Skyhorse Publishing

[Undercover]

I searched to see if it was on the AW list and I can't find it. Has anyone dealt with this company before?

http://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/

 

[twm]

They are well regarded and have put out several bestselling novels. They are open to unsolicited submissions. Good luck!

 

[FoamyRules]

From their submission's page they seem to be a non fiction publisher?

 

[kaitie]

Looks like they do mostly non-fiction.

 

[Undercover]

Yeah, but they have other imprints including Sky Pony for children's books which I thought was interesting.

 

[FoamyRules]

Well their About Us page over on the Skyhorse tab does give the name of the person who started it and lists his experience in publishing from what I see. I give them an A on their website, it seems to be directed towards readers from what I can tell. But I'm not an expert on publishing, someone who has more experience can give you more insight.

 

[LillyPu]

A friend of mine has a recent release with Skyhorse--a memoir--and is enjoying their marketing efforts on his behalf. Sales are good.

 

[kellion92]

I know someone who has a picture book coming out from Sky Pony. It's the new children's imprint for Skyhorse, which announced last summer, and the PB in question looks fun, commercial, and well illustrated.

 

[Al Stevens]

From their website's submissions page:

http://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/guidelines/

Unfortunately, due to the volume of queries, we will not be able to respond to everyone. However, you may request an immediate review (two business days) for a $100 rush fee payable in advance by check.

I haven't seen that before. Is this a common practice?

 

[kellion92]

Hmm, that might be new. I had queried Sky Pony when the imprint was first announced and got an R in 2 or 3 weeks. I queried another project and never got an answer -- I figured they went to No Response Means No, but No Response Unless You Pay is definitely worse.

 

[G. Applejack]

Wouldn't it be a kick in the pants to pay the $100 for the rush review, and then get a rejection?

 

[triceretops]

Wouldn't it be a kick in the pants to pay the $100 for the rush review, and then get a rejection?

You betcha. You've got about a 99% chance of that happening.

 

[Al Stevens]

A new term is born: vanity submission.

 

[herdon]

The technical term is probably "optional reading fee". Any way you slice it, though, it's unethical.

 

[Al Stevens]

The fee implies that the publisher is having financial woes. Reason enough not to submit.

 

[DahlELama]

The fee implies that the publisher is having financial woes. Reason enough not to submit.

I don't know about that--they've been doing some hiring lately. Granted, they pay the lowest entry-level salary I've ever seen, but they've definitely been bringing in new blood which I doubt they'd be doing if they were tanking. A friend of mine used to work there and loved it.

 

[herdon]

I wouldn't think it had as much to do with financial issues as it might have to do with them trying to stem the tide of "please look at my manuscript quickly because of time sensitivity" and "have you looked at it yet?" and "have you looked at it yet?" (etc.) by being able to point at the fee knowing that many will decline.

But I do think it ends up on the wrong side of the ethical line.

 

[Al Stevens]

And everytime someone pays that hundred bucks, everyone else gets bumped back a position in line. Buy your way out of the slush.

 

[John Olexa]

Is this normal?

"due to the volume of queries, we will not be able to respond to everyone. However, you may request an immediate review (two business days) for a $100 rush fee payable in advance by check".
Skyhorse Publishing, Inc

Sounds like a way to get an easy hundred bucks.

 

[mirandashell]

Don't touch it with a shitty stick.

 

[Jersey Chick]

Run. And don't look back.

 

[John Olexa]

Thanks! Deleated them off my list

 

[Maddie]

I saw that too, on Skyhorse Publishing's web site. I did some research after checking out the AW thread for Liza Royce Agency, as some of their sales are to Skyhorse (and Sky Pony Press, an imprint of Skyhorse--which doesn't seem to offer the $100 bait to speed up the submission process). Skyhorse doesn't require being agented to submit.

 

[John Olexa]

Thanks
Also sorry mods. I didn't know there was already a thread about this. Thanks for linking my question into this one.

 

[Maddie]

Arcade Publishing is the fiction imprint of Skyhorse. Same $100.00 offer on their Submissions page.