Beware of Book Mills!

I love my current publishers!

Writers, beware of book mills!

Things are going along fairly smoothly in life when suddenly a mistake you thought you’d corrected years ago rears its ugly head. No, I don’t mean my ex (ugly as he is!) showed up on my doorstep. That I could easily handle by kicking his butt to the curb. This mistake has to do with one of lowest of pond-scum-feeding con artists who exist in the publishing world—the book mill.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, here’s a quick definition. A book mill simply churns out book after book after book with little or no editing or consideration of the material. Any and all topics and genres and writing abilities are fair game because no one at the book mill actually reads the manuscripts submitted. All the book mill wants is for wannabe authors to buy tons of copies of their own books so the book mill can make a tidy profit with little effort. They may promise “promotion opportunities for only $99!” but the author receives little or no sales boost from handing over money to the book mill, and, of course, it’s a non-refundable fee. In fact, the book mill routinely bombards its authors with meaningless communications promising to put their titles in front of famous talk show hosts and radio stars, along with entering the books into prestigious book expos—all for a fee, of course. It’s not hard to see that a running book mill is a great way to scam a lot of money off of anxious writers who have no knowledge of how the publishing world works.

I didn’t realize at the time (well over a decade ago) that I was dealing with a book mill, but it gradually became obvious. I had sold the electronic rights to my novel to an ebook-only press, but I had been asked to sign print books at a book-signing. This is way before the Kindle debuted, so not many people were interested in having an e-book author at a book-signing event. Where would I get print copies to sign? An online acquaintance recommended this book mill, and from his comments I thought they sounded legitimate. The book mill agreed to the print rights only to my novel since I informed them I had sold the e-rights earlier. Win-win, right?

The book mill did a quick spell check for “editing” and then told me my novel was now available for purchase. I bought some copies for the signing, but I was very disappointed when they arrived in the mail. The print books were extremely expensive for the quality of the product. A stock image photo slapped onto a rather sorry solid color with the book’s title printed above in a standard font was the “cover art.” (Even I could have done that well over a decade ago!) But at least I had a book in hand to sign at the event. I was hopeful it would eventually sell well in both print and electronic formats.

Flash forward a few years: With practically zero print sales (none I couldn’t account for personally), I requested my book’s print rights back from the book mill and asked them to pull my title from their web site. Years passed and I never heard a peep from this company. I heard nothing about them on the grapevine either. I figured the book mill must have gone out of business. I felt very relieved to have escaped their clutches.

My novel’s e-rights eventually expired with its first electronic publisher. I revised and re-sold the novel to a publisher of both print and ebooks with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with for some time now. With fresh edits and a snazzy new cover, I was happy that my “baby” had found a good home. Everything seemed to have come together for this well-reviewed book with its mixed-up publishing past. 

 

Flash forward to a few weeks ago: An email arrives in my inbox from an unknown company saying they’re publishing my novel and that I can pay them money to promote it. What the…? Who are they and why did they pirate my book? I immediately contacted my publisher and then wrote back to this unknown company asking them to take my book down from their site. Immediately the abuse began. I eventually learned that this new company was in fact the same old book mill I had dealt with more than a decade ago operating under a new name. They claimed I had “infringed upon my copyright.”

Say what? Along with other legal-sounding mumbo-jumbo the email stated they’d “return my copyright” for a mere $99. Imagine that! Thing is, if I didn’t pay them right away they claimed they’d take me to court and sue me for the "infringing on the copyright" to my own work. Wow! (I dug out the old contract. There’s not a word about having to pay them any fees whatsoever in their contract or that they would file for a copyright on the work.)

Weirder yet, I had filed for the copyright for my novel with the US Copyright Office many years ago. It’s my book and I registered the copyright, so what nonsense is this? My current publisher said to stop communicating with this company directly, as they’re obviously trying to frighten me into paying them money to shut up. She wisely asked for the book mill’s legal counsel contact information so the two “publishers” could discuss the matter. The book mill seemed to ignore this request.

