united p.c. publisher / novum publishing GmbH

inspector said:

Hi there! I wanted to ask if any of you have had any new experiences with Novum Publishing?

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No personal experience, but looking at the thread they were a vanity publisher, and looking at their website, they are still a vanity publisher.

I want to be clear about this, because it confuses many: a vanity publisher is not a publisher.

A publisher makes money by buying books from authors and selling them to readers.

A vanity publisher makes money by selling authors their own books.

The business model and the product created is entirely different.

It would be important for him to get professional proofreading

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Vanity publishers do not proofread. Proofreading increases value for readers, but readers are not part of the vanity publishing business model.

editing

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Vanity publishers do not edit. Editing increases value for readers, but readers are not part of the vanity publishing business model.

and general feedback on his book

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Vanity publishers do not give meaningful feedback. The goal of feedback or critique is to improve the book so it will attract more readers, and readers... well, I’ve said, haven’t I?

After all, publishers know the market much better and you’ll surely have more success selling your book with a publisher than if you do all by your own.

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Vanity publishers do know their market, but their market is authors. The entire goal of a vanity publisher is to convince an author to pay a large lump sum of money to see their own book published, using statements like these:

We believe that every author with a good manuscript is supposed to have a fair chance on the book market.

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You want to publish a book, but you are still uncertain about which way to go? We will give advice and support you on your way to publication.

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We are pleased with every manuscript submission.

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Especially new authors found and will find here the perfect start to the world of publishing.

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(All quotes from the novum-publishing.co.uk website)

They neither know, nor care, how to market books to readers. That is not their business model. If a vanity published author wants to get their book in front of readers, they’ll have to do all that legwork themselves... just as they would if they were self-published.

Vanity publishers are perfectly aware of the confusion they create — that is part of their business model. But you — and your friend — should be perfectly clear on this distinction. Vanity publishers will not work with an author to proofread and edit their book into a product that appeals to more readers. They will not put anyone’s book in front of readers. All they care about is getting you to pay them for your book.

How do you deal if you don’t get any answer from publishers? Just keep trying or try something new? Thanks in advance for the help!

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So about 15 years ago Tobias Buckell did a survey asking how many novels authors wrote before they sold one. About a third of those surveyed sold their first novel. The rest either had significant short story sales or several unsold novels. 13% had written seven or more novels before they sold one.

It’s older data, but I don’t think that aspect of the industry has changed.

My best advice to your friend is, if they’re not getting bites from publishers with this book... write another one. Book-writing is a skill, and sometimes your first crack at it just isn’t that good. Even if it is a good book, “trunking” isn’t forever. Many writers sell their second or fifth or seventh book and — with that proof of success under their belt — go back and dust off good ol’ #1 for another round.

My second-best advice would be to self-publish. Freelance editors, copy editors, and cover artists can be hired for a fraction of the cost a vanity publisher will charge; likewise you can get your book printed in any number of places for a modest sum, and list ebooks at almost no cost at all. It’s true that, without a publishing house behind it, it’s difficult to reach readers. It will be hard work.

But it is exactly the same amount of work your friend would do if they published through a vanity, and they won’t be out $10K or more when they start doing it.

inspector said:

Have you ever made your own experiences with vanity publishers? Or why are you so angry about them at the moment?

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That's like asking why people are mad at Nigerian princes. A scam is a scam is a scam.

inspector do you work for united p.c. publisher and / or novum publishing GmbH?

Because you sound very much like an employee.

Or, someone trying to convince themselves that they haven't done a foolish thing.

Hello everyone, thanks for your answers.

lizmonster, 1) How do you know what to improve on the manuscript if you don't get any feedback from professional peers? 2) The quality of self-publishing often is not really high, in my opinion. And if one wants to publish a book, it should be nice to read it…3) I personally prefer to deal with one project after another. That way I can concentrate better on the different steps involved. I don't know how my colleague is thinking about that...

Sonya Heaney, ah ok, congratulations for finding a publishing contract. But I see that you have to wait a really long time before you are finally accepted by a publishing house. You definitely have to be very patient. But as you say, it is important to work hard and not give up. That is the key to success. Thanks also for the tips. Which publishing house did your colleague finally publish with? To me it sounds reasonable that after years of hard work you just want to put an end to all this and start a new project…

katfeete, as far as I've noticed, there are already publishers that offer editing, proofreading, marketing etc. So I don't think you can put them all in the same box. But as so often, there are good and bad services on the market. That's why it's important to ask for experience in advance.
Thanks also for the link from Tobias Buckell! It's very interesting and only then you realize how difficult it is to publish a book. I was not aware of that before, and I think my colleague wasn't either.
Thanks also for all the tips. I will pass them on. And of course, with self-publishing you can also get all these services. But first you have to be sure that it's a good service too. And the main problem behind is, as I see it, that not everything comes from one source and therefore the book itself is not “consistent”...As they say: Too many cooks spoil the broth.

frimble3/Admin, I do not try to convince others of this or that publisher. I just wanted to look for experiences. Of course, there are always different opinions and, in the end,, everyone has to know for himself what is best for him. I just find it demotivating when you as an author don't get an answer from publishers. My colleague was almost about to give up the whole project. I just wanted to help him now so that he doesn't give up his passion completely.

In reply to inspector at #30:

lizmonster, 1) How do you know what to improve on the manuscript if you don't get any feedback from professional peers? 2) The quality of self-publishing often is not really high, in my opinion. And if one wants to publish a book, it should be nice to read it…3) I personally prefer to deal with one project after another. That way I can concentrate better on the different steps involved. I don't know how my colleague is thinking about that...

