Limitless Publishing

Ravioli said:

Stop it, I'm poor and in no-pork land over here, you bad, cruel person.

Click to expand...

Sorry. They're, um... awful. Just awful. Not at all crunchy and salty and delicious.

JetFueledCar said:

*offers the chicken fried rice ze had for dinner*

Click to expand...

Um. Thanks.

Viridian said:

Sorry. They're, um... awful. Just awful. Not at all crunchy and salty and delicious.

Click to expand...

THEY DAMN WELL BETTER BE!!

I'm rewriting the icky scene and getting tired. 2:40 am here. Got myself 3 sausages to munch on. Put the dogs to bed, turned back to the desk - 2. That asslord of a ginger cat.

Ravioli said:

Um. Thanks.

Click to expand...

It's yummy. And there's no pork in it. So you can eat it.

I talked to 4 or 5 of their authors a couple weeks ago and they all liked Limitless so idk

They sign new authors almost every week so I don't doubt people like it. I did at first too. Then I looked through the first book in my series and found errors on almost every page. They only give you two days to edit so there's really no way of preventing problems like these.

They have horrible editing and their marketing team is a major conflict of interest. Great covers, but that's about it. The models on their covers appear on other people's books occasionally though so it's kind of a crapshoot.

The Suspense Author said:

I talked to 4 or 5 of their authors a couple weeks ago and they all liked Limitless so idk

Click to expand...

It depends on what questions authors are asked. If the questions are "Are you happy with your publisher?" or "Do you feel your experience with your publisher was a success?" the answers will be subjective. One PublishAmerica author defined "success" as her son buying copies of her book, so of course she was a success.

If questions focus on more objective factors such as editing, marketing, timelines, sales, royalties, etc. this is much better in terms of providing helpful information.

Limitless is good with the timeline, I'll give them that. Your book will come out 3-4 months after you sign.

I've often found that the happy authors are happy because of the community there. The authors are supportive of each other. Unfortunately, the publisher isn't.

I hate to say that liking a publisher because its authors are nice is a silly reason, but it really is. As Ravioli said, publishing isn't a group hug, which Limitless uses as a major selling point. I don't want my publisher to tell me what a happy family we are while she pressures me to pay her marketing team for a blog tour.

Marian Perera said:

It depends on what questions authors are asked. If the questions are "Are you happy with your publisher?" or "Do you feel your experience with your publisher was a success?" the answers will be subjective. One PublishAmerica author defined "success" as her son buying copies of her book, so of course she was a success.

If questions focus on more objective factors such as editing, marketing, timelines, sales, royalties, etc. this is much better in terms of providing helpful information.

Click to expand...

^This.

Different authors have different needs and expectations. If an author only wants to see their book published, then they might be very happy with Limitless.

But if an author wants marketing and support, and they're told they have to pay for that (from the publisher!) then they might feel taken advantage of.

There's nothing wrong with having different expectations. If someone is happy with Limitless, then good for them. But this is ultimately a business relationship, and writers deserves to know what they're getting into.

Wow, this thread is really harsh. I have published multiple books with Limitless and they have never asked me to pay for marketing. I have never paid their marketing team or used them for a book tour. I never felt pushed to do so. Limitless coordinates a cover reveal and a release day blitz with graphics for free. They have done giveaways for my books more than once. They have paid for ads for my books. The marketing department has also coordinated reviews for my books. I really think that is above average for a indie publisher.

The editing process has improved a lot over the past year. The editor generally gives me a 3 to 4 week window to complete 2 rounds of editing. Then, I get to look over the book one additional time after formatting to review for mistakes.

As for the community of Limitless writers, cross-marketing has been a really effective tool for me. I do it with non-Limitless and Limitless authors and it helps! I don't know why other people discount the effectiveness of this tool. When best-selling authors have posted a simple recommendation of my books on their Facebook page, my sales have spiked. What's so bad about that?

It's good to read another success story from a Limitless author.

I tried to present the case as eloquently as you have, but alas, I got caught up in some unfortunate pissing contests.

My best,

Ken

Here's is the complete old marketing sheet from Limitless, which shows that they do push for that stuff.

"Marketing Sheet for Authors Here are 3 marketing tips that some of our most successful book launches have had incommon. The authors did the following in advance:
1) Scheduled a Cover Reveal.
2) Scheduled a Release Day Blitz/Promo.
3) Scheduled 3 back-to-back book tours.
Here is a list of some blog tour companies that our authors use/recommend:
HEA Bookshelf
YA Bound
Turning the Pages
Lady Amber Tours/Release Day PartiesPR Bookaddicts
Between the Sheets
InkslingerPR
Enticing Journey Book Promotions
Xpresso Book Tours
Fire and Ice Book tours
Bewitching Book Tours
Truly Schmexy PR
Book Junky Girls
The HYPE PR
Indie Sage PR
Book Enthusiast
Twinsie Book Reviews
Redhead Book Services
SwoonWorthy Books
Sizzling PR
Provoke Something
Leagh Christensen Author’s PA
Also attached is 100+ blogs that we’ve used in the past. You can go ahead and set upyour own cover reveals, promo tours on your own if you wish.
*Blog tour companies book up fast! Make sure to contact them sooner than later.*"

Note: The list of blogs was literally just a list of e-mails. No names or anything that would allow anyone to be able to successfully contact them.


Limitless does giveaways for two authors, their top two. J.L. Drake and C.A. Harms. Harms is also employed as part of the marketing team and co-runs HEA. The odds that this poster is one of those two is very high given that they're two of a very small list authors to be with Limitless for more than a year. I wonder why.

