According to the Camara & Sibley web site:

“Scribd is a web site that publishes books submitted by users and makes these books available to users to download. Among the books that Scribd publishes are many books that are under copyright but that have been submitted to Scribd without any license or permission from the copyright holder. With respect to these works — which comprise a large part of the most popular works available on Scribd — Scribd is engaged in flagrant copyright infringement and in facilitating the copyright infringement of its users.

Scribd makes money in large part through advertising: it uses the copyrighted works that it publishes on its site to drive traffic to that site, where it displays ads targeted based on the content of the copyrighted works that a user requests. This advertising revenue is the direct result of Scribd’s piracy of coprighted works. Scribd’s investors include Paul Graham’s Y Combinator, Redpoint Ventures, The Kinsey Hills Group, and Charles River Ventures.

Elaine Scott, a Houston-based author of award-winning childrens’ books, has engaged Camara & Sibley to file suit against Scribd on behalf of herself and all other authors’ whose copyrighted works have been added to Scribd’s database without their permission.

Tim Nyberg will serve as lead counsel for the plaintiffs.”

For more information read also the article on arstechnica.com.

Ironically, the people at the Camara & Sibley law firm have posted a copy of the suit on the Scribd.com web site.

Case #1 – Embedded Networking with CAN and CANopen
Authors: Olaf Pfeiffer, Andrew Ayre, and Christoph Keydel
ISBN 978-0976511625

The image above shows a screen shot made on November 6, 2009. The PDF file was uploaded by a user “gustavhaarhoff” on June 9, 2009. The screen shot clearly shows the copyright message.  The PDF file of the book is available as a download for everybody.

Underneath the book information is a link “MORE INFO” leading to a section where other users can copy code to embedd the “document” into their web site.

Needless to say that the user name is a fake. Nobody with that name ever purchased the PDF file through the publisher’s web site. The user cannot be contacted through the Scribd.com web site, unless you, as the victim of the crime, sign up as a user and wait for the perpetrator to “subscribe” to you, i.e. there is no way to contact a user who infringed the copyright, knowingly or not.

Case #2 – A Comprehensible Guide to J1939
Author: Wilfried Voss
ISBN 978-0976511632

The image above clearly shows the copyright message.  The PDF file of the book is available as a download for everybody.

Underneath the book information is a link “MORE INFO” leading to a section where other users can copy code to embedd the “document” into their web site.

I contacted the scribd.com legal department, namely some Jason Bentley – Director of Customer Care. Originally I received an automated response with the invitation to add comments and adding comments I did, without being insulting.

Mr. Bentley’s response was: “Thank you for your feedback. Your interpretation of our automated response is bizarre and simply wrong. I am closing this case pending receipt of a legally valid takedown request.”

So, he did close my current request, and I have to apply for a removal yet again, because he didn’t care for my comments.

• Springer-Verlag, New York
• Booklocker.com, Inc.

The crime in question may be copyright infringement. The fact is, Scribd, Inc. – the owner of scridb.com – creates income by enabling copyright infringement through their web site. Scribd.com, in their own words, “is the largest social publishing company in the world, the Website where tens of millions of people each month publish and discover original writings and documents.” Also according to Scribd: “All content on Scribd is uploaded and maintained by Scribd’s users with no editorial intervention or approval from Scribd employees.”

Further: “Scribd is breaking down barriers to the publishing process, making written works available to people on the Web and mobile devices, and most importantly, fueling the conversations happening around them. Documents published on Scribd are accessible to Scribd’s community of readers, indexed by search engines, and easily embedded and shared on thousands of other Websites, including Twitter and Facebook. Many leading media companies and businesses distribute content through Scribd, including The New York Times, Ford Motor Company, Simon & Schuster, O’Reilly, World Bank, Chicago Tribune, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and more.”

The absence of “editorial intervention” does come with some serious downsides:

• Scribd does not verify the identity of their users.
• Scribd does not verify that a user has in fact the authority to upload copyrighted material.

The damage done to the publishing industry can only be a guessing game at this time as many authors and publishers are not aware that their copyrights might be infringed.

