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Parliament House Press

Marissa D

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Parliament House Press

I didn't see a previous thread for this one (if there is, I'm sorry for the duplicate!)...they've been posting deals on Publisher's Marketplace the last few weeks, so I was curious. Looks like they opened doors in 2016. Their focus is on fantasy--their website seems reasonably professional looking (at least it's mostly grammatical, unlike some small publishers' sites I've seen, and is focused on their books, not on submissions.) Covers on their published books aren't bad...but according to their "About Us" this appears to be another publisher made up of authors (and some of their books for sale are by staff.) On the other hand, they actually seem to be reaching out to booksellers to try to move print sales, and to do some promotion for their authors. Will be interested to watch them over the next year or two.
 

mrsmig

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Parliament House Press

I didn't see a previous thread for this one (if there is, I'm sorry for the duplicate!)...they've been posting deals on Publisher's Marketplace the last few weeks, so I was curious. Looks like they opened doors in 2016. Their focus is on fantasy--their website seems reasonably professional looking (at least it's mostly grammatical, unlike some small publishers' sites I've seen, and is focused on their books, not on submissions.) Covers on their published books aren't bad...but according to their "About Us" this appears to be another publisher made up of authors (and some of their books for sale are by staff.) On the other hand, they actually seem to be reaching out to booksellers to try to move print sales, and to do some promotion for their authors. Will be interested to watch them over the next year or two.

Man, I hate seeing language like this under submissions:

[FONT=avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496]Your query letter should include your word count, summary of your novel, your social media and contact information, as well as a short description of your marketing plans. (We design extensive marketing plans around each project we accept including ads and press releases, but we also expect the author to work as hard as we do!)[/FONT]
[FONT=avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496]

[/FONT]​
The authors already did their work: they wrote the books. The marketing, PR and so forth is what the publisher does, along with editing, cover design, distribution, etc. It's how they earn their percentage of sales.

Okay, now that's out of the way: it's a slick website and their covers are nice. They don't seem to have published much this far, but have about 20 books scheduled for release this year. One, by founder Shayne Leighton, was released 1/1/18 but listed as "unavailable" in paperback. The ebook version is on sale, along with other new releases, for 99 cents. Make of that what you will.

I dunno - like Marissa D, I'd watch this one for a year or so.

[FONT=avenir-lt-w01_35-light1475496]
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VeryBigBeard

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You know, I don't really care how many books the editing team have written themselves, nor which Harry Potter "house" each is affiliated with. I care how many books they've edited.

It seems like a very young operation in general. A lot of the team seem to be former authors with 48fourteen, a small romance publisher that would also like you to buy their mousepads.

Oddly, a number of the editing staff list experience in film or TV production, which is cool but completely irrelevant. The site seems to emphasize the creation of book trailers, which is also cool but completely irrelevant.
 

Lakini

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I signed with them, and they've been fantastic so far. I know they're new, but every member of the team is approachable and responsive. They're a small pub, so marketing funding is limited, but they're upfront about it, and they recently hired a marketing person to work with each author on individual plans. And yes, most of the staff are writers themselves, but that doesn't keep them from bending over backwards to help me and make sure I've got the resources I need. I've seen nothing shady or duplicitous out of them so far. Shayne went over every single question I posed in detail before I signed.

I'm early in the process, having just received my first round of edits, so I'll check back and update everyone when I've worked with them more, but so far, they've exceeded my realistic expectations of a small press. They're passionate about every one of their writers, and I'm excited that they're growing. As far as sales go, we'll just have to wait and see.

I hope that some of the authors farther into the process come and leave their experiences here too since everyone I've spoken with (and we're all in a FB group) seems very happy so far.
 
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mrsmig

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Thanks for stopping by, Lakini, and please do keep us updated on your progress with the press.
 

VeryBigBeard

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My big question--aside from how the book sells, which obviously you can't say for sure yet, though I wish you all the best--is whether that marketing plan is an actual marketing plan. I.e., what access does the publisher give you that you couldn't have for yourself? What a marketing plan is not is setting up an Amazon page, social media pages, and a blast on the newsletter they are very, very eager to get me to sign up for. Where are they sending ARCs? Do they have a catalogue (not thatI can find)? Do they send press releases to literary outlets and trade publications? Do they get books stocked by libraries and stores?

That's the stuff that will sell books. Not social media. None of those things above require much in the way of funds, just expertise. The focus on funds makes me worry they don't know enough to know that large-scale book advertising isn't particularly effective for small press books.

But, given the founder, Shayne, is also the co-founder of Machovi Productions, a PR/content company specializing in graphic design and "viral email marketing" (that's PR-lingo for spam, folks), my hopes would not be high that Ms. Leighton has any idea at all how to promote effectively, let alone market a book (that is, how to get a book to its market). The Machovi email marketing service page actually lists forum spamming as an effective way to grow an email list. Egads.

There is a certain amount of promotion an author might do on social media, with some help from a publisher. Giveaways, etc., sure. Without a strong marketing foundation, that won't matter beyond a handful of sales to friends and acquaintances. The question that marketing plan needs to answer is "how are people who don't know me and don't care about me going to find out about this book?" If the answer amounts to any form of "they'll see a social media post/ad/widget" then ask yourself when was the last time you bought a book because you saw a random Facebook ad?

