by Anne R. Allen
On Friday morning at 7 AM a couple of weeks ago, the landline phone woke me with a call from a woman who wanted to know if I was the author of Food of Love. I said yes, it’s one of my titles, along with 14 other books. Why did she want to talk about a 20-year-old novel at 7 in the morning?
She hung up.
But the next Friday morning at 7 AM, the phone woke me again and it was the same number.
Ack!
I knew what these people wanted because I’ve been targeted many times as the author of Food of Love. That title was originally published in the UK without my middle initial, so some versions of it appear to be written by somebody other than this Anne R. Allen.
I also knew why she was targeting the author of an apparent singleton title with low sales, because I hear from writers every day who have been approached by publishing scammers like her. They are everywhere now, and their scams seem to have spread like the COVID virus in the last year.
The sad thing is many targeted authors have been scammed more than once, because once publishing scammers have learned to manipulate you, they keep attacking with relentless malevolence.
One victim of a scammer told me another scammer offered to undo the evils perpetrated by the first with their “special skills” and a new ISBN — for $30,000!!
Publishing scammers are obviously making serious money with this one, or they wouldn’t be expanding their reach at such an alarming rate. But scriveners, if you’re smart enough to write a book, you’re smart enough to learn to spot publishing scammers.
I know it’s confusing. One multiple-scam victim who contacted me is an ER nurse. She said publishing is way more stressful than running an Emergency Room. Because in the ER, the crooks have bullets in them, and you know what to do. ????
So pay close attention to what’s happening underneath the outrageous flattery and promises of fame, fortune, and Oprah’s undying love.
Here’s One of the Latest “Deals” from the Publishing Scammers
The “Publishing Agency” will “republish” your already-published book (generally self- or small press-published.) They will re-edit it and design a new cover. Then they will produce a marketing plan and a book proposal. This proposal, along with their “endorsement’ will be sent along with your newly printed book to a Big 5 Publisher. They will also send copies to bookstores.
All you have to do is buy 800 copies of the book.
You will also have the opportunity to buy a marketing package. Price will be murky until you agree.
What’s Wrong with this Picture?
Let me count the ways:
- Traditional publishers do not republish old titles that have failed to sell.
- There’s no such thing as a “publishing agency”. It’s a literary agency or a publisher, not both.
- No traditional publishers accept submissions in bound-print form. This is the 21st century. Manuscripts need to be Word docs, double spaced, 12 pt. font, in TNR or Arial. 25 years ago, they could be submitted in print, on 8.5 X 11 paper, in a manuscript box or envelope, loosely held together with a rubber band. Never bound.
- Pre-publication marketing plans and book proposals only apply to nonfiction, non-narrative books, not novels or memoirs.
- An “endorsement” from Joe Nobody is about as useful in selling a book to a publisher as it is in selling a bicycle to a jellyfish.
- No legit traditional publisher requires authors to buy copies.
- Legit publishers know what time it is in the US and would never call at 7 AM. (Most publishing scammers are in the Philippines.)
- Bookstores rarely buy unsolicited books by random unknown authors. They take books on consignment they choose from publishers’ catalogues. Books can be returned if they don’t sell. Unsolicited books are often a source of merriment for bookstore clerks.
- Oh, yes, and there’s this: REAL PUBLISHERS DO NOT COLD-CALL UNKNOWN AUTHORS!! EVER!!! Or email them. They already have enough queries in their slush piles to keep them busy until Manhattan sinks into the ocean.
- Real agents don’t either.
If You Want to Self-Publish
Then self-publish. Never use a vanity press. Vanity press books will cost you so much you’ll lose money trying to re-sell them. And the publishing scammers will hound you forever, trying to get you to buy obscenely priced junk marketing packages.
Here’s an overview of self-publishing from Jane Friedman, complete with charts and infographics.
You can also get excellent advice from well-known, successful indies, like self-publishing guru David Gaughran in his FREE book Let’s Get Digital.
