Somebody brought Pubslush Press to my attention. They have the brilliant idea of basically crowdsourcing their publication decisions. That is, they'll publish only books that get a certain number of pre-orders.
Unfortunately, they have a bad contract...that is non-negotiable and agreed to on submission. Amongst other things, it allows them to change your royalties at will. Are they pulling something?
More likely, they're just clueless. They don't realize that most professional writers won't agree to give away any rights at all on submission. Or that what they likely intend to be a get out clause if they go bankrupt sets off everyone's scam radar.
New publishers crop up all the time. The internet and electronic publishing make it easy. Not all, though, have the savvy to go the distance. I actually hope Pubslush has success - it's an intriguing idea, but as it stands, they won't be seeing any of my work.
Unfortunate, really.
Looks like a limited version of kickstarter.com coupled with a lame publishing contract and a charity to make you feel better about signing it.
ReplyDeleteI think they realize professional writers wouldn't touch this site with a ten-meter cattle prod. But that's not their target market. Note the references to Twilight and Harry Potter in their video - they are fishing for first-time authors, who fear the dreaded slush pile.
It is an intriguing idea. A publisher that only sells books that come with a verified consumer base is a great idea. But a publisher that publishes all books regardless of the consumer base is a better idea. Oh wait, we already have that. It's called smashwords.com.
And "Pubslush Press" is a terrible name. But their website is uber-pro. Very well done.
-Zero