July 8, 2022 (updated: 2023, 2024)
How to identify publishing scams: Protect yourself and your work
We have compiled a list of publishing scams to avoid below. As an author preparing to publish a book you are entering into a business agreement. It is important to protect yourself, your creative work, and to research the company you’ve chosen to publish your book. Check out our list below on how to identify publishing scams, red flags, and offers authors should avoid. This section is updated regularly to reflect the latest scams. Before we get to the list, here are some important steps to take when looking for a book publisher.
We often hear from authors who have been scammed by predatory people presenting themselves as book publishers. These predatory salespeople include novice writers who have only published a book or two but are offering publishing services without legitimate publishing experience (hoping to make side income), fake or unskilled “marketing companies” offering promotional services on social media platforms that receive very little traffic or engagement. There are also dozens of scammers operating outside of the United States offering to publish books for as cheap as $199 – $399, while claiming to operate as a U.S. “company” on their websites. The websites created by the scammers generally look the same. They all offer ghostwriting publishing services, discounts, and have live chat boxes waiting to lure you in.
There is a feeding frenzy on the publishing industry and authors eager to publish and promote their books. The problem is so prevalent we cannot express enough, how critical it is for authors to take precautions. We meet so many authors who have been scammed by predatory actors that we are genuinely deeply concerned. Whether you publish with New Book Authors or a different publisher, be sure to follow the steps below to protect yourself as you search for a legitimate publishing company to publish your manuscript.
While many trade publishers often caution authors not to use companies that require an upfront fee, keep in mind that independently published books compete with titles published by trade publishers, so the warnings not to publish with an independent publishing company is often blatantly self-serving. Especially since trade publishers often ignore, reject, or explicitly (and unapologetically) don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts from the public. For many, an independent book publisher is a genuine opportunity to finally publish. It is perfectly acceptable to work with a publishing company that has upfront fees for their services, as long as the company can deliver on its promises and does a great job publishing and getting your book into distribution. Marketing is also important. It can take years to find a trade (traditional) publisher, and in most cases, not at all, so many authors are choosing an alternative path to publishing a book. Whatever path you choose, please be sure to find a publishing company that can deliver on their promise to produce a beautiful book with proper formatting, editing, and distribution. Look for experienced book publishers, instead of “publishers” who have emerged this year. Predatory companies don’t stay in business long and new ones are emerging every day. Stick to companies that have been in business five years or more, a time predating when most of the scammers emerged.
LIST OF PREDATORY PUBLISHING SCAMS TO AVOID:
1.) Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Look for consumer complaints and reviews on Better Business Bureau and other online websites. Even if the complaints have been “resolved”. Check Google reviews. Even if a company is not BBB accredited, the BBB will still accept and publish a complaint to protect consumers. Look for negative reviews about the company. In some cases, negative reviews can be more illuminating than positive reviews. Beware of competitors who “review bomb” reputable publishers with one star ratings. Predatory publishers engage in a number of aggressive unethical behaviors and sales strategies to steer unsuspecting authors to their websites.
2.) New warning: You’ll want to avoid any new “publishing website” that launched in the last four years between 2021 – 2024. We’ll get to the reasons why, shortly. #2 is about inexperience.
Beware of inexperienced writers who have started their own self-publishing services or use video platforms where they claim to “help” authors publish their books. Some are well-meaning and honest, just inexperienced. But others are in it to make money and may mislead authors with false claims of success. These self-publishing videos boast big claims about success, from a “bestselling” author who is now selling publishing tips. This is a red flag. These are people who are peddling easy answers. Some influencers are writers and may even offer to publish your book pro-bono but lack the experience a real publisher with industry experience can bring. Especially if the writer has bad habits that they might pass on to your book. Many authors and their books suffer from extremely poor sales as a result of the influencer’s inexperience or anecdotal publishing background. There are also self-publishing start-up websites that boast cheap prices but lack the experience to properly publish your book (editing and formatting problems are also an issue). Some hide behind legitimate brands, creating a variation of trusted platforms like Kindle or KDP. Some will publish your book to KDP and this is something to be wary of, since Amazon’s algorithms prevent Amazon customers from organically discovering KDP self-published books on its platform. There’s no discoverability so you won’t get very many sales. Your book is just a page on Amazon unless you have extensive marketing and a plan to get your book in front of readers. There’s no advantage to using KDP to self-publish your book, although there used to be an advantage ten years ago before KDP distributed books were made undiscoverable to Amazon’s organic customer traffic on Amazon’s platform. So when you find an upstart publishing website advertising that it publishes your book to KDP, be prepared not to have many sales. If any at all beyond sales from family and friends.
A number of fake “Amazonpublishers” and fake “KDPpublishing” websites have also emerged. These are websites using Amazon’s trademarked name without permission to dupe unsuspecting authors into believing they are affiliated with Amazon. Many of the fake Amazon (AMZ or KDP) publishers are in foreign countries and cannot be held accountable for scamming authors with subpar or falsely advertised services. These companies are also advertising that they can make your book into a “New York Times Bestseller.” This is a false advertising. The fake Amazon publishers cannot get your book on the NYT Bestsellers list. The false promises are a huge red flag and indicates that this is not the type of company you should allow to publish your book. They charge very small publishing fees and do the absolute bare minimum before distributing your book to Amazon, where unfortunately, no one will find or buy your book.
