American distributor problems

Richard Falk · Feb 16, 2012

Sorry if I've posted this in the wrong place, but I couldn't really find an appropriate forum for this issue.

Basically, I'm having problems with the American distribution of my novel Warp. The US distributor that normally handles my publisher, MP Publishing/Macadam Cage, has point-blank refused to touch it because of the very controversial and blasphemous content, so it's not reaching book shelves in America and is selling very sluggishly via Amazon as an import.

One solution would be to rewrite it to tone down or remove the blasphemous sections, but neither I nor my editor wish to do that, so we've decided to place Warp with a different distributor.

Does anybody here know a good American distributor that likes left-field novels and isn't afraid of courting controversy?

LStein · Feb 16, 2012

Try Bookazine. They're a small distributor and I doubt they would be put off by blasphemy. http://www.bookazine.com/
I have a bookstore and I prefer to use them when I can over the huge wholesalers, Ingram and Baker & Taylor.

Perseus is also supposed to be good: http://www.perseusdistribution.com/

Consortium is good and works with independent publishers:
http://www.cbsd.com/

Hope that's helpful.

Richard Falk · Feb 16, 2012

That's exceptionally helpful, thank you. I'll pass these names on to my editor in the morning.

LStein · Feb 17, 2012

So glad I could help! I hope you find a place for your book!

IceCreamEmpress · Feb 18, 2012

Oh! How frustrating for you! I am actually a bit shocked to hear that a distributor would give a small press as large and as highly respected as Macadam/Cage such a hard time over a book's content.

I don't know who distributes Prometheus/Pyr, but you might contact them to ask; they are a small press that publishes a lot of skeptical and atheist non-fiction (as well as science fiction and health writing and various other things).

Old Hack · Feb 19, 2012

Mr Falk, I'm surprised that you're having to ask this question. Surely your publisher should know about distribution, and be able to handle this properly for you? It seems to me like a publishing problem, and not like something a writer with a good trade press should have to handle.

IceCreamEmpress said:
I am actually a bit shocked to hear that a distributor would give a small press as large and as highly respected as Macadam/Cage such a hard time over a book's content.

Me too. It sounds very odd. But then I note that Mr Falk didn't say he was pubilshed by Macadam/Cage:

Richard Falk said:
my publisher, MP Publishing/Macadam Cage

These are two separate publishers, surely? Here's MP Publishing's website, and here's the Macadam/Cage website.

On MP Publishing's "about" page it states,

MP Publishing was founded on the Isle of Man in 2008 as an aggregator to small and mid-size publishers wishing to enter the world of electronic books. After acquiring and distributing more than four hundred e-book titles, publisher Mark Pearce decided to turn an eye to launching original titles both in electronic format and by conventional means. In 2010, MP Publishing released it’s first original title, Don’t Quit Your Day Job, a SIBA award finalist edited by Sonny Brewer.

On Macadam/Cage's "about" page it states,

The company is based in San Francisco. David Poindexter is publisher and Sonny Brewer is Editor-in-Chief.

I'm probably missing something major here--I need more tea--but these look like separate companies to me, with Mr Brewer working for one and editing an anthology for another.

Mr Falk, just out of curiousity is your book being published in print by Macadam/Cage and in electronic form by MP Publishing? Or is it with MP Publishing for all rights?

Old Hack · Feb 19, 2012

And now I'm really confused: Amazon.com lists Warp as being published by Gazelle Distribution!

I'm sure there's a simple explanation for this but I can't work it out.

LStein · Feb 19, 2012

Richard, what ever happened?

Warp is available from one of my distributors, Baker & Taylor. But I never order books from England because my discount isn't as good and they take so long to get here. But it is listed. Just thought I'd let you know what it looked like from this side of the counter.

IceCreamEmpress · Feb 19, 2012

Oo, good catch, Old Hack!

Now I am even more confused. I had assumed from Richard's first post that the book was published by MP Publishing in the UK and Macadam/Cage in North America, but I am not seeing where "Gazelle Distribution" is even coming into the whole thing.

Publishers Weekly says that MP Publishing's distributor is Publishers Group West (PGW), which has certainly distributed plenty of highly controversial books in its day. Macadam/Cage used to be distributed by PGW, but apparently no longer is (it doesn't appear on their list of clients). It's not clear from their website whether they're self-distributing or exactly what.

Richard, I think you're either getting garbled information or passing on garbled information to us, because this doesn't exactly add up.

Richard Falk · Feb 19, 2012

Apologies for the tardy reply: I’d been concentrating on my other thread (over at “Ask the Agent”) and not this one. To follow up on some of the points made:

Old Hack said:
But then I note that Mr Falk didn't say he was pubilshed by Macadam/Cage:

These are two separate publishers, surely?

As I’ve just explained over on the other thread, MP Publishing started out as an Isle of Man-based trade press with responsibility for issuing electronic versions of Macadam/Cage’s catalogue. More recently, they have taken on quite a number of Macadam/Cage’s former senior staff to launch a San Francisco office; the two businesses are very closely intertwined, but remain under separate ownership at the time of writing.

Old Hack said:
Mr Falk, just out of curiousity is your book being published in print by Macadam/Cage and in electronic form by MP Publishing? Or is it with MP Publishing for all rights?

My contract is with MP Publishing in the Isle of Man, governed by Manx law.

Old Hack said:
And now I'm really confused: Amazon.com lists Warp as being published by Gazelle Distribution!

