I’ve written here before about the unethically close relationship between Writer’s Digest and it’s vanity press advertisers. Now whatever blurry line there might have been between the magazine and the vanity press industry has been completely erased. The transformation of WD into a shill for the vanity press industry is complete. I got this email from WD today:
The 6th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition Collection. This exclusive collection published by Trafford Publishing contains the top twenty-five winning entries of the 6th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition, including the First-Place winner "Brown Pride," by Jeff McElroy. Don’t miss your chance to see these shorts! Visit http://www.writersdigest.com/specialoffers.asp?DMshbklt051806
to reserve your copy of the 6th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition Collection today!
Trafford Publishing is a print-on-demand, self-publishing company. WD can’t claim any journalastic integrity, or that they objectively represent the best interests of writers, while at the same time they are in business with (and lend their name to) a vanity press, which preys on the desperation and naivete of aspiring authors. Clearly, the purpose of the magazine now is to steer writers to these self-publishing companies…and to make the writers think that all it takes to become a successful author is a credit card.