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Common Deer Press
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Website: http://www.commondeerpress.com/
The site looks decent and none of the text raises red flags (at least not with me); however, there also isn't much information to go off of.
Their Twitter and Facebook pages were both started on February 28th of this year, so they are a new press.
I checked their Facebook page and they've posted a PW announcement of a novelette being bought by Ellie Sipila of Common Deer Press. I went to Ellie Sipila's Twitter page and she states that she's a senior editor for Book Fish Books. I checked out the Book Fish Books site and they seem to have no affiliation with Common Deer Press. Ellie Sipila's Twitter feed also doesn't mention Common Deer Press.
I found a page for them at Publishers Marketplace, where Ellie Sipila is listed as the acquisitions editor: https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/CommonDeerPress/. The page states "We are experienced editors, designers, production managers, and marketers", but it's not clear who "We" are. So far, Ellie Sipila is the only person I've found to be associated with the Press. The page also has her name specifically listed as the page title, above the press's name at the top. Right now, she appears to be the only member of the organization and the information leads me to believe she heads the company. With that being the case, it's weird she hasn't mentioned it on any of her social media accounts.
Overall, this looks like it could be a cool press, but so far there is too little information to tell. I would want to know who else is a part of the operation before submitting anything to them.
The site looks decent and none of the text raises red flags (at least not with me); however, there also isn't much information to go off of.
Their Twitter and Facebook pages were both started on February 28th of this year, so they are a new press.
I checked their Facebook page and they've posted a PW announcement of a novelette being bought by Ellie Sipila of Common Deer Press. I went to Ellie Sipila's Twitter page and she states that she's a senior editor for Book Fish Books. I checked out the Book Fish Books site and they seem to have no affiliation with Common Deer Press. Ellie Sipila's Twitter feed also doesn't mention Common Deer Press.
I found a page for them at Publishers Marketplace, where Ellie Sipila is listed as the acquisitions editor: https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/CommonDeerPress/. The page states "We are experienced editors, designers, production managers, and marketers", but it's not clear who "We" are. So far, Ellie Sipila is the only person I've found to be associated with the Press. The page also has her name specifically listed as the page title, above the press's name at the top. Right now, she appears to be the only member of the organization and the information leads me to believe she heads the company. With that being the case, it's weird she hasn't mentioned it on any of her social media accounts.
Overall, this looks like it could be a cool press, but so far there is too little information to tell. I would want to know who else is a part of the operation before submitting anything to them.
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Yikes, I hadn't noticed that. Doesn't that mean she bought her own book? Definite red flag.
Experimental would mean, low advance or none, I guess. Kayley, can you elaborate on the red flag? Would it mean they're an outfit that would charge the writer? Also, do you know anything about her other outlet, Book Fish Books?
The red flag is that the editor/owner of the press purchased her own book under a pseudonym and didn't disclose the connection. In the case of the PM announcement I mentioned, the author and editor are the same person but are being represented as two separate people.
The announcement in question:
Kat Hawthorne and Ellie Sipila are the same person.
This deception doesn't mean the firm is a vanity press; there isn't enough information to justify that conclusion. The act doesn't speak well to the firm's integrity, however.
I don't know anything about Book Fish Books except that Ellie Sipila is an editor there.
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Common Deer Press faved one of my pitches during #PitDark on Twitter. So, I did a little more digging. I found this interview here where she said she also owned Move To The Write (her editing service business) where she stated she'd previously worked for the Canadian company Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited. According to her "About Me" page on Move To The Write, she worked in editorial in the Children's Department, ironically called "Red Deer Press". (Seems she likes deer.) So, it looks like her background as an editor is strong but we may have to wait to see how she pulls things off as a publisher. It's a shame she started out misleading folks about her book pubbed under a pen name to seem like a different author instead of her own book. However, in the interview I linked above, she openly admits it. Still, this might be a wait and see thing.
Anyone subbed and been offered rep to know what her contract holds? Advances? Marketing? Etc.
Anyone subbed and been offered rep to know what her contract holds? Advances? Marketing? Etc.
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I’ve signed a contract with Common Deer Press (CDP) for the first three books of my MAGIC CIRCLES series of novels. MOM, the first of them, has just launched (5 April 2017); Genesis 2.0 is coming out 5 Oct. 2017; and the third, which I’m working on now, is scheduled for Oct. of 2018. www.commondeerpress.com
CDP’s terms – given how new they are and how offbeat my stories, not to mention how difficult the prevailing market – are quite generous. I consider them an expression of passionate confidence in the books, and my signing of the contracts in turn expresses my own confidence in CDP. I’m pleased to be working together with them to our mutual advantage.
What readership niche are they targeting? In principle, they’ll consider books from any genre that appeal to any reader demographic. But these books have to satisfy two criteria: they should be well written, and they mustn’t seem too familiar. CDP mean to establish a list of very readable surprises.
CDP believes that plenty of real readers still survive out there in the wild. People who don’t suffer massive attention deficits. People who aren’t afraid to trust their own judgment. People who like to engage with original and well-told stories that just might change the way they see things forever after.
CDP’s terms – given how new they are and how offbeat my stories, not to mention how difficult the prevailing market – are quite generous. I consider them an expression of passionate confidence in the books, and my signing of the contracts in turn expresses my own confidence in CDP. I’m pleased to be working together with them to our mutual advantage.
What readership niche are they targeting? In principle, they’ll consider books from any genre that appeal to any reader demographic. But these books have to satisfy two criteria: they should be well written, and they mustn’t seem too familiar. CDP mean to establish a list of very readable surprises.
CDP believes that plenty of real readers still survive out there in the wild. People who don’t suffer massive attention deficits. People who aren’t afraid to trust their own judgment. People who like to engage with original and well-told stories that just might change the way they see things forever after.