“The latest and most dangerous publishing scam is Vanilla Heart Publishing and Vanilla Heart Publishers,” according to an author who recently contacted us. The allegation is that, “Vanilla Heart Publishing is taking credit for books it did not publish.” The author has provided evidence for the claim. You can find details and the full complaint on http://publishingscams.com, which includes a link to the chat conversation where the scam took place. Publishingscams.com is a new website that allows authors to report publishing scams before the scammers can hurt more people.
I saw a fake Harper Collins website and there are numerous fake Amazon, KDP, and KINDLE publishing websites, which seems to be the new rage for scammers. Beware of these amateur publishing services. Unfortunately, since the services launched as recently as 2022-2024, there hasn’t been enough time for them to accumulate bad reviews since they are not listed on many review sites and may not have a Google review page. Look for publishers with 5 years or more experience in the publishing industry. Remember that companies like “HarperCollins” would not outsource work to a company asking for $4000 (believe it or not, we met an author who fell prey to this scam too). Penguin Random House offers a list of companies that they are not affiliated with that have perpetuated acts of fraud using Penguin Random House’s name, intellectual property and logo. Check the name against this list to ensure you are not being scammed via the list of companies on Penguin Random House’s website (click here).
3. BEWARE of publishing companies offering to publish books for $299. Before proceeding, we recommend checking Amazon for some of their titles. Check the “Look Inside” feature. Unfortunately, books published by websites offering to publish for $299 are releasing books that are very badly formatted and unfortunately does not meet professional publishing industry standards. If the formatting is correct, there is very little marketing and your book becomes a page on Amazon that does not get any traffic. A first-time author might think it’s a great deal. However, we’ve found that nearly all of those titles were not published properly. In fact, an author without any experience at all would be better off without their help. Avoid websites that advertise publishing your book using Amazon’s self-publishing platform. Your book will not be returnable, which means local bookstores will not carry your book on bookshelves. Returnability is a big deal if you are interested in seeing your book on bookstore shelves. Your book will not be visible to Amazon customers or traffic.
4.) When you finally choose what appears to be a good publisher, be sure to read the fine print and research the company you are interested in. Some predatory hybrid publishers are asking authors to sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) or other agreements to avoid scrutiny through public complaints about their business practices. This is a huge red flag. The NDAs are also asking authors to settle their grievances with a private arbitrator located in the publisher’s state, prohibits the author from joining a class-action lawsuit against the publisher, and from filing a lawsuit in court. Unscrupulous and “expensive” publishing companies are finding new ways to prevent complaints about their services from becoming public. If a book publisher is asking you to sign an NDA or any other agreement to silence you, that’s a huge red flag. Do not sign and move on.
5.) Beware of “writing” and “ghostwriting” websites that offer “publishing” services. There are many of them flooding the internet with spam ads and they are usually owned by people in foreign countries pretending to operate in the U.S., inexperienced self-published authors selling services, or a single vanity publisher drowning out the “competition” under multiple brands and web addresses, running afoul of Google’s rules. The websites are run by people who couldn’t do for themselves what they promise they can do for you. You’ll find new “publishing companies” online every day. Sadly, the owners of these websites know very little about the publishing industry beyond what they learned from internet search results and scant experience formatting and editing their own manuscripts.
6.) Beware of ads with poor grammar. I saw one ad that read, “Completed your Book?”
8.) Beware of aggressive ads on search engines, aggressive sales campaigns via infomercials, 800 numbers, and FREE author kits. An “author kit” is a sign that the company is hiding something, like expensive fees. They hide this information in order to gain your loyalty before revealing their expensive costs. Today’s publishing models offer the same services as traditional publishers and do it well. But be wary of companies that spam your email and call excessively.
13.) Don’t be afraid to say NO if you don’t like what a company is offering or if you feel uneasy about clause in the contract or fees.
14.) Beware of companies that are so busy that they outsource publishing your book to workers in other countries. You’ll want to steer clear of “publishing mills.” These are not real publishing companies. They’re a publishing mill.
Update:
One of our authors received an email from a publishing company claiming that they were assigned to take over pre-production of the author’s book. The company claimed to have the author’s files. Alarmed, the author called the company and learned the company did not have their files. We’re told the company then pitched publishing a book with the author. If you receive one of these emails, please let us know. Do not send a copy of your manuscript. This is a form of wire fraud and malicious advertising. We have seen an uptick in unscrupulous tactics by author services companies from copying content on our websites to targeting “new authors” in order to exploit their lack of experience. Many of these companies are “author services” companies rather than creative or artistically driven companies like New Book Authors. Author services companies exist solely to profit from authors. The company involved is listed on a screenshot of the email below (click thumbnail).
The letter above is obviously a scam. New Book Authors does not outsource “pre-production” to author services companies. Any author receiving a letter like this should notify us immediately.
We also saw an ad that was bearing our name, but pointed to a different publisher. Please always look for “NewBookAuthors.com” in the web address. If it points to any other publisher, it is a scam.
We encourage authors to do extensive research before entering into a contract or agreement with any publisher.