How to Avoid Being Ripped Off by a Publisher

Important questions to ask before you pay to publish your book

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My friend was beside herself with excitement. A publisher told her he wanted to publish her book — a book she hadn’t even started writing yet.

Knowing that I’m the author or ghostwriter of more than 45 books, she called me for advice.

My first question was: “How much is he going to charge you?”

She was shocked. He hadn’t said anything about charging her.

It turned out that was the deal. The authors he publishes pay his company to produce their books.

Today’s publishing world is dominated by three primary business models:

• Traditional publishing, where publishers contract with authors and pay royalties on book sales.
• Self-publishing, where authors do all the publishing work themselves.
• Hybrid or pay-to-publish, where a company does the work traditional publishers do but authors pay the costs.

Some well-known authors have opted to go with hybrid publishers for a variety of reasons. They knew what they…