My Cautionary Tale in Book Publishing

By Vanessa Keel

You write your first manuscript. Obviously, it’s crap! You realize you need to take your skills to the next level for a chance to beat the odds in this business. You invest in courses. You rewrite. You critique and get critiqued. You attend conferences. You learn about the business. You edit. You rewrite. You build your website and social media following. You join societies and writer’s groups. You rewrite. Finally, your manuscript is ready. You pour your heart and soul into submissions for a chance to stand out…tossing your line out just hoping and praying someone out there will love your work enough to bite. But what you don’t realize, is how many sharks are in the water!

In 2017, I wrote Boomer At Your Service. I was fortunate enough to win a writer’s contest through a popular and very useful online writing course. An editor liked my story enough to offer me a contract. I was on cloud nine! The feeling you get when you realize your thoughts and words will be brought to life in a children’s book for all to love is immeasurable. I couldn’t wait to get started. While I waited for my contract, I attended a SCBWI-NJ conference and during one of my critique sessions with a well-known agent in the business, she warned me about the “publisher.” She said, “Be careful. I’ve heard some shady things about that publisher.” I should have listened that very day. Why didn’t I?

I don’t think I valued myself enough. This is my first piece of advice. Believe in yourself and know your worth. I moved forward with the contract because I felt like I needed to get my foot in the door and pay my dues. It didn’t matter if I wasn’t getting an advance, I thought. My goal for the book was not to make a ton of money. (A laughable thought now, after a few years in the biz.) I just wanted to get my first book published because I thought maybe it would be easier to stand out in future submissions if I could point to an already-published piece of work. The agent I mentioned earlier, in that same meeting, also told me to be careful about who I work with because if my book sales are dismal, then that could be frowned upon when I submit my next manuscript. My second piece of advice is to listen to the well-respected veterans in the industry.

I should mention the “publisher” I am speaking of in this article is not a vanity press. She describes herself as a small traditional publisher and is listed as a PAL member through SCBWI. She works with over 100 authors and illustrators in our community. After the contract was signed and an illustrator hired, we got to work. “WE”, as in ME and the ILLUSTRATOR, who I must say is an absolute powerhouse creator who brought every ounce of my vision to life. I thank god for her every day. She is so incredibly talented and her illustrations of Boomer and all the visuals in the book are stunning. It was a key element to its success. She and I built a great rapport over the fact that we were now in charge of our own editing and art direction. Our editor was on a long vacation! We could not believe how unprofessional the whole process came to be. But, I just kept thinking, it’s ok because it’s my first book. The struggle will pay off, right? I should just feel lucky that someone believes in me, right? In a way, it was nice to have that much control in the creative process but I am fortunate to have the background to have been able to do it successfully. It’s not fair for those who would just be completely lost. I didn’t complain and we powered through. My third piece of advice is to listen to your gut. If you feel like the publisher is unprofessional, get out quick!

The book launched with the promise of marketing plans and support. Of course, the "publisher" didn’t do anything she said she would. I had to submit and pay for all my own industry reviews. Again, lucky for me, my background is in marketing and promotion, so I put my head down and worked my not-so-little fanny off, to market and sell my book. I knew the majority of this was going to fall on me. That wasn’t a surprise. What I didn’t realize was how short she would fall on her promises of support. I didn’t realize her print-on-demand business model would deter bookstores from actually buying books from Ingram because of the wholesale price discount not being deep enough. My fourth piece of advice is to run from any publisher with a print-on-demand model. You might as well self-publish your book at that point.

Not much time passed before I received the one and only “Best Seller” tag on her website. This was due to MY efforts and MY own money which I put into marketing the book. As well as the illustrator’s efforts too, of course. Paying my dues, right? Surely, with the “Best Seller” tag highlighted generously on her website, I was in for a nice royalty check. Does $43 sound good to you? I just spent $10,000 on all my marketing efforts so that was a big blow and pure disappointment. After a couple of incorrectly-reported royalty statements and having to chase after my royalty checks time and again, I started realizing what a sham the "publisher" really was. Other authors in this “publisher’s” scope started talking - that’s the beauty of social media. We were all connected and could uncover the consistent flaws in her business practices. Her explanations placed the blame on Ingram for incorrect reporting issues. That could make sense, one would think. But then, the numbers would at least match between my royalty statements and my illustrator’s statements. And, of course, they did not! You can start to formulate your own hypothesis at this point as to what was truly going on behind the scenes.

