Gauthier Publications

Et Tu Ghost said:

Hello!
A person I know has been offered a book deal by Gauthier Publications, and I was hoping anyone that's had any dealings with, or knows anything about them (good or bad) could come forward and offer up some advice on whether to go with this publisher or not. please don't hesitate. Even a small bit of info could be potentially useful!
I'd just like to thank everyone in advance for any help you could bring to the table. here's there website: http://eatabook.com/

Click to expand...

They seem very new, and I could only find one book Island of Betrayal on Amazon, with a rank in the millions, which is very bad for an April 1rst 2010 release. However, there are seven used copies available. Could it be that they pre-released this book 3-4 months in advance, then it sold some and now it's static? It's an adult book, which is stange, because their mission statement glorifies their interest in children's, MG, and YA titles. That would mean they actually have three imprints. I assume it's POD--Betrayal is a hardback at 18 bucks plus.

I don't know who is running this company, but I did find an author on Amazon whose last name matches the title of the company. I think is might be a run-of-mill POD startup, with good intentions, but perhaps lacking the proper distribution in place.

It's a tough call, really. So many POD startups tank, and usually all of the promotion and marketing is left to the authors, who must beat the pavement and spam the world to sell these books. For what it is, it seems okay. For now.

I think I might send one of YA titles to beat them out of the bush and see who they are.

Tri

Correction: There is another imprint for Comics. That's four then.

ETA: The following description is from the website, and it does not match the Amazon description. The blurbs are wrong--quite a blunder.

Island of Betrayal, was released in April 2010. The book tells the story of a Washington economist who travels to the South Pacific to administer public wage hearings. His efforts to raise the wages of a poverty stricken people block the payoff required by an international conspiracy to sell an untested stem cell cure for diabetes on the black market. The economist is framed with a dastardly crime and flees from the police to unravel the conspiracy and get revenge

Cao, your first sentence just might say it all.

Hello I am Daniel J. Gauthier the CEO of Gauthier Publications, Inc.
I stumbled across this thread and thought I would take an opportunity to say a few things, and hopefully gain some awareness about our company.

Gauthier Publications is a new publisher based in Michigan. We have three imprints. Frog Legs Ink our children's picture book line, Hungry Goat Press is our middle reader and young adult line, DragonFish Comics focuses on graphic novels, and Gauthier Publications sticks to adult fiction such as thrillers, mystery, and horror.

We are small but are indeed a traditional publisher, not POD (Print on Demand), our first editions are proudly printed and bound in the USA and we use recycled paper, In fact our YA titles and Novels use 100% post consumer recycled paper. If you were wondering, yes all of these factors cost more, but we believe in putting out a quality product that is environmentally responsible.

Elizabeth Gauthier is one of the owners and founders of Gauthier Publications, Inc. she is also a very talented Author and Illustrator and we have not ever tried to hide that fact. If it was not for her vision and creativity we would not be where we are today.

Our books are available on the shelves of several chains though we do not have the coverage a large publisher does. The stores usually order regionally depending on were the author is from. We also can be found at libraries, and most libraries will order our products upon request. If you would like to sample one of our products just ask your friendly neighborhood librarian.

I hope that helps. There are a number of publishers, traditional, POD, and vanity so it can be confusing. It is always a good idea to look in places like Writer's Market and especially Literary Market Place, who look into publishing houses before they list them in their directory.

The process of getting a book published is long and should be a rewarding experience. If you are uncomfortable for any reason including the size of a publisher, do not sign a contract. Thank you for listening and I hope some day very soon we will be a household name.

Hi, Daniel, and thanks so much for coming in to explain your business. If you do print by the offset tech, then that is a very good step in the right direction. I wasn't aware that you did adult thrillers. I'll have to dive back into the website and read some more. The best of luck with your endeavors!

And please, never feel singled out or attacked in any fashion. As a group, we always try to answer some of the toughest questions put forth by authors, some of them very new, young, and uninformed about the publishing industry.

Tri

There are hundreds of small publishers out there and it is great that there are places writers can ask questions about them and discuss concerns. No offense taken, I thought it would be a good opportunity to clarify a few things about us. Island of Betrayal is our first thriller novel and will be followed up shortly with Pot Luck by Kenneth Rust. Our new site is still being built so not all of our titles and information is up yet.

Best of luck to all of the writers out there, this is a tough business but well worth the effort.

Sincerely,

Daniel Gauthier

p.s. if you want to learn more about Island of Betrayal Check out http://www.IslandofBetrayal.com you can even get a sneak peak at the book.

Hi, Daniel. Let me echo Tri's welcome to AW. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. Best of luck with your press.

I appreciate this publisher's willingness to come forward and discuss his company with AW.

With this in mind, would anyone here now submit to Gauthier Publications or would you still have reservations?

Welcome, Daniel. Could you tell us who distributes your books?

MartinD said:

I appreciate this publisher's willingness to come forward and discuss his company with AW.

With this in mind, would anyone here now submit to Gauthier Publications or would you still have reservations?

Click to expand...

They're new. I'm not opposed to small pubs. If they prove to have decent sales and good distribution... In time, why not?

Our books can be bought in some chain stores such as Barnes and Noble and Borders on the shelves (depending on the area) and at Borders.com, BooksaMillion.com, BarnesandNoble.com as well as many others.

