Do you remember the earlier, simpler days of the internet, when the only fraudulent attempts on our life-savings were made by deposed Princes having difficulties accessing their bank accounts? For a share in their millions we could assist by granting them access to our own bank account. Move forward just a decade or so and scam emails have evolved to directly target individuals, in fairly convincing manner.
Imagine you are a school-leaver, new to the workplace. You decide the occupation you would most like is plumber and you study and go out into the world as a skilled plumber. You are invited by a homeowner with a leak in their kitchen to fix the leak and they only expect you to pay a “small fee” for the privilege of doing so. After you have paid numerous householders to fix their repairs, it will probably occur to you that this is not, in fact, how professions work.
Our profession is Writer and as with any profession we expect to get paid for our craft, our time and our skill. Yet there seems to be a host of “book clubs” and “avid readers” who are of the mindset that their washing machine repair man should pay them for calling out and repairing their appliance. While in that context it clearly sounds absurd, they phrase it in such a way that the unwary writer could easily be blindsided and accept these “fees” as the norm.
They are not.
Publishers pay authors; authors never, ever pay publishers. Book clubs pay visiting authors a respectful fee for their time and wisdom; authors never, ever pay them. Readers request review copies and in return for a free book will hopefully provide a review. Do we really think it good practice to gift them a free book AND pay them to read it and write a review? I think not! And yet our inboxes are suddenly over-flowing with such requests. The funny thing is, they begin by praising our book, to the extent it appears they have already read it. And they’ve reviewed it quite nicely for our benefit. And now they want us to pay them to share their review on some obscure website of their own? Clearly that foreign Prince has had to look for new and more inventive income streams and where better than to prey upon the vanity of authors!
Ah, that word, vanity. Which leads me to the next scam to part us from our hard-earned. Vanity presses are not new, they have been callously feeding on the dreams and aspirations of new writers since the earliest days of the printing press, but where once they competed with genuine publishers and were easy to spot – they charged money! – they are now secreted within that blurred line of Indie/self-publishing. There is a difference, though. Independently publishing your own book, as the publisher yourself, is several thousand euros cheaper.
You will first hire a proofreader, and possibly also an editor if you feel it necessary, both listed with the Association of Freelance Editors, Proofreaders and Indexers of Ireland (AFEPI Ireland). Bear in mind you are paying them for at least two days’ skilled work; but it will be less than the associated charges by a vanity press and you will be assured the work is actually done. Then you go to a local printer, where you pay for a set quantity of books (generally around €4 per copy) which are then delivered to you. Again, complete transparency – you know how many have been printed and have possession of all copies. The Amazon KDP route is also attractive, with no financial outlay – the cost of the book is deducted individually from each copy sold. You are told the cost and you set the sales price accordingly, with the profit lodged to your bank account with each and every sale. Again, complete transparency. In contrast, the vanity presses take your money (up to €6,0000), give you your 10-20 author copies and rarely contact you again. Those attractive “royalties” they mentioned rarely materialise, due to inadequate sales.
So, how do you spot a vanity press? it’s actually very easy – they advertise! Genuine publishers never advertise. Why would they? Think of all those hopeful unsolicited manuscripts they receive on a daily basis; it’s akin to you popping an advert in a national paper requesting “Tradesmen! Please send me your flyers! Flyers wanted!” And there they are, in writing magazines and the Sunday supplements, neat little square box-ads “Authors! We want your books!” They’re incredibly fond of the exclamation mark, which should warn you off the additional “proofing and editing services” they’ll try to charge you for.
In conclusion, just think of the following fictional comparable sporting headline before you assume a scam offer is actually genuine:
“Cristiano Ronaldo pays record fee to Manchester United to be allowed to play for them!”
Really?
