Authors Everywhere Are Getting Scammed - Don't Fall Victim!

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Scammers are always on the lookout for vulnerable people to exploit - and unfortunately, the book publishing industry is not free of these con artists. Especially as more and more writers become interested with getting their books published, more and more scammers are coming up with new ways to cheat aspiring authors out of their money. In this video, I go through a checklist to consider whenever you are offered a book deal that might seem too good to be true, plus I show some examples of real scams that have been sent my way as someone working within publishing.
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GREAT BOOKS ABOUT WRITING/PUBLISHING:
Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer / amzn.to/3VE8dtt
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody / amzn.to/3Vyk2Bn
Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum / amzn.to/3Z4at03
SOME OF MY FAVORITE NOVELS:
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones / amzn.to/3vvWItt
Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips / amzn.to/3CFz4Pt
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid / amzn.to/3CjFFi5
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MORE BOOK PUBLISHING ADVICE:
Dangers of Hybrid Publishing and Scam Publishers: • Dangers of Hybrid Publ...
How to Publish a Book in 2022 | Traditional vs. Self vs. Hybrid Publishing: • How to Publish a Book ...
How to Spot a Scam Literary Agent: • How to Spot a Scam Lit...
HOW TO CHECK IF YOUR BOOK DEAL IS A SCAM:
01:57 - Check their online presence
05:05 - Review their prior books
07:59 - Vet your contract thoroughly
09:51 - Ask lots of questions
10:34 - Scam book deal examples
ABOUT ME:
My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with 7+ years of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey-whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.
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Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

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26 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 55

@livforever8664 Год назад

If you are in the US, don’t forget to report any scams to the Federal Trade Commission, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (subdivision of the FBI), or your local consumer protection agency! And if you suspect it’s an international scam, report it to the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network! A complaint can help prevent someone in the future from getting scammed, especially people from vulnerable groups. Edit: You can also report it to the Better Business Bureau as well.

@8762able 7 месяцев назад

I recently self-published a book in May 2023 with a reputable company. They did a wonderful job creating a front cover design and interior work, and the staff were very courteous and professional. Once the book was available through Amazon, the self-publishing company that worked with me, informed me to be cautious about scammers pretending to be from a literary agency. That same week, I received dozens of phone calls from agencies in California, stating that they loved my book and wanted to make a movie about it. I deleted all the messages and blocked all their phone numbers.

@zanemarion7211 Год назад

I have had three offers from three publishers but dodged the scam by doing research and also making certain everything they sent me was legit. One offer was from a self publishing company offering an advance, moving fees, co-author with another writer in my genre, and a brand new car. Email address was personal and not from the business. That was an immediate red flag. I spoke with them for a while and finally just stopped talking with them knowing they were not legit. Do your homework and never sign anything without doing some digging. Make certain everything lines up. Another one was immediate flag cause offer was no advance and 90% royalties. At that high it is not possible for the publisher to make a dime. Red flag.

@AFringedGentian Год назад

I don’t care how long it takes. I want an agent to stand between me and these dishonest people. I’m happy to query for years rather than go through this.

@brotheramartey777 9 месяцев назад

Agent? There are crooked agents too!

@maggiepfob Год назад

Thanks for creating such an open, honest video about this! If I had a dollar for every excited tweet I see about "Oh, wow, I got this offer from a publisher and they only want $2,995.95 to publish my book!" I could... well, I could buy myself a really nice steak dinner, for starters. There are also honest "publishers" out there who don't ask for any money, up front or ever, who mean well but are really just people sitting in their kitchens pushing manuscripts through KDP and taking a cut of the sales. They aren't scammers - they just can't offer you anything you can't do for yourself. I fell for one of these "small press" "publishers" with my first novel and regretted it. These "publishers" can't afford good editors - the most they can do is enlist the aid of a niece who got good grades in English or something. They can't afford a cover artist - they use stock photos and fonts. And they absolutely do not do any marketing whatsoever. Basically they are people who operate KDP for you if you don't feel confident enough to do it yourself. But seriously, if you can operate Word, you can operate KDP! A couple of RU-vid tutorials can bring you up to speed (and you'll probably do better than my first "publisher" did!) A good way to tell one of these schmublishers from a real, albeit small, press is to ask who their distributor is. If they don't know what you even mean, or if they just say "Amazon," keep querying. The thing that irks me most, though, is that these so-called "small publishers" try to convince you to go with them because "Well, authors have to do all their own marketing these days anyway, even those published by the Big Five." This - and please excuse my shouting but it needs to be heard: THIS IS GASLIGHTING!!!! It is absolutely UNTRUE. Authors ARE expected to participate in their marketing efforts but, if they have a legitimate publisher, they are NOT the only person on the marketing team. Real publishers have a marketing team of their own that knows marketing inside and out, and guess what? It isn't all just about getting lots of followers on social media! Alyssa, I would love to see you do a video on this someday, to bust this myth and help people avoid making the mistake I did when I was a clueless noob.

