Thomas Nelson : Send referrals to vanity press

A year or so ago I signed up for Thomas Nelson’s book blogger program (called BookSneeze), and now I request occasional copies of their books to review. The books arrive quickly, there are no obligations to give a positive review and I’ve come across more than one keeper this way.

But a few days ago, the BookSneeze team sent me an email titled “An Exciting Offer from Our Friends at WestBow Press‏”.

Houston, we may have a problem. WestBow Press is Thomas Nelson’s vanity-publishing arm, and made it to the top position in my list of the most expensive ways to be printed. So I thought they were offering me a chance to see my work in print for $999 and up.

Wrong.

Use your blog to earn revenue and guide Christian writers. As a BookSneeze® Blogger, you are passionate about books.

But as a writer, I’m passionate about writers being paid for their hard work.

The WestBow Press Affiliate Program rewards influential bloggers like you with $100 for every referral you make, once that referral publishes their book.

…

Well, obviously they’ve never read my blog.

I’m fine with earning a little through my blog. Although I draw the line at Google ads and any content over which I have no say, I’m an Amazon affiliate and promote Swag Bucks here as well. On the other hand, that’s because I use both Amazon and Swag Bucks myself, and like the services they provide.

But there’s no way in hell I could promote WestBow Press as a good thing when writers will be $999 poorer right off the bat. Even the ten free paperbacks they get with the cheapest package aren’t entirely free. According to WestBow, “Packages include the cost of the free books, but you’re responsible to pay the cost of shipping and handling.”

Why doesn’t the email suggest I refer writers to Thomas Nelson? Wouldn’t that be a better choice for writers than a vanity press asking for a grand at the very least?

Use your blogging influence to empower others, and earn something for yourself in return. Since there's no added cost or effort required on your part, every published referral is pure profit for you.

I’m not interested in being a Judas goat for any amount of profit.

Other bloggers, especially if they aren’t aware of WestBow’s exorbitant prices, may well sign up for this. But I also hope this attempt to get referrals indicates that vanity presses are feeling the pinch as more and more writers resort to affordable self-publishing instead.

And that’s just fine by me.

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Five yet more expensive ways to be printed

Another sequel to Five expensive ways to be printed and Five more expensive ways to get into print. It's amazing how many vanity presses are out there.

But to start with the cheapest...

1. Basic Package, Roval Publishing $599

Link

While this package does include “1 author copy”, I’m not sure serious writers would be helped by publication with the same company that produced the plagiarized novel Of Atlantis.

2. Jada Press, Executive Program $1250

Link

This is described as "A Publishing Program that will separate you and your work from the rest!" Though first it'll separate you from your money.

And the publisher has a long article claiming that even NYT bestselling writers are being cheated by their publishers, so you might as well pay upfront and be done with it.

3. Morgan James Publishing variable; probably over $10,000

Link

Morgan James doesn’t provide a single one-fee-fits-all figure. As their website states,

Author is asked to commit to purchasing, during the life of the agreement, twenty-five hundred copies at cost plus a percentage

What I find deceptive is that they claim this to be normal, asserting that “most major houses” also have this requirement for their authors. Not true. Actual, reputable publishers give authors books for free – sometimes dozens of copies.

And why would real publishers ask authors to buy their own books in bulk, anyway? So they can recover their advances right away? Because they’re afraid no one else will buy the books? On top of that, Morgan James’s website says, “No Publishing Fee charged hidden or otherwise”, perhaps because the fee has been shifted to the back end.

So how much would it cost to buy those 2500 copies? On this page, there’s a breakdown of cover prices according to book length. Here's a sample of that, with the length in words :

100,000 -- $17.95-$21.95
120,000 -- $20.95-$23.95
140,000 -- $22.95-$26.95

Let’s take my novel Before the Storm. That’s 113,000 words, but I’ll round it down to 100,000. We’ll also assume that my book would have cost $18 at that length, and we’ll assume that the cost of production is 25% of the cover price. In total, I’d be paying (0.25 x 18)2500 = $11250.

Which is before adding the unstated “percentage” Morgan James would include.

Which is before paying shipping and handling.

4. Cambridge House $15,000 or more

Link

Author's costs range from $15,000 and upward, depending on the amount of work involved. However, that investment is repaid from first-proceeds and the royalties are 4-5 times what the standard publishers pay. With some financial risk comes increased financial reward- it's only fair.

If an upfront payment of fifteen grand or more is just “some” risk, I’d hate to see what Cambridge House would consider a “major” risk. The website goes on to say, “We're only successful if you're successful.” Well, who’s financially more successful? The people who write out checks for fifteen thousand dollars, or the company which takes them?

5. WestBow Press $19,999

Link

This is Thomas Nelson’s vanity publishing arm, but what’s even more astonishing than the price are some of the things you get for your twenty grand. For instance, windshield flyers and ”Line Editing (30,000 words included)”.

I wonder if there’s an extra charge if your book happens to be longer than 30,000 words.

Image from : http://www.jupiterimages.com/Image/royaltyFree/89031228

Author interviews... for $1500

Now I've seen it all.

Product Description

Are you among the many authors who would love to be interviewed about their book, but get nervous just thinking about it?

We can solve that. PublishAmerica will send a professional interviewer to your home who will let you tell your story on camera. They will spend hours with you until you get it right. You can be completely relaxed, knowing that the end result will be perfect.

Your interview will be posted on on multiple well-known sites, including YouTube, Metacafe and DailyMotion, where it will be accessible to news reporters, publishing agents and Hollywood producers.

Because whenever literary agents need new clients to represent, they browse YouTube?

We will inform 30,000 media contacts about your interview. You will also go on PublishAmerica TV!

Book your professional video interview now. Our introductory $1499 price covers everything, including our traveling to your home town. You must choose a shipping option to activate the booking.

Your professional interviewer will then be shipped to you. Please note that professional interviewers are sold by weight, not volume, and contents may settle during shipping.

Six-year-old lands multi-book deal?

I used to work as an assistant in a school library. One day the father of a six-year-old student donated a picture book that his daughter had written.

The book was printed by a vanity press. I don't remember which one it was, because at the time I just looked at all the mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation. The story itself was about the girl's adventures as a mermaid princess, and of course she had illustrated it herself.

The librarian, having more experience with that kind of thing than I did, thanked him for the donation, but told me privately that the book would not be entered into the library catalog. It was placed on the shelf, but not displayed prominently, and I never saw the librarian read from it to the kids. She read them The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Where the Wild Things Are and Jamela's Dress... but not the vanity-printed book.

I remembered this when I read a Writer Beware post about a six-year-old called Leo Hunter who supposedly landed a deal for 23 books after his debut title, Me and My Best Friend, was released. Even Robert Jordan didn't get a deal for that many books.

