July 16, 2025 • 28 mins
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Tiffany A. Greenhood exposes the predatory practices of vanity publishing companies and shares how Black authors can avoid contract traps that steal their profits and ownership rights.
• Vanity publishers like AuthorHouse and Exlibris offer publishing packages from $500-$15,000 that provide minimal value
• These companies take up to 90% of royalties while charging authors triple the printing cost for their own books
• When publishing with vanity companies, authors don't own their ISBN or often even their book cover
• Authors should always read contracts carefully and understand what rights they're signing away
• Self-publishing gives authors complete ownership and control over their intellectual property
• Global distribution means your book is available worldwide, not just on Amazon
• Marketing begins before you finish writing your book, not after publication
• Being a New York Times bestseller only requires selling 6,000 books in the first week
For marketing tips and strategies, download a free ebook at publishwithtiffany.com. Browse the online magazine at publishedinblackmagazine.com and book a discovery call to potentially be featured on the show.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Stay tuned for Published in Black, the go-to
radio show for black authors,creatives and entrepreneurs
ready to turn their stories intosuccess.
Hosted by publishing expert andbrand strategist, Tiffany A
Greenhood, Each show willdeliver real talk, powerful
strategies and insider knowledgeon self-publishing, brand
building, wealth creation andmaking an impact with your voice
(00:22):
.
Whether you're writing yourfirst book, growing your
business or scaling or scalingyour influence, published in
black will equip you with thetools, inspiration and
unapologetic confidence tothrive.
Listen now and be informed hey,happy tuesday.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
This is published in black radio.
I am your host, tiffany AGreenhood.
All right, y'all, we gonna digin today.
Today is gonna be amazing, justlike every show.
If this your first timelistening.
I am Tiffany A Greenhood.
I am the I would call myselfthe self-publishing guru.
Okay, I tell you what to do,what not to do, what you need to
(01:06):
do, what you need to stop doing, and all that when it pertains
to self publishing, your book,building a brand and making a
name for yourself.
Getting to the money I'll showyou how to get to the money.
Okay, so the last two shows weactually talked about digital
products and creating sevenstreams of income.
Okay, so not just.
(01:26):
You know, you've been working anine to five your whole life
and you published a book, andnow you're expecting this book
to just get you straight to themillions.
I'm not saying that it cannot,but there are certain things
that you need to do that youneed to have in place and be
consistent with in order forthat to happen.
So, and start with your mindset.
So we went over all of thattoday.
(01:50):
Today, I want to get back tomistakes that keep black authors
broke.
Okay, mistakes that keep blackauthors broke.
That is what we're going to tapinto today.
Okay, so we're going to talkabout a lot of common things
that I see that I've seen in myexperience of publishing
(02:16):
self-publishing my own books,self-publishing with clients,
and just kind of just seeingacross social media like just
yeah, so I've been full timewith publishing since 2017, but
(02:37):
in the industry and just kind oflike learning so much since 07.
Okay, so it's a lot that I'veseen and I kind of just see this
stuff over and over again.
So we're gonna go over thattoday.
So you know what not to do.
Okay, because I don't want tosee you lose.
I definitely want to see youwin.
All right, so we are going to.
(03:01):
We're gonna start with stopbeing scammed by the vanity
publishing companies Number one.
So, basically, we're going tohone in the contracts, contracts
, contracts.
Everybody wants their book done.
Um, I get it.
I get it.
You want to publish a book.
You got a prophecy that you wasgoing to be an author and all
(03:22):
this stuff.
I've heard it all Okay, but thething is, is that we get so in
tune with adapting to the titleof published author and being
able to say, oh, I published mybook.
I got a book and this and that,that, um, we lose sight of
common sense.
We got to stop that.
Please stop that.
(03:43):
Stop losing sight of commonsense and read.
Number one the best way not toget scammed or caught up in a
contract that you cannot get outof and now you owe this person
all this money is to read.
Read the black and white.
Read the small print for one.
(04:03):
Ok, read the small print.
That's the number one for one.
Okay, read the small print.
That's the number one thingthat will stop you from getting
caught up.
Read Contracts are not thatdifficult.
Now, if you don't understandthe language and they got it so
deep to where you don'tunderstand the language you can
look up those words.
Or if there's someone you knowthat is an attorney or someone
(04:25):
you trust because it does nothave to be an attorney I'm not
an attorney and I know what abad contract look like when it
comes to publishing OK, soconfide in somebody that you
know so that you don't get stuckin these contracts.
Y'all won't believe how manypeople have come to me who have
already published books andstuck in contracts Okay, and
(04:48):
some of them are the way you.
I don't know how you're goingto get out, but most of them you
can get out of them.
Um, when it comes to the vanitypublishing companies, when I
say vanity publishing companies,that means the companies that
pop up.
When you go and Google how toself-publish my book, all of
these companies pop up.
One popular one is AuthorHouseExilibrous.
(05:11):
Authorhouse Exilibrous oh, it'sa lot of them, because a lot of
them are under the sameumbrella.
I dug into this thing some yearsago and saw how it was all set
up.
They all offer publishingpackages ranging from four or
500 bucks up to maybe like15,000.
(05:34):
And when I go down the list ofwhat you get included with those
packages, it's really nothing.
In my eyesight.
