THE DARK SIDE OF
PUBLISHING
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT PUBLISHING
SCAMS
The first
thing an author does once he or she has finished the final draft of their
manuscript is start sending it to publishers. For most they send out query
letters and follow submission guidelines to the letter. If what they have
written catches the eye of a publisher, then they are sent a contract. However,
there is a dark side to publishing and it is called the Vanity Press. What is a
vanity press, you ask. It is any publisher who charges to publish books and
written materials. Not sure there’s a problem with that? Well there is a huge
problem when you take a publisher like America Star Books also known as Publish
America who has been notorious for its false claims, scams, and not paying
authors. I know this because I was once one of their authors when they were
under the name Publish America.
In
2009, I wrote my first novel. I labored over it and even involved the help of a
very good friend of mine who happened to be my Creative Writing teacher from
college. She helped me to edit it and then I had the task of sending it to
publishers. I sent copies to all the big names and of course I either got “Sorry,
we cannot accept it at this time” or “Sorry not interested” and “We only take
submissions via a literary agent”. Most of them didn’t reply at all which left
me in limbo. I was green; I knew ZERO about the publishing game and that was
how I found Publish America. I sent in my manuscript and within a week I got a
phone call stating that they wanted my manuscript and they would send me a
contract. Sure enough, I got that and a $1 check in the mail which I didn’t
cash-who wants to cash something that small? Anyhow I was ecstatic. I looked
over the contract not really knowing much but it seemed pretty clear. I would
get 10% of sales from each book and would receive a royalty check as soon as I
sold $500 worth of books. That meant, my commission had to get to $500. I
thought, “Okay, I just have to work really hard.” At the time, we still had a
local bookstore; Walden Books. I couldn’t wait to schedule book signings and
see my book on the local author shelf and get the local library to carry my
book. That is where the dream stopped.
First
off, no book store (and I called them all within my state-both big chains and
local mom and pop book stores) would carry it because Publish America offered
no return policy, the book price points were set too high, and the only way I could
do book signings were if I consigned copies (meaning I buy the books and then
reimburse myself with the copies that might sell). Publish America never gave
me a press release which they had collected information for and promised me.
Instead what I got was E-Mail after E-Mail of offers to buy my own book and to
have my book reviewed by big name authors, and services that most publishing
companies already do that they do not charge the author for. The biggest heart
ache was when I at last got my author’s copy. I began looking through each page
and was horrified to see sentences cut off and my book basically chopped up
more than a Chef’s Salad. It was like they had just copied and pasted and did a
poor job at that. The price point for my book was $35.99 for a book that was
barely 300 pages long and in soft cover at that. That being said, I did sell
copies. I sold over sixty books. I should have been happy about that but
according to the Royalty Statement I was only counted royalties for 10 copies
of my book due to “intended promotional copies”. I still didn’t want to believe
I had been had.
The
straw that broke the camel’s back was the E-Mail I received that for $400 my
book would be shown and represented at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany. I
almost fell for it. We had gotten a pretty nice tax check, and I was nearly to
the point of getting my husband to invest in me. Something just kept nagging at
me though so I looked up the book fair. Indeed there is a book fair. I ran up
my phone bill calling the international number all the way in Frankfurt,
Germany and after several calls I finally got an English speaking person to
help me. I asked them if Publish America was scheduled to be there to vend
books. I was told that they didn’t even know who that company was. I gave them
the Maryland address. They still had no clue. I immediately contacted Publish
America and asked very nicely why they were not listed and I was E-Mailed with
a response that made me feel an inch tall and madder than a wet cat. I was
accused of lying and getting wrong information. Then I was told that Publish
America has invested in me as an author and I should be grateful. The next
offers came-“Pay X amount of money to have your book at the NY Times Book Fair,
UCLA Book Festival, and AARP Book Fair” All these places I called and they all
had never heard of Publish America. I even got E-Mails that I forwarded to
Publish America and they still accused me of false information. Then they began
with the book reviews for x amount of dollars from celebrities like Oprah
Winfrey, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Stephen King, and J K Rowling. J K
Rowling was to review books at the Edinburgh Book Fair in Scotland. She came
out swinging and was even on the world wide news claiming she had no such
dealings with Publish America nor was she contracted to review ANY books. Her
lawyer immediately sent a cease and desist order, to Publish America.
I had
at this point begun to just save E-Mails from Publish America rather than read
them. They were frauds and the BBB and the Maryland State’s Attorney General
found no wrong with them because they had their loop holes. I still had never
bought a single copy of my book. The only copy I had was the author’s copy they
sent me.
This
could have had a sad end because so many of their authors are still under
contract with them and still not making a dime. I found a cloud with a silver
lining. My dear friend, fellow author, and mentor, Denyse Bridger, found a law
office here in the states that were doing a class action suit against Publish
America and I immediately contacted them. I sent them all 1200 E-Mails I had
including the one that pertained to J K Rowling, the author of Harry Potter. Last year, I got my rights
back as an author to my book and Publish America had to remove my book from
their site and vendors. To this day, Amazon is the only one who still hasn’t
gotten with the program even though I sent them everything from the law office
who handled the class action suit. Today Publish America is still in business
with their promises but under a new name, America Star Books. How can they do
that? I don’t know, your guess is as good as mine. They are predators on
authors and will virtually publish anything. They give false promises,
condescending responses, and know NOTHING about publishing.
