Tirgearr, it would be very helpful if you would use the "quote" feature (if that's too difficult for you to make out, inverted commas would do), so that we could know if you were quoting people and not just commenting.
[Note: I'm going to nest what I think is quoted from other people in quote-boxes, but if I get anything wrong do please point it out and I'll correct it.]
Old Hack,
- I'm also tired of new publishers with unpronounceable names. It doesn't make them distinctive, just confusing.
What's confusing about Tirgearr. It's pronounced like it's spelled -- Teer Gar.
We're an Irish based company so we have an Irish based name.
It doesn't read as "Teer Gar" to me. It reads as "Terr Gear", but looks at first glance like a sort of pirate tiger, as someone else commented.
You know how you want it to be pronounced. That doesn't mean it's obvious to anyone else.
Apologies for my tardy reply. Publishing is a hectic business and we're currently publishing a book a week through the end of our publishing year, as well as some other projects. I'm currently working 12-15 horus a week,
I'll assume you mean DAYs a week, rather than "horus [
sic] a week".
6 and sometimes 7 days a week building this business with my partners. No rest for the wicked, and internet time that doesn't involve the business is at a premium.
- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply Tigearr wasn't on the level. It's just that when you feel the need to announce the way you do business as though it were unusual, instead of coming across as a publisher that is both friendly and professional, you end up with the same sales pitch as places like Tate and Publish America. That's not the first association you want either writers or readers to have when they read your website!
No need to apologize. We state what we're about and what we offer so that people know. Unfortunately, just because the info is available on our website doesn't mean anyone will read it. Prime example: Submission guidelines. About 1 in 100 actually send their submission as we request. What we want is clearly listed on the guidelines, yet people continually disregard and send what they want, how they want. So, if I over explain anything, it's in hopes people will read it in a message reply if they're not going to look at the site. I shouldn't have to do this, but this business is what it is.
Welcome to publishing.
- It'd help if you were more specific about your twenty years of experience.
15 years book reviewing
Reviewing books is not the same as working in publishing.
10 years with RIO, including 2 2-year terms as president, 3 years with the annual RIO Award of Excellence, RIO newsletter executive editor
Could you please specify what RIO is? And were you taught there that terminal periods were no longer required?
5 years working in bookstores, including sales, stock, warehouse picking, bookkeeping, etc
That's closer to working in publishing than working as a book reviewer, but it's still not quite working in publishing. It does mean that you'll probably understand the importance of bookshop placement, and the difficulties involved in getting books on bookshop shelves, so that's good.
15 years working my way up from first reader, to editor
Where did you do this? And what genre were you working in?
15 years workign with established authors as a researcher and editor for their projects (see Deb Stover, Kristin Hardy, Michelle Hauf, Isabo Kelly, Charlene Raddon, etc)
Which publisher did you work for as an editor at this time? And if you were working as a freelance researcher and editor, what do you hope we'll work out from your "etc"?
17 years writing travel articles
Where were they published?
3 years with one of the first digital publishers, Dreams Unlimited, as first reader and later as an editor and in acuisitions. DU published the likes of Sherrilyn Kenyon, Eileen Wilks, Lori Avocado, Linnea Sinclaire, Diana Gabaldon, Isabo Kelly, etc. before they hit the big time.
From a brief search, it seems that Dreams Unlimited is
a now-defunct (
Calgary-based?) publisher. I have searched only briefly but can find no record of Diana Gabaldon ever publishing with them--perhaps I need to look more carefully. I've not checked the other writers you name, but perhaps you could give us some titles to match the names to make it easier for us to check this. Thanks.
2 years editing for Highland Press, including first reading and acuisitions[sic].
Would that be the same
Highland Press that was the subject of a warning issued by Dear Author in 2008, for poor communication, review manipulation, and all sorts of other worrying things?
We have a thread about them here. I note that Highland Press says on its websit
e, "We offer our authors complete editing and cover art services". The wording there implies that it charges for those services. This is not how trade publishing works.
25 years customer services, including accounting, retail services, marketing, HR, etc.
The last time I looked accounting, retail services, marketing and HR were not part of customer services; nor were these services exclusive to publishing.
Obviously, many of these positions overlapped and don't include the years I ran my family's automotive business, which included some of these same acivities, including working in the back building big block motors ;-)
I used to work for my parents, at the holiday complex they owned and ran on the Isle of Wight. I have never counted that as any sort of work experience in publishing, and don't know why you're mentioning this part of your work experience here.
- Firstly, I'd much rather have an editor than a critique partner when it comes to publication. I have critique partners, they're lovely, but they don't do for me what my editors do . . . Good editors ask, they don't tell, and the final decision is always with the author.
Our editors do both editing and critiquing.
To clarify, could you explain how you see the differences between editing and critiquing?
And no, not all publishers give the final say to the author. Sad but true. Some of our own authors have complained about that with other publishers that they're with.
It's true that not all publishers give the final say to the author. But the good ones do. Do you?
- Your retail analogy is flawed on several levels. For a start, books don't sell like face cream.
A product is a product is a product. Work 25 years in retail and you'll see that. Obviously we're talking different target audiences. It doesn't matter what the product is, there's a target audience for it. A good sales person can sell just about anything, regardless of the product. In my life, I've sold everything from dog food to tires to make up to books and all sorts in between. The basics include a product, a customer, a sales person who knows what the customer is looking for and supplies the product. Period.
Have you "work[ed] 25 years in retail"? If so, does that mean that you've not spent that time working for publishers? The time-scale would imply that you were working in retail while also working for Dreams Unlimited and Highland Press, and doing all those other things you did; did you work at these publishers part-time, or have I misunderstood?
- And if they can't, then authors should seriously ask themselves whether they're going to sell more books with a publisher, taking a cut, than they would on their own. Stephen King and Nora Roberts are brands in their own right, but that's because publishers made them so.
Back then, publishers handheld with their authors. Not so today.
Back when? The person you quoted there didn't specify a time; you're being disingenuous by implying they did.
Small presses try, some succeed. Traditional houses, rarely unless they feel they have another Rowling on their hands. They're selective and exclusive and don't treat all of their authors the same.
You're wandering way off-topic here. And you're implying that it's wrong for publishers to be "selective" or to treat their authors differently. Does Tirgear Publishing accept all submissions? If not, then it too is "selective".
As well, we're talking 30+ years history with most of the brand names. Some have had movies made from their books, added to their fame. Fact is, 99.9% of small press, and even self publishing authors, will never see that kind of fame or fortune. And the only reason traditional press still handhold King and Roberts is because they're guaranteed money earners. You know the saying, follow the money.
Again, you're off-topic. And you're responding to points which weren't made by the member you quoted, and ignoring the points that they did make. This only serves to confuse people, and it doesn't clarify or help.
We're a very open company. You're welcome to contact any of our authors to see how they feel about us rather than asking me and coming away dissatisfied. ;-)
I'm sure people will ask your authors for their opinions and experiences with or without your blessing; but thanks for the offer.
)