The Sign Up Process

The “Sign Up” button is located on top of the Scribd.com web site, and upon clicking appears a window similar to those on many other web sites.

The entries I used were :

• E-Mail: tully.bascombe@grandfenwick.com
• Username: tullybascombe
• Password: Victoria12

Now we’re in! No, there will be no e-mail sent to my inbox asking me to confirm my sign-up. No, there is no box asking for my address information, etc. No, there is no “I accept the terms and conditions of Scribd.com.”

And now, I will scan Dan Brown’s The Monty Python Code and upload it to their web site… Just Kidding! Dan Brown never wrote such a book. I will use one of my books that has already been illegally uploaded by another user (and has not been removed as of yet, even thouth I e-mailed the proper legal form).

So, let’s click on the “Publish” button, and on the next screen I go with the default settings – Publishing Options: Standard, Privacy: Public (No, I have no idea what they do).

Let’s click the “Publish” button again: Up comes a window through which you select the document and I chose my book. Up comes a message box:

Do you understand the Scribd Terms of Service and Copyright Policy, and confirm that you uploading of this material complies with those policies and does not violate anyone’s rights?

Well, honestly I haven’t seen the Scribd Terms of Service and Copyright Policy, and if I was a criminal I probably wouldn’t care. After all, even if a user violated any copyrights by uploading the document, Scribd would not be able to point to the perpetrator. You just click OK and, provided the user didn’t have the rights to upload the document, the crime has been committed. It is as easy as that.

I am sure there are some good ones out there, but I stay with my statement when it comes to the majority of literary agents. As a business man I am appalled by the lack of business sense these people display to the public, especially when it comes to rejecting writers not because they’re not talented but due to primitive reason such as violation of the submission guidelines.

As a background information, I started writing technical literature in 2005 and I never even considered going through an application process; I jumped immediately into self-publishing and my business, Copperhill Media , is now officially a micro-publisher with distribution through Ingram. I have just published my first novel, The Bleeding Hills. I self-publish simply because I just don’t have the patience to look for the right agent and find the right publisher, a process that usually takes years before your work is published. The whole process is extremely ineffective and it does not fit with my sense for business.

I developed my case against literary agents after reading my most-favorite useless magazine, Writer’s Digest. Well, maybe not so useless, since the content convinced me that their preference for established publishing did not agree with me.

Okay, back to the agents… The September 2009 issue of Writer’s Digest includes an article Real Queries That Worked, sub-titled Agents share queries that hooked them – and insights on what made them effective. A remark for the novice: In order to find an agent - Writer’s Digest will gladly sell you a list – you need to submit not only your manuscript – or an excerpt thereof – but also a synopsis, which all makes sense. Through the query – in layman’s terms a cover letter – you need to convince the agent that your novel is the best thing since, let’s say, The Da Vinci Code. There are services - Writer’s Digest will gladly sell you a list – that will write you such a letter, and, naturally, they would like to be paid for it.

Wait a minute, you might say. Isn’t that like writing a cover letter that you include with your resume? The answer is, yes, the process is very similar. I know out of experience that many HR professionals, sitting in front of a pile of resumes submitted by hundreds of people applying for the same job, start their selection process by merely scanning over the cover letter. If they don’t like it, it’s out. After that they look at the remaining resumes and actually check for job qualification. Apparently, literary agents work very similar.

In all consequence, writing a professional looking author query is important, and it makes sense to hire a professional service to help increase your chances.

So, what’s wrong about this process? Okay, first of all, submitting a cover letter with your resume or submitting an author’s query with a manuscript are two very different things. An HR professional looks for one – the best – person to fill a particular job, and, naturally, competition is tough.

A literary agent may end up with the same number of queries on his/her desk, but in the end each of these applications could bring them the next John Grisham, Stephen King, or Dan Brown. Add to this that each query is submitted by a potential customer who, with the sale of the first book, shares his/her income with the agent. This being said, wouldn’t it make sense to read the query regardless of appearance or if it complies with submission guidelines?

As a business man I would concentrate on the synopsis and make the educated decision whether or not the submission has enough potential for another bestseller. I believe in looking at the actual result of the artist’s work.

