Red Rose Publishing

[torrentwaters]

I'm try to get info on the publishing company Red Rose. Can anyone help?

 

[James D. Macdonald]

These guys? http://www.redrosepublishing.com/

They look like a e-pub specializing in romance/erotica. No idea what lengths they're looking for (the guidelines don't say), and the links to their catalog don't seem to be working.

How did you hear about this publisher and what attracts you to them?

 

[torrentwaters]

These guys? http://www.redrosepublishing.com/

They look like a e-pub specializing in romance/erotica. No idea what lengths they're looking for (the guidelines don't say), and the links to their catalog don't seem to be working.

How did you hear about this publisher and what attracts you to them?

Someone who works for them requested one of my ms. I'd like to know more before I signed my contract, thats all.

 

[herdon]

Someone who works for them requested one of my ms. I'd like to know more before I signed my contract, thats all.

They requested your ms. without you querying them?

 

[Wendi]

Yes it was me as I had read your story and did not know if it was at a publisher or not. It is a terrific story! Red Rose Publishing is taking submissions of all genre romance and erotic as well. We are opening our doors in July for sales.

If interested I can post the submissions guidelines as well as royalities are 40% for sales of ebooks up to 300, over 301 to 500 is 45% while over 501 is 50%. THere are no fees for any of the sales off the site and it is straight % off down load price while the sales from distributor are net, what money the publisher gets from the distributors is divided as stated above.

If you would like more information I would be more than happy to provide it. I believe I have spoken to the orginal poster to answer their questions.

Take care and have a great day!

Wendi

 

[lolaflick]

Help please is it true that Red Rose Publishing

has gone bankrupt?
Red Rose™ Publishing's site is currently unavailable due to maintenance.

It should be restored soon.

Thank you for your patience and sorry for the inconvenience.

~ Webmistress

 

[caromora]

I've seen that message on their site before, usually late at night (US EST), when I presume they're updating. The site always comes back just fine. Whether they're having problems, I don't know, but the website message isn't a sign of them.

 

[CaoPaux]

E.g., there's a bar across the top of their page today:

The store will be unavailable 10 November starting at 11:40pm EST due to scheduled maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Where did you hear they were having problems/going bankrupt?

 

[kimsmith]

I am an author for RRP. They are NOT going bankrupt. That is just a notice that they are doing scheduled maintenance. In fact, many of the top selling authors are going to print.

 

[RochelleWeber]

You will notice that the Red Rose website is usually not available on two Wednesday nights/Thursday mornings a month. That's when the Web Mistress updates the site and posts the new releases--both e-book and print. I both edit for Red Rose and am a Red Rose author, and I'm quite happy here. Red Rose is not in financial trouble and is the most professional publishing house I've worked with in something like three years of experience in the e-book industry, both as an editor and as an author. And now we're going to print, as well. My book is currently going through another round of edits so that it will be completely polished when it comes out in print early next year. Red Rose is growing, not shrinking and it's exciting to be part of that growth.

 

[Kensington]

Does anyone have any information about this publisher?

http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/

 

[para]

There's already a thread for this: <snipped>

There's the entry from piers anthony - http://www.hipiers.com/publishing.html

RED ROSE PUBLISHING - www.redrosepublishing.com/. Started by Wendi Felter, who was booted from Mardi Gras. Opinions about her are highly mixed, positive and negative; now we'll see how she does on her own. Sliding scale for royalties: 40% first 300, 45% next 200, 50% above 500. They are seeking all variations of Romance and Erotic Romance, with the usual restrictions. Authors must be 18 or older. ... <snipped> ... January 2010 update: Even at that rate, they have a backlog of a year. They are reorganizing following the loss of their Lead Content Editor (maternity), and things are slow, with some reports months late. I'd say avoid this publisher until they catch up. February 2010 update: negative reports continue, and sales appear to be low. They have been called an author mill instead of a quality publisher. There is also a protest about a $100 termination fee, especially when it is the publisher at fault. The theory is that the publisher invests this much setting up for a novel, but if the publisher then does not perform, I suspect that fee should be forfeited. It seems to take a year to publish an ebook. Yet the publisher does seem to be trying to catch up on the backlog, and says it paid out more than $75,000 in royalties in the year 2009. I hope to simplify this entry in the future, as it is dragging on.

P&E has them as not recommended

the erec list also has a listing: http://www.erecsite.com/PLIST.html

[28 November 2008] Not recommended at Preditors and Editors due in part to a report of non-payment
[30 November 2008] Reports of communication difficulties from more recently signed authors.
[15 December 2008] I have received many positive reports from authors, but also a few mixed reports. However there seem to be no serious issues and it seems some communications glitches that had been occuring are now no longer a problem.
[23 Sept] Reports of a kill fee and other problems.

