Fee Packages/VIP Submission Schemes--what are your thoughts?

shelleyo

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Interview with Maureen Scott of Ether Books.

(as a side note: i'm not sure i agree with Ethers Books' payment scheme or the fee package they offer--but i do think they're tapping into a potential market well before most others)

ETA: interestingly, Smashwords has just today announced a similar scheme available to all its authors.

Money flows toward the writer. Publishers should make money from the sale of a product, not selling a service or a dream to writers. I realize they don't require a fee, which is good, but that they have the plan at all is a shame.

I firmly believe that pay-to-submit is skeezy, and their fee is quite high compared to other publications that unfortunately follow that model (in my experience). $40? Especially when it's accompanied by a phrase like we can have your work published in 2 weeks that makes it sound, particularly to a fairly green submitter, that paying 25 pounds or $40 buys publication in 2 weeks, which I don't think is the case. It's explained a little better down the page, but that's pretty misleading, IMO. I'm not saying it's intended to mislead, but it's a real shame that potential is there.

Shelley
 
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Izz

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Money flows toward the writer. Publishers should make money from the sale of a product, not selling a service or a dream to writers. I realize they don't require a fee, which is good, but that they have the plan at all is a shame.
Agree completely.

Especially when it's accompanied by a phrase like we can have your work published in 2 weeks that makes it sound, particularly to a fairly green submitter, that paying the fee means publication in 2 weeks, which I don't think is the case. It's explained a little better down the page, but that's pretty misleading, IMO. I'm not saying it's intended to mislead, but it's a real shame that potential is there.

Shelley
Also agree completely with this.

It's not a place i would personally submit to, but that's each writer's choice, i guess.
 

alexshvartsman

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I have absolutely no problem with them offering a "VIP" submission process for a fee.

They *do* offer free submissions, and their response time is not unreasonably long. For $40 you get 10 submissions fast-tracked (aka you get to skip to the front of the slush line) *and* you get personalized feedback. At $4 per submission, this may be well worth it to some people.

The real question is whether you want to submit your stories to an unproven publisher who will only pay you a 20% royalty share with no money upfront. If they are so sure about their business plan, why not pay a 5c/word advance against royalties?
 

shelleyo

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For $40 you get 10 submissions fast-tracked (aka you get to skip to the front of the slush line) *and* you get personalized feedback. At $4 per submission, this may be well worth it to some people.

I realize $4 doesn't sound like much, but they're getting it from submitters for something they would be doing anyway. I don't knock anyone who chooses to submit like that; I just don't understand it. I do think that most who will pay that (not all--most) are going to be the new and eager, most of whom don't know any better. And those who mistakenly think that the payment means publication.

Some places charge a $1 reading fee per submission or something, some charge a little more. I think this is the first time I've seen one that wants $40 up front. Why not just charge $4 for each submission as they come? Because $40 up front is better than $4.

The real question is whether you want to submit your stories to an unproven publisher who will only pay you a 20% royalty share with no money upfront. If they are so sure about their business plan, why not pay a 5c/word advance against royalties?

I would guess that the total for a story falls into the token payment range most of the time. Of course, that's just speculation. It's also solely speculation on my part to say that they don't pay up-front royalties against sold stories because they probably don't make that much on them and instead rely on the chunk of their income that comes from writers shelling out $40 at a time.

And if not, unfortunately that's the impression that their submission model gives.

Shelley
 

Izz

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New thread created!

I need some smoke pellets to create a better effect.
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Personally, i'm not a huge fan of offers like this. Reading fees, while i don't like them, can have a big hand in keeping a market running and able to pay contributors. Glimmer Train springs to mind. To be fair, though, i don't like the reading fee trend that seems to be overtaking the lit mag world.

In regards to this specific offer, which is not a reading fee, Ether Books' wording is (intentionally, i feel, but i could well be wrong) ambiguous, and new or naive writers will likely read it to mean they pay the fee they'll be published.

That aside, i'm always leery of any writing offer that promotes payment for special treatment. Reminds me too much of vanity presses for novel-length work.

In this case, the payment gets personal feedback. But who is it feedback from? Normally, i don't look especially at an editor's credentials, but in a case where money is being charged to get feedback from said editor(s), then it makes me want to know what qualifications/experience they have that i don't. It'll make a big difference to me if, say, the editor has won awards (editing, fiction) or has run a well-regarded zine, etc. If, on the other hand, the editor has no such credentials, then i ask myself why i'd pay them money to crit my work when i can get crit elsewhere without having to pay.

The real question is whether you want to submit your stories to an unproven publisher who will only pay you a 20% royalty share with no money upfront. If they are so sure about their business plan, why not pay a 5c/word advance against royalties?
Yes, definitely a big question. And if they did so, they'd attract well-known writers, which in turn would promote their brand. Any revenue-sharing or royalty-only short fiction ventures make the hair on my forearms stand up :D

While i definitely think the market they're trying to tap into is ripe for the picking, i'm not sure their model is the right way to go about doing so. Particularly as Smashwords has just signed an agreement (linked to in previous post) with ScrollMotion to do virtually the same thing, but at a 60% royalty to the writer.
 
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zanzjan

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People are going to do what people are going to do, but...

I don't like it.

1) Okay, yes, some markets are ridiculously slow. Some are not. Part of this game is learning patience, and learning how to move on and do other things rather than sit and obsess about your submissions.

2) If you're paying money to skip to the front of the queue, you're paying money to skip in front of someone else.

3) Will the non-paying submissions get less attention than they would if it was a level field? They are inherently less valuable to the market, and even if the market starts off well-intentioned, I don't know that I think it'll stay that way.

4) It sends the wrong message to newbie writers who are already prone to getting scammed, by setting that first foot on the slippery slope of the writer becoming the source of profit, rather than a recipient.

My $.02, anyway.

-Suzanne
 

Izz

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3) Will the non-paying submissions get less attention than they would if it was a level field? They are inherently less valuable to the market, and even if the market starts off well-intentioned, I don't know that I think it'll stay that way.
Yes. They could easily find themselves promoting and publishing inferior work just because it's come through the VIP-sub route, so as to justify its continued existence.