Indie Pitfalls

cautionLast week, we focused on identifying and avoiding scams. That’s really just the beginning point. Outright scams are a little easier to avoid than many of the other pitfalls awaiting indies. While most of these other considerations are not necessarily categorized as predation, they can be calamities nonetheless.

As you probably know, there is a lot more involved with being an indie author than just writing your book. Those other necessary steps, including editing, formatting, cover design, and marketing may fall well outside your wheelhouse. There are plenty of people selling those services, but you have to be careful. You do not always get what you pay for.

DO NOT BUY ANY OF THESE SERVICES FROM A PUBLISHER. Legitimate publishers do not charge authors for editing, formatting, cover design, and marketing. Continue reading “Indie Pitfalls”

How to Spot a Scam

snakeWelcome to the cyberverse. There are plenty of hucksters, scammers, con artists, and assorted seedy characters looking for every opportunity to move some money from your pockets to theirs. Some writers have spent thousands of dollars following the path of promises, misrepresentations, and “expert” recommendations made by some very bad people. They’re out there. Learning how to recognize them is your best protection.

There are a couple of very good watchdog resources every author should know: Writer Beware and Preditors & Editors. Both these sites do an outstanding job of tracking the latest scams and bad behavior in the publishing industry.

Indies Unlimited is not a watchdog site. Part of the reason is that we know these shadowy scammers can (and do) easily change their names and open up under a new banner whenever they are outed. Trying to compile a list of suspicious actors becomes a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. But a leopard cannot change its spots. If you know what to look out for, the name of the beast doesn’t matter.

Here are some guidelines which will help you identify scammers, no matter their name: Continue reading “How to Spot a Scam”