Inner Child Press

*WARNING*

Brace yourself for a veritable tsunami of Arbitrary Capitalization, misused "quotation marks" and eccentric, punctuation. There is also a danger of run-on sentences I'm sorry to say, and a few words may missing. Those of you with limited tolerance for glutinous New Age verbiage may also be at risk. Ready? Here goes:

Inner Child Press was founded by William S. Peters, Sr., and is a wholly subsidiary of Inner Child Enterprises. We are an Author / Writer oriented Publishing Concern. We too are Writers / Authors. We fully understand a Writer's needs and concerns when it comes to all aspects of the Publishing Journey. We specialize in Poetry, Prose, Children's and Short Stories. Please examine our extensive Author / Publishing / Promotion Services. There is something there for every aspiring Author to fit their Dreams and their Budget.
Let us share our Magic with you ...
http://www.innerchildpress.com/

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According to his Amazon author profile:

i am but a gardener using my words to convey my thoughts, insights, feeling and love to the world at-large. I have published in excess of 30 personal Titles of which some are out of print.

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The books by Mr Peters I was able to find were all published through CreateSpace or his own Inner Child Press.

Mr Peters also had the distinction of being declared the Inaugural Poet Laureate of last month's Kosovo International Poetry Festival, which he was able to attend despite his Gofundme campaign raising only $920 of the hoped-for $3500.

Inner Child Press is a Publishing Company established by Writers, for Writers. We Writers rule the roost here. We promise you that you will never get a Computer Account Technician or Hourly Employee who is disconnected from the process.

All of us have walked the path to Publishing and are intimately familiar with the challenges and concerns of Writers, New and Seasoned. We pride ourselves on our Personalized Service and “In Touch” interaction with you during your journey. Drop us a note, and have a real meaningful conversation with one of our Executives, Janet Caldwell and feel the difference between Inner Child Press and all the Rest.

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Chief Operating Officer Janet P Caldwell has published three volumes of poetry, one - according to her Goodreads profile - through Authorsden and the others through Inner Child Press. I think we're beginning to see a pattern here.

Inner Child has seven publishing packages from which to choose. Prices start at $400 for an eBook and go up to $4000 for the Carl Sagan Package.* What does the aspiring author get for $4000? Well, apart from the usual formatting, editing, ISBN etc, the author gets 100 perfect bound and 50 hardback copies of his or her book. Not to mention four hours worth of radio interviews on Inner Child's very own station! AND a free Kindle Fire! I have to wonder what the heck the author and interviewer will find to talk about for four hours and how many people will actually be listening...

There's also an Inner Child Press Blog which is full of useful advice for writers. I particularly enjoyed this little gem by Mr Peters:

Are you employing all the known possibilities and resources you have at your fingertip[s to get the notoriety your Cherished Work deserves ? Are you sitting, waiting for that “Knock on the Door”; “Phone Call” or “E Mail” informing you that you have won the Publisher Clearing House Free trip to Wealth and Fame ? . . .Yeah, me too. But in the mean time perhaps we can assist the World in coming to understand and accept that we have something to Say and Share with them. Here are some of the things we can do...

Make your self available wherever you can. If you do not pursue notoriety, who will know of you ? I once had an Author who did an appearance on a Saturday at his local Supermarket. In the space of a few hours sold 20 books or so. Also consider the depth of people that are now connected. I also remember being in New York City on the Subway. An Author boarded the Train with a rolling suitcase and between stops in the space of about 5 minutes sold about a dozen of his books because he had the audacity to put aside his fear and tell the people on the Subway his story.

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I can think of several reasons why a captive audience might buy a book from a strange person who harangues them on the subway. Pity and/or fear spring to mind. But the next bit made me laugh out loud:

I purchased a book, which to this day I have never read.
http://www.innerchildpress.com/icp-blog/dear-author

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Inner Child's website also includes an ad for Christina Neal Editing Services (Ms Neal's poetry is published by IC). Were I in her shoes I'd have to suppress a scream every time I read Mr Peters' endorsement of her services:

It is said that the best “Editing” comes after Publishing . . .
The editing process is essential for all writers of all genres. The 3 “Cs” of writing; Construct, Content and Clarity are integral to producing an excellent work. Misspells, Grammar are all “Nails in the Coffin” for any aspiring Author. A Bad reputation in writing is hard to shake. ~ William S. Peters, Sr. ~ Publisher, Inner Child Press

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*Carl Sagan must be revolving in his grave at being associated with spiritualism, Reiki and energy healing. These people really need to read The Demon-Haunted World.

Love and light, Filigree! Love and light!

Namaste.

Helix said:

Dear heavens. The music! I had a look at their packages* and this awful music started playing.

*I could have worded that better.

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I didn't know curlews were into that sort of thing.

I forgot this:

Standard Royalty Terms
Based on Net
Author : 75 %
Publisher : 25 %
Net Royalty : Retail Price less Book Production Cost
Standard Publishing Contract : Catalogued 5 Years
Other Options Available . . . Inquire Here
http://www.innerchildpress.com/publishing-packages.php

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And more 'interactive promotional services':

Interactive Promotional Services are focused solely on assisting the Author in the arena of Self Promotion. Many Authors are not aware that their “Best” agent for Notoriety and Product Distribution Success are themselves and their immediate “Circles of Influence”. These Promotional Aids are aimed at providing not only a Basic Web Presence, but also there are physical aids which can be distributed in defined areas of the Author’s Life, "Geographically and Interactively" on a very personal level. There are some great tools here which are very essential for any type of appearances an Author may make such as Book Signings, Lectures and Readings. Be Seen !!!
http://www.innerchildpress.com/promotion--marketing-services.php

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Packages ranging from $599 to $1299 will provide you with posters, bookmarks, book trailers, business cards and interviews with the Inner Child magazine and on Inner Child's radio station. All of which, as far as I can see, are "virtually useless" when it comes to selling vanity-published books by "unknown writers".

