How not to get shafted, 101

Every single day, I go on various writing forums and read tales of woe about authors being taken in by unscrupulous publishers. In some cases, they ended up paying thousands of dollars for books that never went anywhere.

In other cases, they had to pay publishers and editors to get their manuscript ready because the publisher didn't provide editing services, which to me is nothing short of madness. In both cases, they got screwed.

So, the question arises of how not to get shafted. The unscrupulous publishers, the vanity presses and/or the fly-by-night presses that don't do dick for you, they're banking on your desperation to get your book out there. So many writers have been screwed this way, they've turned to self-publishing, and that's another matter to be explored in a future post.

Here is my advice, for it's worth on the open market.

One: ALL money should flow to the writer. It doesn't matter if it's ten bucks or a thousand. It's called Yog's Law (I have no idea how that name originated and am too lazy to Google it) but it states that the writer should NOT have to pay for anything IF they sign with a legitimate press. The publisher should provide an editor, a cover artist, and at no time should the writer have to pay a dime.

So it behooves the writer to check the contract. If at any point the contract states the writer has to pay the publisher for editing and/or cover services, run!

Two: I mentioned the word "legitimate" above and with good reason. There are a multitude of presses out there and sometimes it's hard to discern which one is good and which isn't.

So...check out Preditors and Editors. A good secondary source is Piers Anthony's Internet Publishing. Both sites are reasonably up to date in their listings and I have used both in the past. I shall continue to do so.

Be aware that even legit presses can go under. It happens. Nothing is a guarantee, not anymore. However, should a decent press fail, then they should revert ALL rights back to the author, no questions asked.

As an aside, recently I asked a publisher to revert the rights of a novel back to me. It took a while, mainly because the owner's health hasn't been too good as of late--neither has mine, by the way--so I didn't hold that against him. He was most gracious and we parted on good terms. That to me is the best way to do business and I would still recommend his press to anyone wishing to publish with them.

Three: Ask those out there who have been published who is good--in their opinion--and who isn't. The amount of information on the Web can be overwhelming at times and there are conflicting opinions. If in doubt, ask a trusted friend. Preditors and Editors used to read contracts over and see if they were a decent deal. The man who did that for me in a couple of cases has unfortunately passed away, but perhaps they still do it. I'm not sure.

At any rate, if you rein in your enthusiasm and take a step back, chances are you'll make the right choices. As with all things, keep writing and never give up hope.