© Gayle Martin Photography.I’ve been following a woman on YouTube for some time who is about to publish her first book. I’ll call her, “Denise.” Denise talks about the everyday things we can all relate to; schools, kids, pets, healthy eating, gardening, elderly parents, the weather, and so forth. She’s a very intelligent, articulate woman. Her content is always interesting and thought provoking.
When Denise first started talking about writing a book I offered to help, free of charge, with the typesetting and cover design. She gives a lot to her community, and I wanted to do what I could to help make her book a success. I also told her I would walk her through the self publishing process. She asked me if I could publish her book for her. Unfortunately, my publishing company, Good Oak Press, LLC, isn’t set up to publish books for other authors. While I could do most of the work on my end, I wouldn’t be able to provide an ISBN number or upload her files.
Denise has just uploaded a new YouTube video about her upcoming book. However, instead of using KDP Direct Publishing and Draft2Digital, as I had recommended, she’s decided to pay a publisher seven-thousand dollars to publish her book. (Which is the first a big red flag.) She’s so excited. This unnamed publisher is also going to advertise her book. While I honestly hope it works out for her, I have some serious doubts. Denise has no idea that she’s taking an incredibly big risk.
There are a LOT of bad actors in the book publishing world. They charge huge sums of money, such as seven-thousand dollars, but don’t deliver on their promises. In the industry, they’re known as vanity publishers. They prey on unsuspecting authors, which is why I consider them predators.
Denise is asking her YouTube followers to help her cover the cost with five hundred dollar donations. The donor will get a dedication page at the front of her book where they can make a personal dedication to anyone they so choose. She’s also telling her prospective donors that her book is going to be on The New York Times Best Seller list. I’m not sure if the publisher has promised her this, or if Denise has assumed it on her own. Either way, it’s another red flag.
There isn’t a first-time author out there who doesn’t want their book on the New York Times Best Seller list. In fact, it’s part of The Author Myth. Unfortunately, The New York Times Best Seller List is only for the big, mainstream publishers, such as Random House. There are other best seller lists out there which she may qualify for, but she would have to sell a substantial number of books in order to get there. I believe the NYT list requires a minimum sale of five-thousand copies a week. While not impossible, it is extremely difficult for an unknown first-time author to have this much sales volume.
To her credit, Denise does have an one advantage most author’s don’t. She has a successful YouTube platform. Let’s say she has fifty thousand subscribers to her YouTube channel. That’s a good number. No doubt some of them will buy her book, but how many is anyone’s guess.
I’ve also advertised my books on social media as well as on Amazon. While advertising does indeed help boost my sales, it can also be expensive because those pay-per-click ads can run up in a hurry. I don’t know how much her publisher is charging her for advertising, but I’d be willing to bet she’d get a better rate if she did her own ads and promotions herself instead of going through a third party.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of authors and publishers upload new books on Amazon and other platforms each and every week. Most, if not all of them, want to have a bestselling book. There’s a lot of competition out there, and the book market is oversaturated. It takes time and effort to build a following, and people who enjoy watching YouTube videos aren’t necessarily interested in reading.
I’ll end by saying I found her video jaw dropping, to say the least. However, I’m biting my tongue and not saying anything on her YouTube channel. She’s made up her mind, and I highly doubt she would listen if I tried to warn her. Nor do I want to be perceived as an, “I told you so,” if things don’t turn out the way she’s hoping. I won’t be donating five hundred dollars either because it would be a conflict of interest. Remember, I offered to do her typesetting and cover art free of charge, and I didn’t get so much as a, “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll pass.” In fact, I was waiting for her to get back with me about when she wanted me to start the typesetting when I saw the video, and I honestly feel like I’ve been blindsided.
I hope, for her sake, that things go the way she is hoping. However, having been in the small press publishing business for over a decade, I know how things work. The red flags are there, so in all likelihood, she’s working with a vanity publisher who’ll produce low-quality books which may end up in her garage because they’re not marketable. It’s also entirely possible that she may not have the option to republish her book herself, because she may have signed the rights over to the vanity publisher. It’s yet another reason why I call them predators.
Gayle Martin
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