WRITERS AND SCAMMERS - ODD COUPLES…
When an author finishes writing a cherished piece of work - be it poem; an essay; a memoir, popular, or paranormal novel; perhaps even a humorous work - at that very moment, the writer’s creative enthusiasm has him teetering at the edge of a precipice. If he hasn’t already landed a book or magazine deal, he’s either looking for an agent, or thinking deeply about having the work printed and distributed independently. Let us then count the peddlers of provender gathered in the valley below. In a great sweat, without an agent or a trade publisher, that writer is virtually forced to take the independent leap…possibly into the arms of one or more scammers.
Need a POD publisher?.. A website?.. Editorial help?.. Guidance in finding an agent?.. Promotional help?.. A distributor?.. Book designer?.. Cover artist?.. on and on goes the list. No end to the services available, ’til your credit card registers dry on an emptied checking account.
There’s no longer a stigma attached to self-publishing. The experience of publishing your own book is a heady one, and I personally published 3 ACES. But few writers have the time, energy, and patience to research and line up the vendors of services you will need to publish once the writing and editing are complete.
Having been able to locate and pre-qualify any one or all of the above, your life, in careful hands, can turn into a thing of joy as your literary achievement sprouts wings and mounts into the blue.
But then, there’s always little Janey Dribblechin - Amey Fusco’s daughter - you know…Fusco, the first timer whose paranormal romance is number one on every book list in sight? Didn’t little Janey, flat out, just sell her own first book: COOKING GREEN, WITH TARPAPER & CAULIFLOWER? Sure she did, but you don’t think mom’s agent helped her? You don’t think mom didn’t threaten that agent, and maybe her own publisher a little? Forget the little Janey stories…in all probability, that sort of situation is NOT going to happen to you.
With a beer pocketbook, you’re faced with a well-entrenched group of vendors who’ve got your number! Maybe you gave it to them, by answering internet queries, an ad., or hurriedly scanning the yellow pages. Some of those vendors are going to be honest, some will be competent - a far fewer number will be both. You might get lucky; but more likely you’ll find yourself scammed.
The scammer will have a pitch that makes sense, that prays upon your desires for instant success with little work on your part, dressing up their services like a redolent, basted turkey that has you slavering for the first mouthful. They don’t have to promise concrete results…only make it sound like what they are going to do for you is the absolute end in their line of expertise, and if you don’t immediately honor their invoices, you’ll totally miss out! And they do mean TOTALLY!
Then what happens? Very little. The people who were going to do X, Y, & Z on your book are tied up on another project. Don’t worry, you’re told; they will soon be on yours. And two months later, when they do come free, it turns out that they have a whole raft of work for YOU to do - work that looks a lot like the job they were supposed to be doing! How can you do what you thought they were supposed to be doing? You end up confused, angry, and exhausted. But they soothe you, citing how wonderful it all will be when it’s over - you find yourself making excuses for what you don’t want to admit is happening - and suddenly it’s three months later and your literary work has missed a pub. date or deadline that you and your friends and a lot of other people deemed critical for success!
That’s right, my friend…you just been scammed. Did it to yourself; you loaded up that cart before you found a proper horse. You failed to line up everything needed, way before you needed it. To the question, ‘How can I do all that and finish my book in time to meet my hoped-for pub. date?’ I say, be realistic! How much do you gain if you waste months or years of work with a botched release? If you can’t release your literary work in time, relax and rethink your strategy. If needed, delay your book release a full year. And if you further waste your energy and funds on incompetent or dishonest help, you’re almost guaranteed to meet disaster!
Set practical release schedules. Qualify, far in advance, each service and the people you will use. Thoroughly check them out; obtain concrete referrals from folks you know who have happily and successfully used their services.
By the way, who was it told me this writing/publishing thing was going to be easy?…
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CREATE YOUR OWN BOOK COVER…?
Hmm… I wanted to. And I did. And I’m now having second thoughts about what I did. Let me provide the final chapter to the “3 ACES Cover Story” as presented in my August 3rd, 2008 blog…
Now that the book has been read by a good number of folks, gone through the hands of more than a few critics, contest judges, etc., the feedback cometh in strong (whether I welcome it, or not). THE most negative feedback has been centered around my vaunted 3 ACES front cover, which I conceived all by my lonesome and had executed by two local artists, with the desert background brushed in by my book designer. The story inside (by those brave enough to ignore the front cover) has been well received, and granted a Book Of The Year award in November, 2008, by THE INFINITE WRITER ezine,
Unfortunately, my front cover does NOT tell the book purchaser what type of story lies beneath its surface - and, as far as I am concerned, that’s a disaster. Worse, it leads some to think it’s a Harlequin Romance; others tell me it’s a book about gambling; still more tell me they really haven’t a clue what the hell the book is about. If that isn’t a publishing disaster, what is?
Take a quick look at the cover - off in the right margin of my blog page - and what do you see? A man, a woman, a dog, a truck, and three playing cards - all superimposed on a desert background. Any good professional cover artist (none of which were ever consulted by yours truly) could tell you in a flash what went wrong. What went wrong is that my front cover does NOT tell you that inside lies a deeply felt RELATIONSHIP STORY… not a slick romance, not some dumb trucking or gambling story, nor a maudlin story about an injured dog.
I had been warned about the problem of creating suitable human faces for the two main characters, Dawn and Abner. The dog was easy. But we slaved over the creation of those human faces; yet no one feels that either face does the story justice. Please note: most first rate book covers lack faces!
Why did I populate the cover with so many confusing elements? The answer is that I mistakenly selected ELEMENTS from my story that I thought were keys to explaining the story. Mingling these disparate elements over the front cover only serves to muddy the issue. I would have been better off with a socko, single title superimposed on a blank, one-color page.
That brings up the next giant fault: the book’s TITLE. Documented in my original cover story is the fact that I let the artists name the book, albeit quite by accident. I abandoned my working title of DAWN & ABNER because “3 ACES” seemed both pertinent and snappier. Snappy it might be, but - once again - it throws the buyer into thoughts about gambling. True, gambling is a third element in the story, but it’s not THE story. If you want to better understand the story, flip the book over on my AMAZON page (3 ACES by Richard Ide) and read the back cover. Now that works. I redesigned it after attending an Infinity Publishing conference, where a number of savvy people corrected my mistakes. It was too late to monkey with the front cover. (I’d used it in too many promotions and featured it on my website.) I never did come up with a superlative title for the book.
What am I to conclude from all this? Firstly, hire a highly recommended professional cover artist to design your cover, even if it costs you an arm and a leg. Secondly, agonize over finding the right title for your book - one that conveys the story, one that is simple and perhaps catchy.
Nonetheless, my 3 ACES cover endures - probably for all time. It’s like a bastard child…you hate to admit of its creation; but all the same, it holds a place in your heart you can’t deny.
Oh! - about that “superlative title.” It’s still waiting to be discovered. Too late to use it now, but just out of curiosity - if you have it, let me know.
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Above are blog enties from Richard, a major contributor to the Fox&Qull. |
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Richard Ide |
