Defiance Press & Publishing

[Harlequin]

https://defiancepress.com/get-published/

A family member told me they'd gotten a bite from a potential publisher and shared this email. Looks like another run of the mill semi vanity masquerading as a hybrid, but any corrections to that welcome. Email full of red flags.


###

Good afternoon X

My name is Mark Pruitt with Defiance Press & Publishing. I received your information from our Review and Selection Department. I was told that you had a good idea for a book, and it might be a candidate for our “Defiance” imprint.

I just wanted to reach out and express our potential interest (based on the manuscript) in “Master of an Empty Sky”. As you know, Defiance Press looks at a lot of manuscripts and we must be very selective. We are not a Vanity Publisher. We offer Traditional Publishing to authors who are either established with a best-selling track records or first-time authors with a wide-reaching influence in social/mainstream media, entertainment, and or politics. In addition, for ambitious new authors who truly believe they have a great book but need the publicity, gravitas, marketing, connections, and experience of an established publisher with an impressive roster of best-selling authors and books, our Partner Publishing route is the best in the industry.

Publishing a book is a very risky business venture and needs to be approached with a business owners’ mindset. There is a plethora of websites, YouTube channels and “experts” on how to successfully publish a book. Some of that information is good and some isn’t. In looking for advice especially in any sort of financial transaction it’s a good idea to consider if the one giving advice has a vested interest in outcome of the venture. There were 1.5 million books published last year of which less than .03% sold at least 50 copies.

It's not my intention to discourage you from chasing your dream, it is my job to be honest, encourage you to be realistic and avoid making shortcut mistakes as you begin this journey.

I hope this information has been helpful and we look forward to reviewing your manuscript.

Best Regards,

Mark Pruitt

 

[K. Q. Watson]

So just by looking at their titles I'm seeing a lot of America Is Doomed fear mongering titles which really puts me off.

They boast about having great covers but I personally find them quite unattractive.

"You get freedom to market your way" or however they wrote it smells of "pony up money for advertising. We will tweet you I guess. To all of our 629 followes."

Their Twitter is very jingoistic.

 

[mrsmig]

Their founder is David Thomas Roberts, a Texas-based rancher and entrepreneur. He's also an author with the press. You can read his bio here.

The press was founded in 2012 and its registered address is in Conroe, Texas. a suburb of Houston. (Oddly, the address is also that of Simmons Bank, formerly Spirit of Texas bank.) Mr. Roberts' LinkedIn bio shows a 1981 degree in Marketing from University of Texas/Austin. There's a 15-year gap between that degree and his only other listed employment, a business management consultancy with a focus on telecom. He's listed as CEO and Founder, and is currently employed there. So: he has no education or experience in trade publishing, and he has his fingers in a lot of other pies.

I couldn't find any other staff listed.

The "news" portion of their website hasn't been updated since January 2022. They appear to release between 1-5 books per month and sell through Amazon. I couldn't see any evidence of their books being available elsewhere, although I only looked at recent releases. Many of their books' pages - even releases for this year - don't have a link to their Amazon sales page. This makes me question what, if any, actual marketing is done by the press. Their recent releases on Amazon have very few reviews and dismal rankings - which makes me question what, if any, actual promotion is being done.

From their "Get Published" page:

We offer traditional publishing for those authors with proven platforms, significant social media audiences or celebrity status. For most authors, partner publishing offers the most opportunity (and higher royalties) than traditional publishing. What's the difference? With partner publishing, our authors get the exact same distribution as traditional, however we "share" or partner in the production costs and marketing of the book in exchange for higher royalties.

So...even if their work aligns with Defiance's mission of publishing books "that incorporate Godly messages, that encourage a love of country and value conservatism," your Average Joe is going to pay for the privilege of being published by Defiance - which, all protestations aside, makes this a vanity press.

 

[Harlequin]

Yup hard agree

 

[Harlequin]

As a data point. They asked my family member for 6700usd. Fmsily member turned them down.

 

[lizmonster]

As a data point. They asked my family member for 6700usd. Fmsily member turned them down.

YIKES. I spent less than that launching my novel, and I went Cadillac-everything.

 

[K. Q. Watson]

And what would they get for $6,700?

 

[Harlequin]

Editing, covers, marketing. Apparently

 

[Dante Robinson]

https://defiancepress.com/get-published/

A family member told me they'd gotten a bite from a potential publisher and shared this email. Looks like another run of the mill semi vanity masquerading as a hybrid, but any corrections to that welcome. Email full of red flags.


###

Good afternoon X

My name is Mark Pruitt with Defiance Press & Publishing. I received your information from our Review and Selection Department. I was told that you had a good idea for a book, and it might be a candidate for our “Defiance” imprint.

