Firebrand Publishing

I don't hold out much hope for the editing service they offer based on reading their website and the number of errors.

Also, on their website:

Self-publishing has become the best way to become an author.
Major publishers are closed to submissions. They only publish authors they know or authors who have already had success. So, if you are just starting out in your writing career….you are out of luck.​

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What a load of crap.

And, holy cow they are expensive.

jvc said:

I don't hold out much hope for the editing service they offer based on reading their website and the number of errors.

Also, on their website:
What a load of crap.

And, holy cow they are expensive.

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I mostly lurk here in BR&BC because I don't have the experience to contribute, but I'm going to start wanting monies for reading this stuff over and over again.

This is the standard pack of lies fed to impressionable newbies by either ill-informed or evil publishers. Nothing new here, and anyone who falls for it deserves what they get. There are much more affordable print packagers out there.

Response from Firebrand Publishing

Hi, My name is Amy. I work for Firebrand Publishing.
I have been a member of absolute write for over two years. I've lurked around but never posted much.

I started out in the flash fiction community writing stories every week. It was a great experience. I learned how to create entire stories in under 1K words.

I love romance. So, when I heard Harlequin was having a contest to find their next author, I submitted my work. I didn't make it. lol.

However, I wanted to complete my story. I finally completed my novel Claimed by Desire in 2011.

I created a company Sovereign media and started publishing my stories. It was difficult and I learned many things along the way.

Some things were successful, other this were not. I also start publishing books for a few of my close friends.

The more books I published, the better I got.

My husband suggested I start a company offering publishing services to authors who want to self publish, but don't want to learn everything or don't want to do a diy approach to publishing their book.

It took my about a year to get things set up and organized so we launch a couple of months ago.

I am happy to say we have 6 books in the process of being published. WE are proud of the work we do and our culture is to do any and everything to make our authors happy.

Not everyone wants to be a publisher. Ask Amanda Hocking. She just wanted to write. Self publishing a book is not easy. But, that does not mean those that don't want to do it themselves should be locked out of the opportunity to publish their books.

As a company, we act as our authors Publishing house. We handle the production of their book. ALL profits and royalties go to the author. We do not take a dime.

We also have a 100% money back guarantee for our customers. If you decide to publish with us and you don't like the editing, or you don't like the cover and we try to fix it, but still can't, we give you your money back. We stop production on your book, return your manuscript to you and return your money.

Doing business with Firebrand Publishing is without risk.

We do not lie. What evidence do you have of this? The terrible allegations made against Firebrand publishing with absolutely NO evidence is wrong. You are working on nothing. No one has said we've ripped them off (as author solutions has) No one has ever said anything bad about us, but you.

However, you don't know anything about us. You just decide to mouth off and label us a "vanity" publishing house. Why? what have we done to you? nothing.

We believe we offer a valuable service to authors. We will not close our business because you are calling us names.

"sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will never hurt us"

We will continue to publish books. We will continue to be an honest and trustworthy company.

I am sorry you have a problem with that.

P.S everyone's determination of success is different. What one author decides is success may not be your success. We do guarantee that you will not lose money publishing with Firebrand Publishing.

Any package you choose, you are guaranteed to earn more money from the sale of your books than the money you paid for our package. We can guarantee that. Even if we have to over spend our company funds to do it.

That's how much we believe in our product. That's how much we believe in our authors. That's how much we believe in the care of our authors.

Maybe I didn't introduce myself properly. maybe I didn't do as I was suppose to on this forum. Sorry about that. However, Firebrand Publishing is a great company that will change how self publishing is done for the better.

Medievalist said:

Firebrand Publishing just recently popped onto my radar.

I want to distinguish the Firebrand Publishing company based in Atlanta from Firebrand Books (http://www.firebrandbooks.com, a feminist and lesbian publisher based in Michigan that's an established and award-winning publisher.

This thread is about the Atlanta vanity publishing company Firebrand Publishing. Since Firebrand Publishing seem to have no distribution, and are selling entirely to authors, the distinction seems important.

