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Okay, I know I said I wouldn't be posting again until after New Year's--but I'm sure you'll forgive me if I break that promise. I've blogged before about vanity publisher Jones Harvest Publishing , whose business model's similarity to that of disgraced vanity publisher Airleaf is no accident, since Brien Jones, Jones Harvest's owner, is also one of Airleaf's founders (under its previous name, Bookman Marketing). I've blogged a number of times about Airleaf , too. Well, Brien Jones is currently not a happy camper. He's furious with Bonnie Kaye, whose efforts on behalf of Airleaf victims were instrumental in enabling the Indiana Attorney General to bring suit against Airleaf, and who has also begun collecting complaints about Jones Harvest . He has excoriated her in posts like this one on the Jones Harvest blog, accusing her of lying about the complaints she has received. He even persuaded a lawyer to send her a cease and desist letter (tho...

To all our wonderful readers, subscribers, and followers--thanks for visiting us this year, and we look forward to seeing you next year as well. Have a happy and peaceful holiday season, and we'll be back with new blog posts in January 2009! - The Writer Beware Team

Dear Desperate Author, Once again, you sent me an email solicitation to buy your recently self- or small press-published novel. Perhaps you used Media Eblast or a similar spam generator, or hired one of those fake marketing services that prey on desperate authors just like you. Perhaps you crafted the email all on your own. Because it's the holidays and the world is spiraling ever farther into economic crisis, you may have suggested that books make good gifts, so I should buy yours. What I want to know is, what made you think that the email address for a website called "Writer Beware" was appropriate to solicit? I mean, for one thing, there's that word, "Beware." Why would you imagine that the folks at a website that's all about Bewares, especially writing-related Bewares, would be receptive to a buy-my-book spam? (Of course, scammers also solicit Writer Beware, so I guess it's not that much of a deterrent.) Another thing. If you aren't just spam...

I'm often asked whether it's worth an aspiring writer's money to subscribe to Writer's Digest . The answer I usually give is "maybe." The features can be helpful (disclosure: Ann and I have written for Writer's Digest )--though principally for beginners--and the interviews can be interesting. However, the articles and filler pieces often seem superficial, the advertising is heavily oriented toward paid "services" including self-publishing services, and the Classifieds section is rife with ads for vanity anthology contests and scam literary agents (a number of whom are on Writer Beware's Thumbs Down Agency List ). Not exactly helpful for writers are looking to break into the commercial publishing market. Simply filling its pages with self-publishing advertisements is not enough for Writer's Digest . Its subscriber base, after all, provides a perfect captive audience for direct solicitation. The following was recently received by a WD subsc...

I get a fair number of questions from writers wondering whether essay mills are legitimate freelance markets. My response: Caveat writer. Big time. What's an essay mill? A website where customers can buy term papers, research papers, and/or dissertations, and writers can (theoretically) be paid for writing them. There are scores of these sites online-- EssayWriters.net , Eduwriters.com , BigPapers.com , Buyaresearchpaper.com , 4termpapers.com , Custom-Writing.org , to name just a few. Sometimes, a single company will own multiple URLs. Essay mills advertise for writers online or in venues like Craigslist, promising easy work and good pay. Some, such as Essaywriters.net, even claim to offer bonuses . Especially if you're an aspiring writer looking to build credits, you might be tempted. But there are reasons to think twice--and then to think again. - It can be a pain in the ass. Many essay mills, such as Academia-Research.com , promise writers flexible schedules and the abili...

Last week was not a good one along Publishers' Row. - Random House USA announced a major reorganization , laying off staff, consolidating imprints, and axing the heads of two of its largest groups. - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which previously suffered firings , staff departures , and a temporary freeze on acquisitions (though there are indications that the freeze may be more of a slushy than an ice cube), announced massive staff layoffs (probably in the hundreds) as part of sweeping reorganization plans aimed at streamlining its K-12 publishing divisions. - Simon & Schuster eliminated 35 positions . PW reports that "the cuts came in all areas of the company, including S&S’s publishing divisions, operations and sales departments and international division." - Thomas Nelson initiated the second round of job cuts this year, laying off 54 workers --approximately 10% of its workforce. - Penguin Group announced that it would freeze pay raises for staff earning $50,...

Hi, folks! Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Last week I had a dream that made Victoria laugh out loud when I told her about it, so I thought I'd share it with you. I've never before had a Writer Beware dream...this was a first. I dreamed that I read an announcement in my local paper saying that Agent X, whom I recognized as a notorious scammer, would be teaching a "how to write fiction and get it published" class at my local college. I was furious, and nobody at the college would believe me that this guy was a scam agent and publisher. You know how dreams are...I seemed to spend hours hunting for people who could help, with my feet encased in lead, only to be told that no, the class would go on, and did I want to sign up for it? So I decided to go underground, and sign up for the class. I appeared in class the first day, and it was exactly what I had expected...Agent X gave some very generalized comments about writing, then began pitching his bogus "lit...