how do I get a book published without getting ripped off?

Answer 1

Publishers very, very rarely rip off authors. I have an article about why that is on my site, here: .

If you want to make money, skip subsidy presses/POD publishers/self-publishing companies. The economics are against you.

If you do self-publish, buy your own ISBN block from RR Bowker, hire professional editors, cover and text designers, and spend the money necessary to get a book that can compete. (IF, if, IF your book has the market appeal to compete in the first place. Be very sure of that.)

Don't spend more than you can afford to lose. Publishing is high-stakes gambling, and you're not a very experienced bookie (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) yet.

If you do launch a publishing career, make sure you do your research. My site has resources, as does the Yahoo Self-Publishing Group, and the Yahoo SmallPub-Civil group.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Getting a book accepted and published by a real publisher (not one that you pay to publish the book) means a lot of hard work. You have to edit your book, you have to research the markets, and you have to submit your book and wait months usually for a reply. That's the downside of publishing.

A lot of folks these days take the short cut and pay for publication. That works ONLY if you are willing to go out and sell the book yourself. When you pay for publication, they don't get it listed in bookstores. They don't promote it. They simply print the books and give them to you.

So your choices are the hard work before publication or the hard work after publication.

There is one more thing to consider. ANYONE can pay for publication. A chimpanzee (if he had the money) could get published. That's why paying for publication DOES NOT COUNT. I have seen an iUniverse author shouted off the stage at a book workshop before because the people attending that workshop KNEW he had simply paid to get his book printed. It didn't matter if the book was good or not. Being published by a vanity publisher is more stigma than credit.

Answer 3

You don't. Real legitimate publishing (the kind where the publisher pays YOU to write) is very difficult to get into and those cheesy web sites all you kids think are great (the ones who take your money to publish your work and who take EVERY ONE'S work) are just that: Cheesy. They are NOT real publishers. The road to real publishing is long and arduous and very, very difficult. And the guy above says he self-published. If you have to self-publish then that means you couldn't get a legitimate publisher to publish your work. Stary away from self-publishing; they don't call it "vanity publishing" for nothing. Stay away from the web sites who promise you publication. In addition, most teens say, oh I am writing a book. Like I said, real writing takes time (years), discipline, rejection, frustration, more rejection, more work, learning your craft, and still more work. Agents only take a small handful of new writers on and publishing houses (real ones) only publish a handful of new books each year. No one publishes poetry or short stories any longer, again, unless you want to deal with those cheesy sites.

Answer 4

Just to add to the above answers, my Wife is a writer, and I see all the work that goes into the business, and then I see where, assuming you are able to get published, you will be very lucky to be one of the few who makes more than I do as a teacher!

Yes, there is a possibility of becoming JK Rowling (not available in education), but you probably won't make as much as many easier jobs. And, yes, I do consider my job to be MUCH easier than my Wife's!

Answer 5

permit me remind you that there are in simple terms some sort spanking new suggestions below the sunlight, 2nd practically all of those suggestions have been written approximately. Granted you won't have seen something remotely akin on your tale yet someplace i'm confident something might exist. next understand valid publishers are no longer in the marketplace to thieve your suggestions. yet another author might attempt to thieve it besides the undeniable fact that it fairly is pretty no longer likely that a writer will. final you could or won't have a tale nicely worth stealing yet while it fairly is that sturdy then understand that it is not in simple terms your tale that makes it sturdy yet in addition the writing itself. it is the place it fairly separates you from others with comparable thoughts or thieves who plagiarize. undesirable guy's copyright is sturdy besides as registering your writing with the copyright workplace. in case you get an fascinated writer than they're going to copyright for you. additionally i replaced into as quickly as instructed your artwork is straight away replica written the minute the words hit the web site and the completely formed manuscript is accomplished. yet it rather is stressful to instruct in a courtroom of regulation. J...

Answer 6

explain ripping off. Publish it yourself. 99% of books never get accepted by the big publishers and if they do, there's still no guarantee of success and you'll only get a royalty of 10-20% of the wholesale cost, which isn't much until you sell 100,000 copies or so. I printed and published some books on my own and sold a few hundred, but got to keep 70% of the sale price as profit above the cost of printing.

Answer 7

Quick Tip: Send your manuscript to yourself and don't open it. It will be postmarked so if you submit something, get declined then you see your work published (does not happen very often) you have the proof you wrote it first.

Answer 8

don't publish it yourself, not lulu.com, not anything

real publishers will not rip you off, only you can do that