Auriga Press

[C. Keegan]

I followed one of Lynn Veihl's publishing opportunity blog posts http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/2011/03/sub-ops-ten.html to Auriga Press http://aurigapress.com/

The company appears to be very, very new, as in formed this year, and is actively looking for SF/F submissions. I can't find anything about them, other than they've got a Facebook page.

Does anyone know anything about them?

Thanks,
Catherine

 

[MickRooney]

Auriga Press is a publishing company started with two principles in mind:

Bring great science fiction and fantasy stories to the world
Give as much as possible to the writers

Modern publishing trends such as eBooks and print-on-demand have helped to drop up-front publishing costs. This makes it very easy for writers to self-publish and a good number of great stories have made it into the public eye this way. However, it can be hard to tell the golden nuggets from the dross.

At the same time, authors who spend their time worrying about the marketing, sales and mechanics of publishing are not spending their time doing what they really ought: writing

.

If this is a traditional publisher, I'm not comfortable from the word go that they use both the 'self-publishing' and 'POD' references on their front page.

Auriga Press works in tandem with authors to allow them to focus on what they do best, and to bring them the largest possible slice of profit after all costs are covered.

I'm taking that means only 'after all costs are covered'.

We are always accepting unsolicited submissions from writers. If you are interested in submitting your work, please follow the instructions on our guidelines page.

Lovely progressive present grammar.

We are currently working through all our submissions to select our first batch of authors for publication later this year.

We ain't got no authors yet!

Facebook page likes = 4

They could be the next Gollancz for fantasy and scifi in a few years time, but right now - here is what they have - no books, no authors, and no publisher for any serious author looking for a break. They have no books on shelves and no book distribution, and beyond a shout out on Facebook and Twitter - that's your lot!

Dear new publishers, get the basic core of book publishing in place - a business plan; book publishing professionals in place; a high quality global print network; a distribution network; a marketing department or client; oh, and some good authors and books before you begin.

 

[HapiSofi]

Yoohoo, Auriga, who's running the shop and what have you done before?

(I don't think there's anything sinister about the absence of names. I think they found the derivation of the name Auriga more interesting than talking about themselves.)

 

[MickRooney]

Yoohoo, Auriga, who's running the shop and what have you done before?

(I don't think there's anything sinister about the absence of names. I think they found the derivation of the name Auriga more interesting than talking about themselves.)

I think what is important here is to not knock what hasn't been done - and there is a lot here that hasn't been done in regards to presenting a small respectable functioning press with the very basics a publisher must have.

 

[Adobedragon]

At the moment, we are looking primarily for novels of 100,000 words or more. If you have yet to have a novel published, then your novel must be completed at the time of submission. If your novel is the first in a trilogy (or other set), the entire story does not have to be finished, but the first 100,000 words must be. This is so that we can be sure you have the ability to finish what you start.

Interesting. Since many publishers aren't that enthusiastic about anything over 100K. Of course, F/SF sometimes lends itself to longer word lengths.

 

[HapiSofi]

They just have to be the right 100K words.

 

[Auriga]

Hi Catherine (and others in the thread),

Yes, we are a brand new press, so that's why you can't find any information (and we have only a few people liking us on Facebook ;-)).

I don't like to think of us as a traditional publisher. We will be publishing and distributing printed books, but also digital versions through all the major channels. Our team is small and our expertise is in online marketing.

MickRooney is right in that we have no authors signed currently. However, we do have a business plan, distribution and marketing (I've yet to find a publisher that puts their plans on their website!). We're not perfect, and don't claim to be. However, I will say that we'll work our asses off to make our books successful

Having good authors seems like a chicken and egg problem - we're working with the authors in our social network to get us started, but decided it would be good to open up the world at large. I very much doubt we know all the best as-yet-unpublished authors in the world. I think we're close to being able to announce our first author/book, so stay tuned to our blog (or Twitter/Facebook - whatever works for you).

As for the 100k words, we want to print books that don't look out of place on bookshelves. Very few books in our local bookstores sci-fi and fantasy sections have less than 250 pages, and those are usually classics from before 1980. If something was 80k words and truly awesome, of course we'd want to print it.

Please feel free to contact me (or continue the conversation here) if you've got any other questions or concerns.

Hope this helps,

Aidan
(Editor at Auriga Press)

 

[brainstorm77]

What background do you have in publishing?

