Angela’s Desk

Topic, Common Themes, and Winners of the WritersWeekly.com Fall, 2012 24-Hour Short Story Contest!

Published on October 31, 2012

For the past six weeks, we've spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Fall, 2012 24-Hour Short Story Contest. In case you're not familiar with our quarterly contest, this is how it works. On the date of the contest, at start-time, we send out the topic for that specific contest to all registered entrants, while also posting it online. Entrants then have 24 hours to write and submit their stories. The stories "must deal with the topic in some way to qualify" and they must not exceed the pre-assigned word count. After reading the entries for each contest, we can see how difficult it is to come up with a unique plot when working with an assigned topic. But, inevitably, a few writers do manage to successfully break away from the pack. …

AUTHORS BEGGING FOR CASH ONLINE? INSULTING!! – Angela Hoy

Published on October 17, 2012

Warning - Some may be offended by today's column. I used to get SO annoyed when somebody would send me an email asking me to "click here!" to vote for their story or book or whatever on some website that was basically running popularity contests. There's something FAR worse now and it involves not begging for votes, but begging for CASH. …

Featuring Real People in Your Writing? Protect Yourself From Lawsuits! – Angela Hoy

Published on October 10, 2012

Last week an author submitted a book that contained some of his friends' life experiences. I, of course, asked him if he had obtained legal releases from his friends to include their stories in his book. He had not. What's the big deal, you ask? His friends voluntarily contributed to the book, right? Yes, they did. But, they might change their minds about doing so someday. …

Yet Another Website Lifts our Copyrighted Material – Angela Hoy, WritersWeekly.com and BookLocker.com

Published on September 26, 2012

Yet Another Website Lifts our Copyrighted Material – Angela Hoy, WritersWeekly.com and BookLocker.com

Awhile back, I found some of our original paying market listings for writers featured on the The Markham Village Writers' Group website, markhamvillagewriters.com. Below are copies of my exchange with the founder and moderator of The Markham Village Writers' Group website, Donna Marrin. I have paraphrased the responses by Donna Marrin below. Needless to say, we were pretty shocked that someone running a website for writers thought it was okay to pluck original content from other websites! …

WORLD’S WORST BOOK PROPOSALS

Published on August 22, 2012

Today, I'm going to share another installment of our popular column, World's Worst Book Proposals. Yes, we can learn from others' mistakes! …

Complaints About Lulu Are Spilling Onto Lulu’s Own Twitter Page

Published on August 15, 2012

Complaints About Lulu Are Spilling Onto Lulu’s Own Twitter Page

We've previously covered the numerous complaints posted about Lulu.com to their own forums by their own authors. The complaints are about customer service, quality, costs, and much more, including the fact that it's difficult for authors to get a response out of them. But, savvy Lulu authors have figured out how to bypass regular email. They're posting complaints directly to Lulu's Twitter account. Here are a few snippets posted just in the past two weeks... …

Who Gets Your Book(s) When You Die? – Yet Another Case of Heirs Fighting Over an Author’s Copyrights

Published on August 8, 2012

Who Gets Your Book(s) When You Die? – Yet Another Case of Heirs Fighting Over an Author’s Copyrights

Ug! It happened again! We were contacted last week by a woman claiming to be the daughter of one of our authors. After logging into his author account, she posted a note, saying he'd died last month and she wanted his future royalty checks mailed to her. I checked the author's contract and - UH OH. In the beneficiary clause, the author had assigned his copyrights, control of his author account, and all future royalties to someone else (a female friend / associate), not to his daughter. …

POD SECRETS REVEALED: The Vanity Trap – Angela Hoy, WritersWeekly.com and BookLocker.com

Published on August 1, 2012

Writing a book is hard. Publishing and promotion can be difficult as well. Most authors are professionals but some still fall for the outrageous marketing verbiage dished out by some of the Print on Demand (P.O.D.) publishers. A lot of this garbage is downright insulting. Do authors really fall for this stuff? Unfortunately, some do! …

Can You Republish Amazon Reviews? Maybe, or Maybe Not… By Angela Hoy

Published on July 25, 2012

At BookLocker.com, authors frequently copy and paste their Amazon reviews (in their entirety!) into an email, asking us to republish those reviews on their book page on our site. Doing so would be a copyright violation. Other authors also contact me on occasion asking if they can republish Amazon's reviews. Here's what I tell all of them. …

Topic, Common Themes, and Winners of the WritersWeekly.com Spring, 2012 24-Hour Short Story Contest!