Just for fun, I plugged a couple of Parliament House's books into Amazon. It's curious--there are some quite decent sales for some of their recent titles, at least going by Amazon (which does tend to have a recency bias). What caught me, though, is that some of their titles have next to no reviews at all and and zero sales while others have loads. My guess, based on the language in their sub guidelines, is that some of their authors are doing a really great job self-promoting, reaching out to indie book bloggers and getting reviews. And indeed, most of their blurbs are either from the book's editor (!!!!) or from indie blogs. There's nothing wrong with that as a sales strategy if it's working, but I'm also not totally convinced it's a strategy an effective self-publisher couldn't use on her own while taking in a much larger cut of likely the same sales.

The question with small presses should always, always be "what can this press do for its royalty cut that I can't do myself?" Responsiveness and friendliness is great, and I wish Lakini all the best, but this is a business and I don't care how nice they are, I care what they bring to the negotiating table.


(Also, in the curiouser and curiouser category, one of PH's recent publications is also published by--and indeed still available on--our good friends Inkitt, the prolific spammy display site. So kinda curious to know how Parliament House handles rights, as indeed why would anyone buy the book when it's available for free on Inkitt, notwithstanding Inkitt having plagiarized it, which I'm not willing to rule out?)
 

Brigid Barry

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Any updates on these folks? They're still up and running and open to queries. They've moved to Query Manager, with no request for a marketing plan, but they wanted the first 20 pages (or whatever chapter ending was closest) attached as a word document. No silly questions about what Harry Potter house you belong in either.
 

VeryBigBeard

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Well, they made Writer Beware last spring. Nice to see them moving up to the bigs after such a long career in the minors.

From that, there are all kinds of red flags. Suffice it to say, stable businesses generally don't need to re-incorporate (nor is just "dissolving" existing contracts something you can do by cancelling your registry with Joint Stocks).

Victoria Strauss said:
As for author complaints, they primarily focused on weak editing and marketing. Although troubling, there weren’t enough of them to really establish a pattern.
Writer Beware deals mainly with major stuff--exploitative contracts, bullshit ethics clauses, etc. An absence of big-league catastrophes (or intent to remedy them) doesn't make for a good publisher. There needs to be something they can do for you that you can't.

Speaking of which, they're no longer listed on their distributor's list of publishers.
 
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Brigid Barry

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This looked like a laundry list of "before" issues before turnover to a new CEO
I’ve seen the revised contract that’s being offered to authors who are continuing with PHP. Much of it is the same as the old contract, but there are improvements, including clearer royalties language, better print royalties, a more sensible payment schedule (quarterly rather than monthly), and the removal of the auto-renew provision. The early termination fee is still included, but I’ve been assured this is an oversight and will be remedied (see below).


I reached out to new CEO Malorie Nilsen for comment. In the Q&A below, she describes how she is working to address the many issues and complaints detailed above, and her plans for moving forward in a way that will avoid the mistakes of the past. To fix problems, you first have to acknowledge them, and the new PHP seems to be taking that important first step.
So I didn't think it worth mentioning that I read how bad they were before the leadership changed. The new CEO also added a list of marketing promises that seem standard to my untrained eye.

It might be the heat, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what this meant?
they're no longer listed on their distributor's list of publishers
 

VeryBigBeard

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Speaking of which, they're no longer listed on their distributor's list of publishers.
It might be the heat, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what this meant?
As in, if I go on the Independent Publishers Group, they offer a list of all their publishers, and PHP is not on it. (Unless I missed it. It's a long list, small, and blue.)

So I didn't think it worth mentioning that I read how bad they were before the leadership changed. The new CEO also added a list of marketing promises that seem standard to my untrained eye.
I am skeptical that it can change that much.

I may be overly cynical, but it is very, very difficult to turn around a publishing house. The skill set to manage it, IMO, would preclude anyone who got involved in such a company to begin with. I don't doubt the new CEO means well, and she may well be doing a much more professional job. That still doesn't make it a good publisher to sub to.
 
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This is an old thread, but here's my two cents.
I was one of their authors prior to the changes in management, after which my contract was terminated. So I know little of how things are going at the moment.

Anyway, the editors I worked with were stellar. Professional, encouraging, attentive -- I was so, so happy during the editing stage.
But then, they uploaded my book to stores and forgot to remove comments, notes and so on from the .doc file. Yes, I told them. And in reply I got "thanks for pointing that out, we'll fix it". But they didn't.
There were payment issues too, but at that point, it was basically a given.

The whole ordeal was pretty depressing, since that was supposed to be my international debut.
 

Brigid Barry

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The Bewares Threads are evergreen and your insight here is very valuable. Thank you for weighing in!

I subbed to an awful publisher who had a great editor on staff too. The rest of the situation was a mess but she was wonderful and I learned a lot.
 

mrsmig

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So many small publishers use freelance editors, and they're often quite good. The sad thing is, if you're not being paid on a timely basis (or at all), your great editor is likely in the very same boat. It was a huge heads-up to me when I discovered that the editor for my series had moved on because the publisher hadn't paid her for her last three projects.
 
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