Writers' & Artists New Self-Publishing Comparison Service Leaves Much to be Desired

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware 

Writers & Artists--the Bloomsbury Publishing-owned writers' handbook that's the UK equivalent to the USA's Writers Market--has just launched a free self-publishing provider comparison service.

Here's how it works. Detailed questionnaires cover a variety of areas: editing, ebooks, design and formatting, marketing, and printing. Writers can fill out any or all of these. At the end of the process, they're presented with a list of self-publishing service providers selected from W&A's database, ranked in order of relevance. From this list, they can request up to a maximum of five "personalized quotes."

To test the service, I filled out the questionnaire for ebooks. My assumptions: I wanted ebook conversion and distribution to multiple platforms in Europe and North America, in ePUB and Mobi formats, for a manuscript of 100,000 words. I was willing to accept a distributor cut of up to 45%, and wanted control of pricing and regular sales reports. My budget was $500 (to my surprise, the questionnaire did not ask me how much I was willing to pay).

I was presented with 88 self-publishing companies, each with a little writeup about its services (according to W&A's FAQ, this data is provided by the companies themselves). Some of the companies I'd heard of--many of the Author Solutions imprints were represented, for instance, including the jaw-droppingly expensive Archway Publishing--but other names were unfamiliar.

Bewilderingly, top-rated for relevance was New Generation Publishing, which offers ebook publishing only as an add-on to its print self-publishing packages (a fact not mentioned in the company's writeup--you have to visit New Generation's website to discover this). Also, while New Generation's services include a menu of price-fixed publishing packages and marketing services, it doesn't seem to offer anything resembling the personalized quote promised by W&A.

Next in line: Memoirs Publishing and Matador. Neither company appears to provide ebook publication as a stand-alone option, and Memoirs doesn't show costs on its website, suggesting that it's pricey. Not until number four on the list did a stand-alone ebook option appear: Bookbaby, which also has the virtue of being relatively inexpensive.

I also filled out the questionnaires for Editing and Marketing, with similarly confusing results. For instance, Palibrio was included in my editing list, with no mention of the fact that it specializes in Spanish-language books; but the only dedicated editing company in W&A's database, Bear and Black Dog Books, was not. Marketing gave me AuthorHive, a company spun off from Author Solutions in order to hawk AS's huge collection of overpriced and dubiously useful "marketing" services; it also gave me Schiel & Denver and Llumina Press, about both of which Writer Beware has gotten serious complaints of unprofessional business practice.

Certainly it's helpful for authors to be able to access a big list of self-publishing service providers. There are scores of these, and the smaller or more specialized ones don't always rank high in search engine results. But Writers & Artists is billing their new service as a comparison service, designed to help authors make better choices. And based on what I've seen, that's not what authors are getting here.

I'm not the only one who is voicing concerns. Writes Mick Rooney of The Independent Publishing Magazine,

Yes, authors want some kind of guidance on reputable self-publishing services, and a way to avoid any pitfalls. I just don't see that here. This is a case of matching ticked boxes against a database. The information is as good as you indicate you want, without the proviso of any guarantee of quality or reputation of a company. Is it better than surfing Google looking for an editorial service, printer or self-publishing service? -- maybe. Is it a complete solution? No.

Members of the Alliance for Independent Authors (which worked with Writers & Artists on compiling a list of service providers and establishing a ratings system, but ultimately withdrew from the project due to disagreements over methodology) are also critical. Here's Ben Galley on why he's not happy with the new service. And ALLi founder Orna Ross provides this warning:

- The suppliers on this comparison site pay to have the author's contact details passed onto them as a "lead". ALLi asked that this would be made clear to authors using this service. As far as we can see, this key information does not appear anywhere on the W&A website.

- Good services like Silverwood books, Matador, Ingram, Amazon, Kobo, Mill City Press, ebook Partnership and many others -- including a number of our partner members -- appear beside some companies who are the worst in the business, without any way for an author to differentiate between those who serve writers well, and those who exploit.

Self-publishing expert David Gaughran also provides a blistering critique, calling W&A's plan to sell leads "unconscionable," and especially flagging the inclusion of Author Solutions imprints. "Author Solutions companies," he says, "have no place on a website which claims to provide authors with good advice."

W&A has responded to some of the criticism, admitting that companies that have agreed to "receive data" (i.e., authors' contact information) are charged "a flat fee" (this information does appear on W&A's website, though it's notably absent from this blog post from one of W&A's providers), and promising that a user review function will eventually be added so that authors will have "the opportunity to filter results by both ‘Best Match’ and ‘User Reviews’."

