I wanted to post a warning to members and writers who are considering submitting their work to Blue Deco Publishing in Royal Oak, Michigan. Blue Deco Publishing is owned and operated by Colleen Nye a/k/a Colleen Shunk.
Blue Deco Publishing is a small press - very small. It often finds writers through the various Twitter pitch parties that abound. If you are a writer and are approached by Blue Deco Publishing, please use caution.
I am also an author with Blue Deco Publishing. From the very start, things were very slow. Colleen Nye often does not respond to requests from authors. Over the last year, royalties have been late and the publisher has refused to provide royalty statements to its authors. Other authors have pre-paid for services that have not been rendered - things like advertisements, book trailers, and other promotional materials. The owner, Colleen Nye, has vanished multiple times, and has attributed this to drama in her personal life. But for the authors left without a means to obtain books for events, or have their royalties paid, this is very trying. In addition to several authors canceling events because books or promotional materials were not ready, several book releases were also missed. Oddly, Colleen Nye's disappearances often coincide with deadlines. Whether or not she is overwhelmed should not be the concern of the authors she is harming. She has offered varying excuses to different authors, leading most to assume that she is simply lying to cover for her mistakes or wrongdoings.
Blue Deco Publishing holds itself out as a small press. In reality, it is turning out to be glorified self-publishing. While Blue Deco Publishing does not charge to publish, it does charge its authors for marketing, promotional materials, and provides books for events at a mark-up that is profit to Blue Deco Publishing. It contractually promised to provide ISBN numbers for the books, and it was later learned by many authors that, instead of obtaining ISBN numbers through the proper channels, it instead used ISBNs provided through CreateSpace. In the end, most of the authors appear to be self-published - not aligned with a small press which is the reason most signed with this publisher. It has proven difficult for some authors to obtain reviews through bloggers and other means because the books appear to be self-published. A review of the Amazon site for the books "published" by Blue Deco Publishing will prove this point. Many of the books under this label are not affiliated with the publisher on Amazon and other sites. Colleen Nye also appears to use Blue Deco Publishing as a means to further her own book sales.
This is just the tip of the iceberg with what is going on behind the scenes at Blue Deco Publishing. Many of the authors are distancing themselves from Blue Deco Publishing and are planning to leave altogether. It is a shame because some talented writers were signed, and their works were not marketed well, and some may not have received the correct royalty payments. Several complaints against Blue Deco Publishing have also been submitted to The Authors Guild.
I hope writers out there who are approached by Blue Deco Publishing will seriously consider this warning and take the time to query their work to legitimate presses or to agents.
Blue Deco Publishing is a small press - very small. It often finds writers through the various Twitter pitch parties that abound. If you are a writer and are approached by Blue Deco Publishing, please use caution.
I am also an author with Blue Deco Publishing. From the very start, things were very slow. Colleen Nye often does not respond to requests from authors. Over the last year, royalties have been late and the publisher has refused to provide royalty statements to its authors. Other authors have pre-paid for services that have not been rendered - things like advertisements, book trailers, and other promotional materials. The owner, Colleen Nye, has vanished multiple times, and has attributed this to drama in her personal life. But for the authors left without a means to obtain books for events, or have their royalties paid, this is very trying. In addition to several authors canceling events because books or promotional materials were not ready, several book releases were also missed. Oddly, Colleen Nye's disappearances often coincide with deadlines. Whether or not she is overwhelmed should not be the concern of the authors she is harming. She has offered varying excuses to different authors, leading most to assume that she is simply lying to cover for her mistakes or wrongdoings.
Blue Deco Publishing holds itself out as a small press. In reality, it is turning out to be glorified self-publishing. While Blue Deco Publishing does not charge to publish, it does charge its authors for marketing, promotional materials, and provides books for events at a mark-up that is profit to Blue Deco Publishing. It contractually promised to provide ISBN numbers for the books, and it was later learned by many authors that, instead of obtaining ISBN numbers through the proper channels, it instead used ISBNs provided through CreateSpace. In the end, most of the authors appear to be self-published - not aligned with a small press which is the reason most signed with this publisher. It has proven difficult for some authors to obtain reviews through bloggers and other means because the books appear to be self-published. A review of the Amazon site for the books "published" by Blue Deco Publishing will prove this point. Many of the books under this label are not affiliated with the publisher on Amazon and other sites. Colleen Nye also appears to use Blue Deco Publishing as a means to further her own book sales.
This is just the tip of the iceberg with what is going on behind the scenes at Blue Deco Publishing. Many of the authors are distancing themselves from Blue Deco Publishing and are planning to leave altogether. It is a shame because some talented writers were signed, and their works were not marketed well, and some may not have received the correct royalty payments. Several complaints against Blue Deco Publishing have also been submitted to The Authors Guild.
I hope writers out there who are approached by Blue Deco Publishing will seriously consider this warning and take the time to query their work to legitimate presses or to agents.
