• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Dorrance Publishing... does it exist?

K

kaylen22

New Member
Ok guys, I recently got accepted at Dorrance Publishing. I was realllllly over the top until they told me to pay US$6000. First thought: "Holy ****" anyway the money isn't a problem anymore. Can any of you tell me if that publisher really exist? I mean, I checked the websites and it looks real to me. But I just don't want to be involved in fraud. Can anyone help me find out if that publisher really exist or not? oh another one is AuthorHouse. If any of you has information about both of these publishers, it will be a great help. Thank you!! :eek:


-Kay
 
These are both vanity publishers. Basically, you pay them to put out your book, and it's usually not considered a good idea to use them. These guys will publish just about anything, since you pay them, and they usually do the print-on-demand sort of thing.
Not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you're fully aware of what you get into.
I recommend that you read the vanity publisher section of Victoria Strauss' "Writer Beware" website. The section can be found at http://www.sfwa.org/beware/subsidypublishers.html

Just be aware that you'll get no advertising, and your books won't appear on any storeshelves unless you go out and get them put there yourself - which is just about impossible in these days of chains like Barnes & Nobles. Big publications will probably shy from your work too, so it can be hard to even get reviewed.

Essentially it's like publishing the book on your own, but with loads of excessive charges added.
So yes, they exist, and yes, they're basically legit, though probably not what you really want.

Personally I hold with the philosophy that the publisher should be paying the author, not vice versa.
 
thank you for the help! that site totally changed my mind about continuing with the publishing. yeah i guess they are vanity publishers! awww... i do feel a lil down but hey it's all good. i was suspicious from the start cuz they cost way too much. thanx! maybe i should try another publisher. do you know any good ones?
 
Go to your local book store, or if you're lucky your library might even have it, and get The Writers Market....and depending on what your book is about they have "Writers Market" books for specific catagories too....

The Writers Market will list all the different book publishers, what they are looking for, who they work with, if they require you to have an agent, how they like to receive submissions, contact names.....
 
Hi Kay,
I am familiar with Authorhouse because I just recently had my book published with them. While I love the product I have to admit I only published with Authorhouse because I was directed in that way.

Being inexperience in this area I had been told so many different things about publishing that my head spinned. From having my own ISBN numbers to trying to get the attention of a big publisher is very hard. Most times they do not respond and time is ticking away. Something of valued interest is never to much hard work though it is.

However, I had gotten discouraged because you can gain advise from many sources but the real help is still going to be left on you and how you apply yourself in what you do. Also I find in a lot of instances while you gain insight in your endeavor those who have worked their way through never tell all what you need to know and maybe that is because every situation is different. Well my experience with Authorhouse is one that I'm not to happy with. Once I recognized how things worked it was to late for me to back out without losing the money I had paid for the initial publishing. I find dealing with people where you cannot have a personal contact from time to time, not just by phone or email is not a satifying experience. You can be told and explained anything in those way but in the end you will find the things discussed will not be the case or what you thought was in your publishing package.

You have to understand when you go this way you are on your own. There is no real help. You will have to do everything and if you do not have anyone to proofread or give you constructive advise for the betterment of your book and you as a new author then this will be a true experience of trial and error at your expense. Dealing with Authorhouse I learned that. Even if you find things to correct they will charge you $2.00 for each correction within the same line and even if it's one error they will still attach a $25.00 processing fee for a $2.00 correction.

You can get so upset because of services you think you would get like them detecting errors along with you, No that is not the case. So it will be so important in going that route to go over your work again and again. You will also think your book will be promoted but you will find after the fact that is another maybe $2500 package, which I did not do. Their service was not what I expected so promoting my book with them I would not take that chance.

Self publishing may not be to bad if you understand your part and is ok with it and especially if the end product is very good but I would say you would have to have a plan ahead of time to accompany you in your endeavor.

Though I am promoting my book myself I still seek to get input on how, under my circumstances I could do this. So far in joining this site I have had no one to take an interest enough to give feedback other than one person and that was about joining the site and the guidelines and link suggestions which was most helpful. So when I saw your statement I was only happy to share with you what I personally know and hope it will help you.

I know someone who published with LuLu several books and they felt it was a great start but now have pulled most of their books from the site and have taken them to a larger publishing company. I am always interested in doing something like that however she was able to keep her copyright but the selling rights belong to the company. So if her books makes it big the only money she would have received would be the one check they gave her when she went to the bigger company and will not receive any more money. I'm not to sure if I will be happy with that. I would like to keep my selling even if it's a portion and copyrights to my book. After all that is my means to an end for my future.

