Self Defense for Writers — Avoiding Predatory Publishers

Photo by Andrew Mantarro on Unsplash

Many years ago I was young and desperate to be a writer. I wasn’t remotely ready yet (I was in my thirties before I developed the maturity and staying power).

I got an offer to publish some of my poetry. There wasn’t any pay, but I was young and desperate and thought it might lead to great things. Not to put too nice a face on it: I got scammed. It wasn’t that…