Here's their site:

http://www.firebrandpublishing.com/

Here's their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/FirebrandPublishing

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Firebrand Publishing is a author services company. like:
http://www.telemachuspress.com/ would you call them a "vanity press?" They were the original publisher of John Locke. THE John Locke that sold over one million kindle books. We operate similarly. We do the work for you as a work for hire company. The author receives 100% royalties.

Successful self publishers like Joe Konrath advises authors to use a company to produce their books instead of doing it themselves. That way, the author can concentrate on writing their books and selling instead of formatting and cover art creation.

We are not evil

Filigree said:

This is the standard pack of lies fed to impressionable newbies by either ill-informed or evil publishers. Nothing new here, and anyone who falls for it deserves what they get. There are much more affordable print packagers out there.

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Hi Filigree,
We do not lie. WE are definitely not evil. We are here to help authors publish their books without hassle. We will also put together marketing programs for our authors.

One of the hardest parts of publishing a book is selling it. We give authors the tools to effectively reach their audience and sell their books.

For instance, our bestseller package includes a full author website with blog, and copywriting for your blurb and metadata creation for better discoverability.

We set the books up so they are better able to be found in online bookstores.

There is nothing to fall for. If our customer does not like the product created for them, they get their money back, plain and simple.

jvc said:

I don't hold out much hope for the editing service they offer based on reading their website and the number of errors.

Also, on their website:
What a load of crap.

And, holy cow they are expensive.

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Hi jvc,
I fail to see why this is a load of crap.
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/19/167448748/self-publishing-no-longer-just-a-vanity-project


Our service is not any more expensive than other services.
Plus, we are one of the ONLY self publishing companies offering a 100% money back guarantee AND 100% royalties.

Many authors found traditional publishers AFTER self publishing their books. Many agents scour the best seller lists on amazon to find clients.
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2011...ng-lead-to-a-traditional-publishing-contract/

http://www.thepassivevoice.com/04/2...ublished-books-lead-to-publishing-film-deals/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/booked/2010/06/22/how-self-publishing-can-lead-to-a-real-book-deal/

http://www.copyblogger.com/torre-deroche-case-study/

http://www.fearfuladventurer.com/archives/5940

Story after story, self published books are getting published tradtionally.
It is not a lie or a load of crap.

Plus, you can support yourself on your self publishing income and lot easier and faster than with a legacy contract.

You may not understand. But these good things are happening by self publishing and it is a real opportunity for many people.

We do everything we can to make our authors successful

callalily61 said:

Phrases like "you cannot fail" and "reach bestseller status"? How can anyone guarantee bestsellerdom?

And the prices! Yike.

Yog's Law, people. Yog's Law.

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Hi Callalily61,
Everyone's idea of success is different. For every customer, they tell us what they want and we make it happen. If our customer is unhappy with our service or product, they can let us know and we will give them their money back.

We will unpublish their book and return the original manuscript sent to us.

Simple.

As far as prices, we are no more expensive than any other author services company. We are actually less expensive for the services and products offered.

Check any self publishing company services cost. We are less.
Plus we do take any percentage of sales. Our authors get 100% royalties from the sale of their books.

Note that a vanity publisher is one which earns most of its income from the writers it publishes, rather than from selling books to readers. Firebrand Publishing certainly qualifies as a vanity press using this definition.

Note also that good publishers are not closed to submissions, nor do they refuse to consider unknown writers.

Also consider if you'd be happy to be edited by people who are not capable of punctuating their own website properly.

Okay, seems Amy has been banned already for spamming. I'm going to respond to a few points just in case there are lurkers.

kayannak said:

The more books I published, the better I got.

My husband suggested I start a company offering publishing services to authors who want to self publish, but don't want to learn everything or don't want to do a diy approach to publishing their book.

It took my about a year to get things set up and organized so we launch a couple of months ago.

