[Publisher] Koehler Books (John Koehler)

They get the bare minimum of points for having a homepage geared toward readers and complete staff bios. Also nice to see a diverse company for a change. After these high points things quickly go downhill.

The staff has experience in journalism and advertising, but the closest they come to book publishing is the Cafe Con Leche publisher who also runs Savvy Literary Service.

The website is functional, but far from user friendly. The prices are all over the place. 7.99 for a three year old ebook. 1.99 for a 2014 release. 1.99 for a 2016 #1 Amazon Bestseller. This shows a lack of knowledge about pricing trends. No one really messes around with the 1.99 price point. Readers buy free, 99cents or jump to 2.99. Also the #1 Amazon Bestseller badge is tacky and meaningless. It doesn't belong on the cover.

Those faults are mild compared to what's going on at their imprint Cafe Con Leche. In addition to being a literary agent, the publisher also offers author services. Evaluation, strategy, roadmap and coaching begin at $699 for 30 days. Editorial proofread and review starts at $499 for the first 50k words. A deluxe editing package will set you back $2399 for the first 50k words. Back cover copy is $599.

This is where my brain hamster immediately fell off his wheel and ran into next week. There are inception-level conflicts of interests going on here. Steer clear.