@puppykitten1557 Год назад

Kim, I almost fell for the same thing a few weeks ago! They weren't a scam but said if have to market the book myself and failed to provide details of how they'd be able to help me. Thankfully Alyssa's videos and comments like yours helped me get them and avoid getting scammed

@southerntiger3107 10 месяцев назад

A lot of self publishing companies love to scam people. The company that I had the biggest problem with is McZell publishing company.

@shawnmckeegan Год назад

I'm starting to think that book deal I signed with "Nigerian Prince Publishing," might not be on the up and up.

@LorraineCareyAuthor Год назад

I was a victim of a scam agent a few months ago. I knew something was off when they wanted money up front to do an edit.

@infolawofficesofmiami2904 4 дня назад

Editorial work isn’t free though

@danohanlon8316 Год назад

Wow. Proper diction-and rhythm. Better than most news announcers. It’s so rare. A pleasure to listen to.

@fogblog723 Год назад

Yup true that this is the letter i received and clause 15 is a money agreement to pay THEM up to $5000. Its a scam. The Publishing Board have reported back favourably on a piece of work which you submitted for their consideration, please see attached letter and following feedback. You will shortly be receiving a DocuSign email detailing the terms of the contract you have been offered. If you don’t receive the email, please check your spam folder. If you wish to move forward with the production of the work then please sign the electronic copy, having also selected an option from Clause 15. I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards, AUSTIN MACAULEY PUBLISHERS™

@pugglepooch 5 месяцев назад

Pegasus and Olympia both offered me a publishing contract but say the author has to pay towards the publishing fees!!

@TonieAnterwp 4 месяца назад

I've gotten phone calls from an agency saying they want to promote my two chapbooks of poetry, both of which were published over ten years ago. I now let their calls go to voicemail. Once or twice I had to be rude to them to get them to stop calling me. I made the mistake at one point of saying I was working on fiction, but I wasn't ready to share the work--which was true. Now, when they call, I tell them I'm still not interested in marketing my poetry chapbooks, which I've sold mostly at readings and book fairs, and I'm not interested in their services at all. Again, I usually let their calls go to voicemail (my answering machine).

@xorlacanj8051 4 месяца назад

Thank you for talking about this. I have not seen anyone talking about this.

@ellennewth6305 11 месяцев назад

I was nearly scammed by one of these fake publishers. But something about their contract didn’t seem legit. I tried to contact some of the authors they supposedly represent and got no response. Once I checked Writer Beware I realized what was going on and deleted the phony publisher’s emails.

@clintoreilly Год назад

Thanks for the heads-up, Alyssa. You remain to be a star :)

@Ayshat Год назад

I have, and though I almost fall into the trap, a lot of researching, reading the contract, and asking questions helped. I want to say if you have been querying for a while or a long time, getting these emails can be tempting, but don't be too excited, calm yourself, give yourself some days, and once you are relaxed, you can sense what is legit and what isn't. Don't fall into the trap, it is expensive, and you would have sent more queries or started another book during the headaches.

@AlyssaMatesic Год назад

This is a well worded warning--be careful out there, authors!

@jeffreybarker357 Год назад

When art becomes business, huh? Thanks for the tips, Alyssa. Glad to see you're keeping us updated. I'm sure your videos on similar topics from a year or two ago are still valid, but I'd rather see you remake the same things with current trends since this industry can't seem to stay still.

