High Hill Press

I think we're seeing the terms "galley proofs" and "page proofs" combined, as the older technology fades from memory, into the term "galley" alone. You can't say "page" to mean "page proof," since "page" by itself has another meaning, and "proof" by itself could be the act of proofreading (as in, "I'm going to proof these pages").

I've seen, many times, what are clearly page proofs called galleys.

Maybe the nice folks at High Hill are indeed typesetting the texts before embarking on line editing and copy editing. Who knows? Stranger things have been done.

I have a little knowledge of HHP, not enough to inform you if they are legitmate or not, but some experience. I follow one of their authors on Facebook and his blog, Brett Cogburn, and he ran a little contest in association with HHP for their next western anthology, Cactus Country III I believe (after looking at Mr. Cogburn's website, the only connection he has with HHP is through the Cactus County Antholgies). Anyways, the contest was for what Cogburn deemed a "mini western", 4 sentences long and told a complete story. One of my "mini westerns" was selected to be included (50 were selected out of several hundred entries). That is as far as my knowledge of the company goes, in fact I've looked for them on here and came up with zero results. TBH I'm not sure when the CC3 anthology will be released and haven't looked too closely into it. It was 4 sentences that I put thought into and liked, but didn't have the same emotional connection that a short story or novel or a play would. One of the primary reasons I did the contest was because I enjoyed the challenge of telling a complete story in 4 sentences.

I understand the need to defend one's company but it seems like Mr Turner is overly defensive and hasn't really explained himself, his business model etc. I'd just like to say, that if he reads this, AW is an outstanding website that thousands of writers and aspiring writers go to every day. I get peeved myself around here (and I've expressed myself a time or two in the plitical threads and other places) but I trust their judgement when it comes to publishers. And it's also interesting to see how a publisher responds to the microscopic look that AWers can put a house under. Your comments, Mr Turner, while I understand, don't project to me an aura of professionalism. It's almost...overly defensive. You come on here making claims about AWer's publishing experience without knowledge of them or looking into them. Many of the posters here use their real or/pen-names and can be researched. And if they don't (like me) many of us include links to our facebook page/blog/website/etc (like I have).

May I suggest that you take a step back, look at what you posted and how you came across and look at...showing us what you do.

AWers, can we look for a minute at what this company is? In 5 years they've never popped up here, which means they've kept a low profile but they also haven't had any complaints from authors (at least that I'm aware of). And they do seem to be using an appropriate (if outdated) term re: gallery.

From Wikipedia:

Galley proofs were once only used in the editing and proof-reading process. Publishers have recently been using uncorrected proofs more and more, with bindings and illustrations similar to those of the final copy, whereas old-style galley proofs were usually bound in plain paper covers without illustrations. Galley proofs are generally printed in black and white and are significantly larger than their market book counterparts.

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, which seems to be the main point of contention (I believe Mr. McDonald above me has addressed this too, but I only skimmed his remarks, I was on my way home from a trip to Wichita and checked AW on my ipad and didn't look too closely at all the comments.)

I was going to reply in detail to Mr High Hill, but having read through this thread in full now I see that Stacia, Victoria and Jim have already done so very nicely. I second what they've written about galleys and the various stages of editing.

High Hill's system does sound bizarre to me but it might well be just a confusion about the terms they use. That confusion does, of course, suggest that they might be confused about other things to do with publishing and indeed, their comment about books being taken out of print after just six weeks is so very wide of the mark that I assumed at first I'd misread what they'd written. But no: that's what they wrote.

In all my years of working in publishing (and I've clocked up nearly three decades, one way or another) I have never heard of this happening except, as Stacia has already said, when a book has to be pulled because of plagiarism or a legal issue.

I suspect that if I looked at High Hill's website I'd see many more points of concern but the confusion over galleys, the claim that big trade publishers take books out of print after six weeks, and the claim that big publishers don't market the books they publish, added to High Hill's patronising tone in this thread, are enough for me to work out that this is a publisher I am going to avoid.

And after all that, we still don't know if HHP expects potential authors to have their work professionally edited before submitting. That's the impression I get from their website.

aliceshortcake said:

And after all that, we still don't know if HHP expects potential authors to have their work professionally edited before submitting. That's the impression I get from their website.

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Which might explain why they go straight to page proofs.

You might be on to something there, although it still leaves us with the mystery of what the heck HHP's six editors do to while away the time.

