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Club Lighthouse Publishing

Ms. Jem

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Hello everyone,

I am new to the industry (two romance novels completed) and looking for some advice on Club Lighthouse Publishing, an e-publisher in Canada. Has anyone had any dealings with them?
 

veinglory

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I assume you mean: http://www.clublighthousepublishing.com/

I've never heard of them, and given that I keep a list of romance epublishers and people tend to tell me about new ones, that might mean something. It also might not. The wayback machine records their page since Feb 2007. The 'FAQ' page seems to be broken.
 

Ms. Jem

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Thanks veinglory, that doesn't bode well for their reputation - they might not be very successful. I'll do some more digging before I send my romance novel over, I don't want to find myself in the 'red light district' of the publishing community.
 

Jersey Chick

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It also looks like the only outlet for their books, aside from their website, is Amazon. I checked Fictionwise and All Romance eBooks - no listings for Club Lighthouse.

P&E has them listed as a publisher - but nothing good or bad.

Piers Anthony has a little more on them - you can find that here - http://www.hipiers.com/publishing.html#C1

I looked at the sample contract, and there is a possibility of an author opting for POD - but mentions nothing about a set-up fee, and I couldn't find that anywhere else.

Good Luck! :D
 

laura57

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To Jersey Chick,

I noticed that your last post after checking us out at Club Lighthouse was in March. We have since been selling our books on Fictionwise, Mobi Pockets, Cyber Read, e-Book Mall, Diesel Books, DPP and quite a few others as well as Amazon. I just wanted to give you that update. Yes, CLP is new but every company has to start somewhere, but over the last year we have grown and have been extremely busy with a veritable deluge of submissions. But like everything worthwhile, CLP is still a work in progress, so please don't be too harsh on us.

In the interest of Quality Assurance and seeing how we're being viewed on the web, I stumbled upon this site and read your comments, and felt compelled to respond. I would like to invite you to revisit the site at www.clublighthousepublishing.com

Please I am also an author in the Romance and Erotica genres, published simultaneously at Renaissance E-books and CLP under the pseudonyms of T.L. Davison and Laura Hammond, so I am very well acquainted with the trials and tribulations that every writer experiences on his/her journey to publication. Mine have made me very empathetic in the process which was one of my main reasons for starting CLP, which has grown from a one woman show, to a staff of four.


Terrie L. B. (aka Laura57)
CEO/Editor Club Lighthouse Publishing
 
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Richard White

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I don't normally deal with e-books, so I'll throw this out for others more knowledgeable than me to dissect.

Royalty set up:

40% cover for books bought through the publisher's web site
35% cover for books bought through a third-party minus handling costs or discounts charged by the other outlet.

Strictly from a curiosity point of view, is this pretty standard?
 

M.R.J. Le Blanc

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Their covers aren't terribly impressive, nor is their site. Reminds me of my college web design projects. That being said, it generally isn't a good sign when a publisher is trying to publish in every genre out there. Nor when the people who started the company are published by said company. Even successful e-pubs limit themselves, and if they decide to go in a new genre they open up an imprint. And I don't know of any successful publishers, commercial or e-pub, who have an entire staff who are published by them. It sends the message 'we couldn't hire professionals'. They don't inspire confidence, I'd pass.
 

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Thank you. I saw their name on another forum and then couldn't figure out what they were - POD or self-p or just ebooks.
Katie
 

citymouse

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CLUB LIGHTHOUSE PUBLISHING

Has anyone got more information on this company? A friend of mine has 3 books with them. One book has been out for over a year now. He tells me he hasn't seen a cent in royalties. The first excuse was the length of time it takes to send / convert dollars / and deposit his check. The second excuse was the time it takes to convert US dollars into Canadian dollars, and then cut a check.
Even so it can't take over 12 months to do this ( IMO). Like many of us he lacks the funds to hire an attorney to pursue this. He says that his book has gotten reviews on amz, but I'm wondering if these are planted. So... any hints?
I should also say that emails and phone calls are going unanswered.

