Everyone Wants to Publish My Book (And I Don't Trust Any of Them)

The moment I started looking for a publisher, the entire internet found out.

I don't know how it works exactly but I have theories. You search for something once, you mention it somewhere, you fill out one form — and suddenly your inbox is full of people who are very excited about your manuscript and would love to help you get it out into the world. For a fee. Or with access to your accounts. Or if you'd just send them the first three chapters digitally, which, no.

I want to be clear: I have been skeptical my entire life. It is one of my better qualities. And then I turned 60 and apparently the entire internet decided that people over 60 are just walking around with their wallets open waiting for someone to text them. The volume of things I am supposed to fall for on a daily basis is genuinely impressive. I do not fall for them. But I notice them.

So when I was actually trying to find something real — a legitimate publisher, a legitimate opportunity — I had no idea how to tell the difference. Everything looked a little suspicious. Everyone wanted something. The ones that wanted any part of my actual manuscript sent to them digitally were an immediate no. That felt wrong and it still feels wrong and I stand by that instinct.

What I eventually found was a hybrid arrangement with a real contract — one with an expiration date, clear terms, and nobody saw more than a piece of my world before I'd read every word of that agreement. That matters. A legitimate publisher doesn't need your manuscript before you've signed anything. They don't need your bank details before they've delivered anything. And they operate on defined terms, not open-ended arrangements that benefit only them.

Here's what I've figured out, imperfectly and still not entirely confidently: money should flow toward the author, not away from them. If someone is asking you to pay before they've done anything, that's worth a very long pause. If they're promising things that sound too large and too easy, that's worth a very long pause. If your gut says something is off, your gut has probably been right about things before.

I still don't know if I've made all the right calls. The publishing world is genuinely confusing and not everyone who reaches out is a scammer — some of them are just overly enthusiastic and bad at email. But I'd rather be the person who asked too many questions than the one who sent her manuscript to a stranger because they seemed nice.

The skepticism is staying. It has served me well for six decades and I see no reason to retire it now. 🐉