Tag: publishing scams

FOULED!: Update on Indie Writer Support

#PublishingFoul Logo Indies UnlimitedA couple of years ago, Lin Robinson told us about some shady activity on LinkedIn by one Korede Abayome, who runs Indie Writer Support and ParaDon Publishing , among other things.

According to his bio, Abayome was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and raised in California. He goes by a number of different aliases, including Celina Marka (acquisitions editor for ParaDon), Judd Miller (ParaDon’s webmaster), and Artis Reed (which appears to be a pen name of Abayome’s). He sells publishing services to would-be writers, but his customers say he pockets the payments and never provides the services. One of these iffy services is a $250 “Elite Membership” to Indie Writers Support, which claims it has “raised a few authors to the NY Times best sellers list.” Of course, it doesn’t say which authors it has helped to get on the list. ParaDon also claims to have struck a deal recently with BookBub; as you might have guessed, BookBub says it has never done business with ParaDon. Continue reading “FOULED!: Update on Indie Writer Support”

FOULED!: Tate Publishing

#PublishingFoul Logo Indies Unlimited

You know that when a businessman calls himself a religious man, he’s okay, right? He’s not going to scam you, right? And “family owned and operated” is another indicator of a wholesome, honest business model. Right?

Let me introduce you to Tate Publishing and Enterprises.

Headquartered in Mustang, Oklahoma, the company publishes both books and music. Their website says the firm was founded by Richard and Rita Tate, who were moved to start a publishing house after losing control of their own work to an unnamed “traditional, mainline royalty publishing company.” The current president and CEO is their son, Ryan Tate, who turns up pretty regularly on Fox News as a commentator on anything and everything except publishing. No, really. Check out the Press Room tab on the Tate Publishing site, where you’ll find links to the guy’s appearances. I didn’t see a single one that was even remotely related to publishing. Continue reading “FOULED!: Tate Publishing”

Clearing up the “Hybrid” in Publishing

HYBRID PUBLISHINGSo you’re a beginning writer, and you loved writing the book, but now you’re faced with the dreaded publishing process. Becoming an independent author sounds just too complex, but you don’t really know how to attract an agent or a traditional publisher either.

And then someone sends you a ritzy free book called How to Use Hybrid Publishing. (I got one last week.) And you think, “Great. Best of both worlds. Where do I sign up, and (you aren’t stupid) how much does it cost?”

Well, beware, because you don’t know what you don’t know, and that leaves you wide open for the people who are selling services you don’t want and don’t need, and most importantly, won’t sell your books.

This article gives the first steps in figuring out what the beginning author might do to gain enough knowledge to deal with this situation. Continue reading “Clearing up the “Hybrid” in Publishing”

Indies Unlimited Resource Pages

graduation capHere at Indies Unlimited, we are constantly trying to identify the needs of authors at all levels of the publishing spectrum. In an effort to provide useful information in a sea of internet data, we’ve recently introduced some Author Resource Pages. Some of our new resource pages include:.

I’ve Written a Book, How Do I Publish It?
This resource page includes articles on the entire process from proofreading to how to find an editor to the anatomy of a copyright page, all the way to pushing the publish button. It’s a great resource for newbies and experienced authors alike.

 

Glossary for Authors
Sometimes it’s just not obvious what abbreviations mean, and sometimes it’s just a wee little bit embarrassing to have to ask what someone’s talking about. This glossary will help.

 

How to Spot a Scam
Scammers change their company names all the time. The best way to protect yourself is to know what to look for. This resource page will teach you what you need to know, so you don’t become a victim. (And don’t forget out #PublishingFoul resource page.)

 

Reviews and Review Sites
As you hopefully know by now, IU does not review books. This handy resource page will help you figure out how to find the right reviewers for your book(s).

 

Book Promotion Sites
Martin Crosbie has been generous enough to share his list of book promotion sites with all of us. It is updated as new sites come to our attention. All those sites are checked by Martin before being added to the list.

 

KnowledgeBase
This page contains all the useful IU articles arranged by tag. Know what you need? Just click on the subject which interests you and all the articles associated with it will magically appear. Yes, we did this just for you.

 

We’re adding new resource pages all the time. Please feel free to share these pages if you know someone in need, and please use the contact form if there’s a resource page subject you’d like us to research.