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Austin Macauley Publishers, Ltd. (formerly Austin & Macauley)

victoriastrauss

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Alice, I've never heard of A&M publishing any books without the author paying them a big fat cheque first. As far as I know they are ALL pay-to-play.

Same here. I've never seen any evidence that A&M is anything other than a vanity publisher.

- Victoria
 

Guinea

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Hi to you all. New here so bear with me.
I submitted to A & M and have received a response requesting the full MS (sub sent by email but they have asked for the full to be sent as hardcopy and on a disc - a first on a full for me). Have since sent them an email asking whether they are vanity or not. Will let you know their response (if any).
 

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Guinea, I've seen no evidence that they're anything other than a vanity press. If you want to pay to be published that's fine: go ahead and send your work into them. But if you want to be paid for your work, you're going to have to find another publisher.
 

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Have received a response from AM, stating they do traditional and partnership agreements so have dropped it. But good news Nosy Crow asked for a full today. Have heard good things about them even though they are rather new.
 

Scriba

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Full Manuscript Question...

Hi there, I'm new to this forum and joined to ask the experts here a question.

Although I've been a professional full time writer for many years, I'm new to the novel writing industry.

A publisher (British) has asked to see the full manuscript of one of my books but I'm not one hundred per cent sure I want to work with them.

My question is... if I send the full manuscript I still have the right to say NO don't I? I don't enter some unwritten agreement by sending them my entire book?

Thanx
 

Fallen

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Welcome to aw. :hi: Can I just ask, why would you send your partial to somebody you were unsure about? :)

And have you checked this publisher out in the Bewares, Background Checks and Recommendations forum on here? They do very good checks in there of publishers and agents. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this :)
 

Mr. Anonymous

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Scriba,

Yes, you have the right to say no. Sending a full manuscript does not in any way bind you to the publisher you're sending it to. And, by that same token, a very small number of the full manuscripts requested by a given publisher are actually offered publication.
 

Scriba

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Welcome to aw. :hi: Can I just ask, why would you send your partial to somebody you were unsure about? :)

And have you checked this publisher out in the Bewares, Background Checks and Recommendations forum on here? They do very good checks in there of publishers and agents. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this :)

Hi there - thanks for your reply,

Yes I have checked out that section of this forum which is actually what has made me wary in the first instance...

I'd rather send the manuscript and see what happens,than wonder 'what if?'. Just as long as I'm still in control - if that makes sense.

Thanx :)
 

Scriba

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Scriba,

Yes, you have the right to say no. Sending a full manuscript does not in any way bind you to the publisher you're sending it to. And, by that same token, a very small number of the full manuscripts requested by a given publisher are actually offered publication.

Hi, thank you.
 

Cyia

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As long as the agency/publisher is legit, and not one of those places that slips a clause into their terms that says submission is an automatic granting of rights, yadda, yadda, yadda... you should be okay.

However, if reading about this publisher here has made you wary of them, then why are you still considering them?
 

Scriba

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As long as the agency/publisher is legit, and not one of those places that slips a clause into their terms that says submission is an automatic granting of rights, yadda, yadda, yadda... you should be okay.

However, if reading about this publisher here has made you wary of them, then why are you still considering them?

I guess I want to know for certain.

Instead of always wondering.

People have opinions but I won't know for definite until I find out for myself.

The question is over whether they are a vanity publisher pretending to be otherwise...
 

Scriba

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Maybe I'm just being a desperate fool... I'm very confused about it all!
 

Bufty

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If other folk have already gone down that road and their combined experience is saying don't go there....That's why the Beware Forum exists.
 

san_remo_ave

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Absolutely. You can withdraw your submission at any point and for any reason that you want to. Up and until you sign a contract, of course.
 

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I'd rather send the manuscript and see what happens,than wonder 'what if?'. Just as long as I'm still in control - if that makes sense.

It sure does. ;)

Would you be open to disclosing the publisher? You don't have to, but there may be somone here who has dealt with them that may be able to help?
 

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They're a vanity press. Walk away.

Also, please bear in mind that some dodgy publishers, magazines, and competitions have clauses buried in their small print which mean that by just submitting your work to them you grant them rights to that work, no matter what. Which is why you should always check out agents, publishers and competitions before you submit to them, not after.
 

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Ah, yes, I've just had a look through the thread: <snipped>

Trust your instincts with this and also take Old Hack's advice. ;) And thank you for giving the name. It takes a lot, but the majority of us have been there. The best thing you did is ask first.
 
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Old Hack

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As I can't find the Novels room mods online at the moment I'm going to merge this with the existing A&M thread in BR&BC, so that everything stays nice and tidy. Give me two minutes.
 

Scriba

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Was so excited, telling everyone... feel embarrassed now. A right idiot!
 

Old Hack

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Scriba, you're not an idiot at all. Please don't feel that way. You weren't caught out by them in the end, were you? So be pleased with yourself. You did good.
 

MickRooney

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Hi there, I'm new to this forum and joined to ask the experts here a question.

Although I've been a professional full time writer for many years, I'm new to the novel writing industry.

A publisher (British) has asked to see the full manuscript of one of my books but I'm not one hundred per cent sure I want to work with them.

My question is... if I send the full manuscript I still have the right to say NO don't I? I don't enter some unwritten agreement by sending them my entire book?

Thanx

Hi Scriba,

You mentioned earlier that A&M had 'asked to see the full manuscript'. Did this request for the full MS come about because you submitted a partial? If so, then I would be interested to know what methods you used to seek out potential publishers for your work.

I ask because I think it is important for authors to know how they should look for a publisher and avoid the vanity trap or confusing companies offering publishing services with commercial publishing houses.

It's an area - as always - which has been complicated by the internet and authors not using it in conjunction with traditional resources like The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook, as well as author and publisher guilds and associations.
 

Scriba

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Hi Scriba,

You mentioned earlier that A&M had 'asked to see the full manuscript'. Did this request for the full MS come about because you submitted a partial? If so, then I would be interested to know what methods you used to seek out potential publishers for your work.

I ask because I think it is important for authors to know how they should look for a publisher and avoid the vanity trap or confusing companies offering publishing services with commercial publishing houses.

It's an area - as always - which has been complicated by the internet and authors not using it in conjunction with traditional resources like The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook, as well as author and publisher guilds and associations.

Hi there, I did send a submission and used the Artists and Writers Handbook to look for potential publishers and agents.

Any advice you have would be great.
 

victoriastrauss

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One thing to keep in mind is that, no matter how reputable the market guide, you can't assume that all the publishers or agents it includes are reputable. Some bad guys nearly always manage to slip in.

It's a good idea to do some extra research on any publisher or agency you find in a resource like Artists & Writers Handbook, to assure yourself that it really is reputable.

- Victoria