It's nothing Because I'mlooking like okay, that ain't
nothing, that ain't nothing,that ain't nothing.
What you really need is youneed to learn the business.
That's why I come on here and Italk about what I talk about in
detail when it comes toself-publishing, because it's
(05:55):
too much that you don't know andtoo much that you need to know.
So you don't get stuck.
So you know how to take thatbook and turn it into them six
figures that you want to make,or millions, or whatever it was
your goal was initially was.
So, when it comes to thecontracts, read the black and
(06:17):
white.
It's simple.
Okay, stop Take your feelingsout of it, because this ain't
about your feelings.
This ain't about how God calledyou.
You got to handle this business.
When it comes to handling thisbusiness, you got to read the
black and white and make sureyou're not signing your name to
something that you don't want.
Ok and so?
Because what vanity publishingcompanies do?
(06:40):
And some independent publishingcompanies like people like me,
you know they had their ownpublishing company and they do
traditional contracts.
I do not do traditionalcontracts for my own personal
reasons.
Okay, but you do have a lot ofindependent publishers out here
who will get you as well, andthey ain't all names that you've
(07:05):
never heard of.
Some of them are names that youknow very well.
Okay, so be careful beingstarstruck when it comes to
signing a publishing contract.
Okay, I'm not gonna say a deal,because a lot of me no deals.
Okay, let's talk about it.
Stop thinking everything is abook deal.
(07:26):
No, it's not.
Some of it is a trap.
So read, educate yourself, okay, and if you truly want to, of
course, I always talk aboutself-publishing because I want
you to kind of like, do thisyourself.
I want you to be able to learnI get it.
Everybody not going to do that,but at least, as you are
choosing someone even if it's me, whoever it is, because it
(07:49):
don't have to be me I just wantyou to get it done, right, ok.
So even when it comes to that,ask questions.
(08:12):
The biggest thing that you wantfrom publishing your book, when
you're going through a companyor signing some type of contract
, is for you to own everything.
So write that down.
Ownership that's the biggestthing is ownership.
Nobody thinks about that whenit comes to publishing.
Most are just geek to justbecome an author.
Oh, congratulations, do thebook, sign and all that, and
then nothing happens.
I've seen it for years.
I've seen it for years, okay,and you have to get past that.
(08:37):
Don't get caught up in thetitle.
And yet you're signing overstuff that you don't wanna.
You know what I'm saying?
I know people now still stuckin contracts and it's been 10
years.
They ain't made no money, theperson didn't give them what
they said they were going togive them in the contract and
(08:57):
they just sit and they don'teven have their own copy of
their own book.
They can't even order their ownbooks.
It's crazy.
It's authors that don't evenknow how to how to go and order
copies of their own books.
And then, when you go throughthese publishing companies,
these vanity companies, they,they're going to charge you
three times what your bookreally costs.
(09:17):
Let's say your book is about200 pages.
Just give you an example yourbook is going to cost you
between three and four dollarsto print.
Your book is going to cost youbetween three and four dollars
to print.
Ok, real talk.
Ok, that's great.
You sell it for 20, 25, 27,.
Whatever your price is, don'tmatter.
You see all that profit onthere, right, but what the
vanity companies do is numberone author house.
(09:39):
Go look them up.
I know what I'm talking about.
Go look them up.
When you go through them, whenyou go through one of their
author agreements, they don'tcall them contracts, they call
them author agreements.
When you go through them andyou sign an author agreement
number one, they're going tohave you choose a package.
Then they're going to have yousign this author agreement.
(10:00):
That's you signing to give them90% of your royalties.
Crazy, crazy, I know.
Right, and on that note.
I'm going to take a quick break.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
And I'm going to tell you the rest when we come back.
I am Lord all by myself.
I don't need any help.
I can handle things on my own.
I am the first and the last.
Whatever you be, just ask, forI am, I am.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
I am God.
I was dead in the beginning andI'll be there when you have to
(11:28):
leave.
I'm all seeing, all knowing Allmy dear, every single thing,
For I am, I am.
I am God.
(11:48):
I'll be glad in the beginning,yeah, and I'll be glad when you
get to me.
I'm all seeing, all knowing allmighty.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Hey, now, I am God, I am God, I am God.
So get this information that mydaughter is dropping.
Okay, am God, I am God, I amGod.
So get this information that mydaughter is dropping, okay.
So, um, like I was saying onceyou um signed that contract,
they are locking you in to take90% of your royalties, which
means you is not even thatyou're going to get that 10%,
because the 10% is going to comeafter they take out all their
(12:42):
fees and all this extra stuff.
It boils down to this and I'veseen this on one of their
websites before If your book isbecause they'll price your book,
look, this is what they do.
They price your ebook at $3.99.
They all do the same thing,same exact system they price
your ebook at $3.99.
They price your paperback at$19.99.
And they price your hardcoverat $29.99.
(13:04):
They all do this, okay, twopopular ones Author House and
Exilibrist.
I know what I'm talking about,okay, and so, once they do that,
if your book there was anexample they had on there if
your book is priced at $15.99,your royalty, after they take
out all the fees, is $3 and somechange $3 and some change $3
(13:27):
and some change.
And I mentioned how they jackyour book up three times what it
really costs.
So, like I said, if your bookis 200 pages, it's not going to
be no more than $5.
It's going to be between maybe$3 and $4, maybe $4, and some
change the printers go up everyyear.
