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Tickety Boo Press
- Thread starter PeteMC
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No never heard of them and nothing to do with, if they existed. Got my inspiration from Billy Connelly who has Tickety Boo Productions.
The only music that is played is the sample on Calameo.com
The about us page will be done soon.
Your'e grumpy as well? We will get on fine!
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Mr Rubas made some unforgettable contributions to the highly entertaining Firefly and Wisp thread:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221019
I'd love to know why his latest book isn't being published by F&W.
Edited to add: DAMN! CaoPaux beat me to it.
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I found the "About us" link, and it's nothing more than address and phone number.
I went and looked at the site. I too did not read any samples. Having music play automatically is a fairly newb mistake when designing a website.
In my opinion, the site and the company itself is unprofessional. It has the look of a very small business built by enthusiasts rather that publishing professionals.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Das Krakenhaus Publishing, the publisher that published my first novella, is a very small house run by enthusiasts. The difference, I think, is that Das Krakenhaus is very transparent about this.
If I am wrong, and Ticky Boo has people with editing and publishing credits, and I mean editing and publishing other people's work, then the website should show these credentials. I would also recommend a professional website designer. And maybe a little help with the covers.
I went and looked at the site. I too did not read any samples. Having music play automatically is a fairly newb mistake when designing a website.
In my opinion, the site and the company itself is unprofessional. It has the look of a very small business built by enthusiasts rather that publishing professionals.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Das Krakenhaus Publishing, the publisher that published my first novella, is a very small house run by enthusiasts. The difference, I think, is that Das Krakenhaus is very transparent about this.
If I am wrong, and Ticky Boo has people with editing and publishing credits, and I mean editing and publishing other people's work, then the website should show these credentials. I would also recommend a professional website designer. And maybe a little help with the covers.
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Blimey. Mr Rubas's posts were... interesting.
His name also popped up in the Xchyler Publishing / Hamilton Springs Press thread.
His name also popped up in the Xchyler Publishing / Hamilton Springs Press thread.
What has Joseph Rubas' past got to do with Tickety Boo Press Ltd (a UK company)?
I was aware of the Firefly thread and to be honest I was assessing a very good submission from a 22 year old author.
Any mistakes he made previous to our hook-up did not really interest me unless he was a murderer or a terrorist.
I want to publish quality books, his, in my opinion is that. Now can we keep the discussion on topic please.
I take on board some of the criticism and will act on it. On the covers I was involved in all of them so I stand by them. Not one of the authors or our friends on SFF Chronicles disagrees with our thinking that they will help to sell books but as I have said before, publishing is subjective.
Cheers
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Tickety Boo Press is publishing a book by him, right?
If I were publishing an author I'd want to know about things like this:
Or this:
There are other similar comments, but you get my point, I'm sure.
As an author, I would be hesitant to work with a publisher which worked with authors like that.
If you don't think it's a problem, that's fair enough. Tickety Boo is your press, so it's only right that you get to decide these things. If I found comments and behaviour like that from a writer whose work I was considering I'd think carefully before signing him.
I don't see anything that was off-topic, but if the room mods disagree with me I'm sure they'll step in and sort it out.
Meanwhile, if you do have an objection to any comments made here it's best if you use the "report post" button (the exclamation mark inside the red triangle) as that ensures the appropriate mods know about any potential trouble promptly.
This is the downside of the "authors-today-must-use-social-media-or-perish" mentality. If I'm utterly repelled by the content of any writer's blog/Facebook/twitter I wouldn't be paid to read their books.
Oh, I do like the image on the cover for Hobgoblin Night -- a LOT. It made me giggle, and I find I generally prefer covers that suggest at a female protagonist rather than a male protagonist (being female myself). I'd still find the title and esp author's name hard to read on a thumbnail, though.
The blurbs on the first book would certainly be enough to make me give it a second look -- impressive! I have no doubt the books are well written and entertaining; my point was just that the cover art on the first book didn't grab me and the text was hard to read, so odds are I'd have passed it over and never got as far as reading the back cover copy and blurbs.
The blurbs on the first book would certainly be enough to make me give it a second look -- impressive! I have no doubt the books are well written and entertaining; my point was just that the cover art on the first book didn't grab me and the text was hard to read, so odds are I'd have passed it over and never got as far as reading the back cover copy and blurbs.
I did know about the AW thread and I got Josephs side of the story. With regard to an American citizen having a picture of himself on his Facebook page. As far as I am aware being a Brit, half of America or more have guns and probably similar pictures.
I find this whole thread pretty toxic. I have created a small business where I give writers the chance to have their books published. My editors are multi-published as in Teresa or J Scott-Marryat who is highly recommended and very well qualified.
