Ulysses Press

[Stacia Kane]

I know this is a totally legit house, and has a good reputation; I'm just wondering if anyone here has worked with them?

http://www.ulyssespress.com/


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[CaoPaux]

Anyone?

I've sniggered inappropriately in public while browsing their dirty-joke books, does that count?

 

[Undercover]

Does anyone have more info on these guys? Does anyone know if they pay advances?

 

[triceretops]

No fiction or email subs. That leaves me out.

tri

 

[Undercover]

They take fiction, did you see all the genres? And yeah, they do say only postal submissions but they also give all the emails to their staff on the sidebar, including the acquisitions editors.

Maybe you can talk to your agent and see if she can find more info out and perhaps submit for you? I think they're worth a shot, C.

Thanks for replying by the way. I've been meaning to PM you. Will do that soon. Hope you're doing good.

 

[triceretops]

Thanks, Undercover. Damn, I must have glossed right over that. I'll re-examine the site and sort things out. I'd love to email directly to an editor.

Doing fine, I guess. But you know that last big deal? I haven't heard anything from the agent or publisher. And it's been awhile. Agent isn't answering at the present, but I did know she was going on vacation at the beginning of this month. Man, I hope everything is okay and in place. I couldn't stand a pull-out at this juncture. Not at all.

tri

 

[triceretops]

Now in the guidelines it says this: "We do not publish fiction, poetry, autobiography or children’s books." And yet I see fiction titles in their backlist, including a zombie novel. They also state not to email them but list their staff emails. Now how confusing is that?

Compromise, I'll query an editor and ask wuss up with all this.

tri

 

[Undercover]

Sounds like a good idea. Perhaps they didn't take fiction in the beginning and just haven't removed that from the guidelines. I does look like their fiction line is pretty recent.

I just took a chance and emailed a query to one of the acquisition editors. Most she can say is to resubmit via snail. So we'll see. Let me know if you find out more.

And don't worry about the deal thing. It took me a while to finally get my contract from the Pencil (about a month or so process.)

 

[Undercover]

Okay so I keep checking their site and one of their fiction books is YA and it just released last month. (June 2013)

They say they don't take children's books but it looks like "That's Not Your Mommy Anymore" is in fact a children's book and at only 32 pages with illustrations and all that. So I really don't know.

 

[Cathy C]

I looked through their catalog, but don't know any of the authors to ask them. I do however, have one of their books. In reading the guidelines, I might have a NF ms. that would be a good fit. It was nearly accepted by McGraw-Hill , but was too close to another book on their list. But there's nothing like it on these guy's site. Off to dust off an old query!

 

[triceretops]

Give it a go, Cathy. You never know. It might be right up their alley.

Undercover: could that YA book have a non-fiction slant to it? It sure sounds like it, judging from the title. Know what I mean?

Dang, now I'm back to check them out again!

tri

ETA: The only conclusion I come to is that they might have once published fiction, since I do see some "novels" in their catalog, but have just recently axed fiction from their lists. I can't think of any other explanation for it.

 

[Undercover]

This is the one I'm talking about, C. http://ulyssespress.com/?books=darkness-after
"The Darkness After" says the published date is June 2013 on their site, but when I look it up on Amazon it's not even out yet. I think October it comes out?

It's a dystopian thriller so it's got a sci-fi slant to it.

Good luck Cathy, let us know how it goes.

 

[triceretops]

Ya, you're right on that one. That's def sf/dystopian, and it is a recent title. Maybe they need a website update or something...

tri

 

[Undercover]

Definitely. If they ever respond I'm going to mention the discrepancy. I do however like them a lot. They just seem really professional to me (IMO) and I like their covers too, again looking great and in a professional manner. The non-fiction side looks good too. Some interesting books on there. I'm surprised they don't have an imprint like all these other houses do. Looks like the majority of it is all clumped together. I bet when they get bigger they'll need to do that. How long have they been in business? I can't find it.

 

[triceretops]

I agree. They need imprints with solid definitions and specific guidelines.

tri

 

[FluffBunny]

How long have they been in business? I can't find it.

(snippage has occurred)

I can't tell you exactly since I had a hard time trying to track down their business license. Via a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), I found that the lawsuit, while naming Ulysses Press, was actually filed against Bookpack, Inc. That license I could find--it was registered to Ray Reigert, publisher of Ulysses Press and that company was first registered in 1982. The lawsuit was filed in 2011. When exactly between 1982 and 2011 that Ulysses sprang to life, I do not know. There might be other info on the company's history contained in the court case, but I don't have a subscription to PACER to be able to access it.

Press release from FFRF is here - http://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/2810-public-statement-regarding-ffrf-v-ulysses-press-case It looks as if the case involved alleged plagiarism.

 

[Undercover]

Oh, wow that sucks. But this problem is on the part of the author, correct? Unless Ulysses knew about it, I don't see it being the publisher's fault.

 

[triceretops]

On their "About Us" page they mention they've named fastest growing small press out of four of their five years.

So, at least five years?