Koi Wonder
The Koi Wonder		   WRITER BEWARE

Warnings About Literary Fraud and Other Schemes, Scams, and Pitfalls That Target Writers
Writers' Alerts
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Over the past few years, there's been an extraordinary rise in the number of people writing and trying to publish books. I find it a little difficult to understand why this should be--book writing is a tough, tough business--though I’d guess that computers (which make it far easier to produce a clean, final manuscript than in the antique days of typewriters and carbon sets) have something to do with it.

What’s not in doubt is that the enormous number of aspiring authors has fueled an astounding proliferation of scams and schemes aimed at writers--and also spawned a variety of services supposedly designed to assist them.

While some of these services are genuinely intended to help, the greatest number appear to be efforts to cash in on a trend (particularly the post-publication services, most of which are explicitly aimed at writers who've used print-on-demand self-publishing services). They aren't necessarily scams, but most won't do you much good. Since they can be quite expensive, it makes sense to do some careful checking before pulling out your credit card.

Pre-Publication Services

Manuscript Assessment and Appraisal Services

Manuscript assessment services (which are common in the UK and especially in Australia, though not in the USA) promise, for a fee, to provide a detailed critique of your manuscript, including an assessment of its marketability. Some services claim that a good assessment will give you a leg up with agents and publishers, who'll be more likely to read a manuscript that's already been vetted by a qualified editor.

However, agents and publishers prefer to do their own assessing. Even if the assessment service is qualified and reputable (many aren't, and agents and publishers are well aware of this), it's unlikely that a positive assessment will give you much, if any, advantage.

Also, while an assessment from a professionally-run service may be helpful to you personally, any appraisal of your manuscript's marketability is of extremely doubtful usefulness. Inevitably, the appraisal will depend at least in part on subjective factors--as indeed an agent's or editor's will, and those subjective factors won't necessarily be compatible. Nor can a marketability appraisal take account of a host of related issues that affect the publication process--editorial taste, publishers' needs, what the publisher bought yesterday (it might have been a book very much like yours, which means that even if your book is better, it's out of the running). Ultimately, the only opinons about marketability that count are those of the agent who signs you for representation, and the editor who buys your book. And the only way to determine those opinions is actually to submit your work to agents and/or editors.

If you do decide to use an assessment service, do some research beforehand to assure yourself that the people involved are qualified--i.e., that they're published authors themselves or have worked professionally as editors. Make sure you know who will be doing your assessment, so you can verify their credentials. And do some comparison shopping. Fees vary.

For more on critiques and independent editing, see the Independent Editors page.

Query and Submission Services

A growing number of services offer to do your querying and/or submitting for you.

Some services do little more than fire off your query to a supposedly proprietary list of agents, publishers, and producers. Even if everyone on the list is reputable (a very big if), and the agents, etc. are suitable for your material (another large if--services like this do minimal if any targeting), such form queries are likely to be regarded as spam or junk mail by those who receive them. Email services of this type are especially useless, since most agents and publishers still want snail mail.

A couple of examples of junk mail query services: eQuery Online, which for the low! one-time special!! price of $75 will send out your query "custom addressed specifically by name to over a thousand literary agents and publishers"; and Bookblaster, which "takes the hard work out of querying leaving more time for writing" by blasting your query to 650 agents and publishers for $55-129, depending on the level of service.

From Writer Beware's blog: a more comprehensive warning about why you should avoid these kinds of services, plus a collection of comments from agents and editors about why they hate them.

Other services offer something much more useful. They’ll write a cover letter (or edit yours), do the market research to identify likely publishers and/or agents, send out submissions according to those publishers’ and agents' guidelines (or give you a list so you can submit yourself), and even track submissions and rejections for you. Sometimes editing is offered, to get your submission materials into tiptop shape. There may be a flat fee, or the service may charge by the hour. Some examples of this kind of service: Writer's Relief and AuthorAssist.

Even the best of these services really only do what you could do yourself, with time and effort (or should be able to do yourself--if you can't write a decent query letter, or aren't able to research agents' and publishers' guidelines, you probably aren't ready to be submitting your work). It’s unlikely that they have any greater access to information than you do, or more in-depth contacts with publishers and agents. It’s especially unlikely that using a submission service will give your submission extra cachet--particularly since the good ones submit in your name, not in theirs.