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It's wonderful that you enjoy writing so much, but nothing in the story of your company explains how you have any expertise to offer these services. Do you have a background in English or graphic design? Any former experience aside from your own projects? These are areas where things can look okay to an untrained eye, but someone with experience can see things under the surface that will greatly affect the professional appearance of the product.

Case in point, I assume the text of your website looks good to you, but it contains errors that a simple spell check would have caught.

kayannak said:

As a company, we act as our authors Publishing house. We handle the production of their book. ALL profits and royalties go to the author. We do not take a dime.

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Huh? You charge hundreds or thousands of dollars for services that authors could get for significantly cheaper elsewhere. How on earth do you "not take a dime"? (Even if you charged reasonable prices, you'd still be taking money.)

BTW, I have no issue with experienced editors and designers charging self-published authors for their services. I do have an issue with a company charging money for things it cannot fulfill.

kayannak said:

We also have a 100% money back guarantee for our customers. If you decide to publish with us and you don't like the editing, or you don't like the cover and we try to fix it, but still can't, we give you your money back. We stop production on your book, return your manuscript to you and return your money.

Doing business with Firebrand Publishing is without risk.

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Except the risk of my time, energy, and first publication rights. (Actually, that last one isn't even a risk. It's a guaranteed loss.)

kayannak said:

We do not lie. What evidence do you have of this? The terrible allegations made against Firebrand publishing with absolutely NO evidence is wrong. You are working on nothing. No one has said we've ripped them off (as author solutions has) No one has ever said anything bad about us, but you.

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Let me be clear: Based on my knowledge, there appears to be misinformation on your site. I do not believe it is deliberately misleading, but it is there. For example:

Will self publishing hurt my chances of a legacy book contract?

No. It will help you earn a book contract from publishers.

Publishers are using best seller lists to find authors for their imprints.

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"It will help you earn a book contract" cannot possibly be true in every situation. If I publish my NaNoWriMo novel on December 1st without ever looking at it, I'm pretty sure that will not help me.

Major publishers have submissions pouring in. Why on earth would they go looking for more? There's a big difference between a self-published book becoming such a huge sensation that editors hear about it through word of mouth and the acquisitions team actively combing through the lists of self-published books to find a manuscript.

As an aside, I have no idea what a "legacy book contract" is. I think (others can correct if I'm wrong) the term is a trade publishing contract.

kayannak said:

However, you don't know anything about us. You just decide to mouth off and label us a "vanity" publishing house. Why? what have we done to you? nothing.

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A vanity press means a press that charges authors money to publisher their work. Nothing more, nothing less. Since you have the prices for your publishing packages listed on your website, this is a perfectly fair label.

kayannak said:

everyone's determination of success is different. What one author decides is success may not be your success. We do guarantee that you will not lose money publishing with Firebrand Publishing.

Any package you choose, you are guaranteed to earn more money from the sale of your books than the money you paid for our package. We can guarantee that. Even if we have to over spend our company funds to do it.

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Unless you have a mind control device to make readers buy books, you can't promise that. I suppose you could personally buy enough books to fulfill your promise, but that hardly seems like a sustainable business model, nor do I see why it would make any author feel accomplished. As a reader, I don't care how many ads you throw at me, how cheap the book is, or whatever else. I care if it looks like something I want to read. If it doesn't, nothing you do will make me shell out my money to buy it or invest my time in reading it.

Again, the problem isn't your intentions. It's that you're providing misinformation (deliberately or not) and making guarantees no one could possibly keep no matter how skilled at marketing they are.

Firebrand's site is painful to read. Even if the packages were offered at half their current price I'd be put off by the poor spelling and grammar, not To mention the Weirdly arbitrary Capitalization.

I was particularly amused by this:

From Traditional /legacy book publishers to successful self publishers, the below services are proven to help your book become a publishing success.

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I've read this several times and it still doesn't make sense.

