Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Anne R. Allen With the self-publishing revolution, we were warned of a “tsunami of crap,” but the real problem is the tsunami of scammers. They seem to invent a new way to scam writers every day. Not just indies, but the traditionally published as well. Unfortunately, there are plenty of uninformed wannabe writers […]
Bogus agents are impersonating real agents by Anne R. Allen Bogus agents are ba-a-ack. Once upon a time, in the long-ago era when I was querying, fee-charging agencies and in-house editorial services were the problem. Their scams usually involved charging a “reading fee” (a no-no for legit agents) or referring writers to editorial services and […]
by Anne R. Allen Publishing Scammers get more brazen all the time, and there seem to be more of them every day. Sometimes I wonder if all those people who have mysteriously quit their jobs aren’t now working as con artists and phone scammers. Just recently, the respected site Wattpad ran a contest that involved […]
by Anne R. Allen Yes, I’ve already written a warning to writers about publishing scams this month. But I heard about a new, diabolical one only a few days ago. This can affect both traditionally published and indie authors. And everybody needs to help spread the word. That’s because the author won’t know it’s happening. […]
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 […]
Publishing scams target babes in the woods by Anne R. Allen I hear about new publishing scams all the time. Sometimes scammers approach me personally, but more often I hear a sad tale of woe from some newbie who has fallen for the latest con. This week I realized that almost all the victims of […]
by Anne R. Allen. Recently I’ve been seeing a bunch of ads for writing contests in my Facebook feed. Plus I’ve been getting unsolicited mass emails advertising similar competitions. Some of them look pretty legit, but I couldn’t help asking myself why. If it’s such a great contest, why do they need to use spam […]
Anthologies like “Equality” can also be a great way for established authors to expand their readership. by Anne R. Allen Anthologies have long been one of the best ways for new writers to get publishing credits and start building an audience. They’re also an excellent way for authors at any stage of their careers to […]
Meet the faculty, tour the campus and calculate the tuition of the University of Hard Knocks by Ruth Harris Scammers and con artists have been around publishing since writers were using chisels to carve words into stone tablets. They loot, cheat and steal. They’re the faculty of Hard Knocks U. and they are out […]
by Anne R. Allen The Oxford dictionary says the word “anthology” comes from a Greek phrase meaning a collection of flowers. I love that image. An anthology is a place to display literary or musical works that have been chosen to work together—like a floral bouquet. I’ve had the privilege of contributing to […]
