Soul Mate Publishing

[AnneWhitfield]

Does anyone know about Soul Mate Publishing?
A friend sent me their link, but I don't know anything about them.
http://www.soulmatepublishing.com/.

[Momento Mori]

No information on who set up the company or what their publishing experience is. Of the 3 books coming out in October, only Karin Shah has been published before (with Samhain) and to be honest, the synopsis for each book doesn't grab my interest.

It looks like they're taking world electronic and print rights. I'd wait and see how the electronic sales do before handing over print rights (or at least, want to know what distribution they've got in store).

The site's still being developed so there are place holders up on a number of pages. I'm not impressed by this though:

Soul Mate Publishing Website:
Authors - imagine your name here! See guidelines under Submissions for more information about how to send us your work.

Makes it seem as though they're targeting writers when they should be targeting book buyers.

It's a royalty only publisher with a rate of 35% but no word on whether that's net or on cover price and whether it applies to both electronic and print books.

Personally, I'd wait and see how the sales are by October 2012.

MM

[Cassie Knight]

Hi AWers!

There's a great interview of Soul Mate Publishing at www.seejanepublish.wordpress.com. If you've ever heard of them or are interested in a digital publisher, check out the interview. Might help you make a decision.

Best,
Cassie

[veinglory]

It's a little light on the two things I'd want to know--whether they have the skill set to run a successful business, and how well their books are selling.

[Momento Mori]

Interview with See Jane Publish Blog:
What made you decide to become a publisher?
I’ve been paying attention to the evolving e-book market for about six years now. In fact, I purchased our domain name in 2006. I guess you could say I was waiting for the right time to start the company. I taught high school English for 16 years, so I have the editing skills necessary to be effective. I’ve also been reading and critiquing romances for the last 10 years and have been a member of RWA since 2001, so I have the necessary skill set for success.

So no actual publishing experience then.

Interview with See Jane Publish Blog:
Will you be doing both e-books and print books? Where can you find Soul Mate Publishing books?
We will be publishing both e-books and print books. Soul Mate Publishing books can be found at www.SoulMatePublishing.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. Soon we’ll be available at boutique houses around the world.

Unless they've got distribution deals in place to put books on shelf in B&N (rather than making them available to order from B&N), I'm not seeing the value of giving the company print rights. I'd want to know what they mean by saying they'll be available from boutique hosues around the world.

Interview with See Jane Publish Blog:
Most new writers have visions of agents and New York publishing houses dancing in their heads. Can you tell us some of the advantages of signing with a digital/small press publisher over a New York publisher?
One of the main advantages of a digital/small press over a New York publisher is the personal attention. I read each submission and provide a personal response in a timely fashion. I also work with authors on improving their craft. I think there’s a closeness that develops between the editors and authors and the authors themselves when working with a smaller press rather than a larger one, simply due to the numbers involved.

Personal attention is great, but it's sales that matter. I haven't seen anything here to suggest that they'll be generate sales for authors and their emphasis on marketing being an equal obligation on author and publisher makes me wonder whether they've got the nouse to do anything that an author couldn't already do for themselves.

MM

[Jamiekswriter]

Bumping the thread - Anyone know how the sales are going? I like their covers

[jaksen]

Their author biographies and descriptions of the novels are carefully done and well-written. I know this is not the end-all and be-all for publishers, but it shows attention to detail.

Just my take. I don't read or write romances.

[JJPie]

Any news on this pub lately?

[kelliewallace]

I was sent a full manuscript request this morning. Will update when I hear from them.

[JJPie]

Originally Posted by kelliewallace

I was sent a full manuscript request this morning. Will update when I hear from them.

Good luck!

[kelliewallace]

Originally Posted by JJPie

Good luck!

Thank you

[ChelseaWriter]

I just submitted three chapters to them. We'll see......

ETA - Kellie, congrats and good luck!

[Momento Mori]

If you're determined to submit to this publisher, then at least see if you can get ballpark figures for their sales to date. You're looking at a company run by people with no apparent prior publishing experience and they're taking print rights despite the fact that it seems they don't have a deal with stores to place books on shelves.

The only thing worse than being published is being badly published. The threads here are littered with people who got burnt because they went with amateurs.

MM

[LaylahHunter]

The FAQ is a little light on important details like what the authors get paid -- the question about coauthored work mentions a "35% royalty" but nowhere does it say whether that's on cover or on net. They also say nothing there about distribution/availability of their titles.