Weeks later, another email arrives in my inbox stating that I need to buy my copyright back from the book mill since my book hasn’t sold any copies in over a year. Well, of course it hasn’t sold any copies! I told the company many years ago to take it down from their site, and I’d requested my print rights back. Since the “new company” is actually the “old book mill” surely they have this information at hand and could see it was all a mistake, right? I was advised by my publisher to send them a short and simple email to the book mill reminding them to contact my novel’s current publisher as requested earlier, just in case the first email had been missed.

Then all hell broke loose.

The most unprofessional and nasty emails followed. There’s simply no other way to describe the horrid tone of these communications. Personal attacks? Plenty! I must be an axe murderer in my sleep. What an odd sideline for a romance author!

The book mill also sent these insulting emails to my publisher as well, since I had provided contact information. We can only assume they did this for maximum fright tactic/belittling effect. Apart from calling my current publisher every name in the book (how professional!) they continue to insist I’ll be in a world of financial hurt if I don’t pay them. I’m beginning to wonder if they haven’t taken lessons from either Tony Soprano or the Godfather. Needless to say, my current publisher and the company lawyer will be conversing directly with the book mill from now on.

You know what? Even if I win the lottery tomorrow, there’s no way I’ll ever pay these people. Who gives in to a bully? Why would anyone pay a bully for the rights to his/her own work? With further research, we’ve discovered that this book mill has been sued before for employing similar tactics with their authors.

A Better Business Bureau web site says the book mill in question publicly stated that their contracts don’t last more than ten years. My original contract would have ended a few years back then. This might explain why I’d never heard from the old book mill with the new name until recently.

It doesn’t appear they were bought out or sold. It’s simply the same book mill operating under a new name. Why on earth should a business change their name in midstream unless they’ve got something to hide? This is an ongoing nightmare, so I’ll fill you in on any news as it comes available.

The moral of the story is this: Writers beware of book mills! They are not your friends, especially if they constantly request money for so-called services. And never ever forget the old adage: “The money flows from the publisher to the author—not the other way around.” A legitimate publisher takes you on as an author because they truly believe in your book (like my novel's current publisher). You deserve nothing less!

Editor’s note: My husband and I will be leading a panel called “What makes a good publisher?” at ConClave 38, October 10-12, in Dearborn, Michigan. Hope to see you there!

If you're curious about my Editorial Services...

...Then please click on the link above that says "Editorial Services". I've added an explanation to the page about what magical things I'll do to your manuscript since it wasn't self-explanatory before. I thought it was completely understandable, but then I didn't have anyone edit the copy for me. That should show you how much everyone who wants to become a successful writer needs a good editor. You can never have too many pairs of eyes looking over your work.

On a related note, my funny yet practical writer's "how-not-to", Defeating the Slushpile Monster, is now available in electronic formats for the Kindle. It is available in print now for a modest sum, but I know how much some folks like to read on their e-readers, so I thought I'd oblige. ;)

You can find links to both editions at my new Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/cindyamatthews

The link to the Kindle edition is http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I4IKU5K

Depression and the Writer

I received an email (seemingly out of the blue) telling me that I needed to write a blog entry on a topic concerning writers, and I couldn't recall when I signed up to do one. Sigh! Never mind, I trust that I did indeed agree to write a piece, but that my recent state of mind made me forget when I did agree to it. Since this is a problem shared by many creative folks (dare I put myself in that category?), I thought I'd share my experience with you all in hopes that I could help others facing a similar challenge. There are three points I'd like to touch upon briefly.

The first thing we have to come to agreement upon is this: Writers aren't always happy people.

