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Firefly & Wisp Publishing

Springs

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Over the past year, I've been writing and editing my first novel. Now that it's finally finished, I would like to try to publish it and see what happens. I found a list of pubishers on a different website, which had writers' recommendations and concerns. One of the publishers which had no complaints was Firefly & Wisp. They looked okay upon my initial inspection, so I sent my first three chapters to them. Only a few days later, they responded to my query saying they were really into it and requesting my full manuscript. Originally, I was ecstatic, but then I started becoming suspicious of their quick and emphatic response, so I did a little googling and looked a little closer at the "authors" page on their website. As it turns out, it appears that they've only published three books. Only one of these has been printed in hard copy (and it's not even in stock on Amazon), and the other two ebooks were written by someone from Firefly & Wisp itself. They do have five more writers on their page listed to release their first books throughout the rest of this year or the first half of next, but I'm still skeptical.

Does anyone know anything about Firefly & Wisp, or have any experience with them? If not, could you please at least give me your more experienced opinions on what I should do? I have no issues with working with new/small publishers (after all, I'm a nobody in the writing world, too, so we might as well help each other start out, right?), but is there a line that should be drawn in regards to how small of a publisher is acceptable? From what I've seen searching them online, they do promote their books fairly well, so that's something, though I suppose distribution would be a concern. I'm just worried because I don't want to pass up my dream opportunity to get my foot in the door, but at the same time, I don't want to make the wrong choice and ruin this particular book's chance at something great. It wouldn't hurt to send in my manuscript and see what they say, at least, right? If they reject it, I won't have to worry about the decision at all, and if they do like it, I can still turn them down should I find something about them that I particularly don't like.

Oh well, let me know what you think. I'd like a more experienced outlook on this.
 

Marian Perera

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Firefly and Wisp's About Us page

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We love to read all kinds of different stories! We welcome fan fiction! Send us some of your best fan fic! [/FONT]
No objections at all to fanfics here - I write them myself - but this is the first publisher I've seen which requested them. Most publishers are inundated with submissions, and therefore don't need to request further material that cannot legally be published.

From their Submissions page, this is equally problematic:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] If you have an idea for a story and would like us to hear it... email us at [email protected] [/FONT]
I have dozens of ideas. Until they're written into manuscripts, though, why would they be worth a publisher's time?

Springs said:
I have no issues with working with new/small publishers (after all, I'm a nobody in the writing world, too, so we might as well help each other start out, right?)

If you're a nobody in the writing world, doesn't it make more sense to find a more established publisher? I just don't see how a press like this could help a nobody writer, especially given what you've already found out about them. I'm published with a small press too, so I'm not advocating that you hold out for a major house, but Firefly & Wisp seems to be on the opposite end of that spectrum.
 
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Jrubas

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Firefly and Wisp is actually a very good publishing house to go with. Their books have been on a number of bestseller lists and their authors are simply amazing. Trust me, I'm one of their authors and I am very satisfied. To me, Firefly and Wisp isn't just a company- it's a family. Here, check out their website: http://www.fireflyandwisp.com/
 

Jrubas

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Firefly and Wisp Book Publishing.

Hey, everyone. I just wanted to throw this link up. I've been signed with Firefly and Wisp since May 2011, and I'm VERY satisfied with what they've done. If you're looking for a good publisher, at least consider Firefly. http://www.fireflyandwisp.com/
 

Richard White

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Best seller lists?

I'm afraid I'm going to have to see some proof of that (and I don't mean they were the #10 on Amazon's X/X/X/X/X list. I mean, you can subdivide anything down to make numbers meaningless.

I'm looking for Locus, or NYTimes or USAToday or something I've actually heard of before a "best seller list" means anything.

(Obviously my Missouri roots are showing through again, because someone's gonna have to "show-me" to make me believe this.)
 

profen4

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Yeah, I want to see those bestsellers lists, too. Maybe some sales figures?
 
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Katrina S. Forest

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amergina

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Wow. Folks who think it's okay to lift content from another website!

That's just who I want working on *my* novel!

