Vanilla Heart Publishing

Thanks!!

I wanted to let you all know that I'm really enjoying working with VHP! The nice thing about a small publisher who limits the number of books they put out is that you get a lot of personal attention. Kimberlee sent me her plans today for my event kits (for signings, etc), and it's really cool! I can't wait! I can also talk with her or my editor just about any time I need to. It's wonderful!

twnkltoz,
are the other authors satisfied with the royalties they get? You have me interested in this publisher, however two of my interest is the legit of the royalties and the price of the books the customers have to pay to get them.

I haven't discussed royalties with their other authors. However, I can assure you that the royalties are very good.

I believe that my YA book, which I think will end up between 175-200 pages, will be priced at $9.95.

Thanks twnkltoz

Although I am late to this thread, I wanted to add that I just recently started a relationship with Vanilla Heart Publishing and am very pleased. The professionalism that Kimberlee has used on these threads is indicative of the professionalism she uses with her authors. she has helped to guide me every step of the way and has been very responsive whenever I have had a question or concern. I especially appreciate how Kimberlee makes each author feel like a star instead of just "part of a stable of writers".

I have worked with other editors in both the fiction and non-fiction world (newspapers, magazines and books) and Kimberlee is truly one of the nicest.

Chelle Cordero
author of Bartlett's Rule
www.myspace.com/rikki613

Kudos!

I too am posting late to this thread. My life is incredibly hectic. Anyways, I'm on board with VHP and very happy. I have three books of a series of five slotted this year. VHP hopes I'll get the fourth done in time for a holiday release, but due to some unforseen events in my personal life, this may not happen. However, it is OK with everyone involved if books 4 and 5 end up being released in 2009.

I love my editor! She's my best pal. I have the plans for another series and I'll work with another editor but that's exciting for me.

VHP has allowed me to have alot of "say" in this process. One of my own paintings will be featured as background for all five books in this series. We have many discusions/ brainstorms on marketing, promoting, and all sorts of creative stuff. It's fun to be so involved and also to be able to count on them as a sounding board to ideas.

I would highly recommed authors to take a look at VHP and watch them over the next couple years.

BTW they have a new website. www.vanillaheartbooksandauthors.com Please visit.

Birol said:

I think it's important to note that a lot of the publishers that aren't recommended aren't scams. They're not out to feed on people's dreams or take advantage of them. That's not what they set out to do. Some do, yes, but not all. For many of these small publishers, owning and operating a publishing company, putting out quality literature, is their dream. And, when the experts who provide information and feedback to writers pick through their contract and business policies and explain why they're not qualified or a bad idea or not proven, they feel preyed upon, too, and wonder: Who are those people to feed on my dream? Who do they think they are? Why can't they crawl back under the rock they came from?

Yet, just as the ability to string together a coherent sentence doesn't make one an author, having a dream, being a sincere and honest individual, isn't enough to run a publishing company. People like Victoria and Jim know this and point it out. This does not mean Victoria, Jim, et. al., are bad people any more than it means that the individuals running some of these start-up publishers are bad people. It just means the publishing companies are not a good idea for writers. Nothing more, nothing less.


(NOTE: Although this is appearing in the Vanilla Heart Publishing thread, I am not specifically commenting on them. This is a general statement based on my own observations.)

Click to expand...

This is one of the very few posts on this blog that has a balanced approach to evaluating the merits of publishers.

Far too many writers do not have the experience or knowledge to enter into a contract with a publisher. Most of them, I presume, do not get the advice of an attorney who does have the experience and knowledge to interpret and explain to a novice author what the implications of specific caveats in a contract actually mean to them in real life.

Small press publishers are the backbone of the publishing industry. Many do not ascribe to the same standards as the big publishing houses, but this does not mean that they are somehow invalid in their efforts to publish well written literature.

I suspect that many of the problems that are discussed on this blog stem from inexperienced authors expecting and thinking that they have hit the big time when a small press publisher picks them up. Each small press constructs their contracts based on their experiences. Some contracts may appear to be onerous, but may in fact be legitimately crafted to meet the legal needs of the publisher and not detrimental to an author. Then there are a handful of scoundrels who actually prey on writers. Not as many as one would think, but enough to become fodder for this blog.

