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[Pub svcs] Hydra Productions

eqb

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I did a quick review of their website and was dismayed by all the red flags. In no particular order:

1. Website is targeted to authors, not readers
2. No list of staff and their background in publishing
3. Loads of typos and grammar mistakes on their blog
4. They claim to offer trade publishing contracts as well as services for self-publishing, but offer almost no information about the trade publishing part of their business, and what little they do mention screams AMATEUR

I do not for one minute believe they are "in negotiations to become an imprint of Harper Collins."
 

mrsmig

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I had a quick look at the site, and immediately noticed these red flags:

1) The website is aimed toward authors. When you see this, the publisher is either (a) brand new, (b) clueless, or (c) makes its money not from the sales of books (as true trade publishers do), but by selling "services" to authors, hosting entry-fee based writing competitions, etc.

2) There's no staff page - no names, no bios, and no professional experience listed. In other words, there's no evidence that the people running this show know a thing about the publishing business.

3) The covers range from poor to fair. There's an amateurish quality about them.

That's just from a quick look. If you want to do more sleuthing, pick some of their books and have a look at them on Amazon. Look at the date they were published and their rankings.

Morgan, I keep wondering why you're wasting your time with these bottom-feeder organizations. Is there some reason why they appeal to you?
 

cornflake

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They want you to pay them to edit your ms. -- and they want you to pay them $300 for "full" editing, which they say is both developmental, line, and proofreading of a 100k-word manuscript. That's insane on a number of levels.
 

eqb

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I checked out one book on Amazon, and several reviews called out the *numerous* typos.

Seconding mrsmig's question about bottom-feeder publishers.
 

Maryn

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Not at all, Morgan. No respectable publisher should be issuing any books with so many typos reviewers remark upon it. It's a shameful thing, to have released into the market a book so not-ready. It speaks volumes about their professionalism, that they'd do that.

You seem to want to like these clearly-shady publishers. I don't understand why any writer would be actively working against his own best interests, seeking the very best publisher he can get, with a deserved reputation for quality.

The idea is that you start at the top, not the bottom.
 

CaoPaux

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And that'll be enough of that, thank you.
 

mrsmig

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That's absurdly cruel. Who said I was seeking them out? I thought we were meant to check out publishers, and that that was the point of this. No need for the personal attacks associated with it. Total jerkwad response there.

As it was me and not eqb who made the bottom-feeder remark, I feel I should respond.

I asked the question because in the short time you've been on AW, you've posted in the Dragon Soul Press and Creative Writing Institute threads as well as starting this one. In the Agents Charging Fees thread, you posted this:

There are no agents in Australia who will consider fantasy writing.

That being said, there is one agent who will take it anyway and, for $8,000, will publish it himself.

I'm not sure if that is a scam or not.

My question wasn't meant to be cruel, nor a personal attack, nor jerkwad behavior, and I apologize if it came across that way. I was genuinely curious why, out of all the publishers/publishing services/agents out there, these ones with blatantly questionable business practices are the ones you've commented on/asked about. I wondered what your criteria was in selecting them to research further. That's all.
 

Helix

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Hi guys. So I wanted to know if any of you have heard of a publisher called Hydra Productions, and whether they are legitimate or not.

https://www.hydraproductionsonline.com/

Hydra Publishing, for reference, are definitely legitimate, as they are listed on Penguin Random House's website as being their science fiction, horror and fantasy imprint.

Hydra Productions, according to their CEO (who I talked to), said that they are currently an independent publisher but aim to be an imprint for Harper Collins, but are yet to finish their negotiations.

I got the two mixed up at one stage, and thought that they were already an imprint of Penguin, but they corrected me and said that that was a different one and they are not at that stage yet.

As for my interactions with them, first off I wanted to go in some anthologies and ended up with two that are run by individual people, and then after a while they invited me to join Hydra Productions, which I did, and then the CEO of Hydra Productions, Raven, asked me what I was doing in her group, and was quite aggressive about it, but then I explained that I was with those anthologies, and I was sorry about that. We got to talking, and over about two hours the conversation led to me talking about my book, and she was quite curious about it and, while I didn't show the manuscript, she said that she'd probably be happy to publish it, if my other deals fall through, but we can deal with that situation later on if and when it happens.

I also talked to four of their authors and they all said that they were wonderful.

I just wanted to make sure that they are legit. I mean, I haven't signed anything but they do sound good, but are they too good to be true?



When someone says that they'd "probably be happy to publish" a manuscript without having seen it, that should tell you all you need to know about the business. I wouldn't give them a second glance.
 

cornflake

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Dude. You're free to work with whomever you choose.

