This should be a given, but I cannot count the number of times people post projects, and they do not know what they want. There are the standard people, who post a job for a proofreader when they really want a developmental editor, but generally that kind of mistake won't get you in too much trouble.
I am talking about the people who post jobs on Guru for a "book agent to market my book" or a "script agent to market my script." These people clearly have no clue what an agent is or how to find one. This really upsets me to the point of wasting a bid to explain to these people what an agent is. As I have stated on this blog in previous posts, you do not pay for an agent an upfront fee. Real agents all work on commission. In addition to that commission, you might have to pay a very minimal fee for copying your manuscript (think along the lines of what it would cost to go to Office Depot or Staples and get a copy). Since Guru specifically states that commission only jobs are against its terms of service, that right there would tell anyone looking for a real agent that Guru is not the place to find one.
Still, these people post their "projects," and there are plenty of people working on Guru who are willing to take advantage of this based on the number of quotes they get. I know that Googling "Agent" will turn up a plethora of results from websites promising to help you get one or from non-reputable agents who want you to use them for a small up-front fee--but again, these are scams. Real literary agents have thousands of people sending them their queries each year, they do not need to send advertisements or sales e-mails to people. They do not need to work through Guru or any other freelancing website because they already have plenty of work.
There should be books about literary agents in your library that better explain what an agent does. The Writer's Market usually has a section devoted to them, as well. You should not simply embark on finding someone to be your agent until you know exactly what an agent is and how to find a real one. There are plenty of people out there willing to take your money and do nothing. If you have money you want to give away, I have a pay pal link up at the top for donations. :) But like other reputable teachers, I would rather give you advice on how to make money than try to scam you out of the money you have.
Friday, November 15, 2019
Monday, October 28, 2019
SafePay --the Safest Way to Protect Yourself From Job Scammers
I have spoken before about the need for freelancers to be careful when applying for jobs. This is especially true when a HR person states they must contact you through Google Hangouts. This blogger actually documented the process these scams take.
Still, even the most knowledgeable and wary freelancer can succumb to a scam or even lose money because an employer does not pay him or her. As of yet, I have not been "scammed" but I have lost money from non-payment. This is why I am a strong advocate of methods of pre-payment like Guru's SafePay. The employer is required to verify their bank and deposit funds with Guru before you begin working. When the job is finished, you get your money from Guru. That said: If you are hiring a freelancer and you need a job done ASAP, make sure your accounts are set up and verified so you can immediately transfer funds into the escrow.
It took me two times before I made SafePay a mandatory part of my contract. In the first case, I had written a book with an employer and they hired me to write a second one. I had no problems getting payment for the first book, so I did not require an upfront deposit for the second one. In addition, I had done my research, and this was a valid company. I turned in the product, and the person who hired me said they would send it off to review and get back with me for any changes I needed to make (just like the first book). Two weeks passed, and I had heard nothing. However, some employers are like that. I waited a full month (which was the "up to" amount of time I had been told, even though it had only taken two weeks the first time). By the time I contacted the company, I discovered (1) The person who hired me was no longer with them (2) No one knew anything about the manuscript I had submitted to her and (3) that meant I wasn't getting paid. This showed me that even a legitimate company may not pay you for your work, and you really don't have any recourse since the person who signed your contract was no longer with them.
The second one was a Christian publishing company. Yes, I know, my grandma would be like "any business can SAY they are Christian." I had been dealing with them off and on over small projects for a couple months. They were based in the Caribbean and had sent me $25 projects. Then, I was told I needed to write an entire book based off a person's live sermons in one week. This was a huge (expensive) project, but they were willing to pay. Of course, I had to start immediately to complete it. Then, I was supposed to contact the minister. The minister was not a nice guy. I would explain how the book needed to be done and what I had done with the chapter, and he wanted me to make all these changes--which took a lot of time. I was writing the book for him, but he wasn't my boss. The guy who hired me then told me to stop talking with him and just finish the book. He believed the minister was trying to deliberately hold things up. So, I did. I finished, and, I never got paid. The guy who hired me kept telling me that he was having trouble transferring the money to Guru. Sigh. In my mind, it is easier if I just believe the minister never paid them for the work and that is why I never got my check. But, that was the end. Everything must go through SafePay now, no matter how many times I have worked with an employer.
I know UpWork offers a similar payment protection escrow. That is why they are the only other online freelancing website that I recommend. Working with a payment protection is the only way to prevent scams, too. When you tell a scammer that you are not going to give them your bank account, but they can send the check or direct deposit to Guru, you will get resistance. You might cringe at the paying Guru or UpWork a commission on everything you earn, but if they save you from being scammed, it is worth every penny.
Still, even the most knowledgeable and wary freelancer can succumb to a scam or even lose money because an employer does not pay him or her. As of yet, I have not been "scammed" but I have lost money from non-payment. This is why I am a strong advocate of methods of pre-payment like Guru's SafePay. The employer is required to verify their bank and deposit funds with Guru before you begin working. When the job is finished, you get your money from Guru. That said: If you are hiring a freelancer and you need a job done ASAP, make sure your accounts are set up and verified so you can immediately transfer funds into the escrow.