The Writer’s Digest article mentions the example of an actual query praised by a real agent, saying “…I was hooked and knew I wanted to read…” the author’s work.

Let me quote from the letter: “I believe this book to be of broad public appeal in that it combines the scintillating fervor of scandal with the true-to-life detachment of history.” It goes on like this – in best lawyer’s English – and, honestly, if his work is written in the same style I personally wouldn’t want to read it – it doesn’t read like, let’s say, Dan Brown. It did, however, convince the agent, and, apparently it doesn’t matter if the letter reflects the writer’s style or not.

Well, maybe I still got it wrong and agents just prefer to receive a clear and precise synopsis, but will nevertheless have a look at the manuscript.

It also seems that agents are increasingly using “modern” technologies such as … e-mail! Some of them ask only for information without the actual manuscript. Many agents need to be convinced first that the writer can prove a writing experience, can provide a marketing plan, has won several prizes in writing contest, etc.

Personally, I have not won any prizes – didn’t even attend any contest – but, yes, I do have a precise marketing plan. With a good marketing plan in place, why go through an agent and publisher? If you need to provide the expertise, why not publish yourself?

Let me add to my case by quoting some agents’ comments as listed in the September 2009 issue of Writer’s Digest:

- We prefer a (e-mail) query before you send us your ms (Manuscript)…Queries sent with attachments will be deleted unread.

- Only (written) queries with SASEs will receive responses. I generally respond to all queries within four weeks. I now accept e-mail submissions, please include my name in the subject line. (Meaning that person is new to Internet technologies and receives e-mail through another source.)

- Allow 60 days for a reply.

-  All submissions should be free of spelling and grammatical errors. (Duh!)

- Due to overwhelming number of submissions we cannot respond to all submissions, we cannot respond to all queries, but we do read them and will contact you if interested. (If not, they don’t bother to respond.)

-  If she’s interested in your work, she will respond within four weeks. Snail mail submissions will not be reviewed.

- If you haven’t heard from her within eight weeks, please assume she is passing on your project. (Now, that reflects an attitude I wouldn’t want to deal with as a writer.)

- I always welcome submissions from new authors. Follow the submission guidelines on the agency website. (Oops! That’s a good one! This is how it should be!)

- Agent responds in six to eight weeks.

It goes on like this.

Anyways, here are some tips on selecting an agent:

- Check out the agent’s web site. Doesn’t have one? Don’t even bother dealing with him/her.

- Check the web site for submission guidelines and see if you like it.

- Is there a procedure in place? You would not only like to know what is important to them, but also what they will do for you. After all, you are the customer.

As usual, if you feel the urge leave a comment, whether you agree with me or not. I’d like to hear from you.

In the following I am referring to the March/April 2009 issue, page 11, which contains a full-page advertisement by Outskirts Press. In the ad, Joseph De Sena, author of four children’s books, is quoted as follows: “I have published three children’s books with Outskirts Press and I can say without reservation that each experience has been a pleasure. The quality of each book was spectacular. I am writing my fourth children’s book and Outskirts Press will be handling all the publishing details. I couldn’t be happier.”

Good for him! However, let’s do a reality check. As of today I found four of his books on Amazon.com. Three of them come with a price tag of $19.95. His latest publication is priced at $27.95. Needless to say, but this kind of price range, in view of the competitive market, makes it almost impossible to sell the books, and it shows in the sales ranks.

Outskirts Press is a Vanity Publisher!

Per definition, Outskirts Press is a Vanity Publisher, i.e. a business that publishes books at the author’s expense. A Vanity Publisher does not have any interest in the success of the authors they represent. Their main income comes from the multitude of aspiring authors who choose to publish through businesses like Outskirts Press.

Self-Publishing children’s literature through Outskirts Press or any other Vanity Publisher, in my very personal opinion, is a lose-lose situation. Initially, you, the author, pay substantial fees to Outskirts Press to have your book published. Then you have no choice but to set a high sales price per book, which limits your chances for success substantially. In order to make any profit you need to set the sales price above printing costs. Let’s assume you spent about $1,000 with Outskirts Press (You can easily end up much higher than that). Let’s further assume your sales price includes a mere $2.00 profit for you, the author. In order to reach a return of investment you need to sell 500 copies. This may sound easy, but, yet again, it is impossible with a price tag of $19.95 for a children’s book.