But when you read further it becomes clear. The company which signed him up is Strategic Book Publishing, a vanity press which charges nearly a thousand dollars per "joint venture contract" and whose owner is being sued by the Florida Attorney General. The front page of the website says,

SBP also offers innovative publishing partnership programs for authors that have published with other publishers, and for authors where the path to large sales numbers is not so clearly defined.

"Partnership publishing" is like "joint venture publishing", "co-investment publishing" or my personal favorite, "a meeting of the minds". All these are more palatable terms for vanity press, the kind of printing where the writer pays. You can see that right away from Strategic Book Publishing's testimonials page, where the entries are from authors - not readers - and the first one is:

I’ve noticed some detractors on the net sites but believe me, the service you have provided for the money is exceptional- I don’t know how you can do it for the money.

When writers with actual publishers discuss money, it's in terms of how much the publisher paid them, not the other way around. So Leo Hunter's family paid for his debut title, allowing him to indulge his dream of becoming more famous than J. K. Rowling. At least until bookstores decline to stock his books and librarians don't consider them on a par with The Gruffalo.

But in the meanwhile, publications on both sides of the Atlantic picked up the story and ran it without so much as a mention of vanity presses. Even a look at the book's entry on Amazon should have raised concerns - the product description doesn't match, the release date is July 2009, the sales rank is low and there are no reviews, professional or otherwise.

That wouldn't make for as gripping a headline. But it would be more honest and might prevent other writers from falling into the Strategic scam.

Image from : http://www.jupiterimages.com/Image/royaltyFree/73119158

CreateSpace vs. PublishAmerica

This weekend I read a great summary of a CreateSpace experience on Terri Lynn Coop’s blog Readin, Rittin and Rhetoric.

Terri did a compare-and-constrast of the product, expediency, costs, profits and customer service provided by CreateSpace with those of author mill PublishAmerica, to show that there is an economical and author-friendly alternative to even a vanity press which doesn’t levy an upfront charge. I’m unlikely to ever use CreateSpace for my fiction, but it seems very workable for niche projects and I was pleased to find this article.

I’ll be sure to recommend this to any writers who are looking for a good self-publishing service or who have just escaped from a vanity press and may not be able to try commercial publishing. Especially since PublishAmerica’s latest special offer was to have a member of their “ghostwriting team” work on an author’s already-published book for $499 (the link will take you to the offer, which is a product in their online store).

Product Description
In the Ordering Instructions box, write the title of your book. You will be contacted by your ghostwriter shortly. Benefit from our low introductory price of $499 before it increases to $699.

No, I’m not sure how this is supposed to work either.

PublishAmerica and the never-ending special offers

Different fish take different kinds of bait. Plus, the fish which may be wary of the fly you use today may fail to recognize the worm you’ll use tomorrow. That’s the modus operandi of PublishAmerica, a deceptive vanity press and author mill which is endlessly creative when it comes to separating its authors from their money. It charges for:

* correcting mistakes
* fixing problems in cover art
* allowing authors to use their own cover art
* resending the PDF to the author if the author’s copy is ever lost
* galleys
* shipping - $3.99 per book
* keeping one's book free of inappropriate advertisements (e.g. erotic romance in a children's book)

Auctions for advertising space seem to be passe by now, though PublishAmerica is still selling $19.95 frames for the authors’ royalty checks (which tend to be pittances). Then in November of last year there came a new deal :

Dear Author:

PublishAmerica will put your book in your local bookstore!

As many copies as you determine! Imagine, Christmas shoppers flocking to bookstores, and the book they find displayed there is yours!

With the holiday sales season around the corner, we are ready to donate your book to your bookstore.

“Donation” means the author won’t get paid if the book sells. “Donation” also means that the book won’t be listed in the store’s inventory. Though it might mean that the company which is donating the books can claim it as a tax write-off.

We're not waiting for them to order it. They may put up your book for sale any way they want, highlighting you as a local author, stacking it on a front table, selling it next to the register, or any other way they choose.

The cleverness of this is that no actionable claims are made. If the books are never displayed, perhaps they never arrived or perhaps the staff at the local B&N didn’t know why they received this box of books and deposited them in the local dumpster. They’re not going to sell the books, because how do they record the sales? How to handle refunds or exchanges?

Oh, and about the front tables and the register? Publishers pay to have books featured there.

Now, here’s the catch. With PublishAmerica there’s always a catch, and it nearly always involves buying your own books, preferably in bulk.

Here's how we do it:

If you want to have books on hand, you may now order any number of books you need, and PublishAmerica will match the order. We will donate the exact same number of books to your local bookstore. In fact, we won't even charge the bookstore for the shipping!

Because if you did, the staff would either laugh uproariously or point out that they didn’t ask for the delivery. Maybe both.

But PublishAmerica was only getting started. A week later came a similar email offering to donate books to authors’ workplaces.

Maybe your office, your company, your organization wants to reward employees by giving them a copy of your book... Or perhaps HR or the boss simply love to highlight you as your job's very special resident author.

Special in every sense of the word, if you risk jeopardizing your job in this way.

Then the floodgates opened and deluged authors with emails offering to donate their books to Wal-Mart, Oprah, Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks, the military, as a Christmas present for soldiers abroad (this email was sent on December 8 and the deadline for mailing packages to APO/FPO 093 was December 4), Starbucks, the Today Show, Disney, Target, the bookstores at authors’ local airports (because airport personnel love receiving mysterious unsolicited packages), local hotels, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, the New York Times Book Review, Stephen King (“We will send it for his review, two copies, so that Mrs. Tabitha King, herself an author of nine books, can take a look as well.” Don’t forget to send a third copy for Joe Hill, their son!) and Random House.

Every writer dreams about becoming a published author. Once they have reached that goal, as you have, many dream of the next step up: to become a Random House author...

We will submit not one, but up to five copies of your book to Random House's acquisition editors, so that they can also pass the book around their imprints if they want. They may do anything they choose with the books.

Italics in the original.

As well as claiming they would donate money to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti if authors bought books, PublishAmerica offered authors a chance to personalize their books.

Dedicated to someone special, for only $9.95, on the front cover! Remember, the holiday season is only weeks away! Offer expires this weekend.

Personalized books make unique and unforgettable gifts. You can dedicate them to your husband or wife, your children, parents, or friends, anyone you choose. Could be even your boss, your favorite bank teller, or Oprah!

If the cover is filled with text/images, wouldn't that get a bit cluttery? Then again, I suppose the rationale is that Oprah will be so delighted to see a book with her name on the cover that she won't care about the aesthetics.

Either way, though, these are books that most likely cannot and will not be sold, meaning that the authors will never recoup their investment. Also, they won't get royalties.

Once we print their name on your book's front cover, together with yours, you have their attention. They will show it to others, guaranteed. --> Link

So the book alone didn't catch the attention of family members and friends. They didn't bother showing it to others. However, printing their name on the cover changes everything!