Coffee mugs, key chains and baseball caps can also be ordered, but I was disappointed by the absence of lollipop trees.

The mysterious sword graphic also turns up in Stories and Fables and Quaint Little Tales, written by William S Peters and edited by Janet P Caldwell. There are glaring errors in the front matter and on the back cover.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692265538/?tag=absowrit-20

If ICP can't do a better job than this on a book written by the founder and edited by the Chief Operating Officer one dreads to think of what kind of service they're providing to their clients.

Says Mr Peters:

...the greatest appreciation that i have is for Ms. Janet P. Caldwell. Though this is not an acknowledgment page, i must do so just the same, for she and her anality about writing always brings my final offering up a few notches as we strive for excellence...My primary apprehension in publishing beyond Blogging, Face Book and other Social Mediums was to measure up to a standard of expression that is not rejected because of the Grammar and Language.

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There's a reason why commercial publishers take a dim view of writers who don't have a firm grasp of Grammar and Language (with or without capital letters): it's because poor grammar, misused words and weird punctuation make literature of any kind hellishly difficult to read.

2014 was Inner Child's 'Year of the Poet', during which they published an anthology every month. From Peters' introduction to the January volume:

…each of us will be able to add 12 more Title Credits to our Poetic Resume as a result of our efforts. I do not know many writers who have 12 books published.

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Actually I can think of plenty of writers who have published more than twelve books. It may be unusual for living poets to be published in so many anthologies, but it's not much of an achievement when your publisher is indifferent to the most basic quality control.

Featured poet Jamie Bond says some rather odd things in her preface:

The average Author will publish maybe one book a year. The more productive writers, perhaps a few, and yet the average reader can read a typical novel in somewhere between 2 hours and 3 days. Statistics say, the average person will read about 6-7 books a year. Do the math for me because I already see a disconnection here...

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What disconnection? Avid readers, the people who keep the book trade going, read far more than 6-7 books a year. And unless they have very limited tastes they still struggle to keep up with new releases by their favourite writers, particularly if they're also busy reading older books by writers they've only just discovered.

This was the conversation that sparked 'just bill' and I to consider and thus to commit to publish a book a month for the entire year of 2014.

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What the heck?! You're comparing novels, which sell millions of copies every year, with poetry, for which only a tiny market exists.

This was never about who is the best or better than anyone else as far as their writing.

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Shouldn't that have been your first concern? This isn't NaNoWriMo - you're publishing a book.

This was to ensure that we exceeded the mundane statistics of being ordinary.

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Ye gods. The Dunning-Kruger Effect strikes again!

This is simply and intricately historic...Look at the elite pens on this roll call that have committed and dedicated their creativity to give you brand new ink, straight off the dome.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0615957854/?tag=absowrit-20

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I just hope the poets whose work appears in this anthology were happy to add it to their 'Poetic Resume'. With an Amazon rating of 7,617,478 I would guess that sales were limited to people the writers knew personally. Even if copies were sold at poetry-reading events I'm sure the individual poets could have done a more professional job themselves, particularly as self-publishing is the norm for poetry.

Helix said:

Obviously, the best of all possible worlds is one in which there are seven writers each producing one book a year.

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Yes, that should keep the publishing industry ticking over nicely.

I must confess to being intrigued by the Kosovo International Poetry Festival, of which Mr Peters was the Inaugural Poet Laureate and recipient of the first Golden Grape Award. From Mr Peters' Gofundme:

Thank You Brother Fahredin Shehu

I have been blessed to be selected as a delegate and given the opportunity to take part in the International Poetry Festival held in Kosovo, Serbia from September 15th until September 17th 2015.

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There is virtually nothing on the internet about the 2015 festival. A couple of links lead back to Peters himself and Fahredin Shehu.

I had the honor of showcasing my book, The Vine Keeper at the affair and it was such an humbling experience to be selected from a field of World Class Poets to do so.
https://www.gofundme.com/z367wk

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The only Golden Grape Awards of which I'm aware are those presented by the California Wine Society and UK retailer Majestic Wine. It seems like a remarkable coincidence that a book entitled The Vine Keeper would win a Golden Grape Award!

Well, it was a shame that the Festival fell $30,000 short of its target, but at least we know why the Golden Grape Award looks suspiciously like something you'd see hanging from a chain around the neck of a wine bottle.

Staying on the subject of The Vine Keeper, you may have noticed that Inner Child Press is not so much a publisher as a mutual admiration society (more shades of PublishAmerica). Even so, I was taken aback by the Foreward written by Peter C Rogers, proud holder of a DD and PhD from the 'University of Metaphysical Sciences':

In this wonderful, masterful anthology of deep introspections of poetry and prose, Bill serves as the true Keeper of the Vine with his meticulous choice of only the finest grapes of savory meaning and stirring inspiration. His words being the fruits of his mental labor and soul's yearnings, prompts us each to ponder the unfathomable aspects of being while imbibing his intoxicating literary prose which literary oozes from your lips as you read it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0615700640/?tag=absowrit-20

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There's an image I could have done without.

Inner Child Press - putting the vanity into vanity publishing!