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Charles River Press

Adam_Atlantian

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I wonder should i submit to them but i cant find any info on there genre. What do they publish?
 

mdin

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They're a vanity press.



[font=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Charles River Press is a royalty-paying publisher. We accept authors of all genres, fiction and non-fiction. We are primarily an ebook publisher offering titles for download in electronic format.
We also offer the option of publishing in trade paperback format for most of our titles. We do not offer advances, but pay quarterly royalties based on retail sales and wholesale orders. Our author works are carried on our website for retail sale for at least two (2) years, far longer than the traditional publisher's brick and mortar average of 30 days.[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/font]
If your work is accepted, Charles River Press provides the author with editorial services, formatting, assigned ISBN number(s), cover art and an author website sub domain. All these services are FREE to the author.[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/font]
The author has the OPTION to have their book produced as a trade paperback. If the paperback OPTION is chosen, the Print On Demand (POD) printer used by Charles River Press charges a $100.00 one-time fee to the author. This is a fee charged by the printer to the author and is NOT a CRP charge. If you choose the paperback OPTION, the printer will make your work available as a Print On Demand paperback. Authors receive a 20% discount off the retail price for hard copies of their book(s).
Charles River Press trade paperback titles are distributed by Baker & Taylor, one of the world's largest book distributors. Trade paperbacks are also available for retail purchase at our website and Amazon.com.[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/font][/font]
 

Adam_Atlantian

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Thank you. I don't see myself submitting to them any time soon.
 

pepperlandgirl

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They're not a vanity press, they're an epublisher. Some epublishers have started publishing trade paperbacks for free, as part of teir ongoing business. Other epublishers only offer that option if the author pays the set up free (Whiskey Creek Press as the same option), and still others don't print anything except maybe promo copies.

If you're interested in epublishing, be sure to do your research on the publisher and the market you're targetting. There are other epublishing authors on this website who seem to be happy with it. But don't mistake epublishers for vanity publishers...at least, the legit epublishers for vanity publishers.
 

JennaGlatzer

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I don't think Nav is passing judgment, just stating a fact. If they author bears any of the cost of publication, it's a vanity publisher. IMO, if a legitimate e-publisher wants to venture into the print world, it's up to them to bear the expense and risk of doing so. Passing that onto their authors turns the publisher into a vanity press, even if they have a selection process, editing process, etc. Maybe a "higher quality" vanity press, but still within the definition.

The alternative: Why not just let the authors retain print rights and do what they want with them, if the e-publisher isn't prepared to handle the expense of exploiting those rights, and has no distribution in place for print books anyway?
 

veinglory

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While I agree that charging for the print option is a shonky practise that any sensible press should not offer, I don't think it makes an outfit 'vanity' per se. if you stick with the e-book option some outfits that charge for POD editions can still function well as a non-vanity epublisher.
 

Sakamonda

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Dude--

veinglory, dude, a publisher that charges an author ANYTHING (including transferring marketing costs to the author) to be published is a vanity publisher. Period. Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't change the fact it is a pig. You need to understand that. Most PODs are by their very nature vanity publishers. That is the business model they build on, because they do not sell enough books to recoup costs. Therefore, the author makes up the difference.

Money is supposed to flow TO the author in legit publishing. Any time money flows AWAY from the author, it is vanity publishing.
 

veinglory

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I do understand this pracitice rather well, the core epublisher is not vanity: selective about manuscripts, edits, distributes, does not charge the writer any money. I do not know this publisher, but know of others that have a similar policy. If you release only as an ebook there is no way it is vanity--the POD is not their core business but a rather poorly considered 'add on'. I am not saying they are a big mainstream publisher but I *do* know a pig when I see one, no matter how it is dressed. (As it happens I work on a pig farm).
 

pepperlandgirl

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I don't agree that epublishers who charge an initial print charge is anywhere in the same ball park as a vanity press.

Take Whiskey Creek Press for example. This is an outfit I have 3 novellas with. Now, they only do the POD option for novels, so I haven't had an issue. But, let me tell you what the process is like.

1) Submission. This is a selective process. I know, because I've been rejected too.
2) Editing. The editors with WCP are paid editors that actually edit! In fact, the editor I've worked with is great and had a very substantial, positive impact on my book.
3) Covers. Professionaly designed
4) Royalties. None of my work has offically been released yet, but I will be paid royalties on a regular schedule. I know this because I researched before I submitted. My other epub pays me every 3 months. I'm not raking in the dough, but it's nice.
5) Marketing. WCP does a good deal of marketing, but with all epublishers, a good deal falls on the shoulders of the author. It's because epublishing is, by nature, a small and niche market. I don't mind. I doubt I do more work on my own than anybody else does.

And if I wrote a novel, went through this process with WCP because I decided they were the best fit for my novel, and decided I wanted people to be able to buy it on Amazon, I'd pay of the set-up fee with the printer. If I decided the $90 wasn't worth it to me, I wouldn't pay. The editors at WCP don't care either way. They'll still go through steps 1-5 whether or not I use the POD service.

I don't think that a fee negates everything else they do. Do I wish they just paid it themselves? Yes. Do I hope they get to the point where they can afford to publish all their books in print format instead of just online? I'm sure they are working for that day as much as I hope it's coming. Do some epublishers do tha talready? Yes. And some don't offer the option at all.

