This is a very sophisticated, long con scam.
No matter how nice that agent on the phone sounds, do not do ANY business with this company. WPL's so-called hybrid publishing is a very convincing and sophisticated scam. The "agent" was very engaging and supportive at the entry level of basic book pub (re-pub, in this instance). Then came the "offer" they "[got] on the table" from "the acquisition department" of a real trad publisher. Then the "trad publisher's authorised [person]" calls with the news, and a sample pdf contract and emails from the "trad publisher's legal counsel and senior editor" arrive, all bearing the (real) trad publisher's watermark and header. All the people in these emails are, in fact, real people on the real trad publisher's website, with the actual job titles. Then in another call, the "authorised trad publisher person" introduces a publicity contract that must be included as part of the signing and for this, thousands have to be paid to guarantee commitment. But contacting the real trad publisher directly reveals the acquisition contract and editor's letters were appropriated fakes, the persons calling fake, the phone numbers of the calls spoofed from the real trad publisher, as were all the email addresses. A request for a full refund of the publicity contract from WPL is met with agreement on signing another legit-looking WPL contract. Then days, weeks, and months pass and now, no one replies to emails anymore, and no money is refunded. And the basic book re-pub that was originally in play?: proofreading reveals child-level typesetting with so many errors on every single page, there were over 300 in just the first half of the book alone, as if a really lousy AI tool were used. Expensive lesson from very convincing personnel and processes. But ultimately, convoluted fraud and theft leaving a trail of email proof and recorded phone calls behind them. The only thing that would point to otherwise is if ultimately, WPL restarted answering emails and actually refunded the money. Odds are, though, that instead they may disappear and reappear with a new name.
