Identifying Publishing Scams

Publishing scams are running rampant. How can you identify them and stay safe?

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Earlier this week, I reposted a warning from my network about a recent publishing scam. Unfortunately, technologies like AI are enabling scammers and spammers of all kinds, in all kinds of industries, and the publishing world is no exception. As a ghostwriter, I love helping people bring their stories to life, and knowing that there are individuals and companies who would take advantage of someone's simple desire to tell their tale is both infuriating and disheartening. The good news: There are many reputable people and organizations out there who can help you take your ideas and turn them into a beautiful, well-crafted, original book. You just have to know where to find them.

That starts with weeding out the scams. The Authors Guild, an excellent resource, has great tips on identifying publishing scams. I've included a high-level overview of their top tips here but highly recommend checking out their blog on the topic:

1. A legitimate agent or publisher will not charge you to review your manuscript. With that said, some small literary magazines or small presses do charge small reading fees, particularly for contests.

2. Traditional publishers do not ask you to pay them. There are legitimate hybrid publishers, who split fees with the author—and some of these are well worth the fee you will pay. However, others take advantage of this label and use it to extract money from unwitting consumers without delivering real value in return. The Independent Book Publishers Association, IBPA, has a checklist of hybrid publisher criteria to determine if a hybrid publisher is the real deal.

3. Large traditional publishers and movie studios VERY rarely approach authors proactively with offers or opportunities. Look carefully at email addresses you get in these cases—scammers may try to look legitimate by tinkering with domain names, so that they nearly mirror an actual publishing house or movie studio's domain. Unfortunately, the "if it seems to good to be true, it probably is" rule does apply here.

   
   

Again, this is only a sampling of the advice provided by The Authors Guild, and I strongly encourage anyone thinking about writing and publishing a book to read the blog in full. Your story is valuable and deserves to be told with care, not exploited. Do your research before you pursue any publishing path and make it count.

Thank you for reading my blog! This is a space where I share personal thoughts — an opportunity for self-expression that has nothing to do with my professional writing. None of the thoughts or opinions expressed in this blog should be construed as anything but my own, nor should they be affiliated with any company or person I contract with or write for as a ghostwriter.

NOW that that's done... I'd love to hear from you about this blog post in the comments!