Hi there, I have just been offered a publishing contract by RhetAskew Publishers, after a request for a full manuscript submission. All well and good you might say, but I didn't receive any email, phone call or other communication, just and email with an electronic contract to sign. It als said at the bottom of the email not to forward it for security reasons. I began to get suspicious and checked out their website. Foolishly I hadn't done this before sending off my manuscript, but I have just done this now. Their website is sparse and there appears to be only one other author, although there is news about up and coming authors. What I want to know is if anyone else has had any dealings with RhetAskew and if these were okay, or are they somehow trying to scam me. Or, are they perhaps just a new publisher trying their best to get knew authors in and I have been lucky to have been selected?
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RhetAskew Publishing
- Thread starter Trash Culture
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The website seems geared toward authors not readers. That would be a reason for pause.
That you haven't had any interaction associated with the offer would be another reason.
The people on the team don't seem to have a background in publishing.
Books seem to be primarily focused on electronic editions and POD for print. Sales expectations are probably pretty low.
What sort of advance were you offered? Royalty rate? What subsidiary rights did they request? What is the reversion clause?
That you haven't had any interaction associated with the offer would be another reason.
The people on the team don't seem to have a background in publishing.
Books seem to be primarily focused on electronic editions and POD for print. Sales expectations are probably pretty low.
What sort of advance were you offered? Royalty rate? What subsidiary rights did they request? What is the reversion clause?
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I don't really understand RhetAskew based on their website. They are new, the website targets authors, they list the publisher as a contributor on Amazon listings, and they don't pay for their anthology stories. So... I mean they have managed to publish some books but beyond that nothing to be really enthusiastic about IMHO.
I don't see what they're offering that you couldn't do yourself through self-publishing. It looks like a typical small POD/ebook operation, where you can expect low sales and no publicity. Their books don't have rankings to indicate high sales and there are few reviews.
I noted that their non-fiction author has a novel with another publisher... which RhetAskew has given a three-star rating on Goodreads. It's a tad odd for a publishing company to be leaving ratings on their author's books. I don't think they've really thought about what they want their online presence to achieve. (I can't imagine "we give low ratings to books by our authors through other publishers" was the brand they were hoping to achieve... they most likely didn't think about how it would look.)
All round, they look very new, and you don't need to be their experiment. Come back in a few years and see if they've pulled it together.
I noted that their non-fiction author has a novel with another publisher... which RhetAskew has given a three-star rating on Goodreads. It's a tad odd for a publishing company to be leaving ratings on their author's books. I don't think they've really thought about what they want their online presence to achieve. (I can't imagine "we give low ratings to books by our authors through other publishers" was the brand they were hoping to achieve... they most likely didn't think about how it would look.)
All round, they look very new, and you don't need to be their experiment. Come back in a few years and see if they've pulled it together.
A personal quibble, perhaps nothing to do with their abilities or professionalism, but all three of their editors/owners make mention of their children/grandchildren. Right where their publishing experience should be.
It makes me wonder what takes a back seat in case of family emergencies. Is there back-up? Actual staff? Or just the three Musketeers?
And, the emphasis seems to be on 'workshops'. Are these free, or a revenue stream?
The extremely fine-print description of the editing process says both that they want to help the writer achieve their vision, and at the same time that the writer is expected to 'address all creative development concerns'. Which could mean just 'take under consideration' or 'rewrite it into what we want it to be.'
It makes me wonder what takes a back seat in case of family emergencies. Is there back-up? Actual staff? Or just the three Musketeers?
And, the emphasis seems to be on 'workshops'. Are these free, or a revenue stream?
The extremely fine-print description of the editing process says both that they want to help the writer achieve their vision, and at the same time that the writer is expected to 'address all creative development concerns'. Which could mean just 'take under consideration' or 'rewrite it into what we want it to be.'
Their website is a mess.
None of the people involved seem to have any experience in publishing, which means they're learning about publishing by experimenting with the books they publish. That's ok if they get things right, but it's extremely unlikely that they will. And if they don't, their books will suffer.
I have never seen any of their books for sale in bookshops, which means yours won't get into bookshops either. And although most sales are made online now, a high proportion of those sales are made after buyers first see the titles in physical bookshops, so this is still very significant in a book's success.
I wouldn't consider publishing with them.
None of the people involved seem to have any experience in publishing, which means they're learning about publishing by experimenting with the books they publish. That's ok if they get things right, but it's extremely unlikely that they will. And if they don't, their books will suffer.
I have never seen any of their books for sale in bookshops, which means yours won't get into bookshops either. And although most sales are made online now, a high proportion of those sales are made after buyers first see the titles in physical bookshops, so this is still very significant in a book's success.
I wouldn't consider publishing with them.
Hi Round Two,
Thanks all helpful, Answering your very relevant questions:
No advance has been offered
Author retains 60% of the net proceeds, Publisher 40%
Not sure what subsidiary rights are, but I guess it's the following that they have referred to "Author owns the characters and controls their use in sequels or series books, whether published by publisher or another publisher. Publisher will have a non exclusive right to use the title and all materials including characters in work for the purpose of advertising, publishing and promoting work." It then goes on to say, "If author writes anothr work that is a sequel or spin off to work covered in this agreement using an identical/or similar theme and/or major characters from the contracted work, publisher retains a right of first refusal for the subsequent work. If publisher does not accept for publication this additional work within 90 days of submission, it will be considered refuse and author will be free to market rights to the new work without encumbrance.
Reversion Clause: "The term of agreement will be from the date of signing to three years from the effective date of publication and will automatically renew for successive terms of one year unless notice of termination is given by the author not less than 60 days prior to the end of the agreement term."
