How to Spot Publishing Scams & How To Avoid Them
Learning how to navigate the publishing world is hard enough. Then there are the vanity press businesses that pose as publishers, predatory publishing companies, fake literary agents, and other publishing scams running rampant across the internet.
These con artists often prey on new, inexperienced writers and trick them into paying large amounts of money to publish their books, then lock them into unfair, deceitful contracts, and rob authors of their book rights.
If you are wondering whether or not a publishing company you are considering might be a scam, our post, How to Spot Publishing Scams & How To Avoid Them, shows some of the red flags to look out for and ways to avoid falling into the traps these scammers set to ensnare new authors.
Is it a Publishing Scam? What Makes Something a Scam?
According to The Britannica Dictionary, the definition of a scam is "a dishonest way to make money by deceiving people."
A company is a scam if they:
- Have unlawful or unethical business practices.
- Are fraudulent and lie about what they do and provide for authors.
- Make false promises to authors and under-deliver on those promises.
5 of the Most Common Publishing Scams
Vanity Publishers
Many of these companies swindle authors into paying costly, overly inflated, sky-high fees for sub-par author services. There are also many vanity publishing presses that try to pass themselves off as a traditional publishing house when in fact they are NOT! Most often these companies are scammers that make a living preying off new authors.
Some of these vanity presses want authors to pay for their outrageously, pricy packages that are sometimes $10,000. dollars or more. Some companies want a percentage of the book royalties and grab the rights in addition to having authors pay for their services. Beware any company that charges you money to publish your book and tries to take book royalties as well! Even cheaper vanity presses have prices that are hugely inflated for the quality of the product they put out.
Many times these companies actually outsource book cover design and editing to the lowest bidders, not caring about the quality of the final product. They take the money and slap something together. For their promotion packages, they often do bogus, ineffective marketing for you but charge top dollar prices. Many of these vanity presses take full control of the author's book so the author does not have a say in any decision-making.
Not all vanity presses are scams, but overall, vanity presses are a bad idea if you want to have a career as an author. But some of the more upfront ones, with more reasonable prices, are okay for someone who only wants to publish one book or who might want help turning a children's book into print so that they can read it to their grandkids.
Also note, that vanity presses are completely different from self-publishing companies that have been vetted and are well-known for helping authors self-publish their work. A good self-publishing company allows the author to retain complete control over every part of the publishing process, from book cover design to editing, formatting, and marketing plans. The author pays the company for specific services and retains control over their book and receives an excellent quality product.
Predatory Publishers
Sadly, bad publishing companies with unlawful or unethical business practices are commonplace in the publishing world. There are publishing companies that take authors' manuscripts, and publish their books, but never pay the author any of their royalties! Or the publishing company may start off paying the author some book royalties, but then eventually, they just stop paying and stop replying to the author's emails. There are horror stories of authors who paid a publishing company thousands of dollars for print books but then never received any books.
Fake Literary Agents
There are also many fake literary agents out there who take advantage of new writers with big dreams of getting their work published. These swindlers promise to send your work out to various publishing houses but never do. Their goal is to scam aspiring writers by charging money for reading fees.
If any agent wants you to pay them money, that's a red flag right there! You should never have to pay an agent to read your manuscript or have them submit your work to editors.
Is this agent a part of a reputable agency or a lone wolf? Often a good rule of thumb is to avoid the lone wolf and go for an agent who has a good track record with a well-known agency.
An easy way to find a legit agent is to see if they are a member of the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA). The AALA is the organization that most professional agents are generally a part of. To become a member they must apply and fulfill professional qualifications and submit recommendations. All members of AALA have to follow the laws and ethics to remain a member of the organization. (Side note the Association of Authors’ Representatives AAR rebranded to the Association of American Literary AALA in 2020 so it's a recent name change, so do not be alarmed if an agent hasn't updated their credentials to AALA yet instead of AAR.)
AALA also has a cool search tool where you can browse their directory to help you verify if an agent is legitimate.
Fake Editors
Unsolicited offers from editors to edit your manuscript and get it ready to publish are scammers. Never ever work with somebody who approaches you! If you want to get your book ready for publication, find an editor from a creditable company. Do your research to find an editor that you can trust.
Scam Marketing Companies
Marketing scams are one of the most common areas where authors get completely ripped off. There are a lot of bad companies and con artists out there that take advantage of authors' inexperience in business and marketing. These scammers often sell high-priced or even low-priced marketing packages that yield zero results. Scammers sell these ineffective marketing services, take the money, and run. Do your research and check out the company's credibility, read reviews, and do a Google search on any marketing company you are considering. There are lots of great marketing companies out there, but spotting the difference between good companies and bad can be difficult.
