The WRITE Strategy
Welcome to The WRITE Strategy newsletter for business book writers and self publishers.
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Self publishing scams to watch out for-October 2024 Edition
5 things to do
1. Check out the Alliance of Independent Authors. It’s a global alliance of people involved in all aspects of self publishing. It’s a fantastic support network, champions ethical and reputable practices, people and companies. I am an Ambassador for ALLi. https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/
2. Check out my article about how ‘traditional publishing works, I call this my ‘traditional publishing 101 course’, as I explain this several times a week. It will also help you understand how self publishing differs.
3. Read a book and share your review on LinkedIn or with me. I LOVE reading. Next to writing, gardening, hiking, swimming it’s the ‘thing’ I do most. I’m always on the lookout for a good book and was just given Other Minds. The Octopus and the evolution of intelligent life by Peter Godfrey-Smith as a birthday present, and have The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak beside my bed.
4. Watch out for corporate jargon. I collect corporate speak, so if you spot any let me know. ‘Overfeel’ is one my latest picks. I mean, really. Can you overfeel and even if you could surely it should be two words not one? This ‘word’ was used in an advertisement for the new Porsche with the tagline “Why like when you can love? Well I love my 2008 Audi TT. I don’t overfeel, I just think it’s a great car.
5. If you are in Sydney between 23-25 October and want to meet with business women owners from around the world, attend the FCEM Global Congress. Over 500 business women are attending and I’m going to be there as I am a 30+ year member of this organisation. Find out more here.
And if you can’t make the Congress come along to the Gala dinner on Friday 25 October.
As much as it pains me to write about scams in self publishing I must. I am regularly contacted by people seeking help because they have either been scammed or aren’t sure if the ‘offer’ they have been pitched is legit or not.
As an Ambassador for the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), a judge for the Australian Business Book Awards and a member of the Australian Society of Authors I take my role as an ethical leader in the self publishing space VERY seriously. The last thing genuine self publishing advisers, coaches, publishers and production companies need is unethical people and companies.
That said, if you’re venturing into the world of self publishing how do you know what’s a scam and, MORE IMPORTANTLY, what to look out for with some of the large, global self publishing companies? Well, I’m going to share some insights with you so you don’t get ripped off.
BEWARE the ‘low cost’ entry offer. Many of the larger self publishing companies will entice you with a low cost offer to do everything you need to self publish. It’s tempting to take this offer up as it looks like great value. BUT! Check what services are actually being offered, what the cost of revisions are, and how many you can have. Check who owns the artwork for your book cover and internal pages. Typically, it’s not you even though you’ve paid for it. And check what happens if you want to terminate your agreement BEFORE publishing (and even after it). Do you own your own book? Typically you don’t – i.e. you can’t take/use your own book and print it with someone else.
Are you shocked? You should be. I hear you asking, ‘but I’ve paid for it’. It doesn’t matter.
Be aware of the legal and copyright laws of the country that your self publishing company is operating in. What do I mean by this? Let me give you an example. A friend of mine came to me in tears as the company she was using (US-based as many are) said they would not publish her autobiography unless she had the written approval of the people in it – her parents, siblings and abusive ex-husband. But this was her whole book. She’d spent $15,000 before this issue came up. The company was adamant. She either got their authorisation or she changed all the names. Rather than lose her money she changed all the names and published under a pseudonym.
NEVER assign your copyright or IP without getting legal advice. Secure your own ISBN or work with a reputable self publishing expert who will explain the value/or not of doing this.
No publisher can guarantee you books sales in the hundreds or thousands. If they do, you’re being scammed. They might offer you marketing and exposure to databases in the hundreds or thousands, exposure to libraries, businesses, industry organisations and more. It’s a scam. They want you to pay to produce your book and for the marketing, take ALL your rights and then leave you high and dry. Don’t fall for this. Check out this article about one such ‘publisher’. https://jerichowriters.com/austin-macauley/
Overpriced services. Given that you’re new to self publishing you probably don’t know how much proofreading, editing, cover design, internal page layout and printing (or eBooks, audio books) is going to cost. Too little and the result is likely to be crap. Too much and you’ve been ripped off. I’ve shared numerous articles on LinkedIn about the ‘just right’ money you should expect to pay depending on what level of quality you want.
Quick ‘make money while you sleep’ offers. The scams around this have ratcheted up in recent years since ChatGPT has come along. There are all types of offers being spruiked on Facebook, Insta and X about how you can use ChatGPT to ‘create’ books, then you can ‘sell’ them on Amazon and make millions. RIGHT. The only one making millions off this is the person selling you their system and the social media companies raking in millions from all the ads you have to buy.