Now I could be looking at this wrong but I want the same type of deal the author of Harry Potter has. She have made millions and still making millions and I think it is because she receives royalities and still have her selling rights. Don't quote me on that because that is my assumption and you know what they say about assuming.LOL!! Well whatever the case is for the person I was telling you about she told me she received enough money to start her own publishing company with 40 people working for her. Now as to that being a lot of money I can't say but I have been told and I think I have even read on this site it cost a lot less to start your own publishing company and produce your own books oppose to going to LuLu and Authorhouse etc. But again I did not know this. I'm still learning too. So I will have to make the best of my situation.

I just went live with my book and have sold at least 50 copies of my book. I guess that is a good start and I have made the cost of my publishing back and some more already. The key thing is that I must keep getting my book into the hands of people and different places and you never know I may come across someone that will see the great potential in my book and want to assist me further. It would be great if all places we interact with online support groups would truly support each other because that would truly be a sure way for all of us up and coming people to make progress in their dreams especially since the traditional way is very difficult for most.

Since you are interested in publishing maybe you would want to check the link to see the cover and read a little about my children's book. If you like what you see you may still want to contact Authorhouse or LuLu. Just click on the book cover and it will enlarge and give more info on the book. If you go check tell me what you think.

I am not advising you to just settle but sometimes we as a people will go the long route when the route we want seems so very very far off. So whatever way you go be informed and I truly hope you much success. Forgive me for writing so much.

akiraah
 
Working with an Agent is the only way. As I have understood from reading Bob Mayer's book, called "The Fiction Writer's Toolkit", which covers the ENTIRE publishing process in the second half of the book, getting a book agent (and being patient with the process) is the proper (and only) way to get the attention of a publisher. As you will notice from reading this page on Random House's website (http://www.randomhouse.com/about/contact.html) they state, as the Bob Mayer confirms in his book, that most serious publishers (which are the only ones you should be inerested in) only deal with agents... not authors, or directly submitted manuscripts that you want them to review.

But fear not. Agents don't cost you a thing from your pocket, until AFTER the book is published (usually taking a flat-rate of 15%). Some may see this as a slight annoyance, but you should be very, very grateful; it's either 15% of what you make, or no book, because agents are the publishing process, as far as any author in the world is concerned. There's no other way to know how to deal with a publisher, and real publishers only deal with agents, as stated on Random House's "contact us" page.

When I copyrighted my book, I started getting junk mail from Dorrance Publishing, but I only took a brief look at their website before realizing they were small-time and probably unsafe. As mentioned in Bob Mayer's book, if the publisher is seeking you out, you know something is very wrong. A "real" publisher does the opposite, and lays low, waiting only for an author serious enough to study the process, and get a proper agent. Those are who they work with, and who get a good shot at getting published, if their book is good. ;) In all normal circumstances, the publisher is the one who pays YOU an advance at contract-signing... not the other way around. Nothing ever comes out of your pocket in the entire book-writing/publishing process.
 
I will say a good word for Lulu.com. It is an easy and relatively cheap (technically, virtually free) way of producing good, bound copies of a book yourself.

Even if you pay them for worldwide distribution through online retailers, it is only about £150/$200, an acceptable charge I think. I never sold anything like enough copies of my book to make this money back, but I did achieve something more important. I was then able to get copies to serious reviewers, whose reviews in turn helped me to attract the attention of a proper publisher (Faber). The book is published next June. :D

Against that, it would be a mistake to assume that this can always happen. I count myself very lucky, and it comes at the end of a 12-year slog and four other unpublishable novels, with more disappointments along the way than I want to remember. It is not impossible - just very, very hard.
 
Trouble is, finding an agent is very nearly as hard as finding a publisher. Some actually say, 'come back when you've got a publishing deal' incredibly enough.

p.s. I would not say 'beware' Lulu, exactly. It does exactly what it says on the tin. You sign away no rights, and you hand over little or no money for a fairly decent product. Beware only of the lure that all self-publishing dangles before you; 'buying' success like that could stop aspiring writers from trying so hard and developing their skills. A little failure is a good thing. It makes you try harder - or it should do.
 
yes. it is best to start on google, looking in your own country.
also, go to a local bookstore and go to the reference section. look for a big thick book titled "The Writer's Market."
i hope i helped.
 
I am a novelist from Azerbaijan, last month I gave my recently published in Azerbaijan novel-book to Azerbaijani-English translator and started looking for a publishing house. I would like to send the Eng version of my novel to any good American publisher. As there are very many differences between the publishing systems of Az-jan and other normal countries I am absolutely unaware of reputations of publishing houses in US. I just know that I should send my novel in English to publishing house, if they like they will publish it.
So, while searching there were very many links of Dorrance. I wanted send my novel to Dorrance as soon as the translation is ready.
But now... you write that they do not exist.
I am confused now. It seems, it's not as easy as it seems to me.
So, I have some questions.
Whom should apply a foreign author like me?
If I am looking for a good standing publisher within public opinion...
Is there any usual system for foreign novelists?...
 
