zigzackly

Monday, October 18, 2010

Does this look like a publishing scam to you?

This refers to this listing, and this one, both on Caferati Listings (free sign-up needed to view).

Via our friend, the novelist Venita Coelho, we learn that things are not quite what they seem at Cedar Books. I'm pasting in a letter Venita forwarded to me, with the name of the writer to whom it was sent removed.

From: publicrelation@pustakmahal.com
To: _____
Subject: Re: submission
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:17:57 -0700
Dear _____,

We are glad to inform you that we are ready to publish your novel provided you agree with our certain terms and conditions.

Following are some of the terms which you will be required to agree before we take things forward. A detailed contract will be send to you once you agree with these terms.

1. Considering the word count, we will keep the price of your book at Rs 175.

2. You have to buy back 300 copies of the book at a discount of 25%.

3. You have to make one time payment either through DD or Cheque along with the signed copy of the agreement which we will send, after you agree with these conditions.

4. An additional Rs 5000 will be charged if we design the cover for you and if you chose to design your own cover then for the final designing part we will be charging Rs 2000.

5. As we promote our books through various digital mediums we charge Rs 3000 for that.

6. And lastly you will get a 4.8 % royalty on the cover price for each book.

Hope you find these terms suitable.

Do acknowledge the receipt of this mail along with your response. Please feel free to mail your queries, if any.

Regards

Divya

www.pustakmahal.com

pustakmahaldelhi.blogspot.com

What this means is that to publish this author, Pustak Mahal would charge her/him Rs 39,375 (75% of the cost of 300 copies s/he would be forced to buy) + Rs 2,000 as a design fee even if s/he designed her own cover (Rs 5,000 of she wanted PM to design a cover) + Rs 3,000 for promotions. That's Rs 44,375 (Rs 47,375 if PM did the cover).

I'm not sure of current prices, but it looks like the author would be paying Pustak Mahal / Cedar Books enough to totally cover the cost of printing, with a handsome profit left over. Note that Pustak Mahal / Cedar Books has no obligation to actually print any more than the 300 copies that the author must buy. Even if they did, the author would get a piddly 4.8% royalty on any sales, despite financing the entire operation.

Sounds like rather more than the 'benign scam' of the poetry.com type of website. There, at least, you can choose to buy only one copy of the book, even if at a high price.

If you know of similar publishers elsewhere, do please tell us about it in the comments.

(cross-posted)

Labels: caferati

Blogged for thee by @ 4:13 AM | 1 Comments | Post a Comment | Link Love? |

Sunday, October 10, 2010

10-10-10 10:10:10 – 10-10-10 10:10:10

By the powers vested in my by, erm, myself, I hereby declare that on the tenth October, 2010, at ten minutes and ten seconds past ten a.m., it will be Pink Panther Day. The Day will end at ten minutes and ten seconds past ten p.m.

p.s.

Via Manjula, we learn that we can also say:

Happy Douglas Adams Day!
Douglas Adams fans would know that 42 is the Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, calculated in 7.5 million years by a supercomputer named Deep Thought. Today is the 10th day of the 10th month of the year, and if Y2K never happened, this year would be ’10. In binary notation, 101010 is 42 in base 10. Today’s the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything! Happy Douglas Adams Day!

Much joy!

p.p.s.

Megha wished us a happy tennitus day (we feel the buzz).

And her dad declared it Filmi Drama Day.

Rather a full schedule, what?

Blogged for thee by @ 10:10 AM | 0 Comments | Post a Comment | Link Love? |


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This refers to this listing, and this one, both on Caferati Listings (free sign-up needed to view). Via our friend, the novelist Venita Coelho, we learn that things are not quite what they seem at Cedar Books. I'm pasting in a letter Venita forwarded to me, with the name of the writer to whom it was sent removed. From: publicrelation@pustakmahal.com To: _____ Subject: Re: submission Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:17:57 -0700 Dear _____, We are glad to inform you that we are ready to publish your novel provided you agree with our certain terms and conditions. Following are some of the terms which you will be required to agree before we take things forward. A detailed contract will be send to you once you agree with these terms. 1. Considering the word count, we will keep the price of your book at Rs 175. 2. You have to buy back 300 copies of the book at a discount of 25%. 3. You have to make one time payment either through DD or Cheque along with the signed copy of the agreement which we will send, after you agree with these conditions. 4. An additional Rs 5000 will be charged if we design the cover for you and if you chose to design your own cover then for the final designing part we will be charging Rs 2000. 5. As we promote our books through various digital mediums we charge Rs 3000 for that. 6. And lastly you will get a 4.8 % royalty on the cover price for each book. Hope you find these terms suitable. Do acknowledge the receipt of this mail along with your response. Please feel free to mail your queries, if any. Regards Divya www.pustakmahal.com pustakmahaldelhi.blogspot.com What this means is that to publish this author, Pustak Mahal would charge her/him Rs 39,375 (75% of the cost of 300 copies s/he would be forced to buy) + Rs 2,000 as a design fee even if s/he designed her own cover (Rs 5,000 of she wanted PM to design a cover) + Rs 3,000 for promotions. That's Rs 44,375 (Rs 47,375 if PM did the cover). I'm not sure of current prices, but it looks like the author would be paying Pustak Mahal / Cedar Books enough to totally cover the cost of printing, with a handsome profit left over. Note that Pustak Mahal / Cedar Books has no obligation to actually print any more than the 300 copies that the author must buy. Even if they did, the author would get a piddly 4.8% royalty on any sales, despite financing the entire operation. Sounds like rather more than the 'benign scam' of the poetry.com type of website. There, at least, you can choose to buy only one copy of the book, even if at a high price. If you know of similar publishers elsewhere, do please tell us about it in the comments. (cross-posted) Labels: caferati Blogged for thee by @ 4:13 AM \| 1 Comments \| Post a Comment \| Link Love? \| Sunday, October 10, 2010 10-10-10 10:10:10 – 10-10-10 10:10:10 By the powers vested in my by, erm, myself, I hereby declare that on the tenth October, 2010, at ten minutes and ten seconds past ten a.m., it will be Pink Panther Day. The Day will end at ten minutes and ten seconds past ten p.m. p.s. Via Manjula, we learn that we can also say: Happy Douglas Adams Day! Douglas Adams fans would know that 42 is the Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, calculated in 7.5 million years by a supercomputer named Deep Thought. Today is the 10th day of the 10th month of the year, and if Y2K never happened, this year would be ’10. In binary notation, 101010 is 42 in base 10. Today’s the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything! Happy Douglas Adams Day! Much joy! p.p.s. Megha wished us a happy tennitus day (we feel the buzz). And her dad declared it Filmi Drama Day. Rather a full schedule, what? Blogged for thee by @ 10:10 AM \| 0 Comments \| Post a Comment \| Link Love? \|	Note: [*] = The site linked to requires registration. Zig's on Twitter Follow, all ye who must know more. Words We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually produce a masterpiece. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true. ~ Eyler Coates to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight and never stop fighting ~ e e cummings In three words i can sum up everything I've learned about life. 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