After reading so many negative comments about Big Bend Productions and Marfa House I decided to do my own research. What I discovered is that the company is owned by a teacher who works with children that have special needs. The proceeds go towards helping the children. For you to be bashing such a company tells a lot about the kind of person you are. Why should anyone believe anything you say?
That's all well and good but many businesses (and that's what we're looking at: a business) begin with great intentions but fail after a short time. The person who runs this company obviously has no experience running a publisher and if they don't, they really shouldn't be in the first place. As mentioned on other threads, it's not an entry-level job; it takes years of specialized experience to run a publishing company and while the owner may have experience running other businesses (not sure), that doesn't necessarily translate well if they don't have unique skills.
And an effective publisher certainly
does not offer the many of the marketing services shown on their site as "prizes" for levels of sales; many of them should be available to an author once a contract has been signed (some smaller e-pubs do offer hard copy after X number of sales, but that's spelled out in the contracts, usually after a higher number of e-book sales that prove to the publisher can afford the risk and cost involved). And if an author desperately wants a t-shirt to wear to conventions or around town to advertise their book, there are definitely easier, better options out there for them to get one sooner than having to wait until they've sold X number of books. Yeah, they'll have to fork over $25 or $30 to get one but a free t-shirt should really be a "prize" option offered by a radio station or something shot from a cannon at tomorrow night's baseball game during Fan Appreciation Night. (And book trailers are their own separate controversy, another rant for another day.)
Call me a cynical bastard if you want; this probably isn't the time for me to be composing an answer to this particular thread, anyway (tl;dr: bad mood, feeling emotionally and physically cruddy, bad weekend, in general) but I also feel like holding up the owner's credentials as a person who works with special needs children and the proceeds of this venture going to helping them is a shitty thing to do. It's a guilt card I honestly
do not respond to well (former Catholic, so don't talk to me about guilt). You're expecting us to back down and apologize because of this person's background? Sorry. Ain't gonna work, in my case. If you wanted us to rethink our responses, there's an easy way of doing it: show us the experience this person has running a publisher. Any experience. Have they worked as an editor (copy? line? acquisition?) for a reputable publisher for an extended period of time and can it be verified? Or how about explaining how they're going to handle the issue of people going unpaid for their time and work? I'm sure that would ease the minds of a few who've responded to this thread already.
Whatever the case may be, we've also done the research and this company does not look to be one I'd trust with my manuscript. I haven't been involved in the publishing business for very long, compared to others who've responded, but I've learned enough to know what I'd be getting myself into if I'd signed a contract with them. And I'd rather not deal with the outcome.