In my opinion, however, much more is needed to make this a truly useful service. Some suggestions:

- Refine the comparison engine so that it produces reliably appropriate results.

- Winnow the list of providers to remove dubious companies--or at least amend their writeups to note known issues and/or serious complaints (as with Author Solutions). Writer Beware stands ready to help, if requested.

- Provide real writeups on the companies--not just the companies' own not-necessarily-complete-or-transparent PR.

- For convenience, add links to the companies' websites.

- Include prices in the comparison chart. Cost is often one of the main considerations in choosing a self-pub service, and it's impossible to meaningfully evaluate any company without knowing how much it charges.

- Last, and vitally important: the questionnaires need to be amended to take writers' finances into account, so that comparison engine will select for how much authors are willing to pay. If I'm looking for low-cost self-publishing, for instance, I shouldn't see Archway Publishing on my comparison list.

New Publisher House and the State of Independence 2014 Report: Grain of Salt Required

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

So a week ago, I stumbled on this news item in a generally reliable venue:

The [growth of ] self-publishing has created a new publishing market that totals $52 billion in revenues, according to a new report from media technology firm New Publisher House. According to the report, this is twice as much money as the traditional book publishing industry in the U.S. brings in in its current total annual sales revenue.

The State of Independence 2014 report looked at insights gathered from publishing executives, Amazon, Google and industry data to come up with its conclusions. The report also revealed that the number of aspiring self-published authors that have completed manuscripts is more than 100x the number of actual published authors. In addition, according to the report, self-published titles are 8x the number of mainstream published new titles.

Wow, I thought, interesting news! There's so little solid data on self-publishing--how great to have an authoritative industry report to shed more light on this exploding new market! So of course I tweeted it.

But then I got to thinking. $52 billion? Seems like an awfully big figure, even if you assume that the lion's share of it is money made from self-publishers by service providers, rather than money made by self-publishers from book sales. Plus, Amazon and Google aren't known for freely sharing numbers.

So I did what I should have done to begin with: I took a look at the actual report. Except that this isn't the report at all, only an "Executive Summary," without any description of research methodology or any source material references to support the big numbers quoted above. Nor, when I accessed the Executive Summary last week, was there any indication of who authored the report or who was commissioned to create it--or even where the report itself could be found.

There's no contact information on New Publisher House's website, and to email CEO James O'Toole via his LinkedIn profile I'd have to pay to upgrade my LinkedIn membership (not gonna happen). So I tracked down New Publisher House's Twitterfeed and sent a tweet asking if I could pose some questions. After a few days and some link confusion, I was directed to this article on New Publisher House's website (the article, which wasn't present the first time I visited the website, is now included in the Executive Summary, where it also wasn't present the first time I visited).

In addition to my questions, I'm guessing that O'Toole saw some of the skeptical coverage of State of Independence 2014 (the exception in the largely unquestioning dissemination of the report's claims) and decided to address it--with, unfortunately, less than illuminating results.

[The report] took a great deal of work. Unlike other industries, reliable data is scarce and a company like Amazon doesn’t provide detailed breakdowns in its financial filings or even earnings calls. So how was I able to do it? I’ve produced business cases and market reports for major corporations across a range of industries. I also co-managed the Rich 200 list for Australia’s leading business magazine, BRW – Australia’s equivalent to the Forbes 400. This required establishing valuations on assets for which there was little public data and required lateral approaches (I had wondered about those valuations until one of Australia’s richest people asked me how I was able to so accurately calculate their net worth).

I decided to put the research into a report I’ve called State of Independence 2014 and share it because of the startling information I uncovered. Unlike most industry reports, I’ve actually gone into detail about the methodology so people understand the data and can assess for themselves their validity. This is the Executive Summary. It gives the key findings and table of contents. For those interested, the full report (which has sources and methodology) will be released with our crowdfunding campaign.

We now know that the author of the report is O'Toole himself, but we still have no idea of how he compiled his figures and findings, or why we should trust them. (Nor do most of those "key findings" seem so very startling--for instance, from the Conclusion: "The very technologies which are driving the eBook revolution have the potential to disintermediate and undermine established publishers." No kidding.) Being able to look at the actual report might put such concerns to rest--but we can't look at it, because its release has been delayed to some unspecified date.