There’s a wealth of information from the Alliance for Independent Authors (Alli) and at Reedsy.com, where self-publishing professionals are thoroughly vetted. (Although I dislike Reedsy for forcing you to sign up for their newsletter to enter the site — a cheesy move from an otherwise classy company.)
If You Want a Traditional Publisher
If you’d like to see your book in a Barnes and Noble window someday, or get reviewed in a well-known print journal, you want a traditional publisher. For great info on traditional publishing, Jane Friedman’s blog is also an excellent place to start. (She’s the former head of Writer’s Digest Books and editor of The Hot Sheet, the respected publishing industry newsletter)
You can also get great information from agent blogs. One of the best is Janet Reid. Her “Query Shark” posts are a graduate-level course in how to query. Rachelle Gardner and the agents at BookEnds also have helpful information.
But you don’t necessarily need an agent to be traditionally published. There are plenty of excellent small presses looking for good manuscripts. For a weekly newsletter listing vetted small presses, subscribe (free!) to Authors Publish magazine.
Traditional publishers and real agents never ask for money up front. They get paid after they sell your book. If you have to pay up front, it’s not traditional publishing. It may be a legitimate “hybrid” publisher, but “hybrid” is a type of self-publishing, not trad-pub.
Vanity presses masquerade as traditional publishers, but they will always ask for money. Which they usually don’t mention on their websites.
It makes me want to cry when I see writers saying they “can’t afford to publish traditionally.” Ack!! These people have been so brainwashed by the publishing scammers, they have no idea what traditional publishing is. So I’m going to repeat this:
IF YOU’RE ASKED TO PAY UP FRONT, IT’S NOT A TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER.
Publishing Scammers Have Dodgy Websites
TIP: Never choose a “publisher” you find on the first page of a Google search. Publishing scammers have bought most of the SERP (Search Engine Results Page.)
When people contact me to ask if their latest “acceptance” or “book offer” is a scam, I always check the website. I can usually tell at first glance I’m in the country of publishing scammers.
Here are some tell-tale signs.
- Testimonials. Real publishers’ “testimonials” are best-selling, well-reviewed books, which will have prominent real estate on the website.
- Dodgy language skills. Misspellings, awkward sentence construction, or any other kind of lazy text is a red flag. Even if they’re not crooks, who wants a publisher who can’t proofread their own website?
- Nobody in charge. Legit publishers and agents have all their staff listed by name with bios and photos and email addresses. Publishing scammers don’t let on who they are. Often because they’re the same people who scammed you last year.
- A brand-new website with no track record with Google. Google will give you a bit of text telling you about a company. If it’s new, they’ll say “Google has no information on this company.” Major red flag.
- Promises of fame and fortune. Most debut books fail to sell many copies. Anybody who tells you different doesn’t know the publishing industry.
- Emphasis on copyright. All books are copyrighted when you save them onto your hard drive. As an extra precaution, you can register copyright in the US with the Library of Congress for $45. Nobody has to do it for you.
- Bamboozling talk of ISBNs. ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) are good to have, especially if you want to sell outside the US. But they’re not essential. You can buy a US ISBN for $125 ($295 for 10.) But you’ll be assigned ISBNs by Amazon or any other platform where you self-publish.
Other New Stuff from the Publishing Scammers
The Goodreads Extortion Racket
Goodreads has always been a haven for trolls. But now the GR trolls have formed their own mafia. They’ll approach a writer, demand a large sum of money for a fake review, and if the author doesn’t pay, they’ll bomb the author’s books with dozens of one-star reviews.
There was a big expose of the Goodreads review-troll mafia in Time magazine last month. Pay attention. Whatever promotions you’ve been able to do in spite of the trolls are no longer worth the risk.
Goodreads used to be Lord of the Flies meets Mean Girls. Now it’s Pulp Fiction meets Scarface.
Jeff Bezos owns Goodreads, and he certainly has the funds to police it. Since he chooses to harbor criminal activity instead, readers and writers are no longer safe there.
