British-based horror publisher who are open to submissions: http://www.kensingtongorepublishing.com/submissions/4585740908 They see to have a fair few authors already on their books, but I can't find much about them elsewhere. Anyone had any dealings with them before?
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Kensington Gore Publishing
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The first red flag I see when checking under "Book Covers" are words like this:
So they charge for covers and they don't proofread their own copy (and lest you think I'm picking on them for a typo, the entire site is littered with these kinds of mistakes).
Second red flag is the lack of any real people, with job titles and publishing experience listed, in their "About" section. Instead, there's this:
I'm not interested in being part of a "family" when I look for a publisher. I'm looking for experienced professionals who will know how to edit, produce and market my book so it gets in front of the optimum number of readers, resulting in money in my pocket.
I think what we have here is an author services/vanity hybrid masquerading as a small trade publisher.
So they charge for covers and they don't proofread their own copy (and lest you think I'm picking on them for a typo, the entire site is littered with these kinds of mistakes).
Second red flag is the lack of any real people, with job titles and publishing experience listed, in their "About" section. Instead, there's this:
I'm not interested in being part of a "family" when I look for a publisher. I'm looking for experienced professionals who will know how to edit, produce and market my book so it gets in front of the optimum number of readers, resulting in money in my pocket.
I think what we have here is an author services/vanity hybrid masquerading as a small trade publisher.
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I think Kensington Publishing Corp which is a long standing US publisher might be unhappy with the name.
Yeah, and their covers are nothing to write home about. I'm also baffled by the huge amount of white space at the bottom of every page. That and the overly large graphics (like the front page image). And "family" mentioned in literally every paragraph of their "About" blurb?
Is "Kensington Gore" possibly the pen name of one of the authors/editors/something? Some of their book covers have it listed like it is. For a minute I thought this was related to the more well-known Kensington Publishing Corp.
Is "Kensington Gore" possibly the pen name of one of the authors/editors/something? Some of their book covers have it listed like it is. For a minute I thought this was related to the more well-known Kensington Publishing Corp.
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Some of the pages, notably this one, feature some absolutely amazing formatting. Yes, there is text there.
They post excerpts on some of their author pages. I recommend you read them, if the title bars haven't been placed over the authors' text. I don't want to disparage the writing--it varies as all writing does. What I do not see is any trace of editing or submission standards, let alone marketing or presentation know-how on the part of the publisher.
They post excerpts on some of their author pages. I recommend you read them, if the title bars haven't been placed over the authors' text. I don't want to disparage the writing--it varies as all writing does. What I do not see is any trace of editing or submission standards, let alone marketing or presentation know-how on the part of the publisher.
On my tablet, the only page that shows anything readable is the submissions page.
And they don't have their own domain for emails? Submissions sent to a yahoo.co.uk address? In my early days I was willing to take chances on young startups. No longer.
I wish them well, but not with my manuscript unless I see more encouraging developments.
ETA Tricked the tablet into displaying the pages. It all looks like pretty standard "hobby" publishing; someone with an idea and a passion, but little else. The Amazon ranks of the books I looked at indicate very few if any sales.
And they don't have their own domain for emails? Submissions sent to a yahoo.co.uk address? In my early days I was willing to take chances on young startups. No longer.
I wish them well, but not with my manuscript unless I see more encouraging developments.
ETA Tricked the tablet into displaying the pages. It all looks like pretty standard "hobby" publishing; someone with an idea and a passion, but little else. The Amazon ranks of the books I looked at indicate very few if any sales.
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It looks like the charging for book covers is actually a sideline, not that they're charging their writers for book covers.
The confusion is that they're using the ones they made for the publisher as samples.
That said, I can get a nicer cover for not much more for ebook and quite a bit less for paperback - and that's the prices they "start" at.
I agree, though. When they can't spell "author" I question the quality of their editing.
The confusion is that they're using the ones they made for the publisher as samples.
That said, I can get a nicer cover for not much more for ebook and quite a bit less for paperback - and that's the prices they "start" at.
I agree, though. When they can't spell "author" I question the quality of their editing.
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I am interested in querying Kensington Books, the established U.S. company that publishes hundreds of books a year, apparently. Anyone have dealings with them?
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No COVID yet. Still masking.
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EDITED: Re Kensington, I know agents submit to them, for what that's worth to anyone. They do take unagented submissions (which I know, because I subbed to them) and I don't recall if it's just open all the time or if they have windows for unrepresented authors. They are, in fact, quite legit.
Is Kensington Gore the same?
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No. The thread for Kensington Publishing Corp is here: https://absolutewrite.com/forums/in...ngton-publishing-corp-citadel-pinnacle.14984/
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Kensington Gore is fake blood, which is presumably why the publisher has taken that name. I can't get the page to load properly so can't comment further. But I saw this up thread:
That's not quite right. It's 'Hammered Horror', so obvs a bit of a joke, with fake move titles to go with the fake blood.
That's not quite right. It's 'Hammered Horror', so obvs a bit of a joke, with fake move titles to go with the fake blood.
Kensington Gore was a small UK horror publisher which closed a few years back IIRC