Having PublishAmerica’s stamp on it, though, didn’t seem to result in a lot of sales, so authors were offered a way out of this.

Sometimes a book deserves a new start.

Not labeled in book vendor databases as POD.
A low list price.
A new publisher.

Introducing:

Independence Books.

Independence Books is our new subsidiary. It is treated as an independent publisher. Not registered as POD in vendor databases. Not registered as PublishAmerica.

Can you imagine Harlequin offering selling its authors the chance to not have the Harlequin name on the covers of their books?

Go to www.publishamerica.net, find your softcover, add to cart, use this discount coupon: IndyBooks40. Minimum volume is 7 softcovers…

PublishAmerica's online bookstore will re-list the book as an Independence Books title generally within 24 business hours. Other vendors may do so at their discretion.

In other words, Amazon.com, B&N.com, etc. will list the book if they feel like it.

And the latest try for cash was an offer to put authors’ pictures on the front covers of books. PA already puts authors’ pictures on the back covers.

We encourage you to do what the celebrity authors do. Let's change your book's cover and put YOU on it!

It will make the book look even better, whether it's fiction or nonfiction.

This is a ridiculous appeal to vanity. If the author's photograph automatically makes any book look better, why don't other publishers use those for the covers of their books rather than spending money on cover art?

And your readers will recognize at a glance that you're that book's author. A book with the author's picture on the front also makes for a very personal gift.

Imagine your book in a bookstore

That won’t actually happen unless you beg the manager to take it on consignment, but you can imagine it!

and you walk around, and suddenly people start whispering to each other, "There's the author.."

Oh, I can imagine people whispering to each other about this. I just can't imagine them whispering anything complimentary.

We'll make the change for totally free, if you do the following. Go to www.publishamerica.net, find your softcover or hardcover, add to cart, use this deep discount coupon: MyPhoto50. Minimum order volume is only 5 copies.

Little wonder that PublishAmerica now sells writers the opportunity to get their rights returned.

Image from : http://www.jupiterimages.com/Image/royaltyFree/97553919

What real publishers don't do

Returning Your Rights
Price : $99.00

No joke. Here's the link, from PublishAmerica's online bookstore. So along with ordering softcover books priced at twenty dollars and above, you can also order the plug pulled on your book for only $99.

Plus a possible shipping charge, since the email PublishAmerica sent to authors about this mentioned that,

You must choose a shipping option to activate your rights return instruction.

I'm not sure what they'll be shipping to you. Perhaps a frame for the letter making it clear your rights have reverted?

Guest blog: Ten Percent of Nothing

Today I'm guest blogging on Writer Beware!

Yes, I'm all happy about it.

Not about the subject, though. Ten Percent of Nothing, by former FBI agent Jim Fisher, is subtitled The Case of the Literary Agent from Hell. And frankly, that gives Hell a bad name. Dorothy Deering is one of the most infamous literary scammers - she operated both a fee-charging literary agency and a vanity press to which she sent her own clients.

Click here to find out what eventually happened to her schemes and to her clients. And beg, borrow or buy the book if you can - it's recommended reading for all writers.

Plus, here's an article describing - in step by painful step - what a Deering victim went through. That article is especially meaningful to me, because when I originally read it in 2006, that was the first time I'd heard of literary scams and I was fascinated by them.

I still am.

Vanity presses and faulty reasoning

Writer Beware’s latest post is about the vanity publishing arms of certain commercial publishers (e.g. DellArte and Harlequin). They contracted with publishing services firm Author Solutions to set up their vanity divisions.

And the second comment to Victoria Strauss’s post is from Kevin A. Gray, a representative of Author Solutions, who uses some interesting arguments to support his position.

We are the first to say, if you can get a large advance from a major publisher; do it! Quickly! But, as you know, those advances are becoming fewer and fewer as the industry changes.

There’s no evidence that the publishing industry is changing in such a way as to offer “fewer and fewer” advances, so this just sounds alarmist.

I especially like the exclamation marks! Both of them!

These partnerships do indeed create revenues for publishers (most that I'm familiar with aren't set up as non-profits), but they also provide opportunities for authors.

What “opportunities” are these? The opportunity to hold a printed, bound copy in your hands? The opportunity to have books stocked in stores?

I’m willing to bet the one is more likely than the other.

Is it your contention that if authors can't get an advance from a traditional publisher, they should just give up on publishing their books?

This is a false trichotomy, which doesn’t acknowledge choices other than the three mentioned or implied. By this reasoning, you can either:

1. Get an advance from a major house (“traditional publisher” was a term coined by one of the founders of PublishAmerica to make it appear that their company was something other than a vanity press)

2. Give up on publishing.

3. Use a self-publishing service - which is really vanity publishing with a less off-putting name.

It’s intended to make Option the First seem too difficult, and Option the Second seem too depressing. Therefore, Goldilocks-like, you're meant to find Option the Third not so bad in comparison.

The answer to such a question is to mention all the other choices writers have. For instance, they can submit manuscripts to small presses or e-publishers. They can try real self-publishing – which doesn’t involve buying an expensive package from a self-publishing service. Or they can continue to write and improve their skills.

No one is forcing anyone to self-publish and no one is guaranteeing that if an author does self-publish he or she will reach Rowling, Palin or Grisham sales numbers.

But will they reach even mid-list numbers? Will they make back their investment?

What guarantees are there in this kind of self-publishing, anyway?

You can convince people to do something that will ruin their manuscripts’ chances and sabotage their hopes of a career in writing, without forcing them. Overly emotive language is another thing to watch out for.

Also, understand that authors' personal definitions of success vary as much as the books they write. Some want the NY Times Best Seller list. Some publish to support a business. Some to support a cause. Some for very personal reasons.

I agree, but that’s one of the concerns I have about vanity presses which try to pass themselves off as legitimate publishers. Or, for that matter, which hold out the hope that a writer printed through them may be picked up by the parent company (which is a commercial publisher). A writer who just wants to see their work in print may be satisfied with a complimentary copy and a few sales to family and friends.

What about the writer who wants the NYT bestseller list?

If their books are treated in the same way by a vanity press, it’s unlikely that the second writer will ever achieve it. And the press is equally unlikely to warn them, “If your definition of success involves the sales of thousands of copies, you’re better off refining your manuscript or improving your craft until a commercial publisher accepts your work.”

It’s because the authors’ personal definitions of success vary that there are several kinds of publishers and choices when it comes to publishing.

It’s also not clear how buying expensive publishing packages can support a business. Unless Mr. Gray meant that the business they support is the vanity press?

If an author has a book they believe in than they should publish it.

This is… disingenuous, at best.