I suspect it's no coincidence that New Publisher House is just about to launch "a revolutionary new indie publishing platform connecting authors, publishing professionals, designers & readers". Maybe when that happens, we'll be able to get our hands on the corroborating data. Until then, I at least am taking State of Independence 2014 with a massive grain of salt.

 #SFWApro

Swoon Reads: New "Crowdsourced" Teen Romance Imprint

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

As reported by a number of sources, including USA Today, Macmillan is launching Swoon Reads, a new teen romance imprint, under its existing Feiwel and Friends imprint. It's looking for submissions of previously unpublished manuscripts.

The twist: Swoon Reads is a "crowdsourced" imprint, with readers commenting on and rating the posted manuscripts. Highly-ranked manuscripts will be considered by Swoon Reads' publishing board, and those selected for publication will be offered a standard Macmillan publishing contract plus a $15,000 advance. Books will be published in both print and electronic format.

Here's what Swoon Reads is looking for.

I don't find any major pitfalls on the website or in the Terms and Conditions (the Terms and Conditions for manuscript submission are separate from the general Terms and Conditions, and are available only to those who sign up for Swoon Reads). But there are some things that writers should carefully consider.

- You'll be making your FULL manuscript available online. Will this create difficulties if Swoon Reads doesn't select it and you want to submit it elsewhere? Personally, I think that's unlikely. The mss. are not publicly available (only members can access them), and they're not for sale. Still, it's something to be aware of.

As for copyright concerns, Swoon Reads addresses those in its FAQ:

Is my work protected?
We are doing our best to protect your work from theft and plagiarism. We will not allow cutting, pasting, or copying from any Swoon Reads submission. We also require all members of the Swoon Reads community to agree to a set of Terms and Conditions that legally prohibit anyone from stealing and reposting any content from Swoon Reads. And you must be a member of Swoon Reads to access any of the submissions.

- Your submission is exclusive for six months. This means that you can't submit it, or publish it, anywhere else during the six months following submission (with the exception of making excerpts available on your own website or blog). It also can't already be under consideration for sale by anyone else. Per the FAQ, you can be agented (though if you have a savvy agent, I doubt they'd be enthusiastic about tying your ms. up with a six-month exclusive submission).

- Swoon Reads may take user comments and ratings into account in considering submitted manuscripts for publication, but it doesn't have to. So the crowdsourcing aspect of Swoon Reads isn't the be-all and end-all. Lots of positive reviews and ratings won't necessarily make you a shoo-in.

- The contract, if offered, includes a grant of exclusive, worldwide rights in all languages, plus an option on your next work, and is likely not negotiable. According to the submission Terms and Conditions, "reasonable" changes in contract terms "may be requested," though Swoon Reads "shall not be obligated to agree to any such changes". The FAQ indicates even less flexibility: "the Swoon Reads contract terms are standard and not up for negotiation."

I'm presuming, since this is described as Macmillan's standard contract, that the grant is life-of-copyright, in which case all the cautions about reversion clauses apply. But I haven't seen a Macmillan contract recently, so I can't comment on the specific terms.

Last but not least, the problem (well, one of the problems) with crowdsourcing is people trying to game the system (i.e., creating multiple accounts to pad the rankings). I contacted Swoon Reads to ask what steps they're taking to keep this from happening. They told me,

It's very important to us that no one takes advantage of the ratings system and that all manuscripts uploaded to Swoon Reads are rated according to the quality of the manuscript. Every story should have a fair shot! We built provisions into the site usage rules and the site technology itself so that we're able to track if one person has opened multiple accounts or is in any way violating the terms of use. We also encourage any users who notice suspicious activity to use the 'Report this Manuscript' function to call attention to any strange ratings or other activity.

#SFWApro

The Barefoot Writer's Club

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

I've been getting a lot of questions recently about Paul Hollingshead and the Barefoot Writer's Club (part of American Writers & Artists Inc., which sells courses that promise to help you "Learn How You Can Become a Six-Figure Copywriter"). To be honest, I've been hesitant to write this post, because Barefoot/AWAI advocates are vigilant about responding to discussions of their products, and likely will show up here to extol the virtues of the program (to see what I mean, take a look at this long-running discussion on Writer Beware's Facebook page). But judging by how often writers ask me whether the Club is worthwhile and/or legit, it's pretty active in soliciting members--and I think it merits a caution.

