The Truth About Writing

WEbook? How about WEcrook?

Status: Busy with stuff.

Watching: Fan-Based Collective Time Travel.

Listening To: Nothing at the moment.

Reading: Midori Days manga.

TOPIC: ANOTHER SCAM IN PROGRESS.

I joined another social networking site for writers--thinking it would be cool to ham it up with other writers and see what's going on.

That was three days ago.

What I discovered was a slick scam designed to steal the rights of every author connected with Webook and give very little in return.

As a precaution, I removed all of my outlined projects and have posted warnings on every social networking site there is--about Webook's costly right stealings; which are more complicated and complex.

But let's just say that if you do go through Webook, you won't be able to reclaim your rights to your work or on anything else you submit.

In fact...? They make it so that you no longer have any right to what you've spent years working on; once you become connected to their website.

So pay close attention to what Webook is throwing at you. You may end up regretting it later--if you're not careful and wary.

First, they claim that--for $5--you can get a literary agent after going through 4 rounds of voting.

But what they don't tell you is that there is absolutely zero guarantee that your book will be picked up!

And all the while, you'll be wasting more money trying to "get in" the front door of a literary agent--rather than just spending a small amount of money sending out query letters.

(This way...at least you'll get a generic rejection letter--instead of wasting funds doing it this way.)

Oddly enough, no writer magazine, book, or online site has ever mentioned Webook as being a "realiable", "trusting", and "auspacious" site that GUARANTEES absolute publication or literary representation.

Believe me...I've checked. I spent a few hours going through every site that I could think of, to pull any information on Webook.

And one site--Wikipedia--offered a disturbing premise on what Webook really is: "An online version of American Idol."

Much like "Operation Teen Author" (which offers teens the chance to become nationally best-selling authors for the low, low, price of $2495.00 (that is no typo by the way--they do charge that much!), Webook is nothing more than a vanity-press operation which is obscured in a media cloak of deception.

How do I know this?

One article in The Writer (March 2010 issue), tells writers that, "there is no magic pill to getting published."

And that goes for websites as well.

There is no 'magic pill' website that will do the same.

Bottom line?

Webook is a social networking site that's stamped with the words "SUCKER" and "VANITY PRESS on it.

It won't get you any closer to becoming published, or have tea and cookies with a high-profile agent.

In fact, it will ruin you on so many levels than it is designed to help.

So if you want to save yourself, and your works...?

AVOID WEBOOK!

WARN EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT IT AND STAY AWAY!!!

Schuyler Thorpe


PS: After its launch 3 years ago, Webook declared last month (January 2010) that they had their first winning author; a sucker whose book isn't even being published by Simon and Schuster; a top-level publishing company located in good ol' New York.

Normally, such a valued company would announce a new acquisition, but after some digging, I discovered that the author and the book hasn't even been picked up yet and ready to become published!

So Scam #2 was successful after all. And one person's dream, one person's book, will never see the light of day.

I tried to contact the author and tell him the truth, but he wouldn't listen to me.

He's still convinced that he's getting published!