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

MickRooney

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I stumbled across this thread when researching a job advertised in my area (Cambridgeshire).

A publishing company called AMP is advertising for an Editorial Assistant in Ely. It seems pretty likely this is Austin Macauley and that the Ely office is still much more than a 'distribution centre' (as advised on their website).

The advert says:
'In addition to general administrative work, the post will involve speaking and writing to authors. There will also be considerable scope for reading and writing reports on authors’ manuscripts and learning the minutiae of publishing contracts.'

Needless to say, having read the comments on this forum I do not want to work for this company.

The advert is here: http://www.indeed.co.uk/m/viewjob?j...7c08ec3ecf6012dd26f3773156e870cace3277f6b99df

And you should not work for such a company. As with all forum threads on AW, it is worth looking thoroughly through the historical threads. There isn't much more spoken and reported on AM, Olympia and Pegasus. The MO for entrapping would-be employees looking for a publishing career and authors hasn't changed in more than 10 years. Avoid.
 

Gil-Gandel

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Thanks for this excellent thread - these people popped up in my Facebook feed and my suspicions were tingled more than somewhat, and thanks to the wonders of Google I soon found the information I was after.

Curiously, a minute or two later I was no longer able to post to that Facebook discussion. I wonder why? ;)
 

Treehouseman

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Sadly a member of a writing group I'm associated with has recently "signed a contract" with this lot. When it was pointed out that AM are vanity publishers and a very expensive variation of the partnership publisher model, he was incredibly defensive, citing AM as "one of the top publishing companies in the world" and that "You can't trust what the internet says."

Unfortunately the maxim: *A fool and his money are easily parted* applies here.

Yes, people did post a link to this thread to warn him. If we couldn't save him, at the very least anyone else in the group who might have considered AM as legitimate publisher will take a closer look.
 

Frankie007

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Sadly a member of a writing group I'm associated with has recently "signed a contract" with this lot. When it was pointed out that AM are vanity publishers and a very expensive variation of the partnership publisher model, he was incredibly defensive, citing AM as "one of the top publishing companies in the world" and that "You can't trust what the internet says."

Unfortunately the maxim: *A fool and his money are easily parted* applies here.

Yes, people did post a link to this thread to warn him. If we couldn't save him, at the very least anyone else in the group who might have considered AM as legitimate publisher will take a closer look.


let's just hope he doesn't come here and blame us for "not telling him" when he shells out loads of money to this company.
 

bookwriter22

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Very glad I found this thread before signing a contract they sent me last week! Thanks all! :) Will know not to waste my money!
 

Hublocker

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Austen Macauley Pulbishers? [merged with BR&BC thread]

This company's name just appeared on my Facebook page.

They say they accept submissions from unagented writers.

Is it a legitimate company?
 

CaoPaux

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In a word, no. Hold on a sec while I merge this with their thread in BR&BC ...

ETA: And, done. For future reference, this is the forum to ask about specific publishers, agents, etc. Be sure to check the Index for existing threads before starting a new one.
 
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Richard White

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And apparently Austen MacCauley has decided to align itself with the Write Agenda to take on Writer Beware and SFWA. I'll post the links when I get home this evening, unless someone can grab them from the Writer Beware twitter feed.
 

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austinmacauley.com/news/truth-behind-lies-%E2%80%93-sfwa Here's the blog post Richard mentioned , from AM. What a lot of nonsense.
 
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ctripp

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Wow, what load of crap! While I can believe they would be this low, I am shocked they would put it ON their own site! I feel so bad for Victoria, she does nothing but help so many new writers not fall prey to vanity presses, yet is always singled out by them with their smear campaigns!
 

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Looking at Austin Macauley's Blog page, not only have they been having a go at Victoria Strauss and Writer Beware as a whole, they've also done the same with Harry Bingham from Writer's Workshop for voicing his opinions and speaking the truth. Instead of AM running people down just for speaking their mind, why aren't they boasting about how many of their writer's books have been made into films, TV series', or even how much they have made back in royalties and merchandise? Not only that I've read their Facebook page and there are some very scathing and angry comments not just from writers who have paid exorbitant fees, but from people who have ordered books from AM and not received them.
 

mrsmig

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Looking at Austin Macauley's Blog page, not only have they been having a go at Victoria Strauss and Writer Beware as a whole, they've also done the same with Harry Bingham from Writer's Workshop for voicing his opinions and speaking the truth. Instead of AM running people down just for speaking their mind, why aren't they boasting about how many of their writer's books have been made into films, TV series', or even how much they have made back in royalties and merchandise? Not only that I've read their Facebook page and there are some very scathing and angry comments not just from writers who have paid exorbitant fees, but from people who have ordered books from AM and not received them.

