DIP Publishing House / DIP Press / ProxVoice Publishing Co.

The over-emphasis on business legalese is also troubling.

Filigree said:

The over-emphasis on business legalese is also troubling.

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But how else will they persistently synergize holistic next-generation empowerment for their high-level partner-authors?

Wait, that's business buzzwordese, not business legalese. Never mind.

victoriastrauss said:

I wonder if I will find a DIPsh*t legal threat when I open my Writer Beware email this morning.

- Victoria

EDITED TO ADD: Yeppers.

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Sooo, are Kenzie and Argus the same person then? Given that 'kenzie' was sending from Argus' email? Are they all the same person?

Filigree said:

The over-emphasis on business legalese is also troubling.

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It's a very aggressive approach - I mean, most folk would have contact the board admin to discuss things calmly and rationally, not leapt in all solicitors blazing. That sort of behaviour is often a very good indicator of how someone conducts their daily business.

shaldna said:

Sooo, are Kenzie and Argus the same person then? Given that 'kenzie' was sending from Argus' email? Are they all the same person?

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No; they're just not terribly textually or technologically competent. They truly believe that they are behaving in professional "business like" ways.

DIP Press and DIP Pub

I received an e-mail today stating it was from a Literary Agent contracted by their client DIP Press to contact potential authors.

Obviously, this raised quite a few red flags. I thought I would pass this on to all of you here.

http://www.dip-press.com
and sister site
http://www.dippub.com

I don't usually hear of a literary agent's client being a publisher/press. Usually a literary agent's client is a writer, right? And was the decision to send unsolicited email the agent's, or DIP's?

Superficial observation: The web pages do at least both appear to be aimed at readers (though the bit about "Why read? Because reading builds self-esteem..." etc. at dippub.com might be trying too hard).

Could you forward the email to Writer Beware, please? beware [at] sfwa.org. Thanks!

- Victoria

NicoleJLeBoeuf said:

I don't usually hear of a literary agent's client being a publisher/press. Usually a literary agent's client is a writer, right? And was the decision to send unsolicited email the agent's, or DIP's?

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Of course, the very day after I post this, I see an indisputable example of a publisher being a literary agent's client:

Evan Gregory said:

If you need an example of one such publisher, consider our agency's other client Ellora's Cave Publishing...

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Which says nothing at all about DIP. Just me admitting that I was wrong and could stand to learn a thing or two.

NicoleJLeBoeuf said:

Of course, the very day after I post this, I see an indisputable example of a publisher being a literary agent's client:

Which says nothing at all about DIP. Just me admitting that I was wrong and could stand to learn a thing or two.

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Contacting authors isn't what a publisher's literary agent does. EC's agent--and the agents for any other small presses who contract subrights along with print ones--then pitch those subrights to larger or international publishers, or to audio or film companies.

Frex, EC has sold quite a few subrights to foreign presses. Those deals were handled by their agent on behalf of them and the authors whose books are involved.


It's been a while since I learned what a literary scout does, and my memory may be off, but IIRC they contact authors on behalf of publishers--usually they're contacting foreign authors to see if those authors would be interested in publishing in X country. But I'm not aware of any literary scouts who contact completely unpublished authors on behalf of publishers in the same country or territory. (Again, my memory is fuzzy.)

Point is, an agent who contacts you claiming to be working on behalf of a small press in your country? I wouldn't respond.

It does rather seem to reverse the order of the interests.

Dip

Where was everybody approached? I have a story posted on worthyofpublishing.com, which is where I was contacted. I've seen scams before, and this looks a lot like one. I'd like to ask the guy questions, like, how do they pay their writers and when? Do they pay advances? How much have they earned in the last 6 months? Can I see sales info and statements?
If anyone else has something to add to the list, comment here and I'll add it to the list

-dan

Stacia Kane said:

Contacting authors isn't what a publisher's literary agent does. EC's agent--and the agents for any other small presses who contract subrights along with print ones--then pitch those subrights to larger or international publishers, or to audio or film companies.

Frex, EC has sold quite a few subrights to foreign presses. Those deals were handled by their agent on behalf of them and the authors whose books are involved.

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A-ha. This makes sense. My danger sense was tingling, but I had wrongly attributed it to the fact of the agent working for the publisher rather than, as I should know well enough to recognize, to what this particular agent was doing for this particular publisher (i.e. sending unsolicited communications to authors out of the blue).

There were enough red flags in this to make me wary even before this new thread was helpfully merged with the old DIP Publishing thread and its parade of legal cartoonies. But the latter was certainly entertaining!

Danhead said:

Where was everybody approached? I have a story posted on worthyofpublishing.com, which is where I was contacted. I've seen scams before, and this looks a lot like one. I'd like to ask the guy questions, like, how do they pay their writers and when? Do they pay advances? How much have they earned in the last 6 months? Can I see sales info and statements?
If anyone else has something to add to the list, comment here and I'll add it to the list

-dan

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Dan, if they hadn't approached you would you have ever heard of this press? Ever considered it?

My advice is always to start at the top and work down.

That's partially my point in asking these questions. I know I should delete the email, but I'm curious to know if he can answer satisfactory. Tough questions need specific answers. Plus the more questions, the more opportunity arises for him to contradict himself. That's why I was hoping others would have questions for him too

DIP Press

Some guy recently posted on Yahoo Answers about how he had a random email from an editor called Ronnie from DIP press claiming he was not a vanity publisher and that there was no cost, but that he was looking for manuscripts. I can't find any thread about this press here. But the guy on Yahoo Answers was asking if it was a scam, or not.
Here is the website http://www.dip-press.com/manuscript-submission.php
What do people know about this press if anything?

From the FAQ:

Does DIP Press self-publishing?

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Apparently they don't self-publishing.

The covers are amateurish and the blurbs are... well.

This unusual fictional tale depicts two bi-racial pre-teens, whose race plight leads them to create a race name that rightfully plugs into their White heritage, as well as the Black race. Thus Blite is the outcome of their new race name.

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Half the author pages I clicked on were under construction. This may not be a scam, but expecting professionalism and expertise from such a press would be like asking your neighbor's eight-year-old to treat your broken leg because she got a Doctor Kit for her birthday and you know she wouldn't charge you a dime.

If it's the same outfit as DIP Publishing House, you can find a discussion here: [threads merged; link removed]. Short version: it may or may not be a scam, but it's definitely a bad idea. Bogus legal threats don't help.

ETA: it is the same company. The DIP press website links to the bookstore of DIP publishing.

I've gotten questions recently from authors who were also solicited by DIP. So it appears to be getting active again with the spamming.

- Victoria

Queen of Swords said:

From the FAQ:
Apparently they don't self-publishing.

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They accidentally a book.

(Saw this thread title, and all I could think of was remembering the "DIP Legal Team" threat to AW from a few pages back).

Queen of Swords said:

From the FAQ:- Does DIP self publishing?



Apparently they don't self-publishing.

.

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Yes I noticed that too.

(Thank you for merging my post. I did do a search but I just couldn't find a thread for some reason.)

The forum's own search function is a bit unreliable. It's better to check the index thread, or use Google Advanced Search with absolutewrite.com entered in the site field.

Oh wow I hadn't noticed the Index thread thanks! Yeah I've had trouble with the AW search engine.

I know Ripoff Report needs to be treated with caution, but this caught my eye:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/DIP-P...-sell-my-book-without-giving-mr-rotal-1158771