It took me two times before I made SafePay a mandatory part of my contract. In the first case, I had written a book with an employer and they hired me to write a second one. I had no problems getting payment for the first book, so I did not require an upfront deposit for the second one. In addition, I had done my research, and this was a valid company. I turned in the product, and the person who hired me said they would send it off to review and get back with me for any changes I needed to make (just like the first book). Two weeks passed, and I had heard nothing. However, some employers are like that. I waited a full month (which was the "up to" amount of time I had been told, even though it had only taken two weeks the first time). By the time I contacted the company, I discovered (1) The person who hired me was no longer with them (2) No one knew anything about the manuscript I had submitted to her and (3) that meant I wasn't getting paid. This showed me that even a legitimate company may not pay you for your work, and you really don't have any recourse since the person who signed your contract was no longer with them.
The second one was a Christian publishing company. Yes, I know, my grandma would be like "any business can SAY they are Christian." I had been dealing with them off and on over small projects for a couple months. They were based in the Caribbean and had sent me $25 projects. Then, I was told I needed to write an entire book based off a person's live sermons in one week. This was a huge (expensive) project, but they were willing to pay. Of course, I had to start immediately to complete it. Then, I was supposed to contact the minister. The minister was not a nice guy. I would explain how the book needed to be done and what I had done with the chapter, and he wanted me to make all these changes--which took a lot of time. I was writing the book for him, but he wasn't my boss. The guy who hired me then told me to stop talking with him and just finish the book. He believed the minister was trying to deliberately hold things up. So, I did. I finished, and, I never got paid. The guy who hired me kept telling me that he was having trouble transferring the money to Guru. Sigh. In my mind, it is easier if I just believe the minister never paid them for the work and that is why I never got my check. But, that was the end. Everything must go through SafePay now, no matter how many times I have worked with an employer.
I know UpWork offers a similar payment protection escrow. That is why they are the only other online freelancing website that I recommend. Working with a payment protection is the only way to prevent scams, too. When you tell a scammer that you are not going to give them your bank account, but they can send the check or direct deposit to Guru, you will get resistance. You might cringe at the paying Guru or UpWork a commission on everything you earn, but if they save you from being scammed, it is worth every penny.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Book Reviews on Goodreads: Part II
The least effective and worst method I tried for getting reviews through Goodreads was the general reading review groups. There are some review groups sorted by genre, I am not talking about those. Those actually got me the best number of reviews that had the best quality.
In the General review group, you don't have any say in what genre or book you are going to be reviewing. This is a tragedy.
A review group already has a few marks against it because you are meeting with other desperate authors--it stinks to give a poor review but not everyone is an author and even authors need good editors (or at least good beta readers) in order to write well. A good author will be constantly reading books in the genre in which they write--I met indie writers who did not read--at all. You have no way of knowing whether the person you review is a good author or not. This means you may get a book that doesn't even make sense, and you must review it, which puts you in the uncomfortable position of how to be honest in a kind way.
Many people would not have a problem letting someone know that there are problems with their books. However, these same people who do not know how to write may be leaving a review for your work--and they think their books are great. Let me put it more bluntly: would you want a doctor working on you if he had never gone to medical school, never studied under another physician, and never read any medical literature? I am not trying to discourage anyone from writing, but if you want to write, you must read. If you don't want to (or can't afford) college, you must surround yourself with college educated editors who will give you constructive feedback. And finally, you must be prepared to accept that feedback. Some people in the review group will not accept feedback gracefully and some people in the review group might not be able to tell what a good book is like. But if you know nothing about books, you should not be reviewing an indie book. This hurts the indie writers who do know what they are doing and who may have even put money into the book by paying editors or proofreaders.
These are general problems with any review groups. When you join a general review group, the problems are compounded. In a general review group, you may have one person who reads and writes non-fiction dog books, one person who writes erotica, a children's book writer, and one person who writes epic science fiction. A person who has submitted a 20 page children's book for review will not want to read a 1200 page epic sci-fi novel. So, once he finds out the book they must review is 1200 pages long, he already hates it without even turning to the first page.
Now, say the dog person gets the erotica. The dog person signed up for the group knowing full well that he might get erotica because it is a general group, but now that he must actually read it he has decided it goes against his religious sensibilities. But the dog person will get disciplinary action if he doesn't write a review. He made it to page 4 before becoming completely disgusted, so that is what the review will be based on (the first four pages) as well as his dislike of the genre.
On the other hand, the lady who wrote the sci-fi tome gets the dog book. The lady thinks dogs are cute and fluffy, but by page 40 she begins to wonder how anyone could write more than 10 pages about dogs little less read about them. She perseveres and finishes the book and gives it 4 out of 5 stars because she gets that some people might like it. Her written review ends up being: "This was a great book about dogs. I highly recommend it." Not necessarily the kind of review that is going to get much notice.
