Seven Stories Press

Has anybody tried the new YA imprint by Seven Stories, Triangle Square?

http://www.sevenstories.com/trianglesquare/

No, but their catalogs are impressive and well-reviewed. They appear to be a pro act right across the board.

They do look good but they're preference is for hard-copy subs which leaves me out. Homie just don't play that game, nor would I ask my agent to do that unless it was her idea.

I wish they had a staff presentation with experience and a more solid explanation of what they're looking for. Instructive non-fic looks like one of the hot spots.

tri

Indeed. Hard-copy preferences is like an insistence on movement by horse-drawn carriage or call the agent through telegraph. I can appreciate one's choice in being a 19th century enthusiast, but want no part of it, not in business, that is.

That attitude seems penny wise, pound foolish.

You're talking about a legitimate, highly respected press that sells lots of books in both print and electronic formats. Not sure why you'd avoid them but spend time sending emails to micro e-presses that don't have anywhere near the distribution arm or the ability to have your book reviewed in major publications and considered for the most prestigious awards in publishing.

It doesn't cost much to submit a hard copy, even a full. Why turn down the chance at a great legit publisher just because they want subs hard copy? Most who do recycle, as well, so if you're concerned about paper use, that's usually covered.

My agent asks for both, as the hard copy is easiest for her to do an initial reading.

Given all the other positives about SSP that I've seen, this would not be a deal-breaker for me. And I'm very much a pro-email person.

Does anyone know if Seven Stories pays advances?
Another question, has anyone seen their books in brick stores?

Undercover said:

Does anyone know if Seven Stories pays advances?
Another question, has anyone seen their books in brick stores?

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This is another publisher distributed by Random House.

One of the most respected and larger independent houses.

Yes, they pay advances.

Yes, their books are widely available in brick and mortar stores.

This, like the Other Press discussion a few days ago, is about a major publishing house. This is not a start up. Seven Stories, in comparison to 99% of the publishing houses discussed in this forum, is in a wholly different league in terms of respectability, sales, history, and presence. The house wins major awards like the National Book Award and is reviewed in all major trade publishing magazines and high circulation newspapers like the New York Times.

With the prestige and reach of the house, I maintain it's shortsighted not to send a paper submission (if it's requested of an author). If the goal is to sell books and be widely available, the resources a company like Seven Stories brings to the table are far superior to the alternatives.

I've seen SSP books in two high-end independent bookstores.

Round Two said:

That attitude seems penny wise, pound foolish.

You're talking about a legitimate, highly respected press that sells lots of books in both print and electronic formats. Not sure why you'd avoid them but spend time sending emails to micro e-presses that don't have anywhere near the distribution arm or the ability to have your book reviewed in major publications and considered for the most prestigious awards in publishing.

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A LOT of places that are not "micro" allow emailed subs now.
Living in New Zealand and being poor it is unlikely I would sub to anywhere in the USA and UK snail mail when there are so many great publishers I can email.
Good to hear of their great rep though.

gingerwoman said:

A LOT of places that are not "micro" allow emailed subs now.
Living in New Zealand and being poor it is unlikely I would sub to anywhere in the USA and UK snail mail when there are so many great publishers I can email.
Good to hear of their great rep though.

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How are you distinguishing between “small” and “micro?” Maybe there are a lot of non-micro places that will accept emailed subs.

There are not, however, a lot of publishers on the same level as Seven Stories Press. If you’re looking for the potential to be read electronically AND in print, to be reviewed by major media (New York Times, Publishers Weekly, etc.), to have wide distribution to brick and mortar bookstores, then, as a matter of pure math, there are not a lot of options.

In the Small Presses, Good, Bad thread (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=276366) you asked why Harlequin was not considered one of the Big Five/Six, and I laid out the financial differences. In that same way, companies like Seven Stories (or Other Press or Soho) are labeled as small presses even though they are significantly more established and qualified to publish books than most of the "small presses" discussed in this forum.

The problem is with the evolution of the term AND the evolution of the publishing landscape. There didn't used to be 100 new publishing companies springing up on a daily basis. Terms like "indie publisher" and "small press" are now used to mean things other than what they meant a decade ago, even though the things they originally defined still exist.

I think it's hard to label the degrees of publishers when there's a plethora of information on them stating whether they are micro, small, mid-size or a bigger publisher. Some sites say one thing, while others say something different.