Okay, that's just what.
It is inflation, whatever.
(13:48):
So just get over that.
But again, if you are payinglet's say you paying $4, if you
pay $4 for your book and you'reselling your book for $20,
that's still $16 in there, notto mention shipping or whatever
but don't trip.
And when you ship your bookshipping or whatever, but don't
(14:08):
trip.
And when you ship your book,when you ship your book from the
post office, make sure you tellthem media mail there's a
special rate for media, any kindof media.
If you are shipping music,books, magazines, anything
that's considered media, ask forthe media rate because it's way
less than the regular rate.
Fyi, okay, thank me later.
All right, so this contractthat you signed?
(14:31):
So yeah, they get 90 and you'rekeeping.
Um, really, it turned out to bemaybe like six or seven percent
, which is some garbage.
It's some garbage.
Why take yourself through allof that?
And a lot of people sign withthese companies number one
because they don't know and theyreally think they're getting
some type of deal.
Okay, even now I could postsomething like that on social
(14:53):
media and you will have somebodyin the comments telling me
something oh well, I did my bookwith them and I got a good deal
.
No, you didn't.
Duh, you know what I'm saying.
So you got to know your stuff,stuff, because you will be ding,
ding like them times.
You got a good deal and no, youdid not do.
You know all the money that youknow was taken from you the
three times.
(15:13):
I didn't explain that to you.
So if your book is, your bookis four dollars at 200 pages.
They're not gonna charge youfour dollars and I get it.
It's business.
You gotta know business.
They're going to charge you, um, between 11 and 12 bucks for
(15:34):
your book.
That really cost.
Ask me how?
I know I have had so manyauthors come to me where I end
up republishing the book forthem.
We canceled, canceled thecontract.
There's a specific letter thatyou can um y'all, I ain't know
how to do none of this.
I know now, like I literallywent and found out how to cancel
(15:56):
the contract.
This lady came to me.
She was with Exilibrus, um, herbook was like 70,000 words.
Y'all should have seen thecover was garbage, complete
garbage.
We're gonna talk about thecovers.
I'm gonna try to squeeze in thecovers today as well.
That's very important.
But um canceled the contract.
I wrote the letter, we sent theletter in and basically you,
(16:19):
you send the letter in writingbecause I think it is something
some of them have something intheir contracts where you have
to present in writing to cancel.
So when they, when they meanthat, mean you, you serious, you
about to redo this book becauseit's still your story,
understand that whoever youpublish with your story, never,
never, can convert over to them,unless, unless you were so
(16:42):
ignorant that you signed acontract that said you were
signing everything over to them.
Now, this is why I say it'simportant to read black and
white.
Stop being thirsty and payattention to what you're signing
, because if you signed it away,I don't know how you can turn
that around.
But the contracts, when yousign these contracts, make sure
(17:08):
you're reading.
Okay, um, so we were able tocancel the contract.
That meant that they were goingto take everything down, so all
the book that they had on thething and we want them to do
that.
It was okay Because, understand, when they publish your book,
the ISBN number, the littlebarcode on the back, the barcode
on the back of the book, right,the little barcode that's on
(17:31):
the back of any book, that'ssupposed to be yours when you
self-publish.
But when you go through them,it's not yours, it's theirs.
Okay, it's theirs.
And so when they take the bookdown, they taking everything
down.
So if they got your book, mostof the time they do put your
book in distribution, meaningthat global distribution means
(17:53):
that your book is available.
When you see people advertisetheir books across social media
and they say that the book is,um, available wherever books are
sold, that's what that meansGlobal distribution.
Every book that I publish formy clients, we put it in global
distribution.
I wouldn't have it no other way.
You never, in my opinion, myadvice never just upload your
(18:19):
book to Amazon.
I love Amazon, but that's onlyone platform.
You're limiting yourself whenyou do not access global
distribution.
Global distribution means thateven the bookstores inside the
airport have access to carryyour book, even if it's not
(18:40):
physically in the store.
Y'all still caught up on yourbook being on the shelf.
Stop being caught up with that.
It's nothing wrong with that.
But if your book is not on theshelf but it's on their website
and it's in the system becausethey're all, global distribution
is huge.
That means your book isavailable all over the world,
anywhere books are sold.
That means that there'swebsites that you never heard of
(19:03):
that your book is available on.
Hello somebody, you dig whatI'm saying.
You got to pay attention.
Stop being concerned with thephysical.
You just want it in the storeso you can say, oh, my book in
the store, my book in the store,and yet your mind is not
focused on selling.
What are we doing?
Your mind ain't focused onselling.
You have to be focused on howdo I take this book, learn this,
(19:28):
learn how to sell it.
Okay, and the selling actuallystarts.
We're going to have to do apart two.
The selling actually startsbefore you finish writing a book
.
It starts before you finishwriting a book.
Okay, we're going to take abreak.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
I know you're praying for a change To see a sunny day
.
Nothing good has come your wayfor so long.
You need someone to understand.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Yeah, yeah, that's what we want you to do yes, but
know your breakthrough's not faraway.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
So hold on.
Please don't let go in thisseason.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Know that thou is no way way far.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
You just hold on.
Come on, Monica.
Sometimes we forget that heholds us in his hands, but I'm
reminding you.
Don't give up.