So you shouldn't hire one of these services in the expectation that it will result in more attention from agents and editors. If you’re a time-crunched writer, however, and can afford the fees, you may feel it’s worth the cost not to have to hassle with the time-consuming busywork of submission.

You do need to assess the services carefully, though, because not all are professional.
  • Look for staff who actually have publishing and/or professional writing experience, and can thus be reasonably expected to know how to research publishers and agents (and to distinguish good ones from bad ones). Staff resumes and company information should be present on the service's website, or available on request.

  • If you want the service to write your query letter, ask for a sample so you’re assured they do a good job.

  • If editing is part of the service, ask for a sample critique so you can assess quality.

  • Check for success stories--not just client testimonials, but real publishing credits that have resulted from the service’s efforts. The more reputable services post these on their websites.

  • Ask for references--and use them.

  • Avoid services that won't give you a fee quote.

  • Avoid services that claim to act as middlemen (i.e., that submit in their name, not in yours). Literary agents are the only recognized middlemen in the publishing industry.

  • Avoid services that claim to "package" your submission with author photos, fancy binders, sample illustrations or cover mockups, and the like. This is often just an excuse to charge a higher fee. Publishers don't want to see these extras--their inclusion will immediately identify the submission as coming from an unprofessional source.

  • Avoid any service that won't provide straightforward answers to your questions.
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A special caution for Christian writers: A number of submission services exist especially for Christian writers, and many Christian publishers, in an effort to reduce their slush piles, actively encourage writers to use them. A couple of examples: ChristianManuscriptSubmissions.com (formerly ECPA 1st Edition) and Writers' Edge.

Generally speaking, these services aren't expensive: $50-100 buys you a listing for a period of weeks or months. However, the listings are often little more than a capsule description of your book (with less information than you'd provide in a query letter) in a catalog or newsletter full of other listings. Despite what the services may state or imply on their websites, editors pay little attention to such listings. They can also be ideal trolling grounds for disreputable publishers. I've heard from a number of writers who've been approached by vanity publishers as a result of a listing on one of the services above.

Manuscript Display Websites

Manuscript display websites promise to showcase your writing to agents and editors by displaying a logline, synopsis, and excerpt of your manuscript. Some are free; many charge fees, ranging from $25 to $165 for a year of membership. Extra services, such as editing, may be offered for additional fees. Some sort of reader or peer critique ranking service may be included, on the (dubious) theory that agents and publishers will pay more attention to offerings that have a greater number of positive reviews.

Display sites first began springing up in the late 1990's, and were enthusiastically greeted as writers’ Great New Hope: a brand-new cyberspace opportunity to bypass publishers’ closed-door policies and agents’ huge slush piles. Agents and editors, the sites declared, would be eager to visit a venue where manuscripts were pre-sorted into easily-searchable categories and genres, where submissions were pre-screened for quality, and best of all, where they wouldn’t have to put another piece of paper on their crowded desks. At one time, there were dozens of display sites online, all offering some version of this dream.

Trouble was, established agents and editors, their offices already bulging with paper submissions, really weren’t all that interested in looking at manuscripts online. Display site success stories were few and far between. Too, the sites weren’t always as good at screening submissions as they thought they were, and in many cases simply became an electronic slush pile. Worse, some of the agents and editors who cruised the sites were marginal or questionable--not exactly the kind of contact the hopeful writer was looking to make. Writer Beware received a number of complaints from writers who were contacted by non-reputable agents and publishers as a result of a listing on a display site.

By 2001, most display sites were out of business. Those that survived, by and large, were the biggest and most successful in promoting both themselves and their writers (for instance, Authorlink, which now offers many other services, including publishing). Trends are cyclical, however--and in the nanosecond-attention-span environment that is the Internet, trends cycle much faster than in the real world. Recently, new display sites have begun appearing, offering the same promises and employing techniques very similar to those of their defunct predecessors--and in many cases, vociferously presenting themselves as a brand-new, revolutionary idea. But fancier websites and niftier technology do not a revolution make. Agents and editors don't seem any more eager this time around to use these sites.