Ken, there was no contest nor did you ever try to be eloquent.

readwritelearn said:

Limitless coordinates a cover reveal and a release day blitz with graphics for free. They have done giveaways for my books more than once. They have paid for ads for my books. The marketing department has also coordinated reviews for my books. I really think that is above average for a indie publisher.

Click to expand...

I know it might seem that way if you have limited experience with small presses but it's really not. It's the bare minimum a writer should expect for any of their releases.

In addition to that being the bare minimum, you also have to share your release day with at least two other authors in most cases so you don't even get full advantage of their Facebook post and tweet. They sign way too many authors.

Actually, I have published with another small press so I wouldn't describe my experience as limited. Limitless exceeded what the other publisher did for marketing. My list of things Limitless has done to market my books was not exhaustive, just examples. People can do what they want with the information or label it however they see fit. I just wanted to be truthful about my experience.

As for the document Limitless provided suggesting ways to market your books, I don't see a problem with it. My other publisher sends a monthly newsletter suggesting marketing techniques. I don't feel pressure to do any of those things. I invest in marketing when it works for me.

And I am not JL Drake or CA Harms.

There is something wrong with supplying suggestions that tell authors to shell out hundreds of dollars, especially to people they employ. That is a major conflict of interest that should dissuade anyone from publishing with them.

You're obviously one of the few long term satisfied authors and I'm happy you're happy. Really. We're probably Facebook friends. Can you at least admit there's a history of authors leaving Limitless on less than satisfied terms?

LOL. We probably are Facebook friends.

Clearly, some authors have decided to leave or pursue other avenues. I won't pretend I know all of the details. I don't, but I don't think it's uncommon in the publishing world or in the business world for people to move around looking for the right fit.

In my opinion, the changes at Limitless have been positive. I am not completely oblivious to the perceived conflict of interest with the marketing team. In my experience, they have been helpful and prompt, but I will probably stick with the other tour companies for now. It's good to switch things up to find new reviewers, blogs and fans.

It sounds like you had a bad experience, and that sucks. My point in posting here wasn't to argue with you or dismiss your concerns. Good luck wherever you go!

This may seem like a silly question but.... so do publishers not pay for book tours? I was under the impression that publishers pay for things like that.

readwritelearn said:

As for the community of Limitless writers, cross-marketing has been a really effective tool for me. I do it with non-Limitless and Limitless authors and it helps! I don't know why other people discount the effectiveness of this tool. When best-selling authors have posted a simple recommendation of my books on their Facebook page, my sales have spiked. What's so bad about that?

Click to expand...

There is nothing wrong with actual cross-marketing imo, but personally, I simply don't trust others to do for me what I do for them, or at least to the best of their capabilities as would I. Especially if they're better/bigger than me. Because they wouldn't get the same quality work from me.
It's why I don't do art trades. Experience shows that if I don't wait forever for them to deliver at all, I get a piece of crap because they either turn out to suck, or they don't do their best.

The editing process has improved a lot over the past year. The editor generally gives me a 3 to 4 week window to complete 2 rounds of editing. Then, I get to look over the book one additional time after formatting to review for mistakes.

Click to expand...

Depending on word count, that sounds like a very short deadline.

The Suspense Author said:

This may seem like a silly question but.... so do publishers not pay for book tours? I was under the impression that publishers pay for things like that.

Click to expand...

It depends on the author and even then, they aren't as extensive and glamorous as portrayed in movies and on TV. I've mostly seen local authors at Barnes & Noble on a regular basis; once in a while, and very rarely, there will be a signing at the Mall of America but it's usually reserved for A Big Name Celebrity Or Politician shilling an autobiography that people will wait in line for two or three hours to see for less than 10 seconds.

BenPanced said:

It depends on the author and even then, they aren't as extensive and glamorous as portrayed in movies and on TV. I've mostly seen local authors at Barnes & Noble on a regular basis; once in a while, and very rarely, there will be a signing at the Mall of America but it's usually reserved for A Big Name Celebrity Or Politician shilling an autobiography that people will wait in line for two or three hours to see for less than 10 seconds.

Click to expand...

Truth be here. I've been set up for autograph signings at book stores, but it was under the condition that I buy all the books and, of course, provide my own transportation. Bigger names with bigger publishers--now that's a different kettle of fish.

I actually meant blog tours, I should have been more specific.

When I did a signing as a smallish press author they ordered the books through their usual system, and I guess they returned whatever didn't sell. I guess a lot depends on whether they can order the titles through their usual stocking system and return the remainder.

As for blog tours, unless they are actually well known, highly trafficked, genre-suitable blogs there isn't much point in it IMHO. The packaged tours almost never include well-known blogs.

triceretops said:

Truth be here. I've been set up for autograph signings at book stores, but it was under the condition that I buy all the books and, of course, provide my own transportation.

Click to expand...

LOL wut that's ridiculous. Who decided how many books to bring/buy?

My experience with blog tours has been very negative and it's not hard to see why. Most of them target the same blogs, all of which generally post nothing but blog tour stuff. Who actually reads blogs that are nothing but book links? It's the same fundamental flaw with Limitless' obsession with authors promoting each other, shoving that spam in people's faces doesn't actually work. Only with blog tours, they cost between 80 and 200 dollars a pop. And Limitless suggests you do three, with the company they employ at the top of the list!

Just a note on readwritelearn's editing window. I don't doubt the author was awarded that window, but that's far from their standard. They pride themselves on having six editors and on publishing hundreds of books a year. You do the math and tell me if that's actually viable. They'd need the resources of one of the big five to make that plausible.