All of our publishing packages come with basic editing for FREE! This includes a spell check and a lite grammar check.
http://www.firebrandpublishing.com/best-self-publishing-services/

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That isn't even basic editing. And...lite?

Reviews sell books. Reviews sell books. Reviews sell books.

We get your books reviewed by real independent reviewers who actually read your book. We go through the pain staking process of contacting reviewers, pitching your story and setting up the review process.

Reviews sell books. Reviews sell books. Reviews sell books.

That is all.

*steps down from soapbox.”
http://www.firebrandpublishing.com/best-self-publishing-services/

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Yes, reviews certainly help to sell books - but the big-name newspapers, magazines, websites and blogs are unlikely to review anything published by a vanity press/POD. Who are these independent reviewers, other than real people (gasp!) who actually read books? And since Firebrand appears to be charging large sums of money to publish the slush pile, why does the company assume that their books will automatically get good reviews? No-one wants to waste their money on litely lightly-edited slush, which is why commercial publishing has gatekeepers. Also - pain staking. Someone has been reading too much vampire fiction.

Amy writes as Kayanna Kirby. If she's published anything other than Claimed by Desire (Sovereign Press) I couldn't find it, nor could I find any other books published by Sovereign.

Extracts from a couple of Amazon reviews:

First, the grammar, punctuation, and spelling are horrible. I keep getting taken out of the story because I have to reread a section that didn't make sense because of it. How hard is it to check for that before publishing a book!
Second, I originally thought the dialogue was cute (which is why I bought it after reading the sample) and it started off great, but it has turned into very childish and stilted speech...

This book was terrible. I dont know who proofread it but its very irritating to have contractions replaced by the whole words. Books should be written in the way you would speak, not how you would write an essay.

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I hope Amy isn't involved with the editing at Firebrand.

On the credit side, the book did receive a 5 star review on Goodreads...from Kayanna Kirby!

The paperback version of Claimed by Desire has an Amazon rank of #4,585,601, which suggests to me that Amy shouldn't be guaranteeing to make anyone else's book a bestseller.

I decided to check out Claimed by Desire on Amazon. This is the dedication:

For Gregory,
My Knight in Shinning Armor

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This is the first time I've found a typo without even reading the book itself. Perhaps the spellcheck was also on the "lite" side.

Queen of Swords said:

This is the first time I've found a typo without even reading the book itself. Perhaps the spellcheck was also on the "lite" side.

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You're lucky. I've come across quite a few vanity/self-pubbed books with more than one glaring spelling mistake in their dedications!

Originally Posted by kayannak
Any package you choose, you are guaranteed to earn more money from the sale of your books than the money you paid for our package. We can guarantee that. Even if we have to over spend our company funds to do it.

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This is utterly ludicrous. The brutal truth is that about 95% of the manuscripts Firebrand can expect to receive would have stood no chance of being accepted by a commercial publisher. Poorly written and/or poorly edited books will not sell, and if this is how Firebrand thinks they can do business the company will soon find itself in serious financial trouble.

Let's have a closer look at the Elite Package:

$5589
With the Elite package you cannot fail. You are Guaranteed to successfully launch your book.

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There's a vital difference between "successfully launching your book" and "successfully selling your book". How many copies would an Elite author have to sell just to earn back the initial outlay of $5589? Is Amy aware of the fact that, outliers like Amanda Hocking aside, the average vanity/self-pubbed book is unlikely to sell more than 100 copies?

It's been said before on AW but I'll say it again - this is trainwreck publishing.

By the way, Firebrand's CEO is Gregory Cancryn: http://www.firebrandpublishing.com/letter-from-the-ceo/

A quick Google reveals that Amy/Kayanna is his wife. If the couple have previous publishing-related experience I couldn't find any mention of it. Agatha Hemingway is also named on the home page but we aren't told what she does.

I don't personally care if authors want to use a vanity press or not. It's their money, and it may be the right choice for that author. I'd like them to be aware that there are other non-fee-based options, ones where they get paid.

