Raider Publishing / Purehaven Press

[aruna]

Hmmm. I got a Page Not Found just now.

ETA: Ahh. I used the wrong link. The link in the OP is not working; it's now
http://www.raiderpublishing.com/

 

[aruna]

Raider Publishing is the first publisher to offer authors more than fifty percent of their book's royalties,

 

[BarbJ]

If he upped his prices, somebody's buying. Sad, very sad.

 

[JimmyD1318]

What's funny is that I asked the SitePal if this was a scam and it's answer was, "Yes I think this is a scam but my not completely sure."

 

[CaoPaux]

Re: Midici Books

In Oct 2006, the website became a single page stating:

Would you like to have a short Fiction story published in one of our forthcoming anthologies? Here at Midici Books we have created 'The Midici Opportunity' to help budding Authors become published. In order for us to help as many new Authors as we possibly can, there is a limit of 1,000 words per story. Your first story, if accepted, will be published absolutely free of cost but if you wish to submit additional stories, we ask for a nominal US$15 contribution per story to help towards the additional costs. The purchase of books by our Authors is optional but for those Authors who decide to make a purchase, very attractive discounts are offered. For more details about Midici Books and this wonderful opportunity please email Chris for more information.

There is no sign of any of the anthologies that a supposed 250 authors/poets were going to be published in by Dec 2006. So much for this "opportunity".

 

[Gravity]

Mercy. Is there any field anywhere on God's green earth that attracts more sh*t-for-brains scamsters than publishing? I swear, they accumulate like roaches on a Twinkie.

 

[BarbJ]

Mercy. Is there any field anywhere on God's green earth that attracts more sh*t-for-brains scamsters than publishing? I swear, they accumulate like roaches on a Twinkie.

They do, indeed. Problem is, they're still around. Somebody's buying.

 

[JerseyGirl1962]

Re: Medici Books

Cao,

Did Raider Publishing become Midici Books? Or am I missing something?

~Nancy

 

[CaoPaux]

Nope, it's just that someone asked about Midici in the middle of the thread, so here's where Midici is Indexed.

Meanwhile, an updated link for Raider: http://raiderpublishing.com/Home_Page.html

 

[MathRules]

Hey, you know what? I just clicked on Raider Publishing (morbid fascination, being pretty sure what I'd find ahead of time), then rushed over here. There should be something we can do; maybe have a thousand people click their ad three times a minute for ten minutes. That'd be what, 30,000 hits/day? Don't they pay for those hits?

I can't believe there are enough suckers to support all these places. I'm not condemning, God knows; I was a whisker away from signing with NYLA until I checked around for references and ran across AbsoluteWrite. And my wife and I are sporting four degrees and working on two more- both of us were going hook, line and sinker. But still, the market for these folks should be limited.

 

[hobacotu]

Does anyone know anything about raider publishing, "they want to publish my book" I've had plenty of offers but this one seem to be the most rewarding.

 

[brianm]

Does anyone know anything about raider publishing, "they want to publish my book" I've had plenty of offers but this one seem to be the most rewarding.

There's a thread about Raider Publishing here.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22776&highlight=Raider+Publishing

I'm sure they want to publish your book because they will publish any book... just so as long as you pay their fees. It's a below average pay-to-play outfit started by a vanity published author who couldn’t cut the mustard. Or didn’t try hard enough. So naturally, he opened a publishing company.

By the by, you'll find that many publishers already have threads started about them if you enter their name using the search function located at the top of each forum.

Welcome to the cooler.

 

[MickRooney]

Hobacotu,

I have been researching POD/Subsidy publishers for the past six months. I have decided to go with Raider Publishing for my next book. As Brianm suggested, there are a number of authors who have come out of the Publish America experience and decided to set up their own publishing company. Some, perhaps, to replicate the same horror, others because they believe they can do better/offer better.

Raider Publishing is a realitively small subsidy/vanity publisher in terms of companies like Authorhouse/IUniverse, but their attention to authors is far stronger than any of these companies.

I have trawled the internet and though I've nothing negative about them, I have been in contact with several authors published by them, some more than once, and they all have very positive thing to say about Raider Publishing and Adam Salviani.

If at this stage I have criticisms of them, then yes, one or two.
As previously on this thread pointed out, the website is poor, regarding basic grammer, and not being updated on a regular month to month basis. Authors purchasing packages are openly displayed on their bookstore pages. This is poor business savy.

