Writer Beware

Latest Posts

Law Firm Investigates Author Solutions Inc.

MAR 4, 2013June 18, 20227 COMMENTS

The New York law firm of Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart LLP has opened an investigation of Author Solutions Inc. (ASI), alleging deceptive practices.

They're calling for contact from authors who believe they've been the victims of these and/or other deceptive practices. The contact form is here.

Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart specializes in, among other things, consumers and small businesses in class actions. Where possible, they enter into contingency fee arrangements--i.e., they take a percentage of the winnings rather than a fee. Given that Author Solutions is now owned by Pearson, there are some deep pockets here, which may make a lawsuit more feasible than it has been in the past. (To my knowledge, no lawsuit has actually been filed; this is a preliminary investigation only.)

CONTRACTS

Second-Class Contracts? Deal Terms at Random House’s Hydra Imprint

FEB 28, 2013January 1, 202324 COMMENTS

EDITED 3/13 TO ADD: Responding to a storm of criticism generated in part by this blog post, Random House has announced new contract terms for Hydra, Alibi, Flirt, and Loveswept. Over the past few years, more and more trade publishers have created digital-only imprints. Another new one just popped up in my newsfeed today: Little,Read More

Why Not to Register Copyright for Unpublished Work

FEB 25, 2013August 15, 202242 COMMENTS

If you have an unpublished manuscript that you're shopping to agents and/or publishers, or considering self-publishing, there's no need to register your copyright prior to publication.

Why?

Well, for one thing, you're fully protected by copyright law from the moment you fix your work in tangible form (write down the words). In countries that have an official copyright registration process--and many don't--registration provides no additional copyright protection.

VANITY PUBLISHING AND PAY TO PLAY

Solicitation Alert: Close-up TV News / Close-up Talk Radio

Header image: sheaf of $100 bills on a table, with more bills flying away (Credit: Billion Photos / Shutterstock.com)

FEB 21, 2013June 6, 2024254 COMMENTS

Writer Beware has received reports that authors are receiving phone solicitations from an outfit called Close-up TV News, which describes itself as

...a premiere news magazine TV program spotlighting the most successful businesses across America. CUTVNews has featured thousands of industry leaders on our shows. We are a professional News Magazine Show, viewed by millions who continue to be captivated by our intellectual, informative and entertaining storytelling style. Join us! Viewers are eager to watch and learn about your specific business or profession.

In fact, Close-up TV News is pay-to-play (see the disclaimer on its website). It produces faux news segments for a fee, which businesses can then use to promote themselves. Several of the testimonials from satisfied customers confirm this--for instance, this one, this one, and this one, all of which refer to the videos as "promotional" or "advertisements"--as does this summary of a recent indictment against a pair of timeshare telemarketers, who allegedly used a Close-up TV News segment to further their scheme to defraud consumers.

PUBLISHING SCAMS

Solicitation Alert: Blessed Hope Publishing

FEB 18, 2013September 16, 202519 COMMENTS

Recently I received a question about an apparently new Christian publisher, Blessed Hope Publishing. The writer who contacted me was suspicious because Blessed Hope had not only solicited his manuscript, but had accepted it within a matter of days.

Blessed Hope expounds upon its mission thus (their emphasis):

Blessed Hope Publishing’s mission is to spread out the Word of God through manuscripts written on Christianity. The grace of God has been revealed by Jesus Christ who brings salvation to all people. Although this grace is often described as a treasure, we believe that this gift should not be jealously hidden, but should on the contrary be shared to the world.

SELF-PUBLISHING

A Partridge in a Penguin Tree

FEB 14, 2013June 18, 2022138 COMMENTS

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 Author Solutions Inc. last year) has just announced the expansion of ASI into India via its new "imprint," Partridge.

According to the official Penguin press release,

Through this imprint, Indian authors now have access to the widest range of professional publishing and marketing services that meet the best publishing industry standards, but are appropriately priced for the Indian market.