I think the picture I am getting from responses is that it's a very amateur set up, that there probably is no scam involved, but that they will not be able to push my novel, relying on online sales.
Thanks all helpful, Answering your very relevant questions:
No advance has been offered
Author retains 60% of the net proceeds, Publisher 40%
Not sure what subsidiary rights are, but I guess it's the following that they have referred to "Author owns the characters and controls their use in sequels or series books, whether published by publisher or another publisher. Publisher will have a non exclusive right to use the title and all materials including characters in work for the purpose of advertising, publishing and promoting work." It then goes on to say, "If author writes anothr work that is a sequel or spin off to work covered in this agreement using an identical/or similar theme and/or major characters from the contracted work, publisher retains a right of first refusal for the subsequent work. If publisher does not accept for publication this additional work within 90 days of submission, it will be considered refuse and author will be free to market rights to the new work without encumbrance.
Reversion Clause: "The term of agreement will be from the date of signing to three years from the effective date of publication and will automatically renew for successive terms of one year unless notice of termination is given by the author not less than 60 days prior to the end of the agreement term."
I think the picture I am getting from responses is that it's a very amateur set up, that there probably is no scam involved, but that they will not be able to push my novel, relying on online sales.
Thanks eqb, You know what? I am sure that these titles have appeared since I last looked, which tends to imply that they are rapidly populating the website as we speak!
Hi Polenth, I think you are correct. The sad truth is that like all writers I am desperate to get published and on receiving their offer I was jumping for joy. So I guess this made me blind to the obvious facts that they are new, not well thought out, and probably need me more than I need them. So, unless I just want to have my novel sitting there doing nothing, I think I am going to turn them down.
Thanks frimble3, Like the other posts you have raised some really relevant concerns. Their focus may well be elsewhere, rather than on their authors, or at least distracted by other things. I didn't understand what you meant by"take under consideration", but I guess it's not good. Anyway, suffice to say that after consideration of tall the posts, I am sadly going to turn them down,
Thanks Old Hack, You and the other posts are just what I needed to hear. I don't need to be anybody's experiment, however desperate I am to be published. And I don't need my book sitting on a website doing nothing. Hell I could achieve that through self publishing!
Unless "net" is defined, you could end up getting 60% of nothing.
We cannot advise you on this contract: please don't ask us to. Contracts work as a whole, and giving advice on individual clauses is often therefore meaningless.
Subsidiary rights include things like hardback, paperback, digital version, large print, audio, and foreign and translation editions in all those various formats.
I think that's a very fair summary.
Don't be so desperate to be published that you send your work off to places which won't publish you well. It's better to remain unpublished than to be published badly. Take care.
Sorry for the dashed hopes. It's probably obvious now, but if you do your due diligence before instead of after submitting, you'll save yourself a lot of heartache. And you'll stay off a lot of nasty mailing lists, too, I imagine.
Anyway, you avoided this trap, and you're still good to go. Best of luck!
What I meant was, maybe all they want is for you to acknowledge their feedback, and consider/discuss it. Or, they might be of the 'our way or the highway' school of publishing and insist that you change your work to suit them.
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Content Restrictions
I know you've already made your decision regarding using them. But for future folks with a similar question, the writer's group I'm in is using them to publish an 80k anthology (this will be the second one they've published with a third in the works). Our admins seem to like them. However, while our own editors had no issues with the content of my short story, their editor informed our admins I had been a bit too "explicit" for them to publish it the way it was written, so I had to tone down the sex scene before they would accept it. So, there is that one concern for anyone else considering using them. They definitely have a preference regarding content and are vocal about it.
I know you've already made your decision regarding using them. But for future folks with a similar question, the writer's group I'm in is using them to publish an 80k anthology (this will be the second one they've published with a third in the works). Our admins seem to like them. However, while our own editors had no issues with the content of my short story, their editor informed our admins I had been a bit too "explicit" for them to publish it the way it was written, so I had to tone down the sex scene before they would accept it. So, there is that one concern for anyone else considering using them. They definitely have a preference regarding content and are vocal about it.
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I just checked out one of their books on Amazon with the Look Inside feature and the formatting is a mess. *All* the paragraphs are centered, and the different page elements (chapter title, page content, etc.) all have black margins. It's really off-putting.
ETA: I should note that this book is one of their novels. The anthologies seem to be formatted just fine.
ETA: I should note that this book is one of their novels. The anthologies seem to be formatted just fine.
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How much of an advance did you receive for your book? What rights did RhetAskew license? What sort of distribution are they providing?
Are there any updates on this publisher? I didn't read this entire thread before submitting. If there hasn't been improvement I'll likely not accept an acceptance if there is one.
They appear to have a new website: https://rhetaskewpublishing.com
It also has a store page that includes lots of popular books not published by them, because I guess they're also a book store? I'm not sure.
It also has a store page that includes lots of popular books not published by them, because I guess they're also a book store? I'm not sure.
They just randomly sell everything ever written by Nicholas Sparks (Hachette) and Janet Evanovich (Simon & Schuster)? What a confusing website.
I have a friend who has recently published through Rhet Askew, and they seem happy with the publisher but I've had alarm bells ringing RE their practise for a while. I think they're a great writer, but most of the onus of marketing has been put on the author, the cover design is...not a stand out, and their formatting on Kindle leaves out indented paragraphing (a common mistake I made when I first published via KDP due to their file format not recognising the use of the Tab key), but it's something one would hope that a publisher would actually notice before hitting the publish button.
My friend does seem happy, and the people at Rhet Askew seem genuinely enthusiastic about the work they do, however I don't believe they're as established or as capable as they make out.
My friend does seem happy, and the people at Rhet Askew seem genuinely enthusiastic about the work they do, however I don't believe they're as established or as capable as they make out.