On the plus side as I've said, I yet to hear an author say a bad thing about them. They have a strong international listing with several previously published authors on their lists. Recently they have launched Raider Broadcasting on podcast. Link listed below. So make your own mind up.

Mick Rooney

http://web.mac.com/jraider/The_Writers_Forum/Podcast/Podcast.html

 

[underthecity]

I have decided to go with Raider Publishing for my next book. . . . there are a number of authors who have come out of the Publish America experience and decided to set up their own publishing company. Some, perhaps, to replicate the same horror, others because they believe they can do better/offer better.

Raider Publishing is a realitively small subsidy/vanity publisher in terms of companies like Authorhouse/IUniverse, but their attention to authors is far stronger than any of these companies.

I have trawled the internet and though I've nothing negative about them . . . If at this stage I have criticisms of them, then yes, one or two.
. . .
On the plus side as I've said, I yet to hear an author say a bad thing about them. They have a strong international listing with several previously published authors on their lists. . . .

This is all fine, but you should really address some issues first:

Why choose vanity/POD/subsidy for your book? Have you exhausted all potential commercial publishers?

What kind of industry experience do the owners of Raider have? Have they worked in commercial publishing houses as editors, interns, or anything? Do they have the experience vital to build a new publishing company? (See the horror story that was Capri Publishing.)

Are Raider's books stocked in bookstores? Does Raider employ a sales force that sells books to bookstores? Do they have good distribution channels so national B&Ns and Borders automatically stock their books?

Before you sign anything with Raider or anyone else, know what you're getting into. If your Raider book will exist solely on the Raider website and Amazon, why bother? Isn't your book worth more than that?

allen

 

[jamiehall]

Raider Publishing is a realitively small subsidy/vanity publisher in terms of companies like Authorhouse/IUniverse, but their attention to authors is far stronger than any of these companies.

I wouldn't bet on that.

I have trawled the internet and though I've nothing negative about them,

Um, this thread is mainly negative. And it is on the Internet.

If at this stage I have criticisms of them, then yes, one or two.
As previously on this thread pointed out, the website is poor, regarding basic grammer, and not being updated on a regular month to month basis. Authors purchasing packages are openly displayed on their bookstore pages. This is poor business savy.

If I were going to go with vanity publishing again (which I'm not, see my tale of woe for details) I'd want to go with a company that didn't have poor business savvy. For example, Lulu.com would probably be on top of my list.

On the plus side as I've said, I yet to hear an author say a bad thing about them.

Um, there are a number of authors in this thread, published authors, who've already said bad things about them. If what you meant was that you haven't heard one of their own authors say anything bad about them, I would not put much confidence in that circumstance for a number of reasons:

1) Disgruntled vanity-published authors have often lost connection to their vanity publisher and stop talking about the experience for shame.

2) Authors can be made happy by incredibly poor performances. Some authors just want to hold a copy of their book in their hand and have an illusion that it is being distributed. If they sell 15 copies to friends and relatives, that is all they want.

3) It takes time, sometimes several years, for authors to realize what a bad deal vanity publishing is. Until then, they are often in what is called a "honeymoon phase" when they interpret everything as positive.

 

[MickRooney]

Guys,

Thanks for your input and warnings but my intention was not to get into a debate about vanity/subsidy as against traditional publishing. I have self published five books under my own imprint since 1990 and submitted work to traditional publishers. While I have had many rejections as well as encouragement, I decided to continue with self-publishing due to the local success and personal fulfilment I gained. I think the POD publishing argument depends much on the perspective you approach it from. It's very much a case of horses for courses.

Did I want to sell several hundred books directly over a year or persist and find a commercial publisher who would pay a small advance, print an off-set run of say, 1000 - 3000, market me for several thousand dollars for a month, move 2 copies of my book to 500 stores and warehouse the rest in a wholesalers. No. Moving 1000 copies to 500 stores isn't 1000 sales, it is simply moving 1000 books from one warehouse place to 500 individual other retail book stores. Yes, of course the books are truly available, but without proper individual marketing that only I could do myself, they were never going to sell.

