I've been noticing a large ammount of electronic novel publishers popping up, like Wormebooks (http://www.wormebooks.com/) that seem to be offering writers a chance to publish a short story, or even a novel, online, through them. I wanted to see if I can get any "Buyer Beware" type feedback from anybody that knows the pros and cons of e-books, and the dangers of potentially getting published through e-books over its analog counterpart.
Posted by pantros (Member # 3237) on :
Most of the time its a valid market.
Beware the ones that insist you pay the costs. Writers should be paid to publish. If they have to pay to publish, thats not the same thing.
Posted by WolfofWar (Member # 3156) on :
Just a followup, on the otherhand, is it not common procedure for publishers to make you pay to get published? Or am I just seeing alot of "con job" publishers trying to make more money out there? I always through a novelist actually has to pay to get the book published. after all, it does cost money to print all that out.
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
Exactly. Money flows towards the author. Remember that. Otherwise, chek out http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/ "Preditors and Editors." There are a couple of e-book publishers that are even being highly recommended.
Posted by pantros (Member # 3237) on :
Absolutley not.
Under no circumstances should an author have to pay to have his work published.
Posted by WolfofWar (Member # 3156) on :
Wow, I was in the dark then, heh. Good thing I asked here before I ever pursued any publishers first.
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
Oh, there are circumstances when it's appropriate to pay someone to publish your work. If, for example, you've written a book with a very small audience - perhaps a church cookbook - it can be ok. Or if your book is crap, you might not have any other options.
But yes, usually the idea is to get someone else to pay you.
Legitimate mainstream publishers make money selling books, not by charging authors for services.
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
Just for the record, there was a simul-post when I wrote the "Exactly"....I was refering to Pantros' comment about not paying money to an editor, not the opposite comment!
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
Paying to publish is called vanity press. Most of the time it is not in your best interest, but there are some situations. The church cookbook mentioned above is one, a lot of radio personalities use vanity press then sell the books on their shows.
Posted by Smaug (Member # 2807) on :
Well not always is your book crap if you can't get a publisher to want it. While self-publishing and POD publishing aren't necessarily the most desirable route--sometimes that's the only way you can get your book out there. I understand that Richard Paul Evan's first put up the chunk of change necessary to self-publish his The Christmas Box. There are costs associated with such types of publishing---cover art, professional editing (nearly always a must), printing etc. Should you be good and lucky enough to get a big-time publisher interested in your book--you'd better be prepared to put up whatever it costs you to promote your book yourself--but only if you want to sell any. Until you get an audience who clamors for your book, the brunt of promotion is going to have to come from that person you see in the mirror every day--and there are costs associated with that.
On the other hand, never never pay someone to publish your book if it's not one of the options I mentioned above. Vanity press may even publish your stuff for free, then try and convince you to buy the book. That too, is a no-no.
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
If someone is charging you to distribute your work online, run. There is no valid reason for something like that. It's okay for people to charge you to set up a large portal or business site if that's what you want, but if they're charging you to distribute electronic copies, under any guise, there is no way they can be legit.