World Castle Publishing

[David123]

Hey! Does anyone know any thing about World Castle publishing?

 

[brainstorm77]

link?

 

[veinglory]

I would guess http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com/

Brand new all genre epublisher. One of many.

 

[thothguard51]

While they have an open submission, and submission guidelines, they don't specify how their print books are produced or distributed. They note they are a royalty paying publisher, but I can't find what percentages they pay.

The about us page is pretty generic.

Might want to wait a while to see how they playout...

 

[brianm]

From their FAQ page.

1. What size are your print books and is it POD (Print On Demand)?
   For our full length novels our trim size is 6"x9" black and white inside, with a glossy full color cover.
   Our books can be ordered through www.amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and any other major book store chain. They are NOT available on book store shelves but they are returnable which means any bookstore or library can order them.

They opened four days ago.

~brianm~

 

[veinglory]

Which is, I guess, why you can't actually find their books in those places.

 

[juniper]

Any updates on this publisher? I just saw a posting elsewhere from someone who wrote a children's book, complete w/pics, who signed a contract ... the excerpts and pics are questionable at best ... ??? Posting says publisher isn't charging, is paying for everything, but I don't see how this book can be anything but a loss for pub.

How much does it cost an ePub from start to finish to get a book up on Kindle and CreateSpace for POD? What's their investment?

 

[Marian Perera]

I just heard about World Castle today, when someone on Facebook mentioned a new release from them. Their website is in serious need of an editor.

Teen Fiction :

Living inside Caine’s body lurks a monster, waiting for him to angry so it can claw out of Caine’s body.

Her and her siblings have been ordered to protect their little sister, and must return to High school.

About Us :

It is our utimate goal to produce top quality novels for all readers. World Castle Publishing is a royality paying publisher.

Not professional.

 

[James D. Macdonald]

You know the standard questions:

Have you read any of their books?

Has anyone you know read any of their books?

Are their books already on the shelves of a physical bookstore near you?

 

[priceless1]

After so many rejections I am suspicious... Advices would be great!

Hi Kreuse. You should be right to question anyone who offers a contract based on an unfinished fiction. It could be that they make their money selling POD books back to their authors. I see this as a common thread with publishers who can't sign authors fast enough and who have no store placement because they run on a POD business model.

Just an aside, but why are you querying an incomplete novel? There are very few who would entertain looking at it.

 

[kellion92]

This publisher states upfront that they don't market to physical bookstores, so I would be surprised if you found them there. But there are many e-presses and PODs that do a fantastic job with romance and that's not necessarily a problem.

I'd say I'd respond 30 days after receiving a contract. In that time, I'd read a book or two, talk to an author or two, find out how the books are marketed, and know what the average number of copies sold would be.

But the fact that they offered a contract on three chapters indicates to me that they might not have the most rigorous selection process, and that's a red flag.

 

[Marian Perera]

Okay, I need to think this through. I queried them on July 13th for SECOND CHANCES (with only three chapters) and they answered today to offer a contract.

Unless you're a bestselling author, this is a red flag.

Of course I am more than tempted, at least about opening doors...

What kind of doors can this publisher open for you, other than making your book available for sale in online stores?

They don't even seem to have proofread their own website for errors and typos - can they edit or proofread your book?

 

[Her Dark Star]

Having read something published by these guys I would second the red flag. They don't seem to proofread or edit whatsoever, the book was published with numerous mistakes, both typos, similar but wrong words (I guess maybe an autocorrect was run over it) and formatting errors. I guess that they are accepting and putting out anything they can get their hands on to build a presence but the quality of their work seems very low.

 

[dondomat]

Novella and possibly short novel

I've sent them a signed 2 year contract on a sci-fi novella, editing work should commence March, I think it was, and they're also looking at a short fantasy novel manuscript, which I hope will also get picked up.

Communication thus far has been fine, although the emails have not always been as prompt as I'd have liked.

