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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Books You Are Brilliant. Give Us Money.

Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 3:12 PM

Guys Lit Wire has a pretty good post up about scams that prey on wannabe authors, including those poetry contests that require you to buy a copy of the book, publishers who demand fees for copy editing, and agents who demand readings fees. I know that frauds always prey on the weak, but making your money off aspiring authors seems especially low to me.

They have good advice that everyone who wants to write should read:

Even if an anthology or magazine can’t pay you for your poem (or short story or butter cookie recipe) you should get a free copy.

Real publishers don’t charge fees. They're supposed to pay you. While some may not offer an advance, all of them take on the publishing costs and financial risks. (And most won't accept submissions until you have an agent to represent you, anyway.)

Real agents don’t charge fees. Not to read your stuff and not to represent your stuff. They make their money by selling books and taking a percentage of the profits.

It's amazing that these scams still work.

Comments (6) RSS

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Especially in a time when actual print on demand (Lulu, Blurb, etc) is so bloody easy!

Posted by Chris B on February 18, 2009 at 3:28 PM

This is a pretty fun DIY contest. If you like Haiku you should check out this families site. They are leaving all of their worldly possessions behind and traveling the world. They are getting rid of a bunch of stuff via a weekly Haiku Contest. You can check it out here:

http://www.fromheretouncertainty.com/hai…

Posted by Gerry on February 18, 2009 at 3:44 PM

I think every art form has these a-holes. There are hundreds of businesses out there whose sole purpose in life is to take money from gullible independent musicians with day jobs.

Posted by Levislade on February 18, 2009 at 4:17 PM

The first rule of being a paid author is that money flows TOWARDS the writer. Once it's starts going the other way you're in trouble. So while these people are farking assholes, the scammed writers could have done a tad more research before writing the check.

Posted by BakerB on February 18, 2009 at 4:34 PM

As a novelist who finally gave up. I can tell you it is really really really really difficult to get an agent to read your manuscript. Much harder than getting a publisher. That is the weakest link in the publishing world, But really the heart of the matter is people are looking for celebrities writing about cliche subjects. If you want to to do more than play the lottery, write non-fiction.

Posted by abc on February 18, 2009 at 5:27 PM