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1) A writer needs to have an intrinsic sense of their own abilities. Granted that's hard to calibrate - but reading is a big piece of it. Read, read, read and you'll have a good sense of how well you translate the story in your head to the page. There are also numerous other avenues available, including crit groups, beta readers and paid freelance editors.

My main point, though, is that if you're not getting traction on a particular book and you've got your heart set on trade publishing, work to improve the book.

2) There are plenty of self-published books that are just as high quality as what you see from trade publishers. The quality of what is published is entirely up to the author. Marketing and promotion is a tricky thing, of course; but it is in trade publishing as well.

My point here was that if the author is happy with the book and wants readers to be able to purchase it, self-publishing is a viable direction.

3) "Write the next book" is what every author who wants a career longer than one book has to do at some point. If you've got a book that you're confident is as good as you can make it, but you can't sell it to a publisher and you're not willing to self-publish it, you've got to write the next book. That's the option, unless you want to stop writing entirely. That's not working on two projects at once; that's trunking one project in favor of the next.

My colleague was almost about to give up the whole project. I just wanted to help him now so that he doesn't give up his passion completely.

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A bad publishing deal - and a vanity publisher is always going to be a bad publishing deal - is 9,000,000X worse than no publishing deal at all. There's nothing there but red ink and tears.

lizmonster said:

There are many options:

1) Keep working on the MS.
2) Self-publish.
3) Write another book.

There's nothing a vanity press can do for you that you can't do for yourself, and with better quality.

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Pretty much this. I've long said that if anyone can figure out a way to make vanity publishing work for them, then great. However, I have yet to hear from anyone who really has; most do much, much better with self-publishing.

Some people could run a marathon with a rock chained to their ankle, but that doesn't mean the rock was a good decision.

As will most people, I am sure, I respect self-published authors immensely more than vanity published authors. Vanity is self-publishing, but with a narrower set of options and a larger price tag.

Hey guys, thanks for your answers and sorry for my late reply.

lizmonster, 1) true, reading is key. If you read a lot, you can learn a lot and this will surely have an effect on your own writing style. Probably you can also increase your creativity by reading. This is a very important factor in writing. And it's good to know that you have so many possibilities if you want to increase the quality of your book.
2) I have to disagree a little on that point. Of course, there are self-published books that are of good quality, but if you look at the whole market of self-published books, only a small percentage of them is really "marketable" ….meaning they have a good quality. I believe that as an author you will reach your limits at some point (at least that's how my colleague feels at the moment) and it's always good to get opinions from outside... Be it via crit groups, paid freelance editors, publishers that offer different services like novum publishing, beta readers, other authors, and so on...They can provide a lot of input and so the author can also overcome his limits.... Especially in marketing and promotion you often have to rely on the expertise of others. Especially if you are a newcomer in the world of publishing, you can benefit a lot from this. Of course, it always depends on what you want to achieve with your book. Some people are already satisfied when they have their own book in their hands. Self-publishing without further help would then be sufficient, I guess…but not for the literature market.
3) yes, you are right. But you also have to see being an author as a hobby. I think many people see writing as a hobby. For authors who have to make a living from their books (do so many authors manage to do so?) it way more difficult.

Chris P, I think it always depends on your own experiences and what you think you can do.

veinglory, sure, if you publish a book yourself and it becomes successful, then it's legitimate to respect these authors for their work and success. The only question is how many authors will succeed with self-publishing. I'm only speaking from my own experience when I say that the quality of books is better at publishers compared to self-published books. There are certainly exceptions. But the exception, as we know, confirms the rule…;-)

I can't understand why you get upset. People spend money on a wide variety of things. I like to go out to eat and I like to travel. Other people like to drive expensive cars or spend their money on jewelry. If there are people who want to spend their money on publishing their book - they should. I don't think financial success is the focus for every person. Many people just want to have their own book in their hands. If this is your dream, do it. If novum publishing or other publishers take up this need and make this possible for people, why does it bother so many people who have nothing to do with it or are in a completely different situation?

I don't have to personally have my car stolen to be annoyed by thieves.

TomZer said:

I can't understand why you get upset. People spend money on a wide variety of things. I like to go out to eat and I like to travel. Other people like to drive expensive cars or spend their money on jewelry. If there are people who want to spend their money on publishing their book - they should. I don't think financial success is the focus for every person. Many people just want to have their own book in their hands. If this is your dream, do it. If novum publishing or other publishers take up this need and make this possible for people, why does it bother so many people who have nothing to do with it or are in a completely different situation?

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You like to travel, and yet I suspect that if you paid $12,000 for luxury accommodations and meals from celebrity chefs and instead got put up in a disaster relief tent and served a cafeteria cheese sandwich, you would be a tad irate. Even if it didn't happen to you, but instead to people you knew, you might be pretty upset. And if you saw a similar event being advertised, you might go out of your way to warn complete strangers on the internet that, hey. This is probably gonna land you on a soaking wet mattress on some beach with your dream of a weekend getaway shattered and no clear way to get home.

If you all you want is to hold your own book in your hands, you can do this through CreateSpace or LuluBooks for less than $50. If you decide to spring for cover art and/or a professional edit, that goes up to maybe a few hundred or a thousand. If you have the money and that's what you want, I have no objections. Get that book! Have your dream! I'm so happy for you!

But if you're going to pay some company many thousands -- or tens of thousands -- for the same book, held in your hand, I'm going to be here saying, hey. No. This is not your dream. This is a con job.