Those of us, like Stevie, who have been grubbing away in the writing business for a few years are well aware of these scams. But there are new people entering the craft all the time so this is a timely warning to them. I was offered a contract a few years ago but as I don’t have a lot of spare cash I declined. On the other hand, there are genuine small publishers out there. I signed a contract with TSL that cost me nothing up front. I had excellent support with cover design, formatting amd proof reading, at no charge. TSL will only make money if they are able to sell multiple copies of my book. If they do, so will I.
This is a scheduled post and I will answer any comments tomorrow.
Recently I read a blog from a self-published author who was thrilled to bits to gain a publishing deal. She had signed the rights to her book over to the publisher, and of course now looked forward to the royalties from many future sales.
However, I’ve been on a steep learning curve over the past 8 years regarding the integrity of small publishers. In order to satisfy my own curiosity I went on to Google and typed in ‘Writer Beware‘ and the name of the lady’s publisher. As I suspected, there were many complaints about this particular publisher regarding the amount of ‘set up fees’ needed and the lack of any royalties.
I’m sure most of us have been taken in by small publishers at one time or another at the beginning of our writing careers…
Tony Hillerman lost the rights to his main character after two books in a glad-to-have-the-check television option. Eventually he bought them back, but lesson learned.
Frank Parker's author site 
Tony Hillerman lost the rights to his main character after two books in a glad-to-have-the-check television option. Eventually he bought them back, but lesson learned.
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Opportunists will always find opportunities. My network is buzzing about Chinese publishers offering low-rate “exclusive” deals these days.
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