[Publisher] Mango Media, Inc.

[NiaSh]

I was contacted by Mango Publishing (www.mangopublishinggroup.com) a few months ago and was offered a contract after putting together a general proposal.

I've tried to research the company but haven't found much, which is a bit concerning. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with them, or has any additional advice.

To my surprise their contract is quite brief, and the Revenue Share section is literally a sentence long: "Mango will share thirty (30%) of Net Revenue for up to three thousand five hundred (3500) copies of a Title sold and fifty (50%) of Net Revenue for additional copies of a Title sold."

Initially I declined to sign the contract because of the vague terms, and they reached out again recently. They said they'd be willing to negotiate, but I haven't pushed the issue. I've done research on the red flags of "net revenue" and asked for clarification of the contract terms and received this breakdown:

Retail price: $20.00
Retailer takes: ~$11.50
Print production: ~$2.50 per book
Net revenue for sharing between author and publisher: $6.00

I have zero experience here and am researching whatever I can find for guidance, but it would be wonderful to get help from people who have experience in this area.

 

[cornflake]

A publisher contacting you, unprompted, for no discernible reason (your self-pubbed book has sold three million copies is a discernible reason) is a giant red flag. I went and looked at their site for you. There are grammatical errors all over their front fucking page. That alone would scare me off.

That said, they seem to have a niche thing going with youtube personalities, D-level reality "stars" and the like. I can't tell much about how they're operating, except that from a look at their books, they don't edit those either. One of their big books has, on the first page, "altar" misspelled. It's a book on wedding planning.

 

[NiaSh]

Thanks for chiming in, cornflake. I definitely had a few red flags pop up, but thought at the very least I should investigate the issue. Some people seem to love working with small publishing companies, but they appear ones that are more established.

I'm new to all of this but it appears that they're cranking out as many books as they possibly can.

 

[cornflake]

Some concerns there would be the likelihood they'd be viable in the long term, what would happen to your rights if they tanked, what rights are being granted to begin with, what kind of distribution they've got (actual distribution, not just physical stores ability to order), etc.

I'm not an expert in this or anything, but we have a number of experts on AW. Hopefully one will come by and add to this for you.

 

[Unwillingadult]

Their main focus is "Mango turns the stars of YouTube, Instagram, and the blogosphere into authors. We publish books from new voices for a new generation, books about you and what you know.". They "Share in the proceeds 50/50"
This bit confused me quite a bit, would someone be able to clear this up? I don't know, to me it comes across as a red flag, but perhaps it is just me misunderstanding what it is saying:

21st CENTURY BOOK PARTNERS
We’re all about COLLABORATION. We want you to have input in creating your book! It’s your message and your audience. It should be decidedly yours.
This is a PARTNERSHIP. We walk through marketing, creative, design, and distribution together.
Old school, traditional publishers toss you on a slush pile of monotone voices and lackluster narratives—we don’t.
By putting your content and your voice right at the core of your book, we give the readers what they want. That’s what we like to call “social inside”.

Additionally:

LET’S CHAT
Mango is looking for proven social media stars with distinctive voices and a strong personal message that have captivated a dedicated following.

Are you a content-sharing phenom with a loyal fan base? Do you want to reach the world through an entirely new and exciting platform?

Let’s chat.

To me, they are focusing on taking advantage of social media users with a high following, i.e one of the Youtube Authors Study With Jess, I have personally watched videos of her, she has her own website and own stationery collection. She also has over 300k+ Followerbase across her platforms.

Their 'staff' section is a little weird as well. I would prefer to know more about their staff than just their name, title, and a little cartoon avatar.

I would recommend reaching out to these authors, and finding out their opinions on the publisher.

 

[Richard White]

I've done research on the red flags of "net revenue" and asked for clarification of the contract terms and received this breakdown:

Retail price: $20.00
Retailer takes: ~$11.50
Print production: ~$2.50 per book
Net revenue for sharing between author and publisher: $6.00

OK, as I am reading this, they're basically taking their printing costs out of the pie before splitting revenues with you. In other words, your work is paying for their printing costs, instead of them paying for printing out of their costs.

What are they offering you that you can't do on your own?

Never pay for the printing for someone else.

 

[CaoPaux]

Updating URL: https://mango.bz/

Imprint, Books & Books Press.