psst! research before endorsing!

Attention, Big-Name authors who feel compelled to tout a writing-related product or service: Stop. Think. Research. At least check to make sure you are not endorsing something well-meaning but clueless, if not utterly predatory. Lesser authors look up to you. They may even believe you. Do you want to disappoint them?

Now, if you know there’s a problem with the company and you endorse it anyway, that’s on your karma.

Added 11/24/2015: Now, I’m not going to directly name the author and the writing-related service that inspired this post. I’ve already done so, on another forum.

‘Display sites’ can be huge and wonderful places, full of learning opportunities and camaraderie among fellow writers. They can also be traps for the unwary. Even if you aren’t asked to pay money to publish through one of these sites, you may still be contributing to the site’s financial well-being through blog hits, ad revenue, or for-profit publishing of your work (without any payback to you!)

I like Wattpad, but I don’t expect to make a fortune off my work there. I love AbsoluteWrite and Archive of Our Own. AO3 holds fairly firm on its nonprofit status. AW’s allowance of targeted Google ads means that some very dicey publisher ads can pop up on the pages. Often with the appearance of approval from AW’s owner (who can’t do anything about Google ads but run a disclaimer, or she’ll have to charge for access.)

Here’s a good bad example of a display site that has been trolling members of FF.net (another major fanfiction site), and why it may be bad news for some writers who take the bait.

Back to my original point: just because Big-Name Author endorses something, don’t take their word for it. Do your own research.