Writers (and All Publishing Pros): Beware

Popping in to reblog this excellent piece by David Gaughran: "Penguin Random House Merger Helps Author Solutions Exploit Writers."

The title itself speaks volumes, and I urge all writers, editors, and publishing pros — in-house and independent — to read this important look at how industry changes have expanded the reach of Author Solutions, the world's largest vanity press.

As Gaughran's chock-full-o'-useful-history blog outlines, this new marketing power is NOT a good thing for the authors the press seeks to exploit. Nor is it good for publishing, for the consumer, or for anyone involved in the genuine pursuit of creating quality books using fair business practices.

Please read the piece, check out its internal links for the troubling backstory, and pass along the information to all your publishing pals — especially your writer friends and, especially-especially, to new writers trying to make sense of the myriad self-publishing options available to them. They do not have to get scammed to take a nontraditional path to publication.