[Pub] Sword and Silk Books

[Turtle2023]

I searched for a thread on this small, woman-centered publishing house, but I couldn't find one.

Here's their website.

https://www.swordandsilkbooks.com/

They seem to be just starting out, so all the usual caveats about new publishers apply. (They do have a few published books already.)

I'm just curious if anyone has worked with them, or know anything about the folks running the press. They don't seem to have much publishing experience, unfortunately.

 

[Maryn]

I have no direct experience with them, and their mission and DEI statements make it clear their intentions are good. But I see goofs on the website, including display overlap, dead links, and grammar goofs, which is never a good sign. They have books out and available for pre-order, but the prices on paperbacks is crazy-high.

One of the principles has completed an internship at a romance publisher (and exactly what does that mean--working for a summer? Doing what?) and none of the others has any direct publishing experience. For many, their qualifications seem to be reading quickly and/or voraciously, loving books, and having preferences about what they read. As do we all.

That alone would make me inclined to wait until they've had time to work out any kinks, prove themselves in the marketplace, and pay their authors in a timely fashion not just at first but consistently.

For me, that's waiting 18 months or more.

Maryn, who's seen too many small presses flounder then fail

 

[SWest]

...They don't seem to have much publishing experience...

So this is incredibly important when considering whether to submit, or accept invitations to sub/pub.

You have one Best chance to have your manuscript published. Small, inexperienced, or low-quality publishing may squander that chance.

If a publisher "goes under", you may get your rights back, but then what? Self-publish? Shop it around again (with what might have been lackluster sales figures that will prohibit other publishers taking it on)?

When a website is a bit of a hot mess (as this one is - it's published, they published it), don't expect the actual work space to be more squared away.

If they take direct submissions, be sure to have an experienced agent or intellectual property attorney nearby so you don't sign a contract that you don't understand completely. Saving money on this can cost you big later. Most people who have been published badly wish they had never been published at all.

 

[Turtle2023]

Those are great points, SW & Maryn. I have been burned before on new presses, and I think you're right that I should avoid this one, at least for now.

It is too bad, because I kind of liked their mission!

 

[mrsmig]

I'm always leery of a new press that has more swag than actual published books.

And yikes! Co-Owner and Marketing Director Laynie Bynum's trade publishing internship was with Entangled Press, which has a pretty checkered history (read all about it on this AW thread: Entangled Press). Her resume at LinkedIn also reflects a two-year stint as Marketing and Public Relations Director for Magnolia Press, a Louisiana-based publisher which appears to exist only to publish a single author's books.

 

[Maryn]

Yikes! Some good research there. Thank you.