Today, I’m supposed to be writing a genealogy column, sizing up a cover for a self-published author and helping two other authors self-publish their books, but I can’t continue with these tasks until I write this post.
I seldom – almost never – sign out of my WordPress account, so I have no idea what the site looks like to visitors. Imagine my surprise when I signed out today to update the site for an organisation I perform secretary duties for and found THIS!
Less than a week ago, I read the Writer Beware’s post Publishers Weekly Includes Two Vanity Publishers In Its List Of Fast-Growing Independent Presses, which clearly stated, Austin MacAuley Publishing’s “business model is largely built on author fees”.
In other words, authors pay big bucks to see their book in print. Usually – almost always – these are at seriously inflated prices. These companies often create other problems for authors, too, so they should be avoided.
Please, read the article by Writer Beware and become informed about the devils on the doorstep of publishing, waiting for new writers to make a deal and sign a horrible contract. They might serenade you with a fiddle, but be they in Georgia or Newfoundland, their goal is to make money off of authors, not make money for authors.
Avoid them at all cost.
Although WordPress offers ad-free upgrades to a site, I am not currently financially capable of paying this fee. I already pay WordPress to have domain names for three sites, and the added $48 a year per site is just too much right now. But it is a future goal.
Still, I wrote to WordPress and told them about my disappointment with their ad choices. Here is what I wrote.
I know ads generate income for WordPress, but I am angry an ad for a company that abuses authors is posted to my site. I help authors avoid these scam companies and it infuriates me that Austin MacAuley Publishing Ltd. is promoted on my site.
I intend to write a strongly worded post denouncing this ad and that I do not support them. I will also have a permanent note about their unscrupulous practices posted to my site.
You can read more about Austin Macauley Publishing at Writer Beware: https://accrispin.blogspot.ca/2018/04/publishers-weekly-includes-two-vanity.html
I demand you do not post this ad to my site again.
Thank you. Diane
Whether they will ban the ad from my site or not, I don’t know. However, this blog post will tell visitors today about my NOT endorsing these ads. I’ll also post something in the margin to tell readers in the future after this post gets bumped down.
Are you like me and never sign out of your WordPress account, so you never see the ads visitors to your site see? If you see ads you disagree with, what do you do?
…and now it’s back to my genealogy column and sizing up the cover for PASSING IT ON before PASSING ON by H. L. Foster, M.Ed., which will be released in a few days. Then onto other work.
Diana Tibert 
Oh my, I NEVER sign out so I have no idea what’s showing in those ad spots. Thanks so much for the heads up – I’m now off to sign out and take a look!
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I never think to sign out because it is so convenient to always be logged in. I hope to have the site ad free by the end of summer. In the meantime, the disclaimer stays, and wherever I see that ad, I report it. It’s simple. One click.
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Well done, Diane! The ‘big boys’ dictate where way too much of our so-called royalties go to start with…. I have typed a few comments on sites recently to have them ‘overpowered’ by full-page ads thereby deleting my typing. It’s frustrating to say the least..
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Thanks, Joy. I really dislike ads/commercials. It’s one reason I stopped watching television. When I’m listening to the radio in my truck, I switch stations when commercials come on. I find most commercials/ads are lying right to our face, and I want none of it.
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Good for you Diane fighting back on shady ads. I’m self hosted so I don’t have that problem at least. And ironically, there is no ad on this post of yours. Did you scare them away? Lol 🙂
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Debby, thanks for visiting. I don’t think I’ve scared them away, but maybe they are listening. Hopefully, I’ll be ad free here by the end of summer.
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You go girl! It seems we’re always having to fight back on something these days. We have to speak up to keep from being steamrolled.
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You are so right. I’m waiting for the day to leave all the battles behind to fish in the morning, garden in the afternoon and write in the evening.
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What a dream! 🙂
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The only time I’m ‘out’ of WP is when I do a cookie-cleanup, but I will check next time … and recently I installed AdBlock because the ads, everywhere, were getting ridiculous, so I don’t see too many of them anymore … the disclaimer is a great idea. 🙂
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I recall years ago, there was something to block pop-up ads. It worked great, so great that people stopped using it because many sites now have pop-up ads. That includes pop-up windows to get you to sign up to email newsletters. I find them very annoying. I’ve even avoided sites that make that window pop-up on every page even after I’ve Xed it out.
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Diane, all I did was to take a screen shot of an offending ad and send it to them with a polite request to remove it from my blog. They responded quickly and it was removed.
In your case, hopefully a simple explanation would be all they would need to inform them of the situation regarding that publisher.
Have a good day.
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Hello, Lynn. That’s what WP asked for. There was no way to attach one, so that was why I didn’t the first time. Thanks for visiting.
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Hi Diane, I recently had a fight with WP over ads appearing in my sidebar as well [my theme has 2 sidebars]. Like you, I was furious, esp. as the ad. on the Chrome browser was either for soft porn or a dating site. The money grab has become relentless, and like you, I can’t afford to pay what amounts to ‘protection’ money to keep the ads from my site.
If you don’t get any joy from WP Support, I strongly suggest going to the WordPress forum and posting about your problem there. Best of luck.
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Acflory, I haven’t seen them in my sidebar. I’ll have to sign out more often and view my sites as visitors do. Porn and dating sites would enrage me. Money grab for ad protection is one way to look at it.
Thanks for the tip about the forum. I’ll check it out.
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Hopefully you won’t get the sidebar ad. as you’ve only got one sidebar. And yes, check the forum out. I left a most unhappy post there and a lot of other WP users joined in. We didn’t ‘win’ but at least we protested.
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Sharing the experience spreads the word, and eventually, if enough people don’t like it, maybe things will change.
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Exactly. It’s time that the big tech companies realise that they are seriously on the nose with their high-handed attitudes towards users. 😦
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Feeling your pain! I can totally relate to this feeling! WordPress put some HIDEOUS ads at the end of mine–nasty cheap companies like smarmy predatory lenders that make me GAG. If I had known that such tripe would be appearing at the end of my otherwise stunning blogs (I adore WordPress’ templates etc), I would have never chosen WordPress–I originally chose them over Blogger and other competitors because their look was so shiny, sleek, and professional, whereas Bloggers looked all cheap and nasty. But if WordPress is going to use cheap and nasty ads, well, that defeats my whole purpose for being here!
I went ahead and sprang for the upgrade on my professional site, because I simply can’t have such filth marring my professional reputation (how embarrassing that I hadn’t noticed the ads sooner), but on all of my other blogs, you will now see the following disclaimer at the end of every single blog post:
“PLEASE NOTE: any videos or images appearing after my signature were placed there by WordPress. These ads are not visible to me, so I cannot endorse them.”
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I love WordPress’ flexibility and templates, too. I recommend them to others looking to set up a website.
I’ve been running this site since 2011, and the few ads I saw were by reputable companies. Obviously, I haven’t checked for a long time. It is embarrassing to have such trash advertised on my site as if I put it there. This particular company goes against everything I talk about.
The disclaimer after every post going forward is a great idea. I’ll have to add it. But for the 7 years of old posts, I’ll add something to the margin.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
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I see what you did the fiddle and Georgia part 😉
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Gene, you got me! I love the song and must sing it when I hear it.
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Fortunately for me I can afford a self-hosted WordPress account so the only ads on my sites are ones I put there (few of them). It’s a sad state of affairs that WordPress.com would run such an ad. Good luck on getting them to dump it.
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John, I hope to be just as fortunate as you by 2019 as things slowly change in my life. I assume, though it might be my first mistake, that WordPress might not know how authors feel about this company. My fingers are crossed they will listen to me.
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