How To Tell If Your “Publisher” Is a Fraud

In part due to the lingering stigma surrounding self publishing, so-called “indie” and “niche” publishers are appealing to many authors.  They seem to represent the best of both worlds: an accessibility not found with the Top Five, but the legitimacy of having someone else’s name on your spine.  You’re not just Joe Q. Public, entering the market all on your own; you have a team behind you.

At least…that’s the theory.

In practice, may so-called “publishers” are little better than scam artists, charging you an arm and a leg for things you could’ve done on your own for free.  As an artist, you have to be your own advocate; and that starts by getting informed.  This is a topic I could, and probably in the future will, go on about at length.  But for right now, here are some things to watch out for.  Each and every single entrance on this list is a HUGE red flag; ignore it at your peril.

A publisher who promises to “distribute” your work to Amazon, Apple’s iBooks platform, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Scribd, Oyster (and possibly one or two other outlets, depending on your genre).  Guess what: you can do that, yourself.  Amazon, through Amazon’s KDP direct program and the rest through Smashwords.  Both services are free to join, with no up front costs.  You don’t need a “publisher” to do this; Amazon and Smashwords are your publisher.  Which is why, in return for the use of their services, they’re going to charge you a cut.
A publisher who tells you that you need a publisher in order to create a print book.  You don’t.  There are a couple of popular print on demand platforms; Creatspace, which is an Amazon-owned company, is probably the most popular.  Their work is top notch and they, too, offer their own design services.  Which, although I don’t use them for myself, are also top notch.
A publisher who charges royalties, but who also expects you to pay out of pocket for other expenses; i.e. for cover art or marketing campaigns.  This is a ripoff.  The entire point of charging a royalty in the first place is that you’re NOT also charging other fees.  You’re taking a cut per unit sold instead of charging by the hour, etc.
A publisher who claims to offer “direct, as opposed to third party” distribution through sites like Amazon.  The so-called publisher, in this case, is the middleman; “direct” would be if you, the author, were interacting with Amazon directly.  In general, I think it’s a wise move to avoid ANY professional who obfuscates the process or who isn’t 100% clear, honest, and upfront about what services they’re providing.  Which includes being honest about who else is capable of providing these services, and for what price point.
A publisher who charges a royalty of more than 15%.  Essentially, what many of these so-called “publishers” are, are agents.  If you’re publishing through Amazon, Createspace, Smashwords, etc, your “publisher” isn’t actually your publisher.  Those outlets are.  Amazon, as a for example, is doing the hard work of making your book both visible and available.  Unless your boutique publisher is doing something for you that you absolutely 100% could not do on your own, i.e. get you a booth at the next Comic-Con, they’re agenting your work rather than publishing it.  And they shouldn’t be asking more than an agent’s cut.

One of the reasons I feel so strongly about offering a la carte services to indie authors, which we do through Evil Toad Press (where you can hire my services as an editor), is that I don’t think the royalty contract model serves authors.  Virtually all authors, in my opinion, can get a better deal by paying upfront for the services they actually need; after that point, their royalties are their own.  Which, if you end up making any kind of sales, as an author, is a tremendous benefit in the long run.  And I worry, too, that too many so-called “publishers” are taking advantage of hopeful and often extremely talented individuals who don’t know that much about the industry.

Part of the joy of being a self published author is that, if you need, for example, a publicist to design a media campaign or a graphic designer to design you some beautiful advertising, you can hire those people!  Without signing away your life in royalties!  Because I have business ethics, if someone comes to me wanting one thing, and they could actually be served far better by something else, which would benefit them more but net me less, I’ll tell them so.  Because I’d rather a) they get what they actually need and b) I build and maintain my reputation as a person of integrity, than make a quick buck.

I’m not going to lie; I have an angle here, of course I do.  I was one of the people who founded Evil Toad Press, because I was sick–like they were–of traditional publishing.  We wanted to offer nontraditional books a home but, at the same time, we also wanted to offer authors the same services that the Top Five offered, with the same quality, but without the “sign your life away on the dotted line” contract.  But really, the reason I’m still helping other writers is because I’m passionate about this work.

I want them–you–to succeed.