• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

Sands Press

UnbearableLight

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 25, 2015
Messages
75
Reaction score
3
Didn't see this one in CaoPaux's index and a search failed to turn up a thread, so... Does anyone know anything about Sands Press? They are participating in today's pitch 2 pub twitter event.

http://www.sandspress.com/

The front page shows books, so they are at least facing readers more than writers, and they have a webstore. Their covers look amateurish and I'm put off by the $500.00 web dev service they're selling through the store. I haven't checked the books' Amazon rankings.

The website doesn't list who's on staff, but I have my suspicions based on the catalog. I might have missed it, though.

"Sands Press strives to provide full publishing to all of our clients, however we reserve the right to discuss co-publishing as an option for certain projects."

That looks like a red flag. There's no further discussion of co-publishing anywhere else, nor any mention of advances/royalty fees structures that I can see.

e: The site may be unsecure/have malware -- browse with caution.
 
Last edited:

petrepan

Registered
Joined
Oct 7, 2011
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
I second this question. Anyone have any experience with them? I know they're brand new, and that can be a good sign or a not-good sign.
 

tiakall

*lurk*
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 10, 2015
Messages
230
Reaction score
11
Location
Georgia, USA
Symantec warns that there's something unsafe on the website being blocked (looks like the site is trying to download an .exe to my system), so I wouldn't click on that link if you don't have a good firewall, FYI.
 

UnbearableLight

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 25, 2015
Messages
75
Reaction score
3
Oh! Weird! I didn't get anything through Chrome with up to date MSE. I'll edit the OP.
 

aliceshortcake

Wilde about Oscar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2010
Messages
1,633
Reaction score
258
Location
Oop North
This is an odd one.

Sands Press has the same Ontario address as Sands Medical, which as the name suggests is a medical supplies provider:

http://www.sands.ca/

The Sands Press website was registered by Kevin Davidson. From his LinkedIn profile:

Marketing, Relations & Regulatory Affairs

Sands Canada

February 2010 – Present (6 years 1 month)
Email, print and other media advertising. Maintaining the Sands web site while offering methods for manufacturers and other industry related companies to advertise on our site.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevindavidson2009
 

authorMAF

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Messages
495
Reaction score
53
Location
Canada
Website
authormaf.com
Has anyone published with them?

http://www.sandspress.com/

They liked my #Pit2Pub pitch, but I'd really like some feedback on authors who have worked with this press :)


p.s. I checked through (and did a search) for this press, but I couldn't find anything on absolutewrite.com - really hoping I didn't miss it or something!)
 

Kerosene

Your Pixie Queen
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 29, 2012
Messages
5,762
Reaction score
1,045
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
<link snipped>

Just earlier today. A mod will soon merge threads.

Use the Google custom search bar at the bottom of the page for searches. it came up on top.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Kerosene

Your Pixie Queen
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 29, 2012
Messages
5,762
Reaction score
1,045
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
Some observations from poking around:

Most of the books on their shop aren't published by them. You can find them all on Amazon and they are listed under different presses (some you can find info on, some not), and only two of what I've seen are published by them. Sometimes the other press or "self-published" is listed on their site, sometimes not.

Makes me think this is a press put together by an author or two because they believe they can pull it off (probably Dennis Stein and/or Perry Prete as most of their books, both self-pubbed and through a press, are up). Which is worrying. Wouldn't know as their "About us" says nothing about people.

The reviews that are up are either doctored as they were copy+pasted from other sites and altered and given five stars regardless of prior review rating or just seem fabricated (and, of course, as this is a private site and thus fully controlled this is entirely possible).

Like I said, seems like a press put up because an author or two thought, "Well, I(we) can self-publish, why not publish other people?"

Pass.
 

Peaceshaman

Registered
Joined
Feb 3, 2016
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
First time posting on AW!

I've been considering submitting to Sands Press for the past couple months, but I've been hoping to find out more about them first.

I've actually read a couple of the books written by authors attached to them. From what I gather the books are self-published and the writing quality is not terribly good, but I am a pretty critical reader.

It seems to be that Perry Prete has started Sands Press after having several of his own books being published (I'm not sure if they were self-published or not) and I suspect that Willsauger is correct about a few self-published authors setting up Sands Press as a way of publishing their own work and then publishing the work of other writers in order to make some extra money.

Now, with that being said, it seems like they're looking for books to publish traditionally (not a vanity press), but I'm suspicious since at least some of the authors they work with don't seem to have a track record of being published with a traditional publisher.
 

UnbearableLight

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 25, 2015
Messages
75
Reaction score
3
The co-publishing issue and probable lack of actual distribution makes me think we can't call this trad publishing.
 

FluffBunny

Disapproving plot bun disapproves.
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 1, 2010
Messages
696
Reaction score
95
Location
Third burrow on your left. Your other left.
Hmmmm...the website's registered to a Kevin Davidson who lists his current employment as "Sands Canada" and "Kevin Davidson. (sic) Hosting, Design & SEO Services". He lists his position with Sands as "Marketing, Relations & Regulatory Affairs". Aside from the use of an ampersand and the lack of an Oxford comma, I find the statement, "Maintaining the Sands web site while offering methods for manufacturers and other industry related companies to advertise on our site" a little...odd. Does he simply mean that he's their web designer and that they support their website by allowing third-party ads or what?

No apparent experience with publishing as his LinkedIn profile lists his university major as "Radio".

As for Perry Prete, LinkedIn has the skinny on "Sands Canada" not to be confused with Sands Press. Sands Canada "designs and manufactures a complete line of EMS deployment bags and now, travel luggage" according to the info given for Mr. Prete. His work experience is as a paramedic, self-employed president of Sands Canada since 1987, author since 2013, and, as of 2015, President of Sands Press.

