• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

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

aliceshortcake

Wilde about Oscar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2010
Messages
1,633
Reaction score
258
Location
Oop North
If we are indeed talking about Austin Macauley, since December last year their address has been Cgc 33-01, 25 Canada Square, London E14 5LQ.

Aha! I emailed the Canary Wharf Group, the owners of 25 Canada Square, who said of AM:

They are not a direct tenant with us, but from that address it looks likely that they are possibly a sub-tenant of Regus, the service office provider.

I have contacted Regus to ask if AM's office space is real or virtual.

It might be worth Tony85's while to get in touch with Cambridgeshire County Council's consumer protection department via the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline, since AM's director Mohammed Bu-Malek lives in Cambridge.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/c...if-you-need-more-help-about-a-consumer-issue/
 
Last edited:

LittleKiwi

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 26, 2012
Messages
137
Reaction score
5
Location
England, for now.
Regus probably won't tell you whether they are an in-house client or virtual client, the whole point of their virtual product is to give the appearance that the client is onsite. Even if you turn up they'll tell you the client is too busy to come out or they're on a training day or something...

From a previous Regus employee...
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
This definitely is a vanity publisher, and is probably AM, as others have said.

I doubt you'll get your money back. I'm so sorry.
 

aliceshortcake

Wilde about Oscar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2010
Messages
1,633
Reaction score
258
Location
Oop North
No reply from Regus yet, but AM's address on the 33rd floor has to be a virtual office - they're sharing it with Elan Financial Group, Paper Rocket Ltd, Clayborne Enterprises Limited and Arrow Coated Products UK Ltd (and possibly more).
 
Last edited:

LittleKiwi

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 26, 2012
Messages
137
Reaction score
5
Location
England, for now.
No reply from Regus yet, but AM's address on the 33rd floor has to be a virtual office - they're sharing it with Elan Financial Group, Paper Rocket Ltd, Clayborne Enterprises Limited and Arrow Coated Products UK Ltd (and possibly more).

Not necessarily... Regus will rent out the leftover storage cupboard-sized space as an office for dirt cheap if they need to, and I believe that location has co-working desks. Not worth speculating.
 

EMaree

a demon for tea
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 7, 2009
Messages
4,655
Reaction score
839
Location
Scotland
Website
www.emmamaree.com
In the UK, there is no real recourse that I know of for writers who are scammed in this way. Most potential routes of action cost more money than it's worth, and it sounds like a situation where the contract (agreeing to pay the money, etc) will work in the publisher's favour rather than yours.

I'm sorry.
 
Last edited:

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
13,952
Reaction score
1,746
Location
Coastal Desert
Until communicated otherwise, will assume subject is Austen Macauley: merged into existing thread.
 

Fallen

Stood at the coalface
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Messages
5,500
Reaction score
1,957
Website
www.jacklpyke.com

Truth Behind the Lies, by Austin Macauley Publishers:

"Writer Beware investigates the potential pitfalls to our hybrid company: Here. We give our version Here. Authors, please read both posts before signing anything with us."


Just to, y'know, cut out all the bullshit in their original article...

 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
Oh dear lord.

I just skimmed through the A&M post. I was at first tempted to do a line-by-line here, to show how untrue much of what it says is, but if I tried I'd be here until Christmas.

They're talking nonsense.
 

Selkiegirl

Registered
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
29
Reaction score
0
Apparently, Austin Macauley is offering a 'traditional' publishing contract worth £10,000 to the lucky winner who writes the best story. Meaning: the writer doesn't have to pay to be published, of course, it wouldn't surprise me if people make the mistake in thinking they'll receive £10,000 in prize money, unfortunately, those writers will be disappointed to see that isn't the case. In my opinion, this smacks of desperation from AM after the recent negative publicity they have been getting.
 
Last edited:

ctripp

Christine Tripp
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
493
Reaction score
30
Location
Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Website
www.christinetripp.com
And the contest is a slick move on AM part. Just think of all the thousands of submissions that they will get that won't be the winner, but hey, as a runner up we will offer you a partnership publishing agreement, cause your work was just so good, all 2,999 of you:(
 

jzeleznik

Registered
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
I don't post often here, but yesterday I got home from work and there was an "air mailed" envelope for me. My wife and mother were in the kitchen when I opened it, asking what it was. It was a contract from AM. For a moment, I was excited, but skeptical. I have a lawyer cousin, so I was going to have them look it over, but I didn't need to. Under the "Advances" section was a clause stating I needed to give them 2700 pounds. I had sent the query before I researched and they sent me the contract. I'm obviously not doing anything with it. Total vanity press.
 

AHunter3

Author-Curmudgeon
Registered
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
375
Reaction score
31
Location
New York City [Manhattan], NY, USA
Website
www.genderkitten.com
I just got one.

