It's ME! Ink Press

I say we give these folks a break. They're a startup. Being a registered business entity does not necessarily mean that they're a corporate entity. Even if they plan to incorporate, this process isn't something they can do overnight.

Mari, I hope you and your husband are researching the business and learning what steps you need to take to make it a success.

Deirdre said:

Speaking of, I can't find said corporate name registered with the Secretary of State.

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It's ME! Ink Press is a DBA and is registered as such with the State of California, as if this is any of your business. We have no reason to incorporate, since we are not soliciting authors or acting as resellers, and there are no liability issues to consider. That is irrelevant though. If it'll help you sleep better tonight, consider my wife self-published. If you feel obligated to cast doubts about our credibility, consider it done. The reason my wife has been answering you casually is because she has too much class to argue with you over obvious personality conflicts.

By the way, you have brought this thread seriously off-topic. You don't have to like either of us, respect us, or even be civil to us, but you might want to consider that this thread is a discussion about Light Sword Publishing, and the only reason we're here is because of that, not to sell books, which is what you indicated you believe. If you people join these forums to sell books to each other, this is the first I've heard of it.

You would do this forum a decidedly large favor by restricting your personal feelings about either of us to private messages, and I, personally, am not responding publically to another of your posts that does not pertain directly to the subject of whether Light Sword Publishing is a viable option for anyone looking to have a book brought to market effectively.

Have a nice day, Deirdre.

Deirdre said:

DBAs are filed with the county, not the state. It's everyone's business who owns a company, btw, which is why these things are publicly searchable. I see no entries.

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If you scroll down to the bottom of the first page of Mari's website, you will see that our mailing address is in Thousand Oaks, CA which is in Ventura County.

The website is hosted in Emeryville, Ca, and they are the ones located in Alameda County.

I hope this clears things up for you.

Deirdre said:

DBAs are filed with the county, not the state. Corporations are registered with the state. A DBA would mean that, in a community property state like California, you both own the business, and therefore it really is self-publishing.

And, as I mentioned, since they are filed with the county, I looked it up based on the county listed in your domain (Los Angeles). It's everyone's business who owns a company, btw, which is why these things are publicly searchable. I see no entries.

ITS LEGAL 3655543 12/3/2003
ITS ME 0727747 3/26/2004
ITS MEGA STORE DOT COM 0429126 2/12/2003

These aren't difficult steps to take when starting a publisher.


To bring this back around to Light Sword, as I do most posts:

1) not registered as a corporation in California, though this doesn't exclude being registered in some other state like Nevada or Delaware;
2) their address for their domain is listed in Emeryville, CA, which is in Alameda county;
3) searching on the Alameda County site for fictitious business names also shows no records.

So they're not a corporation and didn't file a DBA, apparently. So they didn't do their legwork either.

If you're going with a small press of any kind, make sure they do these pieces of footwork. It shows the kind of attention to detail you'd like to have from a publisher.

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First of all, we are located in VENTURA county. Our location, as stated on my sidebar, is NORTH of Los Angeles. I am struggling not to have this become personal but you appear to be operating under the delusion some people do when they are online, that they actually are in possession of enough facts without asking first. Search Ventura County.

Secondly, if you are going to submit to a publishing company, you might want to make sure they are TAKING SUBMISSIONS first. As explained several times, It's ME! Ink Press does not.

A Vanity Publisher charges individuals, not themselves, for publishing their manuscripts. Once again, we are NOT TAKING SUBMISSIONS or publishng anyone's work other than our own. WE are SELF-PUBLISHING, but doing it as validly as any small Press.

Thirdly, I have one criteria that I assume you do not, I have actually been signed with Light Sword Publishing. You'll notice I said "I assume you do not." Like anyone who speaks freely without full possession of the facts, I could be wrong.

We believe in our work and are willing to put our money behind it. If we do that, we intend to retain full control of the product, which, like it or don't like it, speaks for itself. You don't like the way it looks? Don't buy it.

Mari

Mari Sloan said:

Our home address is in Westlake Village, but our It's ME! Ink Press address, (posted on the website) is in Thousand Oaks. The two cities are close enough together to be pretty much considered one municipality. Part of Westlake Village is in Ventura County, and we live in that part. Most of it is in LA County. However, since you found our DBA listing, none of it is important.

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I got lost out there once. Seriously.

I live on the cusp of two counties as well, so I know what you mean. Services-wise, it can be a nightmare.

