Webooks

1. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

   Has anyone heard of this company? They are at http://www.webooks.co.uk
   
   They are looking for writers to write articles related to the subjects of their book titles and they say they are aligned with How To Books out of Oxford. However, there is no mention of them on How To Books website; Webooks provides PDF's of their books.
   
   I don't want to write a couple of articles for them and find out they are illegally providing copies of another publishers books or that they are trying to scam people somehow. And I can't email How To Books because they say their email is not working. A few things made me suspicious: they have AdSense ads on the book pages, I can't access the copyright page, and How To Books doesn't mention them.
   
   I found the job listed on Craigslist and I've never applied for anything through them before. They say they will pay 20 pounds per article after you write a couple for them. I have to provide them with a couple of article ideas and my CV. Am I being too suspicious?

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   1. 67

      Bonnie Ramseyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      You have every right to be suspicious! Just because something is listed on craigslist doesn't mean it is legitimate. I have heard about many scams that have been listed there. The fact that they claim to be aligned with How To Books but there is no mention of them on the How To Books site would be a red flag to me.  The ads would also make me suspicious on a book page and the fact that you can't access the copyright page as well. It sounds like your intuition is working well in this situation!
      
      Bonnie

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   2. 51

      howtobooksposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Hi there,
      
      My name is Chris McVeigh and I work for How To Books.
      
      No need to be suspicious - WeBooks IS a new joint venture that we have recently started with a tech partner. The sites that have launched are Beta test sites and we are soft launching them (without any huge PR push) until we iron out some of the cracks. That's the reason why some of the links etc dont work.
      
      Coincidentally shortly after the sites went live our main office experienced major tech problems and our email system was out for almost 2 weeks. Thankfully we are now back up and running.
      
      I appreciate your concern and I will make sure the issues you raised are addressed at once.
      
      You can visit our main site at www.howtobooks.co.uk and you can email me at chris@howtobooks.co.uk if you have any further queries.
      
      Thanks.
      
      Chris.

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      1. 88

         Dorsiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for stopping by and letting us know this- I signed up for WeBooks too, I have a book in progress so I'll be checking it out.

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2. 65

   Mishaposted 15 years ago

   No working email? Forget it!

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3. 61

   Gawn Fishin'posted 15 years ago

   They probably have the right to reject any articles you do send them, so why the article ideas free?  Are they listed as affiliates by the Oxford University in England?  I would be cautious.

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4. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

   Thanks Chris

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   1. 61

      Gawn Fishin'posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Under the circumstances, you had every right to be suspicious Uninvited Writer.  This thread is the only reason you found the truth.  Good job!

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5. 71

   Shirley Andersonposted 15 years ago

   I was looking at an online book a couple of nights ago.  The title was something like, Write A Book A Month, though I don't think that was the title.  Anyway, she supported the use of WeBooks as an expedient way to get published and sell your book online.
   
   I've never wanted to get into self publishing, so I didn't dig any further.  Anyway, you got your answer, Susan, and straight from the source - you attract important people.

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6. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

   I'm just interested in writing their articles based around the books, not the books themselves

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   1. 71

      Shirley Andersonposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I noticed you mentioned articles, so I think I'll check the link you posted.  Thx for doing that by the way.

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