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Grace Notes Publishing (Harmoni McGlothlin)

Lmack

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I had been selected as the spotlight author for the latest issue of Notes Magazine, published by Grace Notes Publishing. Harmoni McGlothlin was the publisher/editor and had sent me galleys of the publication that was supposed to come out in November. Contributors were charged for their copies, so I reluctantly purchased a couple (traditionally, contributors copies are complimentary; that fact should have alerted me that something was wrong), as did my family and friends. After I asked Harmoni several times to put up a notice on the website that explained why the publication hadn’t been mailed (she claimed problems with the production company and her colleagues), she finally sent an email to everyone, saying that the magazine would be sent out no later than January 10, 2014. Of course, nothing has appeared. I’ve tried to reach her since then, but the website has been shut down and she doesn’t answer my emails. I’m sorry for the people who have been mislead and paid their money upfront for a product that didn’t appear. I’m also concerned about the contests Grace Notes Publishing sponsors.I paid $25.00 to enter the novel contest. That money is down the tube also.

I hope you can alert your readers to this abuse.

Lily Iona Mackenzie
http://lilyionamackenzie.wordpress.com
 

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I hate reading about these things, it really gets to me. I'm so sorry to hear this happened to you. Hey, I was there once too. Whatever happens with this one, I'm not sure how to guide you in. I wouldn't want to steer you the wrong way. There's so many different types of sticky situations like this with publishers, you really have to be careful and should refer back to your contract. Golden Rule, never pay for anything. Nine times out of ten, they're absolutely no good. Especially if they're a new company and have low writing backgrounds or worse no experience in the writing industry at all.

Researching a publisher for your work is so much more difficult than writing the book itself, believe me. Sometimes it takes months, if not years to find the right one. Don't give up hope because of this. Once you figure out the rights and how to resolve this issue, write something in the wings while you're waiting on this to clear up. Believe me, you can write an even better book when something like this happens. It's more fire under your wings. And when you are ready to submit that book. Please whatever you do, make sure you do your extended research.

Sites to help, is this one of course (there's a main thread on listings of agents and publishers here) Preditors & Editors, AgentQuery, Querytracker.net Publisher's Marketplace, Publisher's Weekly (this helps on trends) Writer's Digest (there's a nice blog in the: Guide to Literary Agents, tells you the new and fresh agents coming out, has info on trending books in the market. All sorts of goodies for authors to read and be informed on.

The first step could be looking for an agent first? Or submit directly to publishers? (If it's YA, I have a few lists of YA publishers on my blog (link in my sig) of reputable advance paying publishers accepting unagented submissions (wow, that's a mouthfull)

Or self-publish? That I'm not super familiar with, but there's lots of info here too on that if you want to take that route.

From my experience, I have never heard of a vanity publisher doing well. The vanity publishers are the sharks out there, anything dealing with money, it's a huge RED FLAG.

I really hope things work out for your book and your writing, and this gets resolved quickly, but like I said, the best bet now is to start rolling on your next novel. (if you haven't done so already.)

Good Luck with everything!
 

James D. Macdonald

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http://www.gracenotesbooks.com/

Website suspended.

For the moment still available via Google Cache (dated 18 January 2014).

Highlight:



Notes Magazine’s Issue #6 Released

Check out prose and poetry from our spotlight author, Lily Iona Mackenzie, and a featured essay in remembrance of the 9/11 tragedies, from Don Yorty. More great contributions from Jeffrey Miller, Samuel Fry, Euripides Soteriou, Raymond Greiner, Christina Bebeau, Zdravka Evtimova, Barbara Lowenthal, Phillip Hoy, and many other talented writers.
From http://www.gracenotesbooks.com/index.php/2-uncategorised/19-notes-magazine-issue-6-delays (another suspended address; text from Google Cache, dated 14 January 2014):

Notes Magazine: Issue #6 Delays

Please Read If You Haven't Received Your Copy Of Issue #6 of Notes Magazine

Dear GN Supporters & Issue 6 Contributors,
Those who've ordered copies of this issue and now, weeks later, have not received them, please accept our apologies for the delays in the release of issue 6. We've experienced some technical problems with our printing company and had to re-order the printing of our first run entirely-- a process that ordinarily would have set us back a few weeks, at any rate. However, the shut down of business over the holidays, being short-staffed on our end as well as the printer's end, has extended that delay significantly and the issue is long overdue. Those who ordered early release copies will receive free gifts along with the issue, other GN book titles or past editions of Notes. Contributors will be sent additional free copies of issue #6 to share with friends and loved ones.
We wish you a happy New Year and sincerely appreciate your patience. These types of snafus are difficult for any business or organization but The Grace Notes Foundation is a small non-profit and a problem of this magnitude presents an enormous strain on our already limited resources. We rely on our loyal supporters, contributors, subscribers, and readers to ensure we are able to continue to do what we do. This type of delay endangers our relationship with those people, people like you, and trust that we are doing everything possible to maintain those relationships. Your copy of Notes (and free apology gifts) will be shipped no later than January 10th.
Thank you for your support, patience, and understanding.
The Administrators & Editors @
The Grace Notes Foundation
Grace Notes Publishing & Notes Magazine
 
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aliceshortcake

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This doesn't inspire much confidence:

Grace Notes Books: Here, author's can submit novels, novellas, memoirs, collections of short fiction/essays/poetry, chapter-books and young adult/youth novels for our upcoming children's literature division.
Grace Notes Books is also considering illustrators to work on picture books for our upcoming children's division but we also use stylized artwork for a graphic vibe within the pages of our adult novels, poetry volumes, etc.
https://notesandgracenotes.submittable.com/submit

How many books has Grace Notes actually published? I could only find two on Amazon, McGlothlin's collection of poetry Venus Laughs and the anthology Roots Exposure: New Voices in Literature, both published in 2009.

Publishing & Printing Information: Grace Notes Books & Publishing is a "green" company in the sense that we do not believe in waste and prefer not to kill more trees than necessary in our ambition to publish beautiful books. As a result we use Amazon's Createspace for printing purposes. This enables us to order only the number of books we need, when we need them, and as a division of Amazon it offers the powerful distribution options that come from working through a large company. Unfortunately, our books are listed as being 'Published By: Createspace' here Amazon and other distribution venues. To clarify, Grace Notes Books are NOT self-publishing endeavors nor do authors pay any sort of fees to have their books published through us. Grace Notes Books is operated in the tradition of any small publishing company; with a full staff of gifted editors, artists, and graphic designers, among others. Books published by Grace Notes Books are submitted by authors and chosen by our editors in the same traditional way of small presses everywhere.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1440464901/?tag=absowrit-20

Admittedly both books had a very limited market, but Venus Laughs has no Amazon ranking and Roots Exposure currently stands at 10,774,002. If McGlothlin thinks Amazon is a distributor she clearly isn't well-informed about publishing, which isn't surprising as she's primarily a screenwriter. According to her IMDb and LinkedIn profiles she won a Silver Telly Award in 2006 and was a finalist in the Page International Awards - I think she means International Page Awards - in 2008.
 
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