Anyone ever heard of Roval Publishing? If so, thoughts? I can't find any information about them out there and I'm wondering if they're a trustworthy publisher, a POD publisher, etc. Thanks!
CaliGirl85
CaliGirl85
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Hi CaliGirl and welcome to AW 
This is definitely POD, and definitely vanity, if you're talking about: http://www.rovalpublishing.net/
How decent they are, I have no idea.
This is definitely POD, and definitely vanity, if you're talking about: http://www.rovalpublishing.net/
How decent they are, I have no idea.
Well, they've apparently agreed to publish an obviously plagiarized work, so I wouldn't consider them a very good option.
For more information, including links to the "new" version:
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2007/10/11/top-10-tips-for-plagairists/
Here's the original work: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780345494788&itm=4, scroll through to the first page of the story.
Sorry if this is an inappropriate post here, but it seemed worth mentioning.
For more information, including links to the "new" version:
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2007/10/11/top-10-tips-for-plagairists/
Here's the original work: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780345494788&itm=4, scroll through to the first page of the story.
Sorry if this is an inappropriate post here, but it seemed worth mentioning.
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Roval Publishing is, based on my reading of their Marketing Guide (a free download at Lulu.com) an utter waste of time and money.
They have one book published so far, and they've printed it via Lulu. What the foo the author needed them for, I don't know. He could have saved himself some time, money, and mockery by going to Lulu directly.
Back to their marketing guide: They sell bunches of services.
These include business cards at $79 for 150, bookmarks at $79 for 100, and postcards at $199 for 100.
They'll send spam e-mail at $995 plus $495/month for a half-a-million addresses.
Wait, there's more! If you manage to sell 3,000 copies of your Roval book (and, at the same time, the Devil goes ice-skating and you have to carry an umbrella because of the flying pigs) they'll become your agent! That's right, they'll make sure a legitimate publisher picks up your book and they'll do it for free!
These guys are, in my opinion, somewhere between clueless and scum. Stay very far away.
They have one book published so far, and they've printed it via Lulu. What the foo the author needed them for, I don't know. He could have saved himself some time, money, and mockery by going to Lulu directly.
Back to their marketing guide: They sell bunches of services.
These include business cards at $79 for 150, bookmarks at $79 for 100, and postcards at $199 for 100.
They'll send spam e-mail at $995 plus $495/month for a half-a-million addresses.
Wait, there's more! If you manage to sell 3,000 copies of your Roval book (and, at the same time, the Devil goes ice-skating and you have to carry an umbrella because of the flying pigs) they'll become your agent! That's right, they'll make sure a legitimate publisher picks up your book and they'll do it for free!
These guys are, in my opinion, somewhere between clueless and scum. Stay very far away.
J. R. Tomlin
Banned
Jim,
Were you aware that the bulk of the text used to sell their book review service came from here and here?
I didn't download the entire file, so perhaps he acknowledges sources - as this site did. There is no evidence of that in the preview.
Then perhaps he considers it fair use, or simply homage. Oy.
Were you aware that the bulk of the text used to sell their book review service came from here and here?
I didn't download the entire file, so perhaps he acknowledges sources - as this site did. There is no evidence of that in the preview.
Then perhaps he considers it fair use, or simply homage. Oy.
Holy Christmas. I'm fairly the bookmarks the PA authors make or buy are cheaper.
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Heck, I can print 1250 myself for $10, just by buying a ream of cardstock. It's not hard to make bookmarks if you know how to set up a table in Word.
Sheesh!
Sheesh!
So this other book has possible links to plagiarism too? Ouch. Only two known books associated with Roval: one plagiarized unpublished book, and one lulu-published book that, from evidence seen so far, is possibly plagiarized.
Not a good record, even for POD self-publishing vanity operations.
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I've not seen any evidence that the second book you mention is plagiarized. Am I missing something?
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I thought that's what you were saying here. So, then, what are you saying? I'm completely confused.
I was referring to the Marketing Guide that Jim was talking about. That book is essentially an ad for Roval's services.
The other book, as far as I'm aware, is a book by a marketing professor (also a priest, apparently), and I have no reason to believe that book contains any plagiarized material. The author may come to regret his choice of publisher, but I certainly don't mean to cast any aspersions on him for I see no evidence that he's done anything wrong.
I can see how it's easy to be confused as there are two titles for sale - one called Responsible Marketing and the other called Marketing Guide.
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He just linked to the wrong book. Perhaps you could have corrected his link the first time?
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While the fellow who wrote Responsible Marketing may (and bloody-well ought to) come to regret his choice of publisher, it's the publisher itself and its Marketing Guide that I want to look at.
Look at some of their services and prices:
That's Lulu's distribution package (though I'm not 100% sure Roval knows what Baker and Taylor is), with a bit of a markup included. Lulu charges $150 for the ISBN and distribution. The other $345 is pure profit for Roval for doing zero-point-no work.
Let's see, what else does Roval offer?
Wow. For $1,495 I hope they include a limo to drive the author to the event, a big bottle of champagne, and a massage to help him relax after it's over.
Or, perhaps, the horse may talk*.
---------------------
* That's the punchline to a story.
A man was condemned to death by Caesar. He threw himself on the ground and said, "Mighty Caesar, if you will but spare my life for one year, I will teach your horse to talk!"
Caesar, intrigued, said, "Very well. You shall have the year. But if at the end of that time my horse does not speak you will surely die."
The man went off. Soon after he was met by a friend who said, "What were you thinking of? You don't know how to teach a horse to talk any more than I do."
The man replied, "That is true, but many things may happen in a year. I may die. Caesar may die. The horse may die. Or, perhaps, the horse may talk."
Look at some of their services and prices:
That's Lulu's distribution package (though I'm not 100% sure Roval knows what Baker and Taylor is), with a bit of a markup included. Lulu charges $150 for the ISBN and distribution. The other $345 is pure profit for Roval for doing zero-point-no work.
Let's see, what else does Roval offer?
Wow. For $1,495 I hope they include a limo to drive the author to the event, a big bottle of champagne, and a massage to help him relax after it's over.
Or, perhaps, the horse may talk*.
---------------------
* That's the punchline to a story.
A man was condemned to death by Caesar. He threw himself on the ground and said, "Mighty Caesar, if you will but spare my life for one year, I will teach your horse to talk!"
Caesar, intrigued, said, "Very well. You shall have the year. But if at the end of that time my horse does not speak you will surely die."
The man went off. Soon after he was met by a friend who said, "What were you thinking of? You don't know how to teach a horse to talk any more than I do."
The man replied, "That is true, but many things may happen in a year. I may die. Caesar may die. The horse may die. Or, perhaps, the horse may talk."
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The story goes back further than that--to the day of Daryoosh, the Shahinshah of Persia.
The thief offered to teach the king's favorite horse to sing a hymn of praise to Ahuru Mazda. The end line is pretty much the same: "Perhaps the horse will learn to sing!"
Regards,
Scott
Actually, it goes back further than that, and the end line was "If this mockingbird won't sing..."
Ah, yes, that's why I was confused! Thanks for pointing that out. I couldn't figure out what was going on and I felt like a real idiot until you pointed that out.
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They were moved here.
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8286&page=10
Roval is a pay-to-play publisher and not a good option if one were to choose to use a pay-to-play publisher. A much better option would be Lulu.com.
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Especially since they appear to use Lulu as a printer and mark their services up considerably.
I just perused this publisher's web site. They need to have a talk with their copywriter - before another POD publisher or two has a talk with them.