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Dream Big Publishing

Thedrellum

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Possible link: Dream Big Publishing

Nope, haven't heard of them.

Benefits for publishing with DBP are far beyond what many publishers offer today.

Well, thank god.

We do screen all manuscripts submitted to us. And unfortunately, we cannot take all the manuscripts that are submitted.

All of the language here just seems like red flags, if only in implying that they don't have much experience in publishing. According to one date I found, they've been around since at least 2013.

No specifics about contract terms or royalties.

Also, they misspell bestiality (as "beastiality") which is okay, I suppose, since that's one of the subjects they won't consider.
 

veinglory

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They state they (sometime?) refer rejected submissions to the vanity side of their operation with fees upwards of $800.
 

JulieB

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Someone else posted the same link, so I edited mine out.

I'm not encouraged by the covers, and the link to the cover art service they recommend is down.
 
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TheCuriousOne

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Just reading the name in my list of new posts rang alarm bells. "Dream Big Publishing" sounds very much author-orientated, reader-orientated not so much.

I don't think much of cover artists who just go googling for pictures, crop them down to cover-size, and slap a horrible-looking title on. Downloaded a few of the covers, cropped them to the main image (removing title and author name) and found some them on other blogs and websites (but strangely, no stock photo websites).

And don't get me started on the awful blending. And the tattoos that looks like they've been painted on the cover rather than tattooed on the guy's skin. Eww.

Besides, they don't even put a blurb or anything to entice readers. They just put links to retail websites.

And the "!!!!!" everywhere. So professional...

I'd keep away, to be honest.


Edited to add:
I don't know if you can go by that, but there's an entry on the net about the cover designer being located in the same area as DBP... http://fr.yelp.be/biz/creative-cover-byron-center
 
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aliceshortcake

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"Make sure your home for dinner by 6 pm dear." Her mother, Sarah cooed waving as she began her walk to school.

That little gem is from a DBP book by the company's owner. Let's hope she isn't an editor.

Whoever wrote the material on the website isn't on intimate terms with the English language:

Dream Big Publishing publishes through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other leading companies such as Apple. We publish all our books in print via print on demand.

Translation: We publish through CreateSpace and sell our books via Amazon, Barnes and Noble etc.

Our traditional publishing is sort of a non-traditional publishing.

That's helpful to know.

We do not give advances nor do we feel they are necessary.

Surprise, surprise.

Our traditional publishing requires a 5-year commitment at no costs to the author and author required promotion and website/social media upkeep.

Our Custom Publishing services are an upfront cost to the author and Dream Big Publishing takes care of everything for you. NO long term commitment required. No promotional care require but recommended since more never hurts.

God, this stuff is painful to read.

Our ala-cart section offers addition item services.

ALA-CART.

The Custom Services are a hoot. For a mere $1599 you can choose between the Special Package and the Ultimate Package. If you go for the Ultimate I doubt if a 20-stop blog tour, 6-10 reviews and distribution through Ingram will help to recover the cost of your investment, and you'll have to pay an extra $250 per year for the renewal of your weebly website (from which the weebly extension has been removed). But look on the bright side - you get six author copies, 25 bookmarks and 250 business cards!
 
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VeryBigBeard

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^ That's how you know you're in dreamland. Lots of skittles.

Really, you want a book out there with Dream Big Publishing on the jacket somewhere, announcing to the world that you, the author, dreamed big? I mean, if that's your professional persona, cool, I guess. It ain't mine.

And let's just talk, for a moment, about centre-justification on the homepage. Just, no. There are these things called columns. You make them in CSS. Of course, that would require the site to adjust to different screen resolutions, which is doesn't do--half of it is cut off on my secondary monitor.
 

writerinthemist

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Big Dream Press

Hello,

Does anyone have any experience with Big dream Publishing?

I've Queried them with a short story and my novel.

Thanks in advance.
 

writerinthemist

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http://www.dreambigpublishing.net/submissions-guidelines.html

They publish many Genres. They do not require an agent. They are not a vanity publisher or require fees. As I have a day job, and a retirement already, I do not require an advance. They seem like the kind of publishing house I would like to do business with. I want my novel published, but I'm not looking for a entailed relationship with a publisher.
 

Filigree

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Are you looking to do 100 percent of your book promotion? Because they even tell you they don't market. 'Making available for POD order' simply means a line in a catalog. Unless you promote it yourself, the book won't be seen, carried by bookstores, or selected by librarians. I'd hope that Big Dream's editing and covers are stellar.
 

Helix

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It appears that all they do is provide a cover and a round of proofreading and it still takes up to a year before publication. I looked inside a couple of books and there were punctuation errors and inexplicable changes in tense.
 

Filigree

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Ah, I wondered why they seemed vaguely familiar.

