Wise Ink Creative Publishing

Looks like they help indie authors target the market, launch, and publicize? Yet the couple of the titles I looked up on Amazon *do* list Wise Ink as their publisher, so I don't know. I recognize a couple of names on the team as legitimate, but I have to wonder. Do they accept all submissions or is there a selection process? (They encourage authors to "tell us about your book" so you can do a brainstorming session of some kind--is it a pitch then?) When they talk about "affordable" printing, though, it sounds like the author is paying. So . . .

They mention Ebooks, Off-set and PODs. Then talk about which would be right for them.
Ebooks and Off-set, obviously. Don't chain bookstores ban PODs from being stocked, or has that changed recently?

Their whole site seems dedicated to the Author as well, which isn't a good sign.
I googled one of their listed 'New Releases' as well (Harry Potter and the Art of Spying) it's on Amazon from 2014. Maybe they mean a reprint?

I had a quick look. They look like a company that sells writing and publishing services. Vanity publishing, basically. They'll take money for helping you write (including finding ghost writers), designing, printing, marketing...basically whatever you're willing to pay for.

Red flags galore on this one. I received an email at my bookstore announcing a new release from Wise Ink. Being unfamiliar with the publisher, I looked the book up. It came out in 2016. The email indicates that the book is available through Ingram; the listing on Ingram says "Not Available from Ingram". The email came from an address related to the author's own website, although it reads as though it was written and signed by a member of the publisher's staff. The email explains that they would be happy to send me a complimentary copy to review and to email the author if we want one. I'm guessing that this would be done at the author's expense.

I'm resisting the urge to reply to the author to let her know that her book isn't even available through Ingram and that her 'publisher' is likely misleading her. I've learned the hard way that it would probably not be well-received so instead I am venting about it here.

It just makes me so angry to see authors taken advantage of like this. Perhaps I'm missing something and the publisher is somehow selling tons of her books and this is just an error/oversight/glitch, but the Amazon rank, lack of availability, and the publisher's author-focused website indicate otherwise. Aaargh.