---

Dear Austin Macauley folk:

Thank you for your offer. Is there a limited timeframe in which it remains active, or may I avail myself of it at any future point if I decide to do so? I'm inclined at this point to continue seeking a publisher who is more willing to take a risk on my manuscript without requesting that I make a financial contribution of the sort that you've described.

I have, of course, done some research about your publishing company. I see that you are described as a "vanity press". I am by no means horrified by that: many many people have been advising me to consider self-publishing, and it would appear that Austin Macauley does have distribution channels at least. I anticipate that any venture into self-publishing woudl involve me doing all of the publicity effort, so the oft-repeated statement by authors hither and yon that Austin Macauley does not expend much money or effort on publicity would not seem to leave me in a worse position than any other implementation of self-publishing.

The remaining area of curiosity I'd like to inquire about is the extent to which the literature world (reviewers in particular, and independent bookstores and libraries and whatnot as well) tend to consider a book published by Austin Macauley as a genuinely "published" book, eligible for reviews and likely to be considered for acquisitional orders. Self-published books in general are not, or face a steep hurdle in that respect.

-----------------

(not sent). There's more to it, of course; other posts on this thread attest to long waits by authors who have paid AM to have their book "published". And let's not ignore the sleaziness of the attempt to mislead.

But purely as a conversational gambit, if they weren't doing slimy things of the misrepresentational variety and had a track record for actually cranking out paperbacks and doing good edits (at least decent-quality copy-editing), how different would a vanity press of this ilk be from what is otherwise called "self-publishing"? Do they, in fact, have the distribution channels (Ingram, B&N, etc) and would anyone review or place orders for these to a greater or lesser degree than they would consider doing so for a "self-published" book in any other incarnation?
 

EMaree

a demon for tea
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 7, 2009
Messages
4,655
Reaction score
839
Location
Scotland
Website
www.emmamaree.com
I just got one.

---

Dear Austin Macauley folk:

Thank you for your offer. Is there a limited timeframe in which it remains active, or may I avail myself of it at any future point if I decide to do so? I'm inclined at this point to continue seeking a publisher who is more willing to take a risk on my manuscript without requesting that I make a financial contribution of the sort that you've described.

I have, of course, done some research about your publishing company. I see that you are described as a "vanity press". I am by no means horrified by that: many many people have been advising me to consider self-publishing, and it would appear that Austin Macauley does have distribution channels at least. I anticipate that any venture into self-publishing woudl involve me doing all of the publicity effort, so the oft-repeated statement by authors hither and yon that Austin Macauley does not expend much money or effort on publicity would not seem to leave me in a worse position than any other implementation of self-publishing.

The remaining area of curiosity I'd like to inquire about is the extent to which the literature world (reviewers in particular, and independent bookstores and libraries and whatnot as well) tend to consider a book published by Austin Macauley as a genuinely "published" book, eligible for reviews and likely to be considered for acquisitional orders. Self-published books in general are not, or face a steep hurdle in that respect.

-----------------

This seems like a waste of your time and energy, and it's just going to get your signed up to whatever junk mail they want to send out.

If you're not interested, a simple no is fine. I think you're trying to politely say 'no' here, but what you're actually saying is 'please fill my inbox with promo junk to convince me'.

But purely as a conversational gambit, if they weren't doing slimy things of the misrepresentational variety and had a track record for actually cranking out paperbacks and doing good edits (at least decent-quality copy-editing), how different would a vanity press of this ilk be from what is otherwise called "self-publishing"? Do they, in fact, have the distribution channels (Ingram, B&N, etc) and would anyone review or place orders for these to a greater or lesser degree than they would consider doing so for a "self-published" book in any other incarnation?

There is no conversational gambit to be had. Austin Macauley have proven, time and time again, that they only want to rip off authors for as much money as possible.

It really doesn't sound like you're confident in your 'no' here, AHunter. The fact that you're asking questions about their distribution channels (combined with the response you sent them above) sounds like you're genuinely considering their offer, and that's totally normal. Getting offered a publishing contract is flattering and it's natural to be curious about what you're missing out on!

But you're missing out on nothing, and saving yourself a lot of time, pain, and money. The distribution channels they're offering are exactly the same as you'd get going the self-published route and choosing extended distributions, but with self-publishing this would all be free and you'd be taking a much higher royalty cut.

From reports by writers here Barnes & Nobles treat A&M books the same as any print-on-demand book, so you'd receive no preferential treatment, and books won't appear on the shelves unless people go into their local branches and request them.
 
Last edited:

EMaree

a demon for tea
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 7, 2009
Messages
4,655
Reaction score
839
Location
Scotland
Website
www.emmamaree.com
Oh, I'm not sending the email. I don't like their dishonesty. I meant a conversation gambit for in here. And your answers about distrib channels etc are informative.

Oh, my bad! I totally misunderstood, I thought you just weren't sending the bit after '(not sent)'.