We distribute through a number of places, among which are

Baker and Taylor: Borders, Barnes and Noble, BooksaMillion
Follett: School library markets
BWI: Public Library markets
Diamond Comics Distributors: Chain stores as well as indie comic book shops.
BrodArt: Libraries
Amazon.com: online

Welcome to Absolute Write, Daniel. It's always good to see a publisher who is happy to answer our questions. But I noticed this:

priceless1 said:

Welcome, Daniel. Could you tell us who distributes your books?

Click to expand...

Gauthier Publication said:

Our books can be bought in some chain stores such as Barnes and Noble and Borders on the shelves (depending on the area) and at Borders.com, BooksaMillion.com, BarnesandNoble.com as well as many others.

We distribute through a number of places, among which are

Baker and Taylor: Borders, Barnes and Noble, BooksaMillion
Follett: School library markets
BWI: Public Library markets
Diamond Comics Distributors: Chain stores as well as indie comic book shops.
BrodArt: Libraries
Amazon.com: online

Click to expand...

It's nice that your books appear on the shelves of some bookshops, and are listed on various bookselling internet sites: but that happens for just about anything with an ISBN, and it doesn't really answer Priceless1's question, I'm afraid. Do you work with a distributor, and if so, is it a full-service distributor or really just a wholesale operation? Does a sales team represent your books to bookshops? Or do your authors have to do the legwork if they want their books to appear on bookshop shelves?

I'm sorry if I appear aggressive, only it's very important that writers understand what a publisher can offer them in terms of sales and distribution and I don't want there to be any confusion on this issue.

MartinD said:

With this in mind, would anyone here now submit to Gauthier Publications or would you still have reservations?

Click to expand...

Yes, I have reservations. Not only because of the company's newness, but because of the following, from their website.

Our titles cover a variety of genre from mystery to graphic novels and of course children’s. At Gauthier Publications we are proud to say that each of our products are printed and bound in the United States, and always have been.

Click to expand...

For those ready to move onto chapter books look to Hungry Goat Press who's titles will intrigue...

Click to expand...

On the same page:

What makes us unique?

Our company was started not in a board room but came into existence from the minds of artists and writers.

Click to expand...

But not editors?

This will be my final statement. this thread has just created more speculation.

Getting an ISBN does not automatically give you the national distribution that we have.
We print in hardcover traditional offset printing.
Our entire website is being rebuilt page by page.
Our first print runs are around 3-5 thousand.
Our books have been reviewed by Booklist, ForeWord Magazine, Graphic Novel Reporter, and Midwest Book Review to name a few.

We started this company to create a quality product made in the USA, and we love what we do.

You started the company just to make a quality product made in the USA? See this is what irks people on this board, when you talk around the issues being raised. You have no more distribution really, then someone who self pubs on LuLu or Createspace has. Am I wrong in saying this? Please correct me if I am.
And on top of all of this, when questioned the whole defense system comes into play. By you, the owner acting like this, it just makes people think you have something to hide.

I am going to jump to the publishers defense here. While everyone here knows that distribution doesn't mean shelf space, not every book put out by Tor or Delecourte makes it into the books store either. It is a suggestion that they may, and trust me I have looked for some of my favorite mid-list authors in major bookstores only to come up empty handed.

What he seems to be doing here is noble and I will support them for that endeavor. Good luck to Gauthier Publications and may best-sellers soon be in your catalog.

I looked around the website a little further, but both the "Catalog" and "Order" buttons are "coming soon", and there was no indication of what experience the staff has. It's not even clear who's on the staff.

Gauthier Publications may well have good intentions. But these problems are something they might want to address.

Since you do print runs, do you offer an advance? I didn't see that anywhere, but I could be blind.

iowawriter said:

I am going to jump to the publishers defense here. While everyone here knows that distribution doesn't mean shelf space, not every book put out by Tor or Delecourte makes it into the books store either. It is a suggestion that they may, and trust me I have looked for some of my favorite mid-list authors in major bookstores only to come up empty handed.

Click to expand...

No, you aren't going to find every product available from every publisher. There's only a certain amount of space stores are willing to devote, especially if a product isn't selling. When you have proper distribution channels, you have a better chance of getting your products in stores.

What he seems to be doing here is noble and I will support them for that endeavor. Good luck to Gauthier Publications and may best-sellers soon be in your catalog.

Click to expand...

Many small publishers start with noble intentions. Some succeed. Others fail. It takes much, much more than noble intentions for a company to succeed.

Gauthier Publication said:

This will be my final statement. this thread has just created more speculation.

Click to expand...

Please don't flounce; not so soon.

Still I understand that you have lots more important things to do than hang around here.

If you detect a certain ... skepticism ... I assure you, it's nothing personal.

iowawriter said:

I am going to jump to the publishers defense here. While everyone here knows that distribution doesn't mean shelf space, not every book put out by Tor or Delecourte makes it into the books store either. It is a suggestion that they may, and trust me I have looked for some of my favorite mid-list authors in major bookstores only to come up empty handed.

What he seems to be doing here is noble and I will support them for that endeavor. Good luck to Gauthier Publications and may best-sellers soon be in your catalog.

Click to expand...

Distribution may not guarantee shelf space, but it gives you a hell of a better chance than without it. I'm disappointed that it's the one question Gauthier hasn't yet answered, because it really does make a world of difference to writers considering them.

Unimportant said:

MJR, aren't Follett, BWI, Brodart, and Diamond Comics distributors? (If so, they have answered the question.)

Click to expand...

That I have no idea, whether they're distributors or warehouse. Someone like priceless1 might know better than I. But if those just mean someone could request a book and the order is filled, not necessarily that titles are actively being pitched then I'd like to know who is pitching titles. Does Gauthier have a sales team or do they use someone else's?