Be Wary of Publishers Who Solicit You
Writers often ask: “Is such-and-such a good publisher? They just offered me a deal. I’ve never heard of them.”
Often this “deal” shows up soon after you apply for a book copyright, which is your first clue that the company is getting email addresses from a list.
I can’t stress this enough: be extremely skeptical of a publisher who contacts you out of the blue. That isn’t how legitimate publishers work, and by legitimate, I mean those who aren’t out to make a quick buck. When considering any publisher, the absolute first thing to do is Google their name, plus the words “review” and “scam.” It’s very easy to see which ones have a bad reputation. But also be skeptical of publishing names that bring up no info at all. That may indicate that they’re a fly-by-night operation.
There are also several websites, like Writer Beware, that keep a list of problematic publishers. It’s a good idea to peruse those lists when you’re looking into publishing options.
In writing groups, we throw around the term “publishing scam,” but truthfully, scam is too harsh a word for most vanity publishers, like Austin Macauley or Pegasus. They’re not complete rip-off artists nor fly-by-night: some even boast decades in the business. They do provide a product for your money. The problem is that they sell services at a high mark-up, services you could easily find for yourself, like cover design and proofreading. They also woo customers on the idea that the writer now has an official publisher, and is no longer part of the unwashed self-publishing masses. They prey on a new writer’s desire for legitimacy, for affirmation that their writing is a cut above. Is it? Maybe. Unfortunately, it’s still self publishing. There’s no standard for entry; vanity publishers will accept anyone willing to part with cash. You’re just paying a premium to do what you could have accomplished yourself.
And—call me biased!—the quality of editing is not comparable to that of a well-vetted, professional editor. Since the editors in these companies don’t see much of the money that’s paid for their services, they operate on a churn-and-burn model: give one quick, basic pass through the manuscript and move on to the next. That’s if the publisher even employs humans and not just AI programs, which don’t come close to catching what a human editor would.
But the most objectionable thing these firms do is give the impression that they market their books and try to sell copies. They don’t—there’s no money in that. As soon as you send them payment, they have their prize. Then they’ll churn out a sloppy product and move on to sweet-talking the next hopeful writer.
This doesn’t apply to all small publishers out there. There are legitimate small publishers who, while also for profit, genuinely care about their products. They don’t accept any writer with money; they take on books they believe in, and give an effort towards marketing. Again, a thorough Google search will usually reveal which type of business a publisher is running.
Remember, it’s very unusual for an upstanding publisher to approach you out of the blue, so proceed with extreme caution if this happens. Do your research, because the dirt is out there. It breaks this copy editor’s heart to have to tell someone that the deal they’re so excited about is no deal at all.