Were I going to use a fee-based service provider, I'd want one that had a Web site that adhered to the basic rule of English orthography and grammar. Firebrand Publishing does not.

I also would prefer one that didn't spam AW. I deleted two spammy pimp-my-website posts by kayannak whose profile identifies her as the "Executive editor" of Firebrand Publishing.

I sent her a PM:

AW Admin said:

Hi

I realize you're merely offering a service from your point of view, but I've deleted the post in Children's about Firebrand and ebooks.

It's too spam-like.

Having Firebrand in your sig is fine. Pimping Firebrand's services is not.

I'll let the one about OCR stand.

But please be aware that looking like a spammer will get you banned.

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She responded with an "OK sorry about that" and then proceeded to post another spammy message some hours later.

If you want to be an "author services company" then conquer basic English and stop spamming your potential clients.

There is a place in the self-publishing world for publishing-services providers. If an author can't personally create cover art (and few can), the author needs to hire an artist/designer to do it. If an author can't edit their own work (and few can), the author should hire an editor.

It isn't unheard of for editors and artists to team up. Throw in someone who's good at formatting text for the various e-readers (not necessarily easy for a first-timer), offer a package deal, and you've got a useful service.

Is this a press or a publishing-services provider? The big questions are who owns the rights, and whose name is listed as publisher.

One thing that concerns me is the offer of an ISBN. The ISBN uniquely identifies the title, author, edition, format, and publisher.

If the publisher is anyone other than the author (or the author's DBA), I'm not 100% sure that we're talking about self-publishing.

Of course, for the prices charged, Firebrand could buy small blocks of ISBNs for each author and remove this objection.

A list of books that Firebrand has successfully launched would go a long way toward answering a lot of questions I have about the usefulness of this particular service.

An interesting little exchange from Firebrand's Facebook:



I suppose we should be grateful for that comment about agents, but I'm appalled that Firebrand is advising someone who who clearly has no cash to spare to "invest in yourself" because "the income potential from self publishing is great". Amy may have been banned but perhaps Mr Cancryn would like to explain how Firebrand's business plan is supposed to work.

Uncle Jim, as far as I'm aware Firebrand hasn't published anything yet.

This seems a bit confusing between the two companies. AbeBooks lists 3 books by "Firebrand Publishing" (http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?pn="Firebrand+Publishing"&sts=t&x=39&y=15), quite a few more by "Firebrand Books" (http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?pn=Firebrand&sts=t&x=36&y=17). The first list I got searching "Firebrand Publishing", the second by searching just "Firebrand" (under search by publisher). So I'm guessing that FP has at least 3 books under their belt... ? Not sure if that's worth anything, since they're all from quite some time ago - another reason I'm not even sure it's the same company. Confusion reigns...

Medi noted in her first post the potential confusion between Firebrand Publishing and Firebrand Books.

Books published in 2008 and before are likely not from this Firebrand Publishing.

Word of mouth sells books, word of mouth sells books, word of mouth sells books.

Reviews may help, but are not entirely responsible for moving great quantities of books nor creating a breakout/bestseller.

tri

triceretops said:

Word of mouth sells books, word of mouth sells books, word of mouth sells books.

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QFT

James D. Macdonald said:

Medi noted in her first post the potential confusion between Firebrand Publishing and Firebrand Books.

Books published in 2008 and before are likely not from this Firebrand Publishing.

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So is/was there a third company? Because those three books listed the publisher specifically as "Firebrand Publishing", not "Firebrand Books" as was listed on the others. (I was looking at them with Medi's note in mind.)

And just an aside (more out of curiosity than anything) - is FP connected somehow to Tate Publishing? Because doing a google search, Tate kept popping up in the results as well (and no others except in the ads section). (Sorry if this has been mentioned earlier in the thread, btw)

One of the three "Firebrand Publishing" books (This Is What Lesbian Looks Like) is listed on the Firebrand Books website. The other two (which are both by the same author) aren't.