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Flame Tree Publishing / Flame Tree 451

az shea

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A friend of mine was published by Flame Tree Publishing, so I looked them up... and found they've an imprint, Flame Tree 451. The latter's for sf/f/h ebooks.

FTP suggests you read about them on Wikipedia. That's a first -- at least for me. 8)

Flame Tree isn't listed by P-E (yes, I know, I saw the triple rhyme there; sorry).

When I found the Flame Tree 451 subs file, it wouldn't load, unlike their submissions page. Anyone here involved with this imprint? Or the main publisher?

FYI: I did recognize a few authors who were published by Electric Velocipede (I was staff at EV). And of course the classic authors they're reprinting--

I have a few thoughts about FT 451's WordPress pages, but I'll let everyone else give 'em a look first, eh?
 

aleighrose

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The fact that their ebooks aren't listed anywhere on the site that I can see concerns me. Also their site could use some editing. On the plus side, they've been around since 1992 and are still in business, so...that's something.
 

az shea

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The fact that their ebooks aren't listed anywhere on the site that I can see concerns me. Also their site could use some editing. On the plus side, they've been around since 1992 and are still in business, so...that's something.

Yeah, the editing lack concerned me. I can't recall if WordPress has a spellcheck inside, but I'm a bit wary of an editor who tosses a webpage online without looking it over.

It's an indicator of what he may be like to work with, frankly. 8(

The ebooks I cannot speak for; the book my friend's in is on the main FTP site. Which is also somewhat screwy. Making it harder for customers to find the books for sale... why do that??

WRT business, they may sell direct to libraries. If so, then they don't worry about making things easy for the average person because that's not their client base (Yes, I'm sure you can read my thought balloons about that, so 'nuff said.).

Anyway, these reasons made me uncomfortable, so I didn't send a freelance work query to 'em. YMMV, of course.
 

mrsmig

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I got a Twitter follow today from Flame Tree Press, which is apparently a new division of Flame Tree Publishing set to launch in September 2018. The website looks pretty slick, although I must admit to being somewhat put off by their stable of all-male, all-white authors - the company could really stand to diversify.

Don D'Auria (formerly of Samhain) is Executive Editor and looks to be in charge of submissions, although I couldn't find any submission info on the site.
 

shadowsminder

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SFWA lists Flame Tree Publishing as a qualifying publisher of anthologies. I was surprised when I first saw them in the list. I feel as if I'd read about Flame Tree mishandling authors but can't remember where.

Duotrope lists the Flame Tree Press imprint and a current anthology without any advisory notes against them. Maybe I mixed them up with another publisher?

What did your friend say about publishing with them? I am considering submitting to their Haunted House anthology. I could let you all know in three months about my experience. :)

http://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/short-story-submissions-haunted-house-cosy-crime
 
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NonieMaus

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I have a story in their upcoming Lost Souls anthology. They pay pro rates and pay promptly. I've already received payment, though the anthology isn't due to be published until September. Prior to this, I submitted numerous stories and was rejected numerous times but even their rejections were nice and encouraging. I plan to submit again in the future.
 

JohnstonMR

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Flame Tree does have some female authors coming in 2019, such as Catherine Cavendish and Megan Hart. Hopefully there will be others! Right now, they are pushing hard on their first few months' books and authors. I signed in May 2018 for my debut, coming out in March 2019, and was paid the first part of the advance promptly. They pay US authors a little extra above the contracted amount to help defray any extra costs or US/UK exchange rate shenanigans.

Don D'Auria has been absolutely wonderful to work with so far. They recently fixed the submissions page.
 

writera

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I would also be interested in any updates or info on this publisher.
 
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writera

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Mafiaking, did you accept the offer or find out any more? Any more info from anyone else?
 

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They appear to be also part of the "midlister drift to indies" of the past years; they're publishing one of the best novels (The Hungry Moon) of possibly the most awarded living horror novelist (Ramsey Campbell): https://www.flametreepublishing.com/The-Hungry-Moon-ISBN-9781787582026.html
Samhain also published Campbell and still perished, but that's neither here nor there. I hear Samhain were quite OK while they lasted, as were Dark Fuse.
 
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mafiaking1936

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Mafiaking, did you accept the offer or find out any more? Any more info from anyone else?

Okay, so here's the deal. Literally two days before I got the offer I also got an offer of representation from a literary agent at a fledgling agency. Their default contract wasn't acceptable to me (or anyone I asked in the ask the agents subforum) so I had a phone conversation about the changes I want made. I was waiting to hear back from him before responding to the pub offer but the editor's been poking me by email and twitter, so I hope I don't lose both opportunities by waffling too long...
 

mafiaking1936

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Would you be willing to share more info about the offer - advance, etc. - and what your issues with the contract were? (Or by PM?) I understand if you'd rather not.