Firstly, such a book may be very close to the writer’s heart but not necessarily good for the writer’s career. I’ve got five or six manuscripts on my hard drive, each of which I believed in when I first wrote them. With time, I realized they were not good enough for publication. They were learning experiences.

Every creative effort is not automatically suitable for public display.

Secondly, believing in a book doesn’t make it ready for publication. A book may need rewriting or editing. When writers leap from “I believe in this book” to “therefore I should publish it”, without any other reasons for said publication, they’re likely to be disappointed by rejections for the prematurely released manuscript. Which may make self-publishing appear more attractive in comparison.

Finally, writers need to be aware of what they want from a manuscript. Is it intended as self-therapy? In which case you can believe in it without publishing it. Is it intended for local sales? In which case you can believe in it while utilizing a local printer. Is it intended to sell copies to the largest readership possible? Then you can believe in it while sending it to commercial publishers.

But the idea that belief in one’s book = publication is misleading.

Image from http://www.jupiterimages.com/Image/royaltyFree/83150980

Five even more expensive ways to be printed

Inspired by the recent Harlequin developments, I searched for more vanity presses and found an even heftier price tag for vanity publishing than xLibris’s $13K Platinum Package. This post is the sequel to Five expensive ways to be printed and Five more expensive ways to get into print.

We’ll start with the cheapest, though. That’s the upfront vanity arm of a “traditional publishing company” created by an ex-PA author.

1. Publish4U, $725

Link

As well as calling itself self-publishing to appear more palatable, this press’s spiel includes the usual claims – self-publishing is the wave of the future, commercial publishers don’t want you unless you’re a celebrity, etc.

Wait! There's more ... you will also receive 15 copies of your book, gratis! Our gift to you.

And you’ll only have to sell each book for $48.33 to recoup your investment.

2. Pinnacle Package, AuthorHouse $1999

Link

That’s the basic fee for this package. There’s an additional $500 to have the printing expedited, and editing can be up to $0.084/word. Which may not seem like a lot, put this way, but that means editing for my 116,000-word manuscript Before the Storm would cost $9744.

3. EntryWay Publishing $2500

Link

Entry Way Marketing will retain 10-25 copies of the book (for which the writer paid? -- Marian) in order to help you sell the books. Of these books, 5 or more will be designated towards booksigning events. When a booksigning event is scheduled, 10 of the books will be shipped ahead of time to the bookstore location so that you will not have to worry with getting them there. This amount automatically ensures you two book events.

What’s really scary, after reading the above paragraph, is that this operation charges for editing as well.

4. Video Plus Package, Westbow Press $6499

Link

This package includes “80 Free Paperback Copies” and “20 Free Hardcover Copies”. I’m glad they’re free. Imagine how much they would cost if you didn’t fork over $6500 for them.

You also get a “Complimentary Author Copy” and a “Windshield Flyer”. Apparently just the one, maybe so you can sell your one Complimentary Author Copy.

5. The Writers’ Collective $18,000

Link

If I hadn’t read it for myself, I might not have believed it.

Our authors typically pay an average of $2k-$3k for pre-press charges which include a digital galley run. Add another $10k for a 5000 copy print run (hard cover) and $5k for a publicist, and you’re up to about $18,000, paid out over the year it takes to launch the book.

Plus, this has got to be one of the most unprofessional websites I’ve ever seen, even for a vanity press. The “What’s New” page leads to an article about how the “publisher” lost 65 pounds with some sort of aquatic aerobic exercise.

Writers, of course, stand to lose a whole lot more.

Harlequin Horizons

I’ve been reading about Harlequin's new vanity press imprint for a little while now, but this is the first time I’ve visited its website.

The intent behind creating Harlequin Horizons is to give more aspiring romance writers and women’s fiction writers the opportunity to publish their books and achieve their dreams without going through the submission process with a traditional publishing house.

Well, at least they don’t claim that they’re offering writers the opportunity to reach readers, have their books in stores or recoup their investment (much less make any money). Harlequin Horizons offers writers five packages :

Basic $599
Horizons $799
Aspirations $999
Marketing Plus $1199
Booksellers $1599

The last time I saw a table like this, I was searching for vanity presses to include in my regular “five expensive ways to get into print” post. I would never have expected to see something similar under the umbrella of an actual publisher… and there are additional charges for editing, marketing and so on. Such as a personalized email campaign for $12,000.

And there’s the “Hollywood Book Trailer” for $20,000.

Harlequin is likely to profit. The allure of its brand will overcome the upfront cost for some (if not many) writers, and Harlequin holds out the carrot of picking up certain books for commercial publication. Which books would those be?

While there is no guarantee that if you publish with Harlequin Horizons you will picked up for traditional publishing, Harlequin will monitor sales of books published through Harlequin Horizons for possible pick-up by its traditional imprints.

I wonder if any writers will buy up their own books in bulk so that Harlequin will consider them.

Five defenses of vanity presses

1. “The press did everything they said they would do” or “they did everything specified in the contract.”

This one implies trustworthiness and reliability. Living up to the terms of a contract is a good thing, isn’t it?

The problem is that such contracts are usually written to favor the publisher rather than the writer. For instance, a contract may specify that the writer has to promote the book, whereas the publisher will only market it “at our discretion” – meaning, “if we feel like it”.

Some contracts are set up to ensure that legally, the publisher need only do the bare minimum - turning the book from a Word document to a pdf, assigning a stock image cover, adding an ISBN, and submitting the information to online bookstores (no editing, no reviews, no marketing, no distribution). It’s very easy to live up to a contract which allows so little to be done.

2. “This press will publish your book for free” or “I didn’t have to pay a cent for publication”.

This is like saying, “I didn’t need to pay a cent to borrow money from Manny the Loan Shark.” Well, no, you didn’t. Not upfront, anyway. But that’s hardly an understanding of how the loan shark’s services operate. Or, for that matter, of how loans work in the more… traditional, shall we say… institutions which offer them.

With commercial publishing, writers never pay for publication and so you don’t see them stressing this as a selling point when it comes to their publishers. With the vanity presses that don’t request fees upfront but get the charges in through the back door, it’s a major defense – and a red flag.

3. “I am satisfied with this press’s services.”

I once emailed an author to say that I had completed a manuscript and wanted to get it published; did she have any suggestions? She replied,

“For a first book I suggest Publish America. Also they have a nice discussion board and all of the new authors can share questions and it is helpful.”

Satisfaction, niceness, a pleasant atmosphere – all this is extremely subjective. Some authors are satisfied by the sale of a single book, or by their families’ and friends’ support.

"Success is my mother pitching my book at Barnes and Noble. Success is the six books purchased by my son for his friends."

Link

There’s nothing wrong with this – provided that it’s what you want for your book. The problem comes where there are crossed wires, when writers who want commercial publication (and sales to more than a pocket market) end up with a vanity press because they believe that claims of satisfaction = good sales or publication credits.

