Tag: predatory publishers

Getting Out of My Publish America Contract

#PublishingFoul Logo Indies UnlimitedGuest Post
by Brenda Perlin

This past Sunday, I wrote about my nightmare experience with Publish America. After the way they treated me, I knew my only course of action was to try to get out of my seven-year contract.

Seven long years! I blame myself for signing such a miserable contract but I didn’t know any better. I had high hopes and was flattered that someone actually wanted to publish my story. If they would have said hang from the highest chandelier, I might have done so. I was naive and didn’t realize they were a company that published books not because they thought they were good, but because they thought they could make money off of an inexperienced first-time author. Continue reading “Getting Out of My Publish America Contract”

My Publishing Nightmare with Publish America

Predatory Publisher Month at Indies UnlimitedGuest Post
by Brenda Perlin

After I finished my first book, I submitted it for publication everywhere I could. As the rejection letters came pouring in, so did a quick reply from a company called Publish America. I should have run as fast as I could but instead I got caught up with the idea of being a published author. At the time, that seemed as farfetched as taking a ride to Mars. For one thing, I had no writing background, and this was a story based on my life. Who was going to want to read it? Still, I wished upon a star and saw my book on the shelves of bookstores. I so badly wanted this pipe dream that I bought into it: hook, line, and sinker.

Continue reading “My Publishing Nightmare with Publish America”

FOULED! Part 3: Getting Your Book Back

Predatory Publisher Month at Indies UnlimitedSo you’ve tried to get your publisher to give your book the editing, formatting, and marketing attention it deserves, but you’ve had no luck. Your logical next step may be to try to get your book back.

The technical term is reversion of rights. You’re asking the publisher to give you back any rights you granted it to publish your book. This sometimes becomes necessary even in contracts with a traditional publisher. If the book is not selling well, or some other disagreement has come up, an author may decide to buy back the book and shop it around somewhere else. Although increasingly these days, traditionally-published authors are buying back the rights to their books on their publishers’ backlists and going indie with them.

Trad publishers can be reluctant to agree to a rights reversion, but vanity publishers really don’t like them. Continue reading “FOULED! Part 3: Getting Your Book Back”

Scam Victims: Know the Law & Know Your Rights

Predatory Publisher Month at Indies UnlimitedGuest Post
by S.R. Claridge

Yesterday I talked about my experience with Vanilla Heart Publishing and three of the lessons I learned. Today, I want to share the fourth thing I walked away with: knowing the law.

Like so many scam artists out there, Kimberlee Williams of Vanilla Heart Publishing banked on her cunning ability to manipulate new authors with empty promises, lies, and fear tactics; but in the details of the law, the truth can be found. Publishing contracts typically fall under the heading of Bi-Lateral Agreements, which means both parties (the author and the publisher) are signing that they are in agreement with the terms of the contract. In essence, they are both committing to do what the contract indicates they will do. A Bi-Lateral Agreement is only binding in a court of law IF it is signed by both parties and both parties receive a copy of the agreement, containing both signatures.

Continue reading “Scam Victims: Know the Law & Know Your Rights”