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Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware I'm finally getting to post about something I've been keeping under my hat for quite some time. On March 18, 2014, America Star Books, formerly PublishAmerica, filed suit against me, Michael Capobianco, Rich White, and Writer Beware in the Circuit Court for Charles County, MD. The lawsuit alleged defamation per se on the basis of two posts from this blog: one from March 2013 covering the second class action lawsuit filed against PublishAmerica, and one from January 2014 covering PublishAmerica's new name and services as America Star Books. A total of $800,000 in punitive and compensatory damages was demanded, plus interest and attorneys' fees. The lawsuit also alleged a conspiracy by me, Michael, and Rich to disparage PA and ASB. However, both of the allegedly defamatory posts were written by me, with no input from anyone else. And despite Rich's and Michael's inclusion in the suit, I was the only one ever served wi...

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware A couple of weeks ago, I received this question: I'm desperate for some good information here. I'm dealing with an editor who is asking me to sign a contract with a percentage of my future sales as part of the deal. I have never heard of this. Is this actually legit? She's asking for 10%. Further questioning revealed that the editor was also asking for $75 per hour. My instinct, based on everything I've read and heard: No, this is not legit--for editing work, anyway--and it's pretty damn greedy, too. For one thing, $75 per hour seems steep, even for heavy developmental editing (my correspondent didn't say what kind of editing was being proposed). For another, while ghostwriters sometimes ask for a royalty stake in addition to a fee, freelance editors typically charge only a fee for the work they do. See, for instance, what the Editorial Freelancers Association, a professional organization for US-based freelancers, d...

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Once again, Publishers Weekly's annual overview of fast-growing independent publishers features not only innovative indies, but a publisher whose business model is largely built on author fees: Morgan James Publishing . Billing itself as "The Entrepreneurial Publisher", Morgan James requires its authors "to commit to purchasing, during the life of the agreement, up to 2,500 copies [of their book] at print cost plus $2." (Reports Writer Beware has received indicate that writers are asked for a "deposit" of up to $5,000 on contract signing; we've also had reports that additional fees may be due for editing and PR, with a potential for conflict of interest in MJP's "approved" PR firms, one of which, Media Connect, was founded by MJP's Publisher, Rick Frishman .) To make this sizeable outlay of cash seem more palatable, MJP falsely claims on its "compare" page that "Many...

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware UPDATE: Shortly after publication of my and Chuck Wendig's posts about A&M Publishing's New Author Program, all information about the program was removed from the A&M website, and replaced with a submission form that makes no mention of fees. For a limited time, you can see a cached version of the original A&M New Author Program page here . A Writer Beware reader alerted me recently to A&M Publishing , a new venture from author Steve Alten. Alten is best-known for his bestseller Meg , about a prehistoric shark menacing modern-day waters. How about sharks menacing modern-day writers? A&M's list so far consists of three of Alten's own books (one written under a pseudonym). The company is clearly hoping to add to its author roster, though, via its New Author Program --but, authors, don't get too excited, because this is pay to play. Big, big pay. For a suite of services that will be familiar to anyone w...