Sometimes your skies may seemdark and gray.
We all have days like that.
Just know your breakthrough'snot far away.
(21:24):
Just know your breakthrough'snot far away.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Hey, hold on, hold on , hold on because I got some
more information for you.
Okay, I'm trying to help youchange your life, change your
situation, especially yourfinancial situation.
Okay, so, once they I don'tremember where we left off, but
once they, once we cancel thecontract, they're going to take
(21:49):
it down.
Remember the ISBN andeverything that's in there, like
even if they did your cover foryou or they use the picture or
something, like they, they claimall that.
So they, like you ain't takingnothing with you.
The only thing you taking withyou is your story.
So hopefully you have a copy ofthe.
I think we actually were ableto find something because, again
, her book was like 70,000 words.
(22:11):
That's a lot, um, and they hadpacked it in so heavy and then
gave her a little wet cover.
The cover was black with a babyon it and it said something.
I don't even remember what theoriginal thing, um, the title
was, but it was just sad.
So, um, in order for me torepublish it, put her in um back
(22:34):
in global distribution.
Now what we were doing wastaking it out of everything, out
of their name, and republishingthe entire book.
That's what happens when yousign bad contracts you need to
republish that entire book.
It can be the same book, samename and all that.
But when you republish withyour own cover meaning you go
pay a graphic designer orwhatever and you purchase your
(22:55):
own ISBNs Okay, we talked aboutthat a few weeks ago to ISBNs
and trademarks and copyrightsand all that, um, you're still
the owner, the copyright owner,of your um book, your manuscript
, your story.
But they say, uh-uh, we didthis cover for you, we keeping
that, we did this, um this, we,we put this ISBN on here, on
(23:20):
it's uh, that's ours.
It's cool because you get withsomebody who know how to go and
purchase help.
You purchase your own ISBNnumber so that it's in your name
, your company name, yourimprint, whatever you want to
call it, and then, um, yourcover as well.
So then now we can learn how tosell the book, now that we
(23:43):
completely own it, now we cansell it.
We don't have no, have nolimitations.
Okay, because there's severalother things you could do with
your book.
You can turn your book into, um, a film, a documentary movie,
whatever.
You don't gotta sit and waitfor someone to say, okay, it's
good enough.
I have a problem with that.
I don't believe in that.
I mean, it's cool if you knowyour opportunities and things,
(24:07):
but you got to make sure that itworks for you.
We ain't just signing up fornothing, just like these.
These little contract, thesebad guys have people getting
this stuff because they jump at,oh, we'll pay for everything,
not knowing that the behind thescenes reason why they want to
pay for everything is becauseeverything gonna be under them,
(24:28):
not you.
So, um, I've had clients whopublished books five years ago
and and messaged me to my um,how can I order my books, like
what?
You don't even know how toorder your book.
You don't know how to order,and it wasn't the night that I
did not teach that.
I coach very strategically,very detailed.
But again, if your mindset islike, oh, I'm about to be an
(24:56):
author, oh, I want to be onOprah, it's still people walking
around.
Some of them want to be onOprah.
She don't even have a show, nomore.
Like what?
What are we doing?
Like what?
What are we doing?
So you got to get to the pointto where you are focused on
learning the business how totake your story, your message,
because you should not befocused on the book.
That is why so many peoplesuffer.
(25:19):
When it comes to you, you justhear oh, ain't nobody behind
books?
Ain't nobody behind books?
And across social media you seethem posting their book over
and over again.
They just want you to click andbuy their book.
They do that stuff to me.
I'm not buying your book, no,stop.
I tell them now, stop doing it.
I'm not buying your book.
Um, your book is not for me.
You know now, if you want tolearn how to stop doing this,
(25:44):
you can join my email list.
You dig.
So it's so many things.
We are going to do a part two onthis, because I need for people
to get this.
Self-publishing is a lot ofresponsibility, but I will
always say that it's worth it.
Okay, celebrities who alreadyhave an audience and fan base
(26:07):
don't need to sign a book dealwith these big publishing
companies and they do.
And let me tell you, they don'tmake no money.
Y'all think they make a lot ofmoney from these books.
They do not.
No.
All you need to be a New YorkTimes bestseller is to sell
6,000 books in the first week.
That's it.
It ain't none deep.
You know what I'm saying.
So I think we need to stop thisoverall show would say stop
(26:31):
being so um inspired by titlesand learn the ins and outs of
the business so that you can ownand profit and increase.
That's the only way you'regoing to do that, okay.
So we'll do a part two nextweek.
Be sure to go to um.
Publish with tiffanycom.
(26:51):
Join my email list.
There is a free ebook on thereyou can download for um
marketing.
It gives you marketing tips,different marketing strategies.
So I give that free to authorswho are maybe stuck in you know
not sure how to market theirbook.
So you can download that ebookat publishwithtiffanycom.
(27:15):
You want to go topublishedandblackmagazinecom and
check out my online and printmagazine.
You do have the opportunity toget featured in the magazine.
I offer that.
I also offer in studio or liveradio interviews.
(27:36):
If you like to be hosted on myshow, you can contact me at.
If you go topublishwithtiffanycom book a
discovery call.
If you go topublishwithtiffanycom book a
discovery call, okay, and thenyou can possibly be featured.
I am all about theself-published author, okay, and
learning the business.