 

[kaitie]

I personally wouldn't suggest signing a second contract until I had an idea of how the experience goes for the first book.

 

[juniper]

dondomat, why did you choose them as your publisher? Did you query other small publishers?

I'm asking because I will most likely end up with a small press and have been asking others about their choices. Some seem much better than others. Some seem only slightly better than shooting yourself in the foot.

What did you like about this one?

 

[RKLipman]

I personally wouldn't suggest signing a second contract until I had an idea of how the experience goes for the first book.

q. f. t.

 

[HistorySleuth]

dondomat, why did you choose them as your publisher? Did you query other small publishers?

I'm asking because I will most likely end up with a small press and have been asking others about their choices. Some seem much better than others. Some seem only slightly better than shooting yourself in the foot.

What did you like about this one?

(Bolding mine.....)


Sigh ... I wonder this too juniper. Maybe the bullet hole was small? Honestly, I don't get it sometimes. This thread only has 19 posts, of which Queen of Swords pointed out twice that the "publisher's" own grammar is crap, Her Dark Star looked at actual books that were edited like crap, why in the world would anyone decide they were a good idea to send to.

In under an hour I could buy a URL, get hosting, and set up a website as a publisher. Would you send me your MS?

 

[dondomat]

Hi Juniper,

my choice of small publishers was/is made by following nine basic criteria:
1) accept e-submissions;
2) accept relevant length;
3) accept relevant genre;
4) are not greedy with rights;
5) the displayed book covers look more or less like the real thing;
6) the website seems geared to readers, not writers - the books are not hidden on page 12;
7) they do not have some experimental avant-garde murky payment scheme;
8) their website's design looks more or less like the real thing.
9) (overlapping with point 5) – they’ve already published other books

...and that's it. When I feel I've reached a more commercially successful level with my writing, I'll start reaching out to agents and big publishers, until then - enjoying life and checking out the small publishers is a fine way, in my opinion, to build ego, experience with the details of the publishing process, and a growing publishing resume.



Or, you could also trap yourself forever into a lower midlist cycle, that’s a danger, but why think of the future when spring is around the corner?

And the small publishers I've worked with so far seem like fine people trying to do their jobs, so we all grow in this together. Not only do I learn from them, I like to think they also learn from me, and indeed from working with every author.

(camera shows audience dabbing at moistened eyes, my stern jawline trembling with manly emotion.)


…But seriously – Kaitie’s point is very good, and my only explanation of the act of sending a second MS without seeing the results of the first is that I feel my beard growing with the speed of the publishing industry, even its supposedly faster smaller members, and I don’t want to wait for another half year.



Or more, if I want to see the first sales figures. Thus I’m taking a risk, and anyway, the contract is for two years, so if anything, I can always revise the books from the higher level that I’ll have in the utopian near future, and then publish them again, possibly under a better selling pen name.


And yes, HistorySleuth, if you make a website that conforms to the 9 points above, I would send you my manuscript.

 

[veinglory]

If those are your requirements your short list should have at least 50 other publishers on it, which makes one wonder why this one rose to the top. I would also suggest adding the factor: "sells a reasonable number of books"--like, at least a few hundred in the first year. I mean, a website is a means to an end, not an end in itself. I can think of at least one press that would fail on your web requirements but meet my sales requirement easily.

 

[dondomat]

If those are your requirements your short list should have at least 50 other publishers on it, which makes one wonder why this one rose to the top.

Only at first glance; when filtering by wordcount and genre only a dozen or less are left in my case, and then I just browse a bit and intuitively choose a few and then the first to reply affirmatively gets the MS, all things like an OK contract etc., being equal.

I would also suggest adding the factor: "sells a reasonable number of books"--like, at least a few hundred in the first year.

Of course, this is a super important requirement, and I've got nothing to say to this, except that for people like me - outside the romance, erotica, and straight horror fields, and also not yet writing a specific serial - but just having felt my way around various subgenres and wordcounts, the emphasis was on being able to reach a level of being published. And things should grow from there, one hopes. And life isn't static, a publisher's fortunes change too, right? Spring is in the air. Anything feels possible.