Because the best defense is a spirited offense. Attack and deflect and point the finger elsewhere, instead of acknowledging your shortcomings and correcting your errors.
 

zmethos

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Looking at Austin Macauley's Blog page, not only have they been having a go at Victoria Strauss and Writer Beware as a whole, they've also done the same with Harry Bingham from Writer's Workshop for voicing his opinions and speaking the truth. Instead of AM running people down just for speaking their mind, why aren't they boasting about how many of their writer's books have been made into films, TV series', or even how much they have made back in royalties and merchandise? Not only that I've read their Facebook page and there are some very scathing and angry comments not just from writers who have paid exorbitant fees, but from people who have ordered books from AM and not received them.

They're lashing out at the people and sites who are threatening their gravy train of innocent authors. Should a newbie writer be looking around online and find all the warnings against AM... That cuts off their $ supply. So of course they need to discredit the very people who are urging their cash cows to go elsewhere.
 

Tony85

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Publisher reluctant to Communicate

I'm not sure if I have fallen prey to a Vanity Publisher or just a very bad publisher.
I selected a high profile publisher in central London, I have paid 3300 British Pounds towards publishing costs ( first lesson learned).
To begin with the process publishing the small childrens book progressed well, but for a number of months, its been virtually impossible to get a response from them.
What drafts have been sent back to me for checking have been full of errors in layout and style.
I have sent many e.mails and even phoned the Editor in Chief, but still cant get any commitment from them.
Its now approaching the anniversary of signing the contract for a very small book and I feel that I should attempt to get my money back and approach an alternative Publisher.
If I take this direction , I suspect I will be unsuccessful and searches on the internet about this Publisher suggests its not an uncommon issue
Is there a watchdog or association in UK that oversees the performance and behaviour of Publishers, or will I be forced to go legal.(more cost)
If its a common behaviour , they are making a lot of money out of unsuspecting " newbie" authors as they are very high profile and have recently expanded to USA.
Any Advice ?
 

mccardey

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I'm sorry to hear that. If you paid to be published, they likely are a vanity publisher - usually money flows to the writer.

Have you done a search for them in this thread? There might be specific advice if they're listed here.
 

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It sounds like you have fallen prey to a very bad vanity publisher. It's likely you won't get much joy out of them since they've already got your money.

You can search for your publisher by name here to see if there's already a thread detailing other AW members' experiences with them.

If they have breached the contract, you can take them to court, but it will cost money and may not be successful. If they are not in breach of contract, you probably have no recourse at all. Publisher-and-author contracts are seen as business agreements and there will not be any association that will police them or stop them from being predatory.
 

Helix

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I'm not sure if I have fallen prey to a Vanity Publisher or just a very bad publisher.
I selected a high profile publisher in central London, I have paid 3300 British Pounds towards publishing costs ( first lesson learned).
To begin with the process publishing the small childrens book progressed well, but for a number of months, its been virtually impossible to get a response from them.
What drafts have been sent back to me for checking have been full of errors in layout and style.
I have sent many e.mails and even phoned the Editor in Chief, but still cant get any commitment from them.
Its now approaching the anniversary of signing the contract for a very small book and I feel that I should attempt to get my money back and approach an alternative Publisher.
If I take this direction , I suspect I will be unsuccessful and searches on the internet about this Publisher suggests its not an uncommon issue
Is there a watchdog or association in UK that oversees the performance and behaviour of Publishers, or will I be forced to go legal.(more cost)
If its a common behaviour , they are making a lot of money out of unsuspecting " newbie" authors as they are very high profile and have recently expanded to USA.
Any Advice ?

Paying for publication = vanity publishing. No reputable trade publisher will ask you for money.
 

aliceshortcake

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I have a sneaking feeling that this publisher's address in central London is nothing more than a virtual office...
 

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I don't know about watchdog organizations in the UK but I think you should consult an attorney and see what they say. A consultation is not expensive and, here in the US anyway, often free. They will be able to explain your options in your specific situation. Sometimes a letter from an attorney or them getting the idea you're about to make a bunch of noise to the right people can make a shady business give a quick refund, ya never know. Good luck.
 
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aliceshortcake

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Tony85, if there isn't already a thread about your publisher would you mind telling us who they are?
 

Treehouseman

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Sounds like good old Aust1n Maca*uley. Up to their usual shenanigans!

Sorry I can't be of any more help. I tried to save a guy on a writer's forum from making the same mistake recently but was told about their CENTRAL LONDON LOCATION !!! (which I've been to by the way, it's a letterbox in a shyster part of town).