ThankGodI.com - You pay to take a course to get pubbed?!?!

[angelahoy]

THIS WAS SUBMITTED TO WRITERSWEEKLY BY EMAIL. IT CONTAINS AN EMAIL FROM THANKGODI.COM TO A POTENTIAL BOOK CONTRIBUTOR ALONG WITH THE WRITER'S RESPONSE:

Amanda Kroetsch <thankgodibooks@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear [name removed for publication],

We are not asking you to "pay" us to publish your piece. We are asking
interested authors to pay for the "thankfulness course" and have made it
mandatory that all authors who are serious about being a part of this
incredible book series commit to working with us to make sure that their
story comes from a place of deep and profound gratitude. It is a
necessary part of the process that we ensure the stories are congruent
with the message we are sending with the series.

If, even after the course, we decide not to publish your story, which we
reserve the right to turn down at anytime, you will receive a full
refund!

Those whose stories are published will be repaid tenfold in residuals plus
the business they will generate from including a bio, website and contact
info at the end of their story.

If you would like to speak with me on the telephone, I would be more than
happy to go over the details at great length, but please remember we are
only accepting 1500 submissions and of those only 1270 will be published
and it is first come first serve. We are not as interested in how well you
can write as we are in how well you can bring your reader to tears of
gratitude! We have a team of editors that will work with all of our
authors on the technical aspects of writing.

--
Warmly with Love & Gratitude,

Amanda Kroetsch & John Castagnini
ThankGodI.com

SMART WRITER RESPONDS TO THANKGODI.COM!

So just to make sure we're on the same page, I'll give you another
analogy.

I have to 'take a course' to ensure that my writing and story is
'worthy' of being published in your series of books.

I can't do that as a writer? My writing skills, and the story itself,
does not paint enough of a picture that I have to enrol in a (mandatory)
course to get published?

Are you high?

You are essentially telling prospective writers to take a course to
learn how to write for your publication.

That's like telling Wayne Gretzky, the greatest ever hockey player that
he needs to go to hockey school to play at an elite level.

It looks like you are using the financial services model of taking this
endeavour 'public' and have the authors fund the cost of the book, and you
generate a 'dividend' in the form of a measly 1%.

How about a Math lesson. 1500 submissions at $150 US per submission =
$225,000.00 US. That's a lot of seed money.

I'm not down with this arrangement but I do have a story for you.

Here's my story...

Thank God I... am not an idiot to fund your books. Scam someone else.

Good Day.