I'm not seeing any publishing or editing experience, but I could be missing something.

ETA: I'm always a tad leery of publishers that are so shy of naming their staff. If I pop over to Tor, say, and have a look at their "About" page, everyone's listed from the associate publisher down to (this isn't meant in a slighting manner) the publicity and marketing manager. Here? Mr. Prete's name is mentioned here and there, Mr. Davidson has written one of the site's blog entries. Two other people have written blog entries, but whether they're authors of the house, employees or random strangers, there's no way of knowing. Why so shy?
 
Last edited:

Deb Kinnard

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
2,382
Reaction score
311
Location
Casa Chaos
Website
www.debkinnard.com
My crit partner published her debut book with a Sands Publishing out of California in 2001, but it doesn't sound as though these are the same parties. If any detail is wanted, PM me and I'll try to answer.
 

Ladybell5

Registered
Joined
Sep 6, 2017
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Anyone Heard of Sands Press??

Hello All,

Sands Press participated in #Pitdark on Twitter and liked my tweet -- I would like to get more information on this establishment if anyone has had experience with them.

Thanks in advance!!
 

Ladybell5

Registered
Joined
Sep 6, 2017
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Thanks very much -- I read through this thread and it's a bit alarming -- I think I'll pass!!!!
 

Sephrenia14

Registered
Joined
Feb 25, 2017
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Hi folks,

I'm an author with this press and thought I'd share a bit of info.

They are a small publishing house based in Canada that follows a traditional publishing model. Authors accepted pay no fee whatsoever. The royalty deal is about standard, however I had a pretty negative experience with them which led me to submit elsewhere. In short, the author is given little control over the cover or how the book is promoted (this is important), the editor was terrible and while you will make some money from the royalties, I wouldn't work with them again. They do however market your book which is more than some indie presses do.

I wont go into detail to avoid getting a rep as an author bad to work with, but if you wish to know details, pm me.
 

Tabra

Registered
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I'm also an author with this press. While they do have a trad model, they also have a vanity press imprint. Or at least I was offered one to publish further work with them. I have also had a negative experience with them and wouldn't recommend them. Considering their back list consists of 26 books and hasn't changed the in last couple of years, that says quite a bit.
 

Barbara R.

Old Hand in the Biz
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 4, 2009
Messages
1,963
Reaction score
242
Location
New York
Website
www.barbararogan.com
The staff of the publishing house seems to have no publishing experience, judging from the lack of credentials. The president of the company (a paramedic) and possibly some of the other staffers have published their own work through the press. The submissions page invites anyone who wants to submit an entire ms., not a query package, synopsis or sample. That's nuts, unless what they're really about is selling services but not being upfront about it. I wouldn't go near this company.
 

Tabra

Registered
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
They also require exclusivity for any future work, so they get first refusal on everything and 90% of any digital rights if the authors sells them for movie, TV, etc.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,883
Reaction score
7,171
Location
Virginia
They also require exclusivity for any future work, so they get first refusal on everything and 90% of any digital rights if the authors sells them for movie, TV, etc.

Sorry, but that's just wrong. I can see asking for first refusal on connected works (say, if they've published a book with series potential), but for any future work? Nah.

I also don't understand how they can ask for 90% of digital rights (which generally refers to e-books) if one of their books is optioned for film. Digital rights and film rights are two separate things. Presumably their contract calls for them to have both print and digital rights because that's standard in the industry. Some will also take audio rights IF they produce audio books, or are planning to do so in the future.

I think these people just don't know what they're doing, so they're trying to grab any and all rights. A small trade publisher without the staff or experience to pitch books to film/TV companies has no business trying to obtain those rights. It's another big red flag for an outfit that's already peppered with them.
 

Sonya Heaney

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 16, 2019
Messages
565
Reaction score
85
Location
Canberra
Sorry, but that's just wrong. I can see asking for first refusal on connected works (say, if they've published a book with series potential), but for any future work? Nah.

Yes, that. My contracts have the "connected work" clause, but I wouldn't expect anything else. Grabbing the rights to the rest of my work? No way. The idea of that scares me.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,883
Reaction score
7,171
Location
Virginia
My former publisher had right of first refusal on books in or connected with my fantasy series - but suppose I had also written...oh, I dunno, a chemistry book? Why would I want a genre publisher to have first grab at that?
 

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
19,525
Reaction score
22,757
Location
Aotearoa
Sorry, but that's just wrong. I can see asking for first refusal on connected works (say, if they've published a book with series potential), but for any future work? Nah.

I also don't understand how they can ask for 90% of digital rights (which generally refers to e-books) if one of their books is optioned for film. Digital rights and film rights are two separate things. Presumably their contract calls for them to have both print and digital rights because that's standard in the industry. Some will also take audio rights IF they produce audio books, or are planning to do so in the future.

I think these people just don't know what they're doing, so they're trying to grab any and all rights. A small trade publisher without the staff or experience to pitch books to film/TV companies has no business trying to obtain those rights. It's another big red flag for an outfit that's already peppered with them.

I've seen contracts like that. It's not that they don't know what they're doing: they know exactly what they're doing, and they're counting on authors being too naive (or desperate) to question it. The odds of them ever activating such a film clause is minimal, but if something goes viral they want to make sure they can cash in on it, and they also want to make sure they've locked their authors in so that the authors can't go elsewhere with any future work -- which means authors even if they wise up can't change their contract conditions, so they're stuck with that publisher for life.
 
Last edited:

Tabra

Registered
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I would give them a hard pass.
 
Last edited:

Shayna.Grissom

Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2018
Messages
1
Reaction score
1
Hard pass.

I published several books with them and each time there were serious issues. I asked for the rights back and they refused.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mrsmig