People who don't understand aspects of publishing might think Hydra Productions is a trade publisher; they're not. From the blog on their own site:

We offer a full range of author services for those who prefer to self-publish or already have a long-term contract elsewhere.

Their offers, like for their editing services, send up tons of red flags about their levels of expertise and professionalism for the services they are offering.

If you want to work with them, or have had a good experience working with them, that's fine. That doesn't change that they're putting out books with errors, are basically a vanity press, and don't appear professional or experienced.
 

Maryn

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As the lucky recipient of your middle-finger salute, I continue to respectfully disagree that Hydra is a good publisher.
  • The fact that they released a book rife with errors is all the proof required. How is it unfair to note their actual product's flaws?
  • The fact that they said they'd probably be happy to publish a manuscript they haven't seen is all the proof required.
  • The fact that they charge $300 for a full edit when other trade publishers charge nothing is all the proof required.
  • The fact that they do not reveal the identities or publishing experience of anyone associated with the business is all the proof required.
  • The fact that their website is not aimed at people who buy books but at authors is all the proof required.
How much proof do you require?

If you have an offer from Penguin, take it. I see literally no advantage in considering Hydra, even if they were to offer you a larger advance. And I see ample evidence that they are incompetent, making their money from authors instead of readers.

Maryn, who has all ten fingers in fists
 

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Thanks for drawing my attention to this site; you've gotta love an organisation offering web-design on a site created with a freebie site-builder tool! Or asking for up-front payments to a gmail paypal account... or offering editing services whilst being so amusingly edited itself - I think my favourite was the "Write a Novel in 2 Weeks Workshop" --"Do you think you have what it takes? A ghostwriter with ears of experience can teach you how to write a novel". I did literally laugh out loud at that one...
 

Gillhoughly

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Absolutely accept the Penguin-Random House offer. A large commercial publishing house has the resources to edit and market your book, get it into every bookstore and in front of librarians (writers love sales to libraries!) AND give you a proper advance against royalties.

You zoom into the avenues of professional publishing in a Lamborghini, not totter on a game trail with a set of broken roller skates that you had to buy yourself.
 

BenPanced

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I've asked the moderators to remove this thread as it has become dishonest. From my dealings with Hydra they are a good press. And who said that is who I started with? I started with Penguin Random House, thank you very much, and they are the publisher I have been with previously. This forum is not coming across as a particularly honest forum. Penguin offered to publish my book too, so what's your point? I think there are some people here who are not legitimately asking questions. Hydra are a small press but an honest one. They should not be being criticised because one bad author found their way onto their list. Totally unfair.

Here you are, asking if they're a worthwhile press. Seasoned professionals, from published authors to editors, have expressed doubts about the press and their claims. All of a sudden, you've dealt with Hydra and find they're on the up-and-up and you call us out on our honesty?

Pathetic.
 

VeryBigBeard

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The thing is, I knew it would be Wix before I even looked.

The thing about Wix, among other shortfalls, is that while easy, it doesn't export your content. So here's what's going to happen in a couple years. On the off chance the publisher succeeds, you want to do a website remodeling. Keep up with the times, you know? Maybe you even hire a guy, who won't touch Wix because you can't develop on it like you can on Wordpress. All your content is gone. Now you have to rebuild everything.

This is how you get those wonderful "but our server went down" emails that always seem to come out right before a publisher goes under.
 

Maryn

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Uh, what is Wix? Not to sidetrack, but that flew well over my head.
 

Bacchus

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Uh, what is Wix? Not to sidetrack, but that flew well over my head.

It's a kind of DiY website builder (like Wordpress or GoDaddy) which allows somebody with no technical knowledge whatsoever to put a site together

Great for a writer (or, for that matter, a plumber, electrician, window cleaner...) to build a simple internet presence, but not really the sort of thing you would expect a consultancy offering web-design to be using.
 

Helix

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I've asked the moderators to remove this thread as it has become dishonest. From my dealings with Hydra they are a good press. And who said that is who I started with? I started with Penguin Random House, thank you very much, and they are the publisher I have been with previously. This forum is not coming across as a particularly honest forum. Penguin offered to publish my book too, so what's your point? I think there are some people here who are not legitimately asking questions. Hydra are a small press but an honest one. They should not be being criticised because one bad author found their way onto their list. Totally unfair.

It might be worth describing your experience with PRH in the relevant thread. I'd be interested to know why someone who had been published by them would reject a subsequent offer in favour of a small and not very good press.