So when I hear authors I know say their publishers have shifted 2000 books to stores from their wholesalers, I smile, knowing that they believe their books must be in high demand. The only movement of a book that counts are the ones that go 'bing' as the barcode is scanned over the counter. The rest can sit on a shelf in a bookstore for week, months, each pair keeping themselves company on the shelf, until a sales assistant takes them off the shelf and puts them in the box marked, 'return to supplier'. They return to the wholesaler's warehouse, get pulped, or go back out at a hugely discounted price to cheap 2 dollar stores. When you spend years hawking your own books around local stores, you learn how things work.

Regarding Raider Publishing, I am not here to promote them as a viable POD publisher, though in any previous comments I have made, they are on the basis of purchasing 10+ books as part of my research, contacting a half dozen authors (not testimonial authors) and hearing their own experiences. Regarding the negative (?) comments posted on the Raider threads, I have heard no poster speak about a book they have actually read, no author who has been published by Raider visit this thread and post negatively. What I have read is posters comments about a website they saw set up nearly two years ago, (its grammer is still poor in the opening page, and hasn't changed!). Another comment about it's owner Adam Salviani not 'cutting the mustard' in the traditional publishing world, being too young, being a former PA author, as if it were a criminal offence to have fallen by that particular sword. Let's drag him out to the town square and pelt him with fruit. Would that make the authors published through traditional publishers feel any better about themselves?

As my original post reflected, I answered 'hobacotu' as honestly as I could and my intention was not to misguide or mislead.

Mick Rooney

 

[IceCreamEmpress]

What I have read is posters comments about a website they saw set up nearly two years ago

The posts on this thread were made over the course of more than two years. Obviously, the posts made two-plus years ago were commenting on the website as it was at that time.

If you don't know where to find the date of a post, look for it in the blue bar above the poster's avatar.

Did I want to sell several hundred books directly over a year or persist and find a commercial publisher who would pay a small advance, print an off-set run of say, 1000 - 3000, market me for several thousand dollars for a month, move 2 copies of my book to 500 stores and warehouse the rest in a wholesalers.

You say that like those are the only two choices out there. I like the "sell your book to a publisher who can afford to pay you a decent advance and market your book effectively" option myself. Having done this myself, I recommend it.

 

[brianm]

Another comment about it's owner Adam Salviani not 'cutting the mustard' in the traditional publishing world, being too young, being a former PA author, as if it were a criminal offence to have fallen by that particular sword. Let's drag him out to the town square and pelt him with fruit. Would that make the authors published through traditional publishers feel any better about themselves?

There have been a number of PA authors who have opened publishing “companies” over the years who think they can provide better services to writers just because they care so much about writers. They fail to realize caring doesn’t make up for experience, knowledge, and capital.

It isn't that he fell for PA that is the problem. It's his lack of publishing experience that is the main problem. He's offering services he can't fulfill. Editing being one of them.

I have read a number of backcover blurbs off Amazon for books published by this outfit. They are hard to read and need, at the very least, some solid editing. If I can't get past the blurb, why would I think the rest of the book is going to be any better?

Every writer has different goals. AW members won't judge you because you choose to publish your work in a certain manner. But most of us who post in these threads will try to help other members see the problems or benefits of a particular publisher, regardless of what services the publisher offers. That is what this thread is about. How does this publisher stack up against other publishers who offer the same services?

IMO, and in the opinion of others more experienced than I, not well.

 

[jamiehall]

Every writer has different goals. AW members won't judge you because you choose to publish your work in a certain manner. But most of us who post in these threads will try to help other members see the problems or benefits of a particular publisher, regardless of what services the publisher offers. That is what this thread is about. How does this publisher stack up against other publishers who offer the same services?

IMO, and in the opinion of others more experienced than I, not well.

I agree with brianm. MickRooney, we are not trying to push you into a certain way of thinking or trying to put you (or anyone else) down for the choices they have made. We are simply evaluating this publisher by comparing its services and the evidence it has shown for publishing knowledge to what else is out there.

If you want to compare Raider Publishing to commercial (non-vanity) publishers with viable distribution systems and bookstore placement, then it falls sadly short merely because of the category of publishing it is, unless (as you stated you are personally doing) you are judging it from a standpoint where you value things usually not considered good in publishers. For example, most people here would consider placing a few thousand books in bookstores to be a much better situation than hand-selling a few hundred books. But, if you value the situation where you personally do all the marketing and sell at a slow rate, then not only Raider Publishing but many other vanity publishers will look good to you.