If you decide to use a display site, ask some careful questions:
  • How long has the site been in business? Choose stable sites--sites that have been active for at least a couple of years.

  • How large is it? The bigger, the better. Sites with less then 50 offerings aren't worth an agent's time--or yours.

  • Who's behind the site? If the site founder or owner has publishing experience, it's more likely she will know how to promote the site effectively.

  • How does the site market itself to agents and editors? A good display site should maintain direct contact with publishing professionals, the better to persuade them to visit, and its marketing efforts should reach beyond the Internet (search engine registration and spam aren't effective marketing tools). If this information isn't present on the website, ask.

    Some display sites, especially those that feature reader reviews or a critique point system to rank submissions, are trying to differentiate themselves by establishing special relationships with agencies and/or publishers, to whom they promise to submit the month's, or the quarter's, top-rated postings.However, even if these submissions do get special attention from agents or editors, that won't last long if they're consistently substandard or inappropriate. Also, the owners of the sites may not know how to screen agencies and publishers, and may unintentionally hook up with questionable ones. I know of at least one currently active display site of which this is true.

  • How does the site screen agents and editors for legitimacy? Again, if you can't find this information on the site, ask for it.

  • Are there success stories? A good display site will post its successes. But don't take those stories at face value--research them, so you can be sure the publishing deals are with real commercial publishers and the representation offers have come from reputable agents.

  • What's the cost? A fee is actually desirable, since the free sites typically don't do anything to market themselves, or else attempt to finance their operations by asking agents and publishers to pay for the right to peruse their listings--a total pipe dream, given that agents and editors are beating off paper submissions, which they get for free, with a stick. But don't pay too much. $30-40 for three months, $50-70 for six months, and $100-165 for a year seems to be the norm.
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Last but not least: use the display site listing as an adjunct to your own submission efforts, not as a substitute. Even the most effective site can't offer a better chance of snagging an agent’s or editor’s attention than sending out your work yourself.

Copyright Registration and Timestamp Services

Many new writers think it's necessary to register copyright for their unpublished work. It's not. See Writer Beware's Copyright page for an explanation.

Given that registering your copyright isn't necessary, the copyright registration services that advertise themselves online and mercilessly spam new writers aren't necessary either. Not to mention, they charge $65 or more to do something that only costs $30 if you do it yourself.

Ditto for the timestamp services, which try to persuade you that it’s important to get some sort of official electronic seal on your finished manuscript in order to prove the date of completion. Supposedly this is to aid you if you ever need to go to court for copyright infringement. But you can easily, and just as effectively, support a completion date yourself by keeping drafts, computer files, notes, and so on. And since the timestamps could be corrupted or faked, there's a distinct possibility that they wouldn't stand up in court.

More important, the timestamp services are not official. In countries that offer a copyright registration process (and most countries don't), the only thing that has legal standing is registration with the official registration source, such as the US Copyright Office. In the US, you can’t go to court unless you’ve previously registered your copyright.

Copyright registration services and timestamp services are not worth paying for. For a more detailed discussion, see this post from Writer Beware's blog.

Pre-Publication Publicity Services

Certain companies and individuals offer a “pre-publication” publicity service, on the theory that publishers will be more interested in an author who has a high publicity profile.

Some promise to get you radio and print interviews, speaking engagements, TV appearances and the like--the goal being to celebrify you or establish you as an expert in your field, and thus build the potential audience (a.k.a. "platform") for your work. But unless you're already a celebrity or an expert, or have a noteworthy human interest story, your only claim to fame is your book--which, until it’s actually published and available to readers, is of no interest whatever to the media. You and your unpublished manuscript are not news--no one is going to want to interview you just because you wrote a book and are looking to get it published. Do not expect to be invited to appear on Good Morning America; if your publicist can wangle interviews for you at all, you're far more likely to find yourself on an AM radio talk show at 3:00am.

Other pre-publication publicity services offer to act as a kind of middleman, contacting publishers and agents on your behalf. The fact that you’ve already hired a publicist, they claim, will impress professional publishing people no end, because it proves you’re really serious about your career. This is similar to the logic employed by vanity publishers, which want you to "invest" in your book by shelling out several thousand dollars. As noted above, the only accepted middlemen in the publishing industry are literary agents. Far from being impressed by the fact that you've hired a publicist, most agents and editors will assume you've been duped.

