Wronging Writers: Don’t Get Taken
August 16, 2005
Writers, for some reason, are especially susceptible to scams. Perhaps this is because success in the writing field takes a great deal of hard work, and people are always looking for short cuts. Also, most writers want see their own name in print. Here are some scams to avoid:
Subsidized Publishing
Subsidized publishing, also known as vanity press, can be a legitimate way to publish small works of personal interest or for niche markets. You pay the publisher/printer a fee and they produce your book. This is a legitimate way to publish, but do not be fooled into thinking your work has been “accepted” by a reputable publisher. The company is publishing your work based on the money you will give them, not the quality or marketability of your writing.
Editor Fees
If a publisher recommends that you pay a particular editor before they consider your work, chances are that both the editor and the publisher are scamming you. There is nothing wrong with paying an outside editor to help you with your writing, but you should research and choose who to have edit your work.
Agent Fees
Legitimate literary agents do not charge you a fee to either read your work or represent you. Finding a quality agent can be difficult, but do not settle for one that charges a fee. Chances are you’ll pay more than you’ll ever get.
Contests
Poetry and writing contests that sound too good to be true generally are. Be wary of any contest that charges a fee and do not pay to have your poetry published through these contests. For more information see Avoiding Poetry Contest Scams.
Anthologies
Poetry or writing anthologies are an offshoot of the poetry contest scam. Do not pay to have your book published as part of an anthology, and do not agree to purchase a copy. Any legitimate publisher will offer you at least one free copy.
Work From Home
You may or may not be able to make thousands as a freelance writer, but if somebody tries to get you to pay them to find out how, then chances are it’s a scam. There are plenty of books about freelance writing, invest in one of those.
Reviews / Polls
This is an offshoot of the work from home scam. Supposedly, you will get paid to review movies, books, web sites and such. Of course, to find out how to do this you just have to pay the advertiser a “small” fee. There are far more people willing to write reviews than people who will pay for them. Chances are, you’re being scammed.
Avoiding Writing Scams
- If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
- Don’t pay a fee for what you can get for free.
- Always research any publisher, editor or agent you want to work with.
- Never be afraid to ask for references.
- If you are victimized by a scam, report it to the Better Business Bureau and the FTC.
Avoiding Poetry Contest Scams
August 16, 2005
There are many legitimate poetry contests in the world. Unfortunately, there are probably more scams out there than there are legitimate contests. Poetry contests scams prey on people who want to see their names in print. There are so many people in the world who write poetry, and who want to see their poems published.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be published and recognized, but unfortunately the market for poetry is not very big. For every successful book of poetry, there are hundreds of successful novels. This doesn’t mean that you can’t find legitimate poetry publishers and contests, but it makes the task much harder.
Legitimate poetry contests are generally sponsored by newspapers, magazines and accredited schools (such as universities). They offer small prizes and frequently the opportunity to read your poetry at local gatherings or workshops. In a legitimate poetry contest, you will never be charged to be published, and generally you will receive at least one free copy of whatever the publication is that you appear in.
Here are some indicators that a contest is a scam:
Everyone’s a Winner!
Poetry contest scams often have a large number of “winners”. This is because they make money by publishing books of poetry that are bought almost exclusively by the “winners”. In other words, they publish you because they expect you to buy copies of the book. These books generally have thousands of poems in them so that they can charge as many people as possible. Besides the book, they may offer to put your poetry on a plaque, an audio CD or even a web site for a fee.
Big Prizes
Contests with unusually large prizes are very suspicious. If you can win a thousand dollars or more, chances are that you’ll be paying more money than you’ll be getting, often through…
Reading / Entry Fees
Many contests make money by charging you to enter or charging to “read” your poems. These are contests you should be very wary about entering. Contests that charge a fee are either funding the prizes with the fee (not great, but not terrible) or funding the prizes and pocketing the difference (worse). Legitimate poetry contests generally have small prizes and no fees. If you are going to enter a contest with a fee, understand what you are doing — paying to compete with other poets.
Travel Opportunities
While it is a great honor to be asked to read your poetry in front of a gathering of other poets, be careful if a contest selects you as a “winner” and then tries to sell you a trip to a poet’s or writer’s workshop/symposium. If it is going to cost you several hundred dollars to go, and they’re the ones you’re giving the money to, then you’re probably being scammed.
Classes
One of the classic scams is that you will be selected for special poetry writing classes. These scams tell you that your poem is very good, but that you could benefit from one of their teachers. There is nothing wrong with taking poetry classes, but it is wrong to disguise advertisements for classes as a legitimate poetry contest.
Avoiding The Scams
- Always research whatever organization is conducting a contest or offering to publish your poems.
- Think carefully and investigate before you agree to pay a fee to enter a contest or to have your poems published.
- Never agree to pay to have your winning poem published.
- Avoid contests that sound too good to be true.
- Get involved in the poetry community. The more you are involved in and understand the world of poetry, the less likely you’ll be taken in by the cons.
