Azure Spider Publications

Night_Writer · Jun 16, 2019

I was browsing around and came across a new book publisher I'd never heard of before. I couldn't find a thread about it here, but I thought they were worth including.

It's Azure Spider Publications. Their website is https://www.azurespiderpublications.com/

The website looks nice and I didn't see any obvious red flags. They're relatively new and don't have a whole lot of books out yet. But the books they've published so far do have nice covers.

Does anyone know anything about this publisher, or have any interesting opinions about the site? They specialize in SF/F/H.

mrsmig · Jun 16, 2019

Red flags:

1) there are no individuals listed on their "About Us" or "Contact Us" pages - meaning there's no way to see who's running the outfit, and if the personnel involved have ANY relevant experience in publishing. A little Google-fu reveals that one Victoria Lynne Osborne is listed as the company's publisher on LinkedIn - unsurprising, given that she wrote half the books listed in Azure Spider's catalog. Neither her LinkedIn profile nor her personal website show any experience in the publishing trade.

2) their covers range from fair to downright awful.

3) their authors are expected to shoulder some of the marketing burden. Not unusual in the world of small publishers, but ask yourself if they're going to be providing any real value above what you could do for yourself as a self-publisher.

4) the vast majority of the reviews in their "review" section are by anonymous critics. That doesn't exactly inspire my confidence.

-Riv- · Jun 16, 2019

mrsmig said:
Red flags:

1) there are no individuals listed on their "About Us" or "Contact Us" pages - meaning there's no way to see who's running the outfit, and if the personnel involved have ANY relevant experience in publishing. A little Google-fu reveals that one Victoria Lynne Osborne is listed as the company's publisher on LinkedIn - unsurprising, given that she wrote half the books listed in Azure Spider's catalog. Neither her LinkedIn profile nor her personal website show any experience in the publishing trade.

2) their covers range from fair to downright awful.

3) their authors are expected to shoulder some of the marketing burden. Not unusual in the world of small publishers, but ask yourself if they're going to be providing any real value above what you could do for yourself as a self-publisher.

4) the vast majority of the reviews in their "review" section are by anonymous critics. That doesn't exactly inspire my confidence.

I scrolled down the "About Us" page and found two people listed, including Ms. Osborne as "the publisher." Neither list publishing experience. Having the publisher also be the author of five of the fourteen titles on their paper back books page is a huge red flag.

+1 to mrsmig's cover assessment.

I did a "look inside" on some of their titles, and each one needed editing on the first couple of pages. Red flag.

All the best,
Riv

Night_Writer · Jun 17, 2019

@mrsmig
@-Riv-
Thanks for the assessment. Interesting stuff. I was actually thinking about sending them something of mine. I guess I'll hold off on this place. I hadn't noticed that the publisher was also the author of several of the books. That really blows it for me.

Gillhoughly · Jun 17, 2019

Avoid new publishers and ones like this that seem to be in business to sell the owner's books.

Start at the top with the biggest houses that have books in stores. Those are the Neiman Marcus of publishers. This is a garage sale.

A big house has more resources and money to invest in a debut writer. Small places do not and frequently want money from writers.

New publishers tend to go belly up in short order. New does not mean better.

veinglory · Jun 18, 2019

Based on the logo, I feel like someone needs to explain to them what 'azure' means.

Azure Spider Publications

Night_Writer

It's all symbolic.

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

-Riv-

The much appreciated

Night_Writer

It's all symbolic.

Gillhoughly

Grumpy writer and editor

veinglory

volitare nequeo