Pre-publication publicity services can be expensive. Some cost thousands of dollars a month. For most writers, they provide little or no benefit, and are a complete waste of money.

Post-Publication Services

Publicists

Commercial publishers support all their books with catalogs, advertising, distribution, and review attention. But only a few authors--those who've already achieved sales success, or new authors targeted for a special publicity push--receive extras such as book tours, special websites, individual ads, interviews and signings, and the like. If you're not one of them, a skilled publicist can fill the gap, and help you get the word out about your book. For some authors, publicists have made the difference between midlist and frontlist.

However, a successful publicist or publicity firm can be extremely expensive--often, several thousand dollars a month--and there's no guarantee that there'll be a return on your investment. It's also very hard to tell what works and what doesn't. You may find yourself at the end of the experience with no idea whether the money you just spent made a difference--or if it did, how much difference.

Also, not every book is suitable for a publicity campaign. For books with small audiences, it may not be worth the expense, since even with the best publicist, there's only so much demand you'll ever be able to generate. Ditto for books that aren't widely available in bookstores, or books with small print runs. Most people prefer to buy in physical bookstores, and getting media attention for a book that can only be obtained online may lose you more sales than it gains. If your publisher doesn't have enough books on hand to deal with sudden demand, or can't respond quickly when a bookstore places a sizeable order to support a signing, a publicist will do you little good. There's no point in creating demand if the demand can't be answered.

If you do decide to hire a publicist, choose one with a verifiable track record of successful campaigns. Don't take the publicist at his word: contact some of his clients to see if they're happy, and to find out what the publicist did for them. Look for a publicist who has experience promoting books like yours--he or she is more likely to know what kinds of magazines, review and interview venues, etc. to approach. Request samples of the publicist's materials, so you can assess quality. Ask around. If you know other writers, or are a member of a professional writers' group, you may be able to get recommendations or helpful advice.

Just as important: be clear on what your goals are. Ask yourself not just what kind of exposure you'd like, but what kind of exposure is feasible. We all want to be on Oprah, but realistically, most books and authors don't dovetail with Oprah's interests (nor does every publicist have the skills and contacts to pull those kinds of strings). Research books like yours to see what kind of publicity they're getting. If you're a self- or small-press-published author, you may want your publicist not just to obtain interviews and media coverage for you, but to help you get your books into stores. Some publicists who specialize in self- and small-press-published authors are set up to act as distributors, offering the standard discounts and returns policies that booksellers prefer.

Most of all, keep your expectations realistic. If you're a commercially published author, don't assume your publicist will be able to make your book a bestseller. If you're a small-press or POD-published author, don't expect your publicist to get you the kind of sales numbers a commercially published book can expect.

You also need to be wary (you knew I'd get to that, didn't you?). There are lots of charlatans about. Some things to watch out for:
  • A publicist you can't research. A publicist's website (if there's no website, ask for a CV) should include information about staff, as well as a list of clients and recent projects. You want to be sure the people you're dealing with are qualified, and that they've conducted successful campaigns.

  • A publicist with no relevant experience. These days, starting a service is as easy as creating a website. Just as there are unqualified people who set themselves up as literary agents, there are unqualified people who set themselves up as publicists. Look for relevant professional background, such as work experience in advertising, marketing, or publishing. This is especially important if the publicist is just starting up.

  • Vagueness about fees or what services will be provided. You want to know exactly what the publicist will be doing for you, according to what schedule, and how much it will cost. Ideally, the publicity plan should be part of the contract or letter of agreement. As noted above, do some careful thinking ahead of time to nail down your goals and objectives; don't rely on the publicist to come up with all the ideas.

  • A publicist who doesn't offer a contract or letter of agreement. For your protection, get everything in writing--and if it's not in writing, don't expect to get it. Shady publicists may try to soothe nervous clients by making promises they don't intend to keep.