Oh, sure we see writers portrayed as rich, highly successful, beautiful, and vivacious people in movies and on TV all the time. Consider the handsome and talented Nathan Fillion's portrayal of a best-selling crime novelist on TV's "Castle". He lives in a penthouse and gets to hang around crime scenes with a gorgeous detective solving mysteries. Fun, fun, fun! No wonder everyone wants to pen the next New York Times best-seller! But you'll have to forgive folks for believing that this is the actual lifestyle of writers. After all, why would anyone choose a career path that would lead to poverty, financial ruin, depression, and rejection? Really, why would anyone do such a ridiculous thing?

The second thing we'll have to agree to is this: Writers don't choose their profession--it chooses them.

Sure, there are some who decide after a successful career in politics, medicine, sports, or celebrity-ness that they'll sit down and pen their memoirs or a seminal book on the subject that made them a household name. While they may be thought of as "authors" I don't consider them "writers". Writers write out of compulsiveness, out of a need to get their ideas and words across to others. Writers often forget things such as "readers" and "editors" and "paychecks", and instead, write the book of their hearts and hope that others might agree it's the book of their hearts, too. Unfortunately, most of the time it is not.

The third thing is obvious: Writers are inherently crazy people.

Writers are artists who create images and worlds with words instead of paint. If Vincent Van Gogh had been a writer instead of a painter, his writings probably would have been ignored during his lifetime, he would have suffered depression, and his family would have thought him totally lacking in commonsense all the same. Poor Vincent never lived to see his creative genius praised in art textbooks, his paintings hanging in the Louvre, or being auctioned off for millions--hundreds of millions--of dollars. In spite of the rejection, he continued to create art all the same.

Yeah, that's the definition of crazy all right.

Which comes to the gist of this piece: Writers are special and unique people. They suffer for their art because they can't help themselves. They must write. They were born to do it. When you tell them things like, "Stop it and go out and get a real job!" you are essentially killing their souls. Because writers have to write like others have to breathe. It is life itself.

Whether you are wired or born to be a writer, you seem more prone to suffer from the ups and downs of life compared to non-writers. This sensitivity is a two-edged sword. It allows the writer to experience the world around her and describe it to others in a way that brings it to life in the reader's mind without having to be there. But the sensitive person is a vulnerable soul. Hard times and harsh words hurt ten times as much and sometimes take ten times longer to heal.

All this doesn't mean writers are doomed to always be depressed or coming out of a blue funk. But it does mean that their journey in healing the soul will take a different path than other personalities. One size does not fit all. Patience and understanding is needed. But how can we help the writers in our lives who may be going through a bad time?

The best thing about writers is that they can verbalize when they are feeling down and when they are feeling better. Listen to them. If they tell you they are feeling a certain way, then it is probably the most accurate assessment of the feeling state of a human being you'll ever obtain. Writers are detail people and observers. We'll share the details and observations of our hearts. Don't ever tell writers that they're out of touch with themselves or reality--because writers experience and record reality at a level beyond what most folks could ever dream of doing. Accept that what the writer says is reality is her reality. Because it is.

And all is not lost because of this important truth: Words can heal. Why else would many counselors recommend keeping and writing journals during a course of therapy if words didn't heal? So allow the depressed writer in your life to vent on paper, to write or not write, to try creating art in another medium, to express themselves in new or different ways as an alternative to writing. Because the creative process in any form is a positive process and a healing process. Eventually the writer's breathing will become calm and not ragged, and she'll feel more grounded in the reality the rest of the world sees as "normal", although the writer deep down senses there is no such thing as normality.

Wherever you are in your journey as a writer, keep this happy thought in mind: You are not alone. Many writers have come before you and will come after you, and all will experience similar feelings at one point in their writing journeys. Give them emotional support when you are able and accept theirs in return with graciousness when it is offered. Because only by sharing each others' burdens can we help use our words to create a better reality for all.

The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth

 

Handsome hubby putting up the new number plaque.

We're slowly settling into our new home, and we have tons of home improvement projects to do. Of course life goes on in the publishing world as well, and things aren't getting any prettier there, either.