The best thing to do, therefore, is not to go by assurances of dream fulfillment or personal definitions of success. Ask about advances, sales and royalties instead, or the relevant experience of the editors. Facts are objective. And they’re better than emotions when it comes to choosing publishers.

The author who recommended PA to me didn’t say anything about marketing, royalties or the numbers of copies sold, so I knew that we had different goals when it came to our manuscripts and publication.

4. “The press works hard to put books on shelves in bookstores.”

I saw this used as a defense of Tate Publishing once. Not only is it clever, it’s one of those statements that are difficult to refute because they may well be true – just like “the publisher did exactly what the contract said it would do”.

But look at exactly what the claim states. That the vanity press actually put books on shelves? Not quite. It says the press “worked hard” to do so.

I could work hard to climb Everest. That doesn’t mean I’m going to succeed. And since there’s no specific definition of “works hard”, I could mean that I do an extra minute on the Stairmaster every day. Accomplishment is what ultimately matters, rather than attempts (or claims of such attempts).

5. “A book is better printed – by anyone – than sitting on your hard drive.”

“Every book I publish is a stepping stone, which is better than hiding my manuscript in my laptop. We all need to start somewhere, and be willing to work for it!”

Link

This is a false dichotomy. The defense assumes that there are only two fates for a book rejected by the major leagues – vanity publication or permanent residence on one’s hard drive. It also assumes that the former is better than the latter.

Other options :

• Submit the manuscript to a small press or even micropress
• Self-publish (not recommended for all books)
• Set the manuscript aside temporarily while you work on another. Time and space always help when it comes to objectively evaluating a manuscript.
• Correct whatever problems the manuscript has that might have caused the rejections

I’ve done three of these, and they’ve helped a great deal. Much more so that sending my manuscript to a vanity press or author mill, which would have eaten the rights of first publication and left me with the bones.

Five more expensive ways to get into print

I once did a post on five expensive ways to be printed. No vanity press has yet managed to beat XLibris's Platinum Package, priced at thirteen thousand dollars, but one of them comes fairly close. We’ll start with the cheapest...

1. AGoodBook.com, $250

Link

$250 might not seem like much, but this is what AGoodBook.com offers for it.

AGoodBook.com will offer the work for sale on its Internet site: AGoodBook.Com. AGoodBook.com will summarize and excerpt the book in order to motivate customers to purchase the book.

Sample summary (in its entirety):

With only his business skills and life-experiences to help him, a young and successful businessman finds himself fighting for his life, in the middle of love and international financial intrigue. Over his head, on three continents, he copes as best he can . . .and finds he likes it. Very fast paced and written in the first person, all the reader can think is, "This is could be happening to me!"

The majority of books in the e-store (in other words, eight out of the thirteen books offered for sale) were authored by the publisher, Steven Bassion. Thankfully, AGoodBook.com is no longer accepting submissions.

2. Pagefree Publishing, $399

Link

However, this is if your book is less than 70,000 words. If it’s between 70,000 and 120,000 words, the price goes up to $459. Also, this is for the paperback – the minimum cost for a hardcover is $549. Still, you do get one (1) complimentary copy and your book produced within a month.

3. SP Press, $1350

Link

That’s the minimum cost for the Designer Package. The Basic Package starts at $600 and the Custom Package at $850.

Somehow I doubt that good things come in any of these packages, given that at the cheapest level, authors get a “Generic front cover” and no ISBN. Those cost extra, as do editing, printing and press kits – “15 Kits for $200 - discounted 10% with any Publishing Package”.

The webpage also bears the usual vanity press claim that “You retain ALL rights”. No, you’ve lost both your rights of first publication and your six hundred dollars (minimum).

4. Diggory Press, > $3300

Link

When I previously mentioned vanity presses which named their different packages after gemstones or precious metals, I asked if there was any metal beyond the take-out-a-second-mortgage platinum. Why, of course. That would be Diggory Press’s Rhodium Package.

This exclusive publishing package, we think is the best publishing deal in the world.

Better than the one J. K. Rowling got for her last book, I’m sure. Still, one thing your three grand buys you is an “unlimited number of author copies available for your purchase at the normal author print prices plus delivery.”

5. VMI, > $9000

Link

Publishing with VMI: nearly ten grand.
Quotes from VMI: priceless.

There is considerable risk in publishing.

Indeed. For instance, there are a lot of vanity presses out there.

That risk increases with new authors.

Because they’re less likely to see through attempts to bleed their bank accounts dry?

The money we receive from author purchases helps pay for the initial editing, cover design, typesetting, printing, advertising, sales team costs, overhead, etc. That is why we tell our authors up-front that this is a "partnership" between publisher and author.

I’m trying to see how this is a partnership in any sense of the word. Do you go into partnership with a used-car dealer when you pay him for whatever you drive off his lot?

The costs to the author for his copies depend on the quantity ordered. The minimum order is 1000 copies.

When you order 1000 copies, you get 30% off the retail price. But using VMI’s own price of $12.99 for a 150-225 page trade paperback, you’d still be paying over nine thousand dollars before adding shipping and handling.

VMI is not a vanity publisher.

The best part is what VMI stands for: Virtue Ministries, Inc.

Thoughts on Tuesday

First, a couple of strange things I’ve seen on the Internet…

1. The publisher of Kunati Books advises authors to create not one, not two, but twelve blogs to promote their books. (Edited to add : As of August 27, 2009, Kunati is no longer in business and the publisher's blog is no longer available -- Marian)

Create multiple blogs, at a minimum twelve or more, each on separate themes

Writers are also advised to blog every day. I couldn’t help noticing, though, that this post (the most recent) was from May of this year and none of the previous posts on the front page of his blog had any comments. Perhaps as a result of Kunati’s problems with writers.

Hopefully no writers contracted with this press at the time took the publisher seriously and tried to maintain twelve or more blogs.

2. But it’s Internet law that no matter what odd thing you find, there’s something even odder out there, and that’s Alphar Publishing’s offer to readers.

Alphar… offers you, the reader, the opportunity to achieve a new form of immortality--by having either:

1) You or loved-one included as the character in a book...Just enter your name below.

2) Or... For a fee (except in the case of special promotions), we will include your preferred characteristics--such as appearance, location, idiosynchrasies, and even the additional character of a friend or adversary, and perhaps the name of your hometown or favorite hang out... enter in form below.

Where to start?

Firstly, it’s spelled idiosyncrasies.

Secondly, what author is prepared to write this kind of thing? I’ve included the names of a few people I know in my work – modified, done with their consent and not bearing any resemblance to the actual person. Not only were they my friends rather than strangers, they fitted into my world. They weren’t jammed in because they or someone else paid a fee for admittance.