  • A publicist who relies on methods like press releases and e-mail/fax campaigns. These are among the least effective (and cheapest, which means you're probably being overcharged) of all promotional methods. They are regarded by most recipients as junk mail or spam (also see Book Marketing Services, below). Some publicity firms that rely on junk-mail-style methods sometimes don't place any logo or company identification on their faxes and press releases, which look as if they're coming directly from the author. This means that they won't have to deal with the angry calls and e-mails from people demanding to be taken off their spam list--you will. This is just one of several reasons to demand to see sample publicity materials.

  • A one-size-fits-all approach. A good publicist will carefully tailor her approach to each individual book and author.

  • Extravagant promises. Your book sounds like a bestseller! We can get you on Oprah! Responsible publicists know better than to promise what can't be guaranteed.
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Book Marketing Services

Many fee-based publishers (including book manufacturers, POD-based publishing service providers, and so-called "subsidy" publishers) offer various post-publication marketing services--sometimes for an extra (and often rather hefty) fee, sometimes as part of the publishing package. A typical marketing package might include:
  • Creation of a single-page press release.
  • Mailing, e-mailing, and/or faxing the press release to a list of bookstores, reviewers, and/or media contacts (the number of contacts, and whether or not they're targeted to your book, may depend on how much you pay).
  • Mailing, e-mailing, and/or faxing a book announcement flyer to a list of bookstores, reviewers, and media contacts.
  • Providing a list of contacts so you can do the mailings yourself.
  • Bookmarks, posters, postcards and/or flyers based on the cover of your book.
  • Other extras such as "signed book" stickers.
  • Your own page on the publisher's website.
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Here's an example, from POD service AuthorHouse.

There are also many independent book marketing services that offer similar packages, plus any number of extras: pitching your book to film producers and studios, contacting publishing house editors about your book, contacting reviewers and critics, posting information about your book on various websites, placing an interview of you on various websites, putting you on their own TV or radio programs, and even setting up book signings.

If the marketing service is part of a publishing package, there's no harm in it (though be aware that fee-based publishers that include marketing in their publishing packages often use this to justify seriously inflated prices). If the marketing service costs extra, however, think very carefully before you pull out your credit card. Ditto for hiring an independent marketing service.

The cornerstone of most of these services is some form of bulk mail--electronic press releases, mass e-mail or snail mail, mass faxes. These are among the cheapest, easiest, and least effective of all publicity methods. They're typically sent out to hundreds, even thousands of addresses, with little or no screening for appropriateness (in other words, your press release or review request is as likely to be sent to someone who won’t be interested as to someone who will). Junk mail-style publicity was minimally effective even before the recent explosion of self-publishing options. Now, with bookstores, librarians, newspapers, and reviewers bombarded every day with hundreds of solicitations from desperate self-, vanity-, and POD-published writers, they’re all but useless. Those who receive them are likely to ignore them, or to discard them as spam.

Also, most marketing services don’t do anything you couldn’t do as well or better yourself, with a little time and effort. It's not difficult to find instructions on how to write a press release, or to research a list of appropriate contacts. A personal email sent to a reviewer you know has an interest in books like yours is far more likely to yield a result than an impersonal solicitation that has obviously been sent out to dozens of other people. I review for several publications, and I invariably discard such solicitations (often addressed to “Dear Reviewer”).

Other marketing strategies offered by book marketing services range from the pointless (posting your book and/or information about you on websites the service itself owns--the odds that such websites will get much traffic is slim--or posting a press release about your book at one of the online PR services--really, just an extra-cheap variation of the junk mail method) to the exploitive (offering you vanity radio spots, or interviewing you for the company's own radio and TV shows--these shows are usually on public access channels or pay-to-play stations, and have tiny audiences) to the downright deceptive (claiming to pitch your book to Hollywood producers or to market it to commercial publishers--this may a spam-style mass-mail approach or a listing in a catalogue-style publication, but either way it will be ignored). As for bookmarks and postcards, there are many low-cost options, including printing them yourself with a good-quality printer.

