Phoenix Pick is the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Arc Manor, LLC, an independent publishing house based in Rockville, Maryland.

Our current focus is to bring back great science fiction and fantasy that has gone out of print though we are always looking for newer works as well. Most of our books are published as 'Print-on-Demand' (POD) books.

Our mission is to bring these books back to fans at extremely competitive prices. Nearly all other POD paperbacks in the market are priced between $15 and $30. Our goal is bring top-quality products to the market for much less. We have committed ourselves to bringing POD trade paperbacks to the market listed UNDER $10. As of June 2008, all our books are listed between $3.99 and $7.99 - something previously unheard of in the POD market.

We are proud to be leading a POD price revolution in science fiction and fantasy.

Pricing at these levels helps both the author and the fan - the fan gets a great product at extremely competitive prices (and every penny helps, particularly in the current economic climate) and the author sees greater sales because the books are listed at such attractive prices. The author's royalties are fully protected as all our contracts stipulate a minimum dollar amount per copy of the book sold (regardless of the negotiated royalty rate).

Phoenix Pick is helped in its mission by the full resources of Arc Manor (www.ArcManor.com), the parent company behind Phoenix Pick. Arc Manor is a profitable publisher with hundreds of titles in print.

Arc Manor was set up by Shahid Mahmud in 2006. He has been a great  fan of science fiction and fantasy for as long as he can remember. Thus, Arc Manor's move into science fiction was almost inevitable.

Shahid is a graduate of Columbia University in New  York (as well as having a Masters from there as well). For a substantial portion of his life he managed other people’s money and worked for a number of private and public organizations. November 7, 2005 was declared to be ‘Shahid Mahmud Day’ by the Mayor Pro Tem of San Diego (for thirteen years of outstanding services, managing San Diego’s investment portfolio). Shahid also graded the dreaded CFA exam for a number of years before sanity was restored and he decided that books were a lot more fun than playing with other people’s money and making examinees miserable.

He has also been fascinated in how  technology is changing the way we work and his interest in evolving technologies and love of books led to the formation of Arc Manor, dedicated to employing the latest technologies and attitudes to produce fine books at extremely competitive prices.

Arc Manor has established direct relationships with many university bookstores and is currently working with teachers to custom-design books for their courses.

The company also offers a wide variety of professional services to authors, including typesetting  and cover design services.

Being new to the market has actually helped Arc Manor. The company is not burdened by backward looking concepts and ideas, nor invested in outdated technology that would deter us from adapting to the modern printing world as it evolves. There is a revolution going on in the industry, and Arc Manor intends to stay at the forefront of this revolutionary tidal wave.

Another aspect of the company's dedication to changing the way the market interacts with fans is to establish the Phoenix Ultimate Satisfaction Guarantee. Phoenix Pick offers fans a lifetime satisfaction guarantee for any book published by Phoenix - they don't even need a receipt (they automatically get 80% of the lowest list price the book has sold at, if they have a receipt, they get 100% of their money back - no questions asked).

Finally, a totally unique aspect about Phoenix Pick is our relationship with our authors. We always approach the relationship as a partnership and work with any and all concerns any of our authors may have.

We fully intend to turn the POD sci-fi/fantasy market on its head with our unique combination of aggressive pricing, fan friendly policies and a totally author friendly way of doing business.

Come join us in doing so.