The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House (TWCS)

[capaloha]

Does anyone have any experience with The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House?

http://www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/publishinghouse/

What about the community called The Writer's Coffee Shop?

Many thanks,

capaloha

 

[Richard White]

Experience, no. Although I will check out their site now that you've posted it.

Questions for you:

1) What drew them to your attention? Have you read any of their books or did someone else talk to you about them?

2) Are you asking generically or do you intend to submit (have you already submitted to them)?

 

[capaloha]

A member of their staff (attending the Texas Book Festival) asked me if I would like to submit my novel for consideration.

The business model described to me is an author to publishing house model, where flat rate royalties are paid to the author with editing services and graphic design services provided by the publishing house. I'm not sure as to the extent of marketing services.

I'm new to the query process and am researching agents.

Any and all advice is welcome.

 

[Swtlo]

Its definitely an interesting page. New house, less than a year. Self report 44 titles published and to be published. They skip the agent part all together. I havnt been able to find any resume info on their ceo or founding members but they are australia based and according to their calendar rely very heavily on internet advertising (blog interviews). Heavy ebook advertising,contest giveaways and also have their best selling authors in on writing confrences. My sparse and quick internet research has found nothing good or bad. They do boast a library where anyone can upload a stroy and I did find a blurd that they will be looking for beta readers soon for their books they want to publish. I did do a search on the ceo on the forum and no hits- amanda hayward.

 

[Richard White]

Gave the web site a quick going over.

On the plus side, it definitely seems to be pointed at readers, not writers. This is a good sign. At least they're trying to promote and sell books from the initial moment a viewer pulls up the web page.

On the negative side, no about us page. There's no easy way to see what the qualifications are of any of the staff. No credits for the publisher, editors or cover designers.

On the not mandatory, but nice to have side - no sample contract. It's not a show stopper, but it's always nice to know what the author who may consider pitching to them is getting into. Especially useful for applying to a small-mid press.

All in all, it seems to be a nicely laid out web site that tries to sell books. Unfortunately, that's exactly ALL I know about them. I've never heard of this publisher before and I'm not sure what they do for promotion or distribution. If I wasn't able to sell my novel to a publisher that I knew could get my book into bookstores and give me an advance, it might be a nice alternative.

However, as Uncle Jim says, "A book publishable by one is publishable by many. Start at the top and work your way down."

 

[Daddyo]

Their paperback titles on Amazon are priced in the $25 range. That seems like a tough sell to me.

 

[jaksen]

Do I see a fanfiction page on that site? It looks like a lot of 'Twilight' stories written by fans.

 

[capaloha]

Many thanks to all for the replies and advice. It's always good to have more eyeballs considering the possibilities.

Take care...

capaloha

 

[ShyWriter]

Do I see a fanfiction page on that site? It looks like a lot of 'Twilight' stories written by fans.

Your eyes do not decieve you. They also have some Harry Potter and Supernatural stuff, along with some original stories as well. As an avid fanfiction reader this is one of the pages I have bookmarked - never read a book by them though.

 

[Old Hack]

Do I see a fanfiction page on that site? It looks like a lot of 'Twilight' stories written by fans.

Your eyes do not decieve you. They also have some Harry Potter and Supernatural stuff, along with some original stories as well. As an avid fanfiction reader this is one of the pages I have bookmarked - never read a book by them though.

A publisher's website has a fanfiction area? If the publisher is happy to support fanfiction, it calls into question the publisher's knowledge, understanding and respect of the copyright laws which protect us all.

I'm very concerned by this.

 

[CaoPaux]

Updating link: http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/

 

[bearilou]

A publisher's website has a fanfiction area? If the publisher is happy to support fanfiction, it calls into question the publisher's knowledge, understanding and respect of the copyright laws which protect us all.

I'm very concerned by this.

Fifty Shades of Grey was published by them and has come until scrutiny. Apparently it is a Twilight fanfic with the numbers filed off.

 

[veinglory]

That said, it was also wildly successful on Goodreads.

 

[Silver-Midnight]

A publisher's website has a fanfiction area? If the publisher is happy to support fanfiction, it calls into question the publisher's knowledge, understanding and respect of the copyright laws which protect us all.

I'm very concerned by this.

Is the fanfiction area still there? Because I didn't see it.

 

[eternalised]

You can see the fanfiction if you click on the "Library" tab (next to the "Publishing House" tab). Here's a link. Also, they definitely need to check their forums - it seems as if some spammer posted several topics involving 'adult webcams'.

