agent seeks author investment

[ConstancePruefrock]

Greetings, kindred spirits,

I am a published author marketing a collection of short stories, two thirds of which are published in literary magazines in the UK and the US.

An established publisher (THE CONRAD PRESS out of Canterbury, Kent) has asked me to send my 16 stories as a whole for them to review and consider. If they are keen, they ask my investment of just under £1,000 to publish them.
This sounds a bit odd.... and is certainly not why I wrote to them asking if they might be interested in representing me.

The only difference between the vanity press/self publication route and this seems to be that they would be my platform and I pay more than I might if going it alone.

Your thoughts most appreciated.

[J. T. SHEA]

Greetings, kindred spirit indeed! I did a little googling and have a few thoughts.

Conrad Press is not an agency, though its principal James Essinger (a prolific author) briefly ran Canterbury Literary Agency, which sold few books, according to him, and is now defunct as far I can tell. As is often the case with hybrid publishers, Conrad Press preach quite a negative view of the publishing industry, but nonetheless believe they can do better. The hybrid/subsidy model is the only type of publishing they do, so they are not a conventional publisher.

I too would welcome the thoughts of other members.

[GaoYuQing]

If they ask for your money, they are a scam. At best a vanity press, and at worse, outright exploitive.

[Metta]

Hi
That publisher you wrote about doesn't sound reputable. He/she is very likely only interested in the money you will pay him/her. A reputable, traditional publisher wouldn't ask you to pay to have your work published. If they think they can sell your work, they will sign you up into a contract and pay you royalties. I believe most traditional publishers pay a specific sum of money at the beginning of the contract with them, as your first payment. I've thought a lot about self publishing and done a lot of research. Traditional publishing will always be for me. I'm still trying to get my foot in the door with my manuscripts, and won't give up until I succeed. I wish you success too.
Metta

[workermotor]

Hi, I'm Adam.
I think the publisher you mentioned (THE CONRAD PRESS out of Canterbury, Kent) is a bit confusing to me. If they want your books, they need to pay you a deposit first. Or just look at one of your books, 16 is a bit much and you might not trust it.