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Shari Parker Publishing and Printing

juniper

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I heard about this company today via a posting to a Facebook writers' group. It apparently grew out of a print shop. Seems to be a vanity press.

http://www.shariparkerpublishingandprinting.com/StepByStep.html

Sounded really similar to another printing/publishing place mentioned here in the past few months but I couldn't find another thread with this name.

From the About Us page:

"Hello! I am Shari Parker. Creater and owner of Shari Parker publisher, designer, editor and agent. I created this business in 2008 and we have our own print shop on my 20 acre farm. I work personally with authors to create a close relationship with them to be able to lead them to their goal,To have an award winning book that really sells. I coordinate all sales and manage the office. I travel very frequently to meet authors and
attend book shows. This is the seventh business I have created and managed and this one has been my favorite! I am truly blessed!"

and snippets from the Step by Step page:

"We contact you and tell you the number of pages in your book and what the cost will be for us to publish your books."

"You sell your book for double the price of the printing [mentioned at $7-10 per item]. Minimum order is 150 books."

"We become your publisher and a payment of $300.00 is due at that time. It is for proofing, layout and designing the cover."

"ONCE your book is approved by both of us, the total cost for printing is due before any books are printed."

"Your book is put on Amazon, in paperback, and uploaded in ebook to Kindle/ Amazon. Cost is $85.00. They contact us when your book sells and we ship to the buyer. When we are paid, we write you a check for the sale of your book."

"WE ARE THE ONLY PUBLISHER THAT HOLD YOUR HAND STEP BY STEP AND LET YOU BE ACTIVE IN ALL DECISIONS.
WE KNOW THIS IS WORTH IT.IT WORKS!" (typos/spacing/all caps theirs)

This company was mentioned in the FB group from someone whose 8-year-old daughter 'is a published author!' with two books from this place. Another clipping on the site shows an article titled "Mother, daughter now published authors" - daughter is 10 yrs old. I guess if your child wants a hobby, this isn't a bad one. :) Although she may be disappointed with the sales.

And vanity presses may be appropriate for some specific projects - but this one purports to be more.

The owner has her own book out: "The workbook explains how to sort and organize your book in a fast and easy system. Then you will learn all the ends and outs of proofing, finding an agent, publishing and selling your book." (bolding mine)

Well, if you want to find an agent, you won't be using this company to print up your books.
 
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aliceshortcake

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If the content of Shari's website is a representative sample of her editing skills I don't hold out much hope for the books themselves. And after five years in business has the company actually produced an award-winning book that really sold?

Also, where would outfits like this be without "local person writes book!" articles in regional newspapers? Never mind that the book only exists because the author paid for it to be printed...
 

Torgo

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"publisher, designer, editor and agent"

AUUGGHHHHH. I'm sorry, I keep returning to that page to gaze in horror.

They are so badly published, designed and edited. And she's agenting too? God only knows what's going on there.
 

kaitie

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Isn't the statement "his books are selling out faster than I can print them" somewhat meaningless when we're talking POD?

ETA: Okay, aside from the really terrible covers and blurbs (I'm saddened to see how many there are), is it just me or is there no obvious way to buy the books? On the publisher's website, under Books For Sale, there aren't any links. It says they can be bought from the publisher, but there isn't a "buy" button anywhere in sight. Then it says that they're all available to Amazon, but only three of the books actually have a link to the page. What the frak? You'd think if she isn't going to have an obvious way to buy through the site, she'd at least have links to everything on Amazon.

These authors can't be selling well. They just can't. Especially not when she's making it so hard for them.
 
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Marian Perera

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These authors can't be selling well. They just can't. Especially not when she's making it so hard for them.

At least two of the authors are described as "editor and project manager" for this press. Perhaps the number of sales doesn't matter as much to them as the camaraderie they have with "Author and Publisher: The Role-Playing Game".
 

nkkingston

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"This is the seventh business I have created and managed and this one has been my favorite! I am truly blessed!"

This almost raises more red flags for me than the rest put together. What happened to the other six businesses? Is she still running them? I assume the print business is one. If the others are still in operation, how do their customers/clients feel about dealing with a business the owner isn't putting her full attention into? If they're not in operation, what happened to them? Will it happen to this one?
 

DreamWeaver

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This almost raises more red flags for me than the rest put together. What happened to the other six businesses? Is she still running them? I assume the print business is one. If the others are still in operation, how do their customers/clients feel about dealing with a business the owner isn't putting her full attention into? If they're not in operation, what happened to them? Will it happen to this one?
In a perfect world, she would have brought each business to profitability and then sold it to someone who was able to continue operating that business competently.

Not holding out great hope that this is an example of that perfect world situation, however. It's possible, though.