Cat & Mouse Press

It's a little odd that Ms. Sakaduski doesn't state that she's the owner/publisher. She's listed on the "Authors and Illustrators" page which gives her publishing credits.

The website domain is registered to Sakaduski Marketing Solutions, a company "positioning dental companies for success", which is owned by Joe and Nancy Sakaduski.

It's good that they're starting small, slowly and aiming at a niche market. I'm less impressed with their Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story Competition. Entries have to be accompanied by a $10 fee. There's only one prize, $500, given to the winner. The stories will be published in a paperback with, from what the website shows, no compensation to anyone other than the winner (the $500 prize). There is also no guarantee that a non-winning story will be published in the book and no details on how that determination will be made. Details on the contest are here - http://www.rehobothbeachreads.com/Home_Page.html

Response from Cat & Mouse Press

Hi all, this is Nancy Sakaduski from Cat & Mouse Press. Thank you for your comments. I would like to clear up the questions you have raised.

I started Cat & Mouse Press because, like many writers, I had become frustrated by commercial publishers. I decided to self-publish my Rehoboth ABC book, and in the process of educating myself, I realized it would be relatively easy (given my entrepreneurial/marketing background) to create a small regional publishing company that would not only publish my own books, but also one day publish books by other local writers who perhaps didn't have the knowledge or interest in self-publishing. The contest also sprang from the desire to help local writers get published.

I didn't realize that it wasn't clear I was the owner of Cat & Mouse (my bio lists "founder of Cat & Mouse Press"), so I added a line in the first paragraph on the "About Us" page on the Cat & Mouse Press website. Likewise, my bio on the judges and organizer page on the Rehoboth Beach Reads website talks about me as founder of Cat & Mouse Press, but I have now added "and Owner of Cat & Mouse Press" next to my name as organizer.

The contest guidelines describe how the contest entries will be chosen, and there is an entire page devoted to the credentials of the judges who will choose the winning entries, so I don't see how I can make that any clearer. I will read the entries only to determine that they meet the guidelines; the judges will choose both the cash prize winner and the top entries for publication. It is quite common for publication to serve as a prize (in some contests it is the only prize) and that is often much more valuable to new and emerging writers than small cash prizes. Before announcing the contest I ran it by the head of the Rehoboth Beach Writers' Guild, the manager of a major bookstore, and all of the judges. Everyone agreed that the process was fair.

Cat & Mouse Press is a DBA ("doing business as") under Sakaduski Marketing Solutions, Inc., a corporation in the dental industry that my husband and I have had for 10+ years. My attorney advised me to place the publishing entity under it as a legal technicality so that I would have some liability protection should someone, say, get a paper cut and decide to sue. It was significantly cheaper than setting up a new legal entity. I don't advertise the relationhip because it would be confusing (the two companies serve entirely different audiences) and is irrelevant.

I welcome anyone who is interested to contact me with any questions or concerns. In addition to the websites, there are Facebook pages for both Cat & Mouse Press and Rehoboth Beach Reads, which carry additional information. The RBR page, in particular, features many posts with educational content of use to new and emerging writers. Thank you again for the opportunity to respond to your posts.

It is quite common for publication to serve as a prize (in some contests it is the only prize) and that is often much more valuable to new and emerging writers than small cash prizes.

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Then the anthology would have national distribution? If not, only a limited number of readers would see it, and it wouldn't be a legit publication credit.

Also, will those selected for publication get a comp copy of the anthology? If not, then they are paying ($10) to be published and their work will be sold back to them.

I would guess that national distribution is through Amazon/Createspace, like most other self-published books. The stories are supposed to focus on Rehoboth, though, so I don't know how much of an appeal they'd have outside the area.

Interesting thread, since I'll be moving to Delaware this week!

PVish, according to their guidelines, the authors published in the anthology can purchase copies for 30% off.

There is little benefit to publication alone unless there's some distribution in place or following for the publication. I suppose if Poetry or The Paris Review were going to publish my work without paying me, it would be worth it because of the national attention focused on them (but they pay, so that point's moot).

I see that some of your judges have experience in the world of literary magazines. They should know, then, that the default payment for a non-paying lit mag market is two complimentary copies of what you've been published in. If there those being published aren't even receiving one copy, then that makes the contest seem not worth it.

The publication is a paperback book, not a literary magazine. The idea is not to create a literary anthology, but just a fun book of "beach reads." The book would be available nationally, and will be published with an ISBN number like any other book, and thus is a publication credit. Whether the contest is worth it or not, I guess is up to the participants to decide, but the feedback I've gotten so far is extremely enthusiastic.

CatandMouse said:

The book would be available nationally, and will be published with an ISBN number like any other book, and thus is a publication credit.

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Just noting that many books with ISBN numbers don't count as professsional publication credits. ISBN numbers aren't a determining criterion.