Has anyone ever heard of them? I got a request to submit from them via a contest and an internet search doesn't produce a lot of results (which should probably tell me something), but maybe someone else has some firsthand experience with them.
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Scarsdale Publishing
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Link: Scarsdale Publishing
An historical romance publisher with four imprints. There is no staff listed for the company (only extraordinarily annoying audio ads on many pages of the website that are impossible to turn off), which is always a red flag for me. The company looks to be not quite a year old. Looks like they publish novellas as well as audio books, and have a niche line dedicated to Scottish Historical romance. A number of their books are priced at 99 cents on Amazon.
I dunno. They seem to have published a LOT of books in the year they've been active.
An historical romance publisher with four imprints. There is no staff listed for the company (only extraordinarily annoying audio ads on many pages of the website that are impossible to turn off), which is always a red flag for me. The company looks to be not quite a year old. Looks like they publish novellas as well as audio books, and have a niche line dedicated to Scottish Historical romance. A number of their books are priced at 99 cents on Amazon.
I dunno. They seem to have published a LOT of books in the year they've been active.
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I noticed a lot of historical on their website and I don't write that, so I was surprised they were interested in me.
The drawback to submitting to a publisher like Scarsdale is that you have no idea of the experience level of the staff - or if, indeed, there is a staff - so many of these outfits are run largely by a single person.
I am assuming you're non-agented. If you decide to submit to Scarsdale and are offered a contract, I suggest you have it carefully vetted before you sign. There are so many non-standard clauses in small publishers' contracts (such as royalties computed on net, or any business plan that requires the author to pony up ANY money for publication expenses) that inexperienced authors may end up signing something that is not in their best interest.
I am assuming you're non-agented. If you decide to submit to Scarsdale and are offered a contract, I suggest you have it carefully vetted before you sign. There are so many non-standard clauses in small publishers' contracts (such as royalties computed on net, or any business plan that requires the author to pony up ANY money for publication expenses) that inexperienced authors may end up signing something that is not in their best interest.
I am published already, and while I don't have an agent, I do have an entertainment lawyer friend who vetted my first contract so I've been there, done that before.
And if anyone has direct experience, I'd love to hear it, but so far it looks like I'm passing on them for now.
And if anyone has direct experience, I'd love to hear it, but so far it looks like I'm passing on them for now.
I got a pitmad request from them, but I don't know if I'm going to send anything to them right now. For the book the requested, I've already been offered and declined a contract from one small publisher I probably should never have submitted to.
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So you decided to pass? Ugh. This is disheartening. They requested me during Pitmad too (AND SFFPit) ... and I was also confused bc I don't write historical romance (or really anything that resembles the type of romance they publish). But I sent them a pitch anyway (after dragging my feet) and they responded the same day with a full manuscript request. The more I dig the more skeptical I am. The email with the request is signed just "Tarah" (no last name) ... and the primary author that they publish is also named Tarah.
So much for my first full manuscript request. Not sure if I should just ignore the email or reply back with a polite refusal...
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Looking at their site, they appear to be prepping for new imprints--there's one for Women's Fiction and one for YA that say "Coming Soon!" They've got paranormal and contemporary romance as well, so it's not all historical. I'm not plugging for them, just saying that might be why they've requested manuscripts that seem outside their main purview.
I ended up submitting and they wrote back asking for some edits (which were legit) and for me to re-submit. I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point. Their email was very nice and encouraging though.
Scarsdale rejected my full, so now I don't have to worry about deciding how legit they are. It was a typical form.
I also got a request for full after pitmad. The woman I've been corresponding with has done quite a bit of work on the fist 40 pages, which I have to say has really improved my MS. She seems very interested in helping me to get my book to the next level. We have had several back and forth communication through email which has both excited me and made me nervous. They've hinted that they would be interested in also contracting the next books in the series which gives me pause.
I do have another publisher offer in the wings waiting for my reply, but they are even a newer company than Scarsdale.
She has requested a phone conference with her and the managing editor tomorrow, so I will see how it goes and go with my gut instinct. I write paranormal romance and what they have on their website is mainly historical.
