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Character Building Counts and Wise Bear Digital: Two More High-Entry Fee Book...
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware It's Awards Week at Writer Beware! No, I'm not handing out prizes--I'm dispensing cautions. I've got two posts this week, both focusing on literary awards...
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Alert: America’s Next Author Contest
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware On Wednesday, I blogged about high entry fee awards schemes. Today, I'm going to discuss another potential awards trap: non-optimal entry rules. eBookMall...
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Alert: Screenplay Replay Contest
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware It's right there in the logo of the Screenplay Replay Contest: the come-on."Where Your Winning Script Gets a Publishing Deal." Here's more: In today's...
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Authors Guild Statement on Penguin-Random House Merger
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware The following statement was sent by the Authors Guild to its members on Sunday. The Guild labels the proposed merger between Penguin and Random House (which...
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Guest Blog Post: Mustering the Courage to Turn Down a Publishing Contract
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware I've seen a slew of bad publishing contracts lately, which makes this guest blog post by author Kfir Luzatto especially resonant for me. Turning down a...
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Publishers Hate Authors? Really?
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Without a doubt, the silliest publishing-related article I read this week was this one: "Why Book Publishers Hate Authors" by Michael Levin. (Although this...
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Archway Publishing: Simon & Schuster Adds a Self-Publishing Division
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Well, it's happened again. Another traditional publisher has added a pay-to-play "division." Yesterday, venerable trade publisher (and one of the Big 5)...
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The Albee Agency: Book Publicity Faked
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Over the past few days I've gotten a number of inquiries from authors wondering about the reputation of a PR firm called The Albee Agency. Albee bills...
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Guest Blog Post: International Writing Scams and How to Protect Yourself
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Today's guest blog post, from journalist Mridu Khullar Relph, explores the world of writing schemes and scams from an international perspective--something...
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Happy Holidays!
Writer Beware is taking time off for the holidays. Unless there's some especially major publishing news, look for us to be back after January 1. I'll still be answering emails. To contact me: beware...
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2012: Year in Review
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware As we begin the new year (Writer Beware's fifteenth--good heavens!), here's a look back at some of Writer Beware's most notable posts and warnings from...
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Global Talk Radio: How to Waste Money and Fail to Influence People
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware You'd think that dodgy publishers, publicists, and others would know better than to spam Writer Beware. But no. Disproving the frequent spammer claim that...
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Alert: UK Speaker Scam Targets Writers (and Others)
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware John Scalzi reported on this scam earlier this week, and his post was widely disseminated on Twitter--but since not everyone reads the same blogs, and the...
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Venerable Vanity Publisher Vantage Press Closes Its Doors
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware You may have heard that Vantage Press, one of the USA's oldest vanity publishers, closed its doors at the end of 2012. PW reported on this in December: In a...
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Legal Tidbits
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Author Solutions Inc. and Free Speech In 2008, following a bitter divorce, Iowan Scott Weier paid one of the Author Solutions Inc. imprints to publish his...
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Christian Writers Guild Publishing: Pay to Play from Jerry B. Jenkins
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Earlier this week, a press release caught my eye: Bestselling Author Jerry Jenkins Announces Innovative Publishing Firm. Since "innovative" in publishing...
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Orphan Works: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Weighs In
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware The issue of orphan works--out of print, still-in-copyright books, films, photographs, etc. whose rightsholders can't be found--is one that has been much in...
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A Partridge in a Penguin Tree
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware India is a vast book market, and print is still king. So it only makes sense that Penguin (whose parent company, Pearson, acquired self-publishing giant...
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Solicitation Alert: Blessed Hope Publishing
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Recently I received a question about an apparently new Christian publisher, Blessed Hope Publishing. The writer who contacted me was suspicious because...
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Solicitation Alert: Close-up TV News / Close-up Talk Radio
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware Writer Beware has received reports that authors are receiving phone solicitations from an outfit called Close-up TV News, which describes itself as ...a...
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