Writing.Com General Discussion

A quick google came up with this:
http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/blog/austin-macauley-what-a-terrible-vanity-pub...

Notes:
Clause 15 which requires YOU to pay THEM an advance.
Clause 18 is a gag order, preventing you taking action against them if you start to feel ripped-off.

Paying in advance is ok if the company is in the business of printing vanity copies or (relatively) small numbers of copies. If you go to a printer and say "please print 200 copies of this" and hand them a PDF, you expect to pay. When that company masquerades as a publisher, that's deceit. Traditional publishers pay YOU, not the other way around.

Clause 17 is about the subsidiary rights. Look at what rights you are granting them - it's just about everything.

This is what Writer-Beware (part of a website run by the SFWA) has to say abut paying up-front:

But whether you’re shelling out cash for book production, finished books, or adjunct services, the bottom line is the same: you are laying out cash as a condition of publication. A publisher that turns its authors into customers has little incentive to get books into the hands of readers, and is not likely to invest resources in editing, marketing, and distribution.

You can find Writer-Beware here: http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/