Finally, the guy who writes erotica gets the children's book to review. He doesn't have kids. He doesn't even remember ever reading a children's book except maybe "The Cat in the Hat." He doesn't care because the book is only 20 pages long- it will be a breeze to run through. But it doesn't rhyme. Since he only has one other kids book to compare to, he begins a three paragraph critique on how this book is not a good children's book because it doesn't rhyme. He says nothing about the plot, nothing about how children responded to it (ideally all children's books should be read to children and their reactions judged before giving a review), and absolutely nothing about the adorable pictures that the author paid thousands of dollars to get so it would have a professional look.
Some review groups will have people who skimp out on their job. That means after reading someone's 1200 page tome and writing a review just so your 20 page children's book will get one, you might not get any review at all. I did not have this problem, but it has become such a problem recently that some groups are asking for alternate reviewers--people who like to review books but don't necessarily have one of their own to submit. I did, however, get several reviews that were in the above categories--didn't know anything about the subject so couldn't really tell if it was a good book or not, didn't read the whole book, wasn't familiar with the genre and therefore had no clue that the things they were complaining about in their review were standard for it, and were just angry they had to read your book when theirs wasn't that long. For me, the general review group was completely useless.
In the General review group, you don't have any say in what genre or book you are going to be reviewing. This is a tragedy.
A review group already has a few marks against it because you are meeting with other desperate authors--it stinks to give a poor review but not everyone is an author and even authors need good editors (or at least good beta readers) in order to write well. A good author will be constantly reading books in the genre in which they write--I met indie writers who did not read--at all. You have no way of knowing whether the person you review is a good author or not. This means you may get a book that doesn't even make sense, and you must review it, which puts you in the uncomfortable position of how to be honest in a kind way.
Many people would not have a problem letting someone know that there are problems with their books. However, these same people who do not know how to write may be leaving a review for your work--and they think their books are great. Let me put it more bluntly: would you want a doctor working on you if he had never gone to medical school, never studied under another physician, and never read any medical literature? I am not trying to discourage anyone from writing, but if you want to write, you must read. If you don't want to (or can't afford) college, you must surround yourself with college educated editors who will give you constructive feedback. And finally, you must be prepared to accept that feedback. Some people in the review group will not accept feedback gracefully and some people in the review group might not be able to tell what a good book is like. But if you know nothing about books, you should not be reviewing an indie book. This hurts the indie writers who do know what they are doing and who may have even put money into the book by paying editors or proofreaders.
These are general problems with any review groups. When you join a general review group, the problems are compounded. In a general review group, you may have one person who reads and writes non-fiction dog books, one person who writes erotica, a children's book writer, and one person who writes epic science fiction. A person who has submitted a 20 page children's book for review will not want to read a 1200 page epic sci-fi novel. So, once he finds out the book they must review is 1200 pages long, he already hates it without even turning to the first page.
Now, say the dog person gets the erotica. The dog person signed up for the group knowing full well that he might get erotica because it is a general group, but now that he must actually read it he has decided it goes against his religious sensibilities. But the dog person will get disciplinary action if he doesn't write a review. He made it to page 4 before becoming completely disgusted, so that is what the review will be based on (the first four pages) as well as his dislike of the genre.
On the other hand, the lady who wrote the sci-fi tome gets the dog book. The lady thinks dogs are cute and fluffy, but by page 40 she begins to wonder how anyone could write more than 10 pages about dogs little less read about them. She perseveres and finishes the book and gives it 4 out of 5 stars because she gets that some people might like it. Her written review ends up being: "This was a great book about dogs. I highly recommend it." Not necessarily the kind of review that is going to get much notice.
Finally, the guy who writes erotica gets the children's book to review. He doesn't have kids. He doesn't even remember ever reading a children's book except maybe "The Cat in the Hat." He doesn't care because the book is only 20 pages long- it will be a breeze to run through. But it doesn't rhyme. Since he only has one other kids book to compare to, he begins a three paragraph critique on how this book is not a good children's book because it doesn't rhyme. He says nothing about the plot, nothing about how children responded to it (ideally all children's books should be read to children and their reactions judged before giving a review), and absolutely nothing about the adorable pictures that the author paid thousands of dollars to get so it would have a professional look.
Some review groups will have people who skimp out on their job. That means after reading someone's 1200 page tome and writing a review just so your 20 page children's book will get one, you might not get any review at all. I did not have this problem, but it has become such a problem recently that some groups are asking for alternate reviewers--people who like to review books but don't necessarily have one of their own to submit. I did, however, get several reviews that were in the above categories--didn't know anything about the subject so couldn't really tell if it was a good book or not, didn't read the whole book, wasn't familiar with the genre and therefore had no clue that the things they were complaining about in their review were standard for it, and were just angry they had to read your book when theirs wasn't that long. For me, the general review group was completely useless.
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