If you want to compare Raider Publishing to other vanity publishers, it sounds (from the evidence on its own website and other things pointed out in this thread) as if it is worse than a number of vanity publishers. Still, it is better than some vanity publishers. But, for an author who hopes to launch a career someday, being better than some vanity publishers is not a strong point.

All we've been saying in this thread is variations on the two above points - that Raider Publishing does not compare favorably to commercial publishers (except in special circumstances in which pretty much any vanity publisher would do) and, even if you evaluate it as a vanity publisher, it seems that most people could do better.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Personally, I couldn't get over the misspelling in the FIRST SENTENCE.

Other Major Publishers may claim to care about their writers... but as we all know... actions speak louder then words!

So according to them, actions speak loud and then words speak afterward?

You forgot one:

The truth of the matter is, most publishers will give you less then ten percent...

 

[Momento Mori]

During my lunch break I decided to catch up with all the gossip in the UK legal profession by flicking through Legal Week (a magazine distributed free to UK lawyers). There on The Diary page was a small snippet about someone who used to work in marketing and PR for a law firm who has just had their first novel published.

I'm not going to name the author because that's not fair, but The Diary had no such moral qualms and even published a small example of the writing from the book, ending with the somewhat snide rhetorical question "Did someone say 'Booker Prize'?". It wasn't a great excerpt, but I've read worse so I figured I'd look it up on Amazon to see who it was published with.

I'd give you three guesses, but the title of this thread kinda gives it away.

Anyway, I toodled over to the Raider website and it seems that they're now offering 3 routes towards publication:

1. Bronze Package ($699 (USD)/$750 (Canada)/500(Euro)/450(UK))

Paying this gets you:

- 51% royalties

- quarterly royalty payments and reports of sales

- World Wide Availability

- Professional Proofreading (which I hope isn't of the same level as used for the website, which still contains numerous typographical and grammatical errors)

- ISBN Number Registration

- Personal Assistant (I have no idea what this means or includes)

- Text Design

- Book Layout

- Printing around the world, including the US and UK

- Binding (hardcover optional) (great - because I'd hate to drop 450 quid on a book that doesn't have its pages stuck together)

- Cover design (which having looked at their on-line book store seems to comprise of pretty horribly compiled clip art)

- Review proofs of the cover and book interior (no mention of number of copies)

- Press releases to local newspapers (no mention of which local newspapers - hopefully local to the author but you never know)

- Free copies (number unspecified)

- Promotional Opportunities (if desired) (also unspecified)

- Distribution to our network of 25,000 retailers around the world (given that we live in a pretty big world, 25,000 isn't a lot of retailers)

- Three years of distribution (no mention of whether this means the contract ends after 3 years or if they just stop having to fulfil their side of the bargain)

And if that isn't enough to tempt your appetite, with this package and on payment of an additional $199(US)/$250(Canada)/150(Euro)/100(UK), you can also get:

- Entry into the Ippy and Pulitzer Book Prize Awards

- Interview on Global Talk Radio (no idea what this is - maybe somone can explain for me)

- Extra Press Releases (suggesting that you only get a limited number with the 'standard' bronze package)

- Book Signing Arrangements (unspecified)

Alternatively (in addition to the other extra) you can pay $399(US)/$399(Canada)/200(UK)/300(Euro) and have your book "broadcasted" [sic] as a Radio Podcast over the Raider Broadcasting Network, itunes and other podcasting databases.

2. Silver Package ($1799(US)/$1899(Canada)/1299(Euro)/1000(UK))

As you'd expect, you get a little more for your moolah with this package:

- Full Cover Design (which makes me wonder how this is different to the "cover design" you get with the Bronze Package - maybe it's a wider choice of Clip Art).

- Complete Editing/Proof Reading of your book (which makes me wonder if you only get a partial proof read with the Bronze package)

- World Wide Printing and Distribution for 5 years (see my comment on the Bronze Package's 3 year deal)

- Book Layout Services

- 51% of your Book's royalties

- 40% Author Discount on all Raider Publishing Titles

- Availability at over 25,000 retailers world wide (see comment on Bronze Package)

- 30 Free Copies of your book

- Personal Promotion Assistant

- 100 Press Releases sent to the local/national media

- Book Signing Arrangement (no mention of where or how)

- Your Book Submitted for shelf space consideration with all major retail chains (consideration is not the same as placement)

- Your Book broadcasted in Podcast form on iTunes (suggesting that you're signing broadcast rights to Raider with your print rights)

And if having spent £1000 to get published, you still have a little money to throw at this vanity operation, for $349(US)/$400(Canada)/300(Euro)/175(UK) they also offer a personal website with a separate URL designed by Raider (and let us hope, considerably more attractive), "devoted to your book and its success..."