Thirdly, I don’t want to imagine the possible legal repercussions of including a person’s “adversary” in the story, real name and identifying details and all.

Finally, if having your name in something printed and bound is immortality (which makes me imagine Brad Pitt in Troy shouting at his men, “Immortality! Take it! It’s yours!”), write a story starring yourself and have it bound by Kinko’s, or buy a copy from Lulu. Then put it in a strongbox and bury that deep underground, as a sort of time capsule that future generations can dig up.

On to something more cheery.

Marge at Muse Mountain awarded me a Kreativ Blogger award.



Thank you, Marge. :) I also have to name seven of my favorite things, so in no particular order…

1. Raindrops on roses Writing of every kind.

2. Tea. Tea is the drink of queens, specifically this one. Whether it’s grown in Sri Lanka or dumped into harbors in the United States, whether it’s drunk from billycans in Australia or futuristic teacups in space (in which case it should be Earl Grey and hot), tea is always a good thing.

3. The Internet. I’m very happy for my hi-speed connection and ability to look at so many sites. Back when I lived in the Middle East, not only was I on dial-up but a lot of sites were blocked by the government-controlled ISP.

4. The people who are part of my life.

5. Biology. Studying how life works has fascinated me ever since I was a wee one, and the more I learn about it, the more I want to know.

6. Music of every kind. I listen to Enya and Evanescence, to Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and Prince’s “When Doves Cry”, Genesis’s “Jesus He Knows Me” and Clay Aiken’s “Mary Did You Know”.

7. Canada. I gripe about the weather and the taxes now, but when I was in the Middle East I thought of this as the Promised Land. And things have worked out pretty well for me here.

Strategic Book Publishing

Dishonest vanity presses tend to be smart, both to deal with warnings about such presses and compete with each other for victims. So for instance, they claim they’re not vanity presses: they’re traditional publishers or joint-venture publishers. And they’re careful not to charge sums of money upfront. Instead, they shift their fees to some other aspect of publication that isn’t likely to register on writers’ radar.

For instance, in PublishAmerica’s case, writers are charged for their own (overpriced) books. Plus inflated shipping and handling charges. Plus advertising, corrections to mistakes made by the publisher, calls to the publisher (PA now has a 1-900 number), and so on. Strategic Book Publishing is similar. It’s amazing how many ways such outfits can take writers for the proverbial ride.

Just looking at their website first, Strategic Book Publishing claims,

We are a smaller "boutique" publisher. We seek authors that want a close relationship, and trusted counsel from their publisher. Our turnaround times are faster, and we believe we are more responsive than larger publishers.

Red flag right there. I don’t want a publisher that has a warm relationship with its “family” of authors, I want a publisher which sells books in substantial quantities or which has titles on the NYT bestseller list. Also, only vanity presses would boast of their fast turnaround times.

The rest of Strategic Book Publishing’s website doesn’t set off any DANGER WILL ROBINSON alarms, though the lack of testimonials from readers and heavy emphasis on authors doing their own marketing isn’t a good sign. However, what’s really fascinating is the link to Strategic Book Marketing - “Leading Edge Marketing Services To Help You Sell More Books”.

Cha-ching! (all color-enhancing is mine)

Book review blogs

Also, it is a good idea to optimize your Amazon listing as well, there are a some other techniques to enhance your listing, and we can do all the above for $295… We have been building a network of blog reviewers and we can get your work into their hands. We pay them a small amount so they prioritize our clients. Typically, we ask for $192 from the author to cover costs.

I’m a book review blogger for Thomas Nelson. I’m willing to bet they don’t charge their authors a cent for that service.

Internet radio talk show

A non-refundable one-time setup fee of $199.00 for our Author Exclusive package, or $149 for our 30 minute Author Showcase package, or $99 for our 15 minute Author Showcase package.

Additional shows cost $75 for each half-hour. Remember, we do all the work, all you have to do is talk about your book, yourself, and your market.

All you have to do is talk about your book, yourself, your market and the new charges on your credit card.

Audio books

Audio sample of your book $99

There are more services, such as building a website, coaching, electronic press kits, author displays and so on, which don’t have charges mentioned. Instead, Strategic invites authors to email them for quotes. I can only imagine how much all this might eventually add up to.

Especially when you add fees to the list.

AEG/Strategic Book Publishing (a.k.a. Robert Fletcher) is currently offering authors a choice of buying 5 books a week for a year at list price (250 books total) or paying $675 upfront.

And all this is before the fact that if you’ve had dealings with Strategic, the Florida Attorney General wants to hear from you. This place is best avoided.

The latest from PublishAmerica

I enjoy reading about vanity presses, but there’s little to be said about many of these since they’re honest about what they are. They also tend to adopt a single method of being paid by authors (e.g. up front, through book sales, etc) and stick to that more or less faithfully.

In contrast, PublishAmerica frequently attempts new tricks and tactics. Most of these are fascinating from a psychological perspective, and I have to give PA credit for sheer inventiveness; there is nothing that this author mill seems unwilling to try when it comes to getting money out of the unfortunate writers who sign up with them.

PA’s business model revolves around selling books to writers, which they do by sending weekly emails offering discounts on bulk purchases of these overpriced books. The shipping and handling for the first book is $4.99, with $2.99 for each additional book. As a PA author puts it,

But it's $4 book shipping. The shipping is a killer.

And it by no means stops there. First there was the auction for advertising space in the backs of other books.

Then there was the sale of framed royalty checks.

Then PA offered hardcover and large-print versions of books. Naturally, many authors were delighted at this news and eager to order copies, especially since hardcovers were the same price as paperbacks. Their joy didn’t last for long, though.

Well I tried ordering a few hardcovers of my book today and was told that I couldn't order any unless it was 9 or more!I think this is a big mistake because,I know everybody would buy at least one of each of their books!

It’s not as cost-effective to PA to sell one or two books at a time. That’s also why there were (and probably still are) problems with ordering hardcover books directly from PA.

On another note, has anyone noticed we can't get to the hardcovers on the PA site? I could yesterday, then when i tried today, it seemed to have disappeared. I'm hoping the site is just "under maintenance"

Let’s not get into what the shipping and handling costs for hardcovers might be. PA claimed that the prices of hardcovers will go up this week, though whether this is true or a ploy to make writers rush to purchase copies isn't clear. Authors do get regular emails offering them a small number of free hardcover books if they order paperbacks in bulk – s & h not included, of course. But then came the most recent twist.

Did anyone get the PA message about changing to a 1-900 to order books? Have any ideas of the $ $ $ that is going to cost? I have never used such a number- very disappointed.

PA’s response was that they would now have a help desk with a 1-900 number, so authors will have to pay to speak to a real person. However, authors can still order books for free.

Future book purchases can be made online, at no phone cost at all, using a special code that will be made available to all authors.

