Pen & Publish / Open Books Press / Brick Mantel Books

Is this a POD publisher? I'm looking into this press for a friend and Mr. Macdonald has given me some ideas, but I'd like to know if anyone here has had any experience with them? And for the more discerning among us, how does this company seem to you? My friend isn't looking to make a lot of money, but she does want as many copies out there as possible. It's her memoir.

Brick Mantel Books

I stumbled upon this small publisher--Brick Mantel Books: http://brickmantelbooks.com/ Their list is pretty heavy on protags with mental illness, which is what I tend to write. I can't find a thread here but they seem legit. Even ask for a marketing plan (!). Has anyone had experience with them? Thanks!

Asking authors for marketing plan is common with many small presses, but it's not always a mark of professionalism. It can often show the press is incapable or unwilling to do proper marketing, themselves. What are they doing, to earn commissions on book sales?

I tend to run away from the publishers asking for marketing plans, actually. I agree authors should HELP with the promotion, but it should never be up to us to do most of it. Main promotion should come from the publisher, or are they also going to pay you as a PR or community manager? We make the product and we also have to sell it? May as well go with self-publishing then and keep most of the profits.

Usually when they are talking about an author platform, it means they want you to market the book or to do most of it with your following.

CristinaRoswell said:

I tend to run away from the publishers asking for marketing plans, actually. I agree authors should HELP with the promotion, but it should never be up to us to do most of it. Main promotion should come from the publisher, or are they also going to pay you as a PR or community manager? We make the product and we also have to sell it? May as well go with self-publishing then and keep most of the profits.

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Thanks all! I did a little more digging and found the following:

We require our authors to be involved in promotion. Having an established platform (a website and in-person/social media contacts) is a great start. We want to give authors every chance to prove their ability to reach their audience. We are open to out-of-the-box marketing to help little- or unknown authors with promotion, allowing us the flexibility to publish authors with quality work we believe in.

As well, it Brick Mantel is an imprint of Pen and Publish, which has been around awhile. More investigation required.