The Alliance of Independent Authors has created an excellent tool for spotting scams and bogus companies that prey on the dreams of authors. They created a free-to-access, searchable online database with a list of companies that is easy to interpret with their color-coded rating system. They rate companies from excellent to watchdog advisory.
Publishing Scam Red Flags
Red Flag #1 They Contact You First
A rule of thumb is to be extremely suspicious of any publishing company that contacts you first. There are thousands of solicitation scammers out there that prey on the passion and insecurities of new writers and you must keep your guard up. You may be overjoyed and excited that a publishing company is contacting you out of the blue via email, social media, or telephone, offering you a book contract. You may be thinking that all your publishing dreams are about to come true but unfortunately, this is almost always a scam.
Legit publishers almost never contact you first. To publish a book with a publisher, you generally have to query agents and submit your manuscript to editors who are extremely busy and have tons of submissions to read. Agents and editors hardly ever contact an author first and if they do, it is generally a published author they have worked with in the past or has a massive author platform already established. This is extremely rare. So if you see an email in your inbox from a publisher or literary agent you have not contacted before who claims they want to publish your book, your scam alert senses should be tingling.
Solicitation scammers are one of the biggest and most common scams in the writing industry.
Just a Few Common Scam Examples:
- A prestigious publisher wants to acquire your book!
- Your book grabbed our attention and we would like to invite you to _________________.
- If you want to become the next best-selling author, join us at________!
- Your book was brought to our attention by a book scout.
- We would like to invest in your book and make it available for sale globally!
- A literary agency is interested in your work!
- As a literary agent at __________ company, I am looking to represent you and your book! It has been recommended by _________ book scout.
- I only work with books that have the best potential.
- A film producer wants to turn your novel into a movie!
- We can expose you to millions of potential fans!
- We have discovered your book ______________ and would like to give you an offer for the book to be picked up by _______________ publishing house.
- We can get your book into physical book stores.
- We will endorse your book to traditional book publishers.
- We would like to work together to turn your manuscript into a script/screenplay
- We can turn your book into a bestseller.
- We want to invite you to submit your book to_____________.
Red Flag #2 They Guarantee Bestsellers
Publishing is a gamble. No legitimate publishing company is going to promise to make your book a bestseller. Even well-established New York Times bestselling authors write books that completely flop. No real publisher will make these promises, especially to a new author without a large platform. Real publishers do not promise a certain number of copies sold or guarantees of making bestseller lists.
Red Flag #3 They Have Minimal Online Presence
Does this publisher have a presence on social media?
How many social media followers do they have?
Is this publishing company on review sites?
How many authors and books do they represent?
Do they have a real address, phone number, and email?
Can you get in touch with a real person from the company?
Who are their editors? Can you look up their editors?
Who are these editors and what are their qualifications?
Publishers should not be faceless. You should be able to research this publishing company and know exactly who you are going to be working with. If the only reference to this publishing company that you can find on the internet is their website, that is a huge red flag! Is their website brand new or well established with Google? New websites are definitely something you should be wary about.
Can you find and connect with other authors who have published with this company? Many publishers have an authors tab listed on their website where you can see who has published with them. Do your research. Having a minimal online footprint is definitely a red flag. Often the reviews raving about the company were written by the company itself, not real clients.
Red Flag #4 They Ask for Your Money
Real publishing companies do not ask you for money. If they are asking for reading fees or any other type of publishing or editing fee while claiming to be a publisher, most likely this is a publishing scam. Publishers may pay authors an advance or agree to pay future royalties according to the number of books sold, or both, but you, as an author, should never pay them anything. They should be paying you!
The publisher gets the right to print and distribute your book with the goal of selling as many books as possible. Real publishers make their money from book sales, not selling services to the author. If a company posing as a publisher is asking you to pay them money this is a huge red flag that the company is illegitimate and just trying to rip you off. Do not allow yourself to get hoodwinked by these cheats who are trying to pull a fast one on you! Real literary agents will not ask you to pay them money either.
