August 6 question - What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?
I'm going to say honestly that I don't know. However, there are a lot of bad actors in the publishing industry. Many of these bad actors can be found on the Writer Beware blog.
Buy Link:
Here is the blurb for the book by Michael N. Marcus.
Outskirts Press calls itself "the fastest-growing full-service publishing provider." It published seven books in 2002, its first year, and over 5,000 books in 2009. Some of those books, and the press releases that promote them, are filled with silly errors that should have been avoided. When authors are disappointed and enraged., service reps hide behind the fine print of a contract that does not warrant that books will be error-free. Outskirts is also inept (and dishonest) when it promotes itself. Its website, emails, press releases, blogs and promotional literature have factual errors, mistakes in grammar, spelling and arithmetic- and deliberate distortion. Outskirts uses such grandiose phrases as "a veritable army of publishing professionals" to attract customers - but those professionals tell lies to make independent self-publishing seem much harder than it really is. Although Outskirts uses such buzzwords as "self-publishing" and "print-on-demand," it's really a vanity publisher. Vanity publishers make most of their money by selling services and overpriced trinkets to naïve authors - not by selling books to readers. The books are often ugly, unedited and overpriced. They sell poorly, and are seldom reviewed. This book was written to make potential customers of Outskirts Press and other vanity publishers aware of the trouble that likely awaits them, and to let vanity publishers know that their lies and failures will be noticed and publicized. It's also a very funny book.
My Experience
My Experience
I fell victim to Outskirts Press when I published my first book back in 2007. I lost thousands of dollars and stopped writing for five years. I kick myself every day for being so stupid. However, I think more than anything else, I was desperate. I knew my story would never have mainstream appeal. The options available to self-published authors today simply were not available in 2007.
Predatory publishers like Outskirts Press still exist, preying on people desperate to tell their stories. These people are often broken souls, having had very little support or encouragement during their lives. Taking advantage of such people certainly falls into the category of evil.
Ornery Owl Has Spoken
Free Use Image from Open Clipart Vectors
Oh man! I'm sorry you got sucked into that and the fall out. We didn't know better back then, though. The internet wasn't really mainstream. We worked in isolation and trusted in the good of humanity. Thank goodness for this modern age where we can avoid scams with a quick search.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, I don't really trust in the good of humanity. I've been stabbed in the back too many times. I was 42 years old at the time yet still naive enough to believe these publishers were on the up and up. I probably ignored the red flags just like I did in the bad relationships I ended up in.
DeleteI consider myself lucky not to have fallen for the marketing of these sorts of companies. They are tempting!
ReplyDeleteNever search for a publisher while desperate is good advice. I did, and it was the beginning of my troubles.
DeleteI'm sorry you had that experience with a bad press. It helps to really take a long look at who has been published by various presses. I have worked with a small press that was amazing and professional (Dancing Lemur Press is great!) and I have worked with one that was less professional, but not actually a scam press - just disorganized and uncommunicative. (not going to name the last one because I've met people who have had decent experiences with them since, so I believe they've tried to change.)
ReplyDeleteMichael Marcus' book has much more information about Outskirts press than I can provide in a single post. I'm not trying to get trad published at this point in my life. Back in 2007, there wasn't really any other option besides trad or vanity presses. Self-publishing really wasn't a thing yet.
DeleteBroken soul or not, they don't have the right to hurt others. I'm sorry it happened to you, and I'm glad you're back. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
Sorry, my wording must not be as clear as I believed it was. I did not mean that the publishers were broken souls. I mean that the kinds of people who fall for scams like I described in the post tend to be broken souls.
DeleteAhhh I'm sorry! I definitely don't think you should make yourself feel bad for falling victim to these predatory practices, though. Your experience can help other people avoid the same mistakes, and that's valuable on its own! I hate that people do this, I don't know how companies like this don't get sued.
ReplyDeleteI doubt enough people read this blog that it will make a difference. I hope it might.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you fell victim to those unscrupulous fellows. A lesson to all of us.
ReplyDeleteThank you Olga.
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