A few examples of independent marketing services:
  • Authorpromotion.com charges $25 per month to feature your book on its (poorly-trafficked) website. 
  • Bookpromotion.com offers a package of online publicity--a website, an author interview to be placed on the website, a review (good, of course) to be placed on Amazon and other online sellers, a press release posted at one of the online PR services, and book announcements at "two of the most visited book price comparison sites." Apart from the dubious publicity value of a price comparison site, Bookpromotions neglects to mention that these are not independent sites, but sites it owns. Last but not least, it fails to provide any examples or references, because "We work confidential. This is what most authors prefer, so we will not use your name or website for any promotion or as a reference." Uh huh.
  • At BookAnnouncements.com, you can get addresses and send out your own junk mail for $175.
  • Junk mail methods rule at BookPromotions.com.

Book Review Services

The book reviews most important for generating sales are pre-publication reviews in venues like Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. These are pretty much out of the question for books from POD services, which don’t produce advance reading copies; and difficult to obtain for books published by small presses, which, even if the press sends out advance reading copies (and many don't), are in competition with books from the larger houses.

Post-publication reviews can be very helpful, however--especially if they come from a reputable source such as a newspaper or an established print or online magazine. Even the many personal review websites can useful for exposure, if they get heavy traffic.

It can be time-consuming to identify and approach these sources, and not all of your approaches will be successful. There’s no reason, however, ever to pay to have your book reviewed.

A growing number of websites and individuals offer just such a service. Some promise “professional quality” reviews for a price. Others have a membership system--you pay the membership fee, you get a review. Sometimes part of the service is distribution of the review or a press release to (supposedly) targeted media.

However, information on the credentials and experience of the reviewers is often not provided, so you have no idea whether the person writing your review actually has any qualifications to do so (so much for “professional quality”). And the “targeted distribution” usually means the same ineffective junk mail methods used by the book marketing services. Just as important: no one trusts a bought review, for the same reason that no one trusts the quality of a vanity-published book.

Some paid review services:
  • At GetBookReviews.com, $25 buys a listing on the website, in hopes an interested reviewer will happen along, and $125 buys a "rapid book review" service, which guarantees a review in just two weeks.
  • IP Book Reviewers, which claims that every reviewer is "an experienced editor, agent, publisher or expert," has a fixed price of $25.
  • Books2Mention offers a review as part of its "Platinum Package" ($125 for a year of promotion), with this disclaimer: "This offer by no means suggest [sic] that book reviews are paid for. All reviews are conducted with honesty and the utmost integrity." One would imagine, however, that an author who'd just handed over $125 might not be pleased with too much honesty.

Book Display Services

Some websites (such as BookHaven) offer to display information on your book so readers can see and buy it. They’re not actually vendors; all they do is provide you with exposure. A listing may be just an image of your book cover, a brief description, and a buying link to one of the online bookstores such as Amazon.com. Or it may be more elaborate, with an interview, a bio, and other personal or professional information.

If the listing is free, there's no harm in signing up. But if you have to pay (as at AuthorWorld.com, which charges $24), don’t bother. Typically, such sites do little to publicize or advertise themselves, and get very limited traffic. It’s highly unlikely you’d make enough sales from your listing to justify the expense.

Press Release Services

Electronic press release services post your press release at their websites. They may also distribute them to other services or media sources, or make them available as a news feed to subscribers. Sometimes they'll assist you in writing your press release, or provide a template you can use. One of the biggest online PR services is PRWeb.

However, press releases are a dubious method of publicizing books (see the discussion in Book Marketing Services, above). Even where they're well-targeted, press releases are often ignored. With the larger press release sites, which host thousands and thousands of press releases, there’s no guarantee your release will be seen by people who browse the site, or be picked up by a larger news service. Even if it is, the lack of precise targeting means that the odds are slim that your book and the viewer's interests will coincide.

Many of the services offer a basic posting for free, with add-ons you can pay for. There’s no harm taking advantage of a free service, but don’t pay for the extras--it’s unlikely you’ll receive any benefit.

Vanity Radio

Vanity radio (where guests or show hosts pay for time on a radio station) is a well-known phenomenon of the airwaves. Some of the book marketing services discussed above have their own vanity radio shows, and offer spots to authors for a fee. Vanity radio is also a growing presence online, with increasing numbers of Internet radio stations charging guests to appear.