Write reviews at friendly, literate Bookbub instead. Ruth Harris provides great info on how to promote your book for FREE on Bookbub in her blogpost from July. Bookbub is professional, well moderated, and troll-free. I’ve bought my last three reads from Bookbub recommendations.
The Newest Anthology Scam
Anthology scams are the granddaddy of all publishing scams. They’ve been around at least a hundred years. But the current one is especially cruel. Publishing scammers join Facebook groups for grieving spouses, disabled people, caretakers of children with disabilities, etc. and they present them with the “opportunity” to submit a creative nonfiction piece to an anthology. It appears to be a Chicken Soup for the Soul type of publication.
But once a piece is “accepted” the writers are asked to “contribute” to the publishing and marketing costs. These “contributions” are often thousands of dollars. Once the anthology is printed, the victims are expected to do all the selling and marketing of these overpriced, unedited white elephants.
Co-Author a Book with James Patterson! Or Somebody Kinda Like Him
Writers have been getting snail-mailed letters from a “Monica Susan Main” saying she met them at an (unnamed) writers conference, and she loves their ideas so much that she wants to let them join in a new venture. She’s inviting the writer to co-author with a famous bestselling author who probably isn’t James Patterson. But s/he’s just like Patterson and the name is a secret.
When I first read the letter, posted to a writers FB group, I knew this didn’t pass the smell test. But later this week, our intrepid scam-sleuth Victoria Strauss followed the clues, and after sitting through hours of BS videos, discovered this “secret co-author” does exist. She’s a well-known romance writer. Only problem, the famous author, who is in her late 70s, hasn’t written a book in over 3 years and her website is badly outdated. Victoria’s attempts to contact the author’s agent turned up crickets.
That scammy smell gets stronger and stronger. Turns out this “Monica Main” is a convicted felon and serial fraudster.
Victoria’s search makes fascinating reading. It’s at her blog over at Writer Beware.
The Old Hollywood Scam on Steroids
Victoria also wrote recently about writers getting solicitations from what appeared to be real film companies. They say they are interested in “your screenplay” of your novel.
Since chances are good you don’t have a screenplay of your novel, they offer to write one — for a hefty fee.
Only problem — the emails aren’t from the real companies. The scammers change the name slightly, so instead of ViacomCBS, you’ll hear from Viacon.CBS. And instead of the actual Steven Spielberg, you’ll hear from Stephen Spielberg or Steven Speilburg.
This is a new version of a scam I reported in 2020 where the scammer offers to write a screenplay of your novel, for a pricey fee, so you can sell it to Hollywood. Thing is, all you’re buying is a screenplay. Every barista in the Greater Los Angeles area has at least one. And no, the actual Steven Spielberg doesn’t want it.
How do These People Find You?
My 7 AM scammer probably found me via Amazon. Probably an old, cached list of Amazon slow-sellers. Maybe it’s a “sucker list” from Author Solutions, , the mother of all the publishing scammers in the Philippines.
It looks as if “Monica Main” found her marks though the subscription list of a writers’ magazine
But these days, trendy scammers find targets by trolling social media for people who identify as writers. They join Facebook groups for writers and get to know aspiring authors. When they present the scam, the author thinks they “know” the person from the group.
They can also find you via Tweets, Instagram, or your blog.
How to Protect Yourself
Screen Your Phone Calls
No publisher or film company will cold call an unknown author. Of course at 7 AM, you probably just pick up the phone to stop it from ringing the way I did. But if they start pitching something, hang up and block the number.
I know occasionally a fan will get your phone number and decide to call to chat about the book and tell you why they hate the ending. I’ve had a handful of those over the past decade. But it’s only a handful. 99% of my readers will send emails or DMs. And is a fan who would wake you at 7 AM really worth the hassle?
Do Your Research.
Writer Beware offers the gold standard for anti-scam info. Google the name of the company with “Writer Beware” and see if anything comes up. If it does, run.
