Resplendence Publishing

Seems rather typical POD. No distribution outside of internet and pub/author sponsored book conferences and signings. They do mention taking out ads and sending review copies to appropriet venues. The staff looks confident enough, though no real/hard publishing experience. On the upside: pays on cover and there is mention of an advance. They mention quality over quantity several times, but they sure take a lot of genres, with no real specialization. If anything, they're romance heavy. They seem to have a lot of titles inspite of their "quality over quantity" issues, for being fairly new.

"I always wanted to be a publisher" isn't quite the most sound reasons for entering this business, and we see a lot of that with startups.

I'd probably google their authors and see what they had to say about it.
Otherwise, meh.

Tri

When their website first came out it had some content that didn't look 100% professional to me, it has improved since then.

Here’s an interview with RP’s co-founder, Leigh Collett.

I know an author who is published with them. I think her book appears right on the first page, actually. She seems fairly happy with them but I don't know what she sees as far as sales there.

They do have nice covers, though. Although I agree with everything else that has been said.

I dunno. I count 41 titles in their book store, plus five new releases, for a total of 46. I'm assuming that e-books are edited and developed just like print books are, so I find this a wee bit suspect when they make this quality over quantity claim. I don't know how new they are, but it doesn't look like they're easing into this. I wonder about the editorial workload involved in knocking that many titles out.

They do claim returnability and standard discounts. I think this is one of those "to eary to call" situations.

Tri

Ebooks are edited and developed, but it is more of a volume market. So several releases a month would not be an automatic red flag.

Thanks, veinglory. I wasn't quite sure how it worked.

Tri

I've been watching this publisher very carefully, mostly on the behalf of a friend who has the worst luck. In the past 18 months, FIVE of her e-publishers have bitten the dust. I had no idea she'd signed with Resplendence until a few months ago, so it was too late for me to tell of her of some of my misgivings.

Also, one of their writers told me the editing is minimal. In fact, after her editor line-edited a few chapters, the writer was told to finish the rest herself.

If one wants to avoid losing more epresses the answer is to sign with stable, high-selling presses run by people with industry experience. I have a standing bet about the top romance epublishers that meet these criteria still being here in five years time. Your friends experience suggests she has a habit of approaching start-ups.

veinglory said:

If one wants to avoid losing more epresses the answer is to sign with stable, high-selling presses run by people with industry experience. I have a standing bet about the top romance epublishers that meet these criteria still being here in five years time. Your friends experience suggests she has a habit of approaching start-ups.

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You're right on, Emily. I think she lacks confidence, which is a shame because she's a competent writer. She listens to friends instead of doing research on her own. As far as I know, she's yet to approach any of the Big Three, or even a couple of the more respected companies with years of experience.

The tip might be to look at who is running a press. I went with Samhain when they were less than a year old but I knew the owners had successful epublishing experience (c.f. well meaning people with experience only as authors).

I think Resplendence is a good place, especially for a start up. I met the owners and several of their authors at RT and they were all very nice, especially Leigh. Because they are new doesn't mean they are to be avoided. Everyone has to start somewhere. I do know one of their authors who is happy there. They get paid monthly and are provided with print promo materials for conferences. I think they may be a pub to watch, as in up and coming.

And Semi Pro, tell me, how many of your past pubs have failed? I know I was at a few myself...OMP, Silks Vault, Mardi Gras... (I won't even mention my feelings on NCP who have failed in my eyes, but they are still in business.) No big. I just move on. You never know who will go under next. I think all of us can chalk up one or two pubs we were caught with at their demise. And even the "three big" epubs...I hear good and bad about all. It all depends who you talk to.

Marianne_LaCroix said:

And Semi Pro, tell me, how many of your past pubs have failed? I know I was at a few myself...OMP, Silks Vault, Mardi Gras... (I won't even mention my feelings on NCP who have failed in my eyes, but they are still in business.) No big. I just move on. You never know who will go under next. I think all of us can chalk up one or two pubs we were caught with at their demise. And even the "three big" epubs...I hear good and bad about all. It all depends who you talk to.

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Marianne,

I've been with three publishers, and each is still alive and kicking, thank goodness. My remarks really were about an acquaintance

Marianne_LaCroix said:

I think Resplendence is a good place, especially for a start up. I met the owners and several of their authors at RT and they were all very nice, especially Leigh.

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Being "nice" doesn't mean they're capable of running a business of any kind, and has nothing to do with their qualifications. A huge number of start-up businesses in every industry (much less a specialized and complex one like punlishing) fail each year; very few of the people who started those businesses are big old jerks, I imagine.

