Author Beware

If you’re publishing your own work or planning to, there are companies and individuals out there looking to make money off of you.

That’s not necessarily bad. Professional cover designers and editors, for instance, provide a valuable service that authors should expect to pay for.

Unfortunately, though, some individuals and companies offer services at prices far higher than their value, make promises they can’t keep, or are out-and-out scamming authors.

That’s why this Friday I’m recommending two sites to check when you’re contemplating spending money on publishing, David Gaughran’s website and the Alliance of Independent Authors’ Self-Publishing Advice Centre.

The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) provides advice on writing, marketing, book rights and contracts, book design and formatting, and more.

You can use the Search function on the self-publishing advice page to search for a particular company or type of service, or you can click on a specific topic to scroll through information. (You can also search on the specific topic pages.) You don’t need to be a member to read any of this information.

David Gaughran also regularly writes about topics to help indie/self-published authors succeed. Recent topics include improving results with ads on Amazon, scammers in the Kindle store, and the importance of making sure your book is exclusive to Kindle Unlimited if you participate in that program.

He also exposes services that are bad deals for authors. As with ALLi, you can use the search function on his site to see if he’s written about a company or service you’re considering paying.

Have you found a site that’s particularly helpful in calling out services, individuals, or companies that may be taking advantage of indie authors? If so, please share it in the comments.

Until Sunday–

L.M. Lilly

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