This afternoon I received a response email from Pegasus inviting me to submit full manuscript. After my initial excitement did some research and I haven't read one single good thing about them - talk of bait and switch. I don't want to waste my time with them if they ONLY offer a 'shared cost' contract. I'm wondering if there is evidence of them ever offering a traditional contract? After what I've read I feel quite conned as it is ...opinions?
I had the same experience - was asked to submit the full MS, then received a very excitingly worded contract and offer.
However, I'd done some research in the meantime and found nothing positive, so knew what I was looking for. Concealed very nicely in the small print (even though I knew what I was looking for I had to read through a couple of times to find it) was my 'contribution' cost, plus when assessed objectively the contract language was vague and weighted very much in their favour.
Apparently they do offer the occasional traditional contract, but I believe that's through a different imprint. Most of the authors I found online had lost the rights to their own work, were locked into contracts for subsequent books and had nothing to show for it. If you do decide to submit and receive a contract, read it very carefully.
That being said, when I declined their offer (politely), they sent me a very nice email in return.
Hope that helps, and good luck!
I had the same experience and turned down the subsequent 'shared cost' offer. At the very least it made me go away and very thoroughly critique my own work before a lengthy and much needed rewrite.
From my experience, agents do not contact a writer, they wait for the writer to contact them. So I'd avoid them.