 

[Auriga]

I've been involved in small press publishing on and off since the late 90s. This is the first time I've run anything myself. It's a start

 

[Old Hack]

However, we do have a business plan, distribution and marketing (I've yet to find a publisher that puts their plans on their website!).

Welcome to AW. It's good to see you here.

I don't expect you to post your entire business plan but could you please let me know who your distribution deal is with? It's an important point. Thanks.

 

[brainstorm77]

I've been involved in small press publishing on and off since the late 90s. This is the first time I've run anything myself. It's a start

What was your involvement?

 

[Auriga]

What was your involvement?

Proof-reading, typesetting, cover design, working with printers, wholesalers - whatever needed doing to get the book out the door.

could you please let me know who your distribution deal is with

Still in progress. We're leaning towards Atlas/BookMasters at the moment. Possibly Gardners in the UK.

Can you tell me why you feel this is important?

 

[IceCreamEmpress]

Still in progress. We're leaning towards Atlas/BookMasters at the moment. Possibly Gardners in the UK.

Can you tell me why you feel this is important?

Distribution partnerships are the single most significant factor in how many books actually get into the hands of readers. I assume that that's something you already know, but what you may not know is how frequently start-up publishers run aground because they don't have a distribution plan in place, let alone an agreement with one or more reliable distributors.

If writers had only one area they could look at in evaluating whether to submit to a publisher, I would suggest that "distribution plans and partners" would be it. The most careful editing, the most beautiful layout and cover art, the most durable bindings, the best e-book formatting--none of these mean a thing if readers aren't getting the books.

 

[brainstorm77]

Thanks for answering.

 

[Auriga]

If writers had only one area they could look at in evaluating whether to submit to a publisher, I would suggest that "distribution plans and partners" would be it. The most careful editing, the most beautiful layout and cover art, the most durable bindings, the best e-book formatting--none of these mean a thing if readers aren't getting the books.

Ah, thanks for that insight. That makes sense of course. I guess I just took it for granted I also used to work as a bookseller, so the first thing I learned was how we bought books from our distributors. I've never been in the writer's shoes, so I appreciate that perspective.

 

[Auriga]

Thanks for answering.

Welcome! At this point I'm excited that people are asking questions - better than not being noticed at all.

 

[PortableHal]

Still in progress. We're leaning towards Atlas/BookMasters at the moment. Possibly Gardners in the UK.

Can you tell me why you feel this is important?

Can anyone educate me: Is this a good sign (Atlas/BookMasters/Gardners), a bad sign, or no clear indication at the moment?

 

[CaoPaux]

It's a good sign in that it's actual distribution. And certainly refreshing for a new publisher to know the difference between a distributor and a wholesaler.

 

[IceCreamEmpress]

Can anyone educate me: Is this a good sign (Atlas/BookMasters/Gardners), a bad sign, or no clear indication at the moment?

Those are legitimate distributors who work with small presses, so it's a good sign that Auriga is creating a realistic plan. And as CaoPaux says, not every small press management appears to understand the difference between distributors and wholesalers (Baker & Taylor and Ingram in the US). Having a partnership with wholesalers isn't the same as working with a distributor that has personnel dedicated to getting small-press books into stores.

 

[veinglory]

Even fewer seem to understand the difference between curious writers and villagers with flaming torches. Kudos to Auriga.

 

[Adobedragon]

Even fewer seem to understand the difference between curious writers and villagers with flaming torches. Kudos to Auriga.

Ditto.

I'm tentatively bookmarking Auriga's site for when I ever get around to finishing the steampunk beastie (which will clock in over 100K.)

Thanks for answering our questions.

 

[JL_Benet]

Even fewer seem to understand the difference between curious writers and villagers with flaming torches. Kudos to Auriga.

Yes. Threads like this give me a glimmer of hope for new publishers (and the authors who submit to them).

 

[Saanen]

I found an interview with editor Aidan Rogers of Auriga. It's interesting to see that they're not wedded to publishing a book by the end of the year. This could be good or bad--good that they're not trying to push things through too fast, or bad because their reasons may be financial. I can't imagine it's cheap to start a publisher. Still, they seem more knowledgeable than most start-ups. I'll be interested to see where they are in another year or so.

 

[CaoPaux]

Well, site and Twitter feed are gone, and FB page hasn't been updated since inception.

 

[triceretops]

Uh, wow and then some.

Tri