Published on June 13, 2012

For the past six weeks, we've spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Spring, 2012 24-Hour Short Story Contest. In case you're not familiar with our quarterly contest, this is how it works. On the date of the contest, at start-time, we send out the topic for that specific contest to all registered entrants, while also posting it online. Entrants then have 24 hours to write and submit their stories. The stories "must deal with the topic in some way to qualify" and they must not exceed the pre-assigned word count. After reading the entries for each contest, we can see how difficult it is to come up with a unique plot when working with an assigned topic. But, inevitably, a few writers do manage to successfully break away from the pack. So, today, taste the salt on your lips and feel the sun baking your skin... …

When A Book Contributor Threatens To Sue

Published on June 6, 2012

When A Book Contributor Threatens To Sue

I received a frantic email from an author over the weekend who'd been threatened with a lawsuit. Of course, the first thing I told her was that I'm not a lawyer and that I can't give legal advice. I then calmly told her to send me a file containing all the correspondence between her and the angry contributor because I'm always happy to give my non-lawyer opinion about a situation. Here's what happened... …

THE CONTRACT CLAUSE THAT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!

Published on May 30, 2012

There are many content mills out there that have a confusing, vague, or buried clause in their contract that states contributors won't receive a check until the amount owed meets a specific threshold. In many cases, contributors never reach that threshold. They end up terminating their contract, hoping to receive payment for the paltry amount they are owed...but then realize the contract terms prevent them from EVER receiving a payment until/unless that threshold is met. That means the writer has done all that work - for free... …

How to Collect and Organize Stories for a Non-Fiction Book

Published on May 16, 2012

How to Collect and Organize Stories for a Non-Fiction Book

Many authors publish (and pay for) stories from others to include in their non-fiction collections. One author sent me this question last week: What I could really use is a template or some kind of information on the format and layout for this type of book to be published with BookLocker. I've got my ideas, can write them and have a publisher with guts to get this done, being you. The market is there for mostly physical books but I will also sell them in ebook format. Can you point me in the right direction? …

Reader Comments = Marketing Blurbs! By Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy

Published on May 9, 2012

Reader Comments = Marketing Blurbs! By Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy

Don't wait for somebody to post something to your book's page on Amazon. Ask readers, via your website and your newsletter, and even during the ordering process on your website (if you're processing your own orders), to submit their comments about your book to you by email or through an automated form on your website... …

Boldly Assuming You “Can’t Be Sued” Will Likely Lead to a Lawsuit

Published on March 28, 2012

Boldly Assuming You “Can’t Be Sued” Will Likely Lead to a Lawsuit

An author recently asked me about using real people (friends, relatives, acquaintances) in a novel. I told her doing so would be very risky from a legal standpoint. She assumed just calling the book "fiction" would protect her from a lawsuit. She also assumed simply changing a few names would also protect her from a lawsuit. …

Just Because I Rejected Your Manuscript Doesn’t Mean I’m a Racist, Homophobe, Anti-Semite, etc. By Angela Hoy

Published on March 21, 2012

Last week, I was absolutely STUNNED when I discovered a comment online from a rejected author who said I "discriminate." I am one of the most laid-back, easy-going, and accepting people you'd ever meet. During my life, I have had friends and boyfriends of many different races and religions. I have friends and relatives who are gay, straight, and bi. I, personally, don't think there is any one religion favored by God so who am I to decide if there are any right or wrong ones? Everybody should have an equal chance to publish their own feelings on faith, provided, of course, their manuscript does not promote hurting others... …

