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Every week I receive emails from many of my newsletter readers asking me to comment on publishing companies, which I am happy to do. What amazes me is how many of these “publishers” never offer the names of the people involved with the company. They typically make very generic statements such as “our executives have years of corporate experience,” and to that my response is: corporate experience in what?

If you are serious about publishing a work that you have spent enormous amounts of time creating, why in the world would you trust a company to publish that is afraid or unwilling to reveal who they are? I’m sorry folks but this is wrong! You are making a huge mistake if you turn your writing over to these kinds of companies! This follows the theme of my last blog, it's a buyer beware kind of industry, especially for the Independent writer.

If you don’t know the questions to ask, or you find a publisher that does not reveal who they are and what their experience in publishing might be, then please, avoid! Run the other way! Protect your copyright, protect the investment in your manuscript, save your money, don’t waste your time, there are plenty of reputable publishers.

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Submitted by Jerry on Wed, 07/02/2008 - 20:47.

dealing with professionals and known entities

I couldn't agree with you more, and I'm glad to see someone speak out on this. I work fulltime freelance in the publishing industry (editing, indexing, proofreading), mostly for established royalty publishers and the occasional self-publishing author. One of the latter once hired me to do an index, and I wanted to speak to the publisher about formats, length, etc. The author said that she could never get through to a person after she signed the contract. (This was a few years back, and complaints about this firm now posted on the Internet would keep one busy reading for quite some time.) I called the posted number, stated my purpose for calling -- that I was not an author -- and that I needed to speak to an editor for the reasons given. I was told that the editors worked in another building that had telephones but they couldn't transfer calls in there, and no outgoing calls were allowed. I laughed and said something about nineteenth-century working conditions and how it would be awful if someone needed to call 911. Finally I got through.

Anyway, I've been doing what I do for almost 30 years, and if there are authors out there who need serious professional editorial or indexing services without the attitude, check out my own blog: boblandedits.blogspot.com, where I talk about what it's like to labor in the field. Editorial work is all I do, all I've ever done. I've got plenty of references from people who will give their names.

czar | Sun, 07/06/2008 - 03:38

Thank You for Speaking Up

I'm constantly amazed at the number of people out there who call themselves "publishing professionals" and have no idea what the business is about or how it works. They prey on writers trying to realize a dream and I'm hopeful more will read my blog and your comments and avoid these "so-called experts." Thank you for your support in weeding out these types, the Independent marketplace doesn't need them.

Jerry D. Simmons

Jerry | Sun, 07/06/2008 - 15:36