The Wild Rose Press / Wildflowers Books

[Sonya Heaney]

I'm an author published by The Wild Rose Press (TWRP). Authors that are helped by the assisted publishing are not considered TWRP authors. They just help with the publishing and distribution.

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[cool pop]

Does anybody know if they have always had a vanity publishing section? I didn't think so, because in the past (before I signed with my current publisher) I had them in mind to submit to. They started the careers of a few of my favourite authors, including two who went on to write for Big Five publishers. I think they put out some great books.

However, I looked them up again today when I was updating a list, and... https://www.thewildrosepress.com/publishingprograms

Now, listed alongside "traditional publishing", they also offer "assisted publishing" and "audio publishing", and they say:





The audiobook option is probably really helpful for self-published authors, but I'm not so sure about the "assisted publishing" thing. Do they also get called "Wild Rose Press" authors?

Yeah, the audibook option might be helpful to SP authors, though there are many other places they can get help with that too. But the assisted publishing thing? This is vanity publishing. Writers who know better understand they would do better going about everything on their own. If Wild Rose isn't going to do anything for them besides offer distribution, I don't see the point. A self-publisher can distribute their book themselves. Why would they go to WRP to do it?

 

[Sonya Heaney]

But the assisted publishing thing? This is vanity publishing.

It is. I'm disappointed to see they've put the real submissions information side-by-side with the vanity publishing information on their site. I'm certain it wasn't like that a few months ago.

 

[RosalieStanton]

Now, listed alongside "traditional publishing", they also offer "assisted publishing" and "audio publishing", and they say:





The audiobook option is probably really helpful for self-published authors, but I'm not so sure about the "assisted publishing" thing. Do they also get called "Wild Rose Press" authors?

The audio distribution section seems to be gone, and the assisted publishing section is rather reduced.

 

[Sonya Heaney]

The audio distribution section seems to be gone, and the assisted publishing section is rather reduced.

Wow, that was fast.

Now, though, they've revamped the page so that the vanity publishing information (such as it is) is posted ABOVE the submissions information for actual publishing. That makes me mad on behalf of their authors.

 

[RosalieStanton]

Wow, that was fast.

Now, though, they've revamped the page so that the vanity publishing information (such as it is) is posted ABOVE the submissions information for actual publishing. That makes me mad on behalf of their authors.

Yeah, that's some shady shit.

 

[zmethos]

I think more and more these small publishers are discovering they can make more $ from authors willing to pay for services than they can from actually publishing books. The truth is, if they were more careful with what they published and used their resources to promote a handful of great books and authors rather than shoving a ton of content out the door that immediately gets lost in the ocean of releases... they ideally wouldn't need an additional business model to sustain them. Authors shouldn't be [financially] supporting the publishers; it should be the other way around.

 

[Moriarty7]

Wild Rose Press is fast becoming a Writer Beware publisher. I would steer clear of them, based on direct experience. I published two books with them in 2016-17. To break my first refusal contract I sent them a subsequent manuscript I knew needed work, so they would turn it down. Their marketing support, thin to begin with, shrivelled to nothing very quickly. Their current contracts don't even copyright your work. Their audio book access was cancelled for murky reasons. They charge writers for everything, even info on Amazon keywords, how to tweet effectively etc. Their 2019 website relaunch, as well as looking amateurish, is geared towards selling things to authors, not FOR authors. There have been recent complaints of rapaciousness, eg to the main American romance writers association. I don't think they are evil people but I suspect the changes are due to a failing business (everyone got on the print on demand bandwagon and there has been too much competition) and I doubt they will be around much longer, unless they go full on vanity press.

 

[Sonya Heaney]

They charge writers for everything, even info on Amazon keywords, how to tweet effectively etc.

Really? Wow.

I've never published with them, but have had some behind the scenes experience with a few of their editors. I also think they mean well, but the editors seem to be working on only one book each per year, and - even considering how slow publishing is - they seem to be operating at a snail's pace now.

They've changed their website *again*. Now they have a "Publish Today!" button on the front page, and the vanity publishing arm completely dominates the submissions page, with the actual submission part buried at the bottom:

Honestly, while I've seen a few good covers from them, they should have done their business a big favour from the start and hired some professional cover designers. Unless it's Harlequin, nobody buys a book based on who published it, but nobody wants to pick up a book with a cover that looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint. They shot themselves in the foot from the outset.

Edited: Because, oh my goodness, their "make the magic happen" "publishing" costs $4500, and if you want to "work with Rhonda" it's an extra $300 an hour...

 

[MaryLennox]

I did a forum search but nothing came up about this press being in the Bewares/Background checks. If there is, please direct me to it! I feel like the search function doesn't always bring up everything it should?

Does anyone have experience with this press? The covers are pretty atrocious, but I'm still curious to know if anyone has experiences they could share.

It kind of feels like the kind of place that puts your stuff out but then you can expect little marketing help and few sales? Am I right? I'm mostly interested in sending in short stories/novelettes to their specific romance lines.

Thanks.

Link: https://www.thewildrosepress.com/

 

[mrsmig]

There's already a lengthy thread about this press here: Wild Rose Press

Hint: next time check the alphabetical Index of this subforum.

 

[AW Admin]

Absolutely check the Index first; Cao Paux sends a lot of time keeping it up to date.

I'm going to move this to the correct thread.

 

[MaryLennox]

Ah, sorry! I usually just use the search function and it brings me where I need to be, but it doesn't seem to work the same in the new forum.

 

[AW Admin]

Ah, sorry! I usually just use the search function and it brings me where I need to be, but it doesn't seem to work the same in the new forum.

The reason for the index is that many businesses have changed names, multiple times.

The index is a well organized alphabetical list. Cao Paux, the Bewares mod, spends a great deal of time updating links and making sure the Index is current.

 

[MaryLennox]

The reason for the index is that many businesses have changed names, multiple times.

The index is a well organized alphabetical list. Cao Paux, the Bewares mod, spends a great deal of time updating links and making sure the Index is current.

Yes, thank you! I have it bookmarked now.