Teriann said:

Yes, there was other editing. I'd have to pull out my files to tell you exactly how many rounds. The book was sold on proposal. I turned in a first draft, and received an editorial letter. The editor and I went back and forth a few times, then the book went to copy editing. I approved almost all the copy edits, the editor and I agreed on the final version. Then the book went to "design." As I mentioned, it is an elaborately designed book.

Once the book was designed, I received large galleys through the regular mail (the book will be 10 inches x 10 inches) and we checked to make sure the captions were with the right photographs and that the photographs matched up to the correct text. We proofread these galleys. Then we had another proofreader (who actually suggested more changes than the copyeditor!)

My editor and I spent an hour and a half on the phone this week discussing each change suggested by the proofreader. That was when he told me there would probably be two more rounds of galleys.

I'd been under the impression that once a book was in galleys making changes was costly. He said no. I was still free to rewrite full sentences (which I ended up doing when the proofreader found a few points of confusion.)

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So basically, the editorial process was exactly as Victoria and I described, but with multiple galleys (likely due to the nature of the book, which sounds lovely BTW)?

Bloo said:

I have a little knowledge of HHP, not enough to inform you if they are legitmate or not, but some experience. I follow one of their authors on Facebook and his blog, Brett Cogburn, and he ran a little contest in association with HHP for their next western anthology, Cactus Country III I believe (after looking at Mr. Cogburn's website, the only connection he has with HHP is through the Cactus County Antholgies). Anyways, the contest was for what Cogburn deemed a "mini western", 4 sentences long and told a complete story. One of my "mini westerns" was selected to be included (50 were selected out of several hundred entries). That is as far as my knowledge of the company goes, in fact I've looked for them on here and came up with zero results. TBH I'm not sure when the CC3 anthology will be released and haven't looked too closely into it. It was 4 sentences that I put thought into and liked, but didn't have the same emotional connection that a short story or novel or a play would. One of the primary reasons I did the contest was because I enjoyed the challenge of telling a complete story in 4 sentences.

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I'm sorry, Bloo--can you confirm that your work was selected for publication in an anthology, but you never received a contract or any further information at all, not even an email giving the release date (it appears to not yet be released, but I can find no information about it) or updates on production?

Is this the contest? I see they asked for an email giving them permission to publish; did you send one in? Did you get any kind of reply? Were you made aware of what rights to your piece you were giving them?

It does look like a fun little contest.

None of their books are listed in Bookscan, which would indicate they have zero store presence. The only book that is listed in Bookscan is one that was co-authored by the publisher, which was pubbed from a different publisher, and has sales in the single digits.The publisher's book, btw, is listed on the High Hill bookstore.

Stacia Kane said:

I'm sorry, Bloo--can you confirm that your work was selected for publication in an anthology, but you never received a contract or any further information at all, not even an email giving the release date (it appears to not yet be released, but I can find no information about it) or updates on production?

Is this the contest? I see they asked for an email giving them permission to publish; did you send one in? Did you get any kind of reply? Were you made aware of what rights to your piece you were giving them?

It does look like a fun little contest.

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That is the contest and yes I did get an email asking for permission to be published, I was away on vacation and from my computer/phone/etc and replied as soon as I got back online. I can't recall exactly the nature of the email (rights, etc) I can pull the email from my files and look at it in a moment, but I do remember there was no information on a release date.

Advice From High Hill

There is a thread building around a simple question published several days ago. Someone innocently asked about my company, High Hill Press. Several people responded with some of the most vile and unethical rhetoric I've ever read. I responded out of sheer frustration and then realized that it wouldn't matter what I said, the few that thrived on getting their views onto forums like this would continue because they have to. I noticed that several of them had thousands of posts. That is certainly an indication that they do nothing but sit in front of their computer and polute the forum with their ramblings. If you have a question about a publisher, simply look at their website and if you like what you see and read contact them directly.

Publishing is an exciting, everchanging business and I'm thankful every day that this is the path I've chosen. Perhaps I was getting too sure of myself lately. After we nominated a book for a Pulitzer in October, and two for the Cowboy Musuem's prestigious Heritage Award just last week, I was feeling pretty cocky. Then I get an e-mail invite to visit this site and see what was being said about me. I was horrified that people would spew forth such mean-spirited words without the least bit of knowledge or integrity. Then I calmed down and realized that this is the world in which we live. Instead of joining into their often nonsensical discussion again, I would istead encourage every writer to do their research when it comes to publishing. Don't rely on the meanderings of people on forums such as this to guide you. Polish your writing and join the exciting world of publishing, but do it sensibly. Good luck with your writing, and thanks for making me realize that I still have so much to learn. And as far as forums go, I do a lot of research online, and probably visit one writers site or another on a daily basis, but this is such a severe waste of time for a true writer to indulge in. Skip the forums where the person pretending to be a writer might have never written a notable word.

