Everyone has a back-story. I\u2019m interested in the back-stories of some of the individuals who are offering services to the many authors entering the wide world of publishing. <\/p>\n
I notice that more and more long-time professionals are starting to speak out against the sharks that have shown up in the publishing waters since publishing became so much easier, thus more popular. Home computers opened up the opportunity for even non-writers and two-finger typists to pound out complete stories in their spare time. Job loss and early retirement has prompted thousands more ordinary people to start writing the next great novel, their fascinating memoir, a children\u2019s book or\u2026.? Once you learn how to navigate your word processing program and carve out some time, writing a book is a fairly straight-forward activity. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s when you emerge from your writing closet with your manuscript in search of a publisher, that things can get sticky. That\u2019s when you begin to meet up with a variety of \u201chelpers\u201d\u2014people who claim they can assist you in getting your book published. And no doubt they can. But some of them may pretty much ruin your life and ding your bank account in the process. Countless authors are telling some pretty ugly stories about their encounters with \u201chelpers.\u201d And many others are not talking\u2014they\u2019re too embarrassed or too damaged to speak out.<\/p>\n
How can you tell whether the fish that comes swimming your way is a dangerous shark, inexperienced guppy or truly beneficial dolphin, for example? Through education.<\/p>\n
Study the publishing industry BEFORE getting involved. Write a book proposal. When you decide that you need editorial help, assistance writing that proposal, publishing advice and guidance, consider someone who has been in the business\u2014in the trenches\u2014for a long period of time. Consider that individual\u2019s history (back-story) and current status within the industry. Is this person experienced in only one aspect of publishing\u2014he published one book therefore considers himself an expert? Or is he\/she well-rounded and experienced in many aspects of publishing. Has she even written a book proposal before? How many of them? How many clients has he worked with\u2014what do they say about this individual?<\/p>\n
It is a jungle out there among the sea weed and raging, shark-infested waters. If you don\u2019t believe me, just search writers\u2019 forums and boards using keywords such as, \u201cpublishing\u201d \u201cpublisher,\u201d \u201ceditor\u201d \u201cwarning,\u201d \u201cscam.\u201d If you want to check out a particular publisher or author assistant, use this person\u2019s (or company\u2019s) name and \u201cwarning,\u201d as key words.<\/p>\n
Use these warning sites to get an idea of the scope and types of problems authors are having with scammers. And understand that most of the problems occur when the author is not armed with knowledge about the publishing industry.<\/p>\n
I do not advocate joining one writers\u2019 group or attending one meeting or reading one book or subscribing to one newsletter or listening to one expert\u2019s teleseminar. Do it all\u2014launch a study that involves all of this and much more. Make it your job to learn how the publishing industry works, who the players are and how to successfully navigate through it. <\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.sfwa.org\/for-authors\/writer-beware<\/a> Everyone has a back-story. I\u2019m interested in the back-stories of some of the individuals who are offering services to the many authors entering the wide world of publishing. I notice that more and more long-time professionals are starting to speak out against the sharks that have shown up in the publishing waters since publishing became […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n http:\/\/www.todayswriting.com\/poetry-scams.html<\/a>
\n http:\/\/www.writersweekly.com\/whispers_and_warnings.php<\/a>
\n http:\/\/www.writertowriterwarnings.blogspot.com<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"