Tate Publishing

Gillhoughly said:

Old man Tate and his spawn are scum, will always be scum and with wide-eyed outrage will deny that fact with their last breath.

It's disgusting that they prey on the inexperienced, and certainly the elderly are favorite targets. I tried to warn the daughter of a Holocaust survivor about them, but the Tate sales pitch was too convincing. Her mother's story should have been heard, if only through Kindle and Createspace. She didn't deserve to be victimized yet again by those thieves.

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I know! Isn't it dreadful! I found out that Colleen Stan the so called "girl in the box" has published her authobiography with iuniverse another branch of the Author Solutions Scam! The horror! It's tragic I'm sure so many genuine publishers would have jumped to tell her story.
As for this 13 year old girl she tells me that "it was expensive but all GOOD publishers are." She's just sucked in by all the spin and isn't going to listen to me.

Sad. Truly sad.

gingerwoman said:

I know! Isn't it dreadful! I found out that Colleen Stan the so called "girl in the box" has published her authobiography with iuniverse another branch of the Author Solutions Scam! The horror! It's tragic I'm sure so many genuine publishers would have jumped to tell her story.
As for this 13 year old girl she tells me that "it was expensive but all GOOD publishers are." She's just sucked in by all the spin and isn't going to listen to me.

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And this is one of the reasons I steer people to Query Tracker, Agent Query, Duotrope, and of course here and P&E when they say they want to publish either books or short stories.

Googling "book publishers" (which is what I did shortly before getting sucked into the Seven-Year Vortex of PA) returns only hits for "agented submission only" publishers or vanities. Of course someone relying only on Google is going to go for the scams, just like I did.

I must respectfully disagree. Someone using simplistic keywords on Google will be shunted toward those results, true. But if the searchers bothered to refine their inquiries in any way, they'd soon run into the cautionary entries about places like this. That they got as far as paying for a contract without discovering any red flags? Their poor internet search skills may be as much to blame, as the publisher's marketing copy.

I'm no less sorry for their lost work, money, and time. But short of legislation, these kinds of publishers are going to keep attracting authors who are not skeptical enough to protect themselves.

gingerwoman said:

As for this 13 year old girl she tells me that "it was expensive but all GOOD publishers are."

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I wonder if this girl knows that J. K. Rowling was a struggling single mom. How did she ever afford a "GOOD publisher"?

gingerwoman said:

As for this 13 year old girl she tells me that "it was expensive but all GOOD publishers are." She's just sucked in by all the spin and isn't going to listen to me.

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All GOOD publishers pay you.

Send her here. Let her see for herself.

James D. Macdonald said:

All GOOD publishers pay you.

Send her here. Let her see for herself.

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Even my tiny micropublisher self pays the authors, gives free promo copies, pays for posters, bookmarks, etc.

--Ken

I really should stop following this thread. Not because of anything you are all saying (I agree 100% with you), but because I get so darn cranky every time I hear of another person getting sucked into Tate (and other similar set ups).

In this case, a very young teenager with stars in her eyes, who is obviously clueless about publishing--and rightly so. She's 13 for goodness sake.

I'm sure I've said it before, but the thing that burns me the most is that they are doing this under the banner of Christianity.

These days, I don't recommend anyone going with a subsidy press option unless they are completely clueless as to the other options for getting a book into print. If they just want something for the family and friends, then do it on Lulu or CreateSpace.

The thing I really, really hate about organizations like Tate is that they are deceptive (or at least they used to be; not sure if they still do this). They give the impression that the author has been accepted for publication, just like a traditional publisher. If they were upfront from the start regarding their "service," I would not be bothered.

I loathe the fact that they are cashing in on a person's dreams.

Deb

Breath of Fresh Air said:

I'm sure I've said it before, but the thing that burns me the most is that they are doing this under the banner of Christianity.

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They're doing this because they know their market. Lots of Americans will see the word 'Christian' and instantly be lulled into a false sense of security. it's a cultural thing - if a vanity press, or indeed any other business, tried the same approach with a mainstream market in England it wouldn't work. The vast majority of people would just as instantly smell a scam.

Breath of Fresh Air said:

I'm sure I've said it before, but the thing that burns me the most is that they are doing this under the banner of Christianity.