Also, is the offer big enough that you could contact other agents now with that offer? That might be an idea for you rather than waiting for the other agent, to see if some agents (UK or US) might be interested in taking you on with your offer from Flame Tree Press.

Sure, I wasn't sent the actual contract but here is a copypaste of what I was sent:


[Redacted out of an overabundance of caution]


I don't expect to make much if any money from this, but I do want the best editing, cover art and distribution I can get, so the numbers don't mean all that much to me. I wanna see my book on a store shelf! Whoever can get me that wins :cool:

Oh I forgot, the agency contract. The main issue I had was a clause where I had to cover their overhead expenses:

Author shall be responsible for all costs and expenses related to [AGENCY]’s
efforts to pursue publication of the Work (“Expenses”). Such Expenses may include,
but are not limited to, photocopying, postage, and travel expenses. Such Expenses will
be incurred in [AGENCY]’s sole discretion; provided, however, that (i) [AGENCY] shall not incur
travel expenses without prior approval of Author and (ii) Expenses shall not exceed
five hundred dollars ($500.00) without prior approval of Author. In the event that
Author is unavailable or that [AGENCY] believes it is reasonably necessary, [AGENCY] may, in
[AGENCY]’s sole discretion, advance funds to cover Expenses. Author shall reimburse
[AGENCY] for any advanced funds within thirty (30) days after [AGENCY] notifies Author of the
occurrence of an advance.

That was a hard no from me. This behavior is explicitly cited as abusive on the SFWA website Writer Beware section. It was apparently a default contract and the agent had no part in writing it, so he said he would get a revised contract to me by the end of the week. Which was yesterday.
 
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writera

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Congrats on the offer, by the way!

Re: the agency contract. I'm glad you reviewed it beforehand. I wish I had when signing with my former agent, who had language in there that indicated, if I ever sold my book to another publisher they'd submitted ANY version to, they're entitled to negotiate a cut with me - and there was no cap date. I didn't know any better back when I signed it. That was several years ago, the book has been completely rewritten, and I've begun submitting it to agents and publishers again. But considering my former agent sent it to so many publishers (only half of whom apparently received it), I expect if I do manage to get a deal for this book, they'll come out of the word work to look for money. So kudos to you for balking at a term in an agreement. I wish I had spent more time reviewing mine back then.
 
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mafiaking1936

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No problem. I have no idea if these are good terms or not since I've never been offered a contract before, so I really don't know about negotiating a better deal. The agency contract has a 15% commission in it, pretty standard.
 

writera

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Have you tried contacting other agents (particularly UK agents) with this offer in hand? I think that might be a good idea.
 

mafiaking1936

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Have you tried contacting other agents (particularly UK agents) with this offer in hand? I think that might be a good idea.

No, this all happened in the last week or so. Plus I think I've already queried every possible agent. I'm also in the middle of a move and job change right now so my plate's a bit full. But I admit it's a good problem to have!
 

writera

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Might be a good idea to query a handful of UK agents with this offer in hand, maybe a few US ones too. If the agent thinks the offer is too low, they might not be interested. I'm not sure how big an advance they'd want to see to offer rep but I imagine it would need to be fairly high (someone here can chime in about that). But I still think it might be worth letting a few agents know about this offer. All they can do is say no if they're not interested. And you could just let the ones you've already queried know you got this offer and see what they say. But again not sure how big the offer would have to be to interest them. I'd say it's worth a shot letting some of them know. The only other thing I would add is be wary of any agent who jumps on the offer if you think the offer is low. But if you're letting agents who are legit know, it shoudn't be a problem, and UK agents in particular will probably be familiar with this publisher.
 

triceretops

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The Flame Tree Publishing site keeps flickering on and off for me. It won't stop. Tech glitch? I tried the Flame 451 link and it gave notice that the site was temporarily unavailable. I'll try a straight Google hit and see what happens.

Rather uncommon for a smaller press to pay an advance like that, but it's certainly not outside the realm if they have been active since 1992. So that's a plus. Their Wiki page could have been created by one of the staff and positively puffed up a bit. But I've never seen pub houses refer you to their Wiki page. Predominately all white, male authors? Now that just plain doesn't happen unless there is something screwy with the acceptance policy or the acquisition arm. As said before, I can't even get into the website.

In all honesty, I'm attracted to the advance. I sure would like to check out their genres and catalogue and get some kind of a brief bio them, or a staff list--experience etc...

I mark this publisher as kind of Twilight Zone weird. They're out of the box in so many ways. I'll reserve judgment until I get inside the website.
 

mafiaking1936

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Ugh, of course if you click on any link that says flametreepublishing it goes back to the seizures. I'm also wondering what people think of their covers. To me they're not terrible, but not that great either.