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[Publisher] Snowbooks, Ltd.

mirandashell

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Wow. I'm another one who dodged a bullet. They looked pretty good when I submitted.

Have they been reported to P&E?
 

aquinas01

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Point taken Old Hack, but does that apply to all so-called 'self-publishing' companies, or just FeedARead?
 

Thedrellum

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Point taken Old Hack, but does that apply to all so-called 'self-publishing' companies, or just FeedARead?

Pretty much. The general rule is that if you are paying to be published and the publishing company is taking a cut of the profits and/or using your money to subsidize production, then it's vanity publishing.

Self-publishing would be going through a printing company (like Lightning Source, I believe) and paying for everything yourself--on-line, this would mean getting your own cover, hiring your own editor/copy editor, and putting your work on all the available sites (Amazon, Smashwords, etc.), among other things. Everything is on your shoulders.
 

aquinas01

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Thanks, Thedrellum. It was just something I was thinking of doing if all else failed. I'd like to see my novel in print, after all, which I suppose is indeed rather vain, albeit harmless enough.

It's a pity about Snowbooks, though. I thought they were on to something good, until I read some of the more recent comments on this thread...
 

Re-modernist

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Тhe steps to making a decision are well known:

1. Are the covers better than the average self-published such?
2. Is the editing better than the average self-published such? (free samples should suffice to see that)
3. Do the already published books in the potential author's genre hold good sales ranks on Amazon?
4. Do the already published books in the potential author's genre have a lot of positive and authentic-sounding reviews?
5. Is the contract fair?
6. Are there any complaints online by authors who feel they have been treated unfairly?

Points 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 will take about half an hour of research to check out, while 5 probably needs actual email communication; the cumulative result should point to a yea or nay answer.

Unless all that matters is having one's book published by a 'real' indie publisher--a valid enough psychological state--in which case only the contract matters, and the possible unfair play.

An additional point--which may or may not matter--is the publisher a one-person operation or not? Sometimes one-person operations suddenly collapse when personal emergency strikes, and everything else stops being important, including you the author and your book. A larger organization can have members struck by individual emergencies yet still function. On the other hand many great agents are one-person operations, so this one is more an issue to be decided by intuition. If the one-person operation has been around, without major scandal, even with some success stories, for a number of years, could be OK. Unless the person in question is by now 90.
 
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Jo Zebedee

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Thanks for that - and all that is being done, of course. But that's where Bewares and Recs is so good as an additional source of info - because if someone has had dealings with the publisher they can give information over and above what I (or my writing friend) can research - (and do for any publisher I deal with).
 
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Re-modernist

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There's some unhappy feedback on the previous page of this thread; maybe attempt contact on friend's behalf with the posters:)
 

waylander

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I wasn't at FantasyCon but I believe Snow Books launched some titles there so they appear to be back on the rails.
 

waylander

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I got a rejection from them yesterday for a novel subbed at the beginning of August last year.
 

Richard White

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No.

Legit publishing companies do NOT charge a nominal fee for anything. Legitimate publishing pays you.

Reading fees, submission fees, "partnership publishing", etc. -- none of these are things legitimate publishers do.

If it violates Yog's Law, it violates Yog's Law and should be avoided.

IF the publisher isn't making money off of their readers, they shouldn't be publishing.
 

Gravity

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Once you've heard the truth, everything else is ju
Many legit publishing companies do now.

Names, please.

- - - Updated - - -

No.

Legit publishing companies do NOT charge a nominal fee for anything. Legitimate publishing pays you.

Reading fees, submission fees, "partnership publishing", etc. -- none of these are things legitimate publishers do.

If it violates Yog's Law, it violates Yog's Law and should be avoided.

IF the publisher isn't making money off of their readers, they shouldn't be publishing.

Yep.
 

waylander

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There is no question over their legitimacy. They distribute into Waterstones, the only major chain of bookstores in the UK, and I have bought their books. If the nominal fee puts you off subbing then that is your business. It did not deter me.
 

CaoPaux

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For those who haven't clicked through, the fee (£2) is for their using Submittable, which they justify thusly: "This is in part to avoid having to upgrade to an expensive license for the submissions platform we use, but also to require you to jump a small hurdle to submit your work."

The money goes to Submittable, not the client, but it's still down to the writer's tolerance for subsidizing operational expenses.
 

Dawn Douglas

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I've submitted to many publishers using Submittable and there's usually a small fee, the equivalent of 3 US dollars.
 

Filigree

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I've used Submittable several times and never paid a fee.

I guess it depends on my perception of the publisher involved, if I want to pay their entry fees. It's not that different from figuring in the cost of snail mail entries. *However* I will say this: publications and agents who require paper copy entries are now way down on my list from those who allow email or digital form entry.

A closer analogy might be art contests. I'll happily pay their entry fees as long as those aren't too high, and the contest is reputable with worthwhile prizes. But when fees go too high, I back away until they can prove good reasons for the hike.

I have no horse in this particular race, since I'm unlikely to write anything Snowbooks might want.
 
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PeteMC

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I realise two quid is neither here nor there, but I've never had to pay to use Submittable either.
 

Thedrellum

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Some publishers factor the cost of Submittable into their business expenses, and so don't charge. One SFF magazine only accepts a certain number of submissions a month in order to keep the Submittable fee something they can afford.
 

PeteMC

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Oh okay - I think I'd be a bit wary of a publisher who couldn't afford a business expense that small, in all honesty. I know it adds up if they're getting thousands of subs, but still...
 

veinglory

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It does suggest a certain mindset about the cost of doing business. There are a small number of publishers who do they same but they are usually not commercial presses, more along the lines of non-profit or charity literary endeavors with a large submitter base and slim-to-nil funds and staff.