They seem to be specialising in the 'wholesome' niche and directing themselves towards authors who mistakenly believe there are no legitimate trade publishers working in that arena.
If you are one of those authors and you've found this thread in a google search I suggest you browse this forum a little. We're not always the most wholesome of folks, but at least we won't lie to you about how the publishing industry works in order to get your money.
Some relevant gems from the site. While I'm not an expert by any means, these things stuck out to me as warning signs.
Authors have 2 options for ebook publishing with us:
1. Traditional no fee, royalty-based ebook publishing where Vesta House Publishing publishes your book into all of the major ebook formats and distributes it into all of the major ebook markets. Vesta House Publishing retains all digital rights to your book and pays you royalties on every book sold. At this time, Vesta House Publishing does not offer advances on royalties, but you will receive 50% of your net proceeds from every book you sell!
2. Fee-based ebook publishing where you choose which services you would like Vesta House Publishing to perform. With this option, you can have your book published and distributed into all of the major ebook formats and markets for as little as $299. The beauty of this option is that you, the author, retain 100% of the rights to your work which translates into 100% of the net proceeds on every book you sell!
It is most definitely a conflict of interest to have both options, and not even under a seperate imprint.
You can do most of what Vesta House will do for a lot less than $300.
If you feel you need to hire a professional editor, Vesta House Publishing can help you find a good fit. Just
contact us and we will be happy to refer you to one of our affiliates.
Also, although not required, if you have a cover you have already designed, submit it as a separate file and we will review it along with your manuscript
Have you ever thought, "I've written this amazing young adult novel, and I'd love to have it published,but the publishing world is too complex. I have no idea where to start"?
How exciting would it be if you could get YOUR book expertly published into all of the major ebook formats and made available to major ebook markets?
Would you enjoy seeing YOUR book being read by millions of readers on their Kindles, tablets, and smartphones?
How would it feel to hold YOUR book, YOUR masterpiece, in your own hands?
Publishing isn't really that complex, and telling people it is is a way to make them feel disempowered enough to fall for what you're selling.
Write a good book, edit it, submit it to agents/publishers that handle your type of work. Bam.
'Available to' is not the same thing as 'Available in'.
Millions of readers? You won't reach millions through a publishing company that is marketed towards writers. Ask them - how to they plan to get all these readers?
Check out the websites of publishers like Penguin, or Simon and Schuster etc, or even some of the smaller ones. You will notice that it is geared towards readers, with pictures of the books, information about the books and links towards where you can buy them. Their blogs include author interviews and information about signings. Information for authors is usually hidden in a very small corner somewhere. That's because they get their money from selling books, not from charging you to format them.
Their blog has no posts and still retains the wordpress.com example first post. Not very professional.