If you are self-publishing and want guidance throughout the whole self-pub process, there are legitimate companies where you do pay editors, graphic designers, and marketers to help you self-publish your book. You pay them just for specific services. They don’t publish your book for you. You should have full access to your Amazon KDP dashboard or other book uploading dashboard. They should not be in control of your book. You, as the author, should retain full control and access to your novel. You pay these assisted self-publishing companies for specific services like book cover design, editing, and formatting for your book. These companies that you pay should "Not" make profits/royalties from your work or have control of your work. You remain in charge and should be able to get into your own book dashboards on various upload sites.
Red Flag #5 Requiring Purchases of Your Own Books
If a company claiming to be a publisher says they require authors to purchase bulk copies of their own books, they are definitely conning you. Maybe they claim this is so that you can "re-sell books yourself or "sell copies at book signings," but this is a clear red flag. Real publishers often give you free copies of your own books for those purposes. You may choose to buy copies of your own book but there should never be any requirement for you to buy your own books.
Red Flag #6 They Tell You That Your Book is Excellent and Needs No Revision
If they tell you that your book does not need any revision and that it is 100% ready to upload as is, or if the revisions they give you are very light, you should know that something is wrong. No matter how good you are at writing and editing your own work, there should always be some additional editing and revision involved before publication. Real publishers care about quality and making your book the best that it can be. Editors at a real publisher often have their authors make several rounds of intensive edits on their manuscripts.
Red Flag #7 They Use Excessive Flattery
If a company is using excessive, over-the-top flattery, it is most likely a scam. Especially if they are contacting you out of the blue and are raving about how great your book is and how they want to work with you. Scammers love to stroke the egos of authors and make them feel good so they will sign with them. Most marketing companies have never read your book. Many times they will contact you referencing a book you published several years ago and not your most current release. This is definitely a red flag.
Red Flag #8 Reading fees
Any time a publisher or literary agent wants to charge you a fee just to read your book, it is guaranteed to be a scam. Run like Captain Jack Sparrow fleeing a large hoard of hungry cannibals! Legitimate publishing companies and literary agents do not charge fees to read your book. Reading fees are one of the most common scams in the writing and publishing world. Some literary magazines charge a small reading fee, but aside from those few magazines, all professional agents and publishers absolutely do not charge any reading fees.
Red Flag #9 Bad Bookcovers
Take a look at the book covers on this publishing company's website. How is the quality? Do these book covers look like they were designed by a professional graphic designer? Are the book covers up to industry standards?
Do your research and find books published with this publisher and check out the quality of their work. If the covers look horrendous or look like they are poorly photoshopped, run away. Even if they are not a scam company, it is better to look elsewhere.
There are plenty of legit publishing companies that take the time and effort to give their authors decent book covers because they want their author's books to sell. Good publishing companies see their authors as an investment and investing in a good bookcover can help make more money for both author and publisher. The saying "never judge a book by its cover" is simply not true in terms of book sales. Shoppers on the internet definitely judge books by their covers and having a good book cover can make all the difference.
Red Flag #10 Bad Websites
Legitimate book publishing companies invest money into their websites. Does the website of the publisher you are thinking of going with have a professional-looking website or does it look handmade? Even small publishing companies take the time and money to invest in a web designer to create a good website because they are a business and want their publishing company to be a success. First Impressions matter. Poorly designed websites are a gigantic red flag.
When using a desktop computer, look up at the top search bar by the website URL of the company and if it says "Not secure" instead of having the secure padlock icon, you should be wary. A secure padlock icon generally means that the information on that particular website has either a TLS or SSL certificate that encrypts user data and adds more protection. A lot of scammers create lots of websites and use DV certificates that are less traceable and they do not have to prove that the company is legitimate. Although, with improving technology, there are workarounds for cyber criminals and just because a site has a padlock does not automatically mean that it is a safe site. New data shows that half of fake sites used for phishing have a padlock now.
Some Red Flags to look out for on publisher websites
- Website has odd layouts, or in general, just has poor web design. Red Flag
- Website has spelling and grammatical errors, and maybe broken English. Red Flag
- Website has the warning icon "Not secure" at the top where the website URL is on desktop browsers instead of having a secure padlock. Red Flag
- Website runs slow or is glitchy. Red Flag
- Website has lots of broken buttons or links. Red Flag
- Website has low-quality visuals. Red Flag
- Website has no Privacy Policy or Terms and Conditions page. Red Flag
- Website has no copyright on bottom of page "© ___________ All Rights Reserved."Red Flag
- Website does not have a "Team" or "Meet the Editors" page or have editors listed on their "About" page with their bio, & headshot. Red Flag
- Website does not have a listed "Publishing FAQ" or "Submissions and Guidelines" page with exactly what they are looking for. Red Flag
- Website is out of date or looks like it hasn't been updated in years. Red Flag
Red Flag #11 Promises Of Grandeur Like Getting Your Book Into Hollywood
If a publishing company is promising big grandiose things like "we will get your book into Hollywood" or "our authors get movie deals" or some other statement that is big and flashy to get authors to publish with them, most likely they are a publishing scam company. Of course, every author would love to see their book made into a movie but the reality is that many publishing scams use that dream to ensnare unsuspecting authors. There are many many Hollywood scams. A common one is where you are asked to pay a screenwriter thousands of dollars to turn your book into a screenplay. Remember, if they reach out to you without having met you, it is most likely a scam.
