Welcome to the Dragon's Pen, the blog of an aspiring kiwi author ... chatting about reading, writing, querying and publishing

Friday, October 16, 2009

Futher clarification from Shooting Star Stories

After I blog recently on Camilla's comment about Star Stories, I contacted her again to ask for clarification on their method/medium of publishing. In short, I basically asked if they were primarily a "software based" publisher or hard copy, or both.

Camilla replied and gave me permission to post her response here for you all to see. So, thank you Camilla for your openness, and do let us know when the your blog is up and running.

Here is what she had to say about publishing with Shooting Star Stories:

We are an e-book publisher primarily. This gives us the ability to give authors about twice the percentage profit they'd receive on their book if they were printed hard copy. (However, should an author require hard copies published, we can do that too). That's not our primary distribution channel though.
To print a book hard copy, you'd be looking at about $12 per copy - just for the printing. Because we don't have that overhead, we can give authors better returns and make the books more attractive for readers/parents to purchase.
E-books are the way forward for publishing now, you only need look at mp3s and CD's to see which way people are consuming their information/media. The beauty of our idea is that our software will really allow the books to come alive, so for all those readers (and authors) who love the way their own childhood books ignited their imagination, we aim to continue that magic, in a modern day medium.
We're passionate, creative and forward thinking. And most of all - we're writers, working with and for other writers. Already we're creating an amazing community of people who are so excited to be a part of what we're creating, and that's exciting for me.
Don't get me wrong - this is a 16hr/day job for me now, it's a hard slog and at times you're so bogged down with submissions and email enquiries that you forget about the amazing, empowering idea that started this venture. And when I do stop to remember, I know that we're doing something that has never been done before and so it's important for me to do it right, do it with respect for my fellow creatives and keep the magic alive for the kids who will read the books we publish, fall in love with them and remember them long into their adult lives. It's a very important and special venture for me.
Please post this comment on your blog if you like - we have a policy of being transparent with those we're working with - and as a genuine author, I'm happy for you to share this information with your network. :)
Happy writing and I'll be in touch again soon with more.
Camilla Jones
Editor
Shooting Star Stories.
p.s - I'll be staring a blog soon with free hints and tips for authors to help them get published (either with us, or if they choose with other publishers).



8 comments:

  1. i wish shooting star stories well with their new business, but I have to say, that for me, curling up with a good book will never be replaced by reading an e-book.

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  2. Hi Sue,

    I agree. I don't mind reading a nonfiction book in ebook form (like one of Holly Lisle's helpful tomes), but when it comes to a good novel I prefer to curl up with a coffee and lose myself in it for a few hours.

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  3. Of course, having said that, if a publisher wanted to publish my MS as an ebook I don't think I would say no.

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  4. That's where the problem lies PEN. You would be happy to publish as an ebook...but...you would want to KNOW you were being published, that it was under your name, that you had a signed contract, and that you would be receiving the appropriate payments. But with Shooting Star Stories, so far there is no indication that this is their intention. In fact at this point in time there is every indication that they have taken the stories and run...Who knows how they intend to use them. An honest, trustworthy publisher would have been in touch by now wouldn't they? They would in fact have published their name, address and phone number in the first place. Wewere all a bit nieve I think. I'm giving it till next week. Then, in the absence of an open, informative communication, I think it might be time to bring a computer expert in to locate the origins of the supposed company...If it's someone, or a group of someones, who have made a genuine mistake and been unable to deliver on their promises that's fine...end of story. But if it's some scumbag deliberately ripping off writers that's not ok. Do I make sense to you???

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. I hear you. Actually, the more I hear the more I'm troubled too.

    A few people have raised concerns here and so a couple of days ago I contacted Camilla (the editor or "voice" of Shooting Star Publishers) and asked her to please respond one way or the other, ie: be up front if there's an issue.

    Thus far I have heard nothing back from her.
    I hope they are simply busy, but ... *shrug*

    Do keep us posted regarding your situation.

    All the best.

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  7. Can I say that I am inclined to give SSS the benefit of the doubt. I received helpful hints re a particular section of my work with the invitation to resubmit with the alteration. I would consider such action unnecessary to advance the nefarious collection of material. I am more inclined to think that events may have overtaken a genuine endeavour. No doubt they have posted some details with Seek which can be discovered by the Dept of Fair Trading if a complaint is lodged. I took the precaution of not giving them my entire manuscript. I hope your readers did likewise.

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  8. I would like to hope so too Anonymous.

    I guess only time will tell, but I do empathize with those who have had manuscripts accepted and then heard nothing at all.

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