Another Year Almost Up

Wow, it's December again. My birthday is near, and of course the Christmas holidays are coming up. It's time for family and good tidings, and hopefully that means good tidings in the publishing world when it comes to my three available novels. They are The Vase, which is one of the books that had been popular with publishers. John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu, which I would think would be popular with UK publishers, since it directly involves UK history. And Second Chance; a Football Story, which could be a book for Young Adult audiences, or anyone who love a good football story.

In any case, I'll keep submitting as much as I can. I submitted The Vase and John Dunn to a UK publisher just today. So that means another three month wait or thereabouts. Time is up for the other publishers I had submitted to. And of course there is that publisher that contacted me. They are called JustFictionEdition Publishers. They are a European publisher. I can't think of any good reason why I shouldn't go ahead and publish with them. So I'll make a list as follows:

Reasons for going with JustFictionEdition:
1- As I mentioned. they are a European publisher. And The Vase and John Dunn might be more appealing to European audiences. Especially John Dunn for UK audiences.

2-They make their books available on the international market. And The Vase and John Dunn might be more appealing to international audiences because The Vase takes place in Israel, and John Dunn takes place in South Africa.

3-I have an offer on the table. Well, no contract as of yet has been offered, because I haven't yet submitted to them, but the outlook is good.

4-The royalties are a little higher.

Reasons for not going with JustFictionEdition:
1-American bloggers on publishing seem to frown upon them. Why? I don't know really. I've researched them, and no one seems to have a real reason. The foremost reason is that they are not one of the Big Five publishers. But a lot of publishers aren't Big Five publishers, but they're still good publishers. So what the heck...

2-There is a misperception that they are a Vanity Press. But they are really NOT a Vanity Press. Because a Vanity Press or Vanity publishers make YOU, the author, pay THEM to publish your book. JustFictionEdition does NOT make the author pay them to publish their books. They cover all costs, just like any real publisher. So therefore, they ARE a real publisher if that is the criteria. So it's a misperception only, and not a real reason to not go with them. So, what the heck...

3-The bloggers almost unanimously agree that an author should never go with a publisher who solicits THEM to publish their book. But again, they don't provide a reason why. Again, they suggest that all publishers who solicit authors are Vanity Presses. And it IS mostly true. Vanity Presses DO solicit authors to publish their books, because that's how Vanity Presses make their money. Not by selling books, but by getting authors to pay them to publish their books. But I've already covered the fact that JustFictionEdition is NOT a Vanity Press. So again, what the heck...

4-The royalties are a little higher. But that would be a reason to go with them, so what the heck.

According to my lists, then, maybe I should go with JustFictionEdition. I think I'll email them and ask a couple more questions. Maybe they are the real deal. I mean who said they aren't? A bunch of snobs who've been lucky enough to find Big Five publishers? Or have they? Maybe I don't need to listen to them. Hhhmmnnn....