So I hope today, blessed, youGo to publishwithtiffanycom.
(28:01):
Join the email list so you canstay in tune with any and
everything I have going on Allright and, with that being said,
be blessed.
Join the email list so you canstay in tune with any and
everything.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
I have going on All right and, with that being said,
be blessed you have beenlistening to, published in Black
with publishing expert andbrand strategist, tiffany A
Greenhood.
Listen next week for real talk,powerful strategies and much
more.
Again, we thank you forlistening.
Stay tuned for Published in Black, the go-to
radio show for black authors,creatives and entrepreneurs
ready to turn their stories intosuccess.
Hosted by publishing expert andbrand strategist, Tiffany A
Greenhood, Each show willdeliver real talk, powerful
strategies and insider knowledgeon self-publishing, brand
building, wealth creation andmaking an impact with your voice
(00:22):
.
Whether you're writing yourfirst book, growing your
business or scaling or scalingyour influence, published in
black will equip you with thetools, inspiration and
unapologetic confidence tothrive.
Listen now and be informed hey,happy tuesday.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
This is published in black radio.
I am your host, tiffany AGreenhood.
All right, y'all, we gonna digin today.
Today is gonna be amazing, justlike every show.
If this your first timelistening.
I am Tiffany A Greenhood.
I am the I would call myselfthe self-publishing guru.
Okay, I tell you what to do,what not to do, what you need to
(01:06):
do, what you need to stop doing, and all that when it pertains
to self publishing, your book,building a brand and making a
name for yourself.
Getting to the money I'll showyou how to get to the money.
Okay, so the last two shows weactually talked about digital
products and creating sevenstreams of income.
Okay, so not just.
(01:26):
You know, you've been working anine to five your whole life
and you published a book, andnow you're expecting this book
to just get you straight to themillions.
I'm not saying that it cannot,but there are certain things
that you need to do that youneed to have in place and be
consistent with in order forthat to happen.
So, and start with your mindset.
So we went over all of thattoday.
(01:50):
Today, I want to get back tomistakes that keep black authors
broke.
Okay, mistakes that keep blackauthors broke.
That is what we're going to tapinto today.
Okay, so we're going to talkabout a lot of common things
that I see that I've seen in myexperience of publishing
(02:16):
self-publishing my own books,self-publishing with clients,
and just kind of just seeingacross social media like just
yeah, so I've been full timewith publishing since 2017, but
(02:37):
in the industry and just kind oflike learning so much since 07.
Okay, so it's a lot that I'veseen and I kind of just see this
stuff over and over again.
So we're gonna go over thattoday.
So you know what not to do.
Okay, because I don't want tosee you lose.
I definitely want to see youwin.
All right, so we are going to.
(03:01):
We're gonna start with stopbeing scammed by the vanity
publishing companies Number one.
So, basically, we're going tohone in the contracts, contracts
, contracts.
Everybody wants their book done.
Um, I get it.
I get it.
You want to publish a book.
You got a prophecy that you wasgoing to be an author and all
(03:22):
this stuff.
I've heard it all Okay, but thething is, is that we get so in
tune with adapting to the titleof published author and being
able to say, oh, I published mybook.
I got a book and this and that,that, um, we lose sight of
common sense.
We got to stop that.
Please stop that.
(03:43):
Stop losing sight of commonsense and read.
Number one the best way not toget scammed or caught up in a
contract that you cannot get outof and now you owe this person
all this money is to read.
Read the black and white.
Read the small print for one.
(04:03):
Ok, read the small print.
That's the number one for one.
Okay, read the small print.
That's the number one thingthat will stop you from getting
caught up.
Read Contracts are not thatdifficult.
Now, if you don't understandthe language and they got it so
deep to where you don'tunderstand the language you can
look up those words.
Or if there's someone you knowthat is an attorney or someone
(04:25):
you trust because it does nothave to be an attorney I'm not
an attorney and I know what abad contract look like when it
comes to publishing OK, soconfide in somebody that you
know so that you don't get stuckin these contracts.
Y'all won't believe how manypeople have come to me who have
already published books andstuck in contracts Okay, and
(04:48):
some of them are the way you.
I don't know how you're goingto get out, but most of them you
can get out of them.
Um, when it comes to the vanitypublishing companies, when I
say vanity publishing companies,that means the companies that
pop up.
When you go and Google how toself-publish my book, all of
these companies pop up.
One popular one is AuthorHouseExilibrous.
(05:11):
Authorhouse Exilibrous oh, it'sa lot of them, because a lot of
them are under the sameumbrella.
I dug into this thing some yearsago and saw how it was all set
up.
They all offer publishingpackages ranging from four or
500 bucks up to maybe like15,000.
(05:34):
And when I go down the list ofwhat you get included with those
packages, it's really nothing.
In my eyesight.
It's nothing Because I'mlooking like okay, that ain't
nothing, that ain't nothing,that ain't nothing.
What you really need is youneed to learn the business.
That's why I come on here and Italk about what I talk about in
detail when it comes toself-publishing, because it's
(05:55):
too much that you don't know andtoo much that you need to know.
So you don't get stuck.
So you know how to take thatbook and turn it into them six
figures that you want to make,or millions, or whatever it was
your goal was initially was.
So, when it comes to thecontracts, read the black and
(06:17):
white.
It's simple.
