Reblogged this on Just Can't Help Writing and commented:
Thanks, Chris, for another important article. Here is my comment on this article at The Book Shepherd:
I’m amazed that so many people will pay these sums to be published when CreateSpace will do it for free. All you need is a Word file and a cover. Sorry, my CreateSpace book looks just fine. I suppose there are genius cover designers out there who could have done a better cover than DigitalDonna.com did for me, but I’d be surprised to discover them at a reasonable cost.
I went with Ingram first; again, nothing wrong with the 22 books I purchased at cost ($168). At Ingram, you will pay $49 for publication, and you must, indeed should, buy your own ISBN, since if you choose CreateSpace first, they will own the ISBN. Three hundred dollars for 10 ISBNs you can use for your entire series is a lot less than the numbers being discussed in these comments.
I hope writers will use the funds they are paying for these services to find good professional editors and cover designers. And I second Judith’s point that being traditionally published does NOT mean that you will get stellar marketing. In the end, you will do that for yourself. Why not do it all?
What about you? Do you have any tales to tell about your publishing adventures? Help us all “beware.”
As you probably know Virginia, I design book covers, so naturally I did the cover for my Mum’s book and paid Jo Robinson to do the editing and formatting for the eBook and CreateSpace paperback, then uploaded to Kindle and CreateSpace myself. 😃
I recently had a run in with a publisher that clearly didn’t read what I sent them (there wasn’t possibly enough time) before they said they wanted to put me in print everywhere, and the manuscript didn’t need any editing. Looked up their name and found tons of dissatisfied customers who said their book went to print alright… and the copies are just sitting in a warehouse without being distributed. Thanks for sharing this.
And yet, it’s so easy to unveil a scam. They promise you stardom and NYT Best Seller listing even before seeing your manuscript AND they ask you for money. LOL
Watch the money flow, if it goes from you to *them* it’s a scam. Easy. No other distinguo to be made or mulled over.
Much better, for an independent author, to create relationship with serious freelance individuals in editing, proofreading, and book cover arts. Many good ones are out there, reputable and reliable.
Don’t be a fool (which, thinking you’re getting into writing I’m not so sure the exhortation has any value…)
on The Book Shepherd:
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 
Reblogged this on The Owl Lady.
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It’s a big problem. I just don’t get why people keep falling for it.
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Because they hope they’ve finally hit the Big Time Ali
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Thanks for reblogging this, Chris. Much appreciated 🙂 xxx
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Authors need to know these things Tina 😀
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Reblogged this on Just Can't Help Writing and commented:
Thanks, Chris, for another important article. Here is my comment on this article at The Book Shepherd:
I’m amazed that so many people will pay these sums to be published when CreateSpace will do it for free. All you need is a Word file and a cover. Sorry, my CreateSpace book looks just fine. I suppose there are genius cover designers out there who could have done a better cover than DigitalDonna.com did for me, but I’d be surprised to discover them at a reasonable cost.
I went with Ingram first; again, nothing wrong with the 22 books I purchased at cost ($168). At Ingram, you will pay $49 for publication, and you must, indeed should, buy your own ISBN, since if you choose CreateSpace first, they will own the ISBN. Three hundred dollars for 10 ISBNs you can use for your entire series is a lot less than the numbers being discussed in these comments.
I formatted my own interior, which cost me $20 a month for my subscription to Adobe InDesign. On my blog, I’m doing a series on how I conquered InDesign: https://justcanthelpwriting.wordpress.com/2016/08/18/indesign-beginners-cheat-sheet-finishing-up-part-i/
Believe me, it’s not that hard.
I hope writers will use the funds they are paying for these services to find good professional editors and cover designers. And I second Judith’s point that being traditionally published does NOT mean that you will get stellar marketing. In the end, you will do that for yourself. Why not do it all?
What about you? Do you have any tales to tell about your publishing adventures? Help us all “beware.”
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As you probably know Virginia, I design book covers, so naturally I did the cover for my Mum’s book and paid Jo Robinson to do the editing and formatting for the eBook and CreateSpace paperback, then uploaded to Kindle and CreateSpace myself. 😃
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I recently had a run in with a publisher that clearly didn’t read what I sent them (there wasn’t possibly enough time) before they said they wanted to put me in print everywhere, and the manuscript didn’t need any editing. Looked up their name and found tons of dissatisfied customers who said their book went to print alright… and the copies are just sitting in a warehouse without being distributed. Thanks for sharing this.
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It always pays to research before committing 🐵
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Definitely! I would’ve been out of $800 something, and money’s tight enough with a 1 year old and another bebe on the way. Villains.
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And yet, it’s so easy to unveil a scam. They promise you stardom and NYT Best Seller listing even before seeing your manuscript AND they ask you for money. LOL
Watch the money flow, if it goes from you to *them* it’s a scam. Easy. No other distinguo to be made or mulled over.
Much better, for an independent author, to create relationship with serious freelance individuals in editing, proofreading, and book cover arts. Many good ones are out there, reputable and reliable.
Don’t be a fool (which, thinking you’re getting into writing I’m not so sure the exhortation has any value…)
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Exactly Massimo, which is why this message needs repeating every so often – as does backup your work 👍
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