Here is a cautionary tale indeed for all new authors out there. Before signing ANY publishing contract…DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! Check out your prospective publisher. There are so many inexperienced, incompetent and in some cases, predatory publishers out there, quite happy to take the dreams of a new author and crush them for every penny they can make.
Whether it’s making wildly exaggerated claims, breaking promises, dodgy dealing, bogus addresses (Amy Metz has a great blog post on this, how unscrupulous publishers try making out they have offices here, there and everywhere when they are just post office boxes), no professional cover artists, no professional marketing/sales team, poor resources, poor contacts (or total lack of), incompetent editing, lack of impact in the marketplace, having authors leave them, trying to change contracts after they’ve been signed, offering authors less than the standard 7% RRP despite not paying advances, poor professional standards across the board, trying to acquire more rights than they are entitled to and higher percentages of rights (do not give publishers ANY of your film/TV rights, they have no claim over these!) etc.
If your publisher has been trying any of these shady dealings, be warned, you’ve probably signed with a bad one. What are their sales like? Have they got a good reputation amongst booksellers/the industry? Check out Absolute Write and Preditors & Editors, if they have ever negatively featured on either of those sites, then run away as fast as you can! It simply doesn’t matter how open and honest a publisher may claim to be, always, always do your homework and have a solicitor look over your contract before signing. It’s not simply worth the heartache, believe me!
Check out this very salutary tale from Tricia Drammeh’s blog and don’t let yourself be the next victim! 😦
Sophie E Tallis - Author/Illustrator 