Okay, stop Take your feelingsout of it, because this ain't
about your feelings.
This ain't about how God calledyou.
You got to handle this business.
When it comes to handling thisbusiness, you got to read the
black and white and make sureyou're not signing your name to
something that you don't want.
Ok and so?
Because what vanity publishingcompanies do?
(06:40):
And some independent publishingcompanies like people like me,
you know they had their ownpublishing company and they do
traditional contracts.
I do not do traditionalcontracts for my own personal
reasons.
Okay, but you do have a lot ofindependent publishers out here
who will get you as well, andthey ain't all names that you've
(07:05):
never heard of.
Some of them are names that youknow very well.
Okay, so be careful beingstarstruck when it comes to
signing a publishing contract.
Okay, I'm not gonna say a deal,because a lot of me no deals.
Okay, let's talk about it.
Stop thinking everything is abook deal.
(07:26):
No, it's not.
Some of it is a trap.
So read, educate yourself, okay, and if you truly want to, of
course, I always talk aboutself-publishing because I want
you to kind of like, do thisyourself.
I want you to be able to learnI get it.
Everybody not going to do that,but at least, as you are
choosing someone even if it's me, whoever it is, because it
(07:49):
don't have to be me I just wantyou to get it done, right, ok.
So even when it comes to that,ask questions.
(08:12):
The biggest thing that you wantfrom publishing your book, when
you're going through a companyor signing some type of contract
, is for you to own everything.
So write that down.
Ownership that's the biggestthing is ownership.
Nobody thinks about that whenit comes to publishing.
Most are just geek to justbecome an author.
Oh, congratulations, do thebook, sign and all that, and
then nothing happens.
I've seen it for years.
I've seen it for years, okay,and you have to get past that.
(08:37):
Don't get caught up in thetitle.
And yet you're signing overstuff that you don't wanna.
You know what I'm saying?
I know people now still stuckin contracts and it's been 10
years.
They ain't made no money, theperson didn't give them what
they said they were going togive them in the contract and
(08:57):
they just sit and they don'teven have their own copy of
their own book.
They can't even order their ownbooks.
It's crazy.
It's authors that don't evenknow how to how to go and order
copies of their own books.
And then, when you go throughthese publishing companies,
these vanity companies, they,they're going to charge you
three times what your bookreally costs.
(09:17):
Let's say your book is about200 pages.
Just give you an example yourbook is going to cost you
between three and four dollarsto print.
Your book is going to cost youbetween three and four dollars
to print.
Ok, real talk.
Ok, that's great.
You sell it for 20, 25, 27,.
Whatever your price is, don'tmatter.
You see all that profit onthere, right, but what the
vanity companies do is numberone author house.
(09:39):
Go look them up.
I know what I'm talking about.
Go look them up.
When you go through them, whenyou go through one of their
author agreements, they don'tcall them contracts, they call
them author agreements.
When you go through them andyou sign an author agreement
number one, they're going tohave you choose a package.
Then they're going to have yousign this author agreement.
(10:00):
That's you signing to give them90% of your royalties.
Crazy, crazy, I know.
Right, and on that note.
I'm going to take a quick break.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
And I'm going to tell you the rest when we come back.
I am Lord all by myself.
I don't need any help.
I can handle things on my own.
I am the first and the last.
Whatever you be, just ask, forI am, I am.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
I am God.
I was dead in the beginning andI'll be there when you have to
(11:28):
leave.
I'm all seeing, all knowing Allmy dear, every single thing,
For I am, I am.
I am God.
(11:48):
I'll be glad in the beginning,yeah, and I'll be glad when you
get to me.
I'm all seeing, all knowing allmighty.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Hey, now, I am God, I am God, I am God.
So get this information that mydaughter is dropping.
Okay, am God, I am God, I amGod.
So get this information that mydaughter is dropping, okay.
So, um, like I was saying onceyou um signed that contract,
they are locking you in to take90% of your royalties, which
means you is not even thatyou're going to get that 10%,
because the 10% is going to comeafter they take out all their
(12:42):
fees and all this extra stuff.
It boils down to this and I'veseen this on one of their
websites before If your book isbecause they'll price your book,
look, this is what they do.
They price your ebook at $3.99.
They all do the same thing,same exact system they price
your ebook at $3.99.
They price your paperback at$19.99.
And they price your hardcoverat $29.99.
(13:04):
They all do this, okay, twopopular ones Author House and
Exilibrist.
I know what I'm talking about,okay, and so, once they do that,
if your book there was anexample they had on there if
your book is priced at $15.99,your royalty, after they take
out all the fees, is $3 and somechange $3 and some change $3
(13:27):
and some change.
And I mentioned how they jackyour book up three times what it
really costs.
So, like I said, if your bookis 200 pages, it's not going to
be no more than $5.
It's going to be between maybe$3 and $4, maybe $4, and some
change the printers go up everyyear.
Okay, that's just what.
It is inflation, whatever.
(13:48):
So just get over that.
But again, if you are payinglet's say you paying $4, if you
pay $4 for your book and you'reselling your book for $20,
that's still $16 in there, notto mention shipping or whatever
but don't trip.
And when you ship your bookshipping or whatever, but don't
(14:08):
trip.
And when you ship your book,when you ship your book from the
post office, make sure you tellthem media mail there's a
special rate for media, any kindof media.