I'm sure there's a simple explanation for this but I can't work it out.

I think — although I’m far from certain — that MP’s paper catalogue in the States was distributed by Gazelle before they switched to MPW. I’m now being informed that MPW wants nothing to do with the distribution of Warp.

LStein said:
Richard, what ever happened?

This is a very good question, as a number of responders here have suggested that it is not PGW’s normal practice to exclude client publishers’ books from their catalogue on the grounds of content.

IceCreamEmpress said:
Oo, good catch, Old Hack!

Now I am even more confused. I had assumed from Richard's first post that the book was published by MP Publishing in the UK and Macadam/Cage in North America, but I am not seeing where "Gazelle Distribution" is even coming into the whole thing.

Hopefully I’ve clarified the situation, and thanks to Old Hack for her assistance. If not, feel free to ask for any further details.

Author Girl · Aug 15, 2016

Abandon All Hope All Authors That Enter MP Publishing

Even though Mark Pearce (pictured below), President of MP Publishing, received a grant from the Isle of Man (where MP is based) to set up shop in the United States, his entire San Francisco staff of editors and publicists quit in protest in 2014 over Pearce’s refusal to pay bills, return phone calls or answer email. Pearce attempted to continue publishing with a series of production assistants on the Isle of Man, but they all quit over similar issues in 2015.

Mark Pearce is that rare breed of publisher that actively sabotages his authors' efforts via repeated/unexplained launch delays, a refusal to respond to author email or phone queries, unfulfilled marketing promises, and a refusal to publicize or promote MP’s books - thus assuring that MP books will wither on the vine. Mark Pearce has no business plan nor desire to obtain one, no clue how to market books nor inclination to rectify that fact, no staff, and his website and Facebook page are embarrassingly out of date. In addition, Pearce adamantly opposes paying advances or royalties on time, that is, if he gets around to paying them at all.

MartinD · Aug 19, 2016

Author Girl said:
Even though Mark Pearce (pictured below), President of MP Publishing, received a grant from the Isle of Man (where MP is based) to set up shop in the United States, his entire San Francisco staff of editors and publicists quit in protest in 2014 over Pearce’s refusal to pay bills, return phone calls or answer email. Pearce attempted to continue publishing with a series of production assistants on the Isle of Man, but they all quit over similar issues in 2015.

Mark Pearce is that rare breed of publisher that actively sabotages his authors' efforts via repeated/unexplained launch delays, a refusal to respond to author email or phone queries, unfulfilled marketing promises, and a refusal to publicize or promote MP’s books - thus assuring that MP books will wither on the vine. Mark Pearce has no business plan nor desire to obtain one, no clue how to market books nor inclination to rectify that fact, no staff, and his website and Facebook page are embarrassingly out of date. In addition, Pearce adamantly opposes paying advances or royalties on time, that is, if he gets around to paying them at all.

That sounds dire. Are you speaking from personal experience?

Kidlitfan · Aug 8, 2017

I concur

Author Girl said:
Even though Mark Pearce (pictured below), President of MP Publishing, received a grant from the Isle of Man (where MP is based) to set up shop in the United States, his entire San Francisco staff of editors and publicists quit in protest in 2014 over Pearce’s refusal to pay bills, return phone calls or answer email. Pearce attempted to continue publishing with a series of production assistants on the Isle of Man, but they all quit over similar issues in 2015.

Mark Pearce is that rare breed of publisher that actively sabotages his authors' efforts via repeated/unexplained launch delays, a refusal to respond to author email or phone queries, unfulfilled marketing promises, and a refusal to publicize or promote MP’s books - thus assuring that MP books will wither on the vine. Mark Pearce has no business plan nor desire to obtain one, no clue how to market books nor inclination to rectify that fact, no staff, and his website and Facebook page are embarrassingly out of date. In addition, Pearce adamantly opposes paying advances or royalties on time, that is, if he gets around to paying them at all.

Your message is eerily familiar to others experience with Mr. Pearce. Having been in touch with several authors, what you have outlined is the rule rather than the exception. MP Publishing is also in arrears with the Companies Registry on the Isle of Man, having been in default in filing their annual return and paying fees for years. They should have been struck from the registry in August 2016, January of 2017 and most recently 18 July 2017. This would have dissolved the company. That said, the IOM Income Tax Division (of the Treasury) has filed an objection to keep the company on the Registry so that they might be able to collect back taxes owed by Mr. Pearce. If the Registry were to strike them off, authors' literary rights would automatically revert to them. As it is, Mr. Pearce refuses to return rights to authors even though he fails to exploit them. Rumor has it that in one case, an author was told that they could buy their rights back for about $200,000 even though they were earning far less than $100/year at the time!

Ari Meermans · Aug 8, 2017

Hi, Kidlitfan. Welcome to AW. Please take a moment to introduce yourself in our New Members room; we'd like to get to know you.

This thread was originally opened in 2012 and the OP's questions must surely have been resolved by now. If you have current information regarding MP Publishing together with citations, you're welcome to post it in our Bewares, Recommendations & Background Check room.

Closing this thread now.

American distributor problems

Richard Falk

Author of "Warp"

LStein

figuring it all out

Richard Falk

Author of "Warp"

LStein

figuring it all out

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

LStein

figuring it all out

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

Richard Falk

Author of "Warp"

Author Girl

MartinD

Thought I'd stop by

Kidlitfan

Ari Meermans

MacAllister's Official Minion & Greeter