Alli, the Alliance of Independent Authors, offers lots of info on good, bad, and iffy publishing services
Reedsy has some helpful infographics and other info on scammers. Check out their page Author Scams and Companies to Avoid
David Gaughran, whose book Let’s Get Digital, I recommended earlier, has blogged extensively about publishing scammers, especially the notorious Author Solutions and all its spawn.
The venerable forums at Absolute Write have useful information from other writers. Information isn’t vetted, so take comments with several grains of salt. But you can find complaints from the recently scammed that may save you a lot of grief.
Turn on Your Common Sense
Cut through the flattery and urgency (with publishing scammers, everything needs to be done yesterday because ____ fill in the blank.) Then use your noggin.
- Penguin Random House is not going to tell you they are “a traditional publishing company.” They are Penguin Random House. If you don’t know who they are, you need to get back into your space ship and return to the Delta Quadrant.
- They are never going to contact you personally unless you just won the California governor’s race and your baby fell down a well and was rescued by Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.
- Publishing professionals in the English-speaking world can read and write English. Weird sentence construction that sounds as if it came from Google Translate probably did.
Publishing successfully can be a slog, especially if you want a traditional publisher, but being robbed by publishing scammers is worse. So hang in there, pay attention, and if you smell something fishy, check them out the way our readers have.
Thanks so much to all of you who came to me with your scam stories. Most of you got out of the contracts in time, and you are saving a lot of other writers with your cautionary tales.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) September 5, 2021
UPDATE!!
I just received this comment on the blog from Dianne Hill. Somehow it keeps disappearing from the blog (!) This is the scam I talk about at the beginning of the post. But I didn’t know they were actually taking money out of bank accounts with illegal “virtual contracts.” This is looking more like organized crime, especially since they seem to be monitoring this blog. If you have elders in your family who have self published, check their bank accounts. These people target older people. They are indeed in the Philippines, and rent cheap mailboxes in the US to look as if their many “companies” are American.
“Beware of a company called Authors Note 360, they debited my 90y/o dads bank account $10,000 last month claiming he signed a virtual contract with them to republish a book he wrote 15 yrs ago. My Dad has dementia, lives in a nursing home and hasn’t a clue that such things as virtual contracts even exist.
A Google street view of their corporate headquarters shows they list a dumpy apartment in Queens NY. My research is kind of indicating they are actually in the Philippians, I don’t know that for sure but it sure is looking that way. Doubt we will ever his money back but hopefully will prevent any other elderly author from being exploited.”
***
What about you, scriveners? Have you been approached by publishing scammers? How did you deal with them? Were you taken in by their snake oil tactics? How did you get out of their clutches?
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Wow – so sad that people fall for this stuff. I’ve received numerous calls over the years from people who’ve heard about my books – which in and of itself is impossible since I’m pretty much a guppy in an ocean. I hang up before they get more than 10 words out of their mouths.
Patricia–Good that you recognized a scam immediately. Those phone calls are so creepy. Your book must be on that Author Solutions “sucker list” like my first one. And they just keep trying once they have a phone number to use to harass you. Sigh.
Anne—Thanks for a super important info every writer needs to know. Scamming writers is the second oldest profession (according to some the first). They’ve been at work since our ancestors were writing stories on the walls of caves.
BTW, also beware of agents — or anyone else — offering fee reading services. They cannot help you. They want to string you along. And, of course, get your money on the way. Another classic scam. Run like hell in the opposite direction!
Ruth–Yeah. I think you’re right. Homer probably had some guy accost him in the Agora offering to find him an agent for just a small “reading fee of 500 drachma. Thanks for the reminder. Those bogus fee-charging agents are coming back these days. This “publishing agency” scam outfit sometimes charges “reading fees.” I wish newbie writers could understand that any up-front charges are a sure-fire sign of a scam.
Just a brilliant review, Anne. That last big one there about Susan Main sent chills down my spine when I read it the other day. Holy cow. I’m sharing and stealing and all the things I need to do for such a comprehensive, terrific post. Stay safe, all you well-written words out there!
