While a pandemic might bring out the best and the worst of us, scams persist.
I received an email this morning from a so-called “self-publishing” company. They are quite happy to help me get my book to traditional publishers. They didn't say what it would cost, but they wanted the pdf of the interior and the cover.
That's what you need to create a book and sell it online. The interior and the cover.
That's all.
I am pretty sure they wanted to take my cover and interior and package it as a book and sell it. Yes, they tried to scam me out of my book.
If you plan to or are writing a book, you do not need someone to help you publish. You might choose to go to a publisher. Depending on the outcomes you want, a publisher might be a great choice.
You can self-publish your own book:
- Edit the book so it reads well and brings the reader on a journey.
- Create a professional cover. (Probably with help!)
- Layout the book for ebook and print.
You can upload the book to all the various stores and make it available to libraries. (Libraries do not buy from the Amazon ecosystem, so you have to sell widely.)
You don't need help from a so-called self-publishing company. You do not.
Is it easy? OMG, I'm in the final editing throes of the Modern Management Made Easy triad. I have many checklists because this is the detailed part of publishing I hate.
I'm at the 90% Done part of this project. Once I'm done with my editing, there's not much that's intellectually challenging. It's all logistics and details. I hate that stuff. Hate it, hate it.
Which is why I have checklists. Not scammers. Checklists.
Scammers will always exist. Do your due diligence. Make sure you understand any and all agreements and contracts.
If someone wants you to pay to publish your book, run away. Scammers there.
(Yes, I'm planning on running writing and publishing classes after I finish these books. I need to reduce my WIP. Go ahead and laugh. It's pretty funny.)