or the other. Hmmm...

Thanks, Chumplet.

Yeah, augusto, I hate it when they don't specify, it leaves more room for anxiety to run wild.

If it doesn't specifically say to attach, assume it's a paste. If it's a full, publishers & agencies usually say to attach a file or they have some sort of uploading option.

I know a writer who followed Fred Ramey from Penguin (I think?) to Unbridled. They put out some really gorgeous editions of his work, and they seem to believe in literary fiction.

Still waiting for a response on my January query. I guess I have about another five months or so before my rejection?

Yea, I'm waiting on my October query and wondering/sweating about having sent it as an attachment