Will–I saw your comment on the “Monica Susan Main” letter on Facebook. It’s a shockingly obvious scam, but you could tell some dewy-eyed newbie would fall for it. Scary stuff. Thanks for sharing and spreading the word!
The road to published can be a long, frustrating one. I have been tempted to take the easy way. Someone standing in front of me, waving their arms, saying, “I’ll help you. I’ll help you.”
It’s just too tempting to pass up.
I’m so glad I had the presence of mind to say, “No, thank you. I’ll pass.”
However, when you feel like your back is against the wall and saying yes is the only way to fulfill your dreams… Well…
Thank you, Anne, for these helpful tips on how to avoid the pitfalls.
Leanne–Vanity presses can be tempting to the newbie writer. And not all of them are scams. Some, like Dorchester, a venerable vanity press, can be fine for printing memoirs, poetry, or recipes for family and friends. Dorchester doesn’t try to sell overpriced marketing packages or other flim-flam stuff. You get a carton of books to deal with however you want. But some of the big ones, like PublishAmerica and Author Solutions aren’t content with just printing the books. They pretend they are real publishers, and not only empty your wallet, but crush your dreams.
Get back in your space suit – funny!
Goodreads is a scary place now. I don’t feel bad for not visiting it more often.
If my book is already traditionally published, why would I want to have it published again? Definitely a sign!
Alex–Yeah, Goodreads is way too scary these days. The only reason I go is to see posts about the IWSG.
These fraudsters probably wouldn’t contact somebody like you, since you have a number of books with steady sales. They look for the lone self-published book, or the single title with a small press that isn’t selling. They convince these writers that if they just republish the book it will be a huge success. Even though that has never happened, ever.
Oy. It’s clear some people are sadly nefarious & have far too much time their hands.
CS–I don’t think these people have time on their hands. They’re busy little worker bees. This is a major industry in the Philippines. They work hard and relentlessly. And I assume they’re making more money than they would if they had legitimate jobs. Crime seems to pay in this case.
Excellent article. I’ll be sharing with my guild.
Quick question on Goodreads – is it best to avoid it completely?
Jeanne–I still have a profile at Goodreads. I don’t check it very often and I never engage with people I don’t already know. I still belong to the Insecure Writers Support Group there, and sometimes read their posts. No trolls there, and it’s well moderated. So if you’re in a safe group, you’re probably okay. Just don’t engage with anybody you don’t know, and if you must read your reviews (I try not to) do not react to them in any way, even nice ones. If you want to thank a reviewer, do it on some other social medium.
So true. I appreciate this article. Even in writer groups, people celebrate getting scammers to read their books with promises of greatness!
I look at the $ signs and run because I have found that once you give one just the slightest notice, a trail of them seems to follow on a never-ending solicitation chain.
Then there are writers who buy tons of their books! Holly macro.
And not raising myself above others, because it’s the quickest way to fall, to me just the act of writing enriches my life.
Even though I might never see the light of fame I will finish my series and print this article as good advice for when the light of fame becomes more attractive than the fulfillment to put one paragraph after another. https://www.martacweeks.com/p/blog-page_24.html
Marta–Isn’t it sad? I see it so often in some FB writing group. Somebody is celebrating being “accepted” by a scam publisher that accepts everybody who can pay. I also see daily laments from newbies saying they “can’t afford to traditionally publish.” I sometimes try leaving comments, but they simply don’t believe me. They’ve been convinced that vanity publishing is the only publishing available. Keep at it! Every book you write makes you a better writer and gets you closer to your goals.
Real, real important subject, Anne. *Quick Sunday wave to Ruth* I’ve never been phoned by a scammer but, then, I guard my phone access like the crown jewels. Email is a whole other story. My old cop nose sniffs them scammers wight out (Elmer Fudd voice), and they end up eating spam. Outside of bogus publishing crap, I get a Nigerian prince offer at least once a month. Those I don’t spam. I always reply and refer them to Sue Coletta 🙂
Garry–Yes, as a cop, I’m sure you were trained early on to smell out cons like these creeps. And isn’t it amazing that the Nigerian Prince scam is still alive and kicking? Some days I find 10 or more in my spam folder. My current face is the relative of Mohamar Khaddaffi who wants to send me his secret millions.