I do a lot of research online,

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You would do well to do more, here. There were no "mean spirited" words in that other thread (that will, most likely, be merged with this one, but that is up to the relevant room Mods.) ETA: Never mind, already happened.

You made some assumptions about the people in the thread, beginning with your first posts.

Here are two pieces of truth, from someone who knows that an honest publishing house's success is a success for writers and readers alike:

1) There are THOUSANDS of writers and readers actively participating in this place. Some of us are just average. Some are amazingly talented. Some are amateurs. Some are professionals with decades of experience filled with both success and failure (and ain't that the nature of life?).

2) You are going to be drilled, grilled and cajoled about the cold, hard facts of the industry, and your place in it. Answering honestly, openly and with integrity will earn you the attention and consideration of a large number of them. And that's got to be good for business, yes?

Good luck, Louella [apologies]. And good fortune. Welcome to AW.

Sigh

Louella, instead of responding with anger and what frankly is noninformation, you could save time and answer some of the legitimate questions posted on here (for example do you publish on demand, do you have a bookstore return policy, do you require your writers to hire an editor and what do your 6 editors do if not eit? If you're talking about spelling/punctuation I can some what see what you're saying but as I know from my experience with play publishing an editor does more then just that.)

You are not a victim here by a group of mean spirited indivuals who do nothing but spend time online looking to vilify small publishers. While I don't have thousands of posts on here, on another forum I do, because I've been on that forum for over 5 years. AW has been around a long time and many of these posters have been around from the beginning. And as I mentioned, several posters (myself included) use their real names, pen names and/or links to their websites, blogs, etc. most of us don't hide behind he anonymity of the Internet.

The best way I can describe this part ofAW is that it kind of serves as a BBB for writers. Writers ask questions about agents and publishers and writers respond with what they know. Most publishers can't spend all day answering emails and phone calls from prospective writers (ans they shouldn't, they have books to publish). So AW kind of serves as a filter or a vetting service that helps writers and publishers. There was a legitimate question about your press and some red flags. When you responded (in, I'm sorry, an unprofessional manner) it was attacking the responders and questioning their experience and hard work. When I worked in the food/hospitality industry one of our mantras was "don't piss off people who handle your food". A similar axiom could be applied around here, in other words don't piss off and attack writers. A good/dedicated/serious writer will usually investigate a publisher and his/her contract before signing, just like you would for any major purchase. If you were to buy a new car, would you trust the dealer to tell you about the car or would you look at the manufacturers specs, listen to the dealer and google the car to find out everything you can about said car? Writers should be no different and we should look at and investigate every part of a potential publisher and not just trust blindly in your web page or a phone call to you. In just the year I've been on here and the 4. Months or so I've been active, I've read many a sad story about a publisher lying to their authors and somehow screwing them over, so forgive us for being suspicious, but in this day and age it's better to be overly cautious with our intellectual property then not be.

Honest question here from someone who doesn't have thousands of posts (not like it should matter!) and who IS shopping around a manuscript.

Do you require a submission to be edited by an outside party prior to submission? The letter on the front page is unclear.

Thank you.

Louella, if you're still reading this - can't you see that the Jacqueline Susann story you're so fond of is totally irrelevant to authors publishing with small, do-your-own-marketing presses such as HHP? The only reason she was able to buy "truckloads" of Valley of the Dolls is that it was published by a major league press and already in bookstores. Telling authors that they have to sell books out of the trunks of their cars is shockingly bad advice.

HighHillPress said:

There is a thread building around a simple question published several days ago. Someone innocently asked about my company, High Hill Press.

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This forum exists to help writers decide whether a press is right for them. There are similar threads on hundreds (at least) of publishers, large and small. All of these publishers are given the same scrutiny. The reason is so that an author can decide whether a particular press is right for them.

HighHillPress said:

Several people responded with some of the most vile and unethical rhetoric I've ever read. I responded out of sheer frustration and then realized that it wouldn't matter what I said, the few that thrived on getting their views onto forums like this would continue because they have to.

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If this is truly the way you see the responses in this thread, then I feel sorry for you -- I don't believe that's how the comments were intended.

HighHillPress said:

If you have a question about a publisher, simply look at their website and if you like what you see and read contact them directly.