As a freelance editor (see link above or click here for my editorial services), I come across a lot of  manuscripts which remind me of pesky home improvement projects. It's possible that a "house" might be able to come about utilizing the material involved, but it's going to take a lot of  "sweat equity" as they say on PBS TV's This Old House. The "home" isn't going to be complete and livable (readable) without some blood, sweat and tears. You might even have to listen very closely to your "architect" (editor), who is trying hard to help you build a sturdy "home" and not a ramshackle shed that blows apart in a strong wind (or critic's harsh review), or else all your hard work might be for naught.

Dropping the extended home improvement analogy, what I'm trying to say is this: The truth of why your manuscript isn't working may hurt. It can hurt a lot. In my opinion,  it's far better for an author to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth upfront. How else can an author make intelligent decisions and receive the guidance he/she needs to craft a strong story without knowing the truth?

This doesn't seem to be the going thing in the electronically published world right now. You can't get an agent or editor to take on your book--it's not your book's problem! You just need to pay Amazon or whoever to self-publish your work and ta da! Instant millionaire! The tragic thing is that many of these self-published works aren't quite ready for prime time, even if the self-published author paid someone (or didn't) to proofread for typos, misspellings, and other grammatical gaffes. The ideas behind these works aren't ready, or they've been done before a billion times. Yes, the truth hurts. Your idea might just suck.

Worse yet, your idea might be highly offensive--or libelous. What good is it if you ignore an editor's advice when he/she warns you of possible litigation if you don't back off grinding your ax into your ex-girlfriend, employer, brother-in-law? You publish a book that offends people and makes you look like a grudge-carrying, mean-spirited bully. What is the purpose in doing something so childish and cruel?

Writing is a private act, but publishing is a public act. Never forget that once your words are in print (electronic or on paper) you can't take them back. Always keep your target audience in mind. Who are your readers? What are their expectations? And, more importantly, do you have more readers in mind that just you and your mom?

In all your writings practice objectivity and balance--and listen to your freelance editor when he/she tells you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. You pay a professional to give you professional advice. Listen to it. Learn from it. Live with it. Grow.

For more information on how to become successfully published, check out my funny how-NOT-to writer's guide, available in print from Smiling Assassin Productions. Or drop me an email. I don't bite. Really, I don't. Promise. But I warn you, I'll tell you the truth. Unvarnished. It's how I roll.

The All New, All Dancing, Singing, Performing Blog

It's time to throw beads! Happy Mardi Gras! Opps, that was last month, wasn't it?

Happy April Fools’ Day! The blog title is no joke. I’m attempting a new format with my blog(s) and this seems as good a time as any to implement it.

I’ll admit it right here and now: I was born sometime B.C. (before computers). I’m not so keen on the daily blog thing. Sure, many people blog daily, but having worked as a columnist in the time B. B (before blogs), when words were actually printed on paper, monthly postings worked best for me. I’d come up with one good idea (or even one not so good), write it and post it on the blog. I’d write several hundred or a thousand words on a topic and hope to get some sort of feedback from readers. Most of the time I heard only crickets chirping in the distance.

Times change. People don’t have time to read long blog postings. Short blog postings are perceived as being more entertaining than one longer, in-depth rant. Short blogs also more conducive to promoting one’s other writings I’m told. Being unemployed, I need to promote and sell more books in order to survive, so it’s time for me to bite the bullet of blogdom and attract more readers to both my blogs and books.

On our way to Sesame Street, Mardi Gras style!

