Literary Scams...the sharks abound!

I once paid $29.95 for the transcript of a seminar that told how to get your book on Amazon’s best seller list when I should have opted for a pedicure!

The gist of it was that you contact every person you know and ask them to contact every person they know, so on and so on, then on a specified day within a certain time frame everyone goes to Amazon and buys your book. That’s it…that was the magic formula. But this person had done it and made it in the top 100. It didn’t matter that they were only there for 15 minutes…they were now an Amazon best-selling author and could use that title in their promotion for all their other works; claiming that once best seller status is reached you remain there for the duration of your literary career. While to some degree this is a true and well known fact, I don’t believe that’s how it works; because while those 15 minutes of fame is yours to keep, you still have to produce quality books consistently.

I recently received the following email:

“Tired of fighting for bookstore distribution? Even if you're a complete computer novice and have no marketing expertise, we'll coach you to follow our proven formula and We'll Help You Make Your Book An Amazon.com Bestseller in Just 28 Days … Guaranteed!” Yep, for only $2795 these experts who were once on Amazon’s best seller list will share their secret…whoo-hoo, sign me up!

I remember being new to the biz and soaking up every bit of information I could about the industry; how it worked, the secret formulas, how to become an overnight success and lots of other BS. But I learned fairly quickly that these people didn’t know any more than I did.

It wasn’t until last October when I was taken for a ride by a literary publicist to the tune of $7,000 who was hired to promote MACUMBA and did absolutely nothing that I realized just how vulnerable we all are.

I did months of endless research, checked references, compared campaigns and finally made a connection with someone I believed was reputable and I could trust. In addition to the $7,000 for the campaign, I spent close to $3000 more on galley copies of my book for prerelease reviews, custom made postcards, business cards, stationery, travel expenses and print copies of my book once it was released that was distributed to bookstore and libraries.

When I questioned the publicist as to why no reviews were coming in, why no signings and speaking engagements had been scheduled when travel arrangements had already been made for a 2 week tour out of state (contracted to tour 6 states in 6 months), she immediately became defensive and I knew then that something was terribly wrong, even after she assured me that reviews sometimes take a while to come back from the reviewer and that I shouldn’t worry because she was just waiting for confirmation about several appearances she had tentatively scheduled. Then when I pressed her further on the matter she simply stopped taking my calls and email and even refused to accept my certified letters.

My attorney said that for $2000 they would be happy to take the case, but even when we won, which they had no doubt of, since not one single person on their campaign list who had supposedly been contacted had ever heard of the publicist or my book, I could expect to see about 15 cents of my original investment once attorney and court fees were paid. They also told me that people operate this type of fraud on a daily basis for small amounts such as this because they know people aren’t going to spend even more money to take them to court for basically nothing.

The Better Business Bureau wouldn’t do anything, nor would the County Commissioner or Chamber of Commerce where this company operates. How pathetic is that?! Anyway, that was $10,000 lesson learned and something that I hope others can avoid, by learning from my misfortune.

I was advised after the fact that I should have put a performance clause in the contract stating that I would receive twice the amount of the original contract if their performance didn’t meet the requirements set forth in the contract, thus immediately weeding out any fraudulent business, because if the literary publicist is legitimate, they would of course have no problem in signing such a clause.

The thing that really pisses me off is that I have no recourse and can and would most definitely be sued for slander if I went public with a warning about this specific company.

So, you live and learn and you move on….but at what price glory?

The fact is that there are sharks out there in any type of business, swimming in the shallows just waiting for the attack, but I’ve never seen so many as I have in the literary business. It’s a shame when you think of how many truly talented writers have suffered the attack and simply given up because of it; believing that it’s just not worth the sacrifice. I guess the old saying, “once bitten twice shy,” rings true in these instances.

But you have a choice…you can go belly up and watch your dream drift away with the tide, or you can take a deep breath, submerge yourself in developing your craft and educating yourself about the industry and when you finally come up for air swim as hard as you can until you reach your goal!