I employ professional artists and copy-editors, as well as a good chunk of money for adverts.
I would have thought in view of alot of large publishers going bust that a small press would be welcomed and encouraged but you seem to want to portray Tickety Boo as a charlatan with your unfounded, un-researched comment about us being a reincarnation of a previous Tickety Boo that shafted authors. Trust me my lawyers will be looking into that in the morning (I have screen-shots)
As for Joseph. He's a young American with a family trying to get ahead in life. Is it really necessary to drag up his past?
I only came here to answer the original poster. I could not care less if not one AW member submitted to me as I have already explained that my resource is SFF Chronicles which in my opinion is a far more friendly forum. The mods there would not tolerate such a visceral attack on a newby.
But don't worry I have a very thick skin and also hate bullies.
Thanks. Thumbnails are always hard to read but the ebook pic and paperback are great.
PM me and you can have our Goblin Moon, Hobgoblin Night for free for your e-reader.
Thanks
Actually, it was a question: "I think there was a press called Tickety Boo before, which shut down leaving authors stranded. I might well be wrong and I apologise if I am: but do you have anything to do with that press?"
Even if I were inclined to submit, you just blew your shot.
Even if I were inclined to submit, you just blew your shot.
You might like to re-read my previous comment before setting your lawyers on me:
All I did was ask if you had anything to do with the press I remembered which had the same name as yours. It's a reasonable question and I really can't see how you might consider that actionable.
For those who are interested, there are two publishing houses by the name of Tickety Boo listed on Companies House's website: Tickety Boo Press Ltd., based in Blyth, and Tickety Boo Publishing Ltd., based in Kent, which was dissolved in 2011. You should be able to see both on this page (but I'm not sure if searches expire on the page, so you might have to look for yourselves).
Threats of legal action over questions and opinions regarding your press do you and your press no favors, in my opinion.
In other news, I too liked the HOBGOBLIN NIGHT cover, though the original GOBLIN MOON leaves me cold. Since the covers are so similar, I'm trying to figure out why they strike me so differently...
In other news, I too liked the HOBGOBLIN NIGHT cover, though the original GOBLIN MOON leaves me cold. Since the covers are so similar, I'm trying to figure out why they strike me so differently...
Thanks for the praise and I am not sure why you don't like the GM cover. The author who has been traditionally published 11 times said that the GM cover was the best she ever had.
On the mud-slinging, would it have not been better to see who the directors were of the failed company before mentioning my business in the same sentence and therefore by association planting a seed of doubt in the readers mind.
My company is Tickety Boo Press Ltd and we are based in Blyth Northumberland. Never heard of or had any dealings with the other one.
On other things mentioned, I take on board the criticism of any grammar errors and an about me page is being created.
Onwards!
Looking a company up on Companies House's free WebCheck service doesn't reveal anything about the directors of that company. To find out who the directors are one has to pay a fee.
Or one could just ask someone who has put himself forward as a representative of that company if the company has anything to do with another company with a similar name.
How that equates in anyone's mind to "mud slinging" is beyond me. How it could result in threats of legal action is also a stretch too far.
I hear what you are saying, Old Hack but I found the company's directors here
Anyway, not guilty as previously stated.
A lot of small presses go bust too.
So size alone doesn't mean a publisher should be welcomed and encouraged, IMO.
I would not that the site that Gary is coming from is a small British site that is...very different from AW. Coming here can be a hell of a shock (was for me cos that's how I got here)
I know however that Teresa is a knowledgeable and thoughtful writer/editor, and I hope that Gary will look at these comments as less personal and more professional -- I'm sure he will with a little time to digest.
I know however that Teresa is a knowledgeable and thoughtful writer/editor, and I hope that Gary will look at these comments as less personal and more professional -- I'm sure he will with a little time to digest.
This is important. Most of us want more small publishers to succeed; it gives us more options with our works. But we've also seen dozens and dozens of small publishers go down in flames, and in some cases take their authors' books down with them. Check out the Index. All the grayed links are publishers who have folded.
That said, the "Bewares" forum really isn't a place to be "friendly" to publishers. We ask questions, sometimes uncomfortable questions, and point out red flags. And not just for small publishers, even big publishers such as Random House come under scrutiny when they do bad things. It's not toxic. It's not mud-slinging. It's not attacking. And it definitely is not personal. It's business.
I do hope Tickety Boo succeeds. But with all new publishers, I'm going to wait two years and see what they do.
P.S. I do have to say that I'm a little, um, surprised that Mr. Compton believes "half of America or more have guns and probably similar pictures" as Mr. Ruba. Mr. Ruba is a special case, even by our standards.
