Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Baaa

Three words.  Hangover.  From.  Hell.

Considering the above, this is probably going to be somewhat incoherant but as everyone else is talking about it, I'm going to be a sheep and do it too.

Publisher's Weekly:  aka the numpties who are making what seems like a thinly veiled attempt at scamming self publishers out of $149.  They've never exactly been advocates of indies but this is a brand new level of low.  It genuinely pisses me off that they're charging people $149 to be featured in a crappy supplement.  They can do what they like but what's bothering me is the carrot on the stick.  Oh, you might get a review.  Oh, you might be seen by an agent.

It's pretty crappy to take advantage of people's hopes and dreams and mostly, their desperation.  When you first publish something yourself, there's a process that requires patience.  Firstly, nobody knows it exists, it doesn't sell, it has no reviews and even the best writers can get panicky and feel like it's a total disaster.  So this reputable name comes along and offers you what sounds like a great opportunity and you grab it with both hands.  It's an investment, you tell yourself.  You hand over your cash, your book gets a little ad and then . . . nothing happens. 

The majority of the people you're marketing to probably won't ever see it.  The possible review disappears from the equation.  Talk of agents takes on a dream like quality because you start to believe you imagined it.  Eventually, you sell some copies, get reviews and recommendations and are a happy camper but that probably would have happened even if you didn't pay $149.  Your mileage may vary but the above is the typical story for so many  people.  I know plenty will go for PW's offer but I sincerely hope they have their eyes wide open and see it for what it is. They're charging $149 for a possibility of a review.

Shame on you, PW.

2 comments:

  1. All my scam alerts went off when I saw the offer. No thanks! In the very beginning of my self-publishing career-like 3 months ago-I paid for Facebook ads. Way too much for facebook ads that garnered me, I believe, three new fans of my facebook page. Yippee! Now the most I will spend for a review/publicity is the price of one of my paperbacks if they don't accept e-books. Spend money to make money, sure, but now I try and keep it in line with what I'm actually making!

    Sorry about your hangover. Ouch.

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  2. It's way too easy to over do it on the spending (especially when you start out) but if something seems too good to be true . . .

    I hate to think of them taking advantage of people who really don't know better.

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