Episode #170: A Tale Of Literary Woe And Redemption

Books By G.B. Miller

 I am one of those rare anomalies in the writing world, in which I am the publishing trifecta, for lack of a better term. I have been traditionally published (pic with link), self published reputably (bottom pic of the same book with a different title and cover) and self published disreputably (no pic).

Today's post is about how to prevent yourself from publishing your book disreputably, and the fun and games you can have if you come across vanity publishers, usually on Facebook.

My T.L.;D.R. version is basically this. An author that I had met at as a vendor at my job (pre-pandemic we would have vendors to hawk their goods), had published a number of books through ASI (aka Author's House) and had recommended them to me if I wanted to get my (very badly at the time) novel published. Eagerly I said 'yes' and off I went.

Little did I know that after paying roughly $1,100 to have two badly written books published I would eventually come to realize that pay-to-publish was not a thing, but paying people to create certain products for me was (graphic design, editing and formatting) was very much a thing.

Also, I belatedly learned that all publishers are not the same, and that using Google back in the late 00's would have been a good thing for me to do. Would have saved myself a ton of money, ridicule and scorn (did I mention that I got nailed by a scummy literary agency too and their editing services).

Anywho, we fast forward to now. Now, is having four books self published with a reputable company (Amazon/KDP), which involved using a reputable graphic designer, a reputable formatter (should you not want to do it on your own, and two reputable editors (of which this one is still in business). And having a bit fun by asking the pointed questions of vanity publishers that no one wants to ask.

So a few salient points that other people have mentioned that I would like to emphasize as well.

1} No reputable agent or publisher will contact you about your book, either published or unpublished. Nada. Zip. Zilcho. I emphasize both because if you've self-published through a reputable company, and only put in minimal effort in marketing/advertising, you will get contacted about it (experience speaking here. here's to me getting off my ass and doing something about it in 2023). Your book has a rating in the five to six digit range, you will be contacted.

2} Oh and, they can contact you because if you're even remotely involved in some kind of socialized media and you have your contact info listed, then presto! They'll reach out and touch you. I've also been touched by the phone since ASI had that as a contact info for me from when I was a "client". Fortunately, it was a work number, and since I'm retired, so.....yeah.

3} Whatever you do, be extremely careful on what kind of contact info you give to those people. Give them an addy you don't look at too often, if you have to give one. ASI sold my info to others, so for years I would get calls/e-mails from those people asking to take me on as a "client"

4} Turning the tables. If you're a newbie writer of some repute and roam the world of Facebook, then it's almost a certainty that sponsored ads/suggested pages will pop up in your feed. Get hardcore nasty with them. Chances are those pages have comments on them from writers similar to you who are trying to be published, so it's best to ask a lot of pointed questions of that publisher. Also....

5} If they have a link to a website, check out the link and research for a bit. A vanity company will have a tab called "services", which will give you menu of all kinds of services you that you can pay inflated prices of (I saw one that had "consulting" packages starting at $5,000). Dig a little deeper. Maybe the website hasn't been updated for a few years. The profiles are of people no one has ever heard of on social media. Even the company isn't on social media. But to reiterate....

6} Go after them hardcore. Ask pointed questions in the comments about their services. Offer up cheaper alternatives in the comments. Let your friends know about what you're doing and have them join you in the fun (I have friends in my writing group who have joined in from time to time for a double barrel attack). The main point is that you keep hammering them until they cry uncle. If you can get them to cry uncle, you've succeeded in, hopefully, saving at least one person from being ripped off.

7} Last point, "crying uncle". Usually this end result is the easiest to see, in that if any of their pages come up as "suggested", you'll be blocked from commenting. I've been blocked by a half dozen FB pages due to aggressive questioning, and I'm sure there's at least one page that has blocked me because the person decided to pick a fight with me in the comment page of a vanity publisher. Yes, a vanity publisher tried to school me on another vanity publisher's page. I've also had one follow me to my personal page to continue the argument. In short, she was, at face value, offering a menu of editorial services, which is fine. But she also had a side hustle of running a small imprint as well, and it seemed like the only people who were being published on the imprint were those who had their books edited through her, so I called her out on being a variation of a "vanity hybrid" publisher.

Overall, forearmed is forewarned. Always remember that in the real world, you are the one that has to send out queries if you wanted to be represented by an agent, or if you want to be published by a respected press, no matter what the size (small to medium and Big 5). Most importantly, Google is your friend when it comes to researching publishers and agents. Blogs like one Anne R. Allen's or Writer's Beware can help you with parsing who is good and who isn't on your literary journey as well.

Good luck, and take it from a person who has been there and done that, don't make the same mistakes that I did early on. Spend your money wisely on things that really matter (editing and graphic design, and formatting if you so desire) for your book and career. Remember, playing the long game when it comes to writing is the best outcome you can have.

{c} 2023 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved