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Beat Reporter
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I usually don't open unsolicited e-mail (who does?  ), but this one seemed on-topic enough -- "A Note on Publishing Your Writing" -- to make me curious. I'm interested to know if anyone else has gotten such an e-mail. Is this spam or not? I have certainly not replied -- I am very suspicious of anything that asks me to click to reject, as it seems to me the spammer just wants to verify that my addy is legit. Dear Author,
My name is Mercedes and I work for Xlibris, a technology-based publishing company. I noticed your name on the The Lois & Clark Fanfic Archive website, and if you don’t mind, I wanted to reach out to you to let you know about a great opportunity for publishing your work. You might find it intriguing. But if you are not interested, let me know by replying to this e-mail or clicking on the link at the bottom of this message.
As a writer, publishing your work is important to your career. You probably also know how difficult the process can be. The company I work for is trying to change all that by offering affordable self-publishing services to writers of all genres. We don’t take rights and we make the publication process fast and simple so that you can get your work into the hands of your readers when you want to.
Xlibris has published over 9,000 titles since 1997 and is partially owned by Random House Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Random House, the world's largest trade book publisher. While self-publishing isn’t for everyone, the number of titles we’ve published doesn’t lie: lots of writers are self-publishing their work. Xlibris helps with editorial, design, printing, distribution, fulfillment, and marketing services. We think our services are so great that we back them up with a money-back guarantee.
We’d love to talk with you about any of your publishing projects and how Xlibris might be able to help you. Please click here to register for more information. If you’d prefer, you can call us toll free at 888.795.4274 to speak with a publishing consultant.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Mercedes Bournias
Publishing Consultant
PS - I'm sorry if I've disturbed you. If you don't want to receive any more messages from Xlibris, let me know by clicking here or by replying to this message. If this, as I suspect, a form of spam, is there anything we can do to protect the archive from this kind of abuse? I mean, I can click "delete" as easily as the next person  but I'd hate to see our wonderful archive being culled and our marvelous authors disturbed when they should be spending their emotions on something more valuable, like writing more fic. 
Lois: You know the deal.
Clark: Superman gets the guys in capes, Lois and Clark get the guys in suits.
-- Action Comics 827
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Yes, I had one of those too. Just out of curiosity, I did click on the link, and it does take you to a 'vanity publisher' website. I didn't do any kind of search on the 'publisher', since X Libris is actually a UK imprint anyway and I figured that was the publisher which would come up via Google. This could well be a legitimate business, albeit one which stoops to spam to attract clients; but then, we could argue that looking on a fanfic archive is a pretty good way of attracting people who might be interested in getting their fiction published. The main issue of concern, apart from stopping spam, is of course that this kind of publisher makes the author bear all the costs...  And no, Hazel, I doubt there's any way to stop anyone harvesting addresses from the Archive - but maybe, if lots of authors have been getting this email, LabRat might consider putting an announcement on the front page warning people to treat it with caution? Wendy
Just a fly-by! *waves*
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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I got one of those, too. I didn't recognize the sender, so I just deleted it.
- Laura
Laura "The Yellow Dart" U. (Alicia U. on the archive)
"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." -- Christopher Reeve
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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I got one of those, too. If you'll read it carefully, it's offering an opportunity to pay *them* to publish your stuff. The first thing they tell you about publishing is to never, ever, *ever* pay a company to publish or self publish.
Laura
“Rules only make sense if they are both kept and broken. Breaking the rule is one way of observing it.”
--Thomas Moore
"Keep an open mind, I always say. Drives sensible people mad, I know, but what did we ever get from sensible people? Not poetry or art or music, that's for sure."
--Charles de Lint, Someplace to Be Flying
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Columnist
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I got this, too. I assumed that they sent one out to anyone who has anything on the archive. When ML told me she also got one, I assumed that my assumption was correct. (And it isn't a bad thing to be lumped into the same category as ML ) I ignored it, as did the rest of you. My concern is that this company has put together a list of our e-addies and I wonder if they would sell it to other companies. If that is the case, we could be inundated with spam. Just a thought. gerry
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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I seem to vaguely recall receiving something like this. Deleted it immediately. I'm waiting in hope that the spamming bill passed by Congress doesn't get shot down, and that the no-spam list will work. Jude 
"Simplify. Simplify."
Henry David Thoreau
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle."
George Orwell
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Merriwether
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Merriwether
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I got one too, a week or two back. And considering that I only have ONE story on the archive (which is co-authored and I'm the second listed author), I think it's safe to assume they've already mined the Archive pretty thoroughly. As Hazel said, DON'T click to reject! Xlibris is indeed a 'legit' vanity press. (Of course, they claim not to BE a vanity press . . . :rolleyes: ) This is not the first time I have heard of slightly shady (but legal) advertising on their part. 