@pjalexander_author Год назад

This is a fantastic video and should be shared throughout the author community. Tons of great information and it will save lots of writers from a terrible situation. Thanks so much for helping this community, Alyssa.

@UncleIJT Год назад

I’ve had a few attempt to scam me. I was told to get a $10K loan for publishing/marketing purposes. I’ve had one blatantly lie to me. Luckily I knew she was lying.

@cerielvanarneman9399 4 месяца назад

I wrote my first book and my book won an international award. I have no experience with self-publishing and I chose Author house publishing that was my first big mistake. That publisher doesn't sell my book; they only sell fake marketing to the author. I buy books fair and more that was a waste of time and money. To publish with author house you have to pay the scammers, there were authors who lost more than $100,000 and don't sell 1 book. Writing a book is a lot of work and not easy to make money with a book. The biggest mistake an author makes is publishing a book with scammers. I won't write a second book anymore I prefer to play guitar as a hobby. Lost money is not a problem, I can get money back, but wasting of time I'll never get it back. Finding a traditional publisher is important for an author, but that's difficult because you need to find a literary agent.

@andreanniabush1861 17 дней назад

Yes Author House got me too but I’m seeking legal counsel

@angelhuff1026 Месяц назад

I am an author of three books and was very recently told over the phone that I needed to pay a 500$ fee before I would be sent a traditional publishing contract to sign. I can't see the contract until I pay 500$ to Book Writing Lane. Anyway that's what he said. I will not be sending the 500$. It's so upsetting to be treated this way. Do they think when one becomes an author that there is some magic button that is pushed so we don't have feelings?

@andeeharry Год назад

Always do research, learn stuff, ask questions and watch their responses, look at thier samples, look for thier website, look at thier info, check out stuff, see thier previous stuff, ask everything you can, don't just jump into something just because someone says so.

@rowan7929 Год назад

I had a few who contacted me by email. The reason why I knew its a scam, because they showed interest to my second book of the series. So far only the second book.

@zanemarion7211 Год назад

If they contact you first they are not legit.

@okaforuchenna Год назад

@@zanemarion7211 Not necessarily. If you've published in prominent literary magazines there's a good chance literary agents may contact you.

@zanemarion7211 Год назад

@@okaforuchennathey don't contact you cause legitimate agents are swamped. You contact them. Same with publishers. Query and wait. Write and write more as you wait anxious to know if rejected or they want the entire manuscript. That just the beginning of a very long process.

@jessip8654 Год назад

@@zanemarion7211 There are some cases where legit agents may reach out to you, But you generally have to be really successful already. A big TikTok or youtube star, maybe self-publish a very successful novel, but unless you're someone who already has tens of thousands of adoring fans, assume scam.

@okaforuchenna Год назад

@@jessip8654 I don't think this is true. You can be contacted by submitting short stories to literary magazines. It doesn't require being a star or well known. Editors and agents regularly peruse magazines magazines for possibly the next literary sensation. You don't have to be already be successful. That's why sometimes it's advised to submit to solid lit magazines as one way to get noticed.

@BarbaraDiLorenzoWavepaint Год назад

I'm a traditionally published author/illustrator, but I have students that want guidance on smaller or hybrid publishers. One student got an offer from Pegasus in the UK. Their online presence makes them seem like a hybrid publisher, but some reviewers complain about the high cost to participate. Are there any folks on this thread that have experience with Pegasus?

@Johannesburg777 Год назад

So I got a call from a company called Brilliant Books Literary Agency. Would this be an example of a scam, because the person said they could "represent" me and get my book published, and it sounds too good to be true

@cjpreach Год назад

If this video doesn't impress authors with the need for an agent, I don't know what will.

@bukimosaku395 Год назад

Excellent as always! I notice though, you imply that all legit publishers give advances to first time authors. Is this really the case?

@mamecotterportraitsofartis8089 10 месяцев назад

What about authors who have sold picture books and promise you if you take their 1500 dollar workshop they can help you. Miriam Laundry is an example. Anything on master classes ?