But oh, my, sending them to Sue Coletta? That might be a little harsh, even for scammers. 🙂
Hahahaha. You two kill me. 🙂
Wonderful post, Anne! Have just finished reading it, with numerous interruptions as I followed links and read associated articles and blogs – what a great resource – and all in one place!
Obviously, the next step is to forward this to all my author clients, with a note to dive deep and research via your links.
Thanks, as always, for you nail-head-hitting insights…
Maria D’Marco
Maria–There are a lot more outgoing links here than the SEO elves approve of, but I wanted to make sure new writers have all the resources they need. Thanks much for sending this along wo your editing clients.
Thank you for writing this article. I am on the cusp of self-publishing my first book. I am very aware that it takes years—that it’s a slow burn to even break even as an author. There are no quick roads to a successful writing career. It takes hard work, persistence and patience. Anyone who offers you bright lights and super-star status is a scammer. I have already had a vanity press try to scam me a deal to get my book published. I told them that I prefer to do it myself and hung up. This article is like an added shield against scammers.
Valerie–Good for you to spot that vanity press right away. So many new writers don’t know the difference. Self publishing works best if you have two or three books in the pipeline ready to go, so waiting a while is the best road to successful self-publishing.
Well, the happy vanity folks no longer have a direct way to contact me. They either have an old e-mail from Yahoo or my old work phone # that they purchased from ASI some years ago.
Nowadays, a small chunk of them pester FB with pages, which allows me to search their website. If I find not good stuff on it {e.g. “consultant” packages that start at $3k}, I’ll usually troll the daylights out their FB page until I force them to either drop me from their algorithms or drop the comment link. Sometimes others will join in for the hunt. Did have a few interesting conversations with the social media managers, including one from another vanity who commenting on the vanity I was on.
So my piece of advice to anyone who happens to see a peculiar FB page to a publishing company of any type pop up in their feed, is to check out their website link. And I really mean, check it out, because you can find all kinds of neat things buried in the various sections of that website.
GB–I’ve always suspected that ASI had a “sucker list”. It sounds as if you have proof. They don’t get the old “once bitten, twice shy” adage.
FB is full of ads for publishing scammers. If you’re a writer, they’re going to dominate your feed. And you’re right that it’s good to check them out just so you can see what they’re up to. I found one that charges by the month for “coaching” you through the publishing process. It ads up to over $20,000 a year!!
Excellent post, Anne. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise to help unsuspecting authors just wanting to get published!
Jodie–I’m so glad the spam elves finally let you comment. We look forward to your post on snagging the right editor next week!
Thanks, Anne. Really looking forward to guest posting with you again next Sunday!
BEST POST EVER ANNE! Simply everything we need to know. This should be republished in Writer’s Digest. Amen.
Melodie–Thanks. 🙂 I used to write for Writer’s Digest. Maybe I should pitch something like this to them. Hmmmm.
I agree!
I love the ones who (either in a phone message or via email) misspell my name or the name of my books or delete words from the title, and whose emails are so badly written that I have a hard time deciphering what they are saying. The scam is immediately obvious, but once in a while I translate the text for the perverse fun of it.
Of course, my book (whichever one they are dangling before me) has been read by all of the agents in the company and those exalted souls believe it should be advanced to the top of the list, has the greatest potential as a movie, and will be distributed throughout Europe. Well, I may agree with the second assessments, but I’m not going to spend money (whether I have it or not), not with strangers who less likely to have read the book and more likely to have read the dollars they believe line my pockets.
Caveat emptor. Thanks for this timely post. It’s going into my files for future reference.
Brass–I’m sure their English is better than my Tagalog, but it does make for some amusing reading. I think generally somebody with pretty good English skills writes the scripts with all that praise, but if the caller has to go off script, they get very flustered. Like if you ask them what character they like best. 🙂
Anne, you and Victoria Strauss are heroes for warning the unsuspecting newbies out there. As old as these scams are, there’s an ever-flowing stream of new writers to prey on who don’t know about them. Grateful that you keep sounding the alarm. .