Self appointed experts who exacerbate an already confused situation, and who manipulate naivete for their own enrichment are equally as loathesome as predatory publishers.

First, this isn't a blog.

Second, most writers starting out need the so-called "self-appointed experts." They are the literary equivalent of sempai's, teaching the younger, less experienced writers what to do and how to be.

Third, I just don't like labeling all publishers that are bad ideas for writers as scams. For me, a scam implies a certain criminal intent. Whereas a publisher that is a bad idea for writers is just a publisher that is a bad idea for writers. The distinction between "bad idea" and "scam" is just a pet peeve of mine.

I like the name - except that it's left me wanting an ice cream!

Birol said:

The distinction between "bad idea" and "scam" is just a pet peeve of mine.

Click to expand...

Mine too. There are many more bad ideas out there than there are scams, and I really deplore the abandon with which many people toss around the "s" word.

That said, the difference for writers between "bad idea" and "scam" is usually very small. And the small press world is chock-full of bad ideas. Debunking them is as important, in my opinion, as exposing actual scams.

exculp said:

I suspect that many of the problems that are discussed on this blog stem from inexperienced authors expecting and thinking that they have hit the big time when a small press publisher picks them up. Each small press constructs their contracts based on their experiences. Some contracts may appear to be onerous, but may in fact be legitimately crafted to meet the legal needs of the publisher and not detrimental to an author.

Click to expand...

I've seen a tremendous number of small press contracts. While some are reasonable, many have been cobbled together by people without legal or publishing experience, and contain pointless and onerous clauses that are extremely detrimental to the author (especially if the publisher abruptly goes out of business, as is all too common in the small press world). Taking copyright on a temporary basis, claiming copyright to editing done by the publisher, claiming the right to publish all sequels or successor works, claiming the right to create derivative works without compensating the author, imposing ten-year grants of rights, imposing option clauses that require the author to give the publisher first refusal on multiple books, paying royalties on net profit--all these author-unfriendly provisions and many more are frequent features of small press contracts. And small presses are often far less willing than larger publishers to do any kind of negotiating.

I do agree that many of the problems that are discussed here arise from writers' lack of experience, and also, often, from their unwillingness to tarnish the glow of acceptance with careful research. But that only makes forums like this one more important, as they are often the only place where writers can find discussion of these kinds of issues.

- Victoria

What it comes down to is that all writers need to do a bit of research before signing the dotted line.

I was new to the industry and was taken for a lovely ride by Sedgeband Literary Associates. I wasn't very experienced with the internet at the time for the appropriate research. I lost money and confidence. I also found out that my agent never sent my manuscripts to publishers.

Luckily I got out of my contract and publishers worked with me - writer who was no longer represented by an agent - to review my work.

I found out about Vanilla Heart from a friend who was editing for them. I did my research, didn't find any red flags, and when a contract was offered I allowed several legal eagles and experienced literary folks to view it to make sure it was on the up and up. I talked to other VHP authors as well.

I asked a ton of questions. And I mean a ton! The fact that VHP was quick to response to my paranoia was amazing. I've been able to sit back and watch not only myself grow as a writer but see VHP grow as a publisher.

VHP authors are encouraged to comunicate and support each other. We are not simply a number but real, sometimes emotional writers. It's wonderful.

I love how we have sites like Absolute Writer and Writer Beware to keep on top of things. We are all writers and should help each other. We should continue sharing our knowledge and experience with each other.

If authors would only do some valuable research, they would see that this publisher, while being very nice and all, has zero distribution. I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- it's good to feel all fuzzy about your editor, but will that love and hugs get your books on stores shelves and into buyers arms?

Okay, my first book with Vanilla Heart Publishing has just been released. Bartlett's Rule is available online through the publisher's bookstore, and several reputable online stores including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. While Kimberlee was unable to tell me of any specific stores that will actually carry my book on their in-store shelves, she has assured me that she has contacted several retailers about this - and she sent a small list (regionally significant to me) of stores she has contacted.

In addition, I went into a local Barnes and Noble I was informed by the clerk that I could order the book into the store for pick-up and since they had "several in stock" it might only talke a day or two. when I asked if the book would be carried on the shelf, I was told, honestly, that if enough people came in asking about it, they would certainly consider it.