What to
look for with a publisher or even a self publisher
First
off, read your contracts. Read them and even have an actual lawyer look at
them. If they are not clear and to your understanding, then run far and run
fast from them. A good publishing company has a clear and concise contract with
no small print or hidden agenda. The standard percentage for royalties is about
6% give or take. Most publishing companies whether they are self-publishing pay
by the quarter. If sales are very low, they might ask that the writer combine
it with the next quarter but you get paid and paid what you are owed. Next, the
standard contract usually expires within 2-3 years not 7 or even 10. Publish
America had me for 7 long years with my book. A reputable publisher also will
outline what they intend and what you will have to do for the marketing of your
book. Be ready to do a lot of work yourself because most publishers unless it’s
one of the big names, will require you to blog, use word of mouth, use of
social networks, and do the leg work with book stores. However, they will give
your book an ISBN number and list it with online vendors, have a return policy,
and do not over price the price points so that book stores and online vendors
can move your book to consumers. Publishing companies want you to sell books
because that is how THEY make money and everyone wants to make money. They
might clue you in to book fairs and what not but most of that is on you, the
author to do. If your books are physical books, then you might need to consign
copies or the publisher might send a few promo copies and E Book publishers may
offer discounts to consumers that they may push with their online vendors but
again, marketing is up to the author. Publishers-especially small presses
cannot afford to just mass produce books and send them so they don’t advertise
that and they do not charge you the author for that service since well they can’t
afford to mass produce books.
Publishers
like Publish America do not want to push your book to the consumer they want to
get as much money out of you as they can that is why they offer the world
practically. A reputable publisher will let you know exactly what they are able
to do, willing to do, and what you must do yourself. Blogging and making use of
social networks are tools as word of mouth is. Reputable publishers will list
your books with every online vendor they possibly can but again marketing and
promotion is up to you. The reward is that you will draw people’s interest and
they may choose to buy your book which means money in your pocket not out of
it. Steer clear of vanity presses. Go to websites like: http://www.writersbeware.com and
http://www.authorsden.com. Talk to other authors and publisher and follow
submission guidelines to the LETTER! Failure to follow guidelines will ensure
no one ever sees your manuscript. Any publisher that seems too good to be true
usually is. Go with your gut and if you’re still not sure-ask other authors and
publishers. Network! Do not be prey to a predator Vanity Press like America
Star aka Publish America.
Right
now the US laws on this kind of pyramid scheme and fraud are pretty vague. I
got lucky that there was a class action suit pending with Publish America but
that was luck. If you find yourself a victim, keep right on the publisher
asking for your rights back. Sometimes you might even have to pay money to be
released from your contract but it could prove very profitable to invest in
getting your rights back and your work free and clear of them. Once they have
their claws stuck in, it is near impossible to get them out. If you can afford
an attorney, you will invest more money but that is another avenue to getting
out of a vanity press predator. You can also rewrite your work and use a
different title but beware because if a publisher even gets a slight hint that
you’ve been previously signed with one of these kinds of publishers and it can
even slightly be considered copyright infringement they will drop you like a
hot potato and you will find yourself black balled. The best advice is to
educate yourself before you sign on that dotted line or sign an electronic
contract. Read, Read, Read and do some detective work. Once you sign, you are playing
Russian roulette and you’re going to lose. Most publishers if they know you
have something published by these kinds of presses will NOT do business with
you just because of the stigma and black mark these places give off. They are a scam; a fraud that so far very few
laws to fight them with. They are slippery and know their loop holes well.
Steer clear and pass this along. The best defense against these scum bags is a
great offense and the more word that gets out about them the less people they
will prey upon and the less people they will rob.
PUBLISHERS TO BEWARE OF
American Book Publishing (Salt Lake City, UT)
Archebooks Publishing (Las Vegas, NV)
Helm Publishing (Rockford, IL)
Hilliard and Harris (Boonsboro, MD)
Oak Tree Press (Taylorville, IL)
Park East Press (Dallas TX) (formerly Durban House, formerly Oakley Press)
PublishAmerica aka America Star Books (Frederick, MD)
Royal Fireworks Press/Silk Label Books (Unionville, NY)
SterlingHouse Publisher (Pittsburgh, PA--imprints include, among others, Pemberton Mysteries, 8th Crow Books, Cambrian House Books, Blue Imp Books, Caroline House Books, Dove House Books, and PAJA Books)
SBPRA/Strategic Book Publishing/Eloquent Books (Boca Raton, FL--formerly known as The Literary Agency Group and AEG Publishing Group)
Tate Publishing (Mustang, OK)
Whitmore Publishing Company (Pittsburgh, PA)
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