A Cautionary Tale about a Vanity Press

A Cautionary Tale about a Vanity Press

I’ve been struggling with this issue for a long time, and last week, it came to a breaking point. I need to write my story for a couple of reasons.

1. Writing is therapeutic for me
2. Other writers need to know about this so they can avoid it

(Note: This is a very long post, but please stick through it, especially if you are an author or planning to become one.)

I know it’s common knowledge now that vanity presses are bad, are usually predatory, and should be avoided at all costs. But back in 2008, I’d never heard the term. I didn’t know what to look for, and in those early days of social media, there was a definite lack of writing support groups.

Originally, the publication costs were gifted to me by my husband, who had done some research and thought he’d found a great means for me to publish my books. It was my dream to have my work in book format (even if, in retrospect, it wasn’t ready. But you live and learn, and that’s another story.)

This brings me to my first major point: Never use a company that forces YOU to pay for your publication. As the author, you should never be paying for services up front – they should be paying you.

But as I said, this was a long time ago, and I didn’t know any better. I had three books published through this company by the end of 2010. Admittedly, I did not market the books, because I think deep down, I knew they weren’t ready for that. It was a fun, novelty thing to offer to friends and family.

So, here’s a bit of background on the aforementioned vanity press. The company, back then, was Infinity Publishing. They required a fee of $500 (USD), and would put your manuscript into paperback format with a “professional looking” cover and interior formatting. They’d also list your books on their very own webstore! (buybooksontheweb.com) Note: If you click on that link, remember that this all began in 2008. I don’t think they’ve updated their website since then, and you can tell!

Sounds good, right?

Well, no. Let’s just say I wasn’t pleased with the covers I received. They were far too juvenile for the content of the books, and while they looked “fantasy”, they also looked like they could have been for middle grade or younger readers. I write adult fantasy. There is swearing. There is gore. There is violence. The covers did not convey the appropriate audience.

Their interior formatting basically included them adjusting the margins on my Word file to fit a 6×9” book. They did nothing else. Between the cover artwork and the lack of true formatting, I was disappointed – but I didn’t want to share my misgivings at the time. My husband had paid for the process as a gift to me, and I wanted to be appreciative.

But I didn’t market those books. I was uncomfortable doing so, and not for the usual reasons. That’s a different story, however. Back to the one at hand.

Occasionally I’d put in an order for author copies. Those were really my only sales for many years. Then, in 2014 I put in an order and…nothing. I tried calling to check on the order, and the phone would ring endlessly (no voicemail). Emails went unanswered. I didn’t know what to do.

I expressed my frustrations to my husband, who decided to try another tactic. Rather than calling in to the existing author phone number, he called the new author setup phone number. Amazingly, a real live human answered! He explained the situation, and was informed that Infinity Publishing had recently been acquired by FastPencil and due to the change in management, things were a bit scattered.

Ok, I can accept that up to a point. But it had been four months since I put in the original order, and on top of that, they had not informed me of the change. The representative on the other end of the line assured him my order would be processed soon. We received it within a week. That was the last time I dared order anything from Infinity Publishing. (It was another month before I received email notification of the FastPencil acquisition.)

Then, in 2019, FastPencil became affiliated with Opyrus (I don’t know the details there, and it doesn’t seem as though it was a buy out situation, but I started to receive email communications from Opyrus at that time). Now, both Infinity and FastPencil still “exist”. Their websites are available, their webstore is accessible, but their social media presence is practically non-existent. You can’t even access email contact information for Infinity from their webpage any more (and remember how I mentioned they don’t answer their phones?)

In 2021, I made the decision to formally end my contract with Infinity Publishing. This is explicitly allowed in my original contracts (see highlighted point #8):

I attempted to call first, got an automated message that directed me to FastPencil’s website, where I was expected to fill out an online form. I requested a meeting with a representative so I could be certain where to mail my request to discontinue the selling of my work through Infinity. I received an email later in the day, and an appointment was made. Progress! Things were going as planned.

I spoke to a representative named Jessica at the scheduled time (2:10 pm MDT on May 21, 2021). She informed me the address had not changed and that I only needed to send a letter to them listing my titles and corresponding ISBNs, and my intent to discontinue their services. My request would be processed and my books taken off their sales platform within 60 days of receipt.

I wrote the letter and mailed it the next day (May 22, 2021).

