Just a short public service announcement today.
There is a new website called Camino Publications. I do not want to share their website here, because it is fraught with complication and duplicity.
They are offering publication and all the guidelines are vague at best as well as deceiving. If you’re a writer with a book about or set on the Camino, do your due diligence before getting involved with this company. Sketchy is a kind way of describing them.
They are ‘promoting’ Camino books from all over the world…in the worst possible way. Their book ‘recommendations’ come off in the worst possible light. You have to read on a separate page that the books they’re displaying are not, in fact, their own creations.
Unless your book actually appears on their site…then you absolutely KNOW they are in no way affiliated with it.
People have pointed out the incongruities, but they do not seem to care.
Anyway, here’s my book among a group of other books on the front page of their website and on their Facebook banner:
If you look closely, you will see THEIR LOGO on the bottom of each of these books that they have absolutely nothing to do with.
Imagine my fury.
I asked them to cease and desist with this absolute and utter bullshit.
Here is their response:
“no problem at all, it was an AI produced image, thank you for pointing this out. Your book will also be removed from our recommended reads list and our forthcoming advertising campaign of Recommended Camino Reads with YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. I read your book personally, I thought it was a great read, such a shame you don’t want Camino Publications to promote it.”
If you’re a Camino author whose book is on their site, I suggest you take the same action I took. It sounds like they’re about to cross media post all these books with no real clear explanation that they did not in fact publish the books.
I ask you what is more important—the fact that you may get some un-asked for publicity for your book in this manner, or that we stop some unsuspecting as yet unpublished Camino author from being roped in to publishing their book with this company…a company they will think published all the Camino books they’re ‘advertising’?
There are lots of scams out there just waiting for vulnerable writers to fall into. Get all the facts before you do anything.
Traditional publishers do NOT CHARGE THE WRITER ANY FEES. Vanity publishers DO CHARGE FEES. Quite often, scam publishers will disguise themselves as one or the other of these two entities.
This ‘publisher’ has been live since July and quite a few people attempted to explain what is wrong and unethical with their site. Note that their are no names and they are completely hiding their identity. They only use Camino Publications as their username on Facebook and they’ve been ask to reveal the people behind the name, to no avail.
BUYER BEWARE. Sometimes staying unpublished is better than being taken for a ride or even being badly published.
They also call themselves NON-PROFIT. What is that about? So many RED FLAGS.
IMAGINE PUTTING YOUR LOGO ON TOP OF BOOKS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU. I HAVE NOW SEEN IT ALL!
What absolute fuckery.
KEVIN CRAIG 