Beware Publishing Scams and Sneaky People (taken from Amber the Librarian's page on the YWP site with some minor changes)
NaNoWriMo is all about encouraging people do things they would have thought were impossible. People have sold their NaNo-novels (after letting their inner editor out to check spelling and clean up consistency errors). Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable that people would want to sell their NaNo-novels.
But be careful. The world of publishing is, for the most part, made up of honest editors who want to give writers money for being brilliant (because then the editor gets to make money off the brilliant books), and agents, who want to earn their fifteen percent by convincing the editors that their clients’ books are indeed brilliant.
However (and it’s a big 'however'), some people want to cut out the whole selling books part and make money off the writer. They can do this in various unethical ways, and like most forms of fraud, these literary hucksters are getting more sophisticated all the time. Always look over any contract you’re thinking of signing and if you don't have a lawyer, give it to a friend to look at as well. It's up to you to protect yourself, too, by learning all you can.
Be especially leery of:
* Anyone who wants to charge you money up front, especially a reading fee.
* Anyone who requires you to pay them, or someone they specify, to edit your manuscript before they will publish your book.
* Anyone who wants you to buy something before they will publish your book.
* Anyone who offers you a "co-publishing" contract.
* Anyone who contacts you first, offering to publish your work.
Resources:
The most important site to look at is Writer Beware, a free service provided by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Preditors and Editors is a fairly extensive list of reputable people to send your work to, and of scams.
Most (though not necessarily all) reputable agents will be listed with the Association of Author’s Representatives .
You can find lots of reputable copy-editors through the Editorial Freelancers Association , the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (UK), and the Editors Association of Canada.
Just in case you’re also a poet, check here for info on some common poetry publishing scams.
These things do happen. Read three stories at Writing World and of course get more links there.
----------
NaNoWriMo & ScriptFrenzy Staff
34,243 / 50,000
Dec 1, 2007 - 06 58
Thanks for the tips. Anton
----------"You can't write down your intellectual understanding of a hero or a villain [character] and expect us to be engaged. You probably have to find these characters within the community of people who live in your heart....
51,666 / 50,000
Dec 1, 2007 - 07 57
I wholeheartedly endorse this. I'm a bookseller in the UK and I spend a disproportionate amount of my time trying to help people who have gone the author-funded route and are now bitterly regretting it.
If you really are desperate to see your book in print, you could consider publishing it yourself but don't, whatever you do, pay someone else to publish it for you. The best advice I can give you is to persevere in your attempts to get a publisher interested but if you do decide to publish it yourself, don't rush into it. You put so much effort into writing it, why ruin its chances by being slapdash now? There's a time and a place for exuberant imperfection and it's not when you are trying to sell a book that doesn't have an ISBN or a barcode and is the wrong size, the wrong shape and the wrong price to a harassed bookseller who has 200 thousand other new titles to consider. Google the professional associations for authors, booksellers and publishers in your country and see what advice they offer. The UK has at least two excellent annual publications aimed at writers who are seeking publication. Neither is expensive and most public libraries will have at least one of them in their reference section. I am sure the situation is similar in the US and elsewhere.
And I wish you all the very best, no matter where your NaNo takes you.