Tagged: publishing predators

Authors Beware: Money Back Guarantees and Limited Change Your Mind Clauses

Authors Beware:  Money Back Guarantees  and  Limited Change Your Mind Clauses

It ticks me off when I hear about authors getting scammed. It ticks me off when I get lied to. And it really ticks me off when authors I work with get scammed.

Publishing Predators come in all kinds of sizes and shapes. In all kinds of titles and services. Some come across as sleazy from the get-go … your warning lights are flashing and you know to be cautious or turn and run.
Have you ever …

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Top Ten Twitter Tweets of October 13, 2016

Top Ten Twitter Tweets of October 13, 2016

 

Interested in getting your book and stories in front of Hollywood? We’ve got a Webinar next week that will get your thinking and planning. All details on our website under Events. It’s a freebie but you have to register to get the replay.
 
Make sure you are registering for November’s Saturday program with the ground-breaking in indie bookstores—the Tattered Cover insights and how-tos to work with them. Get signed up for a terrific program. Details on …

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Author Writing, Book Marketing, Publishing Tips

Author Writing, Book Marketing, Publishing Tips

Your tip today is a caution … actually a huge one. Attending conferences on writing and publishing is a grand thing to do. But … be careful. Don’t get caught up in any hype … they are common … in fact, most “require” the speakers to include a “lure” to get money. Why? Simply this: the promoter gets part … and of course, so does the speaker. Go to learn. If it’s appropriate to “buy” …

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Author Alert: Beware of Publishing Pitch Fests

Author Alert: Beware of Publishing Pitch Fests

Be careful of what is known as a “pitch fest.” Pitched to newbie authors as education, they are really designed to lure them in (and their credit cards) to buy, buy, buy and buy some more. What are they buying? Products, services, trainings—you name it.  Pitch fests are big business for the promoters. Authors want a quick fix to whatever ails them … or they are on the hunt to the “wonder cure” for quick …

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Tangled Web They Weave Time with Publishing Scammers

Tangled Web They Weave Time with Publishing Scammers

Oh … the surprises that get buried within the Holiday merriment. Here’s what happened in Predatorland on December 31, 2015:
“Penguin Random House has sold its Author Solutions division to an affiliate of the Najafi Companies, a private investment firm that at one point owned Bookspan and made an offer to buy several hundred Borders outlets after the chain filed for Chapter 11”was spotted in a Publishers Weekly blurb.

Their three year affair (Penguin Random Book’s 2012 …

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Don’t Confuse Independent Publishing with Self-Publishing

Don’t Confuse Independent Publishing with Self-Publishing

Indie, Independent and Small Press Publishing Are So, Soooooo Different from Self-Publishing, Vanity Presses and Pay-to-Publish “Publishing”

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a zillion times: yes, dear author-to-be (and those already published), there is a difference between self-publishing, vanity presses, pay-to-publish, a small press, and independent publishing. Don’t mix them up. Don’t get confused.
Use Wikipedia as an initial guide:
“The terms “small press”, “indie publisher”, and “independent press” are often used interchangeably, with “independent press” defined …

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Why Publishing on Your Own Is a Very, Very Viable Option

Why Publishing on Your Own Is a Very, Very Viable Option

Once upon a time, in a land no so far away, there were two types of publishing: the coveted traditional route, where thousands of books were printed, media releases created and publisher reps marketed the books that only real authors wrote; and the disdained vanity press—here the giant spitting sound. Authors went the vanity press route only as a last resort. Under the vanity umbrella dwelled the small presses and self-publishing, costly ventures where mass …

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Author Alert: Is Your ISBN Legit or Fake?

Author Alert: Is Your ISBN Legit or Fake?

Such a deal … buy your ISBN for only ten bucks … who wants to pay $125? The real questions to ask: Are they legit ISBNs? Or, are they knockoffs? Or, are they a re-sale? And if they are a re-sale, are they being sold by an approved resale outlet? I other words, are they legit … or are they fake?

All authors need to understand this: ISBNs are ONLY ISSUED by Bowker … it doesn’t …

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Book Publishing Today … Avoid Preying Publishing Predators

Book Publishing Today … Avoid Preying Publishing Predators

Reading … cooking and eating … movies … some of my favorite things. A day/evening of cooking with a good movie–either at home or on TV sometimes becomes the catalyst for writing ideas. I was ready to love, love, love the book that had them all, and I didn’t.

First of all, I have to tell you . . . I did not like Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Eat, Pray, Love. Oh, there’s no question that …

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Meet Publishing’s T-Rex …Publishing Predators Put You and Your Book at Risk

Meet Publishing’s T-Rex …Publishing Predators Put You and Your Book at Risk

What a tangled web they weave … the Publishing Predators are breeding, casting out their nets for naive authors-to-be, those who are looking for a book publishing bargain and don’t realize that they will end up in a boiler plate up sales operation; promising bestseller status and so much more.
It’s author beware, author beware, author beware.
Over the past three years, I’ve worked with several private clients and fielded numerous phone calls/emails from authors who …

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