 

[veinglory]

In my experience good epublishers start good and become excellent, the rest tend to drift downwards with a significant proportion going broke. Statistically speaking, optimism about the future of a small epublisher is rarely warranted. Even in the erotic and romance genres sales over a few hundred are rare so it is worth (financially) putting some time into the selection process..

If you PM me your genre I might be able to find more options. I may have a big romance banner in my sig line but it is not all I write and not even the majority of what I read in digital format.

 

[kaitie]

I'm not sure that I understand what you mean by "an emphasis was on being able to reach a level of being published." It sounds like you're saying the emphasis was on reaching a level of ability that would allow one to be published (or published well). I'm not sure I see what's wrong with that.

The other thing that I would consider is reputation. If you want to use small presses to build a reputation and readership (some people do, and while the effectiveness of this method is debated, I can understand the logic), then wouldn't it make sense to put editorial quality and product quality at the top of the list?

If a reader picks up your book and finds editorial problems, then they aren't likely to pick up your next book because they'll place the blame for quality (or lack of it) on the author. Not to mention the fact that they'll leave negative reviews and might influence other readers.

Similarly, if readers have tried books from a particular press and found the quality to be lacking, then they aren't as likely to go back to that press.

That might sound like a picky thing to consider because how many readers pay attention to publisher, but many of the small e-publishers that do well do so by selling books from their own site and by having loyal customers who come back and read multiple books by that press.

If a press isn't able to build up reader loyalty, that can also be a factor in the number of books you'll eventually sell. In the end, having books out there to build a readership only works if people actually buy your books and enjoy them.

I've noticed that several of the presses you've submitted to have complaints of poor editing or inexperienced editorial staff, and you don't mention quality of product in your list other than to mention covers. I just think it might be a worthwhile consideration to add, probably closer to the top than the bottom. It will limit the options, sure, but if you have a great book it'll find a home, and wouldn't it be better to find a home that will give it the best possible chance?

 

[Stacia Kane]

Being published by a house which does not grasp/understand good grammar and/or writing means nothing as far as whether or not your work has reached publishable level. Maybe it has, sure, but when the publisher can't tell the difference between good and bad their acceptance is not an achievement, and books published by houses which have poorly written websites and no standing or experience in the industry do not tend to count as professional credits.

I don't mean this personally, dondomat, and I'm absolutely not saying your work isn't good. It may well be excellent. I'm just saying that your work is worth more than tossing it to any amateur with some publishing software because you believe it counts as a credit. It doesn't.

 

[HistorySleuth]

Hi Juniper,

my choice of small publishers was/is made by following nine basic criteria:
1) accept e-submissions;
2) accept relevant length;
3) accept relevant genre;
4) are not greedy with rights;
5) the displayed book covers look more or less like the real thing;
6) the website seems geared to readers, not writers - the books are not hidden on page 12;
7) they do not have some experimental avant-garde murky payment scheme;
8) their website's design looks more or less like the real thing.
9) (overlapping with point 5) – they’ve already published other books


And yes, HistorySleuth, if you make a website that conforms to the 9 points above, I would send you my manuscript.

Sigh. Not the answer I was hoping for. You can tell by reading the Beware threads here which publishers offer more than you can do yourself. I hope you start at the top.

From their website's FAQs page:

Q. Do you provide copyright?
A. No, we do not. The author retains ownership of the book and it is your responsibility to apply for copyright. We will provide you with the "proof" you'll need for filing and assist you as we are able.
We do, however, place a copyright notice in all works. According to www.copyright.gov, "Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device." It is your option if you wish to pursue an official registration of your work.
We do register all print books with the Library of Congress and send them a print copy of your book and the control number is printed inside the front cover by the ISBN number.

If they are the "publisher" shouldn't they be doing that?