@susanbrougher2265 Год назад

Great reminders for writers. I would add to do a fair amount of your own research before getting selfpublished. I spent lots of time comparing what each selfpublisher offered before settling on one and haven't been disappointed with their work. But I would not recommend self publishing because their marketing contacts are not sufficient to make enough sales even if you work hard yourself to garner good reviews on Amazon and use their ads just to get your book to come up on searches. Query Tracker is 👍 Thanks again will only traditional publish at this point.

@singleparentsguidetothegal2371 6 месяцев назад

Has anyone else heard of Dawn Ghostwritering?

@davidionepearl4244 Год назад

Collins Bookstore, an online publisher that disappeared from Facebook as suddenly as it appeared, now has a presence on Instagram. My experience with them was stacked in shadiness from jump street - my intuition was to keep steppin', so I did just that and dropped conversations with them before we got anywhere. No money was ever discussed, they did however promise a few times to honor phone call slots I set up with them, then dropped the ball each time on following through. That was enough for me to move on, since all I really wanted to accomplish in the call anyway was to ask qualifying questions and get a vibe feel. They gave me their vibe-feel alright, literally without lifting a finger...

@xorlacanj8051 4 месяца назад

Is the author expected to pay for and register for copyright? Thanks

@tomgrant3893 Год назад

I wont mention the publisher, but I was told that for 10 grand, they'd give all the top services and put me in top book stores, and the contract they sent me looks suspect, who can I ask to check this contract.

@user-oy4mk4ih6g 10 месяцев назад

My daughter is trying to publish a book with LT-writing and I think it is a scam because they are asking for 500 dollars

@katbox87 Месяц назад

Milton & hugo?

@infolawofficesofmiami2904 4 дня назад

I think the word scam is too loosely used in this video. We’ve represented a few independent publishing companies I guess those are what she refers to in this video as vanity. They do charge upfront for their services and provide those services, they do not take royalties or any other payment but just like the traditional they deserved to be paid. The misconception that traditional publishers don’t charge is where the problem lies, what they do is that they will give you a deposit upfront, but more than likely there is nothing to get because every book sold goes into their pocket and you still have to do some level of marketing on your own.

@joseavilez9837 Год назад

Is Pegasus legit? I just got an offer from them?

@oakwoodproperties7101 Год назад

Hello, do u have a means of me messaging you but not on here? I would like to run something by you and to get your opinion if possible. Many thanks Geoff

@truthbetold444 Год назад

Writer Beware blog: writerbeware.blog/

@AlyssaMatesic Год назад

An excellent resource! Thanks for sharing Theo!

@andeeharry Год назад

I have had loads of fakes pretending to be designers, book covers, agents, published places, those from Webnovel and Fivrr, I had Netflix wannabees. It is funny how they try it on, and they end up blocking me because I know too much lol. They hate me asking questions and sometimes tell me to mind my own business lol. Some do sound genuine until you have to pay. It is sneaky, I had two independent publishers who did everything by the book and decided to remain anonymous, so nobody knows who they are. They try anything.... I had one the other day say they love my book and want my link to it lol....also ''give me your link, I can promote for you'' lol....I can edit for $10...but new at the job, or had a year experience. Some claim they have qualifications and can do it without learning. I have seen and heard it all. I had those who claim to be book cover designers and either they have nothing to show, or they steal from somewhere else lol. It is nuts. Yes, Nigerians are very sneaky with this (sorry to any Nigerians in here). Because I know my stuff, they tell me off for ruining thier hard work. I love it when they randomly turn up telling me something when they are not doing it and there is no info on thier profile. (because thier boss doesn't like it) lol. Yeah, the Industry is full of fakes, scammers and unsavory people and you can't call them out because they will label you as 'Difficult to work with'' lol I called out 7 agents, and 4 publishing platforms on twitter since last year. I am not sure if they are real or not, but I called them out when they didn't have a clue to what I was talking about, when engaging about editing stuff. One of the agents was supposed to be world famous who said to do Harry Potter and a bunch of others. I often catch them out. I get called 'paranoid' quite often, but often I am right anyway.