I recently had my first book published by Tate Publishing out of Mustang Oklahoma. Throughout the entire process I had a nervous feeling about the situation but was reassured by the testimony of all their authors. Since my release on March 8th of 2011, I have become aware of just how much of a sham Tate's process is.
As a young inexperienced author, I was overly flattered by their offer and neglected to understand what the investment I would have to make would in tell. The price of $3995.00 was affordable at the time and I was confident I would sell enough books to at least break even. That confidence came from me misunderstanding Tate's promises which I will detail further.
The first major problem that arose was from a local paper. I acquired for myself an interview with a paper near my home town and everything was going great until the editor asked if I self published. I told her no but mentioned that I had paid an investment. She immediately canceled the article and informed me that unless the publisher picked up the entire tab, they considered my work self published and would not consider writing about me.
When I brought the problem to Tate, Ryan the president mentioned that I was not self published but my investment went straight into marketing. No where in my contract does it say that. Ryan Tate told me to tell the paper that, but I did not because to me that would be lying or at best bending the truth. He also said that they were just jealous of my success as to play upon my vanity (funny because they will fight tooth and nail to convince people they are not a vanity press). Whether they are willing to admit it or not, Tate is considered by the professional world as self publishing. The paper was the first evidence of that. The next obstacle came when I tired to join a Mystery Writers professional organization. On their website I found that only members of a traditional publisher could join. When researching further, the site detailed the criteria for a publisher to become a member. Tate failed to meet several of the criteria. Specifically number 6:
The publisher is not a "self-publishing" or "subsidy publishing" firm in which the author has paid all or part of the cost of publication, marketing, distribution of the work, or any other fees pursuant to an agreement between the author and publisher, cooperative publisher or book package
This information can be found at http://www.mysterywriters.org/?q=PublisherGuidelines
Again though they do not consider themselves a self publishing company or vanity press, but I assure you that Tate is viewed as such in more ways than an inexperienced author (100 percent of Tate's clients) could possibly know. It was not until after my release date that I realized how many things it took to make a book successful. I found out even respectable reviewers wont consider my work due to Tate's business model. These are all issues that you will not see discussed in any of Tate's literature. They have pulled the wool over so many authors' eyes that none of them will say an unkind word. I however have bigger plans for my work. If my work is not good enough to be a success, then in my opinion it should have never been printed. Tate would have me believe if it doesn't sale I'm not working hard enough. I say I am working as hard as I can with what time I have.
As far as marketing, Tate offers little to none. Their marketing department is equivalent to a call center. Tate requires you to compile a list of possible signing locations and that is the only people they will contact. They will send emails to many different media contacts with little to no response. The only papers interviews I received were the ones I acquired directly. The one bookstore signing I have had was gained through my walking in and impressing the owner. Tate could only get me coffee shops in which I had to do the research to find.
Don't let me forget to mention calling in a complaint. You can speak directly to Dr. Tate himself. He will bend your ear about how he and his wife run marathons together; boast about his annual seats at the Red River Rivalry game. Never truly addressing any of the concerns you have. He will also inflate the number they claim to invest in each book. The contract I signed mentions Tate put up $23,000 or so worth of services and cash. Over the phone, Dr. Tate claimed he had invested $54,000 in my book. His company would be bankrupt if this was true because I have sold less than 200 copies and I am sure not many of his authors do much better.
The editors I worked with were very friendly I must admit. However, they missed a lot of things that they are paid (by me none the less) to catch. I feel I am as much to blame as they are for I did not gather enough readers myself before releasing, but who are the professionals after all? read more