A lot of what I use to send out in my monthly e-newsletter for many years now, I’m going to post here whenever it happens. I enjoy sending out the e-newsletter, but I understand how much email you read everyday for work, play and other groups. From now on, the newsletter will be very brief and direct you to where the information can be found online. That way, you can pick and choose what interests you most and skip the rest if you’re rushed for time. If you’re not already one of my general e-newsletter members, sign up for it at http://groups.yahoo.com/cindyappelnewsletter If you just want to know what’s going on with my erotic-romance persona Celine Chatillon, you can join that newsletter at http://groups.yahoo.com/celinesdreams

Since I possess “multiple personalities” (I write in multiple genres), I host separate blogs for them. But time and health issues have kept me from making them all that different lately. That will change over the next few months. This blog will continue to feature the “G to PG-13” rated writings of Cynthianna and Cindy A. Matthews. The hot, adult-oriented, erotic-romance excerpts and book news will be found exclusively at Celine’s Dreams: http://celinesdreams.blogspot.com . Please become a “follower” of any and all of my blogs by clicking on the “follow this blog” button on the right hand side. Thank you.

What is it? Whatever it was--it works!

I used to share lots of fun and fascinating articles and web sites I came across on the ‘net in my e-newsletter, but in this day and age of Twitter, I tend to “tweet” them instead. If you’d like to follow my infrequent tweets, I invite you to become one of my followers. http://www.twitter.com/cynthianna3

I enjoy interacting with my readers, my friends, family members and other denizens of the electronic age at my author page at Facebook, too. You can “like” my author page at http://www.facebook.com/cynthianna.celinechatillon This past month, I sponsored a contest for new members of my Facebook page. (You can read about it there.) A free e-book prize has been awarded to Linda for joining my Facebook page and leaving a comment. I plan on doing some more giveaways and contest promos again in the future, so keep checking back here for details.

Slowly I’m becoming more in tune with the digital world around me… And I am publishing on a more regular basis again. Many of my books are now available in Kindle format (especially Celine’s titles), so if you got a Kindle for Christmas or your birthday, can I entice you to give them a try? You can find direct links to my Kindle books at my Amazon author pages:
Celine Chatillon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002CQY3BM
Cynthianna: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002CQZYGK
Book reviews and “tagging” and “liking” of my books at Amazon is appreciated.

Mardi Gras tip #6: If you're nice to the parade marshals and the cops, you get more beads!

I’m still updating my author pages at Goodreads. I should get there in the end, but if you’re tech-savvy and can walk me through it, feel free to drop me a line and share your sage advice. Thanks! So far, I think I’ve discovered Celine’s author page and updated it at http://www.goodreads.com/celinechatillon_cynthianna
If you’re a Goodreads junkie, please feel free to become my “fan” and rate/review my books.

Okay, now’s the time to actually blog a little about my upcoming releases…

Slowly catching up with the digital book revolution—I discovered my writer’s how-NOT-to from Uncial Press, The Curse of the Manuscript Eating Slushpile Monster, is now available for the Nook reader at Barnes and Noble. Just do a search for it by title at bn.com and it should pop up. It’s also available in print with a shorter title, Defeating the Slushpile Monster, from Smiling Assassin Productions.

My science fiction-romance novella, Unalone, is coming soon from Devine Destinies books. I don’t have a release date for it yet, but you’ll be the first to know if you follow this blog. A brief synopsis can be read on my web page: http://www.cynthianna.com

Both my romantic fiction persons are working together on another science fiction book series along with several other writers. We’re still in the preliminary planning stages and we don’t want to spill the beans just yet—sorry. Keep it tuned here for updates… particularly if you’re a fan of vampires, steampunk, action-adventure and romantic-suspense.

Here’s something different I’ve written lately—I’m writing sketch comedy and I’ve seen it produced onstage at a local night club. My husband, author Adrian J. Matthews, and I know Brendan Allen, an up and coming actor. We thought we’d like create some new material for him and his fellow cast members. Our sketch “2011: A Fridge Oddity” was performed this past week by The Non-Prophets Theater group during their “Non-Prophet Militant Propaganda Bingo Machine” sketch night at Lemmon’s in St. Louis. We really enjoyed seeing our work performed and thought the cast did a great job. They might even do another sketch we wrote next month.

