Jessica Russell's Blog - Posts Tagged "self-publishing"
No, Self-Publishing is NOT a Scam
I usually don’t leap into this fray because it’s highly controversial and authors seem to enjoy jumping down each other’s throats over it. However, something I saw today made me think that perhaps I can bring a bit of reason into this heated argument, or at the very least, be the adult in the room.
There’s an ongoing verbal fistfight, naturally, about which is better, traditional publishing or self-publishing. Ultimately, that depends on the writer. There are many reasons to gamble that you’ll get traditionally published one day, and there are many reasons to self-publish.
Today I saw a post in a writers group, which I usually stay out of because these groups are typically nothing more than writers fighting with each other about a lot of nonsense. But this post said the following: “If they charge you money, it’s a scam. PERIOD.”
Uh, not true. Not even close.
I know several people who work for self-publishing companies, and the majority of them are most certainly not a scam. They may be offering a service that YOU don’t think people should be interested in, but that does not make them a scam.
As previously mentioned, there are many reasons a writer may choose to have a company handle things if he or she wants to self publish. Perhaps the author does not want to do all the formatting, the editing, the work designing the cover, getting the book a Library of Congress number, adding it to multiple platforms once it’s ready, etc. etc. For those individuals, paying for these services is a good option.
Understandably, people can go the KDP route, but for reasons I’ll save for another blog, that option is quite limited.
Self-publishing companies offer packages that, for the right person, are very helpful and very affordable. The ONLY time such a venture becomes a scam is if the company tells you that they’re offering traditional publishing, but then asks you for money. THAT is a scam, simply because self-publishing and traditional publishing are two completely different processes. You never have to pay for traditional publishing.
However, if you elect to go the self-publishing route and the company does everything they say they will do, such as the things listed above, and they were upfront about the cost, then you simply paid for a service you wanted. That does not constitute a scam. So be careful when you run around saying that ANY company that charges money for publishing services is a scam, because you just might be spreading fake news.
There’s an ongoing verbal fistfight, naturally, about which is better, traditional publishing or self-publishing. Ultimately, that depends on the writer. There are many reasons to gamble that you’ll get traditionally published one day, and there are many reasons to self-publish.
Today I saw a post in a writers group, which I usually stay out of because these groups are typically nothing more than writers fighting with each other about a lot of nonsense. But this post said the following: “If they charge you money, it’s a scam. PERIOD.”
Uh, not true. Not even close.
I know several people who work for self-publishing companies, and the majority of them are most certainly not a scam. They may be offering a service that YOU don’t think people should be interested in, but that does not make them a scam.
As previously mentioned, there are many reasons a writer may choose to have a company handle things if he or she wants to self publish. Perhaps the author does not want to do all the formatting, the editing, the work designing the cover, getting the book a Library of Congress number, adding it to multiple platforms once it’s ready, etc. etc. For those individuals, paying for these services is a good option.
Understandably, people can go the KDP route, but for reasons I’ll save for another blog, that option is quite limited.
Self-publishing companies offer packages that, for the right person, are very helpful and very affordable. The ONLY time such a venture becomes a scam is if the company tells you that they’re offering traditional publishing, but then asks you for money. THAT is a scam, simply because self-publishing and traditional publishing are two completely different processes. You never have to pay for traditional publishing.
However, if you elect to go the self-publishing route and the company does everything they say they will do, such as the things listed above, and they were upfront about the cost, then you simply paid for a service you wanted. That does not constitute a scam. So be careful when you run around saying that ANY company that charges money for publishing services is a scam, because you just might be spreading fake news.