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: Xlibris
August 8, 2005
Xlibris (xlibris.com) is an online print-on-demand publisher that is aligned with publishing giant Random House. Their company has been around for a few years now, but has not generated as much buzz as Lulu or iUniverse. The main problem is their pricing. They are simply too expensive an option for most authors (and readers).
The first problem is the start-up costs. Doing business with them will immediately cost you from $500 to $1600. The $1600 run leaves the author with ten hard cover and ten paperback review copies. That is a small return for such a large investment.
The second problem is the individual book costs. Through Xlibris, a 200 page paperback book retails for about $22. This high cover price puts the fiction market out of reach. It is a rare customer who is willing to shell out $22 for a 200 page paperback novel. Also, their discount to retail outlets such as bookstores is only ten percent. This virtually guarantees no bookstore will stock the book.
A third problem is that Xlibris does not provide an easy way for casual visitors to view a library of books. Their site is aimed squarely at selling publishing services, not selling books. This will severely hamper your ability to make sales online. While Xlibris does offer many services such as editing and cover design, they are almost as expensive as the services offered by traditional printers who will also include a run of books.
At the prices Xlibris charges, you are much better off spending a little more and going to a printer or publisher and getting a straight run of books. Most of what Xlibris offers can be duplicated with a standard printer or publisher that will produce 1000 or more books to sell at any price they the writer feels is fair.
See also:
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: PageFree Publishing.com
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: Books by Bookends
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: iUniverse
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: Lulu
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: Virtual Bookworm
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: Lulu
August 4, 2005
Lulu (lulu.com) was created by Bob Young. Young is also the founder of RedHat software, publisher of the Linux operating system. Lulu has quickly become one of the most well-known names in the print-on-demand segment of the publishing industry.
The benefits of Lulu are that they publish very quickly (within hours of uploading your book) and they allow you to make corrections or changes in content with no fee. This adaptability truly lives up to the promise of print-on-demand. Another benefit is that they publish every book in traditional print format and as less expensive downloadable e-Books.
Speaking of fees, there is no direct author fee to simply publish through this site. If you don’t care about such things as ISBN numbers (bar codes) and the ability to sell through non-Lulu online retailers such as Amazon, you don’t need to spend a cent. If you do care about those things, Lulu provides reasonable pricing options (two options under $150) to put that bar code on your book so that Amazon can sell it and bookstores can special order it.
On the downside, there is no editing service or selection criterion. The quality of your book is completely up to you. This creates a second problem. Your book, no matter how well written and edited, will be sharing space with many terrible books (and some good ones).
Another downside is that the company does not provide you with an option to sell books to bookstores at a discount. This makes it unlikely that a bookstore will stock your book because they wouldn’t be able to make a profit unless they charged above the cover price. Lulu does allow you to create a page that you can use to sell and promote your book, but if you want to generate sales, you had better be ready to directly market the book. Of course, this is true of any self-publishing effort.
Overall Lulu is a great place to publish as long as you are willing to be a face in the crowd and you don’t harbor dreams of seeing your book stocked at the local bookstore.
See also:
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: PageFree Publishing.com
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: Books by Bookends
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: iUniverse
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: Xlibris
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: Virtual Bookworm
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Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: iUniverse
August 4, 2005
iUniverse (iuniverse.com) is a print-on-demand heavyweight. It is one of the oldest publishers in the market and is backed by the behemoth bookstore chain Barnes & Noble. One of the benefits of the link with Barnes & Noble is that the “very best” iUniverse books get stocked on bookshelves at their stores.
iUniverse is about as full-service as print-on-demand gets. They offer editing and marketing. They assign you a representative who will answer your questions. They even have a selection process that identifies some of the better books and authors and gives them a little bit of recognition. Of course, none of that guarantees a single sale, but it is good to know that quality is at least a consideration at iUniverse. They also have a good reputation for shipping books quickly (probably due to the Barnes & Noble infrastructure).
The downside is that the set-up fees can be a little pricey, with their least expensive option starting at around $500 (compare that to Lulu, which offers fewer services but will get you started for under $150 and even has a free option). There are generally monthly “sales” on different services and packages, so make sure you keep a close eye on the web site or get on their mailing list so that you can reduce the pricing sting. Another problem is that the basic retail prices on their books are high. You can quickly price yourself out of the fiction market.
One other annoyance is that the iUniverse website is obviously aimed at authors and not readers. Unlike Lulu, which maintains a subject directory of books on the front page, iUniverse makes you follow a link before you get to a list of subjects. While I find this forgivable in a smaller publisher that doesn’t have a major online sales unit, I find it disturbing for a site that is publishing over 500 new titles a month, most of which will only be bought through online channels.
Overall, iUniverse is a good option for writers who want the muscle of a large online publisher, but I get the feeling they make most of their profits from authors, not book sales. iUniverse is also a good option for authors who want some editorial quality assurance and some marketing assistance. If you feel you can handle those issues on your own, I would look to a less pricey print-on-demand publisher such as Lulu.
See also:
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: PageFree Publishing.com
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: Books by Bookends
Print-On-Demand Publisher Profile: Xlibris
