Are Self-Publishing Companies “Monetizing the slush pile?”

Over the weekend, romance author Shiloh Walker (author of “No Prince Charming” and 50 other books) made waves with a post knocking some self-publishing companies, addressing a letter directly to the CEO of Author Solutions.

As GalleyCat reported, Author Solutions CEO Kevin Weiss issued a video statement asking the leaders of the Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America and the Science Fiction Writers Association to meet with him and discuss their standards for self-published authors. Walker’s post went through Author Solutions’ website, criticizing different offerings.

In this excerpt, Walker imagined what would have happened if she used a self publishing company as a young writer: “I probably would have wasted money I didn’t really have to waste…I doubted I would have sold more than 10-15 books, because I am not a salesperson, and with self-pub/vanity pub/assisted self pub, you have to be and none of your marketing choices change that. So after I spent all that money and sold less than nothing, watched as my dreams crashed and burned, I might have given up … the thought of that shiny, sparkly thread of a promise being offered to another gullible, hopeful writer who has a lot of promise? Turns my stomach.”

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