A & M Publishing

Weirdmage · Mar 1, 2016

An author friend on Facebook just posted a link to these people, with a warning for aurhors to avoid.
Here's what you'll find under the COST TO THE AUTHOR tab:

A&M Services: $7,995.00

Book Trailer Production: $1,000 - $1,500, paid directly to producer (A&M will work with author to develop a script and edit).

Publicity: Paid directly to either 2Dream Productions and/or Ascot Media.

I didn't bother looking further...

under the moon · Mar 1, 2016

That's crazy. It's more than my entire deductible for my health care costs ! ! !

aliceshortcake · Mar 2, 2016

The company was founded by author Steve Alten:

The publishing industry has undergone major changes over the last twenty years. No one is more aware of that reality than author Steve Alten, who has endured the ups and downs of a rollercoaster career since his first novel, MEG was published by Bantam-Doubleday back in July of 1997. Eighteen years, fifteen novels, seven publishers, four NY Times best-sellers, four international best sellers, and three movie deals later, Steve shared a frustration felt by many authors who spend years writing a great book, only to see their work underachieve because of mediocre cover art and a lack of marketing. With MEG greenlit at Warner Bros. and studios and TV networks circling several of his other books, Steve put together a team that he felt could work together to put out the best product with the best cover art, backed by a marketingplan designed to help booksellers sell more books. At the same time, he wanted to create a venue where new authors could gain a foothold in the publishing world to achieve their own success. In August of 2015, A&M Publishing was born.
http://ampublishers.com/

I'll bet Mr Alten didn't gain a foothold in the publishing world by paying a vanity press almost $8000.

chopper · Mar 2, 2016

ironic that his book is about a large shark...

Dhewco · Mar 2, 2016

I'm always amazed that there are people with 8k to spend on their books. I don't have 20 bucks.

Weirdmage · Mar 2, 2016

Dhewco said:
I'm always amazed that there are people with 8k to spend on their books. I don't have 20 bucks.

That's $7,995.00 + publicity...

I once checked what the going professional rates for editing etc are, and after looking for a few minutes I found the link, you'll get a lot done for the money they are asking, and that is from dedicated professionals.

Maggie Maxwell · Mar 2, 2016

Chuck Wendig has written a blog post picking apart A&M's business plan.

Weirdmage · Mar 2, 2016

TAMaxwell said:
Chuck Wendig has written a blog post picking apart A&M's business plan.

You beat me to it.

Wendig does a very good breakdown. Interestingly the $7,995.00 doesn't include printing either.
Wendig uses an example from the website where you print 600 Hardcover books, pay for a book trailer, and one month of press releases for the price of $12,495.00.
If you then sell the 600 HCs, and 3,000 e-books you'll get "a small profit" (according to A & M). -Well you get $12,375.00 after A & M has taken their cut (yeah - they take a portion of the revenue,) according to my calculator. -Not sure I'd trust the accounting of someone who claims $-120.00 is a small profit...

My advice to authors when it comes to A & M is to put on some good running shoes.

JamesGaberel · Mar 2, 2016

How do these businesses stay afloat? I can barely afford the time to write, much less that kind of investment.

Maggie Maxwell · Mar 2, 2016

Oh, no no no, see, their author only sold 500 of the 600 HCs. They've still got 100 potential readers they can find to make their profit. Assuming the math is right, because those 500 books for $3400 would mean the author is selling those hardbacks for $6.80, they'd need to sell 18 more to break even, and the remaining 82 would give the lucky, wealthy fellow a grand profit of $557.

"Go with A&M, and you can sell 3500 copies of your book and still be in debt!" Good sales pitch.

Weirdmage · Mar 2, 2016

A & M's Steve Alten has replied on Wendig's blog post, at "March 2, 2016 at 1:08 PM".

Maggie Maxwell · Mar 2, 2016

And Chuck has responded to his response, tearing apart all the inaccuracies in the comment. This post would be an excellent link to share with anyone who's curious about or considering going with vanity publishers.

tiakall · Mar 2, 2016

I find it telling that Steve states he paid his *agent* (i.e., not a freelance editor) $6k to edit his novel.

Blind leading the blind? :/

Aggy B. · Mar 2, 2016

tiakall said:
I find it telling that Steve states he paid his *agent* (i.e., not a freelance editor) $6k to edit his novel.

Blind leading the blind? :/

Sounds like. I'll point out that folks who haven't researched literary agents at all, sometimes think of them in the same category as talent agents (who are generally paid fees upfront for their work). The first question my husband asked when I signed with my agent was "How much do you have to pay him?". He didn't believe me at first when I said that's not how good literary agents operate.

Filigree · Mar 2, 2016

Great work, folks. Wendig to the rescue. I'll be linking to that as part of Filigree's Rule.

The sad thing is, Alten will get plenty of customers.

Weirdmage · Mar 2, 2016

Victoria Strauss has written about them, so I guess anyone doing research about A & M should have the information they need.

RedWombat · Mar 2, 2016

Mr. Alten is doing himself no favors with his responses. Some elements are weirdly incoherent. I don't know anybody who dreams of a $12K mortgage...?

JasonWrites84 · Mar 2, 2016

I have to say I am quite appalled by Steve Alten's responses in the comments section. I really enjoyed his MEG series, so for him to be so defensive in starting up his own vanity press is quite startling to me. I feel like he is preying on people, maybe writing about sharks has begun to wear off on him. I don't see how this company will take off, but it just might due to his name being attached which makes me kind of ill to be honest, that a NY Times best seller would be luring inexperienced authors into his clutches...as well as debt.

aliceshortcake · Mar 3, 2016

I've just watched that dreadful book trailer for Sharkman. Two questions spring to mind:

Is it usual for book trailers to give away 90% of the plot?

Where did the footage come from? Because I can't help wondering if there might be a bit of copyright infringement going on.

Helix · Mar 3, 2016

It's like a Troy McClure educational video.

Weirdmage · Mar 3, 2016

aliceshortcake said:
I've just watched that dreadful book trailer for Sharkman. Two questions spring to mind:

Is it usual for book trailers to give away 90% of the plot?

Where did the footage come from? Because I can't help wondering if there might be a bit of copyright infringement going on.

Someone mentioned in the comments on Wendig's post that it was footage from a National Geographic documentary, and that you can find it if you search for "megalodon" on YouTube. (The comment is at "March 2, 2016 at 12:54 PM".) I haven't verified that myself. (Limited monthly GB allowance.)

CaoPaux · Jan 17, 2022

Site's still up, but I'm not finding any activity after '18.

(Not to be confused with A & M Publishing & Productions.)

A & M Publishing

Weirdmage

under the moon

aliceshortcake

Wilde about Oscar

chopper

Steven Poore

Dhewco

Weirdmage

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994

Weirdmage

JamesGaberel

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994

Weirdmage

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994

tiakall

lurk

Aggy B.

Not as sweet as you think

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing

Weirdmage

RedWombat

Runs With Scissors

JasonWrites84

aliceshortcake

Wilde about Oscar

Helix

socially distancing

Weirdmage

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

A & M Publishing

Wilde about Oscar

Steven Poore

Making Einstein cry since 1994

Making Einstein cry since 1994

Making Einstein cry since 1994

*lurk*

Not as sweet as you think

Mildly Disturbing

Runs With Scissors

Wilde about Oscar

socially distancing

Mostly Harmless

lurk