Debbie–I’m not in a league with Victoria, but I try to do my bit. She’s been fighting these creeps for over a decade. You’re right that the scams remain the same. They just play them to a different tune. And there are always dewy eyed newbies to scam, alas!
Stunning the amount of abuse against authors and the giants are never helpful to us. We need a union – authors against trolls. We are open targets 🙁
Debby–It is amazing how viciously they scam beginning artists. All we can do is try to get the word out to them.
Horrible that’s all we can do 🙁
Excellent article, Anne with so much needed information. These scammers are a pariah or piranha, or maybe both. It’s sad that so many new authors desperate to get published fall for them. Another trend I see a lot of are companies trying to scam people on the old “reviews” scheme. Send us your manuscript, pay us a fee, get hundreds of reviews and see your Amazon rating sky rocket to “best seller.” They have invaded so many author groups on various sites. It’s disgusting.
Anyway, thanks again for keeping us informed and out of danger.
Brenda–Those paid review scams are the worst. I’m sorry to hear they’re proliferating on FB too. If you pay for reviews, you don’t just lose money by paying for obviously fake reviews, but you can be kicked off Amazon for life. Here’s a piece I wrote about it in 2018 https://selfpublishingsites.com/2018/04/amazon-paid-reviews/
It’s incredible how mean people can be these days. Thanks for this great information.
Valentina–These people simply do not care about the emotional devastation their scams cause. It’s all about the money. They don’t care that their cruelty shatters dreams.
Great information, Anne. I’ll add one more that’s not really a scam itself (meaning the people aren’t out to take your money), but the results are about the same:
People who soliciting stories from writers who don’t know what they’re doing. These have been around for a long time. People jump into publishing to help writers get published; writers who can’t get published forming their own company to publish writers. Charities are also common. For a while, I was seeing a lot of these for veterans. Got PTSD? Write about it and we’ll publish it. Many of these die after you’ve signed the rights of the story away. More recently, I ran into one that looked legit, was to help people over the isolation triggered by COVID-19, and his contract clearly showed he didn’t know what he was doing.
Always, always be willing to walk away.
Linda–Thanks for making a great point! Not all the people who cost you money are actually planning to scam you. Whether they’re putting together an anthology, like your examples, or opening a publishing company, a lot of well-meaning people can cost you a bundle because they don’t have a clue what they’re doing. A lot of small presses go under and leave authors with unpaid royalties out of sheer incompetence. Thanks for the reminder!
I get the occasional scam email and phone call, and just ignore them. The emails I can usually tell are scams from the poor grammar, and if I’m not sure, I check Writer Beware. I typically screen my calls and don’t answer numbers I don’t know. Some of the voice mails left are scams from people wanting to “help” me with marketing my books. I just ignore them and block the numbers. I got one of those calls just a few days ago. I know a lot of this is likely because of my first book, which I made the mistake of using a vanity press (iUniverse) to publish.
Jeanne–iUniverse actually started as a good self-publishing company in the era before ebooks. Then they got bought out by Author Solutions and became another one of their scammy vanity presses. I can imagine the iUniverse client list provided them with a juicy list of marks. So sorry you’re on their “sucker list.” I imaging it’s very annoying. But you’re handling them right by screening calls and checking Writer Beware.
I love your posts, especially on scams. Made me think about a plot for a new story…. in a spacesuit in the Delta Quadrant, possibly 😉
Jemima–How great to have inspired you! I want to read about scammers in the Delta Quadrant!
Fantastic advice on such an important subject, Anne. The scammers keep upping their game, and new writers who don’t know any better make easy targets. It’s disheartening to watch them fall into these traps, but *some* are so snowballed by the scammers they won’t listen to reason. All we can do is try to offer advice. Then, for the sake of our sanity, we need to walk away. Learned that lesson the hard way when trying to help a local author, who said to me, “My publisher wants the sequel to my children’s book, but I can’t afford it right now.” Oy.