While it would certainly be ideal if my book were sitting in every bookstore's window, it takes publicity and image to get there. No bookstore can actually carry every book out there. The writer's job is not complete when the manuscript is accepted; the "big" names have agents and publicists doing the publicity work for them, the less-known writers have to accept more of the responsibility themselves (or find someone to pay a fee to). My first book, Courage of the Heart (Xlibris 2001) was not publicized at all by the publisher (BEFORE they were 100% self-publishing) and I didn't know much about the field; the book sold very few copies.

Kimberlee Williams and Vanilla Heart Publishing have worked with me to help promote my book. I believe that this is a partnership and I am willing to do my part to make this book (and my next one due in July "Forgotten") a success.

And yes, I did alot of valuable research, I asked a lot of questions, I reviewed the contract with legal counsel and I am so far quite pleased.

If authors would only do some valuable research, they would see that this publisher, while being very nice and all, has zero distribution. I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- it's good to feel all fuzzy about your editor, but will that love and hugs get your books on stores shelves and into buyers arms?

I'll go even further than this since I have direct experience, stats and figures to back it up.

Most of the small press publishers I know of don't have any bookstore presence whatsoever, along with the claim that they are "earnestly seeking these inroads and expect to have them sometime in the future." They're talking about distribution, here.

The common denominator that I see from almost every POD outfit out there, in some form or another, is a business model that is identical, and reflected in the comments below:

Vanilla Heart Publishing FAQs:
The third way an author can make money with their book is by purchasing the book directly from the publisher without a royalty for the discounted author's price set in your contract, and then selling that book at a higher price yourself on your own website or at special events.

Vanilla Heart Publishing FAQs:
Vanilla Heart Publishing will create a marketing and media kit that we send to you once your title is sent to the printer to help you begin the pre-sell and marketing phase of your book. We expect all of our authors to do as much marketing and promotion of their books as possible. Most of the promotional efforts we recommend cost nothing but your time and a few cost a few dollars only.

Vanilla Heart Publishing FAQs:
We do sometimes have special event agreements in which we can provide you a limited number of copies of your book in advance against sales of the book at the event if financial constraints prevent you from promoting your book properly at a special event, but these are limited and dependent upon our current marketing budget and determined on a case by case basis

I'm not saying that VHP is a scam. Not at all. But here is something for you to consider: if you take away author self-purchases and books bought for author-arranged book signings and events, this publisher HAS NO MEANS TO SUPPORT itself.

Want to talk about clubs, writing forums, display sites, self-promotion and online sales?

I belong to five major writing groups totaling over 200,000 members. My books are in the sigs and profiles of all of them. I "talk them up" frequently.

I belong to 22 of the largest display sites on the WWW, and have listed excerpts, cover photos, online sales links, synopsis samples and other information in every one of them. I've tried to participate and keep them "bumped up" whenever I've had free time.

I have a website and Myspace, loaded with promotion.

I have listed and linked my book titles all over he'lls half acre, especially whenever I visit another writing/reading related forum.

I sent out 1,500 personalized (not spam) individual letters to the largest daily newspaper, slick magazines and book review sites in the world, offering review copies of my latest works (these letter were addressed directly to the book reviewers by name). I received over 60 requests for my books, with enthusiastic responses to review it. This campaign took me four months and over 400 hours to complete. In all (because my publisher lied about sending out these review books--they ducked the expense because they couldn't afford it), three copies (in total) were received by the reviewers (after nine months), and this was AFTER I got dozens of follow-up requests from the editors and reviewers, wondering what the hell happened.

After one year and two titles out there, I have sold 14 copies through the internet, most of them through this AW site. My publisher sold zero copies. To any source. But hey, they listed 22 boostores on their site that they stated were "our partners", when in reality, those stores had books that the authors had placed there on consignment.

I was besieged with publisher articles in my inbox on how I should get my ass out there and flog my books on the street, speak at conventions, visit libraries and bookstores, attend conferences and shows. They sent me five pages of PDFs for book marks, business cards, posters, flyers, press releases and all other manner of self-promotion flotsam. And did I say that I was required to supply a big fat list of friends, family/relatives for the initial sales push? Oh, yes, that too.

Insult to injury: My publisher has just gone belly-up without warning, dragging 35 authors and 75 books down with it.

I'm still, to this day, owed royalties on 14 books that I will never see.

