Loose Leaves Publishing

[J.S.F.]

Apologies if this has been posted before. I did a search on this forum, could not find a reference, so here it is. Does anyone have any experience with this publisher? It's a small, indie outfit, some nice looking books, they say they're not a vanity press. Here's the link:

http://www.looseleavespublishing.com/

 

[aleighrose]

As a small press we do not have the resources or manpower of a large publishing house. This means that much of the promotion and marketing for your book will be on your shoulders. Therefore, we ask authors to present a marketing plan for each book we accept. We will support your efforts as much as we can, but it'll be a while before we can cover a world tour.

The bolding is mine. I don't like when publishers ask authors to create the marketing plans. That's the publisher's job.

It also concerns me that they don't focus on any particular genre. Small presses that try to be all-inclusive usually have trouble finding and retaining their readers.

 

[LaneHeymont]

Most of their staff seem to possess MFAs in creative writing and the like, and no real experience. I'm also curious what other "nationally recognized awards" their authors have won.

 

[J.S.F.]

LaneHeymont, my thoughts as well. I don't really know much about the various prizes or whatnot offered in North America, Great Britain, or anywhere else for that matter, outside of a few of the biggies. Maybe their authors have won prizes...I wonder what rank their novels have on Amazon? I realize that Amazon is not the be-all and end-all of rankings, but all the same, if a book is in the top 100 to 1000, the author must be doing something right.

 

[aleighrose]

J.S.F., I checked about 6 of their titles on Amazon. 5 had sales rankings in the millions; 1 had a ranking in the 300,000s.

 

[LaneHeymont]

LaneHeymont, my thoughts as well. I don't really know much about the various prizes or whatnot offered in North America, Great Britain, or anywhere else for that matter, outside of a few of the biggies. Maybe their authors have won prizes...I wonder what rank their novels have on Amazon? I realize that Amazon is not the be-all and end-all of rankings, but all the same, if a book is in the top 100 to 1000, the author must be doing something right.

What makes me doubt the validity of any such awards is the fact they don't list them. Say a novel won something in the realm of the NBA, wouldn't they mention that? I'd think so.

 

[J.S.F.]

They did list one author winning the IPPY award for historical fiction, I think. The IPPY award is for Independent Publishers. How much weight or significance that carries...have no idea.

My view is that this is a small press trying to make good in a very large market. They say they aren't a vanity press and that's fine. They also state clearly that they expect the writers to promote their own stuff as much as possible which seems to be the order of the day for most small to mid-sized publishers. No, I haven't submitted to them, just in case anyone is wondering. I just happened to find them on the Net and figured I'd ask for everyone's opinions.

I do appreciate the poster earlier on who tracked down the rankings. Not that they mean THAT much, but it's a help.

 

[victoriastrauss]

TI do appreciate the poster earlier on who tracked down the rankings. Not that they mean THAT much, but it's a help.

I think they're more significant for small presses that don't have distribution beyond the Internet, and for which Amazon represents a disproportionate percentage of sales. Kindle rankings especially--if you see consistent rankings of 100,000 or higher, that definitely suggests poor sales overall.

The covers don't look great.

- Victoria

 

[GenGriffin]

As a small press we do not have the resources or manpower of a large publishing house. This means that much of the promotion and marketing for your book will be on your shoulders. Therefore, we ask authors to present a marketing plan for each book we accept. We will support your efforts as much as we can, but it'll be a while before we can cover a world tour.

If you're not getting marketing, then what are you getting from this press?

This is part of the About Us page:

In support of our mission, we provide the following:

Selection - Reviewing submissions is exciting. We look for new writing talent and exceptional work that speaks to us. We are highly selective, which allows us to give each manuscript the time and attention it deserves.

Editing - Our staff works hard to ensure that we publish each book with care, providing individual attention to copyediting and proofreading.

Publishing - This encompasses cover design, layout, printing, ebook creation, and promotion. We work with the Ingram Content Group for printing and worldwide distribution of print books, and with leading ebook sellers.

Marketing - We succeed when our authors succeed; consequently, we promote our authors and their manuscripts, and we work closely with them to reach their intended audience. Following the author’s plan, we assist with submissions for literary prizes and critical review. We support book signings, book giveaways, and produce press releases, bookmarks, and other promotional materials.

Community - Loose Leaves Publishing is part of the worldwide literary community. All of our books are offered through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ebook sellers, and book stores around the globe.

We support local, independent booksellers, book clubs, schools, and libraries by offering quantity discounts and complimentary copies of our titles when possible. We are a member of Local First Arizona.

Looks to me, personally, like you wind up with bare bones basic publishing (editing, layout, cover design and they'll get it formatted and put into ebook) and not much else.

My own small press nightmare non-withstanding, I'd be hesitant to sign over my rights for what they appear to be offering.

They also put a little too much emphasis on literary contests and prizes for my liking. These aren't anything they can guarantee you'll win and helping submit seems an odd focus for a small publisher to spend man hours and (sometimes) money on.

 

[Thedrellum]

There are a number of contests and awards that only a press can submit to, so that's not really a red flag. And if a press is serious about building a reputation for itself, then the more serious awards it's books can win, the more that reputation will grow.

As for the critical review part, I assume they mean sending out review copies?

Of course, to emphasize what GenGriffin and the others have said, they're basing even their reviews and award submissions on the "author's plan" when those things should be fully their own responsibility (because they are in the press's own interest).