When we were actively publishing it seemed I spent half my time warning wannabe writers to watch for the con artists. Writers give birth to a story. Because it is their baby they are willing to do almost anything to see it in print. Whether they are thinking of being the next Tom Clancy and famous and rich or just famous, the author stops thinking of risk.

The con artists know a new writer is an easy mark. Be it the agent who is going to "submit" the manuscript to "well known" publishers or the publishers themselves, the writer is an easy money cow. Many of the old tried and true lines go like this.

"Your idea and story is a Best Seller. Send us X amount of dollars for editing, making copies, filing fees, copyright fees, staff fees, and we will submit it to X publisher. (usually those fees start out pretty small, less than a thousand dollars) But the fees for whatevers never stops and the writer is promised the big payout is just ahead. If the writer is gullible enough he or she will mortgage the house, take out a bank loan, borrow from relatives, until there is no more money to be had.

The agent or publisher will write the poor victim off with a letter of apologies. It just needed a tiny bit more money to grease the wheels to success as they hope the poor sap will take the bait one last time.

God, how many times have I heard or read that tale of woe from writers who got into that financial nightmare? So I tell them, "No, I'm sorry we can't publish your story. We aren't that kind of publisher. We are "On Demand Publishers". No, we aren't Vanity Publishers. We take your manuscript and turn it into a book whether you want one or a thousand. No, we do not print your books and wait for you to sell them to receive a payment. We aren't your credit company. No, I can't help you get your money back from them other people. We aren't lawyers."

All this came back to me this morning as I was reading an advertisement from another one of "those book publishers" promising me my book would be in print and I would be a published author. (Sign up and we will disclose the details) wasn't part of their advertisement. I did a Google search and review of them. AuthorHouse aren't nice people. http://authorhouse.pissedconsumer.com/

Writers, please be careful and take time to read the fine print. Ask about satisfied customers and call them to make sure they are real people. The bottom line is you do NOT pay for anything. Agents will take you on if your story is good. If they ask for money, run.
Publishers will take you if you have connections and the story is good. If they ask for money, run.

You want to see your story in print and have twenty or thirty dollars spare change. Use an On Demand Book Publisher. They will print you out one or more at a very small cost.

I wish everyone may achieve their hearts desire in life. You were given a chance. What you do with it isn't always up to you and it isn't always fair. If you don't try, you lost before you began.

always,
Barb