Author SolutionsSeriously, I’ve thought Author Solutions was pretty bad, horrible and no good. But the latest article by David Gaughran makes it clear that they are even worse than I’d thought.

For those of you who may have been either under a rock or hiking in the Himalayas (do they have cell signal there now?) for the past few years, Author Solutions is a scammy operation offering way overpriced “self-publishing services”  to inexperienced authors. And probably to some experienced ones as well since they often do a good job of hiding their relationship with otherwise respectable companies, like Nook Press.

Here’s the part of Gaughran’s article that was so unsettling I wish I hadn’t been reading it during breakfast this morning:

If the depositions are anything to go by, it seems that Author Solutions’ defense is going to be that these marketing services aren’t designed to increase book sales, so they never checked whether they actually have that effect.

Seriously? They offered marketing services not designed to increase book sales? Umm, then what is marketing?

He has developed several sources, one from within Penguin Random House, and others who are ex-Author Solutions employees, and the information is appalling. From what their telemarketer quotas are to some details of employees and their job duties. You have to love the fact that one person is responsible for calculating royalties and payments for the more than 225,000 books “published” by Author Solutions and their partners.

It’s truly a horrifying picture, and there’s plenty more I haven’t covered here. Just go read the article, but perhaps not while you’re eating.

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