Reality slap: POD (with no distribution) means that you can expect total sales in the double digits. If you hit triple digit sales, that means you spent more money and time than I did on self-promotion. You can rightfully claim that you spent no money upfront with this publisher. Yet, when you tally your expenses and time AFTER you've promoted, and at the end of your book's life, you will have paid to be published on the backend, baby. Just as surely as if you had taken the cash out of your pocket and plopped it down.

This is not a rant or sour grapes. Because I've heard this tale from gaggles of other POD authors, those included in the e-book industry as well. So I'm not exclusive to this type of scenario. Ask Victoria, ask Ann, ask Lauri, ask Jim. You're going to get the same message that I'm giving you here. Only...I have been to the great Myan temple of sacrifice and lived to tell the tale. They've only seen the devastation.

Clearly, be mucho prepared for what is in store for you. Frankly, I wish you all the luck in the world. You'll need more giddyup than the energizer bunny, and a fistfull of dollars to pull this one off.

Peace,

Tri--red-shifting (and very embarassed for what he had to confess)

At this point I believe in VHP however I understand the skepticism of other writers - I feel as if I got suckered into the Xlibris deal as well so I am wary about the field.

If no one minds, I will periodically update this post with progress (& glitches if any) and that way we can all see if VHP lives up to promises. I think the best way we can all see how a relatively young, small press publisher performs is by actual experience with it and I am willing to share with all so we can all get a fair look at VHP.

So you'll be hearing from me now and then. Okay?

Normal updates on all my writings can be found at http://chellecordero.blogspot.com/

triceretops said:

Reality slap: POD (with no distribution) means that you can expect total sales in the double digits. If you hit triple digit sales, that means you spent more money and time than I did on self-promotion. You can rightfully claim that you spent no money upfront with this publisher. Yet, when you tally your expenses and time AFTER you've promoted, and at the end of your book's life, you will have paid to be published on the backend, baby. Just as surely as if you had taken the cash out of your pocket and plopped it down.

Click to expand...

I have to echo Tri's comments. Without a distributor your book will be extremely handicapped in the audience you can reach and your sales will probably be dismal, to say the least. It's fine for a POD publisher to ask for the author to get involved with the promotion and sales and it'd be silly NOT to, but to put the majority of sales onto the author's shoulders, well...

been there, done that. And, as Tri can attest to, you may have the best of intentions but without the support of your publisher and a distributor to get it into bookstores you might as well have gone to Lulu.com.

*hugs Tri*

hope your experience with VHP is different... but I fear that no matter how the song is played on different instruments, it's still the same old tune.

I'm just curious here: what are your expectations? How many copies of your book do you expect to sell?

JD

update

First, in answer to your question JanDarby, I fully expect to reach at least 3 figure sales (according to my publisher I am being conservative by saying at least) and hope for much more.

To date (my book is only available since mid April), sales of Bartlett's Rule have more than doubled what Courage of the Heart sold in a 2-year period; NONE of those were sales by me, they were all via the internet and publisher's website. VHP sent me 10 author copies to use as gifts or what-not, I am entitled to a generous discount if I purchase more copies (which "copies may be sold...given away, or given as gifts...") but I am not required to do so.

VHP did send me a .pdf of the wholesale/retail sales sheet which they mailed out to various distributors and retail outlets; I have also passed out a handful to local retailers in my community. VHP also sent out press releases (which I was able to confirm were distributed) and provided me with copy so I could direct them to local media outlets; as a result I was the subject of a really nice local feature in a weekly paper and was also mentioned nicely in a local blog via my daily newspaper.

On April 13 and 26, VHP hosted an online launch party for Bartlett's Rule and even gave out prizes to some of the participants. I understand that several of the books sold through their site were sold during these launches (and many more people than just family and friends participated due to the combined promotional advertising between VHP and myself). VHP also offered a terrific donation to a pet-charity of mine with every book sold thru the web-site during that promotion- that brought in a lot of interest and was funded entirely by VHP.