Right on the homepage of The Barefoot Writer, you can see what it's all about. "Discover 9 Ways You Can Make a VERY Good Living as a Writer!" "Making a Living as a Writer Has Never Been Easier!" "Get paid to write and build the freedom-filled life you’ve always wanted!" The promise, in other words, of the ultimate writerly pipe dream:

The Barefoot Writer opens the door to the world of paid writing opportunities. You’ll read about ways to dramatically improve your lifestyle as a writer — for the better. Fascinating projects … luxurious lifestyle … inexpensive ways to get up and running, fast. Rewarding writing exercises. A community of supportive, like-minded writers. Ways to let your imagination and creativity soar.

No, you don’t have to be rich, or even have a degree to enjoy a dream lifestyle as a writer. The Barefoot Writer shows you that all you need is to be pointed in the right direction to appreciate all the writer’s lifestyle has to offer.

To reap these astounding benefits, all you have to do is join the Club. The cost? Just $49 (but hurry! This is a "limited time price offer that may end at any time"). Your payment gets you a subscription to 12 issues of The Barefoot Writer's Magazine...and wait, there's more! You also receive access to several free Special Reports with titles like "The Secret of the 1-Hour Work Week" and "The $500 Email Secret."

So where's the harm, you may be wondering? $49 isn't a huge amount of money. If you're looking to transition to full-time freelance writing, or to supplement your income from your existing job, mightn't The Barefoot Writer help you improve your skills and learn some worthwhile things?

Ah, but what if The Barefoot Writer's Club isn't so much a how-to-write-better club, or a how-to-learn-about-great-writing-opportunities club, as a how-to-get-you-to-buy-more-stuff club?

No sample issues of The Barefoot Writer's Magazine are available online, so I couldn't check it out. But I did download the "FREE Guide to Barefoot Writer Living" advertised on The Barefoot Writer's homepage, and it's little more than an advertorial for AWAI copywriting and other courses. Ditto for The Barefoot Writer blog, where nearly every puff-piece post ends with a pitch for an AWAI workshop, course, or other product (even if the post purports to be about something else). And now that AWAI has my email address, I'm getting a email every couple of days urging me to buy an AWAI product.

Is it a stretch to suppose that the magazine is more of the same?

The Barefoot Writer's Club, in other words, belongs to the category of enterprises that are designed to sell you things under the guise of helping or instructing you. The Internet is rife with such schemes: "experts" offering courses or webinars that are really vehicles for pimping their own products, "authorities" whose only claim to knowledge is that they've written whatever ebook or coursepack they want you to buy. There may or may not be useful information involved--but the information isn't the point. These are commercial enterprises, and their primary goal is to make a profit--from you.

As for the American Writers & Artists copywriting courses, there are mixed reviews online. Many of the positive reviews read a lot like AWAI's own promotional material, which suggests they should be taken with a large grain of salt. Somewhat more critical reviews can also be found, such as this one and this one; and this discussion thread includes a number of comments--both satisfied and not--from people who've actually used some of the courses.

The general consensus seems to be that the course materials are solid overall (though not everyone agrees on this), but that they're aimed at beginners, include some padding, and require a substantial investment of time and energy if you want to get the most out of them. Some users also report being aggressively solicited to buy other AWAI products.

What's lacking in all these discussions and reviews is persuasive evidence that AWAI's florid promises of high income and a leisurely lifestyle actually materialize for the average customer. When you try to pin AWAI boosters down on this issue--as I did in the discussion on Writer Beware's Facebook page--they tend to change the subject or avoid specifics. People who really do write for a living know that it's a hardscrabble life that doesn't allow for a lot of poolside lounging. I don't doubt that there are some people who've parlayed AWAI courses and their own hard work into profitable careers--per many of the testimonials on the AWAI website--but I see nothing to suggest that they are anything but outliers.

If something sounds too good to be true...it probably is.

Author Solutions Class Action Lawsuit: Update

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

In April of this year, the law firm of Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart filed a class action lawsuit against Author Solutions Inc. (ASI) and its parent, Penguin Group, on behalf of three plaintiffs, alleging breach of contract, unjust enrichment, various violations of the California Business and Professional Code, and violation of New York General Business Law..

My blog post about the filing, including the full text of the initial Complaint, can be seen here.

Not surprisingly, ASI and Penguin filed a motion to dismiss. On July 19, Giskan Solotaroff filed an Amended Complaint, which can be seen here.

