Maverick House Publishers / Book Republic

[CH1]

Hi I was just wondering if anyone has had any dealings with Book Republic.
http://bookrepublic.ie/home

 

[BenPanced]

About the only thing I saw that induced an eyeroll was this:

What makes us different from other publishers is our approach and outlook. Book Republic was set up to combat the traditional model of publishing which, in today’s increasingly uncertain market, often makes it commercially unviable to give new authors a chance to get published.

It's really too bad they have to promote that misconception.

 

[Torgo]

About the only thing I saw that induced an eyeroll was this:

It's really too bad they have to promote that misconception.

For me, that's a red flag. I also find it a bit troubling that on their submission guidelines page the second para goes:

CONTRACT
Once you have received a contract from Book Republic, we would be grateful if you would read the following notes, which will help to avoid any problems or inaccuracies in transferring your manuscript into book form.

This is in a submission guidelines page? 'Once you have received...'? Are they sending everyone contracts?

 

[Theo81]

Mick Rooney's "The Memory of Trees" is published with them, so maybe he'll swing by and let us know how he's found his experience with them. He has a blog post about his decision.

The books are, oddly, hardback. Irish bookshops don't stock hardbacks as standard (I'm not sure if it's different in Dublin): the standard book format is the hardback size with a paperback cover - I think it's called a Trade Paperback, but I'm not sure.
I was once told by a second-hand book proprietor that Irish people don't like hardback books, but he couldn't tell me why, he just knew that people wouldn't buy them.


Is it just me, or is anybody else getting an "We're a POD but we don't want to admit it" vibe from this?

With modern printing technology, we have the capacity to print 1 copy or 1,000,000 copies and can supply our markets as they grow and expand.

Eoin Purcell - Irish Publishing Bloke - says here (post 6):

When I say clearly commercial I'd posit that projected sales would need to be in excess of 3000 units to justify publication without funding. That may sound low but it s few enough titles in Ireland that sell that well certainly fewer than 1000.

So, why are Book Republic giving all this "1 copy or a million copies"?

As Mick Rooney's with them, they are probably legit, but I'm not convinced I'd walk into my local bookshop and find their books in it. If I did, I'm not sure many of them would be leaving it given the twenty euro price tag (the trade paperbacks retail for fourteen or so).

 

[CH1]

Thank you for the replies BenPanced, Torgo and Theo81.
Good points on their wording, it does raise an eyebrow. I also found Mick Rooney's blog a good read, thank you Theo, hopefully he'll pop in.

 

[CaoPaux]

Adding link to parent: http://www.maverickhouse.com/home.html

 

[CaoPaux]

Book Republic site is gone, along with Tw & FB. Last book published May '12.