 

[Kensington]

Thanks so much for this. It looks like a publisher to avoid. BTW, is there any way you can check and see how many copies of your book have been sold. I mean an ebook that's up on fictionwise and those sort of sites? Or, is only the publisher privy to that info?

 

[Kensington]

RRP is taking a whole year from acceptance to get an ebook up on their site. This long delay should be spelt out in their contract. They are also releasing about twenty new titles every month, and charging a two hundred dollar kill fee, if an author wants out. It sounds more like a vanity to me. Not interested in sales, but just in getting as many titles as they can up on their site, and then making their cash from the kill fee.

 

[Sugertime]

The Red Rose contract is 11 pages long. If anyone is interested in any specific clauses I'll post them here. I've noticed that the more disreputable the publisher, the longer the contract, and RR doesn't disappoint. Here is the kill fee clause.

A. The Contract will be for three (3) years from the date of signing of contract, and may be renewed by mutual consent of the Author and the Publisher. Unless notification is received in writing sixty (60) days in advance of expiration by traceable delivery service, certified mail notice or other receipted mail, contract will renew automatically. Upon renewal of the contract the royalty will remain the same, for example if it was 45% or 50% the royalty will remain the same.

B. Author may petition Publisher to terminate contract at any time but will be responsible for production costs for applicable cover art and editors, including Publishers initial investment a one hundred dollar minimum is the cost at the time of this contract. $50 for the cover art and $50 for the editors if pulled before published but after a cover and editing has been done. After publication there must be a 90 day request for termination letter received by traceable mail, registered, etc., if the book has been out more than 30 days equaling a total of 120 day minimum, with no cost incurred to the author.

C. Upon termination of the Contract, the Publisher retains the right to sell or dispose of any existing stock inventory, but may not produce more. The Author will receive applicable or adjusted royalties on these copies, and all rights will revert to Author.

 

[Maud]

Signed a contract with Red Rose for my novella, Confesssions of a Liberal Lover, and was advised that they had a backlog. These things happen and I was not upset. Although, I realized my book wasn't the greatest fit for their catalogue (comedic chick-lit) I have no complaints so far and it sure beats self-publishing. I tried this with my first novel, The Founding Five, a political thriller. I used i-Universe, which cost me a bundle and the royalties are so small there’s no way I could sell enough copies to recover my costs.

Just finished working with the content editor RRP assigned. He was really great and worked hard to help me improve the book. I have a release date now of May 2010. Wendi has made it clear to all authors that the book must sell at least 100 copies before a print edition will be released. This seems more than fair and I believe that it really is up to the author to get involved in the marketing process.

 

[Richard White]

. . . I believe that it really is up to the author to get involved in the marketing process.

By marketing process, do you mean promotions?

Authors are usually pretty ineffective when it comes to marketing. Authors can set up web sites, do social networking, etc., but that's all promotion. It doesn't do any good if the book is not available where people can find it. Authors can't contact every store in America (in the case of a print book), but publishers can and do, via their sales staff or they coordinate with other cooperatives to market multiple publishers via catalogs. That's marketing.

Publishers should responsible for marketing the book. If, after all, they're really publishing it, they have a vested monetary interest in recouping their outlay. If they're just "making it available" or simply "printing it", then that's not really publishing.

The more the publisher markets a book, the faster the publisher repays themselves for the money they've invested in the book for cover art, editing, formatting, maintaining their servers (in the case of e-books), overhead, etc.

If they leave it strictly up to the author to sell their books, then the publisher is abrogating their responsibilities to the author, in my opinion.

 

[Momento Mori]

Hi, Maud, and welcome to AW.

Maud:
I have a release date now of May 2010. Wendi has made it clear to all authors that the book must sell at least 100 copies before a print edition will be released. This seems more than fair and I believe that it really is up to the author to get involved in the marketing process.

Although authors do need to be more involved in promotions now, they should not be the only ones promoting the book.

Are you able to share what Rose Publishing will be doing to promote your novel?

The reason I ask is because there isn't a lot of information about what Rose Publishing do to promote and market their authors. For example their "review co-ordinator Dahlia" (for whom no credentials are given) apparently automatically submits ebooks to the following for review:

Red Rose Publishing Website:
Sites Red Rose Publishing automatically submits books for review (no particular order):

Mistress Bella Reviews http://mistressbellareviews.blogspot.com/

Romance Junkies - http://www.romancejunkies.com/mainpage.html

Dark Diva Reviews - http://ddrreviews.blogspot.com/

Cataromance Reviews - http://cataromance.com/

Fallen Angels Reviews - http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/

