Self publishing can be treacherous. Beware of boiler room publishing and marketing operations that promise you the world; promise unrealistic marketing reach and sales and scams that try to take advantage of your trust and naivete then disappear with your money. The sales assault comes from many directions by phone, snail mail, email, the internet, blogs, and Twitter to name a few.

Buyer beware do your due diligence before shelling out your hard earned money to an unknown company or service. One suggestion is to do an internet search on any company you may be considering for author services. Look for reputable reviews from other authors who recommend the company and services and be skeptical of any company’s self references or reviews. Note whether their are any complaints about the company or reference to  scams, rip-offs, or fraud.

I always look for a Better Business Bureau reference and a physical address and phone number that I can verify.  Any company operating out of a P.O Box or an Internet website without a verifiable address and contact phone number, I reject. Example, after publishing Gloria Rising, I received an unsolicited marketing sales pitch from India. Yeah, right! As David Hannum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” I also avoid any author service that hounds me or has an overbearing sales pitch or what it offers sounds too good to be true. Anything that is unsolicited or looks like spam, I ignore like the plague.

My kindred spirits, brothers and sisters, watch out for yourselves! The book publishing and marketing world’s priority and bottom line is profit not YOU.