Olympia Publishers has a small ad in the back pages of my October 2008 issue of The Fortean Times.
They share the space with a lady seeking "Astro Partners"--perhaps she is a fan of the dog on the Jetsons--two other vanity houses trolling for customers, an ad for "Voodoo soap" and other esoteric products of an arcane nature, another offering a catalogue for some unspecified "seeds", a novelty company with adult fun products, and an invitation to learn how to read black and white light spectra, (though the person who placed the ad forgot to include contact information so one presumes telepathy is involved), and a more practical media group that will put your Super 8 movies onto DVD.
The Olympia ad in bold, no company logo: AUTHORS PLEASE SUBMIT synopsis, plus sample chapters (3) for consideration, with their name and website.
I learned a long time ago in the pre-Google dark ages that any "publisher" advertising in the backs of magazines--particularly ones that have nothing much to do with the publishing industry--are going to want money from validation-starved writers. It pays for the ads, yanno.
I couldn't find info on their website about charging for publication, so there's the big lie of omission. Their guidelines are ridiculous:
"We require 3 chapters for consideration. These chapters do not need to be in sequence and can be taken from anywhere within your manuscript provided they illustrate your work."
:editor's hat on: I've just spewed coffee on my keyboard. Who ARE these morons?? I want your first three chapters, in order, not random samplings. I have that in common with all the other editors out there who work for legit operations.
Of course this bunch is going to be POLITE and fun to work with--you've paying them 2400 pounds (about 3500.00 US) to get "published. " I run a small e-business and am always polite to my customers! I want them to come back and recommend me to their friends.
That vanity book doesn't count as a pro-publishing credit with agents and editors, either.
You want a book to hold in your hands, fine, go with Lulu. It's cheaper.
You want to be a professional writer?
Write well, then sell. It's the more difficult road, but you get into the really cool parties.
Yog's Law rules!