It's just too bad there isn't a bona fide list of every publisher out there in the world today showing exactly how they fit on the publishing scale.

And Ginger, I agree with you. It is quite refreshing to see a respectable publisher like this. It's a shame to see many bad publishers out there. But when I see one like Seven Stories Press, it brings me much hope that there are still diamonds in the rough too.

Round Two said:

How are you distinguishing between “small” and “micro?” .

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My publisher has multiple titles that have hit the NYT best seller and USA today best seller list so I don't really consider them "micro". I completely disagree that the places you can submit your book via email and online forms are all teeny, tiny and worthless, but it's a subject for a different thread not here.
If Seven Stories Press are managing to get books in brick and mortar stores on the shelf (being available to them is common actually being placed on the shelf is another hting entirely) in this day and age when they aren't one of the Big Five then that's certainly impressive.

triceretops said:

They do look good but they're preference is for hard-copy subs which leaves me out. Homie just don't play that game, nor would I ask my agent to do that unless it was her idea.

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Why would you or your agent refuse to submit to a press just because of their submission preferences, if said press were very good and published in the same genre you're writing in?

I find this extraordinary.

gingerwoman said:

My publisher has multiple titles that have hit the NYT best seller and USA today best seller list so I don't really consider them "micro". I completely disagree that the places you can submit your book via email and online forms are all teeny, tiny and worthless, but it's a subject for a different thread not here.
If Seven Stories Press are managing to get books in brick and mortar stores on the shelf (being available to them is common actually being placed on the shelf is another hting entirely) in this day and age when they aren't one of the Big Five then that's certainly impressive.

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Please note that I've never used the word "worthless" nor have I said the only places you can submit to via email/online are are teeny and tiny. If you're trying to say that's my argument, it's a straw man.

I will reiterate, however, that Seven Stories Press is a significantly larger and more established press than 99% of the other companies discussed in this forum. It has a very public history and an established place in the market.

The fact that Seven Stories is distributed to the trade by Random House (including the power of Random House's sales reps and marketing) puts it well past the stage of "available for special order from a bookstore." They aren't one of the Big Five, but they are distributed by one of them. No book distributor, be it a larger publisher distributing others or one of the independent book distributors like Consortium, IPG, NBN, etc. takes on publishers who aren't going to make them money (read: sell books to the trade).

Old Hack said:

Why would you or your agent refuse to submit to a press just because of their submission preferences, if said press were very good and published in the same genre you're writing in?

I find this extraordinary.

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So do I. There are legitimate reasons a publisher might ask for hardcopy submissions.

One is that it's a filtering mechanism: writers are less likely to send you every manuscript in their trunk, or autospam you and every other publisher out there with query letters and proposals for kinds of books you don't publish.

Let's just say I'm not ruling it out before we've exhausted every email accepting house out there. I'm from the dinosaur days--I lived it, breathed it and, don't know if I've survived it yet. But I can tell you that for a writer working full time at writing, hammering out multiple novels (nine in two years--forget shorts), with partials and fulls, even at 4th class special book rate my bills were staggering. Those were disposal manuscripts because I couldn't afford the returns, and whenever I got returns, they were dog-eared and stained, unsuitable for reissue. I put my copier through hell, bought enough paper and toner to stock a stationary store, put myself through hell standing over it, copying one page at a time.

My last agent actually asked me to produce and send hard copy fulls in his name! Uh, yeah and I did.

I know why they asked for hard copy back then even when they could have accepted floppies, which a few did. Hard copy is easy to blue and red line--it's a convenience thing. I don't have a problem with that.

I do have a problem with that today, with the ease of email and its obvious green factor, it makes me wonder why everyone hasn't jumped on the email bandwagon. For me, it's just an expense that I can't abide right now. If I had a better income source, I might go hells bells and try it.

My agent is so swamped that I haven't even broached the subject with her. Truth be told, I would feel that I'm infringing. And we haven't made anything more than a high three-figure advance with my first sale with her (the book went the major route and we exhausted all major deals). Now, if I'd pulled a major deal with a NYC house with a nice advance, I wouldn't have a problem at all asking her to submit hard copy for me for the next books.

It's just a preference thing, ya know--been there, done that type of thing. I remember reading over my receipts in 1991 and finding that I'd dropped $2,150 after the smoke cleared for all my postage and other costs. Never mind the shorts (29) of them that were sent out in the hundreds.