Have You Been Ripped Off?

Have You Been Ripped Off?

When most writers think about being ripped off by publishers, they think of the Vanity Press. These presses are nothing more than glorified printing houses, like the one downtown in your city, who offer individual writers the same printing packages they offer small publishers, but at a greatly increased price. On top of that, they charge editing fees, cover design fees, and even a fee for trying to sell the book etc.

VPs even offer publishers a kick-back if they send their ‘rejects’ a letter saying the Vanity Press (under a name that sounds like a publisher) is interested in their book.

These rats prey on new writers.

Self Published authors know they can go to sites like lulu.com and have their book self published for free. And, in every case, a writer should secure their own editor.

However, it is not the vanity press operators that are the real rip off con artists. It is (some) of the small publishers. These are people who run a publishing company from their kitchen table. They publish first time authors, often selling both e-books and trade paperbacks, but with little success. They don’t put their own money behind the book. Which makes it a little easier to spot them, a good way to figure out if a publisher fits into this category is to find out if their authors pay their own copyright fees.

Small publishers who do not distribute books with the larger distributors shouldn’t be called publishers, in my opinion. I know several authors who have been burnt – bad. One writer waited three years for her book to be published, and in the next two years only one copy was sold. Another author was told she needed to pay her own fees to have a distributor pick up the novel. Then it was rejected because it was poorly edited.

So, why would the publisher go to all the trouble of setting up a venture like this, if they are not willing to put the work in to making the company a success? Well, from this side of the desk, the answer is easy. A publishing company is a sweet commodity to include on a resume. The ‘halo’ effect it has on a career – especially a public speaking one, is invaluable. A public speaker not only makes expenses, but can make up to $2000.00 for a two hour talk – in the publishing world they’d have to sell about 3000 books to make the same money and invest a lot more time. They can also build a graphics art portfolio, which may lead to a $50 000 + job a year as a graphic artist. And, I am sure there are many more benefits. Maybe their spouse owns a printing company?

I don’t begrudge anyone the chance to get ahead. But, these people make victims of writers in the exact same way as vanity presses. They don’t ask for a fee up front, but they do loose the author in sales over a five year span. It is a breach of trust.

An author submits their book with the hopes of making money. The publisher knows, even as they send out the contract, that the author will not make any money. That ~ makes these publishers con artists in a very real sense of the word.

Have you been ripped off? Attach your story to this blog as a comment.