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They have company in that regard:

Deep River Books, formerly Virtue Ministries

Lanico Media, formerly Living Waters Publishing

Lighthouse Christian Publishing

Yeah, they're so "Christian" that Lyin' Ryan thinks he's Jesus. You can hear him whining about how good he just before he hands out 25 pink slips.

http://journalrecord.com/2012/05/31...es-25-as-outsourcing-rumors-fly-general-news/

"Affinity fraud" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity_fraud really shouldn't be a business model, in my opinion.

I hope that young lady makes her way here eventually and that her experience with Tate doesn't put her off writing.

aliceshortcake said:

They're doing this because they know their market. Lots of Americans will see the word 'Christian' and instantly be lulled into a false sense of security. it's a cultural thing . . .

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And crazy and fascinating!

There are many publishers skirting the edges of affinity fraud, but I've seen it most in New Age groups, Christian groups, multi-level marketing, and the self-help field. Once a person has been trained away from skepticism, it may be much easier to draw them into possible scam situations.

Affinity fraud uses the affinity to provide motivation.

Else the potential mark might ask "Why are you offering this exciting investment opportunity to me, an impoverished Jamaican cab driver, when you could do much better by offering it to Warren Buffet?"

The answer would be, "I too was an impoverished Jamaican cab driver, and now I'm trying to help a brother."

People generally trust others who are part of their group, whatever that group might be. I've seen pipers happily ship off a money order or hit PayPal with a payment over $1,000 to somebody they've never met for a set of used pipes they've only seen a few pictures of. Heck, I've seen them pay over $5,000 for a set of vintage Hendersons. And they'll do it because, "Well, she/he's a fellow piper and won't screw me." Admittedly, I've seen very few piping scams per se because the piping community is a small one and word travels fast, but if it's the seller's first scam... Also admittedly, I've done it myself with pipe gear, used magic books and lecture notes.

I hate it when people abuse another's trust. Especially when it means taking advantage of a teen's enthusiasm and her parents' love and support.

Filigree said:

I must respectfully disagree. Someone using simplistic keywords on Google will be shunted toward those results, true. But if the searchers bothered to refine their inquiries in any way, they'd soon run into the cautionary entries about places like this. That they got as far as paying for a contract without discovering any red flags? Their poor internet search skills may be as much to blame, as the publisher's marketing copy.

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Sorry, I just now saw this reply; I've been traveling with poor internet.

I agree, as long as the author knows how to refine their search. Many I talk to don't. If Googling "book publishers" brings up Tate, only some are going to think to Google "Is Tate Publishing a Scam?" Some people want to believe, as I did with PA, that they've finally found their golden ticket and charge full on, not even thinking something might be amiss. Hence my advice to folks to do their homework before signing anything.

Chris P said:

Sorry, I just now saw this reply; I've been traveling with poor internet.

I agree, as long as the author knows how to refine their search. Many I talk to don't. If Googling "book publishers" brings up Tate, only some are going to think to Google "Is Tate Publishing a Scam?" Some people want to believe, as I did with PA, that they've finally found their golden ticket and charge full on, not even thinking something might be amiss. Hence my advice to folks to do their homework before signing anything.

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Aren't we talking about like, hundreds-thousands of dollars that Tate and PA charge? Who in their right mind wouldn't do a quick Googling for reviews--that don't appear on the seller's own website--of a purchase that large before they shelled out the cash?

I don't know about you people, but I don't make enough money to blindly trust any business when they want me to pay that much for what they're selling.

And here is a link to a Google search of "tate publishing reviews". It's a simple enough term *shrug*

ETA: And the results from Googling "publish america reviews".

PublishAmerica doesn't actually charge anything. That's the beauty of their scheme. The authors wind up paying just as much--or more--than they would with a traditional vanity press, but PA can hide behind their "We want your book, not your money" slogan and laugh at the poor dupes who fall for it.

Tate Publishing?

Does anyone know anything about Tate Publishing, or had any experience with them?

Thanks for any input.

One of the most notorious vanity publishers. Existing thread here.

Run fast, run far and then after catching your breath, read the thread Terie linked to. Then run some more.

Enough said, and I think you all from the bottom of my heart. But I was never in danger of parting with a dollar to any publisher.

When I have to pay a publishing house to publish my book, I'll just get on my Mac and do a handful for family.

Mare said:

But I was never in danger of parting with a dollar to any publisher.

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Paging Stacy Baker...

Going to merge the two threads.