VHP is working on setting up a signing event for me nearby (I will not disclose details until it is set, but I have been told of the location and date). If I set up any local signings, VHP will "loan" me books to bring with me where I pay only for those sold and return the rest. VHP is also in process of sending me business cards (NOT .pdf files, the actual cards) and postcards/bookmarks (same, NOT .pdf)

I have self-promoted the book on my MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/rikki613), my online portfolio(http://www.geocities.com/bylines333/res_chelle.html), and my blogspot (http://chellecordero.blogspot.com/) - as well as Linked-in, Inked-in and Ziggs. VHP has also set up a full author's page on their site (http://www.vanillaheartbooksandauthors.com/Chelle_Cordero.html)

Again, I am submitting all of this info so that we can all see how VHP measures up. I hope this helps answer some questions. Until the next update...

Best,
Chelle

Thank you for the information. It sounds like you have very specific expectations, making later review possible, and I wish you all the best.

JD

a week later - Bartlett's Rule

First of all, hope that y'all have had a wonderful week and a terrific Mom's Day...

VHP sent me a listing of a few dozen independent booksellers in the region (some close, some a few hours away) that have received catalogues that included my book. Today VHP sent me a list of 10 fairly local booksellers they have sent intro packages to about my book and me (they sent me copies of what was sent out); I was told that in the next day to two I will receive up to a dozen more names that have received these intro pkgs. I was asked to please follow-up in a week to try and arrange in-person appearance/signing events.

My first reader review posted on Amazon.com; I re-posted this review on my Author blog http://chellecordero.blogspot.com/ and referenced it on AW, MySpace, Facebook and Inked-In. I also received the postcards/bookmarks, business cards and magnets from VHP and have begun to hand them out.

This week AidsWalk NY will receive a donation from VHP made in their name AND mine from sales of my books during the launch; they are also donating baskets of books to the event which include my novel and 4 other current titles (royalties are still paid on the donated books). Not only will these books get into readers hands, but this is a terrific press release opportunity.

Other stuff going on include some contest entries, etc. btw, booksellers NOT in my region are also receiving contacts from VHP even tho I am not going to try to establish contact with those dealers. Soon we will also begin pre-production on my next novel, Forgotten.

til the next time.

OK, I guess it's time I report my experiences with VHP, since this thread started because of me! I terminated my contract with them a couple of months ago for the following reasons:

1. Their unprofessional editor. My original editor stopped working with them and I was assigned a new one (actually, Kimberlee asked me if I wanted her to assign a new one. I'm not sure why she asked me that, because you have to have an editor and since my previous one was gone, what other choice was there?). The new one did no developmental editing, despite the fact that the book needed it, sent me a separate email with every little thing she wanted changed or had a question about (with no page numbers or anything to tell me where to find these things). I'm not kidding--I received 5 separate emails before I politely suggested she make comments in the document and send them to me all at once. I also answered all of her questions about horse terminology, etc., in the same email. She responded very rudely that I need to address her questions (? I did) and not tell her to make comments in the document. She then suggested that maybe Kimberlee (owner of VHP) needs to explain the publisher-editor-relationship to me. She was unwilling to take into account my knowledge of the audience for this type of book, and I felt her suggestions were going to severely diminish it. I told her I was willing to be flexible, but I needed to discuss these things she wanted me to change and she was unwilling to do so.

I know that sounds like a pissy author disagreeing with an editor, but that was only the beginning...

2. At that point, Kimberlee herself sent me a very rude and condescending email telling me I needed to cooperate with her editor and "Is that a problem for you?" When I explained what my problem was, she went on to lambaste me for wanting to defend certain aspects of the book and threatened to pull it if I couldn't make up my mind to cooperate. I responded to her, and the next day she sent me another nasty email saying that she was moving my book to later in the summer and maybe I'd decide it's better to respond to her emails and get published later rather than not at all--pretty much in those terms. She was indicating she didn't get my response to her, but that would be the first time she'd ever not gotten an email from me, which seemed a bit suspicious to me. In fact, most emails I sent her she'd respond to almost right away, or within hours. Even on evenings and weekends.

3. She never delivered a signed contract to me. In fact, she promised to send me a number of things--promotional stuff for the book, etc., and never did. I read during one of their online book launch parties that the author hadn't received her box of books yet and should have and Kimberlee was trying to track them down through UPS...I heard from another author that she had the same experience, which makes me start to wonder if the problem is not at UPS. Oh, during the same party, Kimberlee locked herself out of the house. During the party. That she was hosting.