:sarcasm
 

BenPanced

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One staff member seems to have some sort of experience in publishing but the rest is either nebulous or not there.
 

Mac H.

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Firefly and Wisp is actually a very good publishing house to go with. Their books have been on a number of bestseller lists ..
Hi Jurbas,

Based on what Katrina has demonstrated is on the Firefly and Wisp website - it really does appear as if Firefly and Wisp are copyright-infringing plagiarists.

That isn't exactly a good look for a publisher.

Given that Firefly and Wisp appear to be copyright infringing plagiarists (or, alternatively, subcontracted out their writing to someone who plagiarized) ... is there any reason you should trust them when they make claims like 'our books have been on a number of best seller lists' ?

It might be worth asking them for a lot of evidence before accepting their assurances.

Good luck - I hope you find a better publisher.

Mac
(PS: Associated brands are 'HotRomanceEbooks.com' , 'Lee Duncan Books' & Xchyler Publishing' .. so you might want to avoid them as well.)

[NOTE: I've received a message that Xchyler Publishing is not associated with ff&w. Since this hasn't been cited, here, I'm inserting a note that this hasn't yet been established --MacAllister]
 
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saphirablue84

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wow! It is exactly the same. Knowing that makes me question them a little more than I already was.
 

Kitty Pryde

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They claim to be affiliated with Xchyler Publishing, http://www.xchylerpublishing.com which states on its home page that it "...is intent on being a leader in the new era of independant publishing." make of it what you will.
 

katci13

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Wow, that's crazy. Not to mention, Firefly's website is all kinds of off center. Just saying.

I can't believe it's just copied word for word like that. I wonder if there's a way to report it.
 

Old Hack

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I'm sure that people who work for Tor will know about this soon. Trust in the internet.
 

Katrina S. Forest

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Another unsettling piece of info, this time from their News page:

We are pleased to announce that all Firefly & Wisp books have DRM. Digital Rights Management. No matter where you download the book, you will not have to pay an extra fee to convert it to your apps.

So, they're saying that if I buy a F&W book off Amazon for the Kindle, it will work on my Nook because it has DRM? I'm sorry, but that's not what DRM means. And if you tell customers that's what it means, they're going to be very unhappy when realize it's not true.

Plus, if I did purchase the Kindle version and discovered that my Nook wouldn't read it, the legal course of action would be to ask for a refund and then go download the Nook version from Barnes and Noble. It would not be to pay some third party to convert the file for me, as that would cheat Barnes and Noble out of their share of the profits.
 

Terie

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So these folks don't seem to know copyright law (something governing the chief assets they're contracting and products they're selling), nor do they seem to know basic ebook technological terms. What then do they know about publishing?
 

HapiSofi

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F&W welcome fanfic. They can't spell "independent". Those aren't good signs. But what the (bleep) kind of publisher can't write their own FAQ and submission guidelines? Those are both documents that say, in essence, "this is how we do business." If they're so clueless on both counts that they have to use versions plagiarized from other publishers, what can they actually be said to know?

Jrubas, does anyone other than you work at Firefly & Wisp, or is it all your own fiction?
 

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I suppose it means something to steal from the best?

But seriously, dudes, what were you thinking?
 

Jrubas

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...Uhhh...yeah, the guidelines and FAQ are about as similar as night and day. Where do they look the same to you?
 

Jrubas

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I mean really. What the hell? Are you an idiot or something? They are NOTHING alike.
 

Calla Lily

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I mean really. What the hell? Are you an idiot or something? They are NOTHING alike.

Jrubas, I strongly suggest you read the Newbie Guide.

NOW.

AW's one big rule is "Respect Your Fellow Writer." You've just broken it.

Try again, please, starting with an apology.
 

Sage

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http://www.fireflyandwisp.com/News.html
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]UPDATE: It has come to our attention, that our recent web designer has infringed on copyrights. We apologize to the other website for this error, and can assure you that as soon as we heard of this incident, everything was taken down and changed. [/FONT]
 

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They didn't read their own website before making it live? :Wha:

They're saying that their designer write the text of their website? :Wha:

They didn't write their own FAQ and submission guidelines? :Wha:
 

amergina

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