Once upon a Romance - http://www.onceuponaromance.net/

A Romance Review - http://www.aromancereview.com/news/index.php

ParaNormal Romance Reviews - http://www.paranormalromance.org/reviews/

Veiled Secrets Reviews - http://www.veiledsecretsreviews.com/

Coffee Time Romance - http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/reviews.html

Two Lips Reviews - http://www.twolipsreviews.com/content/

Novelspot Reviews - http://novelspot.net/bookreview

Howling Good Books - http://www.howlinggoodbooks.com/

Romance Reviews Today - http://www.romrevtoday.com/

Romance at Heart - http://romanceatheart.com/

Long and Short Reviews - http://www.longandshortreviews.com/LASR/index.htm

Whipped Cream Reviews - http://www.longandshortreviews.com/WC/index.htm

You Gotta Read Reviews - http://yougottareadreviews.blogspot.com/

My web filters won't let me check out all of the sites, but some of them haven't been updated since 2009, which may suggest that the promotions staff are not keeping up to date with appropriate review journals - plus many of those journals won't be appropriate for every manuscript being published by Red Rose, so should not be receiving copies automatically.

MM

 

[pagerette]

Promotion is the publisher's job. All the effort in the world will only net an author a few copies more, than if they hadn't done a thing. I'd avoid RRP. Wendi Felter does not impress me as someone who truly cares about the authors, and is doing a good job on their behalf.

 

[Maud]

Perhaps I should have used the term promotion instead of marketing. I guess since I was in marketing during my business career, the word is etched in my brain.

Not sure if the generalizations you are making about the futility of authors promoting their books are justfied, but if they are I feel sorry for the hundreds of authors who are working their butts off (particularily self-published authors) doing this through their website, Facebook ads, Google Ad Search, Amazon discussion groups and so many other methods.

As far as making their books available, Wendi announced in January that all Red Rose Publishing Print books will be available via Baker and Taylor so bookstores can order them for readers and signings, etc. As far as e-books, they are available through several on-line sites and in various formats including Amazon's Kindle.

Time will tell if your criticism of RRP is justified. I will post my impressions after I have more experience with them including what they have done to market and promote my novella. So far I am pleased, particularily with the job done by the content editor, and did not find the contract that they are using problematic in any way.

Clearly you do not respect this publisher and appear to dislike Wendi on a personal level. Have you yourself had a bad experience? If not, have you heard from a number of authors complaining about RRP?

 

[Momento Mori]

Maud to repeat my question - are you able to share what Red Rose are doing to promote your book?

MM

 

[BenPanced]

Clearly you do not respect this publisher and appear to dislike Wendi on a personal level. Have you yourself had a bad experience? If not, have you heard from a number of authors complaining about RRP?

No disrespect is intended or implied, especially when somebody asks questions. If two sites independent of AW have them listed as not recommended, then they must have gotten a few complaints from people; it's not like they pull things out of thin air.

 

[veinglory]

Indeed. And those reports are confidential.

 

[DreamWeaver]

Not sure if the generalizations you are making about the futility of authors promoting their books are justfied, but if they are I feel sorry for the hundreds of authors who are working their butts off (particularily self-published authors) doing this through their website, Facebook ads, Google Ad Search, Amazon discussion groups and so many other methods.

I feel sorry for them, too. To see why, check their sales rankings on Amazon. It's like golf--the higher the number, the worse the performance. For example, a ranking of 10 or less indicates sales of several hundred copies a day. A number in the mid-1,000,000s indicates an average of about one sale a year.

You can find explanations and estimations of Amazon rankings vs. sales many places on the web, so it's good to visit several and judge for yourself. One is here: http://www.rampant-books.com/mgt_amazon_sales_rank.htm


Granted, not all sales are on Amazon--but for POD books mainly available for order on line, it is the major seller right now. Publisher websites don't have the same kind of wide reach, and author promotional efforts often lead to prospective buyers heading to Amazon.

Prospective buyers also come to bookstores, but at least at the one I work at, we can't order them POD books due to discount/returnability issues. So, it's likely those end up at Amazon, also.

 

[Stacia Kane]

Not sure if the generalizations you are making about the futility of authors promoting their books are justfied, but if they are I feel sorry for the hundreds of authors who are working their butts off (particularily self-published authors) doing this through their website, Facebook ads, Google Ad Search, Amazon discussion groups and so many other methods.

Speaking as someone who e-published seven(?) novels and several novellas and shorts, I feel those generalizations are completely justified, and they echo an opinion I've expressed many times (which is, again, based on my experience).

I feel particularly sorry for those authors as well. That's why I'm here, recommending that writers submit to the biggest publishers they can; that if they're going to epublish they submit to a house that actually has a name people recognize and a site that attracts readers. That's what really makes the difference; when is the last time you bought a book based on a Facebook ad?