Archive for the ‘Writer Beware’ Category

Guest Blog Post: Why Small Publishers Fail

I’ve used up a lot of column space on this blog warning about the risks of submitting to small presses, especially brand new small presses. In my opinion, this is currently the most dangerous area for writers–not so much because there are a lot of scams (though there are quite a few) but because so many small presses are undercapitalized, run by inexperienced people, have deluded goals and aspirations, or all three.

To Our Readers: Thank You

Sometime over last weekend, the Writer Beware blog passed the 20,000 subscriber mark!

We’d like to offer a heartfelt thank you to all our readers and subscribers for their attention, support, and participation (we love comments! We love questions!) …

Publishing Industry Terms and Contracts: Some Resources, and Some Advice

I often see small presses using a contract template they’ve picked up from somewhere, which may employ outdated terminology (such as referring to plates or unbound sheets) or contain unnecessary language (such as including a revised editions clause in a fiction contract) or make inappropriate claims on subsidiary rights (a larger publisher may be able to do something with translation rights, for instance, but there’s no reason in the world for a cash-strapped, contactless small press to claim them).