I do wish you all the best with your press, though. And as I said in a previous post, do educate yourself as much as you can about how the business works. Even if you just plan to produce and distribute your own books, there's plenty to learn.

Splitting this off into its own thread.

I'd appreciate it if everyone would try to cool down a bit. It's possible to have this discussion without being so confrontational.

- Victoria

What's the point of discussing It's ME! at all since it is a private press and does not accept submissions from outside the ownership. Save it for when it becomes a commercial publisher of some kind opr other--or 'shudder' goes into business as a subsidy or vanity press.

Regardes,
Scott

I don't understand why people are getting upset over someone self-publishing. They don't seem to be soliciting writers or passing themselves off as agents. I don't get all the anger.

Popeyesays said:

What's the point of discussing It's ME! at all since it is a private press and does not accept submissions from outside the ownership. Save it for when it becomes a commercial publisher of some kind opr other--or 'shudder' goes into business as a subsidy or vanity press.

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In anticipation of which, I thought it would be nice to have a thread here--even if it's deep in the archives, people can still find it if there's ever reason to search.

- Victoria

I also don't understand the hostility. What is it that she has done wrong?

Deirdre said:

I'm not angry, but I was annoyed.

Mari, her husband, and a friend came into chat the other night and crowded out existing conversation with their incessant chatter. Mari denied being self-published, pointing out that her husband was the publisher.

I think everyone now agrees on that matter.

There's also the issue of literary standards. A lot of us do respect writing and the process of publishing, which is precisely why we have sites like "Bewares and Background Check."

They did mention intending to publish others, though, thus the issue of literary standards.

(This should really go in the related thread, but I'm answering it here because the question was raised here.)

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From the It's ME! Ink website:

It's ME! Ink does not solicit nor accept new authors,
and even if you are the next Stephen King or Danielle
Steele, we do not desire your manuscript.



This website has said these exact words since the day it was posted. As to the visit to the chatroom, that happened. I visited with a friend who is, how can I say this, overly extroverted, and I apologized for the rude disruption before I left. My husband also came into the room and I was kidding with him about his being "my publisher", similarly to the way I have teased about it in my profile.

At NO TIME during the chatroom experience did I deny that we are self-publishing and to my knowledge, the subject of publishing others never came up. I certainly did NOT say that we had plans to publish others. There is no possible way I COULD have ever stated that we would publish others. The above, posted on our public website, has been our statement FROM THE FIRST.

Perhaps NOT EVERYONE agrees with you, Deirdre. GET a reality check! We calll ourselves IT'S ME! INK PRESS. (It's US, Deirdre...just us.)

Mari Sloan said:

GET a reality check! We calll ourselves IT'S ME! INK PRESS. (It's US, Deirdre...just us.)

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I was very impressed when my wife suggested the name, since it's an obvious parody. It IS a joke, and the joke is on all the other micro-mini itty-bitty publishers LIKE ME, except that they pretend they're more than they are. When I state that I'm a publisher and my wife is my writer, with force and conviction, IT'S A JAB at the self-serving, vainglorious writers who decide that the way they're going to justify their credibility is by forming an LLC and soliciting other authors to make themselves look like a "traditional" publisher.

I urge anyone considering signing with Light Sword Publishing to investigate them with the same energy Deirdre has expended on me. If anyone wants my Social Security number or my mother's maiden name to do a proper background check on me, let me know. I don't actually have anything to hide.

My wife likes to tell me to "never say never" but I'm saying it anyway. You will NEVER see It's ME! Ink Press solicit an author unless it is prepared to give that author an advance of NO LESS than $5,000.00. (That pretty much guarantees it isn't going to happen, doesn't it?)

You read it here first. Quote me.

Victoria Rocks ...

victoriastrauss said:

In anticipation of which, I thought it would be nice to have a thread here--even if it's deep in the archives, people can still find it if there's ever reason to search.

- Victoria

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Nobody appreciates that more than me. Thank you.


ME!

.

Deirdre said:

There's also the issue of literary standards. A lot of us do respect writing and the process of publishing, which is precisely why we have sites like "Bewares and Background Check."

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I beg your pardon, Deirdre?

You make that sound pretty darn condescending. So only you and your little circle of friends "respect writing" and if someone questions your statements that means they don't?

I honestly have no desire to get into an argument with you. I don't know you and know nothing about you. On the other hand you don't know me either and know nothing about me. So making snide sounding remarks isn't called for.

