This is a re-post from 2006, but still very relevant today:
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 to 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 wants to send you to a paid editing service or charge for editing your manuscript.
* 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.
Just in case you're also a poet, check here for info on some common poetry publishing scams.
Be careful out there!
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Heather Dudley
Forums Moderator
Liquid Story Binder, on sale for 50% off during November!
A Dragon Writes
3,733 / 50,000
Oct 20, 2009 - 11 12
I say a big AMEN to this
----------19,008 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 19 23
YAYNESS! ^-^ thanks for the hints ( i wanna publish ^-^)
----------"You know a story is good, when it starts to write itself"
^-^ feel free to add me.
NaNo '09 - Dragon's choice... we'll see how it goes.
50,135 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2009 - 22 52
Thanks for this advice! Very helpful.
37,045 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 09 40
Great advice! Thanks!
----------19,257 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2009 - 13 59
I would like to clarify that paying for an editor to edit your manuscript can be a great investment. These types of editors don't have connections to publishing houses (or perhaps they do) but do this editing on the side.
Having worked briefly for a publisher I know that they appreciate a manuscript that has been professionally edited.
That said, it's not always necessary. It may help you get out of the slush pile but most Publishers are going to get their editors to go over your MS anyway. (Please don't take that as an "Its ok to send in un-edited manuscripts" because that is a sure-fire way to get rejected).
So.... It is ok to pay for a professional editor to edit your manuscript before you submit it to publishers, BUT if a publisher asks you to pay for the cost of hiring an editor to edit your work before they will publish it - RUN AWAY.
Thanks.
----------Website: http://www.TinaHunter.ca
NaNo 2009: Riot Girl
10,424 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 07 26
Oh my. :/
It's almost like modeling scams.
Is there any place anyone knows of where I can find a good beginner's publisher? I've always wanted to get published...but I know nothing about doing so.
32,419 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 09 17
It's almost like modeling scams.
Is there any place anyone knows of where I can find a good beginner's publisher? I've always wanted to get published...but I know nothing about doing so.
Before you even think about publishing, you'll need to do the following. Apologies if you know this already.
- Finish a novel.
- Edit the novel (this doesn't just mean correcting typos).
- Have someone else read it and give you feedback.
- Incorporate their feedback.
- Preferably, repeat the above at least once with a different novel. You can write #2 while waiting for feedback on #1, and chances are good that #2 will be much better. I've written four novels since I started writing seriously, and each one is a vast improvement on the previous one.
- Decide whether you're going to submit your novel to publishers or literary agents. Don't know what an agent is or why you might want one? Look here: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2008/08/faqs.html and also see "The Essentials" on the right side of that page. Or are you considering self-publishing? Look here first (from the Writer Beware site): http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/pod/ .
- Do your research. (You can start this much earlier in the process, but don't let thinking about publishing get in the way of writing.) Look through the links posted at the top of this thread. Read blogs by editors, agents, and authors (the forums at www.absolutewrite.com are good). Find out which publishers/agents are working in your genre, and what they are looking for, what they're *not* looking for, and why.
By the time you've done all this, you'll know what to do next ;-) ...but the short version is: write a query letter and a synopsis, decide where you want to send them, and do it! It's absolutely essential to have a finished, polished novel and to do your research first, which is why I didn't mention this until the end.
[shameless plug] I'm an admin at National Novel Publishing Year (www.nanopubye.org), an unofficial spin-off of NaNoWriMo. It's designed to get you through the steps you need to take before submitting your novel. There are a lot of links to other useful resources, too. [/plug]
----------What comes after NaNo? National Novel Publishing Year! http://www.nanopubye.org
14,529 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 11 43
Thank you ever so much for the wonderful advice, I will make sure to be very careful when(and if) I decide to publish! XD
40,043 / 50,000
Nov 16, 2009 - 12 57
Great thread, thanks!
Does anyone know how I can get someone to consider my non-fiction work? Or...even just the proposal (since often in non-fiction that's easier)?
----------32,419 / 50,000
Nov 16, 2009 - 14 26
Does anyone know how I can get someone to consider my non-fiction work? Or...even just the proposal (since often in non-fiction that's easier)?
What I know about non-fiction publishing, I've picked up tangentially as I've researched the fiction side of things. But here's what I can tell you...
Here's a post about the publishing process that applies to both fiction and non-fiction: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/08/how-book-gets-published.html
Here's one about writing non-fiction book proposals: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2007/02/how-to-write-nonfiction-book-pro... (NOTE: This doesn't apply to memoirs. Memoirs are treated just like novels, because the voice and the narrative arc are more important than the idea and structure.)
Just like in fiction, you'll need to research which publishers or agents your book (or proposal) would fit best, and target your proposal to them.
Unlike in fiction, "platform" is very important. You'll have a much better chance if you've already published articles, or have a large blog following, or have some kind of expertise in the area your book deals with.
Hope that helps!
----------What comes after NaNo? National Novel Publishing Year! http://www.nanopubye.org