Bucks County Publishing

One thing in their favor is that they do have a decent bookstore discount/return policy and claim to have books in a handful of bookstores in PA, NJ, and MD. So they are trying to market print books in bookstores, which is not the case with Musa, at least, which is e-only.

They are closed for submissions anyway.

+ website aimed at readers, not writings
+ niche, both in genre and writers (Pennsylvania and New Jersey writers only)
+ available in bookshops relevant to that niche
+ 40% on net, where net is defined as proceeds from retailers (no production costs etc)
+ well spaced release schedule; not an author mill

I can't figure out precisely how long they've been around, but it's since at least January 2013 (and their first blog post isn't a "ta-dah" but appears to be similar to the rest, suggesting the blog's been running longer but older posts have been lost). LinkedIn suggests they've been about since 2010, so any teething problems should be over and done with.

- covers are so-so
- the use of light blue for links on their website makes some of the text unreadable, plus the menu at the bottom is a bit of a mess on my screen
- no information about the staff on the site. Digging online reveals Bruce Satre is CEO as well as an author. With only four authors on the rosta, I wouldn't be surprised if there was more overlap between staff and writers.

Considering the nicheness of the press, the fact it's only got four authors after three years in business (and the CEO is one of them) and they fact they're not accepting submissions, I'd say this is a small press with a touch of co-op to it, created for specific writers to sell their books to specific shops

Unless you're a horror/thriller writer in New Jersey or Pennsylvania who wants to sell primarily to readers in NJ/Penn, this press probably isn't worth pursuing until international and national publishers have been eliminated. If you're anyone else, it's probably not relevant anyway!

Another data point:

The only review for the book dondomat linked to was -- ta-dah! -- written by Bruce Satre. There's no disclaimer, nothing to indicate he is directly involved in the production of the book.

kellion92 said:

One thing in their favor is that they do have a decent bookstore discount/return policy and claim to have books in a handful of bookstores in PA, NJ, and MD. So they are trying to market print books in bookstores

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Are you sure?

From their "about" page:

Bookstores:
Please contact us about bulk order discounts. We are happy to work alongside independent bookstores and create relationships the benefit both the store and our authors! We can discount orders as small as 5 books!

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This doesn't state what discount they give, and if they don't discount enough then they won't get into many bookshops even if they do accept returns.

Please Note: that all books ordered are returnable as long as they are returned in-tact and in a salable condition (ie: no cover stripping or marking).

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Bookshops routinely return books which are not saleable due to shelf damage, so this condition is not helpful.

They go on to list seven bookshops which currently hold their books. Seven is not a high number.

(Also, "in-tact"? I'd hope for better from a publisher.)

They don't appear to have distribution, which means their sales will be very restricted.

What can they offer you that you can't get for yourself through self publishing? Not much, I think.