On August 23, Penguin moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint in its entirety, and ASI moved to dismiss the claims of one of the three plaintiffs in their entirety, and all but the breach of contract claims of the other two plaintiffs. Penguin and ASI also informed the court that they intend to file a motion to either strike the class allegations included in the amended complaint, or to deny class certification altogether. In response, Giskan Solotaroff intends to file a Second Amended Complaint by September 27.

Another motion to dismiss will surely follow. But as it looks now (per court documents, all of which can be accessed via PACER), even if the motion is successful, and/or Penguin/ASI gets the class allegations tossed, two of the breach of contract claims against ASI will go forward.

I'll keep you posted.

Ann C. Crispin (1950-2013) In Memoriam

The honor of your presence is requested at a Memorial Ceremony to celebrate and remember the life and writing of Ann C. Crispin.

The Memorial Ceremony will be held at Running Hare Vineyard in Prince Frederick, Maryland on Wednesday, September 25. There will be an Open House with light refreshments from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM, with the ceremony from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, coinciding with sunset, which takes place exactly at 7:00 PM.

We will definitely need an RSVP from anyone who intends to come, preferably before Friday, September 20, sent to michael [at] michael-capobianco.com. Questions? Email, or leave a comment here.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Hospice of Charles County, 2505 Davis Rd., Waldorf MD.

New Publisher: Resurrection House

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

EDITED 10/13 TO ADD: Mark Teppo has confirmed that Jason Williams has resigned from Resurrection House. 

I had this post ready to go on Friday, but it was pre-empted by news of Ann Crispin's death. I was considering letting the blog sit silent for a week--but in light of the fools and trolls who are dreaming of Writer Beware's demise, I've decided to carry on as usual. It's what Ann would have wanted.

**********************

A brand new publisher has hung out a web shingle: Resurrection House. As of this writing, its website is pretty bare: a single page with a mission statement, a call for submissions, and a link to a cryptic YouTube video. As yet, no books have been published; there's also no information about staff. You can't even tell what genres Resurrection House is interested in.

I always advise authors to be cautious about approaching a brand-new publisher. There's a high attrition rate among new small presses, and it's really safest to hold off on approaching them until they've proven they can operate without getting backlogged or running out of money. In practical terms, that means waiting at least a year after the press has started issuing books. This also gives you a chance to assess quality, and to get a sense of how (or if) the publisher markets its list. And it allows time for complaints, if any, to surface.

Also a concern: a publisher that doesn't disclose its staff. If you don't know who owns the publisher and who works for it, how can you determine whether they're experienced and competent--or, worse, have ties to questionable ventures? Inexperienced staff is a major reason for publisher death. And a publisher that crashes and burns under one name may start up almost immediately under another.

In this case, a little Googling quickly discloses that Resurrection House's owner is author Mark Teppo. Teppo has industry experience, which is certainly an encouraging sign.

What Google won't tell you is that Resurrection House has another staff member: Night Shade Books founder and publisher Jason Williams. (Though Williams' involvement with Resurrection House isn't publicly disclosed, Writer Beware has seen a message posted by Teppo to a mailing list for Night Shade Books authors.) If that name doesn't ring a bell, here's a bit of background.

An independent publisher established in 1997, Night Shade Books quickly became known for high artistic standards and an edgy, eclectic list. A few years ago, however, it ran into financial trouble, and began having problems making royalty payments. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America put it on probation in 2010.

Probation was lifted a year later, but Night Shade continued to struggle. Then, in April 2013, Night Shade abruptly announced that it was selling its assets to two companies: Skyhorse Publishing (which has a special program for buying up backlist titles from struggling presses) and Start Publishing. The deal averted bankruptcy proceedings (which would have placed authors' contracts in limbo), and money owed to Night Shade authors was promised to be paid in full--but in return, authors were asked to agree to revised terms, including lower royalties and a less favorable contract. Authors and agents took to the Web to voice their displeasure (Tobias Buckell provides a roundup of links). Ultimately, Skyhorse and Start agreed to raise royalty rates, and the deal went through 

Mark Teppo has stated that Jason Williams will be working with Resurrection House only as an employee, with the title of Acquisitions Editor, and won't have a hand in running the company. By all accounts, Williams is a talented editor. Still, even as an employee, his association with Resurrection House is a data point that writers should have the opportunity to factor in to their decision to submit. I don't think I'm alone in finding it troubling that Teppo is holding that information so close to the vest.

If you're a SFWA member, Resurrection House is also being discussed in the SFWA forums.