“A literary agency wants to represent my 12-year-old self-published book. Legit or not?”
“Because I hear so many horror stories about companies like this agency scamming authors (and yes, they approached me first!), I’m…”
writing scams
Promote Your OWN Website, Not Your Publisher’s
Author Andy was so excited! His new book was finished and he’d just approved his print galley. It was time to start selling books! His publishing company put his book up for sale on their website and sent him the URL where he could send people who wanted to purchase his book.
Andy didn’t have his own website or blog, but he didn’t think that would be a problem. Unfortunately, it was, on several fronts. And, while Andy and the other authors below are fictitious, the scenarios are based on real complaints we’ve received from authors over the years. In every case, had the author had their own website or blog, he or she would have lost few, if any, sales.
A publisher wants $4,000 to market my book to OTHER publishers?!
They are simply luring in authors, and then upselling them on worthless services.
A VERY Expensive Anthology Scam Targeting Writers
Authors must pay more than $1,000 to be included. It costs even more if the author wants his or her name on the cover…
Can You REALLY Trust Your Secretary, Webmaster, or Publishing Consultant to “Sign” Your Publishing Agreement? – by Angela Hoy
An author recently asked his webmaster to complete a publishing contract on his behalf (which was, of course, not legally binding). What the author learned later, however, was quite disturbing…
Do NOT Pay Someone to Showcase Your Book at a “Virtual Book Fair!”
I received an unsolicited phone call from a senior marketing consultant at a company that displays books at book fairs. She said her company was only taking 10 books to a book fair in Europe and they chose mine…
Tax Refunds of Tate Publishing’s Owners Will Be “Intercepted” by the Oklahoma Attorney General
PLUS: The Oklahoma Attorney General’s files about Tate Publishing have “mysteriously” vanished in the past week! Why?!
“Amazon won’t remove the old listing for my book even though the publisher is out of business!”
“I was able to break the contract before they went out of business. However, my book is still advertised on Amazon Children’s Books, with all of the previous information, pricing, etc…”
“This journal CHARGED me to publish my article and they want to CHARGE me to cancel it!”
“In early September, a firm contacted me through LinkedIn, and asked me to submit an article to their online (medical) journal…”
“My publisher says only three copies of my book have sold. I don’t believe them. What can I do?”
Q – Hi Angela, Is it possible for me to find out about how many of my books have been sold? It was published almost a year ago as an ebook and print book on the major sites. Up to now, according to the publisher, only 1 print book and 2 ebooks had been sold. […]