Polis Books

Ooh, nifty. Takes my genre, too.

Any more news on these guys?

"As to his company's name, Pinter said it's a reference to the citizen-run, independent Greek city-state. "

Damn, And here was I hoping it was a crime imprint in Glasgow.

They mention an advance, and James Pinter has a hell of a good rep in the industry with a great resume in publishing and has also scripted some award-winning books.

Heck, I sent a YA package to them. Then I see that they do not accept children's books. But wouldn't they have stipulated YA separately? Children's books mean picture and MG to me. I still have a ghost/fantasy and thriller as backup, though.

tri

Hey, Tri. It mentioned a YA imprint down the line I think (as I mentioned in my PM to you.) If I ever hear from them, I'll try to find that out.

And you're right. I think that too when pubs say they don't take children's books. Most of that only applies to picture books and MG.

Awe, fugg. My mistake. I can only hope they archive it for later. Or it should be a pretty fast R. I'll be ready for it.

I like Jame's background a lot.

triceretops said:

Awe, fugg. My mistake. I can only hope they archive it for later. Or it should be a pretty fast R. I'll be ready for it.

I like Jame's background a lot.

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FYI, it's Jason. Not James.

williemeikle said:

"As to his company's name, Pinter said it's a reference to the citizen-run, independent Greek city-state. "

Damn, And here was I hoping it was a crime imprint in Glasgow.

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So will having read Aristotle's Politics give me an edge in the slush pile? At last my philosophy major is good for something!

Round Two said:

FYI, it's Jason. Not James.

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Thanks. Got him confused with the Zharmae guy, James, who has been emailing the heck out of me.

tri

Looks like he's ready for more subs!

Jason Pinter:
Call for submissions: we have a phenomenal launch list for Polis Books going through Winter 2014, and in just a few months we have approximately 20 books under contract with some amazing writers, both debut and established. We're currently planning out our Spring/Summer 2014 list and looking for submissions in crime, sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural, romance, commercial women's fiction and Young Adult. Looking for debut novelists as well as established writers whose backlist could use refreshed packaging, marketing and distribution.

Submit a query letter and first three chapters to: submissions (at) polisbooks (dot) com.

Stand corrected--it is Jason and and not James. I just gave them a nudge yesterday. Only because I approaching the 4-month mark.

I see they have updated their site, adding their first few novels. The covers have some nice photography to it.

I just nudged for the three month mark, so hopefully I'll hear something. What about anyone else? Any response so far?

What the hell. I just tossed one out there.

kaitie said:

What the hell. I just tossed one out there.

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Okay, cool. Good luck on it. Let me know how it goes.

They look like a good place. Definitely to keep an eye on.

I'm pretty impressed by what I see now that the site has more info up on it.

Are you waiting on a full request, or are you still waiting to hear from the query stage? It says four to six weeks reply time, but if they're that far behind it's worth knowing.

It's only a query+3 chapters. I submitted in mid August and haven't heard a thing so since I met the 3 month mark I thought to nudge. Yeah, it says 4-6 weeks, but if my submission is like others, then I think it's fair to say they are pretty behind.

I know they pay advances but it doesn't seem to say that now. Hope that hasn't changed.

It's still on the site. It says they pay a modest advance in the About section. I'm cool for a modest advance.

I'll expect the submissions to take awhile, then. I usually give some extra time because it's been my experience that people usually are at least a couple of weeks off. Three or four months is a pretty big gap, though.

I nudged on 10-22, with 3 chapters. Haven't heard anything yet. They might be busy as all hell going through their slush. And, I'm okay with a small advance too. Those are my priority small press pubs. Distribution for print is icing on the cake.

tri

Two subs (different genres) in early July; nudged in early October... no response/acknowledgement to date... Hopefully, they're just busy; otherwise, a pattern of non-responsiveness is not very conducive to a favorable communications reputation.

You know I just checked my email, searching for them again and it seems I tried to contact them on a few questions, back in April. No response on that either.

So I think you may be right, Iron...there does seem to be a pattern here.

I had sent some questions and didn't hear back, either, but I don't know for sure that was received or that I sent it to the right email addy.

Well I don't know now. If all of us are being ignored on our submissions, nudges and just general questions that to me raises a bit concern.

Hopefully someone will come along and provide more info cause I want to be hopeful about them. I do still think they are an impressive pub. Then again, I don't know much about them either so....

Speculating here -

But, getting operations up and running, especially for a first season's worth of books is significantly more important (from a time management standpoint) than going through the slushpile. Add in the fact that Jason already has established connections to authors and agents who are also contacting him, and, no matter how unfortunate, some communications are likely to be less prioritized than others.

That's what I was thinking, Round Two. The house just officially launched, and I imagine that was the number one priority.