There has been a fair bit of discussion in the forums lately about authors who open a publishing company to self-publish their work.  Much of that discussion centers on whether that practice is ethical: is this author trying to deceive the readers into thinking a publishing house picked them up or simply doing business in a business-like manner.  I contend the latter.  I make furniture, no one questions my decision to sell my furniture as a woodworking business.  Similarly, as an author who produces and sells books I see nothing wrong with my doing business with book retailers under a publishing business name.  Some distributors demand this: they will not deal with the author as the publisher. Read the rest of this entry »

The recent class action lawsuit filed against Publish America is just one more reminder that Indie authors need to be careful about whom they do business with in the process of publishing their books.  What follows is a list of red flags that may indicate caution is required if they pop up in your dealings with a so-called “publisher”.

Many so called self-publishing houses are what are referred to as “vanity publishers” because they offer to get the author’s books in print for a fee.  These often advertise that they “need” or are “seeking” new authors.  If you’ve ever tried dealing with a reputable publishing house you know that rejection is the normal order of things; they will put their imprint on and marketing efforts behind only those books that meet their standards.  Vanity publishers accept anyone and charge unsuspecting authors to publish their work, often producing books that are poorly written, have not been edited, have awful covers, and are (for all intents and purposes) virtually worthless in the commercial book market.  Worthless, to everyone except the vanity publisher, who makes thousands of dollars from the author.  Beware of these signs: Read the rest of this entry »