• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

C. Anderson Publishing

astonwest

2 WIP? A glutton for punishment
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
6,561
Reaction score
1,205
Location
smack dab in the middle of nowhere
Website
astonwest.com
Didn't see anything listed in the index (or show up in a quick search)...anyone ever heard of these folks? To me, it seems a bit off on many levels (including a terms of use for a public website, not to mention submission of short stories constituting agreement to those terms), but maybe I'm just overly paranoid.

A friend asked me if I knew anything about them, which I didn't (other than my gut instinct), so figured I'd stop by and see what knowledge the folks of AW might have.
 

ironmikezero

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 8, 2011
Messages
1,737
Reaction score
426
Location
Haunted Louisiana
New House?

They appear to be brand new, slightly more interested in attracting authors rather than readers, and very concerned about the integrity of their website (per the terms of use - some of which raise a few eyebrows).

Hopefully, they're a well intentioned fledgling in the publishing game. Time will tell.

If anyone subs, please advise of your experience.
 

AdrianLynn

I haunt QLH
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
630
Reaction score
155
Location
U.S.
I'm not an expert or anything, but there seems to be a lack of information on experience from those that are running the company. The founder "has had a few small works published through other publishers" but that's the only 'experience' that's mentioned.

ironmikezero is right about that TOS page. My eyebrows raised so high I'm scraping them off the ceiling right now.

The Company has a long standing policy that does not allow it to accept or consider creative ideas, suggestions or materials other than those which have been specifically requested or otherwise affirmatively solicited by the Company in writing. It is the intent of this policy to avoid possible misunderstandings as to the ownership of creative ideas, concepts, suggestions or materials. If you send any creative materials, suggestions, ideas, notes, drawings, concepts or other information (collectively known as the "Information") to the Company in printed form, electronic means or otherwise, the Information shall be deemed to be the property of the Company and shall not be subject to any obligations of confidence, non-disclosure or non-usage. The Company is hereby entitled to unrestricted usage of the Information on a worldwide basis without compensation to the provider of the Information on a worldwide basis without compensation to the provider of the Information.
There is so much wrong in there that I don't even know where to begin but I do know that they need to rethink their TOS. I did some searching and this is a part of the TOS legalese on quite a few websites out there, but it's certainly not appropriate for a publishing company. If they know what they're doing then they're really nefarious, but I don't think that's the case. I think they copied and pasted TOS without bothering to think it through - or possibly even read it through.
 

AdrianLynn

I haunt QLH
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
630
Reaction score
155
Location
U.S.
I had a suspicion about Max Cooper/Caleb Anderson - and it looks like I was right! One and the same.

Shaky piece of evidence: Kickstarter for "Legacy of the Bloodborn by Caleb Anderson." They're trying to crowdfund the owner of the publishing company's book? That doesn't really bode well for any other novels submitted to the company. Note, though, that they list "Caleb" and "Max" as separate people. Yet...

Strong piece of evidence: An article from The Wichita Eagle: "Caleb Anderson started the company last year and published an e-book of the fantasy story "Legacy of the Bloodborn" by Max Cooper, which is a pen name."

Okay, let's say the newspaper got it horribly wrong and Max and Caleb are different people, what does that say about this publishing company that they have to use Kickstarter to publish their first book? And, unless there is a miracle involved, it doesn't look like they're going to be successful in that endeavor, so what then? How are they going to be able to afford to publish anything else?

I think these people are probably well intentioned, but I would be nervous to entrust my hard work with them unless they make it well past the two year mark.
 
Last edited:

Marian Perera

starting over
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
14,333
Reaction score
4,578
Location
Heaven is a place on earth called Toronto.
Website
www.marianperera.com
From the Submission Guideline (sic) page:

We publish mostly science fiction and fantasy genre. We only accept digital submission. We DO accept short stories, short story collections, novellas, poetry, or novels in other genres. Decisions on other genres will be decided on a case by case.

If they can't edit/proofread their own website, I wouldn't trust them with a manuscript.
 

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
13,952
Reaction score
1,746
Location
Coastal Desert
Recent activity on Facebook, but the domain expired a couple weeks ago. We'll see if he renews.