Tips to Protect Yourself as a Writer
Every writer’s dream is to be discovered.
For someone to read our writing and realize how precious it is.
That is a great dream, but it is RARELY the reality.
I’m in a lot of writing groups on various social media platforms. (Come connect with me.) I’ve seen many posts lately by writers who feel like they’re being scammed. I decided to do some digging to see how we, writers, can protect ourselves (and our work) from those with nefarious intent.
One of the biggest complaints I keep hearing about is writers being approached by a supposed publisher or agent claiming they love the writer’s work and want to help them get published and make it big. All they have to do is fork over a bunch of money.
THIS IS A SCAM.
These scammers are playing on your ego.
Being discovered by an agent/publisher only happens if you’re an influencer with a million followers.
If that’s you, AWESOME!
But if you’re one of the rest of us, stick with the old adage…
If it seems to good to be true…it probably is.
You should never be paying money up front to any agent or traditional publisher. It doesn’t work like that.
You should never pay a dime to agents and traditional publishers.
They don’t make any money from you until your book sells. Then they take a percentage of the sales. That’s how it works.
If you’ve been approached by someone who wants to publish your work, don’t give them any money.
Instead, check this list of reported scammers at Writers Beware.
The only caveat to handing your money over to a publisher is if you’re working with a hybrid publisher. There are reputable hybrid publishers whose business model requires the author to subsidize the process in return for a greater share in the profits. This is another area where writers who aren’t careful can get scammed. Reputable hybrid publishers vet their authors and put out quality products (and rarely, if ever, seek out authors to publish their work). Other so-called “publishers” are just scammers charging high fees to anyone they can get to sign up and either print an extremely low-quality product or never produce anything at all, simply absconding with the author’s money.
Before choosing a hybrid publisher to work with, check this list of criteria over at the Independent Book Publishers Association.
You can also find a list of reported scams on the Author’s Guild website. I think their article on writers protecting themselves sums it up best…
“It is important to view any unsolicited offers to publish or market your books with caution. Even simple Google searches will unearth reports of particular scams.”
Please do your own research. Find extra ways to layer protection.
When looking for an agent or other book service provider such as an editor, illustrator, or book designer, be sure to ask around. Word of mouth is hugely helpful in finding people you can trust versus people you should avoid.
Psst…you can read some of my client testimonials here.
If you’ve been a victim of a scam, follow this link to Writer Unboxed and find out how you can take action.
You can stay up to date on scams at the Writer Beware blog.
This podcast episode by the Alliance for Independent Authors shares more ways protect yourself and your creative works.
It’s a spooky world out there. Stay vigilant.
Keep Writing!
Tiffiny