Why won’t this special code be made available to bookstores and readers? Because PA doesn’t want to sell to bookstores and readers, only to authors, and will use any opportunity, no matter how small, to force authors to buy books.

I am in the middle of working on trying to get someone to buy out my contract. The only problem is, I have to retype my book because I lost my original and PA won't send me a new electronic file. They will if I purchase more than 8 copies and then buy the e-book. I don't want an e-book.

I think of this as the vanity press version of the Death of a Thousand Cuts. In and of itself, each individual email or tactic might not result in mondo profits, but put them together and multiply them by the number of writers on whom PA preys, and it amounts to a lot. And since writers don’t even get the two free copies that they used to – PA has discontinued this practice – they nearly always end up buying copies of their own books just to see the product of their labor.

By now there are numerous warnings about PA. Writers still sign up, though – partly because they may not be aware of these problems and partly because the idea of seeing their work in print so easily and at no (initial) cost to them is too strong to resist. But that worm is on the end of a very sharp hook. And PA will keep coming up with ways to bleed whatever is caught on the end of that hook.

Reverse vanity : a love story

Inspired by Jane Smith's blog post on reverse-end vanity presses, here's a story I wrote.

For years now, you’ve wanted to be in a committed relationship with someone who loved you for yourself. It’s never happened, though. Everyone you approached has declined a date with you, and you’re feeling lonely.

Then you meet someone. Without much hope, you suggest a date but to your surprise, your request gets an immediate acceptance. Before the end of the evening, your new friend has not just paid for dinner but has told you that the two of you belong together. No playing games, no leading you along and then rejecting you. Delighted, you agree to move in together.

Most of your friends congratulate you, but one of them wonders about the speed with which this relationship has progressed. You tell him not to worry – you’ve never been happier in your life. Besides, obviously your lover isn’t one of those people who are in it for the money, since absolutely no financial demands have been made on you. Heck, your lover even paid for dinner on your first date. Things couldn’t be better.

The first week the two of you spend together is wonderful. At the end of it, your lover says, “Honey, would you like it if I cooked a special meal for the two of us?”

“Sure!” you say happily.

“Then I’ll need money for the groceries. Do you have $300?”

That seems a little expensive, but you did agree to the special meal. And besides, great food isn’t free. So you take $300 out of your wallet, and feel happy that you have someone who loves you enough to make special meals for you.

At the end of the second week, your lover says, “Sweetheart, do you think you need a new coat? This one seems a bit shabby.” You agree, and your lover asks for $600 to buy your new coat.

The second request for money makes you feel a bit uneasy, but again it’s to buy something for you, not for your lover. So you write a check. The new coat looks a lot like the old one, but you find that your lover has sewn your name into the lining, which is so sweet that you forget about the cost.

At the end of the third week, your lover suggests that you’ve been working too hard, and the two of you should take a nice vacation. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle all the arrangements. And it’ll only be three thousand dollars.” This time you have to put it on a credit card.

One of your friends – the same cynic who originally questioned your relationship – asks about this. You explain that since your lover took care of the cooking, shopping and holiday arrangements, you don’t expect financial contributions as well. You don’t mind paying – that’s an investment in your relationship.

“But doesn’t it seem as though you’re being used for your money?” your friend says.

“No way!” you say. You won’t sit and listen to your lover being bashed like that. “I wasn’t asked for a penny upfront! And each time I paid, I got something back. How is that being used?”

Your lover agrees when you repeat the conversation. “People who say things like that are just jealous of what we have together. You weren’t under any obligation to give me money, were you?” That’s true – each time your lover just made a suggestion, and you agreed. There were never any demands. “By the way, darling, next week is your birthday. If you’d like a party, could you give me a little to spend on it?”

After a month more of this, you start turning down the requests for money, though of course this means no more special treats or events for you. In fact, your lover seems to be drifting away, though that’s all right since you have to put in longer hours to make up the strange deficit in your bank account.

Sometimes you read in the paper about couples who work together to build their own business or to become financially successful in some other way. But those people had connections or were lucky. Everyone else has relationships just like yours. And once you have enough money, perhaps you can do it all over again.

PublishAmerica’s latest offer

Emails went out to PA’s “thirty thousand happy authors” yesterday.

Dear Author,

Frame this: February is royalty month. Your next royalty statement is due in less than six weeks.

Receiving their royalty check is a high moment in every author's life, no matter the dollar amount. A moment worth framing.

Since PA sends out biannual royalty checks, and since their contracts hold authors for a minimum of 7 years, this means authors will have 14 moments worth framing during their time with PA.

We are offering to frame your next royalty check for you, in a distinguished, transparent 8x10 hard coated frame that "floats" the check between sheets of glass and plexiglass.

Because nothing says “distinguished” like plexiglass.

Note: you will still receive a negotiable version of your check that you can deposit, ensuring that the framed copy is a keepsake forever.

Thanks to the glass and plexiglass, you too can enjoy the PA version of the Precious Moments figurine through eternity. And beyond.

Reserve your framed check today. Price: $19.95, plus s&h.

For most authors, the frame would be worth more than the check (though as PA was quick to point out, it’s not the check you’re framing, it’s the magical moment). The same email stated, “Checks will be mailed February 28; statements regarding titles that sold zero copies will be forwarded by email.” I don’t suppose anyone will want to frame such a statement, though.

Threads about this sprang up on at least three discussion boards, and not even PA’s defenders seemed happy about it. The good news is that whether this offer is prompted by greed or desperation or both, it’s so blatant that it may alert at least a few new authors to what PA wants out of them. PA doesn’t charge for publication - which lures people in - but it charges for

1. Books (a 182-page paperback is priced at $24.95)

2. Shipping and handling ($4.99 for the first book, $2.99 for each additional book)

3. Advertising (PA’s auction, which has since been repeated)

4. Lack of advertising (after some authors found inappropriate advertising in their books, others wanted their books free of advertising. PA offered to make it so for $300)

5. A frame for each royalty check ($19.95 + s&h)

6. The return of rights (starting at $300)

I wonder what PA will try to sell to authors next. A frame for the dollar advance? Cover art? A special certificate saying “Congratulations, you are now a Published Author”? A frame for that? With PA, you never can tell.

Jones Harvest Publishing

Yesterday I read of a blog entry which apparently mistook Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware for a publisher. Then again, the blogger also mistook Lee Goldberg for a woman (and also a publisher). I was intrigued and read further, learning that the inaccurate blog was written by the owner of Jones Harvest Publishing.

Jones Harvest Publishing (JHP) was formed by Brien Jones, a former employee of Airleaf Publishing. Airleaf was a literary fraud which was shut down by the Indiana Attorney General after over 450 scammed authors joined forces against it. I decided to take a look at the JHP website.