Q. Why should I publish at Soul Mate Publishing?

A. Here at Soul Mate Publishing, we LOVE romance!! We’re willing to take a chance with new writers and more unusual story ideas. We like genre lines that blur. We’re dedicated to helping manuscripts shine and working with new writers to get their work out there for everyone to enjoy. What better way than to work with Soul Mate, where two become one?

...That's all very friendly! But it says nothing concrete about why they're a good place for an author to sell books.

Probably worth asking some questions before signing any contracts, at least.

ETA another piece from the FAQ (bolding mine):

Q. How long will I have to wait for an answer on my submission?

A. Generally, about three months. Unlike the larger publishing companies, your work will not go into a slush pile. We’ll get back to you as quickly as we can.

This says to me that they don't know what a slush pile actually is (in addition to having awkward modifier problems in the sentence). Definitely seems worthwhile to ask some pointed questions about how well they understand publishing practices and what process they follow.

[sueeberger3]

Their commetns were right on target. I've been working on the revision since I received them. In the meantime, the ms got second place in the East Valley Authors query contest.
I do want to send Second Chances back to Soulmate, but I cannot help wondering if there are more well known E book publishers.
Anyone have any suggestions?

I have three children's picture books published by Guardian Angel e book publishing and I know that with GAP, sales depend on what the author does.

[nkkingston]

The big epublishers usually sell on brand - who you're with can sell a hell of a lot more books than how you promote them. Check out Veinglory's list (it's erotic publishers, but several take sweet romance as well) or Brenda Hiatt's Show Me the Money (some are print rather than e) to get an idea of what the top end can bring you.

SoulMate doesn't appear to be on either yet. Perhaps some SoulMate authors would like to submit their earnings?

[veinglory]

Originally Posted by sueeberger3

t I cannot help wondering if there are more well known E book publishers.

Yes, there are. I track romance epublishers and Soul Mates is not even on my radar. It could be getting great sales, or not, I don't know. But based on the sales figures I do know I would suggest Loose Id, Samhain, Elloras Cave, Liquid Silver and Amber Quill. But it depends on what type of romance you have. For non-erotic I would add Desert Breeze etc.

[HLWampler]

Queried April 21
Request for full May 8
Contract offered May 30

I haven't accepted the offer yet. There are a few agents who have the manuscript I'm waiting to hear back from first.

[Tromboli]

Congrats HLWampler. Did you end up signing with them or are you still waiting?

[HLWampler]

I haven't made my decision yet. I'm waiting for 2 agents to get back to me before I make up my mind. I'll definitely update once I decide.

[JustMigrating]

I recently turned down an offer from Soul Mate after (a) reviewing the contract, and (b) reading the first chapter or so of several of their books. In terms of their contract, it is for six years and they only pay 25% of NET from third-party vendors (such as Amazon). From reading the excerpts, I get the feeling they accept everything submitted to them. Maybe that is their point, to give new authors a home.

I also turned down an offer from The Wild Rose Press (same manuscript). Instead, I have hired an editor to help me finish polishing this manuscript and I will either self-publish or try for an agent. I don't feel a huge push to hurry as I have barely started the sequel.

Regarding the publishers Veinglory listed above, Loose Id is only for erotic. Ellora's Cave is primarily for erotic. Although they have the Blush imprint, if a reader goes to the Ellora's Cave website, it clearly states Ellora's Cave is the world's foremost publisher of erotic romance and it would take a reader quite a while to even find the Blush books on the website. Amber Quill is the same. Their Amber Heat is just erotic. The non-erotic books in the Amber Quill line are few. For example in paranormal romance (my genre), there is only one Amber Quill paranormal published in 2013 and two in 2010. Not a lot going on there. Samhain is excellent, but tough, I've heard. Liquid Silver doesn't do print and a lot of authors want to see their book in print. I had not heard of Desert Breeze before. Looking them up, I see very few offerings in the paranormal romance, and all by just two authors.

Nonetheless, other than Samhain, there isn't much among those publishers for an author of a non-erotic romance book who wants to see their book in print. In my local writing group, many of the gals are self-publishing and are happy. Part of me wants the validation of a publisher, but when it comes down to it, I guess satisfied readers are the true validation.

[veinglory]

For non-erotic romance in print the obvious option are Harlequin, Kensington and Sourcebooks amongst others. For paranormal add Avon and Tor.

[James D. Macdonald]

Who publishes the non-erotic paranormals that you yourself read?

[HLWampler]

I accepted their offer this morning.