Dear Hobbs Publishing,
I am no expert on running a business, nor am I knowledgable in any part about publishing, but after reviewing your website, I felt compelled to suggest a few changes to your overall business strategy.
1. As a writer, myself, who has considered self publishing a few times and submitted to major publishing houses as well, I find that I am most easily swayed in my opinion of a company based on the spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors on the site. What kind of writer wants their publisher to be illiterate? You may want to utilize the spellcheck ability that accompanies most Word programs these days. If somehow you dont have access to one, many can be found online. Just copy and paste your text into the box and tell it to check for spelling. A few misplaced commas wont make or break a deal, but spelling errors are a no-no.
2. I'm a little confused regarding your current "special offer". $949 to convert a manuscript into Microsoft Word format, then put it on a cd. That offer was going about a year ago when I first learned about your company, which leads me to believe that you either a.) dont update your site, or b.) are incredibly stubborn in your belief that you can get that much money just to put a manuscript on cd. I personally have my manuscript in digital format already as I typed it out in microsoft word to begin with. Few people still use type writers or the old pen and ink approach, so perhaps you should add something to the special offer to make it a bit less "special" and a bit more "realistic". I would suggest actually printing the book.
3. Your website is not viewer friendly. While the colors you have chosen are quite pleasing, the random quotes with even more random use of italics and bolding of letters/words is semi-stupid looking. It detracts from the overall message you're trying to send.
4. Uh, what message ARE you trying to send? From what I gather, you only have one customer who is also listed as a partner. What work did you actually do for him? Does he have anything positive to say about the company? Why dont you have any other customers? (*ahem* $949? Really?) I also think you should rephrase your motivational quote of "When you have your books printed, Many people will probably want to buy your book!". "Probably" really isnt the best way to convince someone. And nevermind the fact that you dont offer printing services in the first place.
5. What do you actually sell? Are you a real company?
In short, I appreciate your efforts in trying to break into the world of publishing as I am struggling through the same thing. I hope my suggestions can be of some use to you in the future. You may want to try some advertising as well... I'm just saying.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Scary
(P.S. Rainbow colored comic sans doesnt convince me that you design unique book covers. Try again.)