Let’s have a detailed look at Mr. De Sena’s “The Love Bug And The Light Of Love”:
Pages: 64
Price: $19.95
Sales Rank: #3,127,942 in Books (as of October 19, 2009)

The sales rank indicates that Mr. De Sena sells in the neighborhood between 1 to 2 books per month – if that much – through Amazon.

64 pages in full color translates into printing costs of a little over $8.00. Again, let’s do some math: Let’s assume the printing costs are exactly $8.00. Also, let’s assume Outskirts Press grants a 55% resale discount to Amazon (A 55% discount is standard in the industry). This makes for a minimum sales price of $17.78 with no profit added. Going with Mr. De Sena’s $19.95 price tag, he makes a profit of $2.17 per book. In reality, the profit is closer to $2.00, since the print costs will be higher than $8.00.

It also struck me as strange that two of Mr. De Sena’s books come with a single customer 5-star-rating written by either Mr. De Sena himself, or his illustrator, Mr. Dennis Anfuso. (A word for Mr. De Sena: First, ask friends to write a review. Secondly, Amazon provides a blog service enabling authors writing about their books.)

All books, but one, show rankings above 2,000,000. His book “Little Sammy Sunshine And The Frightful Forest”, published in October 2008, has not sold a single copy through Amazon as of October 19, 2009.

Let me say that I am well aware how difficult it is to market and sell a book, especially fiction and children’s literature. I also believe, judging by the books’ titles and the nice illustrations, that Mr. De Sena is a talented writer. Unfortunately, Mr. De Sena trusted Outskirts Press, and he has spent a substantial amount of money (I assume a minimum of $4,000, probably  more). The way it looks at this moment, he will never make any profit, and to emphasize it again, his only mistake was to trust a Vanity Publisher like Outskirts Press. For his sake I hope they gave him a break by appearing in their ad.

Shame on Outskirts Press to come up with a misleading advertisement like this, and shame on Writer’s Digest to cooperate with the sharks in the publishing business.

A tip for children’s literature authors: Do not self-publish!

Self-publishing involves Print-On-Demand (POD), which allows the print of small volumes. However, compared to the traditional offset-printing process, POD printing costs are higher. This is especially true for books with colored interior, and children’s literature is usually colored. The POD printing costs for children’s literature will automatically push you outside a competitive range in a market where children’s books are priced significantly lower. The traditional offset-printing process, however, demands a print-run of several thousands of books before it becomes profitable, and this can only be accomplished by going through an established publisher.

What to do?

Unfortunately, there is no universal recipe to resolve the dilemma. My first advice would be to go the conventional way of looking for a literary agent, who, if sufficient, will find you a publisher. However, finding a literary agent can be a similar loose-loose situation. The process can be extremely cumbersome and may cost you as much as going through a Vanity Publisher. You will need to live with a great number of rejections. Just think of the many rejections Stephenie Meyer went before here novel Twilight was accepted.

An additional path to success could also be to create a blog web site where you should start writing about your work and related topics. A blog is something that every author, regardless of success or not, should have. In case you can’t find a literary agents or a publisher, you might want to go the extreme way and publish your work on your web site or blog for free. Again, it may be extreme, but, after all, your work will be read, and you create a reputation that may help you with your next work. It doesn’t help when your book is listed on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, but nobody buys and reads it. Also, be aware that by going with a Vanity Publisher like Outskirts Press you are tagged as a self-publisher, and agents and established publishing businesses, with very few exceptions, don’t like authors who previously self-published.

Leave a comment

Naturally, I cannot be the source of all wisdom in the self-publishing business. If you have comments, whether in favor or not, please feel free to leave them here by responding to my article. I don’t take criticism personally. My only request is to keep a civil tone, otherwise I will take the liberty of blocking comments that use explicit language.