Alleviate Publications / Alleviate Awards

[Unimportant]

The part that you quoted says nothing about a print run, Unimportant--it just mentions 10,000 copies. Those copies could be electronic ones, unless it says otherwise elsewhere.

D'oh, good point! I never thought of that.

 

[Unimportant]

I would suggest that it's more likely this will be on a POD basis but you never know - these muppets might actually be planning to do an up-front 10k print-run and the fact that people were willing to pay £12 for the chance to be in the anthology may well cover the cost of one (depending on how many applicants they accept). I just hope their garage is big enough for all the boxes.

If they were to do this -- any idea what would be the cost of doing a 10K print run for a 200+ page book with the interior in full colour?

 

[ResearchGuy]

If they were to do this -- any idea what would be the cost of doing a 10K print run for a 200+ page book with the interior in full colour?

Depends on where it is done, as well as other elements (hard v. soft cover, trim size, any special requirements). Folks I know who do that sort of thing have the printing done in China (or maybe elsewhere in Asia). You'd have to figure in the shipping cost, of course. Printing brokers or overseas reps of Chinese or Korean companies mediate those printing arrangements.

--Ken

 

[Unimportant]

They do seem to have changed things a bit. IIRC, they originally had four contests (by "region") which would result in four anthologies. They've now pooled them to one anthology:

The anthology will be printed as a collaborative publication of entries from all regions worldwide.

(To me, the use of the word "printed" rather than "published" suggests print-only, not electronic, but I can't find that they ever specify whether they're publishing print, e, or both.)

They look to have changed their terms and conditions, since I'm pretty sure we would have noticed it earlier if the original webpage had demonstrated this lack of awareness over what copyright means:

You grant Alleviate Publications the non-exclusive, royalty-free, international copyright of the material you submit to this competition for publication in the anthology and promotional use. This includes but is not limited to printed publications, radio broadcasts, and electrical communications.

("electrical communications" -- made me giggle!)

(Editing to add: my bad -- they did previously have their clueless-copyight-confusion on the webpage, though they have now changed the wording to include the 'not limited to' statement.)

They have also now defined "profit":

All net profits of the anthology in 2012 will go to charities selected by Alleviate Publications. This includes profits after publishing, distribution, promotional, and prize costs have been deducted.

 

[Old Hack]

That doesn't really define profits, though: it just mentions a few things they're going to count against it.

 

[Richard White]

(cue Daffy Duck voice)

" . . . my not-so-insignificant producer's fee . . . mumble, mumble. "

(/Daffy Duck voice)

 

[circlexranch]

Jeez Mac, I take a few months off from AW to devote myself to my Facebook addiction and you go and get yourself all embroiled in a legal problem.

I LOVE the phrase "liable offence." Huh? Unless that's some UK thing, it makes no sense to this US lawyer.

And I'd like to see the anti-slander "law" she is referring to. Yes, there is case law (and libel/slander are a bitch-kitty to prove) that allow for recovery if someone is torted by someone else's purple prose, but there are no slander-cops (well, except in Kansas, but that's a different issue all together).

And this is coming from someone who sued someone for slander in the form of invasion of privacy and made it stick for jurisdictional reasons (case got resolved on other grounds).

Can't wait to see the next chapter!

 

[Unimportant]

I think they're based in Ireland.

 

[Ludens]

Judging by Momento Mori's response, "liable offence" doesn't mean anything in the UK either.

 

[TheOneTrueBen]

Looking at this quote from Unimportant's post, I have to wonder if they're actually reading their own material or deliberately making statements that could be interpreted to mean that they won't be selling any of the copies they print:

Alleviate Publications also guarantee the distribution of at least 10,000 copies of the anthology. This means at least 10,000 copies of the anthology will be given to relevant organizations worldwide i.e. interested libraries, art foundations, etc.

Given, not sold? They're already not paying their authors for their work, but this makes it sound like no money is flowing back to them from the "distribution" of the book either. SO, where is the money for charity? Or is the book itself the charitable donation?

Or am I nit-picking on an unimportant nit?

 

[aliceshortcake]

Which charity is she talking about? I'm always suspicious of individuals or organisations who say they intend to "give money to charity" but don't actually name the charity.

 

[LindaJeanne]

Which charity is she talking about? I'm always suspicious of individuals or organisations who say they intend to "give money to charity" but don't actually name the charity.

I've heard cases where people have been exceedingly unhappy to find out which charities their local charity thrift shop donated to. (Note that any special interest group/movement or political party -- major or minor, large or small, popular or unpopular -- can be a "charity" that accepts donations.)

I don't think it would be fair to Alleviate for me to name the (several) worst-case examples here -- since it could be construed as an allegation that they have similar affiliations, when there is no reason to think that they do.

But the stories make me very, very cautious about contributing to unnamed charities. Not every charity is supporting something everyone (or even most people) would agree is worthwhile.



(Of course, in this case, which charities will be receiving the hypothetical profits are the least part of the concerns)

 

[Fnergg]

The latest on the Alleviate Publications front is that they have again deferred the publication of the Alleviate Anthology, this time to July 20, 2012. This is apparently to better leverage their "bolder web presence" and "extensive marketing campaigns in June 2012": http://www.alleviatepublications.com/alleviateanthology.html

Interestingly, they are also in the process of refunding everyone who paid a fee to be included in the anthology. Why? "Since the company is doing so well, we no longer feel it is necessary or appropriate to charge a competition fee".

Which is nice for the entrants but presumably the unnamed charities which were due to benefit from the anthology will now get even less money from the profit (if there is a profit).

And the company is doing so well? How can they be doing so well when they don't appear to have any books published? The catalog on their website shows six books due to be published at future dates. If they have any already published that are contributing to the well being of the company one would think they would be listed.

Unlike other publishers they seem extraordinarily coy about their whereabouts. They claim to be based in NYC with regional offices in Canada and Europe. Their NYC contact number is (646)2332172 but "note only limited telephone support is available". When I rang it I got a recorded message saying they were "unavailable at this time". For a company that is purported to be "doing so well" one would assume they would have someone hired to answer the phone during regular business hours.

The original listing in the GoDaddy domain registration website showed Alleviate Books to be registered to a Draya Mooney - one of their featured authors - at an address in a housing estate in Galway City, Ireland. This was subsequently changed to delete her name and to show the address as NYC.

It's all very curious.

Perhaps their spokesperson Emma McCarthy - she who is so ready to threaten legal action against anyone who so much as doubts their bona fides - would be so good as tell us the office address in NYC and to give us some more information on the factors that have contributed to the company "doing so well".

 

[CaoPaux]

Site at some point read:

Welcome to the new Alleviate Publications website. We apologize for recent technical issues regarding this website. Though some sections are still being updated, we are back to full functionality. Our Doors are Temporarily Closed. Alleviate Publications has temporarily suspended business but will re-open soon. A majority of titles by Alleviate Publication are currently out of print. All outstanding orders have been fulfilled or refunded. The Alleviate Anthology is one of the titles that have been cancelled. All participants in the Alleviate Anthology have been refunded. All files received have been destroyed. For more information regarding the Alleviate Anthology, please click here.

Is now gone without a trace.