TreePress Publishing
They offered me a contract last month - but I began asking too many questions, ie, cost of the book to consumers (and me) distribution plan... The harder I pressed - the more defensive they became. The smell of a true scam is evasiveness. Another red flag is illogical or defensive dialogue. I demanded a ball park price based on word count. I was told that based on 4*** pages - the price would be about $15.00. I responded that my previous book with AuthorHouse based on a 12 point font gave me an average of 292 words per page (allowing for new chapters to begin on the top of the page, etc.) By my calculation - the page count was more like 380. Her response - 'Maybe you should just stay with AuthorHouse."
This is book #2 for me. The first was self published and I learned a lot of what I don't want on this go round. I dont want my book priced so far out of sight that I have no hope of offering it at a responable price. (Come on - I'm not Stephen King - no one in thier right mind would pay $15 or $20 bucks for an unknown, except maybe my mother)
I don't want my distribution plan to consist of every dot com in the book world. Not too many people buy online. Spare me the useless press releases - I think they are used for TP.
If I have to settle for a smaller enterprise - then call and duck a duck - but do it up front and with a plan I can live with.
I'm shuffling contracts again (currently 5). The first were Publish America, The Chris Robins Agency and TreePree. I am counting on the feedback from you veterans and using the force to decide what to do next. The above is what I already know not to do.
Thanks to everyone for the new age of accountability. The world as a whole gets away with a lot less in the twenty-first century.
J.