A person who owns a membership website asked me to donate 25 e-books for the first 25 paid members they receive. Then, if they like it, they would consider paying a discounted fee for it. Before I say yes, I told her that I wanted to check with my publisher first. They say that they would promote it in a few ways on their website, but they don’t have a lot of members at this point…
I was watching my local news on TV one evening, and saw a story about a family in my area who had adopted nine siblings out of the foster care system. This adoption was the second-largest in my state’s history. And of course, the writer in me thought, “What a great story! I wonder if any magazines would be interested in their story.”
COMPLAINT about Chantal Goudreau / The Health Journal / thehealthjournal.ca – Writer has received payment, but reports it was postmarked 12 days after the date the publisher told WritersWeekly the check was “cut.”
COMPLAINT about Shannon Ferguson / Words By Keystroke / wordsbykeystroke.com – Individual claims she is owed $180. What do you think about this one, readers?
Max is all better and has resumed normal activities.
Mason (who got sick about five days after Max) was sick for about five/six days total. His fever finally disappeared on Saturday morning, but came back with a vengeance that night…
I’m still hacking and sneezing so this week I’m going to share another installment of our popular column, World’s Worst Book Proposals. Yes, we can learn from others’ mistakes!
Coming from a journalism background, the book publishing business had been quite mysterious to me. But I’ve learned more from BookLocker in the past few weeks than I was able to pick up from several books and a writers’ meetup group. (They’re great for inspiration and encouragement though!) I just wanted to let you know I appreciate the trouble you’ve taken to be transparent. Thanks.
Carol Frey
I am so tired of perusing freelance job boards and sites only to see listings that insult me and should insult every other professional writer out there. Just the other day I was on what is supposed to be a reputable site for freelance opportunities, only to see someone advertising that they’re seeking a freelancer to write their monthly newsletter. This is an ongoing assignment and they’d like 3-4 articles per newsletter, with each article being 4-5 paragraphs. And of course, they want “an experienced writer with a proven track record for results.”
The pay? $7 per newsletter. No, that’s not a typo. I didn’t mean to say “per article,” although that too would be insulting. And I didn’t forget a number or two…
Great advice for the writer whose work appeared on a free article website under someone else’s name. I just have a quick question about it.
Does that affect the writer’s ability to sell the article? Can first, electronic or first print rights in a regional area or second North American rights, or whatever, still be sold by the author when those rights have already been illegally used. Do you tell an editor that the story has already appeared on the web when trying to resell the article? Does the $750 give all rights to the website?
Sometimes you have to think out of the box…the bookstore box, that is.
SIXTH AND SEVENTH COMLAINTS about SIXTH COMPLAINT about Kim Kleeman / Shakespeare Squared / ShakespeareSquared.com / The Shakespeare Squared Foundation – One writer alleges she’s owed $3120, the other alleges she’s owed $655, and, get this, their website says they’re hiring!
THIRD COMPLAINT about Brian Connolly / Essential Publishing / Healthy Adventure / et. al. – Firm alleges they’re owed $27,950. Brian Connolly vehemently denies all allegations and sent copy of lawsuit he filed against the firm to WritersWeekly. Also, an alleged victim appears to have posted a website about Brian Connolly / Essential Market.
