Shorts stories & Creepypastas

Don't trust Blood Feather editions

Writing has always been my passion. The very reason for existing, in my eyes. But it's really difficult to break into this field. That's why I had opted for self-publishing. It was simple. I decided on the pace at which I should release books and I almost touched the entire price. The only problem was the lack of visibility. I couldn't do proper advertising for my books. So obviously, I struggled to sell them, despite very good feedback from my few readers. The best solution I had found for my budget was word of mouth. But it wasn't enough.

Of course, I had offers from publishers. Houses that asked for a fee of 2000€ to publish my books. In other words, nice scams. I was running out of inspiration because all of this was bothering me.

I hadn't written for a good two months when I saw an advertisement on the internet.

"Correction, proofreading, publishing, and distribution without losing a cent on the price of your book. Trust Blood Feather editions."

The promise seemed too good to be true. I knew perfectly well that for a publication in a publishing house, an author only earned about 5% on their sales. The rest had to be shared between the publishing, the proofreaders, the printing, the advertising, and possible illustrators. Even being self-published, I didn't earn the full amount. Still, I clicked on the link, after taking a screenshot, to see if I could find evidence of their scam on their site, and possibly sue them for false advertising. With such a promise, I was sure to win. However, their site completely supported this. There were no small lines at the bottom to ensure the opposite. It seemed too easy to me. How could a publishing house publish authors for free, without taking any percentages?

I know I shouldn't have, but I decided to call the displayed number. It didn't ring for long and a deep, slow voice was heard on the receiver.

"Blood Feather editions, at your service."

"Uh... hello..."

"Hello miss. How can I help you?"

"Well... I found your site. And I didn't really understand everything. You claim that the author will earn the full amount of their sales. Except that's impossible. Where's the catch?"

"(laughs softly) There's no catch, my dear. A happy soul is all we want in return."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You will be happy to become known thanks to your writings, won't you?"

"Well... yes."

"And that's all we want."

"It can't be that simple. How can you pay the proofreaders? The illustrators? The printer?"

"This project is ambitious but pleases many people. See us more as an association than as a real company. All these people are volunteers, in a way. Our goal is to revalue literature in a world where, unfortunately, it is very mistreated."

"I can't contradict you on that point..."

"So, are you interested?"

Of course, the offer was tempting. But I remained skeptical. How could I fall into such an easy trap?

"What exactly is going to happen? Are you going to steal all my money? Hack my data? Or steal my texts?"

"Oh, I see. You've already had to deal with this kind of scam, haven't you? I can't blame you. However, we have a very strict way of doing things that proves that we do nothing of the sort. How about doing a test without a contract, to try. Propose a text that doesn't matter too much to you and you'll see. It will become a best-seller in less than a month."

"A month? Sorry, but I believe in it even less."

"I understand. But think about it. It may be your only chance. We have a copyright system with a notary that you can meet if you wish. As for the payment, you won't have to give us any bank details. We will send you everything by check. If you like the service, then we can consider... signing a contract."