Also, MOST epublishing contracts I have seen allow the author to keep the print rights. In fact, the only time an author doesn't hold the print rights, in my experience, is when the author chooses to turn over the print rights (whether for POD as with WCP or offset, as with another epublisher).
 

smallthunder

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"Our author works are carried on our website for retail sale for at least two (2) years, far longer than the traditional publisher's brick and mortar average of 30 days."

Can someone explain to me what they mean by this?

It sounds like they're suggesting that having your book listed on their website is better than having your book available to the browsing public in brick-and-mortar bookstores ... which can't be right, right?

Am I stupid, or properly suspicious?
 

James D. Macdonald

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You're properly suspiscious.

The "30 days" thing is how long books are displayed in the front of the store, on those tables by the door. After that they're on the shelves for longer.

Here's an experiment anyone can try. Go to a bookstore. Go to one of the shelves in the back. Look at the publication date in every book on that shelf. Were most of the books published in the last 30 days? No? Why do you suppose that is?

So who are you going to believe? These guys or your own eyes?
 

FolkloreFanatic

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I would rather have my book on the back shelf of a bookstore than the front shelf of an e-store.

Vanity is vanity is vanity. Professional publishers won't charge you anything; they'll take the production costs in stride as normal expenses.
 

rejectME

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Does anyone have any further experience with this publisher? While I saw what was initially quoted form 2005, which I presume is from their website, that information is not there anymore. Yes, I see that they use the "we're a traditional publisher" line that most vanity presses use to try and say they are not a vanity press, but I'm curious if this press has changed its' tune, so to speak. http://charlesriverpress.com/services.shtml

The "publishing services" term is rather odd, but at the same time, a vanity press offering returns is rather strange as well. It is noted, however, that they request a marketing plan upon submission and don't appear to have any distribution of any sort.

Anyone here worked with them? Thoughts?
 

CaoPaux

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Charles River Press is a traditional, royalty-paying publisher of fiction and non-fiction books in Trade Paperback and Ebook formats.

If your work is accepted, Charles River Press lists your title with Books in Print, and provides the author with editorial services, formatting / typesetting, assigned ISBN number(s), cover art, and an author website sub-domain. CRP titles are sold through the Charles River Press online store, as well as third party outlets such as Barnes & Noble, Baker & Taylor, Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Borders.com, Fictionwise, Ereader.com and CyberRead. We work with the author to develop a press kit and marketing materials, and support author events with press releases sent to local newspapers. We list author events with online sites such as Eventful.com, Upcoming. org, Google Calendar, and Myspace.

Charles River Press does not charge any fees to contracted authors. We pay our authors industry standard, quarterly royalties based on retail sales and wholesale orders. The Charles River Press author contract is for a three (3) year period for worldwide book rights.
It does look like they've dropped the POD set-up fee.
 

Bushdoctor

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Recieved a request for a full from them. No sign that they are a vanity press. will inform you guys how it goes
 

rejectME

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Not vanity. I've seen the contract and it's pretty standard POD. They appear to be pretty involved with the contracted authors, I only personally know one of them. She's done okay and had her books in Border's and local bookstores in greater Miami.
 

Jamiekswriter

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I was tooling around facebook and I noticed an ad on my side board for a vampire novel. I clicked on the link, got taken to the author's site. Thought the book sounded pretty good, thought the cover was excellent -- clicked her Amazon link . . . and the $15.95 price tag turned me off. For haha's I checked the publisher. it said it was Charles River Press.

Any one know if the pub pays for Facebook ads and sets the price for the book?
 

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I highly advise staying away from this website. Their contracts are meaningless to them. I was on their editing staff. My contract stated I was due a flat rate payment two weeks after finishing manuscripts and royalties 60 days after the end of each quarter. It has now been over 120 days since the 3rd quarter of 2011 ended and I still haven't received my royalties and it's been three weeks since I did a manuscript for them and still haven't been paid for that one. When I complained about this and informed them that it violated my contract, I received no emails. Over a week an a half later I finally get an anonymous email from their customer service email informing me that I was being terminated. If this is how they treat there staff, I'd hate to see how their authors are being treated.

Avoid at all costs. There are publishers 100x better out there.
 

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I was on their editing staff. My contract stated I was due a flat rate payment two weeks after finishing manuscripts and royalties 60 days after the end of each quarter.
Sunwriter, I'm confused. If you're one of their editors, how are you getting royalties? On what? Do they pay you a percentage of royalties on sales from the books you edit instead of getting a regular paycheck for services rendered?
 

sunwriter

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Sunwriter, I'm confused. If you're one of their editors, how are you getting royalties? On what? Do they pay you a percentage of royalties on sales from the books you edit instead of getting a regular paycheck for services rendered?

Most smaller publishing houses pay their editors a percentage of royalties as payment. Some pay a small flat fee and royalties, while others just pay royalties on books you edit.
 

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Most smaller publishing houses pay their editors a percentage of royalties as payment. Some pay a small flat fee and royalties, while others just pay royalties on books you edit.
Most? Are you certain of this? A number of my friends edit for smaller publishing houses, and they get paid for their services, as do I.

They would never agree to a percentage of royalties because it 90-120 days to see any revenue. And at that, if the book doesn't sell well, their hard work is for naught.

Maybe this is something indicative of POD presses.
 

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I don't know any reputable small presses which pay their editors royalties.