Under the company’s name are the words “Co-op publishing for new authors”. That’s two red flags in five words. “Co-op” is a euphemism for “vanity”, and new authors are often too inexperienced to spot the warning signs of such a vanity press.

On the plus side, the website didn’t contain a submissions link or inaccurate information about publishing that I could see, nor does it make any reference to payment to the publisher. It also features JHP titles and covers prominently.

Unfortunately, several of the book covers don’t look professional or artistic, and they don’t give me an idea of what the books are about. Here’s an example which I picked because the cover art seemed to indicate a fantasy.



The drawing on the cover is not in proportion – the horse isn't large enough to carry the man’s weight, but judging from his position, he’s not exactly riding it. Also, since it isn't colored, it has an unfinished look. The title (The Unsearchable Title, which makes the book sound like humor or a parody) also seems to be done in the Vivaldi font, which isn’t easy to read.

The Love Scrolls is a non-sequential rhyming epic series, and The Unsearchable Title, its next work is a love story for the ages, one that might just define our age. --> Link

Whether this is a fantasy or not, at $21.95 for 128 pages I’m not paying to find out, especially if it’s written in the same vein as the synopsis. I continued reading and found the JHP has several imprints and its own review service, Starred Review. It reviews books published by JHP, which is a conflict of interest to say the least.

Starred Review does feature another reviewer, though – "T&R Reviews”. I’d never heard of them before, so I Googled them. Only one page of hits came up, all associated with – you guessed it – Jones Harvest Publishing. According to Bonnie Kaye of Airleaf Victims Fight Back,

People pay Jones Harvest to get their books reviewed. I read the review. It was signed by Tim, Brien's former phone receptionist and college nephew. His title under his name was "Media Researcher and Educator, T&R Reviews." The T&R stands for Tim and Rosa, Tim's wife.

Then I checked out Brien Jones’s blog. Jackpot!

Why choose Jones Harvest Publishing?

Cost - Everything is included for just $950. We never charge for corrections.

This information may have been purged from the website, but it’s still on the blog, in the form of an email meant to show what a bad person Bonnie Kaye is. As far as I’m concerned, it just shows what a vanity publisher JHP is, and there’s further evidence from the same entry to back that up.

Hometown Campaign - $350

Regional Coverage - $750

National Blitz - $1450

All that money to “blitz” the media about a book that is unlikely to have received professional editing and is unlikely to be available to the public. The personal pitch from Mr Jones names an even higher figure, though.

We will not be satisfied until we place [Your book] in bookstores everywhere and [You] is a celebrity. This program has a one-time fee of $7500. There are no further charges of any kind.

The writer was offered a chance to pay only $5000, since this was the publisher’s way of “apologizing for the past misfortunes”. Considering that JHP seems to target senior citizens, this is even more sad. I emailed Mr Jones as well, inquiring about the services offered by JHP, and received a copy-and-paste spiel that didn't even address me by name but which offered the "Jones Harvest Publishing stimulus package".

For the rest of the year (This one-time offer only available for three days? -- Marian) we are charging just $950 to publish in paperback. That’s an eight hundred dollar discount from our regular price of $1750.

I found one last piece of evidence regarding JHP’s fees on another blog; apparently JHP “will guarantee an interview on a nationally syndicated AM/FM radio show”, but for this and other services, the fee was $2700.

In a movie called Where Does It Hurt? Peter Sellers played an extremely crooked hospital administrator who had a system designed to fleece patients as much as possible. The film begins with a perfectly healthy guy going in for a minor checkup, only to be talked into going for a complete round of tests. As each test is conducted, a close-up at the bottom of the screen shows a typewriter noting the cost. Cha-ching! That’s what came to mind when I thought of all the Jones Harvest Publishing charges.

Mr Jones’s blog was the final nail in the coffin.

Perhaps after wading through the “impartial forums” I might see the Better Business Bureau emblem on the Jones Harvest website. If I clicked on that emblem I would then see that Jones Harvest Publishing has a PERFECT record with the BBB.

The BBB is toothless when it comes to literary scams. As long as the publisher pays its dues and claims to have looked into complaints, the BBB is satisfied. Any time anyone defends a publisher by citing a BBB record, they’re either clueless about publishing or don’t have anything better to provide.

The blog also confuses vanity publishing with self-publishing. Although it does have support and testimonials from a few of its authors, there’s nothing to contradict the evidence of large fees being charged. Instead, there’s simply a lot of denigration of Bonnie Kaye.

I notice she says, “Happy Holidays”, instead of “Merry Christmas”. In this day and age of political correctness, this tells me something-that she is secular.

Best not to jump to conclusions here. I say “Merry Christmas” (and sing Christmas carols) but I’m more of an unbeliever than Thomas Covenant.

So, that’s it for Jones Harvest Publishing. Do I get to be a publisher now?

Five kinds of weasel words

Scam agencies or publishers often make claims that sound good but which allow them to either skirt the truth or wriggle out of any obligations to writers. Watch for the weasel words in their phrasing.

1. “Your book will be available to bookstores.”

Available to them, or available in them?

Readers who haven’t already heard of the book won’t go up to the special order desk to ask for it. Even those who know of the book’s existence may not be willing to place an order without having read at least part of it… meaning the book should be available in stores.

“Available through bookstores” is another way for publishers without distribution to cover themselves.

2. “We market the book at our discretion.”

What exactly does “at our discretion” mean?

I haven’t seen any publisher which claimed this actually define what their discretion would entail. Usually because when they say this, they mean, “We market your book when we feel like it” or “We market your book to you extensively; to other buyers, not so much”.

3. “We have worked with dozens of major publishers”.

You might see this claim made by a scam literary agency – either this or “Here are the publishers who have worked with our clients”. This will be followed by a list of prestigious names like Random House and St. Martin’s.

Unfortunately, “worked with” can mean anything. If I send a manuscript to Tor and get a rejection, I can say I have worked with Tor, and that will sound very impressive until I define exactly what our working relationship was.

The funny part is that I found this on the Barbara Bauer agency website, which lists PublishAmerica along with several major commercial publishers. This is shooting yourself in the clown shoe; an agency which works with PA in any capacity is one you want to avoid like the plague.

Maybe that’s why Random House is mentioned twice in the list; gotta make up for PA.

4. “We’ll send a press release to the New York Times.”

Yes, but will they print it?

Press releases aren’t much good unless they’re sent out well in advance of the book’s release date and accompanied by a review copy. Major newspapers are also inundated with press releases, meaning they’re highly unlikely to feature any book that’s been self-published or vanity-published.

5. “The staff of Oprah receives our newsletter.”

Maybe, but do they read it?

Send Oprah a copy of your manuscript or book, and you too will be able to say that the staff of Oprah has received a copy of your manuscript or book. And since they are probably conscientious people, it will have gone into the recycle bin rather than the regular trash.