There's no circumstance in which it makes sense to pay for radio time. Pay-to-play radio programs, which are often broadcast on obscure AM stations at odd hours, attract small audiences for the same reason that vanity-published books sell few copies: there's no quality control. Anyone who is willing to hand over the fee can get air time. As for Internet radio, even reputable shows have small audiences. Vanity radio audiences are even smaller.

Some vanity radio stations:
  • From the ArtistFirst Radio Network website: "We ask the Author to make a donation to the station in ANY amount they wish...Yes you do have to 'pay' for your promotion, however we let you decide the cost. Can you think of ANY other radio station or product or service anywhere that let's [sic] you decide what an item costs?"
  • Global Talk Radio requires guests to pay $35 for a 10-minute spot (though they don't reveal this on their website). You can also host a show...if you cover the cost of producing, storing and streaming your program.
  • World Talk Radio has contacted authors requesting interviews and attempted to persuade them to host their own radio shows...at a cost of $1,900 for setup and a monthly fee of $700.
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Miscellaneous

  • Book fair representation. For a fee (usually $250-$400), some services (or, occasionally, some questionable agents) promise to take your unpublished manuscript or your self-, vanity-, or small-press-published book to major book fairs, such as Book Expo America or the Frankfurt Book Fair, and exhibit it there. Typical hype, from GetBookReviews.com (which also offers paid book review services): "Book Expo America is the largest book event in the United States. In 2005 there were over 7700 book buyers and over 29100 industry professionals in attendance. Where else can you get that kind of exposure in only three days?"

    This is the same kind of logic that people often apply to Internet activities like blogging. Everyone's crazy for blogs, the logic goes, so having an author blog is good publicity. However, as anyone who's ever started a blog knows, it's not that simple. The enormous number of viewers plus the equally enormous number of bloggers is more likely to add up to invisibility than to renown.

    Book fairs are no different. A lot of business is done at book fairs, but just being there doesn't mean that anyone will find you--especially if whichever service you've paid to display your book is stuck in the official Small Press section, where few visitors go. Don't pay for this kind of service.

  • VendorPro. If you're a book author, odds are you've been solicited by VendorPro. This super-spammer uses sophisticated software to harvest not only writers' names and email addresses, but book titles as well, encouraging unwary authors to assume they're being contacted personally rather than spammed. Here's the most recent solicitation addressed to me:

    I've been to your Victoria Strauss website and I think your books are perfect for our stores. I especially like "The Burning Land". We work hand in hand with the largest stores in the country, plus thousands of small to medium sized specialty businesses stretched across the U.S. If you want the opportunity to sell your books through major retailers like Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon.com, Waldens, Target, QVC, HSN, etc ...plus the other 51005 gift stores, 16826 bookstores, and over 24000 mail-order catalogs...check us out at http://www.VendorPro.com.

    Basically, the deal is that they list you on their website, and email your listing to "purchasing agents who are looking for products just like yours." There are many reasons why something like this is not likely to be effective, but the most important one for writers is that these are not the buying channels used by bookstores.

    • Paid Shelf Space. Some brick-and-mortar bookstores have begun offering some of their shelf space, for a fee, to self-, POD-, and small-press-published authors who are having trouble getting distribution into regular bookstores. Other enterprises are entirely devoted to paid shelf space. Still others may actually be run by publishers, such as the bookstores owned and operated by now-defunct vanity publisher Airleaf.

    Will people be interested in shopping in stores that specialize in non-commercially published books? The idea is very new, and right now it's too soon to say.

    If you decide to try this, make sure the store really exists (one paid-shelf-space enterprise that I've heard of is still apparently just a twinkle in an entrepreneur's eye, but he's marketing the service as if the stores were already in operation), and that it's in a central location (a mall or a downtown street may yield the walk-in traffic that keeps most bookstores alive, but a store way out in the boondocks probably won't).

    See if you can locate other authors who've used the service and find out what their experience has been. Get a contract or letter of agreement that lays everything out in black and white: what you'll pay, how the books will be shipped, how they'll be displayed, how you will be paid (never rely on verbal promises).

    And don't don't pay too much. Unfortunately, paid shelf space is such a new concept that I can't tell you how much "too much" is.

Except for graphics, and where specifically indicated, all Writer Beware contents copyright © 1998-2007 Victoria Strauss

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