This new blog post has gone on long enough! If you want to see what Celine Chatillon is up to bookwise, head on over to her Celine’s Dreams blog—now. And be sure to leave me a comment here telling me what all you'd like to see in upcoming blogs.

Defeating the Slushpile Monster - Now in print!

Now in print from Smiling Assassin Productions, my funny writer's how-NOT-to Defeating the Slushpile Monster

According to a recent National Education Association's Reading at Risk study, 15 million Americans have attempted some kind of "creative writing".

Very few of these writers have had their work successfully published.

Are you one of them?

Want to know how you can improve your chances?


You can find the answers in my funny guide for serious writers. Laugh while you learn how you can improve your manuscript's chances of surviving the arduous submission process. Find out how "Only You Can Prevent Formatting Follies" and how to avoid those "Prose Pile-Ups on Publication Road".


An excerpt from Defeating the Slushpile Monster by Cindy A. Matthews:

Editors are busy people. Sometimes they are not in a very good frame of mind by the time they’ve read their way down a stack of submissions to reach yours. In order to improve your chances, you’ve got to make the editor want to read your manuscript, even if the office is dark and spooky and she’s sitting all alone in her cubicle.

How do you go about doing that?

The answer is so simple you’ll probably slap your forehead in disgust for not thinking of it first: Never submit a first draft.

The purple-crayon manuscript was a first draft manuscript. It doesn’t matter if the author claims to have re-written her story two-hundred times before she sent it in for consideration, the end result is the same.

The purple-crayon manuscript suffers from a terminal case of first-draftitis. Remember, an editor is a busy person. (Feel free to substitute the word “agent” for editor throughout this text if it applies to your situation.) An editor has neither the time nor inclination to help you shape up your story. Your novel needs to be complete, and it needs to be publishable with only minor fixes. To submit anything else to an editor is to waste his or her valuable time.

This point cannot be emphasized enough and is perhaps more true today than ever before. Only best-selling authors like Stephen King, Nora Roberts or J.K. Rowling can sell a first draft for seven figures or more. But, then again, these big-names probably could sell their hand-scribbled grocery lists for at least half that much. We no-name writers should be so lucky!

I know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but I’d rather you hear the following from me rather than from someone with less tact. So get the moony-eyed notion out of your head right now as I deliver the bad news: Editors have better things to do with their time than work with you to improve your book until it meets their standards for publication.

I know it hurts to think you and your book aren’t special, but there you go. If you make the mistake of writing a letter to an editor asking her to make an exception just for you, she’ll promptly tell you that sort of thing isn’t in her job description and reject your work without even reading a page.

What are some of the symptoms of first draftitis? Can this dreaded manuscript disease be avoided?

Read on. You’ll see that most cases are far from deadly and that the patient can be resuscitated easily and live to become published another day.

Your Manuscript = Your Business Card

Have you ever been on a job interview? Have you ever attended a business convention? Have you ever owned and run your own business? If you’ve done any of these things, then you probably have encountered business cards.

A business card has a dual purpose. First of all, it tells people who you are. It says, “I’m Joe Blow, licensed plumber,” or “I’m Betty Buys-a-Lot, personal shopper.” Secondly, a business card tells a potential customer or client what to expect from you and your service. “Pipes unclogged in five minutes flat or double your money back.” “Hate shopping for your mother-in-law’s birthday? I can help!”

Pretty basic, right?

So, what is a writers business card? Why, his or her manuscript, of course. Remember, the editor is a busy person. She wants to read your manuscript and quickly make up her mind if her publishing firm can use your services. She needs to be convinced from the very first line, the very first paragraph, the very first page that you are who you claim to be—a capable writer—and that you can deliver the goods—a complete, publishable manuscript.

Your job is to make your business card as professional as possible. No sprinkled lavender cologne, no fancy fonts, print faces or paper colors. This is a professional presentation—not your teenager’s diary. Act like a professional and you will be treated as such.


Defeating the Slushpile Monster now available in print. (E-formats available from Uncial Press.)