Not to be all lecture-y, but rather than 'cross them off your list', it might be useful to read again through the red-flag language in the whole DB thread...to maybe get a sense why publishers like this should never really land on your list. For a lot of writers just wading into publishing, it seems these POD vanity outfits can snag an awful lot of the same victims.
 

annoyedwriter

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I'm honestly rather frustrated. I was offered a contract by these people and even though the royalty rate seemed sketchy, it wasn't 'that bad' until I took a look at some of the other works they had published. The writing is utterly atrocious! I feel like not only did this company really suck at editing, it accepted writers who couldn't even give the preliminary round of editing to their own work
 

Lauram6123

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I'm honestly rather frustrated. I was offered a contract by these people and even though the royalty rate seemed sketchy, it wasn't 'that bad' until I took a look at some of the other works they had published. The writing is utterly atrocious! I feel like not only did this company really suck at editing, it accepted writers who couldn't even give the preliminary round of editing to their own work

If I were you, I'd read this whole thread look for other options. Being published badly is often worse than not being published at all.
 

annoyedwriter

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Yep, I'm searching for other options now. The quality of the work they published was the last straw, for sure.
It's very frustrating to see that the company that accepted you seems to have very low standards.
 

vickyandrianson

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Advice about contract (merged into pub's thread in BR&BC)

Hi, everyone. I queried with DreamBig Publishing and they sent me a contract. The thing is I've read in another thread about the publishing house potentially being untrustworthy, and I could use some help with understanding the terms of the contract, and if it's in my best interest to sign or not.
Here are some points that have me doubting signing:

Publisher agrees to pay to the Author, a royalty of 25% of total net price in United States dollars (USD) on all sales of the Work sold untilthe first $1000 (USD) has been reached. A royalty of 50% total net price in United States dollars thereafter

Is this normal, or am I being ripped off? That means that I will only be getting 25% royalties until more than 100 books are sold. The book will be basically an ebook with Print On Demand option.

Authors are required to maintain a website. Free websites are available, so this can be done at no cost to the Author.
The Publisher reserves the right to advertise however they deem appropriate.
The Publisher will advertise the book. The Author agrees to self-promote this book. Author understands without self-promotion, their workmay not sell as well, if at all, as it would with self-promotion.

Is it me or are they basically telling me that the book might not sell and it will be my fault if that happens? And I suppose the first part means that it's up to me to create a web-page, right?

I don't know if I'm biased because of everything I've read about the publishing house, but I'm thinking of declining the contract. I mean, since they don't guarantee me a proper advertisement, the book will be published with a P.O.D. term and the royalties are less than what CreateSpace offers, I'd be better off publishing it on my own, right?
 

leifwright

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Is this normal, or am I being ripped off? That means that I will only be getting 25% royalties until more than 100 books are sold. The book will be basically an ebook with Print On Demand option.

The way I read it, you're getting 25 percent of the NET price, meaning the publisher only pays you after whatever it considers its "expenses" are met.

$10 seems a bit pricey for an e-book. I'm guessing they don't expect more than 100 to sell (most books don't sell more than that), so the 50 percent part is probably gravy in their eyes.


Is it me or are they basically telling me that the book might not sell and it will be my fault if that happens?

That's exactly what they're saying.

And I suppose the first part means that it's up to me to create a web-page, right?

Correct a mundo.

I don't know if I'm biased because of everything I've read about the publishing house, but I'm thinking of declining the contract. I mean, since they don't guarantee me a proper advertisement, the book will be published with a P.O.D. term and the royalties are less than what CreateSpace offers, I'd be better off publishing it on my own, right?

You would absolutely be better off self-publishing or waiting around for a good publisher. What are they offering that you can't do on your own?
 

Aggy B.

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Based on the feedback in the DreamBig thread I would not sign a contract with them.

A few general points.
25% royalty on ebooks is a little low, but that depends in part on the publisher. (Large houses don't usually offer more than 25% on ebooks, but they are in a position to move far more copies so it can even out.)
Net royalty should always be defined. (Net means money that's left over after certain costs have been taken out. You need to know what the publisher is paying for before they calculate your royalties. Some will try and pay all their expenses first which means you have to sell a bunch of books before there is any royalty paid to you.)
All authors should expect to do some promotion, but any publisher that demands all promotion be done by the author is likely a publisher to avoid because it means they won't be working to sell your book.
Publishers that don't find advances "necessary" are publishers that don't want to invest in your work. This means they don't have a good expectation they will sell your work.

Hope this helps.
 

Undercover

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So they're holding the first 1,000 dollars to be reached until they pay you, is what it sounds like here. With net, you'd have to sell a lot more copies than a 100. A LOT more before you even see any money back. That's nuts, I would run. And the thread is iffy here? No. No. No.
 

EMaree

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The terms quoted make me deeply uneasy too, but I think you'd be best off getting a specialized literary lawyer looking at this. I see your in Greece -- consider e-mailing the Society of Authors to ask if they'll accept your membership. If they will, join immediately and send your contract to their contract vetting service. You'll get a line-by-line vetting of the contract.

It's a UK-based team of very experience literary professionals, and it's a lot cheaper than hiring a lawyer. But if the Society can't help, hire a literary lawyer -- hopefully others on the board can recommend trusted ones. Other types of lawyers will not be any use for this.

Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware can also be incredibly helpful. Read this page, and consider e-mailing the contract over to beware[at]sfwa.org, but be aware that Victoria is currently dealing with a family medical emergency so she might not respond for a while.

Do not sign this contract without getting a professional to look at it.