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I'm sure you are aware that while there are a lot of good presses out there, there are also a lot of bad ones. You've probably taken on authors who have had experience with places like Publish America who misrepresent themselves. There are also those here who have been with publishers that were well-meaning but inexperienced, that folded and took the author's rights with them, preventing them from re-publishing their book.

Check out the Storm Moon Press thread to see an example of a much more effective way to use this thread to promote your press to authors.

HighHillPress said:

Publishing is an exciting, everchanging business and I'm thankful every day that this is the path I've chosen.

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I'm glad you love your career choice so much!

HighHillPress said:

Perhaps I was getting too sure of myself lately. After we nominated a book for a Pulitzer in October, and two for the Cowboy Musuem's prestigious Heritage Award just last week, I was feeling pretty cocky.

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Congrats!

HighHillPress said:

Then I get an e-mail invite to visit this site and see what was being said about me. I was horrified that people would spew forth such mean-spirited words without the least bit of knowledge or integrity. .

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No one has been saying "mean things about you". We're merely trying to determine what experience you have, and whether your press is a good one to submit to -- same as we do with any other publisher.

HighHillPress said:

I would istead encourage every writer to do their research when it comes to publishing... Polish your writing and join the exciting world of publishing, but do it sensibly.

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Agreed! That's why this forum exists.

I've been lurking on this thread and I must say, I'm not seeing any kind of "vile and unethical rhetoric." I see people asking serious and relevant questions and pointing out facts. Which is why this forum exists.

I research every publisher and agent I submit to, and this forum is one of the resources I use. I don't just look at the opinions of the regulars here, though; I look at the behavior of the publishers and agents who post, and whether they present themselves professionally.

There've been times in the past when people have raised concerns about publishers or pointed out red flags, and someone from the company shows up to address those concerns in a friendly, thorough and professional manner. A few times, they've even made changes to their websites or contracts based on criticisms, and ultimately proven themselves to be a good option for writers.

On the other hand, if the publisher is rude and accusatory in response to criticism...well, that's probably not someone I want to work with.

HighHillPress said:

There is a thread building around a simple question published several days ago. Someone innocently asked about my company, High Hill Press. Several people responded with some of the most vile and unethical rhetoric I've ever read.

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I suggest, then, that you have not read widely anywhere online, if you think the reasonable and legitimate comments in this thread are "vile and unethical rhetoric."

I responded out of sheer frustration and then realized that it wouldn't matter what I said, the few that thrived on getting their views onto forums like this would continue because they have to.

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Actually, what you said mattered a great deal. Had you responded with information, it would have given us all information about how your press is run and what its policies are, and shown everyone that you did indeed have the experience and credentials to know what you were talking about.

Instead, you responded with fallacies about publishing, obfuscation, insults, and outrage, and did not answer a single question asked of you. Which also told us quite a bit about your company and your publishing experience.

I noticed that several of them had thousands of posts. That is certainly an indication that they do nothing but sit in front of their computer and polute the forum with their ramblings.

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I showed you my credentials, Louella, and told you where to find more information. You refused to give even a single title or name to support your own claims.

I've had close to twenty novels published with commercial presses. I've had short stories published in anthologies by major houses, and eight novels with major houses (in addition to a couple of novellas and various promotional shorts).

Believe me, I do quite a bit more than "sit in front of [my] computer and 'polute[sic]' the forum with [my] ramblings."

I realize you'd much rather believe differently, but as with some of the nonsense about publishing you've written in this thread, just because you want to believe it does not make it true.

If you have a question about a publisher, simply look at their website and if you like what you see and read contact them directly.

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Or behave like a professional writer and do actual research instead of just unquestioningly believing anything some fly-by-night start-up publisher tells you.

I'm not saying you're a fly-by-night start-up (I know you'll be incapable of believing/understanding me when I say that, but it's true); I'm saying there are tons of those out there, and the only way for writers to avoid them is to research them elsewhere, in forums like this one. I know way, way too many writers who wish very much they hadn't only asked the publisher in question about their businesses, and then swallowed the answers whole.

I realize it's upsetting to you not to be able to completely control all the information shared, gathered, or inferred about you, and to not be able to completely control the opinions and experiences of other people and the conclusions they draw from those, and to not be able to force people to blindly believe whatever you say without proof. Welcome to the magical grown-up world of Doing Business With Strangers Who Owe You Nothing.