I don't see her statement as being condescending. I think you are reading it the wrong way. I'm pretty sure she was referring to us writers when she talked about respecting writing, not just her friends.

Really, I think this conversation has its intensity way out of whack with its relevance. Its essentially a dummy company used to register an ISBN to facilitate self-publishing.

Heck, if I ever self-published, I can see creating an entity called Havlen's Hodown Publishing to put the book under. I don't think that would merit a thread.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing this thread locked for a few days to let this dead horse rest in peace, and then unlocked in case the thread ever became relevant again.

I take my hat off to any writer who self publishes. I've seen a lot of good works from self pubbed books. I'm not talking about iUniverse and their ilk (even though I've seen some great stuff there as well), but those who create micro presses to pub their own books. It takes guts to invest in an idea in the hopes that it will catch fire.

I've spoken at quite a few writers' conferences and talk to many self pubbed authors. While much of the work isn't publishable, there is an impressive amount of great work out there. These people invariably have a promo plan that has them selling copies here and there. Some are very savvy and have gotten in with a good independent distributor. Sure, most sales are extremely moderate, at best, but I've seen others that really kicked butt.

It makes little sense to do anything other than wish them the very best in their endeavors. For reasons known only to them, they're mavericks who want total control over their work.

So, here's to you, It'sMeInk. Best of everything to you. You may have a tough time selling because your retail price is too high, but maybe you're selling at the back of the room at seminars. Whatever the circumstances, hang in there.

Deirdre said:

I'm not angry, but I was annoyed.

Mari, her husband, and a friend came into chat the other night and crowded out existing conversation with their incessant chatter. Mari denied being self-published, pointing out that her husband was the publisher.

I think everyone now agrees on that matter.

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Wow, Deirdre, just...wow.

What was the chat that was so earth-shatteringly important that some people doing, you know, chatting, created a problem?

Your obvious anger is seething from the screen, and you're making people like me wonder if we should even bother cluttering up 'your' boards with our questions and observations.

And you are making those of us who are under-published very uncomfortable with your insistence that someone who operates differently from you is somehow disrespectful of the writing world. It smacks of elitism, and Lord knows we have enough of that to go around without adding more here.

These boards are supposed to be places where we go to learn from & support each other, not attack someone who is new or sneer at those who are different. If I want that I can get it elsewhere. But it doesn't belong here.

Havlen said:

Its essentially a dummy company used to register an ISBN to facilitate self-publishing.

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You are correct, although you don't actually need a company name to self-publish. I just wanted one. I think my silly publisher name looks REALLY COOL on the spine of the book.

I miscalculated. I ASSUMED that if I made the obvious parody reference, using myself, to Light Sword being nothing more than an incorporated self-publishing venture attempting to give itself credibility as a publisher by soliciting authors, by making myself the clown, that anyone would get it. I was wrong. I apologize to anyone who took my obtuse comedy way too seriously. Apparently, you people are far more sophisticated than me, and what I consider comedy is nothing more than tastelessness.

You may be asking yourself right now, or perhaps not, why I continue to state that in my opinion Light Sword Publishing is nothing more than an incorporated version of what I'm doing, populated by other authors to give the company's CEO credibility. If you care, check out this page from the Light Sword Publishing website:

http://www.lightswordpublishing.com/releases.html

There are sixteen books listed and three of them are written by CEO Linda Daly. Oh, you only see two? That's because L. D. Beck is Linda Daly's pseudonym.

I am now going to drink seventeen beers and smash my head against the wall until it bleeds.

Have a nice night, y'all.

.

Khazarkhum said:

Your obvious anger is seething from the screen, and you're making people like me wonder if we should even bother cluttering up 'your' boards with our questions and observations.

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Actually, the youngster has a short story in a Mike Resnick Anthology. Once upon a time, if it was me in that position, I'd think I was "all that and a bag of chips" so to speak.

I painted a target on my chest and I'm not going to whine about being fired on.

To be honest, although I wanted someone to react, I didn't quite expect quite so much venom. I'm still not sure why she squandered so much time researching me instead of going to either my wife's or my websites where we say everything about ourselves you could ever ask, but it ain't no thang.

I'm kinda sorry I've been shunted to the basement, but really, it's my own fault. Now people are going to have to search to find my opinions regarding Light Sword Publishing and my wife's experience with that company, but I suppose that ain't no thang either. If I grow a brain I might be able to figure out how to get back on the other thread without it being all about, pardon the expression, ME!

Have a nice night, y'all.

.

Have a beer for me!