Red Flag #12 If They Want To Take Your Rights and Sub-Rights
If a company is trying to get you to sign away the rights or sub-rights to your book, run away! In the United States, as soon as you write something, you automatically own the copyright to your work. (Although, it would be wise to also file to have it copyrighted through the proper channels.) Also be careful of signing contracts without a literary lawyer or an agent to represent your work. Many times an inexperienced author will sign a book contract and not ever know they are signing away certain rights that were stated in fine print. Some companies may try to sneakily claim your sub-rights without offering you a revenue split or any further compensation. Examples of sub-rights: (Film rights, Merchandise, Serialization, Audiobooks, Book translations to other languages, etc.)
Red Flag #13 Shady / Fishy Contracts
If a contract seems fishy, there is a good chance that it is. Trust your gut! It doesn't hurt to have a lawyer look at a publishing contract to make sure that a company isn't trying to screw you. Hidden between the wordy language and gibberish there can be tricks written into the contract to try and claim your rights. If they do ask for your rights, how much will they pay for them or what would the revenue split be? If they have film or audiobook rights, what is the percentage you would be taking? You have the right to ask questions about a contract.
Some Questions to ask yourself when looking at a contract:
- When do you get paid?
- What is the royalty percentage?
- How is the royalty percentage calculated?
- Do you get an advance? Or just book royalties?
- What is the royalty rate for hardcover, softcover, ebook, and other formats?
- Is the royalty rate based on the list price or net?
- How do you get paid? Check or direct deposit?
- Are there any bonuses after book sales hit a certain amount?
- Will you get free copies of your book? If yes, how many?
- Do you receive a discount on books that you purchase?
- What rights are they asking for?
- How much creative control will you have over the look of the book?
- Do you get a say on the book cover design?
- When do they send book statements?
It is a good idea to have answers to questions in writing so that if there is a dispute, you have the contract to support your case.
Red Flag #14 Automatically Accepting Your Book
If a publisher automatically accepts your book after only reading a query letter or synopsis, you should be suspicious. A quick yes is definitely a red flag. It is common for scam companies to quickly ensnare as many new authors as fast as they possibly can to make their profits. Legitimate companies want to invest in their business by making sure they publish quality. They want to give their authors time to set up and create promotion plans to market their books. Beware if they immediately accept a book and say, "Okay, great! We can have it come out next week."
Red Flag #15 We Can Publish Your Book on Amazon
Hate to break it to you, but listing a book for sale on Amazon is not hard to do. Even listing your book on Barnes & Noble is a piece of cake. Scammers make a killing off of new authors who do not know how incredibly easy it is to publish a book on Amazon and other sites. These fraudulent publishing companies make it seem like a complicated process. If you see a publishing company boasting about getting your books on Amazon. Run Away!
Red Flag #16 We Can Get Your Book an ISBN
I would be leery of any publishing company that is bragging about being able to get you an ISBN for your book. ISBN numbers are very easy to get and are not something a real publishing company would be boasting about doing. If you live in the USA, you can get an ISBN number through Bowker.com. If you live in Canada, you can get an ISBN through ISBN Canada. If you live in the U.K. you can get an ISBN from nielsenisbnstore.com. And authors can also get ISBN numbers through IngramSpark. If you are not planning to have your print book in bookstores, you most likely do not even need an ISBN.
Red Flag #17 One Person Running the Company
Beware of a company run by one person. Yes, this person may mean well, but these types of situations rarely ever turn out with a happily ever after and most often end in complete disaster. It is impossible for one person to manage all the ins and outs of a publishing company by themselves. It takes a dedicated full-time team! Also, do not fall for the line that 'they hire freelancers to do tasks they cannot do themselves.' This isn't a good sign.