4. While the plans laid out by Kimberlee in her earlier posts on this thread sounded like she was making good decisions, she is not following those plans. She said she would only publish 12 titles per year, but she already has that many out and it's only May. She's also allowing far more than one book every six months per author. [Edited: I misread about Chelle having five books under contract. In addition to Chelle's five,] one author has four coming out this year and another has three. Sorry Chelle, but I'm concerned about being able to properly promote that many books so close together. It's really not normal to see so many books from one author come out in one year. It looks like she's trying to fund the company through sheer volume.

5. Her press releases say that a "professional produced trailer is available..." First of all, why would a supposedly professional publisher need to say that her trailers are professionally produced? Secondly, they are not impressive (or professional, for that matter). The writing is hard to read on a lot of them, she uses the same music in several trailers, and one has a full minute of just black screen and music. In another, the book's title is spelled two different ways. The image of the book cover says "Front-word, Back-word, Inside-out," but the description says "Insight-out." The image of the cover on the website says "Insight-out," too. Which is it? Does she know, and will she print the right one when the time comes? Also, her plot descriptions on Amazon, press releases, etc. leave a lot to be desired. Half of them I can't figure out what the book is about or why I should spend time and money reading it.

6. The quality of the cover designs is declining (sorry, authors, but I think they could be better).

7. The photos she uses for trailers and covers are stock photos, but I'm not seeing credit for them...at least not on the trailers. I'd be concerned about her getting in trouble for copyright infringement.

I guess that's about it. It's too bad, because I believed in VHP at one time. However, she is making some poor business decisions, and it seems like it's all light and roses until you disagree with something she's doing.

Warning signs.

1--Sheer volume. (This comes about when the publisher realizes that authors are more than willing to buy bulk quantities of their own books and schedule multiple book signings)

2--Sub-standard editing. No content or developmental editing is common place. (My editor was a teenage high-school graduate, who worked for CREDIT only--no pay. The first 300 pages contained 145 glaring typos and mispellings that I, unfortunately, missed)

3--Temper and threats. (I was indeed threatened for asking very simple and routine questions)

4--Failure of delivery. (I have emails attesting to 16 different excuses used for the failure of books to reach their intended audience, which included Amazon, review sources, the authors, and private purchases. Strangely enough, the U.S Postal Service was blamed for lost copies and non-delivery. It was never the publisher's fault.

5--Royalty rolloever. (If you don't sell a certain amount of copies or ceiling dollar amount in your quarter or semi-annual royalty period, you are told that you will see the adjusted payment in the next royalty cycle)

6--Publication schedule bumped. (My last book was bumped five months ahead, just before the publisher closed its doors)

7--Author promotion. A constant barrage of email articles describing how you should promote your book, and if you don't, you just might not see print again or your contract will be terminated for lack of sales.

8--Bad formatting. If you see misaligned chapter headings, breaks, wraparound text, ragged right-hand margins, missing photos or pages, the chances are this was a straight PDF dump directly to the printer, with no regard to proper formatting or text structure.

9--Excessive illness in the company, deaths, car crashes, etc. This is common when a publisher has fallen on hard times, is besieged with inquiries from angry authors, is in debt to the printer, or is just about ready to shut down. It's a empathy ploy, designed to misdirect unfavorable criticism.

10--Lack of reviews. It usually means no arcs or even hardcopy books were sent out to trade sources, or even to mediocre review sites.

11--Author copies. Generally anthing below five copies to the author is a warning signal. It's enough for a few immediate family members, but not enough to make the rounds to all your friends or relatives. Hence, you're inclined to put in a self-purchase order.

I could go on and on. If you begin to see these trends/tactics pile up, be afraid -- be very afraid. These are the worst parts of the POD business model that are apt to rear their ugly heads. Print on demand, in all its glory, is a boon to the industry in many ways. The downside of the equation is devastating for the average author, who fully expects the opportunities and advantages that are normally found with commercial publishers that have distribution and a bookstore footprint.

Six months from now, take stock of where you're at with this publisher. Give it one year to see the overall outcome, and decide at that time if you ever want to repeat this type of scenario. Experience is the greatest teacher in this case.


Tri

So... there website has been down for two days now.

They discontinued the old site and have www.vanillaheartbooksandauthors.com instead.