@Round Two
That is a fair point. Again, I think that we may be having a miscommunication about Ralan.com or I may not have been as clear as I had intended. If they order from Amazon, yes they will receive the CS POD copies. Again, I don’t carry inventory unless we have a larger order that comes in or we are pushing the book at a convention and have ordered stock. As far as individual readers, other than the white vs cream pages, they are likely not going to notice a significant difference in quality of the read. Readers buy books for entertainment and enjoyment. (Yes, I know I just opened a can of worms)
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@Filigree
I agree, POD has limitations though. And aside from off-setting, there isn’t much that you can do. We did have problems in the past with copy and quality, and it is an issue that we have focused on through most of last year, which also caused us to have a nearly 10 month reorganization internally to fix quality control issues. I think I’ll have to send over copies of books that are being worked on currently, and see if I can get a more positive review from @OldHack.
We did do an audit of our art and ad copy. This particular AW thread has actually garnered TZPP submissions, artists, and staff. It has mostly gone over well with my investors, though they have asked me to ignore AW on several occasions. The single biggest reason why we don’t have more pro-level authors submitting to us is that we don’t pay advances. The other issues that we face and work through, are just added fodder.
I do respect AW, though I do think that left unchecked some of these forums can get fairly nasty. If I wasn’t interested in what others thought and who we are perceived. I wouldn’t be on here, but how authors view us is important. We have a half-decent roster right now, but in order to grow, we have to overcome the AW thread, most authors to run through here before submitting to us, or when they receive a contract offer. Several will ask to be put in contact with our other authors to get a better take on their experience.
Once we’re done with this round, I’ll be back next year to answer more questions.
@Old Hack
That is fine, I had misunderstood your meaning. Please forgive me. I agree. The layout of some of the the books was “shortbus special” I have already spoken with the Typesetter, and we have been working through the issues.
We do soft proofs, it’s cheaper and faster. The main reason that I was taken aback more than anything else, is that I do routinely go to random people and ask them for feedback on the books. I don’t get the type of feedback from readers that you provided.
The copyright on the back flap is something that was not clear previously. The newer books post-reorganization should be much clearer.
In mid-2014, TZPP settled an audit with governmental agencies, TZPP came out of the settlement with several legal obligations which are reflected in our operating structure, federal and state agreements, restrictions on our ability to file bankruptcy or close, contractual obligations and restrictions, rules on payment and reporting. Some of these obligations are reflected in the books that we publish, the most visible being the credits page. We have always inserted the credits page in our books, but we are not required to include the credit’s page.
No, my thought on the difference between copy editing and proofreading is not because of a lack of understanding. The two roles are ones that can be done by the same person. Their function in relation to the book production is different yes, but it so much so that an individual cannot perform the functions on separate titles.
I never asked you to do my job. I do disagree with you on a few items here though. Again, anything small that is caught is worth sharing. Of the books that I sent you, none were struggling from a conceptual point of view. Again, this is an area that we will have to agree to disagree on.
I understand taking the harsher approach, we are smaller, so we should have more time to focus on the books. But I think that you and I look at the books differently – partly because you’ve worked some 30 years in the industry but do not have a background in economics or business, and my background is economics and business, but not publishing other than these past 5 years. (Please don’t comment on this paragraph, it is a bit of a rant).
I’ve never shied away from the fact that I did not work 10 years in big publishing before stepping out on my own. But I am not disenchanted about standard industry practice or measures of quality. I don’t agree with a large lot of standard practive, as it is wasteful and far too speculative for my tastes. The economics don’t make sense at all from a Small Publisher’s point of view outside of hobbie publishing, which is one of the biggest reasons why SP’s fail at such high rates. The numbers begin to make sense when looked at from a manufacturing point of view, but again, this product introductions and inconsistencies in longevity is too speculative for big publishing, in my opinion.
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@Oceansoul
I agree that her points are ones that buyers and distributors consider in a book. I have had many candid conversations with these people, and the quality issues that @OldHack brought up were not part of the conversation. I have actually received praise from these individuals on the quality of the books. Again, another reason for my surprise. Where we run into issue is the question of capital that I am willing to invest into their promotion scheme or the level of co-op marketing funds I am willing to pony up.
That being said, we do take all of the feedback and run with it. I’ve already had staff culling through the thread and making sure to integrate changes and fixes where we may be currently weak, or that may have gotten lost in the reorganization.
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@ Victoria
No, Clause 37 refers to IP which is created by TZPP. It is not the property of the author. I realize that you may be referring to the language specifically in #37 referring to ownership of the Nom De Plume. This is only effective if the pen name is created specifically for TZPP or the book series TZPP picked up. Authors who normally use a pen name, or several pen names will exclude those from the purview of #37 by adding them into the recitals as AKAs.
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@Triceratops
Small Press’ are held to the highest standards in may regards. Not always fairly, but validly. Most small publisher’s I think do it because it is a labor of love for them. I am in this to make money.
For the record, we do use Chicago, we do employ the Oxford Comma, and our House Style is a generally set-up, but it is one that is sometimes updated when we encounter new things that we haven’t dealt with before – not really an issue now, most of those kinks were worked out a year ago. I like her humorous take on the style guides though, I chuckled a few times.