I just wanted to reach out and express our potential interest (based on the manuscript) in “Master of an Empty Sky”. As you know, Defiance Press looks at a lot of manuscripts and we must be very selective. We are not a Vanity Publisher. We offer Traditional Publishing to authors who are either established with a best-selling track records or first-time authors with a wide-reaching influence in social/mainstream media, entertainment, and or politics. In addition, for ambitious new authors who truly believe they have a great book but need the publicity, gravitas, marketing, connections, and experience of an established publisher with an impressive roster of best-selling authors and books, our Partner Publishing route is the best in the industry.

Publishing a book is a very risky business venture and needs to be approached with a business owners’ mindset. There is a plethora of websites, YouTube channels and “experts” on how to successfully publish a book. Some of that information is good and some isn’t. In looking for advice especially in any sort of financial transaction it’s a good idea to consider if the one giving advice has a vested interest in outcome of the venture. There were 1.5 million books published last year of which less than .03% sold at least 50 copies.

It's not my intention to discourage you from chasing your dream, it is my job to be honest, encourage you to be realistic and avoid making shortcut mistakes as you begin this journey.

I hope this information has been helpful and we look forward to reviewing your manuscript.

Best Regards,

Mark Pruitt

TEST

 

[Dante Robinson]

https://defiancepress.com/get-published/

A family member told me they'd gotten a bite from a potential publisher and shared this email. Looks like another run of the mill semi vanity masquerading as a hybrid, but any corrections to that welcome. Email full of red flags.


###

Good afternoon X

My name is Mark Pruitt with Defiance Press & Publishing. I received your information from our Review and Selection Department. I was told that you had a good idea for a book, and it might be a candidate for our “Defiance” imprint.

I just wanted to reach out and express our potential interest (based on the manuscript) in “Master of an Empty Sky”. As you know, Defiance Press looks at a lot of manuscripts and we must be very selective. We are not a Vanity Publisher. We offer Traditional Publishing to authors who are either established with a best-selling track records or first-time authors with a wide-reaching influence in social/mainstream media, entertainment, and or politics. In addition, for ambitious new authors who truly believe they have a great book but need the publicity, gravitas, marketing, connections, and experience of an established publisher with an impressive roster of best-selling authors and books, our Partner Publishing route is the best in the industry.

Publishing a book is a very risky business venture and needs to be approached with a business owners’ mindset. There is a plethora of websites, YouTube channels and “experts” on how to successfully publish a book. Some of that information is good and some isn’t. In looking for advice especially in any sort of financial transaction it’s a good idea to consider if the one giving advice has a vested interest in outcome of the venture. There were 1.5 million books published last year of which less than .03% sold at least 50 copies.

It's not my intention to discourage you from chasing your dream, it is my job to be honest, encourage you to be realistic and avoid making shortcut mistakes as you begin this journey.

I hope this information has been helpful and we look forward to reviewing your manuscript.

Best Regards,

Mark Pruitt

See my comments below in this thread. I am glad this information is being presented. Thanks.

 

[Dante Robinson]

DEFIANCE PRESS AND PUBLISHING, Conroe (Houston), Texas.......... NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.

JUST......NO........

MY EXPERIENCE: They present themselves as a publisher for conservative and other iconoclastic writers. You submit your writing. They tell you it passes muster, but then explain that this alone isn't sufficient, unless you are an established writer with a reader base, or have a social media base or public profile that can be used to glean readers.

In those regards, I suspect the vast, vast majority of us suddenly do NOT pass muster. Doesn't matter that you've just finished crafting the latest version of "War and Peace," you now don't measure up enough for them to carry the weight of all of the publishing costs.

Shucks.

What's the solution? Not to worry, you're told, they will "partner" with you to share the risk and financial costs of launching your novel. Just pony up $7,000 for their least expensive "cost-sharing" publishing program. The second option is a $10,000 cost sharing option, and the third (wait for it.....sound of trumpets) is their deluxe platinum diamond package for just $15,000.

Oh, yes sir, they're gonna launch your baby. Just dig down deep. The deeper you dig, the more the chances for sweet success, because the more effort they're going to lavish on your literary gem.

Now examine their website carefully. Ever heard of any of their authors....anywhere? Yep? Me neither.

Peruse their colorful book covers. Recall seeing any of them at any book venue or store? Yep? Me neither.

We may be amateurs, but many of us have some peripheral exposure to the book world and book salesmanship. Ever seen any of these books being promoted anywhere, anytime, in any venue of any kind? Yep? Me neither.

Of course, being rubes, perhaps not too much should be read into that......

We live in a time in which you can self-publish for several hundred dollars and order copies of your book for dissemination as you go along. A friend of mine self-published through Lulu, and ordered copies as he went along. This saved him lots of financial misery, since the book only sold 20 copies (the copies I secretly purchased, having watched him spend five years humping away at his typewriter with the dream that someone would want to hear what he had to say in his book).

I am a nice person. Lots of people out there are not nice.

The vast, vast majority of us have writing careers that never launch, and books that never launch. In trying to take flight, be aware of what can happen to you once you jump from the edge of the nest.

And be aware of what's sitting at the bottom of the tree, watching you.

"Go ahead and jump! There's nothing to be afraid of.....I only look like a vanity publisher!"