Publishing is an exciting, everchanging business and I'm thankful every day that this is the path I've chosen. Perhaps I was getting too sure of myself lately. After we nominated a book for a Pulitzer in October, and two for the Cowboy Musuem's prestigious Heritage Award just last week, I was feeling pretty cocky. Then I get an e-mail invite to visit this site and see what was being said about me.

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Except no one was really saying anything at all about you. We were talking about your company. For the fourth time, my point about your credentials was not made to imply those credentials don't exist, but to show that your company's ideas about "marketing" seem to be skewed.

I was horrified that people would spew forth such mean-spirited words without the least bit of knowledge or integrity.

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I have plenty of knowledge. I also have plenty of integrity. I have, in fact, quite a bit more integrity than someone who feels comfortable lying to writers about how the business works and starts childishly calling names and tossing about insults when they don't like the professional analyses of other people in a business matter.

I'm not the one lying and spreading misinformation, and I'm not the one asking writers to trust me with their books when I am apparently incapable of even getting them properly listed for sale on Amazon and seem completely unaware of how the publishing process actually works.

Then I calmed down and realized that this is the world in which we live. Instead of joining into their often nonsensical discussion again, I would istead encourage every writer to do their research when it comes to publishing.

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This is excellent advice. Every writer should do their research when it comes to publishing. Here are some good things for writers to look into:

1. Is the company started by people with actual, verifiable publishing experience?

2. Are the books on shelves in stores?

3. Are advances paid? What sorts of royalties are paid?

4. What is the editing process like? Are the books well-edited?

5. Along those lines, are there actual excerpts of the books available online, or does the publisher for some reason not want people to be able to sample the writing before buying? Or is the publisher simply so confused and misinformed about how books are sold online that they do not realize people won't buy books they can't even read a page or two of first to see if the writing is to their taste?

6. Are the books POD or offset? Does the publisher have a sales team and a real distributor?

7. When questioned about their business, do the principals discuss their company on a professional level, or do they resort to whinybaby name-calling and insults, even when the questions are perfectly legitimate and reasonable?

8. Along those lines, how is the reading comprehension of the principals? Do they actually pay attention to and understand what is being said, or do they jump to conclusions, refuse to listen, fail to understand tone, fail to understand their audience, and insist everybody else is just a Big Dummy about publishing when that is provably untrue?

9. What are sales levels like? Does Bookscan report any sales? Amazon rankings are generally not really useful, but very low rankings--like over a million--indicate very low sales, and no ranking means not a single copy of that book has sold through Amazon.

10. What is their website like? Is it easy to read and navigate? Has the publisher misused punctuation repeatedly on the site, or does it contain other grammatical errors?


That's just a quick list, in no particular order. Notice that none of the tips there are "Call the owners and ask." Not just because to do so wouldn't be very helpful, but because most legitimate publishers have neither the time nor the inclination to sit on the phone with writers whose work they've never even seen and tell them why they should submit to them.

Don't rely on the meanderings of people on forums such as this to guide you. Polish your writing and join the exciting world of publishing, but do it sensibly.

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Yes, do it sensibly. Start by reading my list above again. Oh, and by ignoring people who think the appropriate professional response to questions is to hide and insult others.

Good luck with your writing, and thanks for making me realize that I still have so much to learn.

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Yes, you do. We'd be happy to help you with that, if you decide you'd like to apologize for the vicious and uncalled-for way you attacked us all simply for asking questions or pointing out potential problems we see with your company based on our experiences in commercial publishing.

And as far as forums go, I do a lot of research online, and probably visit one writers site or another on a daily basis, but this is such a severe waste of time for a true writer to indulge in. Skip the forums where the person pretending to be a writer might have never written a notable word.

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Speak for yourself, Louella. My "notable words" are on bookstore shelves all over the world. Where can I find yours?


I'm sure you'll ignore this post of mine just like you ignored my previous, and go on getting huffy and angry and rude. But let's be very clear here. I'm not pretending to be anything I'm not, and I'm not talking about my big huge list of credentials while refusing to provide any proof. You are. I'm not the one insisting I know way more about publishing than people who've been in the business for years, either. You are. So now you tell me who is lacking in integrity?

HighHillPress said:

We are not a pod. When I say our books can stay in print forever, it's the truth.

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I'm having a hard time reconciling these two statements. How can they both be true at once?

I don't see how anyone using offset printing could promise to keep a book in print in perpetuity, regardless of sales. But if you were a POD, it would be an entirely believable claim: that's one of the advantages of POD technology.