Red Flag #18 High-Pressure Sales Tactics
If a company is using high-pressure sales tactics and is hounding you to make a quick decision, they are most certainly a scam.
A common trick predatory publishing companies use is to only give an author a 48-hour window to sign with them. Scammers often make their money by pressuring authors to make snap decisions before getting recommendations and doing research. These hustlers do not want authors to think things through. They prey on the author who is just excited to tell their friends, "Oh my gosh, I'm getting published!"
Other pushy scamming companies try to get your phone numbers, and emails, and relentlessly keep calling you.
Red Flag #19 Too Good To Be True
If everything is sounding too good to be true, then it probably is. Not to be cynical, but landing a traditional publishing contract is hard. If you have not put in the work to learn the craft of writing, take classes and courses, join writing groups, study comparable books, and take steps to build an author platform and engage in marketing, then chances are, you are not ready to publish. Learn the craft, network with other writers, and pitch to editors and agents at conferences or query them online. Go through the proper channels for your best chance of success.
Red Flag #20 They Operate Multiple Companies or Brands Offering the Same Services
If you research a company and discover that the owners have multiple companies, brands, or imprints listed offering the same services on multiple websites, this is most often a scam company. Often, the various websites even share some of the same text. These con artists create multiple companies to try and ensnare as many writers as possible.
Additional Tips To Avoid Publishing Scams
Google the Company!
Google is your friend! Google any business professional before working with them. This could be a marketing company, publishing company, editor, literary agent, virtual assistant, cover design artist, and so on. Do a background check. Contact previous clients to see if they are satisfied with the services offered.
A few minutes doing a background check can prevent you from entering into a potentially nightmarish situation.
Quick Tip: Try and Google the name of the publishing company or literary agent with their name and the words
- "company name__________ scam"
- "company name __________ reviews"
- "company name __________________fake"
- "company name __________________bogus"
Take the time to Google a company before working with them.
Pause, evaluate the situation, and think!
Other ways to check out companies:
See if the publishing company has any negative reviews on the BBB (Better Business Bureau)
Link to BBB: https://www.bbb.org/search
Enter the publishing company's name into a fake website checker like Google's Transparency Report Safe Browsing Tool. This is an awesome free tool to help see whether a website is safe to go on or not.
Link to Google's Safe Browsing Checker: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search
Check out the Alliance of Independent Authors. They have a fantastic list of publishing companies with ratings for each one. Ratings of "Excellent (Partner Member)" or "Recommend," as well as having publishers rated with “Caution” or “Watchdog Advisory” ratings. Not every publishing company is listed, but this is an excellent tool for writers!
Link to Alliance of Independent Authors: https://selfpublishingadvice.org/best-self-publishing-services/
The Independent Publishing Magazine has a great list with good and bad publishing services listed. You can click on any name on the list to read a more in depth review.
Link to The Independent Publishing Magazine: http://www.theindependentpublishingmagazine.com/author-resources/publishing-service-index?channel=Organic&medium=Google%20-%20Search
Check out Trustpilot. This company reviews other companies based on customer experiences. It wouldn't hurt to enter in the name of the company you wish to research here.
Link to Trustpilot: https://www.trustpilot.com/
Another great resource for writers is Writer Beware's Thumbs Down Publisher List. They have a list in alphabetical order of well-documented fraudulent scamming companies listed.
Link to Writer Beware's Thumbs Down Publisher List: https://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/thumbs-down-publishers/
Ask Other Authors On Online Forums
- Reddit is absolutely huge and has thousands of subreddits. This is a great site to ask other writers about any publishing company you may have questions about.
- AbsoluteWrite’s has a Bewares, Recommendations & Background Check forum which can be a great resource for authors.
- Another forum writers can check out is WritingForums.com.
- kboards.com is another great resource for authors to talk with one another and discuss whether or not a publishing company may be fraudulent.
- WritersNet is another forum where writers can talk with each other and ask questions about potential small presses.
Listen to your Gut/Instincts
Do you have a funny feeling or a gut reaction that something about this publishing company or literary agent is a bit off? There are tons of other publishers and agents out there, and if your intuition is telling you that something doesn't seem right or is a tad shady, then stop and take the time to find out why. Listen to your instincts! After you research, if you are still in doubt, or have a bad feeling, just walk away!
I hope that our blog post How to Spot Publishing Scams & How To Avoid Them can help you or a friend avoid being swindled by the con artists in the publishing world.
Do you have any tips for avoiding publishing scams? Leave a comment in the box below.
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