Yeah, I can't think of a single thing A&M offer that you can't do yourself (better, cheaper, and with so much more control). That all sounds like I'm favouring self-publishing, but no, I'm a big fan of trade publishing. It's just that A&M isn't one and doesn't provide any trade publishing benefits.
 

PeteMC

@PeteMC666
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 26, 2011
Messages
3,003
Reaction score
367
Location
UK
Website
talonwraith.wordpress.com
Yeah, I can't think of a single thing A&M offer that you can't do yourself (better, cheaper, and with so much more control). That all sounds like I'm favouring self-publishing, but no, I'm a big fan of trade publishing. It's just that A&M isn't one and doesn't provide any trade publishing benefits.

Or any self publishing benefits, or, in fact, any benefits at all. If for whatever reason you didn't want to go the trade route, that three grand AM want you to pay them would buy you a far better cover artist/designer and copy-editor than AM would provide you and you could do it yourself. There's absolutely no sensible reason at all to go with a place like them.
 

AHunter3

Author-Curmudgeon
Registered
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
375
Reaction score
31
Location
New York City [Manhattan], NY, USA
Website
www.genderkitten.com
That's sort of what I figured.

It's similar to my attitude towards "literary agents" who want the author to pay a fee up front. I'm not opposed to that as a model on principle (my book is niche and royalties won't be lucrative for an agent) but the ones actually doing it are bottom-feeding lying extortionate parasites who just want to milk the gullible author without providing any services. Shame, really.
 

quianaa2001

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Messages
174
Reaction score
12
Location
Michigan
That's sort of what I figured.

It's similar to my attitude towards "literary agents" who want the author to pay a fee up front. I'm not opposed to that as a model on principle (my book is niche and royalties won't be lucrative for an agent)

You never pay a legitimate literary agent! They work for you and get paid when they sell your work. If your paying to publish (not self publishing) through a company, or paying an agent you're getting scammed.
 
Last edited:

AHunter3

Author-Curmudgeon
Registered
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
375
Reaction score
31
Location
New York City [Manhattan], NY, USA
Website
www.genderkitten.com
You never pay a legitimate literary agent! They work for you and get paid when they sell your work. If your paying to publish (not self publishing) through a company, or paying an agent you're getting scammed.

Yeah, I know. I wish that weren't the case. I doubt I'll ever have a literary agent, and I could use the services of one. I can apparently find a small publisher on my own but I don't have the experience and skills to know my way around them, or contract laws and provisions or what questions to ask. There's no real reason, aside from established tradition, that says the services of a lit agent are not things one acquires by hiring one. And none will take me on because there's not enough potential royalties for it to be worth their time.
 

Emily Winslow

Do Not Walk on the Grass
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Messages
634
Reaction score
94
Location
Cambridge, England
Website
www.emilywinslow.com
Yeah, I know. I wish that weren't the case. I doubt I'll ever have a literary agent, and I could use the services of one. I can apparently find a small publisher on my own but I don't have the experience and skills to know my way around them, or contract laws and provisions or what questions to ask. There's no real reason, aside from established tradition, that says the services of a lit agent are not things one acquires by hiring one. And none will take me on because there's not enough potential royalties for it to be worth their time.

Well, there is a "real reason." Editors read the manuscripts agents send because they trust that well-reputed agents will send them stuff that they're likely to want to publish. If an agent went "vanity" and was willing to represent any work whose author wrote them a cheque, then editors would no longer have reason to trust their taste.
 

AHunter3

Author-Curmudgeon
Registered
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
375
Reaction score
31
Location
New York City [Manhattan], NY, USA
Website
www.genderkitten.com
I wouldn't want a paid agent to stick my manuscript under the noses of editors who wouldn't care for it. I'd be happy for them to focus on the low-volume publishers who might, and to figure out which of them is reputable and which contract clauses are things I should try to modify and so on. Well, I should wish for a horsie and a handful of sour taffy as long as i'm wishing, I guess... back to the task at hand.
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
Agents who charge fees usually have little to no experience negotiating good contracts, or even in knowing what a good contract should specify. They won't help you, even if you only want them to submit to smaller publishers.

Stay away from them.

If you want contractual advice there are places you can get that. Some intellectual property lawyers will provide it; some writers' groups will (for example, the UK's Society of Authors gives free contractual advice to its members). You don't need to pay a useless agent for this.
 

ctripp

Christine Tripp
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
493
Reaction score
30
Location
Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Website
www.christinetripp.com
I'd be happy for them to focus on the low-volume publishers who might, and to figure out which of them is reputable

An Agent that takes money to sub your manuscript won't likely KNOW reputable Publishers. You'll pay that "Agent", who will more then likely find you a Vanity Publisher that you will end up PAYING to "publish" it. If your book is as niche as you say it is, this can be the right circumstance to seriously consider self publishing. While marketing as an Indie Author is a challenge, at the very least you won't waste your money on an "Agent" and a "Publisher" with no hope of sales to make that money back.