We often hear from authors who are upset with their current POD Publisher. One in particular is currently moving his AuthorHouse book to BookLocker, which is never a surprise. We attract a lot of unhappy authors who realize they made the wrong decision in hiring their first POD publisher. Of course, we offer those authors a discount – our Disgruntled Author Special).

During BookLocker’s quick publishing process (we usually get a book on the market within a month), he expressed amazement at how simple the process was, especially when he wanted to make some edits to his manuscript before it went to print.

He wrote:

I don’t want to waste your time, but thought you would like to know how proofing a galley works at AuthorHouse.

1. PDF galley is sent to the author for proofing.

2. Author can’t make corrections, so must write out needed corrections.

3. AuthorHouse tech makes the corrections, sometimes doing a few incorrectly.

4. The corrected PDF galley is sent back to the author. Any further corrections must be written out…and so on.

5. The author does not get to keep a Word file of the galley, only a PDF file, which is useless to me.

6. If the author wants to preserve the corrections on a Word file, he must makes changes as he writes out the corrections for AuthorHouse.

With (one of my books), hundreds of errors were created during the conversion process, mostly in the footnotes. All italics for titles and font variations were lost. Each correction (I requested) was required to include:

1. correction #
2. page #
3. paragraph #
4. line #
5. correction.

This is what one of my corrections looks like:

Correction # 601
Page # 631
Paragraph # 4
Line #  Entire ? beginning with (text removed to protect author’s anonymity)
Correction: Reduce ? font size from 10 to 9

Yes, there were almost 700 corrections. AuthorHouse has a form but I used my own method because it is clearer and more efficient. Some corrections were very long.

I asked AuthorHouse to allow me to make corrections. But, they wouldn’t because the author pays for corrections to be made. In the case of (my book), 95% of the errors were AuthorHouse’s fault (occurring with the conversion) but still I had to write out all the corrections and I was working full time. It is a stupid, inefficient system and unfair to the author because he doesn’t get a usable Word copy of his document.

So, how do we make changes to manuscripts at BookLocker? Easy! We simply send the current, formatted MSWord file to the author, let them make their own edits, and they then send the corrected file back to us.

Why do some firms make their processes so difficult? Are they trying to justify the high prices they are charging authors?

Unfortunately, sometimes authors end up wrestling with the mistakes their POD publisher made. The author above claims he had to list AuthorHouse’s mistakes as well. He sent me a copy of the file he sent to AuthorHouse listing all the corrections. The file was 195 PAGES LONG!

Allowing authors to work directly on their production file is a LOT faster than forcing them to make a huge list (perhaps dozens to hundreds of pages) of corrections, listing page number, line number, etc. AuthorHouse’s process is RIDICULOUS!!

At BookLocker, we’d much rather keep the process quick and simple because we break even on setup fees, and earn our profits on book sales. The faster a book gets on the market, the faster the author (and we) start making money! That’s why we don’t use difficult and ridiculously time-consuming processes during the publishing process.

So, why won’t AuthorHouse just send you the MSWord file? Well, they probably don’t want you to have that file because that would make it super easy for you to move to another POD publisher when you start to realize how expensive they are and/or how difficult their process is to make changes to your file.

How much does AuthorHouse charge for changes?

$100 for each block of 25 revisions. So, if you have 100 edits to make to your book, that’ll be $400. Cha-ching!

Not only do they charge to make all those changes, but they then ALSO charge you $200 to resubmit the file to the printer.

How does it work at BookLocker? We send the formatted MSWord file to the author for a final edit AT NO EXTRA CHARGE. When they’re finished, they send the file back to us. If they are confused about any formatting issues, they can ask us to help them with that and we are happy to do so! What might take an author an hour or even longer to figure out can usually be done on our end lickety split because we’ve been doing this for 17 years.

After the author sends their formatted file back to us with their final changes, they are only charged a fee if they decide to make even more changes after that point, and, then, only if the file has already been converted to PDF, and is ready to print. If they decide at that point they want to make additional changes, the cost is $98 if the file hasn’t yet been uploaded to the printer and $199 if it has. The printer’s revision fees, and the cost for the new print proof, are included in that, of course. We don’t charge them even MORE money at that point like AuthorHouse does.

And, what about delays for wanting to make changes to your manuscript?? It can take 10-15 business days for AuthorHouse to process your corrected file. BookLocker usually turns around a corrected file in 1-2 business days.

Avoid expensive fees and unnecessary wait times by using a POD publisher who isn’t going to make the editorial process ridiculously time-consuming and expensive! And, use a firm that doesn’t make it almost impossible for you to have a current MSWord file of YOUR manuscript in YOUR possession.

Remember, AuthorHouse charges even more money later if you want copies of your production files. An extra $500! Cha-ching again! At BookLocker, Authors own their own production files at no extra charge, of course!

Don’t forget that AuthorHouse is owned by AuthorSolutions, which also owns Xlibris, iUniverse, Trafford, WordClay, and others. See:

Lots of Imprints and Lots of Complaints! Could You Unwittingly Crawl into Bed with Author Solutions?

The author above added:

A big plus with BookLocker is having access to the improved files. I’m always seeking to improve my books. I have no proof reader and I know I make mistakes, especially spelling. However, my books are so long that spell check chokes up and stops indicating errors. But I always dreaded the rewrite process with AuthorHouse. Still I assumed that the methodology was universal, that it was the same with all publishers, so I didn’t look elsewhere.

and

(BookLocker’s designer) Todd did a great job on the cover, better than AuthorHouse.

You can see samples of Todd’s covers here.

Click on each one to see the entire cover (front, back and spine).

Also, see the covers at the top of this page:
https://publishing.booklocker.com/packages.php

To submit your manuscript to BookLocker for consideration, click HERE.

RELATED

POD SECRETS REVEALED How Many Book Sales Needed to Recoup Your Investment?
PRINT ON DEMAND (POD) PRICE COMPARISON
POD SECRETS REVEALED Series
Does AuthorHouse Charge Authors for Production Files? Yep! And the Amount is Ridiculous!
BookLocker’s Prices

Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.

About The Author

Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).

Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.

WritersWeekly.com - the free marketing ezine for writers, which features new paying markets and freelance job listings every Wednesday.

BookLocker.com - According to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is: "As close to perfection as you're going to find in the world of ebook and POD publishing. The ebook royalties are the highest I've ever seen, and the print royalties are better than average. BookLocker understands what new authors experience, and have put together a package that is the best in the business. You can't go wrong here. Plus, they're selective and won't publish any manuscript just because it's accompanied by a check. Also, the web site is well trafficked. If you can find a POD or epublisher with as much integrity and dedication to selling authors' books, but with lower POD publishing fees, please let me know."

Abuzz Press offers FAST and FREE book publication, but only accepts a small percentage of submissions, and only works with U.S. authors.

PubPreppers.com - "We Prep, You Publish!" Print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish. Offers formatting and design services only, and then provides simple instructions for authors on where to sign up to have the print and ebook editions printed/listed/sold. Cut out the middle man. Keep 100% of what bookstores pay for your book!

Angela's POD Secrets Revealed Series can be found HERE.

Have a POD Book with another publisher? See if BookLocker can give you a better deal. (BookLocker offers "disgruntled author discounts" to those who want to move from other POD services.)

See BookLocker's publishing packages HERE.

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BOOKLOCKER ON FACEBOOK - Provides links to free excerpts!
https://www.facebook.com/booklockerbooks

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https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelahoy/

Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/

Read More Of Angela's Articles HERE