I'm not responding to any quote in particular, but there ARE a few other options. I believe the traditional writer-agent-publisher route is best, however.

IF your writing is technically good enough (grammar, spelling, etc.), IF your plotting, characterization, dialogue and other basic story needs are met, IF your subject matter/genre is exciting enough to catch an agent's attention, IF your query letter is good enough, and IF the agent is not having a bad day at the office on the day when he reads it, you MIGHT get an agent.

Remember, established agents have a stable of writers who put out a book a year. They don't need you - unless you can convince them otherwise. New agents usually don't have the contacts at publishing houses you need. I had an agent for a year and she was totally useless, not even advising me where she was sending my manuscript (if she ever did.)

Another route is to approach small publishers, especially in romance, SF, horror and other genres. They accept submissions directly from authors. They don't pay advances, but they front the entire cost of editing, production, etc. and they DO pay royalties. That's the route I've taken with the 4 books I've had accepted from 3 different publishers. But I did that AFTER exhausting my list of prospective agents.

Another way is to enter novel contests, like Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award or The Next Big Writer.

Harper Collins has a site called Authonomy.com, where you can compete against other writers for the interest of their editors.

You can publish an e-book, downloadable to Kindle, on Amazon.com for free. They'll also do a print book for you, like Lulu, Author's House, et. al., at a very reasonable cost. It doesn't bear the stigma of the vanity houses, either. Even so, the advice about grammar, spelling, plotting, etc. still holds true. They're in business to make money, not edit sloppy writing. So unless you know your work is very good or have it copy-edited, you might end up with a piece of crap. Your very own piece of crap and you deserve it if you don't get your stinking book in shape before trying any method of becoming a published author.

If you'd like to check, this post is grammatically correct and the spelling and punctuation are also correct. ANYTHING I write reflects upon my reputation as a writer and I won't put it out unless I'm satisfied. Oh, I have the occasional typo, everyone does, but I always read what I've written over at least twice in an attempt to correct those typos.

Take care,

JohnB
 
thank you for the options

Writer JohnB,

This was a really big help!

So, :) as English is not my mother tongue my first job should be working with editors on the quality of the translation of my novel and the second job is insisting on the option of agent-publisher.
 
Dario D. said:
Working with an Agent is the only way. As I have understood from reading Bob Mayer's book, called "The Fiction Writer's Toolkit", which covers the ENTIRE publishing process in the second half of the book, getting a book agent (and being patient with the process) is the proper (and only) way to get the attention of a publisher. As you will notice from reading this page on Random House's website (Random House - Contact Us) they state, as the Bob Mayer confirms in his book, that most serious publishers (which are the only ones you should be inerested in) only deal with agents... not authors, or directly submitted manuscripts that you want them to review.

But fear not. Agents don't cost you a thing from your pocket, until AFTER the book is published (usually taking a flat-rate of 15%). Some may see this as a slight annoyance, but you should be very, very grateful; it's either 15% of what you make, or no book, because agents are the publishing process, as far as any author in the world is concerned. There's no other way to know how to deal with a publisher, and real publishers only deal with agents, as stated on Random House's "contact us" page.

When I copyrighted my book, I started getting junk mail from Dorrance Publishing, but I only took a brief look at their website before realizing they were small-time and probably unsafe. As mentioned in Bob Mayer's book, if the publisher is seeking you out, you know something is very wrong. A "real" publisher does the opposite, and lays low, waiting only for an author serious enough to study the process, and get a proper agent. Those are who they work with, and who get a good shot at getting published, if their book is good. ;) In all normal circumstances, the publisher is the one who pays YOU an advance at contract-signing... not the other way around. Nothing ever comes out of your pocket in the entire book-writing/publishing process.
Click to expand...

I'm certain you are right, for years back but nowadays top notch publishing companies are looking at everything being published in the "self-publishing" genre and trying to sign up these new authors and especially their fictional short story works.

Doc
 
hi I've been reading the comments and I realize that publishing a book seems to be a fairly complex process but what I would like to know is how would I get my work copyrighted before I even attempt to get it published. I live on a Caribbean Island named Grenada and I'm not sure what I would have to do to prevent people from stealing my work when I try to get it published without having it copyrighted.
 
Riche,
You don't need to copyright your work before you publish it. If you want to insure security for the work, simply mail a complete copy to yourself. When you receive it, don't open it ~ the postage cancel date will verify that the work is yours and when it was written, within the length of time it takes for mail to arrive. Simple and inexpensive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top