Would be Writers BEWARE!!

Doing some research the other day, I came across certain happenings that are both absolutely repulsive and fairly commonplace in the publishing field. Every writer, no matter the genre, should familiarize themselves with the phrase 'Vanity Press'. These are would-be publications that fancy themselves as legitimate publishing bodies and the practices they commit on a regular basis should be considered illegal, in my honest opinion. First, there's the bogus letters they send any aspiring author who's ever copyrighted anything with dubious claims of publishing simply because they're expecting such a writer to think with emotion and excitement rather than with logic.
Then, there's the claims of no fees or costs being involved when in all actuality, once they get you to sign a contract, they can, and have, charged up to $11,000.00 to basically do nothing except steal the rights to someone's book. Once they have rights to your book they legally do not have to compensate you with either payment, royalties, or even the use of YOUR name.
The best way to avoid these con men is to remember a very simple rule that if YOU have to pay anything for a publisher, they are not legitimate in the truest sense of the word. A publisher pays you for your work, not the other way around.
The companies that I came across with the most such complaints by so many that had been, in the parlance of our times, 'Ripped Off' by them were:
1).Dorrance Publishing Company, Inc
2).iuniverse
3). Whitmore Publishing

Such a reality makes the already daunting task of becoming a writer seem even more improbable. But, If you know what to look out for, the dream can still become a reality. As for myself, such fools will never come close to dampening my passions.
As I've always said 'If something sounds too good to be true, chances are it is!!'