So, please explain. How you manage to keep a print-book in print for perpetuity, without using POD? Enquiring minds want to know.*



* This last sentence shows my age, doesn't it? Why do television commercials stick in my head for decades, when things that are far more interesting, relevant, and important manage to trickle out when I'm not looking?

LindaJeanne said:

I'm having a hard time reconciling these two statements. How can they both be true at once?

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It could mean that their contracts lack reversion clauses. There are a lot of possibilities.

Since High Hill seems to be uninterested in giving reasonable answers to rational questions I doubt we'll ever find out.

For High Hill: I invite your attention to our thread, Why Publishers Fail.

I also invite your attention to the Index thread, especially to the section on publishers, and particularly to those whose names are listed in gray. Those are the publishers that have gone out of business, always with disruptions, great or small, to their authors' careers. Read some of those threads; discover what those publishers had in common. I promise that you'll find the exercise enlightening.

One thing that has me puzzled is working capital. It takes a huge amount of money to stay in business. Since none of their books are in Bookscan, this indicates that they have no store placement, which indicates they have no distribution. Louella says...

We probably do more than most, but it's still impossible to sell a book, that is the author's job.

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Print runs aren't free, so High Hill is incurring large production fees (editing, cover design, print runs can easily reach $10,000), yet they're depending on their author to sell the books. What happens if they don't? That means they're eating huge amounts of money per title. Given that, they would be out of business very quickly.

A more likely scenario is that they are utilizing digital printing to produce a book upon a physical order. And since it's "the author's job" to sell books, it's possible High Hill could be making money by selling books directly to their authors. There is absolutely nothing that indicates their presence in the marketplace, where they could be making money.

We put our books into distribution and we sell in every forum we can.

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It would be a good idea for authors to find out exactly what their distribution and forums consist of because none of their books are listed in Bookscan. Bookscan isn't by any means accurate, but it does indicate a presence within bookstore systems.

We have many authors who have published in New York for years, some even making the bestseller lists, but because I've built such a reputable business, they are bringing their work to us.

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Of the authors listed on High Hill's site, I couldn't find anyone who has bestselling books elsewhere. Since High Hill books have no store placement, I can't figure out what it is about this company that would attract bestselling authors.

The takeaway from this is that things have to make sense. If there is no marketplace presence, no distribution, no sales force, no marketing, then one has to ask what it is about this company - or any company - that suggests they are an appropriate choice that will advance a writer's career.

At this stage, unless Louella comes back, we're just piling questions and hypothesis on a.... What's that large tack thing that the cashier used to stick order receipts on? *shrug* One of those things.

Yeah! (You'd think that would have been obvious, huh?)

HighHillPress said:

Skip the forums where the person pretending to be a writer might have never written a notable word.

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Congrats, you have officially turned off thousands of people from your publishing house.

Just because I couldn't agree more, and it should be said again, listen to Stacia. Please do your research. This part of the forums of AW is meant for asking questions and sharing experiences.

I'm saddened that this publisher feels so defensive when it comes to simple matters, but even so, take a look at Stacia's questions again and consider them carefully.

Stacia Kane said:

Every writer should do their research when it comes to publishing. Here are some good things for writers to look into:

1. Is the company started by people with actual, verifiable publishing experience?

2. Are the books on shelves in stores?

3. Are advances paid? What sorts of royalties are paid?

4. What is the editing process like? Are the books well-edited?

5. Along those lines, are there actual excerpts of the books available online, or does the publisher for some reason not want people to be able to sample the writing before buying? Or is the publisher simply so confused and misinformed about how books are sold online that they do not realize people won't buy books they can't even read a page or two of first to see if the writing is to their taste?

6. Are the books POD or offset? Does the publisher have a sales team and a real distributor?

7. When questioned about their business, do the principals discuss their company on a professional level, or do they resort to whinybaby name-calling and insults, even when the questions are perfectly legitimate and reasonable?

8. Along those lines, how is the reading comprehension of the principals? Do they actually pay attention to and understand what is being said, or do they jump to conclusions, refuse to listen, fail to understand tone, fail to understand their audience, and insist everybody else is just a Big Dummy about publishing when that is provably untrue?

9. What are sales levels like? Does Bookscan report any sales? Amazon rankings are generally not really useful, but very low rankings--like over a million--indicate very low sales, and no ranking means not a single copy of that book has sold through Amazon.

10. What is their website like? Is it easy to read and navigate? Has the publisher misused punctuation repeatedly on the site, or does it contain other grammatical errors?

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