Lately, since I had my two novellas presented at the Los Angeles Times Book Fair, I received emails from individuals who represented publishing houses, and not just some small-time press or self-publishing printing outfit, but Random House and Gray Wolf Press.
Ten years ago, I would be jumping for joy and thinking I just struck gold. Ten years ago, I was more trusting and less skeptical of these emails because everything looked so authentic. That was then and this is ten years later, and a lot has happened at that time.
To start with bad players are everywhere doing everything they can to swindle you or me into believing that what I have is pure gold and all I have to do is say yes, and I will get a double serving of American pie.
Secondly I am using AI to summarize these emails to verify their authenticity. The person from Gray Wolf, for example, used her personal AOL address rather than a hyperlinked email company address. That’s a red flag. After submitting to these two people my keen interest in more information from them, they never replied, which says a lot about how scrupulous they must be.
Finally, I’m much more skeptical now. I don’t see things with wide eyed wonder and think that what I have is worth more than the book’s price on the bar code or ISPN. I’ve learned my mistakes from my past and don’t just say yes anymore.
While I appreciate all he latest attention poured into my two books, I definitely don’t need to be swindled out of money or jilted by false platitudes of what an enjoyable book(s) I have written.
Jerry Schellhammer 