It is with
Rainstorm Press and here are the terms they sent over:
25% net royalties on both paperback and eBook.
This sounds like a lot, but bear in mind that net is what the publisher recieves for the book, not the cover price. Factor in discounts etc and you can be left with pennies per copy sold - before signing a contract you need to think about how much you are likely to make.
Paperback will be distributed through Amazon.com and eBook will be distributed through Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.
So no instore placement? Not necessarily the end of the world. But do they offer books for sale on their website, for example - this would give them a higher profit margin and as a result the author would get a higher amount.
We do not pay advances because we don't like the idea of an author having to pay us back the advance if they have not earned it back through royalties.
Either they are trying to mislead you and are banking on your inexperience, or they simply don't know what they are talking about.
Advances are not usually paid back. They are an upfront payment based on how much the publisher expects your book to make for you in terms of sales.
Now, I've seen a lot of small presses offer no advance, and that's not necessarily the worst thing in the world. However, the way they tried to explain it is raising a lot of red flags.
We feel that the author should receive their royalties from the beginning and not have to worry about earning back the advance. We will pay an editor to work with you on polishing up the manuscript before it sees print.
So they don't have in house editing? That can be slightly worrying. It suggests lack of experience, but also if they are using freelancers then there's no guarentees when it comes to quality of work and previous experience.
One of our in-house artists will create a book cover for your manuscript. You will be able to work with the editor and artist for your manuscript.
I'd be wanting to look at the quality of books they are currently putting out before commenting on this. But I'd say the same thing about any other publisher - the best judge of their abilities is to see what sort of quality they are producing.
We purchase a unique ISBN for your book and make sure it gets the best distribution possible. We are set up with the Library of Congress so your book will be cataloged. You will receive 5 complimentary copies of the finished work.
I'm not sure about the states, but I know that in the UK any book published with an ISBN can be requested by certain libraries - don't quote me (I'd have to check with the hubby but he's asleep) but I think they can request that the pubisher provided them with a certain number of copies at the publishers cost. I would assume that the Library of Congress works the same way - can someone clarify.
Now, what I'd like to know at this stage is how many copies they are going to send out for review and to who. I'd like to know if I, as an author, can request additional copies, free of charge, for things like giveaways etc on my own websites etc.
That all seems good, right?
No. It doesn't.
I've seen a lot of these small presses start up, often with the best of intentions, but generally run by people with little or no experience, and it's always the authors who end up getting shafted.
My general advice would be to wait and see what sort of books they produce, what the quality is like and what other authors have said about their experiences with them.
I have 14 days to respond, but I wanna accept right now. I worked on this book (a Gothic, vampire romance) for 5 years. And I just quit my job to focus on writing full-time. I have made so many mistakes in my life over the last three years, I think I am finally on the right track.
If your book is good enough for you to make a living writing, then chances are that another, better, publisher will be interested.
That said, I always advise folks NOT to give up their day job to write unless they are in a sound financial situation and have enough savings etc to cover at least two years.
Whatever you decide, good luck.