I'm a bit confused about having fanfiction, a forum and a publishing house all in the same place. If they wanted all three, couldn't they have refrained from linking to all three at the same website? I mean, the fanfiction website is nice and fun for fanfic authors, but it has little or nothing to do with their publishing house - at least, I hope not!

From their submission page:
Science Fiction: We are accepting submissions for Science Fiction with a word count of 100,000 to 120,000.

Isn't that a bit...long? Even for scifi? Not that it says anything about the publisher, I'm just curious.

I'm not impressed by their covers, nor by their 'about us' page. If I were thinking of submitting to them, I would like to know more about them first, as in, who they are, what their experience is, etc.

 

[Silver-Midnight]

If I were thinking of submitting to them, I would like to know more about them first, as in, who they are, what their experience is, etc.

The fanfiction thing is what worries me the most about this place.

 

[FoamyRules]

Well looking at this from a web designer's POV the site is very professional looking, so I'd give them an A for that. As a publishing house not so sure. It does seem odd to have a fanfiction site and a publishing house linked from the site. But I'm not an expert on that.

 

[Silver-Midnight]

Romantic Fiction Series: We are accepting submissions for our Romantic Fiction Series with a word count of 50,000 to 80,000. Please visit our Romantic Fiction Series page to learn more.
Science Fiction: We are accepting submissions for Science Fiction with a word count of 100,000 to 120,000.
Thriller Fiction: We are accepting submissions for Thriller Fiction with a word count of 60,000 to 90,000.
Young Adult Fiction: We are accepting submissions for Young Adult Fiction with a word count of 55,000 to 85,000.
All Other Fiction: We are accepting submissions for all other forms of fiction with a word count of 60,000 to 120,000.

Wow. They have really high word count length for their submissions.

 

[Tifferbugz]

Wow. They have really high word count length for their submissions.

Those don't look high to me. I'm surprised scifi doesn't start a little lower, but their ranges in general look normal (from what I've seen, anyway).

 

[Silver-Midnight]

Those don't look high to me. I'm surprised scifi doesn't start a little lower, but their ranges in general look normal (from what I've seen, anyway).

Really? I've seen 15,000 - 20,000 as the minimum a lot of the time. Sometimes 30,000, and sometimes they'll be taking short stories. I don't know. I was looking at erotica publishers; maybe that had something to do with it?

 

[Tifferbugz]

Really? I've seen 15,000 - 20,000 as the minimum a lot of the time. Sometimes 30,000, and sometimes they'll be taking short stories. I don't know. I was looking at erotica publishers; maybe that had something to do with it?

Yeah those are novel-length word counts. The pub might only take novel-length subs. The lower range fall into novella or novelette territory. The 20-30k range you mention is novella-length.

 

[SophieSchiller]

Beware of Signing Contracts with Foreigners

The Writer's Coffee Schop is an Australian outfit and any international banker/businessman worth his grain of salt will tell you to refrain from entering into contracts with foreigners as it's impossible to sue them or resolve disputes in a way that doesn't drain your wallet. If the deal goes sour, you're on your own and out of luck.

 

[veinglory]

That's news to me. And as a genre writer I sure am not going to limit myself to the New Zealand market. I am going to submit to the most stable, best selling, appropriate publisher for my manuscript.

 

[Stacia Kane]

The Writer's Coffee Schop is an Australian outfit and any international banker/businessman worth his grain of salt will tell you to refrain from entering into contracts with foreigners as it's impossible to sue them or resolve disputes in a way that doesn't drain your wallet. If the deal goes sour, you're on your own and out of luck.

Wow, I guess I should cancel my contracts with HarperUK, J'ai Lu in France, Egmont Lyx in Germany, Amber Publishing in Poland, and my publisher in the Czech Republic (whose name I'm embarrassed to admit I've forgotten at the moment).


(ETA: This is not meant to be an endorsement of Writer's Coffee Shop.)

 

[Momento Mori]

SophieSchiller:
any international banker/businessman worth his grain of salt will tell you to refrain from entering into contracts with foreigners as it's impossible to sue them or resolve disputes in a way that doesn't drain your wallet

No they won't. International businessmen and bankers do deals with "foreigners" all the time. That's what makes them international.

It is perfectly possible to sue any company based in a country that's signatory to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 as that country is obliged to give due weight to enforcement proceedings so that a court judgment in one country can be enforced in another. The issue is that the process for enforcement usually entails additional legal costs (to a greater or lesser extent), but these can usually be recouped through the enforcement order.

Alternatively, if you're based in an EU country, then you can rely on EC Council Regulations on the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters.

MM