Austin Macauley Publishers Limited is a British
vanity press
A vanity press or vanity publisher, sometimes also subsidy publisher, is a book printer that is paid by authors to Self-published, self-publish their books. A vanity press charges fees in advance and does not contribute to the development of the ...
with offices in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
New York and
Sharjah
Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...
. The company was founded in 2006 and publishes fiction and non-fiction books in English and Arabic languages.
According to
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...
(SFFWA) it is the vanity press the organization receives the largest number of complaints about.
Business model
The company operates what it calls a 'hybrid' publishing model, claiming to offer some 'non-contributory', or traditional publishing contracts, and some 'partnership agreement' contracts, in which the author pays a part of the publication cost. According to
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...
(SFFWA), the publisher is a vanity press which as of 2019 typically required fees of £1,275 to £7,700 from writers.
Notable authors
Notable authors published by the company have included:
*
Austin Stevens
*
Carey Blyton
*
Tariq Anwar
*
Javaid Laghari
*
Maryam Saqer Al Qasimi
*
Ira David Wood III
*
Lawrence Salander
*
Oliver Friggieri
*
Bonita Lawrence
*
Simon May
*
Claire Liddell
*
Kevin Lueshing
*
Affiliations
Associated with
Independent Publishers Guild
The Independent Publishers Guild (IPG), founded in 1962, is an association set up to support the needs of independent firms in the publishing industry in the United Kingdom, with a current membership of more than 600 companies. The IPG is a not-fo ...
(IPG) Austin Macauley Publishers is a member of
The Publishers Association.
Controversy
Austin Macauley was included in SFFWA's 'Thumbs Down' Publishers List, which, according to the association, contains the companies "about which
heyhave received the largest number of serious complaints". In 2019, the ''Writer Beware'' blog (sponsored by SFFWA) reported that Austin Macauley was the vanity publisher which was the subject of the "most reports and questions", noting that the vast majority of deals involve the authors paying the company to have their book published, while the occasional "fee-free" contract offered to authors is "no bargain".
It was also discussed in a report by the
Writers Guild of Great Britain and the
Society of Authors
The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...
, in which it was criticised for a lack of transparency regarding the cost to authors of publishing with the company.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Austin Macauley Publishers UK
Companies based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Publishing companies of the United Kingdom
2006 establishments in England