IUniverse | Vanity Press
I got an email today from IUniverse, an ‘assisted self-publishing platform’. Keep in mind I have never signed up with them and yet they were asking me if I was still going to publish my book and that I should sign up for their discounted rates right now, even if I don’t plan to publish anytime soon.
I just want to say, since they seem to be a big company making a lot of money, that they are a vanity press. They are a scam. I know their website looks pretty and they have a twitter and a youtube and a facebook and the works but they will charge you thousands of dollars for their ‘services’ and then leave you hanging. They have already made their money, they do not care if your book sells.
Their website is full of red flags, and if you google their name some of the first page results are people sharing their horrible experiences with them.
So, a couple reminders:
If a company contacts you first when you’ve never signed up for them and they have no reason to have heard of you, they’re a scam.
If they are charging you a lot of money to publish a book, they are a scam. (If you are self-publishing then yes, there are certain things you should pay a professional to help you do, such as editing and cover art, but PLEASE research any person/company you don’t know).
This might seem like common knowledge to some of us, but they still manage to rope in thousands of people with false promises and carefully misleading marketing. So be careful.