In July 2021, we moved to a new address, and I attempted to contact them with the updated information. *Crickets*

I waited until late August before I tried to email them again, seeking a status on my request. I also reiterated the fact that we’d moved. Again, no response. I continued to email and call FastPencil and Opyrus (as the parent company) into November. *MORE CRICKETS*

Alright, fine. They won’t talk to me.

So I contacted the wonderful Victoria Strauss from WriterBeware and told her my story to that point. I’ve been following her blog and Twitter posts for a while now, and it’s a wealth of information for authors. If you’re an author and aren’t following WriterBeware, you need to.

She replied with a very detailed email and explained some possible next steps I might take. Some of her findings:

• Infinity Publishing has a F rating with the Better Business Bureau (I’m not surprised)
• FastPencil also has an F rating. (Shocking!) What’s interesting about this one is the BBB has it filed with Infinity, so they’re aware it’s the same company.
• They have a long history of complaints from other authors about being non-responsive (no way!)
• They had one of my books listed on Amazon.com, and all three listed on their webstore. I don’t believe their webstore gets much traffic, but the Amazon part disturbed me. I haven’t seen a royalty payment since 2015.
• She also encouraged me to buy a copy of the book for sale on Amazon to find out if it was “old stock” lingering on the site, or if it was newly printed. (Infinity is a print-on-demand publisher.)

Following Victoria’s advice, I bought the two copies listed on Amazon December 10, 2021.

Since Infinity is a print-on-demand publisher, it puts the print date on the last page of the book. Guess what? The print date is after my order was placed, meaning the books they had listed on Amazon were not old stock. It also gave me proof that my written request to have my books withdrawn from their sales platform was ignored.

During my correspondence with WriterBeware, I was referred to the SFWA website’s legal resources page, where I began to dig a little deeper into how to get my issue resolved.

I sent Infinity a second letter on January 11, 2022 stating that it was the second letter, that I’d attempted contact numerous times since my phone conversation in May 2021 and nothing had yet been done to remove my books from sale. This time, I indicated I would be escalating my complaint, and would like to see the matter resolved before March 15. (Yes, that’s 12 days from the writing of this post, and no, I have yet to see anything come of it.)

My escalation has included the filing of a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (at the time of this writing, they have attempted to make contact twice without response. Can Infinity’s rating drop to an F- by any chance?)

I filed a consumer complaint with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office (since Infinity is based in that state), and heard back on Monday that they will be serving a formal complaint to Infinity with a request for response by March 21. As with the BBB, Infinity has no legal obligation to respond the DA, but the complaint will be on file.

I also consulted with an attorney specializing in contract disputes and copyright law who encouraged me to file a takedown notice with Amazon for the book Infinity has listed there. I didn’t realize this was an option. (For those who may need it, this is the link to Amazon’s report form: Report Infringement. You can use it if your work is placed on sale by unauthorized users/pirates. Or in my case, a non-responsive publishing company that refuses to take my work off their sales platform.)

Since I have asked Infinity to discontinue services twice now and they’ve failed to comply, there’s a good chance they are in violation of copyright laws. Yes, I still own the copyrights to my work – Infinity does not. In fact, they aren’t even listed on the certificates. It’s just me. So I figured I’d go ahead and contact Amazon. Amazon requested I provide a link to my copyright document to prove I was the owner after I filled out the original form, which was expected. (This is a reminder that even though it costs a small fee, getting your copyright filed is very important!)

To my great relief, Amazon replied less than two hours after I filed my takedown request, and stated they would be removing Infinity’s listing from their site. RELIEF doesn’t begin to describe my reaction. I am so thankful they took my case seriously and did what they could to help me resolve this on their end. It’s been 10 months of aggravation trying to get Infinity to uphold their contractual agreement.

The attorney I spoke with could not go into further detail during my free consultation, but she made it sound like I do have a good case should I choose to pursue further legal routes. The trouble is, that’s expensive, so I’m trying to do everything I can to have this resolved outside of court.

For now, I’ll see if either of my other complaints pan out to get Infinity to remove my books from their webstore. I’ll update here as developments occur.

Please take my story as a warning, fellow authors. If someone expects you to pay for your writing RUN AWAY! There are so many avenues you can pursue to publish your work without going through the frustration and stress that I have dealt with.

And please, share this with your contacts who might be considering indie publishing or small presses. They need to know the warning signs and avoid the bad apples of the industry.

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If you have had a similar experience with Infinity Publishing/Fast Pencil, I encourage you to file complaints as well. If enough complaints come in, the DA’s office might take matters into its own hands and draw up charges. At this time, I have no way of knowing how many other complaints might be on file or if any of them have been resolved.