I will keep you posted.
I do have another publisher offer in the wings waiting for my reply, but they are even a newer company than Scarsdale.
She has requested a phone conference with her and the managing editor tomorrow, so I will see how it goes and go with my gut instinct. I write paranormal romance and what they have on their website is mainly historical.
I will keep you posted.
hey Jaclyn, Just curious on how things ended up with Scarsdale? Did they offer? and if so, did you sign or pass.
Just curious, because they are offering and I'm trying to get more info on them.
Thanks
Just curious, because they are offering and I'm trying to get more info on them.
Thanks
Has anyone worked with Scarsdale recently? They liked one of my pitches during PitMad, but since their submission guidelines say unagented submissions are only considered in response to their calls for submission, and my novel doesn't fit their calls for submission, I'm not sure how to proceed.
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I believe they liked one of my pit-mad tweets a few months back but I got no nibbles at all this time around. That's just a data point for you.
You can go to their twitter page and also have a look at their other 'likes' from yesterday. It doesn't hurt.
You can go to their twitter page and also have a look at their other 'likes' from yesterday. It doesn't hurt.
"Like" is just an invitation to query for the majority of agents :/ It's more useful, I feel, if the agent or publisher in question is otherwise closed to submissions. Possibly it provides a boost to cold querying.
I agree with Harlequin. You'll see agents saying things like:
'I might have missed you during pit mad, and if so please query me.' OK.
There was an agent once who said essentially 'there are too many of you. Tweet at me directly and I will like your pitch and you can query me.'
On the other hand, some tweets get 6, 7, 8 likes or more from agents. That would be AWESOME because even though the query might fail anyway, it means there are bones in the story that have traction.
I think pit mad is fun and bonding--and also a good practice to imagine your story in as many ways as possible.
'I might have missed you during pit mad, and if so please query me.' OK.
There was an agent once who said essentially 'there are too many of you. Tweet at me directly and I will like your pitch and you can query me.'
On the other hand, some tweets get 6, 7, 8 likes or more from agents. That would be AWESOME because even though the query might fail anyway, it means there are bones in the story that have traction.
I think pit mad is fun and bonding--and also a good practice to imagine your story in as many ways as possible.
greendragon
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I just got a like from Scarsdale on today's PitMad. Any updates on people who have submitted? Thanks! My book is historical fiction timeslip, with strong romance.
greendragon
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I found out two of my online author friends have worked with them. I asked them questions.
1. First friend has worked with them for one of their anthologies, and is currently working out contract details for a new book. She said the editor she worked with was great, but they have issues with scheduling getting pushed back. Her initial publish date was moved back a couple months, and she had to ask to find this out. Other than that, she's enjoyed the experience. She's on KU only, but I see some books offered for print and audio on their site.
2. She had a bad experience with the editor and bought herself out of the contract. The editor only did the first three chapters and the author felt attacked by the editor's comments.
It looks like half the books they have are by one author, Tarah Scott, and one of my contacts mentioned working with her, so she's likely the owner. I was 'liked' on PitMad by two different names, so there are likely several others working there now.
Offering for further information on future folks
1. First friend has worked with them for one of their anthologies, and is currently working out contract details for a new book. She said the editor she worked with was great, but they have issues with scheduling getting pushed back. Her initial publish date was moved back a couple months, and she had to ask to find this out. Other than that, she's enjoyed the experience. She's on KU only, but I see some books offered for print and audio on their site.
2. She had a bad experience with the editor and bought herself out of the contract. The editor only did the first three chapters and the author felt attacked by the editor's comments.
It looks like half the books they have are by one author, Tarah Scott, and one of my contacts mentioned working with her, so she's likely the owner. I was 'liked' on PitMad by two different names, so there are likely several others working there now.
Offering for further information on future folks
Sounds scammy to me. I'd personally steer away based off of my gut feeling. Definitely do your research and don't be quick to settle for just anybody. No representation/publication is better than being caught up in a scam.
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