It’s not often you see commercial on cable TV for a book publisher. Advertising space is expensive, and most non-Big 5 publishers can’t afford it. So when an advert from Page Publishing showed up on the History Channel, I took notice; especially since it was rather long. I jotted down the name and decided to do some research. Inquiring minds wanted to know! What they were touting seemed a little curious to me.
Page Publishing was easy to find on Google. Once on their website, you get the feeling like you’re looking at a glitzy New York publisher — which they seem to be. They spent a lot of money on the site which has plenty of things to look at. I was interested in their process, so I clicked on the overview tab. Everything looked above-board. They offer copy-editing and proofing, typesetting, conversion to eBook, marketing, and publicity, along with distribution and royalty management. Everything a budding author could dream of. They will even send you a box of books for your first signings and to give to family. This at least is better than what some vanity publishers offer. When I was first published with a vanity press, they didn’t even edit my manuscript! And when a box of books I’d purchased got lost in media mail, the publisher would not replace them. Yes, I learned the hard way. Continue reading “Is Page Publishing a Vanity Press?”
Guest Post
Good Housekeeping is looking for stories for their Silver Linings Writing Contest. The entry must be a non-fiction story about a time in your life when something good came from a seemingly bad situation, must be between 1,500 and 2,500 words in length, and not previously published or a finalist for any other writing prize or award.
I’ve been publishing for just under three years now, so although not a grizzled veteran of the publishing wars, I’m not a noob, either. Like most of us, I hang out in a lot of the places writers gather: internet message boards, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Google+ groups, etc. It seems inevitable, when I meet someone who is new to self-publishing, that I get some version of this speech: “You were lucky. You got in while “free” was still a goldmine/when reviews were easier to get/when the competition wasn’t so tough.”