Where can you go to find reputable companies and people?
The Alliance of Independent Authors (Alli)
Reedsy (for information) https://blog.reedsy.com/scams-and-publishing-companies-to-avoid/
The Authors Guild https://authorsguild.org/resource/avoiding-publishing-scams/
Writer Beware https://writerbeware.blog/
Ask me! If I don’t know who you are dealing with I’ll find out...just as I did for someone who received an offer too good to turn down from Austin McCauley. https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/9ocp9c/stay_away_from_austin_macauley/ https://jerichowriters.com/austin-macauley/
5 things from The Book Adviser
1. Check out Tony Farnham’s political satire, The Politician’s Epiphany. It was launched recently and has featured in a new, independent magazine here in Australia, The Hoodies. https://hoodieshatsnobs.wordpress.com/
2. Get ready for the launch of Lori Bartel’s book, The Agency Within Us, a book about Account Management in Advertising Agencies and how to reinvigorate Account Managers. https://cultivagency.com/publishing/
3. If you are interested in ‘matters Australia and NZ’ you might want to check out my weekly Letter from Australia (a nod to Alistair Cooke’s Letter from America that went for an amazing 58 years and only ended when he died!) on The Platform. https://theplatform.kiwi/podcasts/episode/jaqui-lane-on-the-afl-finals-winston-peters-supermarket-pricing
4. Achille Ettorre, has started his pre-launch marketing campaign for his book, The Digital Advantage: Harnessing People, Culture, and Technology for Growth. You can check this out here. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/book-launch-case-studies-real-world-examples-achille-ettorre-mba-s76dc/?trackingId=kozfwLngsIXNW3nHP9jMSQ%3D%3D
5. The Australian Business Book Awards are now in the judging stage. As one of the judges I have seven books to read and judge. I’ve been a judge for several years and enjoy the opportunity to read more books, learn and keep up to date with what’s happening in the business book world here in Australia. Here’s the link to the 2024 entrants.
The ABBA’s as they are affectionately known, also support the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and we’ve donated over $40,000 to support this terrific program. https://www.businessbookawards.com.au/
5 things to know
1. Your author bio. I recently read a book as part of my judging responsibilities for the Australian Business Book Awards. One of the areas we judge is the Author’s bio. And guess what? One of the books submitted didn’t have an author’s bio. It also didn’t have their photo on the back cover OR a website reference. Suspect? Possibly. A lost opportunity? Definitely.
2. Footnotes. Do you need them and where should they go? Not all books need footnotes. If you want to have them I’d suggest you put them at the back of the book by chapter, that way, people who want to go deeper can search them out.
A key tip though is to use footnotes while you are writing your drafts. I footnote everything as it means if I need to go back to where I sourced something I don’t waste hours trying to find out where I sourced something from. It’s super easy to strip out the footnotes when the book goes into the layout phase, so use them and keep them in while drafting.
3. Acronyms. When and how to use them. The world is full of TLAs (three letter acronyms). All industries have them and use them…so how do you use them in a book? The general rule is that the first time you use an acronym you should use the full descriptor first – three letter acronym – followed by the acronym (TLA). Thereafter use the acronym. Some people apply this convention to each chapter. As with my previous comments about creating and applying a Style Guide, make a decision and then apply it consistently.
4. Front matter. What’s this and what is required by law? Front matter is NOT a casual term for the front part of your brain less commonly known as the frontal lobe. In a book ‘front matter’ refers to ALL the stuff in a book BEFORE the start of the first chapter. This usually includes the half-title page, title page, imprint page (this can go in the back if you want), Dedication, Acknowledgements (these can also go in the back), Contents, Foreword and/or Introduction if you have them. Sometimes authors put a number of endorsements in their front matter.
There’s no legal requirement for you to put any of these items in the front of your book (or in the back – see point 5). It’s just convention.
5. End matter. This is pretty much anything you don’t put in the front matter and other information you might like to add. Typically the end matter would include the following IF you have them/want to include them: Glossary, Appendix, Footnotes, References, Acknowledgements (if you don’t put them in the front), About the Author (see point 1), About your business (put an ‘ad’ in for your business or for bulk copy orders for your book), Imprint (if you don’t put it in the front), Index (if you are having one)…anything else you like. It’s your book after all so make it work for you.
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