This won't be the answer you are looking for, but it's the best I can give you.
All the pieces I've published that I have as credit are under a pen name, and I do not want them connected with mine so I've gone to decent lengths to avoid that. Due to my career of choice and the themes about which I wrote, I don't want credit under my real name for them.
On that note, I can say that I received one of the best educations in the country with focuses in both marketing and English/writing. I will be going back to school to get a masters in writing, I will pick an exact area to focus in after looking at the opportunities.
I've been a writer for six years, nothing compared to plenty of people here who have done it their whole life, but I feel very comfortable with it. I have spent a lot of those six years advertising/marketing and editing other people's works as well.
I don't sell false hopes or make promises I can't keep. So I have been very straightforward with what I have said and in the conversations I've had when people submit manuscripts. Vires Intra is a small publishing company and is sort of a starting ground, at least for now. I can't compete with the thousands of dollars up front that large publishers pay for manuscripts and I don't have the advertising team they do. But authors have high royalty options available to them and will never have to pay a dime for any service provided. All I promise people is that Vires Intra is sort of a "stamp of approval" for their book, we will print their book, and it will be part of the Ingram distribution process which will list it on amazon.com and make it available to B&N and thousands of other book stores. I will organize book signings and launch ad campaigns on various websites, in various magazines, etc while sending out flyers, press releases, getting the book reviewed, etc. To get the book on the shelf though it will take me working in my area and the authors advertising themselves as well.
When I first started writing it was very hard to get noticed or to even get a book in print. Self publishing became a very tempting avenue, but there were so many self published books that many people refuse to look at them. If anyone can do it then anyone will and many of the books will be horrible. I started Vires Intra with the idea of providing that "stamp of approval" and a lot of help to the author in terms of marketing and getting them setup. If a major publishing house wants to pick their book up then I consider my job a success and I have no problem releasing the rights of the book, if the author wishes, to that house. It also makes it a lot easier for the author's second book to take notice and to have "publishing credit" to speak of.
I use PoD technology to print books since it's just plain economical and smart to do so. PoD is a manner of printing, not a reflection of publishing. I don't ask that every author trusts me and I'm not asking largely known authors to print a book with Vires Intra just so we can get a better name. My goal for Vires Intra is pretty clearly stated and those that want to publish with the company can, if their books are of the right quality and interesting/creative/unique.
If you aren't convinced, which I'm sure many of you aren't, then I implore you to either go with whatever other company can serve you best or to give it a few months, or even a year. With time the works published will speak for themselves and the advertising/help given by Vires Intra will do so as well.
Again, thanks for the opportunity to write on my company and I apologize if I didn't say everything you wanted me too.
