OP:
little something for those researching getting published in print:
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/http://www.accrispin.blogspot.com/There are a lot of scams and some truly despicable people lurking around the fringes of the publishing industry, who will try to take you for a ride if you don't do your homework.
For the most part, self publishing is the way to go. It avoids costly and lengthy book proposals, and there's less risk of your ideas being stolen by publishing companies while you're sending manuscripts around.
Same for self publishing, look it up. I know nothing about how that works except that it does end up costing you a lot of money. I guess the only tip I can offer is that you shouldn't have to pay for anything so if you find some place that offers to publish you for 'x' amount of dollars, then they aren't the real deal.
This site also contains a list of signs to beware of for scam publishers:
http://pred-ed.com/pubwarn.htmThe lower links, especially, have some real horror stories from writers who've been ripped off by shady publishers and other con artists.
And while we're on the subject, allow me to share a more personal tale of exploitation:
Earlier this month, I attempted to join a writing site called Writer's Network, and learned an unpleasant lesson about deception and cheap scams. Writer's Network lies in their FAQ, claiming, and I quote, "No Catch!" to its "Free" membership, and then spring the catch on you AFTER you've created an account.
What they DO NOT explain to you anywhere in their promotion is that it costs 5 "points" to post something. And how do you get points? There are only 2 ways: BUY them (yes, you read that right, you have to PAY for a "FREE" membership), or else you have to write 300 word book reports on other people's work to earn them. 100 words = 1 point, but you can't go over 300 for one piece, so you have to write 500 WORDS like homework, just to post ONE PIECE of your own. They give you 20 points (translation 4 POSTS) as a "starter" and that's how far "free" goes there.
Now, I have no beef with writing reviews, but twisting people's arms into it, even if they have nothing in particular to say, other than maybe "Good story" is just a recipe for fluff. And then presuming to slap a word count onto it, as if volume = substance, is just going way too far.
Read for yourself, and see if they mention anything about having to "buy" any "credits" to post your work anywhere in their FAQ:
http://www.writers-network.com/support.html#FAQhttp://www.writers-network.com/memberships.htmlIf they had been honest about this up-front in their FAQ, I never would have bothered to register, but they apparently assume that once you're emotionally invested in posting your work, it will pry open you wallet or pressure you to spend more time writing about other people's work than working on your own. And since Writer's Network lies to you every step of the way, I wasted an entire night of my life setting up an account, which was what really set me off.
I'm not getting any younger, and you don't have to lie to make friends. Writer's Network is a Grade A scam, and I just wanted to give my fellow writers a heads-up on them, so they y'all don't end up wasting your time like I did.
