[Coaching] The Author Incubator

I came across this "author development" (not sure what else to call it) service today, and I didn't see a thread here for it. https://theauthorincubator.com/

It bills itself as a high-end and exclusive vocational school for authors of non-fic inspirational and self-improvement books that help readers. If you are accepted via their application procedure, it looks as though they connect you to a team of "coaches, healers and consultants" to help you develop your book and publish it "within three months" and perhaps within 48 hours of when you finish writing it. Mention is made of online courses led by the team. No indication of tuition or fees.

They claim that their books are designed to achieve $250,000 in client revenue (and they make some pretty starry-eyed claims), and report they have over 800 graduates of their program who have written over 1000 books.

Soooooo.... on to what I've found on them in 30 minutes research:

Their older titles are published by Morgan James Publishing (AW thread here--it's a pay-to-publish vanity press) and their newer titles by The Difference Press (https://differencepress.com/), which their website states up front is the publishing arm of The Author Incubator. I think most of us familiar with the business will stop reading here.

Of the five books I looked at on Amazon, all were ranked well over one million in sales ranking, and none had more than a couple dozen reviews. Those that did had very superficial "Loved it! Amazing!" five-star reviews. Even more suspect? I looked at the posting dates on the reviews of two of the more highly-reviewed titles. The reviews (all 5-star, of course) centered on certain dates over the course of six months. One had about six 5-star reviews posted on the same day, with several others posted within a few more days. Most reviews were posted years ago, with few or no reviews posted recently for books out more than a year or two.

Unless someone convinces me otherwise, I'll chalk this one up to a vanity press posing as an author service.

The name sounded familiar, and both of you keyed in on it, so here is more about Marianne Williamson from her website and Wikipedia page. I remember now she ran for president briefly. I don't know what other relationship she might have with Author Incubator (they publish more than just her books, but the books of Dr Angela Lauria, the founder, are displayed prominently).

And then there's this: https://selfpublishing.com/author-incubator/ [Keep in mind this site at the end tries to sell you on the Self-Publishing School] This site provides more information, including the $15,000 to $35,000 packages. I noted too that Author Incubator was vague on whether or not they publish the book, or if they only coach, but with all the books I looked at published either vanity or by AI's publishing arm, it seems technically they don't publish, but instead the author needs to pay again for publication. I also noted how "entrepreneurs" was used throughout the AI site,and it looks like you have to have a business or be seriously on the road to starting one to be accepted. I suppose then you could cough up the fees as part of your business plan. Smart move on AI's part; better chance of seeing payment than if you were targetting someone wanting to publish their family genealogy for grandpa's 100th birthday. However, based on the titles I've seen, unless your business is "author," "self publisher" or "life coach" the books don't have much of a business angle.

ETA: No hits on Writer Beware, but a google of "Author Incubator Scam" turns up a hefty number of hits. However, the Washingtonian article (reputable local interest mag) was pretty starry-eyed despite being upfront about the costs.