HugodeSantaCatarina
New member
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2021
- Messages
- 5
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- 3
About a few years ago, I received a response to a call for submissions for some publishing company. They were interested in my book. A lot can happen in a year, and it took exactly the same amount time to realize that the composition and quality of my prose in that book wasn't exactly 'bestseller material'. Initially I was excited, but then I watered myself down like I always do. Even then, my self-loathing and general lack confidence in my work was what probably saved me from being scammed. I had long forgotten the name of that publisher and when I went to look for their email in my Gmail, I couldn't seem to find them. I think they might have deleted their initial message when i told them off. All I know for sure is is that I did some research into their business practice, I found testimonies from their authors about how they actually make their money. They charge processing, agent, and publishing fees up the ass, charging thousands from people who are desperate to be published after a thousand and one setbacks and rejections, a similar place to where I was a year ago and in the exact same position. I remember reading about a woman who was asked to pay upwards to 9k just to have the book out. I decline and provided the reasons as to why not even i would be stupid enough to fall for their bullshit, and so they probably deleted their initial email after getting called out.
I never thought this would happen again. I was at first excited whenWebnovel invited me to be become one of their official writing partners, but then I did some digging. One of the the people here, SadTuna, was also invited by one of their scam artist editors but fortunately did the right thing and consult a forum of writers if the move would be right for them. Luckily, for them and all of us, they didn't go with it. And neither should you. Here's why. Webnovel offers both exclusive and non-exclusive contracts, and though I had yet to see a contract myself in the e-mail sent to me, I have read that authors who work with Webnovel have the same modus operandi with some rather predatory third-party web novel distribution companies, specifically EMP Entertainment. TL;DR-
-they can terminate your grant of right (which dictates who owns the intellectual property i.e, your book series) EMP can terminate that at any time but you can't. You leave when they say so.
-within this term of agreement which you cant get out of unless they say so, they can essentially copy paste your work anywhere else but you cant.
-they also have a perpetual claim to your work- when your contract ends, you must offer to sell your work to the company
-after you've signed with them and they've rightfully fuck you over, you're not allowed to tell anyone about it.
Read into more detail about it here.
I can understand the temptation to give in to something that promises recognition, money, notoriety, and a wider viewership- but at the end of the day, we all just want to be read and appreciated as writers. we as writers should really be thinking less about reads and likes, because a preoccupation with these analytics is how these scuzzball companies lure us in to these bad deals in the first place. We should all be more occupied on having fun while writing and improving the quality of our work. It doesn't matter if people think you're shit now, you can always improve. And sometimes, even if you've improved as much as you think you can, you often find yourself ignored, unsupported, unknown, and obscure. Don't think about that. Caramuru, the most important work in the Brazilian literatury canon, was written by Santa Rita Durao- who nearly burned it along with all his other works because of the harsh criticism by his contemporaries . Only Caramuru survived, and only a few decades after his death was both Caramuru and his literary genius acknowledge and appreciated. A more well-known example is Lovecraft, who's mastery of cosmic horror was not acknowledged and appreciated until decades after his death.
I'm not saying you're gonna be like these people- but if you wanna fighting chance at a legacy, these companies and their schemes aren't the answer. You're gonna be remembered by the blood and tears you've spilt over your works, which like invisible ink, won't show until much later. devote yourself to this madness. You owe it to yourself to write something that'll live long after you've gone.
I never thought this would happen again. I was at first excited when
-they can terminate your grant of right (which dictates who owns the intellectual property i.e, your book series) EMP can terminate that at any time but you can't. You leave when they say so.
-within this term of agreement which you cant get out of unless they say so, they can essentially copy paste your work anywhere else but you cant.
-they also have a perpetual claim to your work- when your contract ends, you must offer to sell your work to the company
-after you've signed with them and they've rightfully fuck you over, you're not allowed to tell anyone about it.
Read into more detail about it here.
I can understand the temptation to give in to something that promises recognition, money, notoriety, and a wider viewership- but at the end of the day, we all just want to be read and appreciated as writers. we as writers should really be thinking less about reads and likes, because a preoccupation with these analytics is how these scuzzball companies lure us in to these bad deals in the first place. We should all be more occupied on having fun while writing and improving the quality of our work. It doesn't matter if people think you're shit now, you can always improve. And sometimes, even if you've improved as much as you think you can, you often find yourself ignored, unsupported, unknown, and obscure. Don't think about that. Caramuru, the most important work in the Brazilian literatury canon, was written by Santa Rita Durao- who nearly burned it along with all his other works because of the harsh criticism by his contemporaries . Only Caramuru survived, and only a few decades after his death was both Caramuru and his literary genius acknowledge and appreciated. A more well-known example is Lovecraft, who's mastery of cosmic horror was not acknowledged and appreciated until decades after his death.
I'm not saying you're gonna be like these people- but if you wanna fighting chance at a legacy, these companies and their schemes aren't the answer. You're gonna be remembered by the blood and tears you've spilt over your works, which like invisible ink, won't show until much later. devote yourself to this madness. You owe it to yourself to write something that'll live long after you've gone.