C
 
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citymouse

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CP, please move this post to the existing thread. Thanks.
C
 

elindsen

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I don't have any books with them, but a friend of mine tried to sub to them. Their email listed doesn't work. I could be wrong but it seems they don't have any recent books out.

In my own experience, I subbed to them about two years ago. Never heard a peep. I got an email saying they got my sub and they'd get back to me. I did follow ups but nothing. They seem like bad news if yours friend's experience is anything to go by. Some publishers do plant reviews on places like amazon too. Can your friend contact the business bureau or whomever it is that deals with this kind of thing?
 

citymouse

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Thanks, E. I don't know how far he's willing to go on this. Unfortunately, he signed a contract with them. He has no idea how many (if any) books have been sold. Another author friend of mine warned me about having a bad experience with a Canadian publisher, but CLP wasn't around then, so it couldn't be CLP. I wish I knew someway to help him get some response. Perhaps a lawyer [Canadian] might do the trick.

I don't have any books with them, but a friend of mine tried to sub to them. Their email listed doesn't work. I could be wrong but it seems they don't have any recent books out.

In my own experience, I subbed to them about two years ago. Never heard a peep. I got an email saying they got my sub and they'd get back to me. I did follow ups but nothing. They seem like bad news if yours friend's experience is anything to go by. Some publishers do plant reviews on places like amazon too. Can your friend contact the business bureau or whomever it is that deals with this kind of thing?
 

laura57

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Reply to City Mouse & Elindsen

To E. Lindsen; In attempt to address concerns you listed here, I am one of the owners of Club Lighthouse Publishing. Judging by the date you posted, the Club Lighthouse Publishing site was in the middle of a site revamp, and it's quite possible, yes, at the time our email might have malfunctioned. I assure you, that is not the case anymore. Every one one of our emails listed on the Contact page is working perfectly. I just tested them.

To. citymouse; Perhaps your friend changed his email and did not notify us, because because the quarterly sales reports to date have certainly gone out to all of our authors. Please, kindly have him contact us if this is the case.

Thank you.

Sincerely

Terrie L. B.
 

kelliewallace

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Their book 'The dark side of romance' has Dita Von Teese on the cover. Thats a famous face to put on a book. Are publishers permitted to put 'celebrities' as the characters on their covers? I have just never seen that before.
 

nkkingston

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Generally the copyright of a photograph belongs to the photographer, rather than the person being photographed, but as Beyonce's PR team's latest disaster shows, they're not above trying to control how images they don't have rights to are used. They might have bought it from a stock photo site; she's a pretty well photographed lady (and always looks like she's on a shoot!).
 

BenPanced

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And Paul Newman. And Christina Aguilera.

Rights or not, that's Not Right. I'd expect the book to be about Dita Von Teese, Paul Newman, and Christina Aguilera since they're on the cover.
 
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DreamWeaver

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Pretty sure you can't use photos where anyone is recognizable without a release from that person, with the exception of news photos (which clears paparazzi for selling to magazines and newspapers, but not as stock photos). Celebrities--or their lawyers--are usually pretty fast to shut down anyone using their likenesses for profit*.

Release is not the same as copyright.




*Which is probably a pretty good sign that there's not much profit happening here, as it seems to be staying under the radar.
 
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elindsen

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And Paul Newman. And Christina Aguilera.

Rights or not, that's Not Right. I'd expect the book to be about Dita Von Teese, Paul Newman, and Christina Aguilera since they're on the cover.
It almost gives the impression that the book is about celebrity ill-fated romances. Which, I didn't read the blurb, is not accurate. I would be seriously pissed if I bought a book and didn't get what the cover promised.

Also, the quality of the cover isn't good, either.
 

whitneywrites

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It almost gives the impression that the book is about celebrity ill-fated romances. Which, I didn't read the blurb, is not accurate. I would be seriously pissed if I bought a book and didn't get what the cover promised.

Also, the quality of the cover isn't good, either.

You would be pissed if you bought a book and and didn't get what the cover promised?

Wow.