WHO’S FOR SALE?! AuthorHouse, Xlibris, iUniverse, Trafford, and WordClay are! Let’s Dissect the Numbers, Shall We? By Angela Hoy

Published on March 14, 2012

Last week, Author Solutions announced they're for sale. Author Solutions, which is owned by Bertram Capital, has several publishing services companies, including AuthorHouse, Xlibris, iUniverse, Trafford and WordClay. They also have some lesser-known services like HollywoodPitch.com, AuthorHive.com and Palibrio.com. The announcement included some pretty revealing financial information about the company. It sure looks like Author Solutions has separated authors from a LOT of their own money! Let's dissect the numbers, shall we? …

POD SECRETS REVEALED: Why Some Bad POD Publishers Ignore Public Criticism

Published on March 7, 2012

POD SECRETS REVEALED: Why Some Bad POD Publishers Ignore Public Criticism

It's no secret that that there are just a handful of major players in the Print on Demand (POD) industry (with a few thousand smaller ones) and that there are numerous complaints about the largest ones online. Oddly, under those complaints you rarely see the company in question defending itself. Why? …

Topic, Common Themes, and Winners of the WritersWeekly.com Winter, 2012 24-Hour Short Story Contest!

Published on February 29, 2012

For the past six weeks, we've spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Winter, 2012 24-Hour Short Story Contest. In case you're not familiar with our quarterly contest, this is how it works. On the date of the contest, at start-time, we send out the topic for that specific contest to all registered entrants, while also posting it online. Entrants then have 24 hours to write and submit their stories. The stories "must deal with the topic in some way to qualify" and they must not exceed the pre-assigned word count. After reading the entries for each contest, we can see how difficult it is to come up with a unique plot when working with an assigned topic. But, inevitably, a few writers do manage to successfully break away from the pack. So, today, hear distant cracking as you step out onto the ice... …

Creative and Fun Ways to Avoid Licensing Fees!

Published on February 25, 2012

Creative and Fun Ways to Avoid Licensing Fees!

At Booklocker.com, we often receive books from authors who have quoted song lyrics in their text, usually without permission. Sadly, some authors have quoted song lyrics extensively throughout their books and must do major rewrites if they can't obtain permission to use the lyrics. Obtaining permission can be a frustrating and expensive pursuit. And, you must obtain permission to use them. …

This Online Class Could Get You Sued…Or Worse!

Published on February 8, 2012

Dear Angela, A friend is taking an online course on how to write ebooks. At one point the instructor told the students that they could write a book on a subject they know nothing about simply by reading several books on the topic written by others, and compiling the information. I was shocked when she told me that he then suggested creating a pseudonym that sounds like an expert in the field, and purchasing a portrait from a stock photography website to go with the name... …

It’s Frustrating When Victims Fail to Protect Themselves

Published on January 4, 2012

Over the years, I have helped hundreds of writers and authors who have been wronged or downright scammed by an individual or business in the industry. It's very frustrating when it's so obvious that most of the victims could have avoided being victimized in the first place, or could have at least limited their losses, had they simply done a bit of research. …

More World’s Worst Book Proposals

Published on December 21, 2011

Today, I'm going to share another installment of our popular column, World's Worst Book Proposals. Yes, we can learn from others' mistakes! Featured below are real quotes from book proposals submitted to me over the past few months. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried... …

Never, Ever Assume You Can Use a Deceased Person’s Work

Published on December 7, 2011

Never, Ever Assume You Can Use a Deceased Person’s Work

An author submitted a manuscript to us a couple of weeks ago that contained numerous letters he had exchanged with a lady friend. I, of course, assumed it was his wife but, just to be safe, I asked. He responded that she'd lived overseas and that she died. On further questioning, it appears he assumed, since the woman stated in her letters that someday she wanted to write a book with him, that meant he owned her work... …

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