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You are absolutely right. They do often go bust, and should be approached with caution. But I think what Gary was trying to say is that if we want to see new options for writers open up, then we should give those who make the effort to do so a chance. Of course you should ask questions, and if you don't like the answers, then it makes sense not to get involved with TBP on any level.
And no one from Tickety Boo has come here to entice AW writers into submitting manuscripts. (Which is no tot say that we wouldn't welcome them.) We are just here to answer questions that had already been raised.
However, regarding the Joseph Rubas question, it is obvious that he made some poor decisions in the past. It is to be hoped that he has learned from them. Of course being young is not a blanket excuse for anything and everything an individual might have done in the past, but it does argue inexperience.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I was one of the many editors at Midnight Zoo (an obscure small press magazine some of you may or may not have been familiar with, 20 years ago). It was not my most shining moment. Like several others, I went into it with good intentions and the idea that I could help fix some things that I thought needed fixing, and open new opportunities for writers who were just starting out. (All the editors were volunteers and not paid employees, so we certainly weren't in it for the money.) When I realized that it was heading for disaster and that those in charge were set on following a course that wasn't working and couldn't work, I left.
It was, shall we say, a learning experience. And that was a long time ago, and I feel that I have learned a lot since.
So I am giving Gary the benefit of my advice, based on that experience and all that I have learned in the interim. (Of course he doesn't always immediately pick up my pearls of wisdom. And I am not the only person giving him advice, which is good, because there are other people with other insights and a variety of talents, which we are all hoping will make for a good combination of optimism and jaded experience.)
We will see what happens. Writers who think they have a really good manuscript that doesn't quite fit anywhere else might consider submitting something to TBP. Or not.
Little Ming said:
Which is one reason I wouldn't have signed a contract with TBP myself unless there were ways to get my book out if it wasn't published in a timely manner. And the contracts are for two years only, so books won't be tied to TBP forever if the author isn't happy with the way things go.
I found that reassuring, but others might still be wary, and I won't say that they are wrong.
As for the gun thing, being an American who spends a lot of time on a British forum, I have been surprised by how many in the UK think that half of us keep a home arsenal. Of course the fact that those who do are so very vocal doesn't help to change this misconception.
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Exactly -- but when someone comes new to the forum it can be a shock. It was for me (and i came from the same place -- the two sites are VERY different) Here is much more focussed on professionalism., The other isnlt so this level of inspection can seem a bit daunting.
.
Exactly. But this may be the first time anyone has encountered that, whic makes it.. a new experience (which can highlight things in ways you were no expecting).
Yup. And I hope that Gary sees that. I am not defending him as such, but merely noting that this forum can be daunting to a new user because it is a) different and b) what flies on a Brit website may not here...Not a free pass. But considering that.
P.S. I do have to say that I'm a little, um, surprised that Mr. Compton believes "half of America or more have guns and probably similar pictures" as Mr. Ruba. Mr. Ruba is a special case, even by our standards.
Tbh, even after several years here, and seeing people post they have magnums and uzis etc.. I was under the exact same impression. Not that users here necessarily do,tbut that it is common in the US. Is gun ownership not common? I really don't know but we are at the mercy of the media in many respects(in the same way several USians I have met think I must have a butler...) Gun ownership is very rare here, so what you see online about people being able to own assault rifles...well, it kind of baffles us tbh. But there. Many Usians think I talk with a cut glass accent and have a butler and a mansion, many non Usians think you all have guns (and I have seen many users here state they DO have have guns)
Hollywood has a lot to answer for, but Gary's assumption is probably no different to 90% of Brits. US = guns. I haven't seen much here to disabuse me of that
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Well, I don't think anyone has suggested not giving your publishers a "chance." And certainly as self-important as I am I don't think I have the power to take away that "chance."
It's more "approach with caution."
Well...
It's not exactly not-welcoming, but it's not welcoming either...
I am honestly saying this in the spirit of trying to be helpful, because I do want Tickety Boo to succeed: Mr. Compton is not making a very good impression for your press. I can appreciate that he might be having some stress in his personal life, but there's nothing in this thread that hasn't shown up in dozens and dozens of other threads for publishers. We are not trying to tear down your press; we are trying to inform writers. Read around the Bewares forum and you will see.
I do hope Mr. Compton will "pick up [your] pearls of wisdom" soon.
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I think for me the biggest point is that the second book has that funny little sneaking goblin-shadow thing that says "Fantasy" and "Danger But Cute". The little fellow just totally nailed it for me. The first book has a guy brandishing both gun and sword, which made me go Huh? Pick a weapon! and nothing about it suggested fantasy to me.