If you are shipping music,books, magazines, anything
that's considered media, ask forthe media rate because it's way
less than the regular rate.
Fyi, okay, thank me later.
All right, so this contractthat you signed?
(14:31):
So yeah, they get 90 and you'rekeeping.
Um, really, it turned out to bemaybe like six or seven percent
, which is some garbage.
It's some garbage.
Why take yourself through allof that?
And a lot of people sign withthese companies number one
because they don't know and theyreally think they're getting
some type of deal.
Okay, even now I could postsomething like that on social
(14:53):
media and you will have somebodyin the comments telling me
something oh well, I did my bookwith them and I got a good deal
.
No, you didn't.
Duh, you know what I'm saying.
So you got to know your stuff,stuff, because you will be ding,
ding like them times.
You got a good deal and no, youdid not do.
You know all the money that youknow was taken from you the
three times.
(15:13):
I didn't explain that to you.
So if your book is, your bookis four dollars at 200 pages.
They're not gonna charge youfour dollars and I get it.
It's business.
You gotta know business.
They're going to charge you, um, between 11 and 12 bucks for
(15:34):
your book.
That really cost.
Ask me how?
I know I have had so manyauthors come to me where I end
up republishing the book forthem.
We canceled, canceled thecontract.
There's a specific letter thatyou can um y'all, I ain't know
how to do none of this.
I know now, like I literallywent and found out how to cancel
(15:56):
the contract.
This lady came to me.
She was with Exilibrus, um, herbook was like 70,000 words.
Y'all should have seen thecover was garbage, complete
garbage.
We're gonna talk about thecovers.
I'm gonna try to squeeze in thecovers today as well.
That's very important.
But um canceled the contract.
I wrote the letter, we sent theletter in and basically you,
(16:19):
you send the letter in writingbecause I think it is something
some of them have something intheir contracts where you have
to present in writing to cancel.
So when they, when they meanthat, mean you, you serious, you
about to redo this book becauseit's still your story,
understand that whoever youpublish with your story, never,
never, can convert over to them,unless, unless you were so
(16:42):
ignorant that you signed acontract that said you were
signing everything over to them.
Now, this is why I say it'simportant to read black and
white.
Stop being thirsty and payattention to what you're signing
, because if you signed it away,I don't know how you can turn
that around.
But the contracts, when yousign these contracts, make sure
(17:08):
you're reading.
Okay, um, so we were able tocancel the contract.
That meant that they were goingto take everything down, so all
the book that they had on thething and we want them to do
that.
It was okay Because, understand, when they publish your book,
the ISBN number, the littlebarcode on the back, the barcode
on the back of the book, right,the little barcode that's on
(17:31):
the back of any book, that'ssupposed to be yours when you
self-publish.
But when you go through them,it's not yours, it's theirs.
Okay, it's theirs.
And so when they take the bookdown, they taking everything
down.
So if they got your book, mostof the time they do put your
book in distribution, meaningthat global distribution means
(17:53):
that your book is available.
When you see people advertisetheir books across social media
and they say that the book is,um, available wherever books are
sold, that's what that meansGlobal distribution.
Every book that I publish formy clients, we put it in global
distribution.
I wouldn't have it no other way.
You never, in my opinion, myadvice never just upload your
(18:19):
book to Amazon.
I love Amazon, but that's onlyone platform.
You're limiting yourself whenyou do not access global
distribution.
Global distribution means thateven the bookstores inside the
airport have access to carryyour book, even if it's not
(18:40):
physically in the store.
Y'all still caught up on yourbook being on the shelf.
Stop being caught up with that.
It's nothing wrong with that.
But if your book is not on theshelf but it's on their website
and it's in the system becausethey're all, global distribution
is huge.
That means your book isavailable all over the world,
anywhere books are sold.
That means that there'swebsites that you never heard of
(19:03):
that your book is available on.
Hello somebody, you dig whatI'm saying.
You got to pay attention.
Stop being concerned with thephysical.
You just want it in the storeso you can say, oh, my book in
the store, my book in the store,and yet your mind is not
focused on selling.
What are we doing?
Your mind ain't focused onselling.
You have to be focused on howdo I take this book, learn this,
(19:28):
learn how to sell it.
Okay, and the selling actuallystarts.
We're going to have to do apart two.
The selling actually startsbefore you finish writing a book
.
It starts before you finishwriting a book.
Okay, we're going to take abreak.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
I know you're praying for a change To see a sunny day
.
Nothing good has come your wayfor so long.
You need someone to understand.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Yeah, yeah, that's what we want you to do yes, but
know your breakthrough's not faraway.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
So hold on.
Please don't let go in thisseason.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Know that thou is no way way far.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
You just hold on.
Come on, Monica.
Sometimes we forget that heholds us in his hands, but I'm
reminding you.
Don't give up.
Sometimes your skies may seemdark and gray.
We all have days like that.
Just know your breakthrough'snot far away.
(21:24):
Just know your breakthrough'snot far away.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Hey, hold on, hold on , hold on because I got some
more information for you.
Okay, I'm trying to help youchange your life, change your
situation, especially yourfinancial situation.
Okay, so, once they I don'tremember where we left off, but
once they, once we cancel thecontract, they're going to take
(21:49):
it down.