Sue–The ones who won’t listen to reason are heartbreaking. Not only will they continue to be scammed, like your kidlit friend, but they encourage the scammers to keep it up. 🙁
Hi Anne. I want to thank you for a great article. I’ve recently had a full court press by a book publisher (???) to set up a plan to sell my only book to the Big 5–along with screen rights–that I published two years ago. The caller, Shane Rodriguez, has left numerous messages. There were the usual red flags: speech, vague promises, and flattery (my book was highly recommended by the National Books Critics Circle). I checked Google and the only way I could find the website was by googling the 800 number in his VM. Googling the business name got nothing but blanks. Just a “heads up” to my writing compatriots out there. I made the mistake once. I won’t make it again. Thanks. Love your blog.
William–This is the scam I’m talking about in the first part of the post. (And what Dianne Hill is talking about in the update) They use dozens of different “company names,” but they’re all running the same scam–probably perpetrated by the same group of former Author Solutions employees in the Philippines. They phone you, pile on the flattery about an old title and say they can sell it to the Big 5.
This is of course, an impossibility. The Big 5 NEVER buy old, failed books. It doesn’t matter who they are pretending to be. What they’re offering is NOTHING. For a large amount of money. It’s good that you recognized this guy as a scammer. I hope some more readers of this blog will do the same. Stay safe!
Thanks, Anne. I’ll “keep my eyes peeled” and let you know if I hear of anything that smacks of a new scam. Once burned…
By the way, “The Trouble with Tribbles” is one of my favorites!
Live long and prosper.
Thanks for posting this. Hopefully it will help a lot of authors snot get scammed.
LOL – love typos – not get scammed!
Daryl–Haha! I’m sure you meant we’re keeping authors from getting the snot scammed out of them. 🙂
Tribbles! ???? Oh, and this: “Even if they’re not crooks, who wants a publisher who can’t proofread their own website?” Another useful post with a side of entertainment. Thanks, Anne. This won is chalk ful of resoreses. (See what I did there?) Yah, I know, I’m hilarious. Moving on…
Sarah–Your comment is chalk full of good things. Many thanks. Can you tell I’m an unrepentant Trekkie?
There is nothing to repent, dear Trekkie. (The image brought me back to the good ol’ days of William. Though I adore Patrick Stewart.)
Anne, one of your best–and that’s saying a lot! I’ve been approached once or twice, but since I have no extra money to spend on “publishing”, I’m never tempted.
Off topic: A bit of Trekkie trivia: Back when “The Trouble With Tribbles” aired, someone noticed that tribbles seemed like an obvious adoption (theft?) of the flat cats in Robert Heinlein’s novel, *The Rolling Stones*. One of the writers then remembered he’d read *TRS* years before. They offered Heinlein royalties but he declined. (I’ve read two different versions of that negotiation).
Thanks for your continued vigilance and advice.
it’s sad to see so many scams out there going after people who have poured their heart and soul into creating a work of art. thanks for publishing such a useful article…
Is anyone can give advice? How can get put from a scam? I have contract with scam publisher, no phone calls or emails from them. No money to pay from them but they have published my book.
Tatiana–I’m so sorry to hear you were scammed. Unfortunately, when you sign a contract and give them money, there’s not much chance of getting it back. But you may be able to get your book and rights back. You’ll need the help of a lawyer or paralegal. Copyright laws vary in different countries, so you’ll have to find out what the laws are where you live (and where you were scammed.) You may find more advice at the website Scamicide.com.
Thank you for replying. I really appreciate.
I have also read two different versions of that negotiation. One presented Heinlein as generous and unconcerned about the “theft”. the other version, IIRC, presented him in a different light.
Now, that’s embarrassing…and funny. When I replied, I didn’t notice who’d made the first comment. It was me! About 10 months ago! Well, I talk to myself a lot anyway, so what if it’s in public and preserved for all eternity?