Silverthought Press

[JL_Benet]

What is your collective opinion of Silverthought Press?
http://www.silverthought.com/
I saw this notice on Duotrope:
http://www.duotrope.com/market_1617.aspx
But I know some authors who were paid for one anthology (A DARK AND DEADLY VALLEY edited by Mike Heffernan). What are your opinions? What do you know about this publisher?

 

[IceCreamEmpress]

Too much Internet craziness around these folks--my Spidey-sense says RUN LIKE THE WIND!

Mike Heffernan seems sound, but some of the other people touting semiliterate and completely uncivilized crap from the Silverthought list...shudder!

 

[CaoPaux]

Heh. I echo ICE's reaction to the company one would keep. The "payment" of $1 store credit per 5,000 words is also less-than-attractive.

FYI - Buried in their newsbox is a note they're closed to subs through 2008.

 

[Mie]

I've been suspicious of Silverthought since they took on Philbin and Dagstine.
And Silverthought are really a vanity subsidy press, not a real indie publisher.

By the way, some authors from Heffernan's anthology still have not been paid. Many have said they would work with Heffernan again, but not Silverthought. I think that speaks volumes about what authors think of them.

 

[victoriastrauss]

And Silverthought are really a vanity subsidy press, not a real indie publisher.

Can you provide any documentation of this?

- Victoria

 

[Mie]

There was a discussion on a forum board from the authors in the heffernan book about how poorly they were treated, but the thread seems to have disappeared. I'm sorry.

As far as silverthought go, they have removed their contract from their website and you have to submit and be accepted to see what their contract states.

Having seen their titles, I can say that the editorial process is not as sound as it should be.

 

[RTH]

Too bad. They actually put together a relatively professional-looking website, and their cover designs don't look like a ten-year-old did them in photoshop.

Any info on their distribution/sales? I.e., do they have any?

 

[Mie]

Sales are mainly from their website. Although they do offer returns to bookstores, they have yet to get any titles into the big stores. They might get them into indie bookstores, but again I have not seen any yet.

Yes, their designs are good.
Too bad some of their authors are not.

 

[Leukman]

Does anyone have any recent information on this press?

Editorial process?

Distribution/Sales?

Rep in general?

 

[Leukman]

*ping*

 

[CaoPaux]

They've improved their pay for online works ($10/piece, payable as cash or credit), but I'm not finding anything re: royalties, etc. on the print side.

 

[Leukman]

Thanks CP, I couldn't find anything either...not sure what to make of it...

 

[MarkRBrand]

Dear Absolute Write members,

I wanted to say a friendly hello to your community and let you know we appreciate your interest in Silverthought Press. To clarify a few points of confusion, I want to make it clear that Silverthought is not a vanity subsidy press. This is a common misconception with independent presses that utilize small-run digital production methods. In no case that I know of do our authors ever pay fees or any money whatsoever to have their work published with us. Our post-production includes multiple revisions and edits by a qualified in-house editor, professional cover / interior design, and as much marketing and PR as our indie budget can afford, all at zero cost to the author.

If you'd like to know more about our distribution, contracts, cover designs, experiences our authors have had with publishing and promoting their books, upcoming titles, or just to get a better feel for the company in general before you submit your work, I strongly encourage you to visit us at our forums at www.silverthought.com and take a moment to review our updated site, which has a huge amount of information about who we are, what we do, and how we do it.

Hope to see you there,
Mark Brand, Editor
Silverthought Press

 

[IceCreamEmpress]

This is a common misconception with independent presses that utilize small-run digital production methods

That's not a common misconception here. One person said they had heard that about you, and they never amplified on that suggestion, so I don't think that anyone was taking that too seriously. Rumors go around about every organization, and they generally die out if nobody can substantiate them.

On the other hand, your coming here to resurrect and respond to three-year-old allegations with the boilerplate text of a press release displays a certain lack of professional savvy, as does your lecturing the people here (including Victoria Strauss!) about "common misconceptions" as though you were addressing a bunch of ill-informed noobs.

My spider-sense is still suggesting that you folks aren't likely to be the best choice for most authors based on that lack of perspective about what's what and who's who. If I turn out to be wrong, though, I'll be delighted for you and your authors.

 

[veinglory]

I had a quick spin around the ST forums and didn't really see much in the way of specifics....

 

[M.R.J. Le Blanc]

Mr. Brand, I'd like to ask your clarification on this part from your website:

In addition to founder and executive editor Paul Hughes, Silverthought's staff includes editor Mark R. Brand, associate editors Russell Lutz and Becci Noblit Goodall, and forum administrator Andy Laughton, all published authors and artists who respect and value the process of independent creation.

Does this mean everyone on staff are published authors and artists? Does anyone have any relevant industry experience?

 

[V Rose Dahrke]

Anyone heard anything new about these folks? Last post here was nigh on two years ago, and I'm curious. Recent dealings, anyone?

 

[eternalised]

It seems as if they're still in business. The last entry on their publishing website dates from November 11th, 2011. However, some of their recent titles, like Damnation of Memory, were published in January 2012 and some of the titles on their homepage are yet to be published, so they're definitely still active.

I must admit that I do like their covers, especially Drink for the Thirst to Come, which can be found on their homepage. The cover looks dark, edgy and professional.

However, there seem to be some red flags. When you look at the "staff" page, nearly everyone working for them is an author, so they may not have much publishing experience beforehand. On the other hand, they've been in business for a couple of years now, which generally speaking is a good sign.

P&E doesn't recommend them though, stating that they offer a poor contract.

I've never heard of any of their titles before, but considering what they offer isn't really my favorite genre, that probably doesn't mean much.

 

[priceless1]

Lightning Source is listed as their publisher on BookScan, so they don't appear to have any meaningful distribution.

Mark Brand said:

and as much marketing and PR as our indie budget can afford, all at zero cost to the author.

Since he lists no specifics as to what this means, it appears this is a typical POD business model, which puts the onus of marketing, promoting, and selling on the authors' shoulders.

Additionally, Mark Brad and Paul Hughes are Silverthought Press. Out of eight books that are on their site, Paul has written four of them, and Mark has written one. This would lead one to think this is more of a self-publishing enterprise.

 

[V Rose Dahrke]

I noticed that on the Amazon listing for The Perfect Revolution (one of the titles not written by an owner) at least two of the seven five-star reviews appear to be by people who work for and are published by the company. That alone would make me skittish, but combine that with Lightning Source and I'm definitely thinking they're not for me. Thanks for the info.

Pity, though. Their covers are just gorgeous.

 

[settdigger]

I can only echo the thoughts of many here, that it's a shame the editors of that press found a good cover artist. If they're actually the cover artists themselves, which I doubt, I wish they'd stick with what they're good at.

Incidentally, starting a small press in order to publish your own work and the work of others is not a bad thing by any means, and even their ratio is OK. Many prestigious literary prizes now judge the difference between "self published" and a "small press" by exactly that - do you publish others' work also?

Of course, their taste is terrible. Some catchy titles though.

An additional random note- Lightning Source is, again, not bad by any means. Some famous writers use it to keep their old books in print. As far as POD goes, they're pretty good as I understand it.

 

[CaoPaux]

Last blog post (in '14) spoke of scaling back/hiatus. Last book published '16.