[YADS] Inkitt

Janet Reid is apoplectic about them mining her blog comments for targets. These guys are really something else.

YIKES.

Elaine, that was fun... I like it when Janet gets cranky!

I for fun checked my spam folder, cause I occasionally have commented on QS and low and behold, there was ol Marvin, inviting me to sub my novel.... and I'm an ILLUSTRATOR!!! Yeah, that email list is researched well, haha!

Monty Python playing in my head now

Inkitt is claiming a book of theirs hit an Amazon bestseller list. Is this notable?

Are they specifying which list? Placement?

Knowing nothing but the question, the answer is quite likely "No."

I tend to protect my privacy fiercely. Well, as fiercely as I can. The main drawback is that almost nobody can find me on twitter or facebook (not even real-life friends or family). The main advantage? I don't get spammed. LOL!

I tend to check out the privacy settings on my social media quite often to ensure that my accounts are being secured as much as possible. Then again, I have to add a disclaimer: if the spammers were determined and skillful enough, they could still hack into my accounts - hasn't happened yet, but you never know.

Samsonet said:

Inkitt is claiming a book of theirs hit an Amazon bestseller list. Is this notable?

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Even if it was a list that would be impressive (so not the something really obscure with only ten books in it), their model is to test the waters with their display site first. They know if the author has a following and is good at self-promotion. Inkitt's model is the persuade people in this situation that they really need Inkitt in the middle taking a cut of the profits.

It only becomes notable if they're regularly selling a lot of books by authors who wouldn't sell on their own. But if that was true, it still wouldn't make the other concerns go away. A publisher can have good sales numbers and still be shady.

Plus, in the end, the publishing industry doesn't recognize a #1 on an Amazon list. The three legitimate sources for sales rankings that I can think of off the top of my head are New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today.

Alcasgra said:

I tend to protect my privacy fiercely. Well, as fiercely as I can. The main drawback is that almost nobody can find me on twitter or facebook (not even real-life friends or family). The main advantage? I don't get spammed. LOL!

I tend to check out the privacy settings on my social media quite often to ensure that my accounts are being secured as much as possible. Then again, I have to add a disclaimer: if the spammers were determined and skillful enough, they could still hack into my accounts - hasn't happened yet, but you never know.

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That's not how Inkitt spam works. They're not hacking accounts, they're searching on key words.

Helix said:

That's not how Inkitt spam works. They're not hacking accounts, they're searching on key words.

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Damn! I must really suck at self-promotion. Haha! I honestly have no idea what the usual keywords are. I don't even know about hashtags until my boyfriend, who's like 12 years younger than me, has explained it to me. LOL! I seriously need to get on with the times.

Filigree said:

'We have maths and statistics we don't understand! We spam people like it's 1999! Trust us with your book!'

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This is doing the rounds on Reddit today too. They've set up a fairly active presence there.

I hope no-one there gets taken in.

Inkitt mentioned me in a tweet today. Apparently I'm one of the top 100 indie authors to watch out for in 2017 except that I don't have any self-published works. They've even put out a blog about the top 100.

I'm not sure what the angle is.

Well, at least you got acknowledged.

Samsonet said:

Well, at least you got acknowledged.

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Ha!

Earlier today I received this Direct Message to my Twitter account:

Marvin Wey sent you a Direct Message.
Hey Lisa, I just launched a free novel contest where the winner gets offered a publishing deal and I'd be ready to pay up to 15$ per writer that you referred and that enters the contest (inkitt.com/novelcontest). Is that something you'd be interested in discussing further? I'd be happy to set up a quick call. Best, Marvin

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• Asking me to pimp a contest for pay says a lot about Inkitt.
• This is not the behavior of a reputable trade publisher.
• You don't see Penguin, or Random House or Tor or Farrar Strauss and Giraux or Knopf or W. W. Norton or or or ... doing this.

I've blocked him.

AW Admin said:

Earlier today I received this Direct Message to my Twitter account:

• Asking me to pimp a contest for pay says a lot about inkitt.
• This is not the behavior of a reputable trade publisher.
• You don't see Penguin, or Random House or Tor or Farrar Strauss and Giraux or Knopf or W. W. Norton or or or ... doing this.

I've blocked him.

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Sheesh. I had thought they were just incompetent, but now I'm starting to think they are actually predatory. Their ads pop up in my FB feed pretty regularly and the content waiting on the other end is not very good, plus the "contest" always seems misrepresented.

Yeah, I noticed an ad today and came here to look it up. I don't have anything to send them yet, but was interested nonetheless.

I have got to learn to check here before I dive too deep.

Came across their "contest" from another source (one that I once trusted, but will have to review) and started their submission process. Then, I watched their tutorial and realized they wanted my whole MS uploaded and formatted with a cover image and they would make it publicly available on their site.

Oh, hell no. Not in a million years.

I had a similar situation as Myrealana did, with it coming up on my Facebook feed, but after dealing with "publishers" inquiring about my book for a fee for years, I am quite leery about such companies. If it comes to anything in the writing industry, I check Absolute Write first every time.

WD sent me an announcement from Inkitt and made it sound pretty legit. Feedback anyone?

Proceed with extreme caution, when it comes to things promoted by Writer's Digest. There can be some good, useful info...but their bottom line is selling ads for companies who sell services and products to writers, not necessarily helping writers write.

They actually used to do some vetting on the entries for their ads and annual guides to publishing. Now they pretty much accept anybody who'll fill out the form, Publish America/America Star appearing in a recent edition.

The last time I looked at a WD (within the last year), I saw ads for questionable companies throughout the magazine. Inkitt is not the worst, either.

Kind of sad to see Writers Digest going that way. They still have some good resources, but yeah... allowing in advertising that preys on hope, fear and anxiety from vulnerable writers that just want their work to be read is... not so cool.