"HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF"

 

                                                  

                                                Beware of Predatory Publishers

 

 

Most folks nowadays are familiar with how most businesses work, banks, mortgage companies, and so forth. With this understanding, they are aware of businesses that come for you dressed as lambs in wolf clothing.

 BKA predatory lenders. Well, they exist in the publishing industry too.

 They send you emails praising your work, suggesting how well your book could do if you only let them publish it for you.

 They use specific wording to lure you into their snare. Maybe, tempting, but you must look past the fancy language and see it for what it really is—a scam.

Avoid them like people who won’t social distance and maskless during a pandemic.

 These businesses are not designed to help you become rich and famous but help themselves make money from the expensive publishing packages they offer.

 In fact, it makes you question if your writing skills are even good enough based on how easily the cajoling words and lingo used might sway you.

 First of all, don’t ever second guess your abilities.

 Predatory publishers don’t care if you’re a brilliant writer or not. All they want is to hook as many authors, especially those fresh out of the cabbage patch and scouted for this very reason.

 They research your credentials based on the sites most authors display their work. Once they know who you are, they desire more information about book sales and how it could be so much better with a marketing and promotion plan.

 They know their technique works even if it sounds too good to be true. Trust me, it is. There is nothing new about the formula they use to capture your attention. For the unfortunate few gullible enough to fall for this trickery or already suckered out of thousands of dollars, chalk it up as a lesson learned.

 But don’t despair; predatory publishers use the same tactics on authors without agents or published through a major publishing house. And hopeful they will find a faithful few who will believe the hype and succumb to this brand of treachery.

 There’s no need to become a victim of any predatory publisher. Not if you recognize the warning signs and avoid them like all predators out to suck you dry.