Because they are new doesn't mean they are to be avoided. Everyone has to start somewhere.

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We disagree on that. I believe the fact that they're new is every reason to avoid them, and that they can start anywhere they like (which should be as an intern with an established company, then as an actual paid employee of that company, until they've thoroughly learned the ins and outs of the business) but I'm not going to be their guinea pig, and I don't recommend anyone I know be their guinea pigs either.

Look at how many epublishers there are, and how small a share of the market ebooks actually take up. Common sense tells you a large percentage of these new houses will fail, and experience shows that to be the case.

I do know one of their authors who is happy there. They get paid monthly and are provided with print promo materials for conferences. I think they may be a pub to watch, as in up and coming.

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They certainly are one to watch; all these companies should be watched and I would love to see them all succeed. This isn't personal, it's about helping other writers find a house that will be around for a long time, will treat them with respect, will give them proper editing and promotion and a fighting chance at selling enough copies to buy more than a hamburger with the royalties, and won't leave them in the lurch with the rights to their work gone and nothing to show for it.

And Semi Pro, tell me, how many of your past pubs have failed? I know I was at a few myself...OMP, Silks Vault, Mardi Gras... (I won't even mention my feelings on NCP who have failed in my eyes, but they are still in business.) No big. I just move on. You never know who will go under next. I think all of us can chalk up one or two pubs we were caught with at their demise. And even the "three big" epubs...I hear good and bad about all. It all depends who you talk to.

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OMP, Silk's Vault, Mardi Gras...all companies started by "nice" people with no publishing experience. Shouldn't those examples alone tell us all something? That maybe there's more to succeeding in this business than being nice and well-intentioned? Those publishers are textbook examples of everything I and others have said--why it's a bad idea to target start-ups for your work.

This isn't personal. Does the fact that I was stupid enough to sell a book to Triskelion, and doubly stupid enough to keep it there when I realized what a terrible place it was, mean I'm not allowed to try and help others avoid making the same mistakes I did? Or does it mean I have a responsibility to do just that?

No, you don't necessarily know who will go under next. But chances are the Big Three won't. You can't say the same for the brand-new ones. And I'm glad those closures were "No big" for you, but for some people they are.

This has nothing to do with how nice people are or whether or not some writers at some houses aren't happy with everything that goes on there. This is about whether a certain house is a good risk to submit to or not.

At a recent author-con I said when a publisher promises to treat me like family it makes me very nervous and a lot of people seems to know what I meant. That said, Resplendence seem to be quietly learning and improving as they go.

I never said anyone treated me "like family" at Resplendence. I am not even an author there. But I still do not believe they should be judged as bad just because they are new.

No, just because they are nice is not a reason to sub. I agree to that. Probably not a good word on my part to describe. I'd say they came off as professional....compared to several pubs there at RT.

December, it seems I hit an anger chord with you. It is coming off personal towards me, though I do not know why. All I want to say is that judgement is being passed on a place who hasn't had a chance to prove themselves. Yes, new places are risky, but then some of the big pubs only have so many slots available... I notice authors who were once loyal to one pub branching out more and more.

I did not mention Trisk in my post. That is a whole other situation, and it was big to the authors involved. I am sorry anyone got involved with that.

Nobody's "passing judgment" on a place, we're simply saying subbing to start-ups is a risky thing to do.

I have no idea what I said in my post that you read as a personal attack on you. You posted; I disagreed with your post and said why. What was personal or "angry" in that? I'm not angry; why would I be? It's very possible to disagree with someone's opinion without it getting personal, isn't it?

And I know you didn't mention Triskelion in your post. I mentioned it in mine. Again, I don't understand. Should I not have mentioned it because you didn't? Was I not allowed to bring it up as an illustration of my past experience, and a reason why this is a subject very important to me?

Is something wrong with me, and I'm simply incapable of understanding or expressing myself in writing? Perhaps I am in the wrong place.

Maybe it is just me.

Oh well, I agree to disagree.

I wasn't responding to you specifically on the family issue. And I don't recall judging them 'bad' per se, mainly because I don't consider them bad. I also don't consider them without flaw or limitation (i.e. 'good'). There is a lot of territory in the gray middle ground. I list 58 currently trading erotic epublishers at the moment and my default state is disinterested skepticism rather than endorsement. If someone sends me competitive sales figure data for Resplendence, or any other non-routine acheivement for a press of this type, then my attitude will certain change to be more positive. Until then I think the best advice to any author would be to be aware of their many options in this genre and format and make an informed choice.

Anything new on these guys good or bad?

Echoing the "any new word" question on these guys. I found them through a book I read, which was very high quality, so I'm considering submitting.