Remember the ISBN andeverything that's in there, like
even if they did your cover foryou or they use the picture or
something, like they, they claimall that.
So they, like you ain't takingnothing with you.
The only thing you taking withyou is your story.
So hopefully you have a copy ofthe.
I think we actually were ableto find something because, again
, her book was like 70,000 words.
(22:11):
That's a lot, um, and they hadpacked it in so heavy and then
gave her a little wet cover.
The cover was black with a babyon it and it said something.
I don't even remember what theoriginal thing, um, the title
was, but it was just sad.
So, um, in order for me torepublish it, put her in um back
(22:34):
in global distribution.
Now what we were doing wastaking it out of everything, out
of their name, and republishingthe entire book.
That's what happens when yousign bad contracts you need to
republish that entire book.
It can be the same book, samename and all that.
But when you republish withyour own cover meaning you go
pay a graphic designer orwhatever and you purchase your
(22:55):
own ISBNs Okay, we talked aboutthat a few weeks ago to ISBNs
and trademarks and copyrightsand all that, um, you're still
the owner, the copyright owner,of your um book, your manuscript
, your story.
But they say, uh-uh, we didthis cover for you, we keeping
that, we did this, um this, we,we put this ISBN on here, on
(23:20):
it's uh, that's ours.
It's cool because you get withsomebody who know how to go and
purchase help.
You purchase your own ISBNnumber so that it's in your name
, your company name, yourimprint, whatever you want to
call it, and then, um, yourcover as well.
So then now we can learn how tosell the book, now that we
(23:43):
completely own it, now we cansell it.
We don't have no, have nolimitations.
Okay, because there's severalother things you could do with
your book.
You can turn your book into, um, a film, a documentary movie,
whatever.
You don't gotta sit and waitfor someone to say, okay, it's
good enough.
I have a problem with that.
I don't believe in that.
I mean, it's cool if you knowyour opportunities and things,
(24:07):
but you got to make sure that itworks for you.
We ain't just signing up fornothing, just like these.
These little contract, thesebad guys have people getting
this stuff because they jump at,oh, we'll pay for everything,
not knowing that the behind thescenes reason why they want to
pay for everything is becauseeverything gonna be under them,
(24:28):
not you.
So, um, I've had clients whopublished books five years ago
and and messaged me to my um,how can I order my books, like
what?
You don't even know how toorder your book.
You don't know how to order,and it wasn't the night that I
did not teach that.
I coach very strategically,very detailed.
But again, if your mindset islike, oh, I'm about to be an
(24:56):
author, oh, I want to be onOprah, it's still people walking
around.
Some of them want to be onOprah.
She don't even have a show, nomore.
Like what?
What are we doing?
Like what?
What are we doing?
So you got to get to the pointto where you are focused on
learning the business how totake your story, your message,
because you should not befocused on the book.
That is why so many peoplesuffer.
(25:19):
When it comes to you, you justhear oh, ain't nobody behind
books?
Ain't nobody behind books?
And across social media you seethem posting their book over
and over again.
They just want you to click andbuy their book.
They do that stuff to me.
I'm not buying your book, no,stop.
I tell them now, stop doing it.
I'm not buying your book.
Um, your book is not for me.
You know now, if you want tolearn how to stop doing this,
(25:44):
you can join my email list.
You dig.
So it's so many things.
We are going to do a part two onthis, because I need for people
to get this.
Self-publishing is a lot ofresponsibility, but I will
always say that it's worth it.
Okay, celebrities who alreadyhave an audience and fan base
(26:07):
don't need to sign a book dealwith these big publishing
companies and they do.
And let me tell you, they don'tmake no money.
Y'all think they make a lot ofmoney from these books.
They do not.
No.
All you need to be a New YorkTimes bestseller is to sell
6,000 books in the first week.
That's it.
It ain't none deep.
You know what I'm saying.
So I think we need to stop thisoverall show would say stop
(26:31):
being so um inspired by titlesand learn the ins and outs of
the business so that you can ownand profit and increase.
That's the only way you'regoing to do that, okay.
So we'll do a part two nextweek.
Be sure to go to um.
Publish with tiffanycom.
(26:51):
Join my email list.
There is a free ebook on thereyou can download for um
marketing.
It gives you marketing tips,different marketing strategies.
So I give that free to authorswho are maybe stuck in you know
not sure how to market theirbook.
So you can download that ebookat publishwithtiffanycom.
(27:15):
You want to go topublishedandblackmagazinecom and
check out my online and printmagazine.
You do have the opportunity toget featured in the magazine.
I offer that.
I also offer in studio or liveradio interviews.
(27:36):
If you like to be hosted on myshow, you can contact me at.
If you go topublishwithtiffanycom book a
discovery call.
If you go topublishwithtiffanycom book a
discovery call, okay, and thenyou can possibly be featured.
I am all about theself-published author, okay, and
learning the business.
So I hope today, blessed, youGo to publishwithtiffanycom.
(28:01):
Join the email list so you canstay in tune with any and
everything I have going on Allright and, with that being said,
be blessed.
Join the email list so you canstay in tune with any and
everything.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
I have going on All right and, with that being said,
be blessed you have beenlistening to, published in Black
with publishing expert andbrand strategist, tiffany A
Greenhood.
Listen next week for real talk,powerful strategies and much
more.
Again, we thank you forlistening.
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