Do you know the most surprising thing about divorce? It doesn't actually kill you, like a bullet to the heart or a head-on car wreck. It should. When someone you've promised to cherish till death do you part says, "I never loved you," it should kill you instantly.
- Under the Tuscan Sun
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Boards Chief Administrator Emeritus Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Boards Chief Administrator Emeritus Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Apr 2003
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Well, the title of this thread was a tad concerning at first...until I read it and realised the Archive wasn't bombarding everyone with spam! Couple of points here. First of all, it's a pretty sneaky way to get customers in my book. Secondly, as LauraBF points out, never get involved with a 'publishing' company which charges you for publishing your work. Thirdly, I'll email Lauren about putting a general warning on the Archive front page about being wary of any spam which cites the Archive in this way and which harvests eddresses from it. Other than that, I'm afraid it's just a sign of the times. LabRat (who used to get zero spam until she became EIC... )
Athos: If you'd told us what you were doing, we might have been able to plan this properly.
Aramis: Yes, sorry.
Athos: No, no, by all means, let's keep things suicidal.
The Musketeers
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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So, should I be relieved or insulted that it took her so long to get to me? Sorry I alarmed you, Rat. It does, indeed, look like someone went methodically through the archive, spamming every e-mail in sight. Perhaps it's done by date, which might explain why I'm so far down on the list. :rolleyes: Let's hope that Gerry's alarming idea of selling our addys doesn't occur. I would just like to address a comment made by LauraBF and Labrat, though: while it's certainly true that no one in their right mind should take up an offer made by a vanity publisher, that does not mean that it's not the right path under certain circumstances. I've been published by three different publishers now, but I know of two separate people who had a story to tell and had trouble getting a publisher to do it for them. Both chose the vanity publishing method for getting their book into print. While it does mean that they are responsible for distribution and advertising, it also means that the book at least exists. One of those authors -- the one whom I've dealt with personally, and who I strongly advised against taking the vanity publishing route -- has more than earned enough in sales to cover her costs, and is just happy that her personal Holocaust account has seen print. So, while I am hardly advocating that anyone click on that spam letter link, I think it's fair to say that vanity publishing does, indeed, have its uses -- as long as its the author who initiates the contact. Hazel
Lois: You know the deal.
Clark: Superman gets the guys in capes, Lois and Clark get the guys in suits.
-- Action Comics 827
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Columnist
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I also got this one. Makes me extremely annoyed, particularly since it is an obvious scam. I've already had poetry and a short story published. Believe me, publishers are not going to come to you. You have to do the research and submit your stories.
I believe there's a hero in all of us that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams. -- Aunt May, Spider-Man 2
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Merriwether
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Merriwether
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I also just got this email today, but I immediately deleted it which is what I do with any header or address that I don't recognize.
If a person is interested in any sort of self-publishing a simple google search will bring forth a multitude of companys which offer such services. No need to be answering any blind emails.
Tank (who thinks his luck at staying away from a lot of these viruses that go around comes from two things... one, he doesn't open any email he doesn't recognize, and two, he doesn't keep any personal address books on his computer)
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Beat Reporter
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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I got it. Woohoo, I'm in the club.
Lynn
You know that boy'd walk on water for you? Or he'd drown tryin'. -Perry White to Lois in Just Say Noah
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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You mean we're supposed to have lives?
Oh crap!
~Tank
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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I got mine! CC, I'll share with you!  Missy
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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If I did get one, I don't remember. I usually delete huge chunks of spam at a time without bothering to look at it.
James
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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I was about to start wondering why I hadn't got one... and then it arrived! I'm just happy not to be excluded. Saskia
I tawt I taw a puddy cat!
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
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phew! I was starting to wonder if it was some marketing promotionnal thingy...glad I'm not the only one who got it! Carole  (who deleted it after reading, 01/13/04).
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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I haven't gotten one. 'Course that could be because of Yahoo's wonderful spam blocker. I guess you can't have everything...
Anne >^,,^<
"I only know how to make four things, and this is the only one without chocolate." Lois Lane "All My I've Got a Crush on You 10/24/1993
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Beat Reporter
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OP
Beat Reporter
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 442 |
I was amused to come across this so soon after the discussion re vanity publishing! Of course, this fellow wasn't spammed, but solicited help himself. Still, if anyone's interested... Self Publishing
Lois: You know the deal.
Clark: Superman gets the guys in capes, Lois and Clark get the guys in suits.
-- Action Comics 827
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