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[Publisher] Familius, LLC

dobiwon

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Does anyone have any information or experience with Familius Publishing. From their website, I can't tell if they are a POD publisher or not. I checked out some of the authors of their children's books, and some have no other books, while others have published numerous books, dating back to before Familius was established. I can't tell if the owners have any publishing experience.

Any information would be welcome. Thanks
 

dobiwon

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They have on their website the following statement of what they expect from authors:

Your Commitment to Familius:

  • Authors will seek to understand the Familius mission and provide content that aligns with its vision.
  • Authors will engage with our editorial and design teams to refine the manuscript and prepare the book for print.
  • Authors will be professional, courteous, and helpful team players as they work with Familius to make the best book possible.
  • Authors will fully participate in marketing and promoting the book after publication.
  • Authors will join with us in our mission to help families be happy by actively looking for opportunities to talk about their message and their book.

The first 3 seem reasonable enough, but I wonder about the wording in the last two. Does anyone have an opinion?
 

Kayley

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They have on their website the following statement of what they expect from authors:

Your Commitment to Familius:

  • Authors will seek to understand the Familius mission and provide content that aligns with its vision.
  • Authors will engage with our editorial and design teams to refine the manuscript and prepare the book for print.
  • Authors will be professional, courteous, and helpful team players as they work with Familius to make the best book possible.
  • Authors will fully participate in marketing and promoting the book after publication.
  • Authors will join with us in our mission to help families be happy by actively looking for opportunities to talk about their message and their book.

The first 3 seem reasonable enough, but I wonder about the wording in the last two. Does anyone have an opinion?

The last two seem weird to me. I also think it's weird that they request that all authors include a market analysis, which I believe are typically reserved for non-fiction books.

At the same time, I don't necessarily think they're red flags. There is nothing else on the site to worry me, so I'm willing to excuse those elements as quirks. I don't really get the whole "books helping a family be happy" thing, but I understand that it's part of their branding and they might have some strange wording on their website to support that brand.

On a positive note, I'm impressed with their covers, and I'm someone who's incredibly picky about covers. Their website is oriented toward readers, which is good.

Regarding sales: none of their books seem to stand out sales-wise. It doesn't seem like a place to go to become a bestseller. A few of their authors seem to have established a decent reach, though, so it just depends on your goals.

Per Helix' post, the owner used to be CEO of publisher Gibb Smith, so he has some publishing experience.

You asked if they are a POD publisher. I don't think they're a POD publisher in the sense that you pay them to print your book; my understanding is that you will never be charged by them for anything at any time, which is how it should be. However, as a digital-first publisher, they may utilize POD systems to get their printed books created.

They look decent as a publisher to me. I may consider querying them with one of my MG novels in the future. If you reach out to them, please report back about your experiences. It will be difficult to get a more accurate judgment without interfacing with the company directly.
 

C Alberts

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They have real distribution to bookstores (http://www.familius.com/booksellers) with very reasonable terms. I can't speak for all areas of the country, but I am familiar with one of the regional distributors they use and there are real, human sales reps who visit even small indie shops. Their midwest distributor also represents Houghton Mifflin, for example (along with Workman, Abrams, and many other quality publishers). Familius also participates on Edelweiss - another venue to reach booksellers. I haven't seen their books in person so I can't speak to the quality or confirm if they are POD. I would guess they do print runs but I could be wrong. Bottom line: For authors who are serious about getting their books into stores, this company seems on point.

So those last two bullet points don't look like red flags to me, not the way they might for a publisher with no distribution where the author has to do all their own marketing/promo/etc.

They actually look similar to Gibbs Smith in style/content but more overtly wholesome, on first glance.

The closest thing to a red flag is that they seem to have reviews for some of their books from Midwest Book Review and Kirkus, both of which do pay-for-review. I don't see any from PW or LJ. It can take some time for newer publishers to get reviews in those publications but I would think they've got enough of a track record by now to do so. (ETA: I didn't do a thorough search on this, so some of their books could be in PW or LJ, I just didn't come across any)

Don't know if any of that helps, but that's my quick review from a bookseller's perspective.
 
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