Do not submit to them under any circumstances. Here's why:
1) Incompetent editors and proofreaders. The final copy of my book had over fifty errors in it. Even more disturbing, many of those errors were not in the original manuscript.
2) No Marketing. The only people they sent review copies to were small-time mommy bloggers. They did not contact any bookstores about doing a signing or promotion before the book was released - you read that correctly, they literally contacted no one about publicity events before the launch of the book. Curiosity Quills said they did, but when I visited the stores in person, all of of them said they were never contacted by the company. So they lied about it, too.
3) Termination clause. Don't like CQ's stunning incompetence and lack of professionalism? Too bad. If you want out of the contract, they'll hit you with a fee. It may be a moot point since they are almost guaranteed to be in breach of contract themselves, but unless you have an attorney handy expect for it to be a huge headache.
4) Inability to meet deadlines. CQ was late with every single deadline, including the cover design. Bookstores and reviewers will not even consider handling a book that doesn't have a finished cover.
5) No attempts to keep the book in stock. They do print on demand, which is like kryptonite to bookstore owners. CQ is so cheap that they will not keep ten or twenty copies of your book in stock to have ready for potential buyers. Very few stores will even consider a print on demand book, as it guarantees shipping delays and implies a severe lack of confidence in the product on the part of the publisher.
6) Lack of professionalism. CQ will not answer your emails. If you ask them a direct question like, "Have you contacted so-and-so?", they will completely ignore the question or give a vague, evasive answer. They have a lot to hide, and it shows. In the dozens of emails I sent them, I'd estimate only 30-40 percent ever got a reply.
7) Again, no marketing. I can't stress this enough. I personally contacted bookstores and trade magazines and managed to set up reviews, interviews, and events with a success rate around 60%. The marketing department of CQ couldn't get a single one. Nada. Zero. A clueless, first-time author/amateur completely outperformed the entire marketing department.
Lack of accountability and a culture of failure. CQ will rarely take responsibility for their mistakes. What's worse, there appears to be absolutely no consequences for employees who make huge, damaging mistakes. CQ tolerates failure and incompetence at at every level of their organization, and even promotes the worst offenders to higher positions in the company.
Stay away, guys. Stay far, far away.