3. Gold Package (Price on Application)

With which you get:

- Professional Consultation at our main office in the EmpireStateBuilding (including flights to New York, hotel stay, extras) (my guess is that this is why the price is only available on application - the idea of having to pay to see your vanity publisher did make me LOL though, purely for the chutzpah)

- Personal Website Creation

- Your Book broadcasted in Podcast form on iTunes

- Full Cover Design

- Complete Editing/Proof Reading of your book

- World Wide Printing and Distribution for 5 years (this is the same as the Silver Package)

- Book Layout Services

- 61% of your Book's royalties

- 50% Author Discount on all Raider Publishing Titles

- Availability at over 25,000 retailers world wide

- 100-2,000 Free Copies of your book (This is a bit of a WTF because it makes me wonder whether the intention is that the author be able to sell these at a profit, but that in itself creates problems if you're (presumably) going to have to pay a lot more than 1000 quid to take up this option)

- Personal Promotion Assistant

- 500 Press Releases sent to the local/national media

- Book Signing Arrangement

- Your Book submitted for shelf space consideration with all major retail chains (again, no guarantee of placement, suggesting no actual distribution in place for books to be stocked in stores)

Interestingly, there's the following in the News section on the Raider Website:

As of July 2008, WHSmith's with hundreds of stores in the UK and Ireland have decided to carry all Raider Publishing titles as the result of a new landmark agreement between the two companies. Executives at both RPI and WHSmith's were excited about the new agreement, which includes all future Raider Publishing International releases through 2012.

No mention as to whether this is to stock books on shelves or simply make available to order. However, WH Smiths has recently been reducing the amount of space available for book sales as part of its internal reorganisation - if the commercial publishers are finding it difficult to be stocked there, I'd suggest it's unlikely that Raider authors will be (unless by individual negotiation with their local store manager).

The good news is that some Raider authors are apparently up for consideration for an IPPY Award and one has been nominated for the Pulitzer. Finger's crossed for all ...

Edited to Add:

Raider apparently has a European office with an address in London. What's interesting though is that the telephone number for the European office does not have a London code (in fact, it's a Birmingham number). I know the street where the European office is supposed to be based, and there are a number of 'holding' offices (effectively post box offices) set up along there, suggesting that it could be a forwarding address..

MM

 

[victoriastrauss]

Raider has added one of those talking robofaces to its website. Taking a tip from Ann in the Mocknick Productions thread, I asked it how many writers it had ripped off.

Its response: "More than you can imagine."



MM, I'm sure you're being ironic, but just in case--for both the IPPY and the Pulitzer, you can nominate yourself, if you're willing to pay a fee.

- Victoria

 

[Momento Mori]

victoriastrauss:
MM, I'm sure you're being ironic, but just in case--for both the IPPY and the Pulitzer, you can nominate yourself, if you're willing to pay a fee.

No worries - yes, I was being ironic.

It's a little worrying how many Brits have gone with Raider because those UK price equivalents are really expensive.

MM

 

[Carmy]

I came in to ask if anybody knew about them. Glad I ran Search first.

Thanks everybody. I knew I could rely on you to know about the mean and nasty ones.

 

[spamwarrior]

I am so glad this thread is here.

"I had traveled the world (at my own expense) promoting my book in seven countries on two continents over six months. I spent countless hours arranging these events, while my publisher did nothing to help. As it turned out my novel was quite a success in several places, but I only earned eight percent of the royalties, while my publisher walked away with ninety two percent of the profits... after I had arranged and personally attended book signings all over the world, for a book which I had spent over a year writing. It was then that I decided I would start my own publishing company that treated all of its authors with the respect that they deserve. We are the only publisher in history to offer the author more then fifty percent of the royalties of their work. We are also the only subsidy publisher that will arrange book events for you if you would like us to do so. Here at Raider Publishing we care about our writers and we look forward to working with them not only as clients, but as friends."

Reminds me of PA. No wonder.

If you're thinking of going with Raider's, why go vanity/POD? Plus it seems as if you have to pay a fee.