With a lack in any real distribution, any luck I had for sales which I could at least control, would come from events and school visits. So, I hit the pavement and booked my events. They were awesome and I felt reinvigorated by the children’s joy and love for my story. But then, Covid. UGH! All of my plans stalled, I had a baby, and before I knew it a couple of years passed. When I could start events again, I tried to order books from the “publisher”. But they never arrived on time for my events, which then made ME look unprofessional. This was happening to many of the other authors, as well. Where were our checks going??? We were paying for the books to be printed for our events but weren’t getting the books. I stopped chasing after my royalties because the effort wasn’t worth $26. I decided to just cut my losses. The entire experience just left me with a bitterness for the industry. And here’s the worst part, the deceit is still going on!

I decided I had to keep things status-quo because when I planned to submit to editors and agents, I could at least point to my previously published work. After all, that was the whole point of going through all of it. My fifth piece of advice is to know when to cut your losses and just move on. I decided to focus my efforts on my next projects. Having a wonderful critique group and support system in the industry is a good way to keep you motivated. But the injustice and thought that this person could make money off of my hard work started becoming a feeling I could no longer ignore.

She decided to launch a new website. It has been a “work-in-progress” for 2.5 years. In the meantime, there has not been a place for authors to direct consumers to buy their books because she also came up with a story about how she had to change her distributor and printer, at the same time her business website was completely broken. Authors are being misled and told their books are being worked on and will be live again in a month or two. Have I mentioned this has been going on for 2.5 years! Authors keep asking who the new distributor will be and answers never come. There have been “meetings” with absolutely no accountability taken for her mismanagement and the authors are just being talked around in circles. Her southern drawl can be hypnotizing. I too have been duped. But, I finally broke out from under the spell and requested the rights back to my book early last year. She was in breach of contract and she knew it.

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Up to this point, I was always respectful and kind. There is a lot I can’t even mention in this article but the authors who are in her stratosphere know what I am talking about. You can’t stand up for yourself and what should be a professional way of conducting business because of the personal stories posted via social media by the “publisher”. It has become a pattern of behavior that could only be described as a syncronized rhythm of perfectly timed movements. Dun, dun…dun, dun. (Enter Jaws music here.) My sixth piece of advice is open your eyes and see what it right in front of you. This is a business. Lawyer up.

I mentioned I have been kind and respectful and never spoke out of turn until now. It was brought to my attention last night that she was selling my book on her website. This is months after I received my rights back. Her explanation? “An oversight.” Absolutely not, ma’am. One would have to post an image of me as an author, my book image, book blurb, price, hit post, etc. That's one massive oversight. (She has removed my book from her website since the time this article was written.)

So, here I am, with this amazing book that children adore. A lead character that is so precious and relatable who teaches many aspects of SEL. A completed book with the highest quality illustrations from a real creator, not AI. The book has rave reviews from both readers and professionals in the industry. I have my rights back and all the source files because of my relationship with its illustrator. But will any REAL publisher ever publish it again? Probably not because someone already sunk their teeth into it. If anyone has any advice to offer here, I welcome it, please.

There are many reasons why I haven’t spoken out publicly in the past. It’s the reason why so many can’t speak up. This is my cautionary tale, but like I mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are many sharks in this business. None of us want to be mauled or worse, drown our own professional careers. I have been afraid to speak out because I don’t want to be ostracized. But even more than that, I’ve made many author friends and I don’t want my personal story to hurt their hard work. So many are still under her spell and trust this person. We became trapped and that’s why it is a sin. And that’s why I am speaking up. If this can be prevented for others in the future, then it's worth it. My last piece of advice is a warning to all the newbie authors. Be careful and don’t swim in deep waters in the dark.

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Thank you to the SCBWI team for hearing everyone’s accounts about this publisher and for acting so swiftly. The publisher umbrella company and all its imprints have been removed from the PAL list as of February 4, 2025. This is a huge win! Thank you to all of you for speaking up. We were finally heard.