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Austin Macauley Publishers

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Pootle (talk | contribs) at 15:48, 3 January 2023 (→Controversy: moved the period at the end of the para about the WGGB/SoA report). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Austin Macauley Publishers
StatusActive
Founded2006
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Headquarters locationLondon
DistributionUnited Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada
Publication typesBooks
Official websitewww.austinmacauley.com

Austin Macauley Publishers Limited is a British publishing company, with offices in London, New York and Sharjah. The company was founded in 2006 and publishes fiction and non-fiction books. It publishes new and established authors.[1] The company publishes books in English and Arabic languages.[2]

Business model

The company operates what it calls a 'hybrid' publishing model,[3] claiming to offer some 'traditional' contracts to prospective authors as well as 'contributory' contracts, in which the author pays a part of the publication cost.

Published authors

Authors published by the company have included:

Recognition

Publishers Weekly named Austin Macauley one of the fastest growing independent publishers in 2018.[17]

Their International Publishing Director is Jade Robertson.[18] She was also listed among 'The 30 Most Influential Women in the Arab World 2019.[19]'

Affiliations

Associated with Independent Publishers Guild (IPG)[20] Austin Macauley Publishers is a member of The Publishers Association.[21]

Controversy

Austin Macauley appears on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America 'Thumbs Down' Publishers List, which, according to the association, contains the companies ''about which [they] have received the largest number of complaints over the years, or which [they] consider to pose the most significant hazard for writers".[22]

Austin Macauley was the company most often mentioned in "comments made by writers about misrepresentation and lack of transparency in the way some ‘hybrid’ / paid-for publishing companies promoted their publishing services" in a survey of their members by the Writers Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) and the Society of Authors (SoA). In an analysis of Austin Macauley's websites and available marketing presence the survey report, entitled "Is it a steal?", said that the company "adopted an opaque approach to promoting their services ... [T]here was no indication at the time of review (October 2021) in Austin Macauley’s advertising, in its advertising landing pages, or in its active submissions pages, that it will charge a writer. ... It also referred to authors paying ‘a small proportion’ of the cost of publication, but all the Austin Macauley contracts seen by the SoA and WGGB asked writers to pay more than it would cost to self-publish the work, even with the assistance of legitimate self-publishing services". Regarding the industry as a whole the report said that "the average loss for a writer in a ‘hybrid’/paid-for publishing deal was £1,861, with some participants reporting losses as high as £9,900", while "[a] median of only 67 books were sold per deal, resulting in royalties of only £68".[23]

Austin Macauley has a one star customer rating and a BBB grade of C- with the US Better Business Bureau (BBB)[24].

References

  1. ^ "Lessions from leaders: Jade Robertson, International Publishing Director for Austin Macauley Publishers". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  2. ^ "Interview: Jade Robertson on Entering the Arabic Market at Sharjah Publishing City". Publishing Perspectives. 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  3. ^ "What is Hybrid Publishing? Here Are 4 Things All Writers Should Know | WritersDigest.com". WritersDigest.com. 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  4. ^ "Austin Stevens". Archived from the original on 2018-03-11.
  5. ^ "Blyton RIP Carey". www.austinmacauley.com. 2018-10-15. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  6. ^ "Anwar Tariq". www.austinmacauley.com. 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  7. ^ "Laghari Javaid". www.austinmacauley.com. 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  8. ^ "Maryam Saqer Al Qassimi, Author at Austin Macauley Publishers | UAE". Austin Macauley Publishers | UAE. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  9. ^ "Wood III Ira David". www.austinmacauley.com. 2018-12-05. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  10. ^ "Salander Lawrence". www.austinmacauley.com. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  11. ^ "Friggieri Oliver". www.austinmacauley.com. 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  12. ^ "Lawrence Bonita". www.austinmacauley.com. 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  13. ^ "May Simon". www.austinmacauley.com. 2015-11-25. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  14. ^ "Liddell Claire". www.austinmacauley.com. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  15. ^ "The Belt Boy". Archived from the original on 2017-06-12.
  16. ^ "Matthews Alexander". www.austinmacauley.com. 2020-10-09. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  17. ^ "Fast-Growing Independent Publishers, 2018". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
  18. ^ Business, Arabian (14 October 2019). "Lessions from leaders: Jade Robertson, International Publishing Director for Austin Macauley Publishers". Arabian Business. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 15 March 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  19. ^ Business, Arabian. "The 30 Most Influential Women in the Arab World 2019". Arabian Business. Archived from the original on 2019-03-25. Retrieved 15 March 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ "Meet the Member: Austin Macauley Publishers". Archived from the original on 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
  21. ^ "The Publishers Association". Archived from the original on 2018-04-16. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
  22. ^ "THUMBS DOWN PUBLISHERS LIST". SFWA. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  23. ^ "Is it a steal?" (PDF). WGGB The Writers Guild of Great Britain. The Writers Guild of Great Britain and Society of Authors. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  24. ^ "Austin Macauley Publishers". Better Business Bureau. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
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