Over the past few years, many publishers, including those that were decades old, have closed their doors. We recently received the following email from an author:
Hi Angela,
I currently have my book published through (a 70-year-old publishing house) but they have fallen off the face of the earth. My co-author and I have received no money at all from our sales, and have had no contact with them for over a year now.
If I move my book to you, is there a possibility that I will never hear from you again?
~~~
This isn’t an unusual email. We often hear from wary authors who are suspicious after they got ripped off by another publisher. Yes, a firm is ripping off authors when it collects monies on behalf of authors (royalties), and then doesn’t pay their authors those royalties. If a publisher collects money for book sales on behalf of their authors, and then spends that money on anything else, I call that stealing. If the publisher then stops corresponding with their authors, that means they’re on the run, and hiding from the angry mob of authors who are contacting them, demanding answers.
Here’s how I responded:
BookLocker.com has been in the business for 20 years, and has published more than 10,000 titles in that time. We’ve seen many competitors rise and fall but we’re still going strong. We are a lean organization. We keep our costs down while only working with a limited number of authors each year. This enables me (one of the two owners) to work with every single author one-on-one. We break even on setup fees, and earn our profits on book sales so we and each author have a vested interest in the success of their book.
We don’t spend our authors’ royalties on vacations and other lavish things like some of our defunct competitors have done. We send our authors’ royalties to our authors because it’s THEIR money. Furthermore, we ALWAYS pay royalties on time.
We are often criticized and/or questioned about our low setup fees. People think “you get what you pay for,” or have a low perceived value of our services based on our low prices. When they see how inexpensive the price is compared to our competitors, they naturally get suspicious. There must be a catch, right? No, there’s not.
After I explain to them that the “other guys” are scalping authors up front, charging a couple thousand or much more for like services, but that those “other guys” then don’t care if the author sells any copies or not (because they’ve already emptied the author’s wallet up front), they start to understand the inexpensive and ethical way we do business.
And, it’s working. We have an exemplary reputation because we care about our authors and the success of their books. Please see a list of unsolicited testimonials from BookLocker authors below.
Attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, says this about BookLocker:
“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.”
We recently launched a special publishing program for victims of deceased POD publishing companies. Click HERE to read about that.
RELATED
- BookLocker’s Package and Prices
- UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS FROM BOOKLOCKER’S AUTHORS
- POD SECRETS REVEALED – How Many Book Sales Needed to Recoup Your Investment?
- POD SECRETS REVEALED Series
- SELF-PUBLISHING PRICE COMPARISON
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.
ANGELA ON TWITTER https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy
BOOKLOCKER ON FACEBOOK - Provides links to free excerpts!
https://www.facebook.com/booklockerbooks
ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750
ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
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
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.
ANGELA ON TWITTER https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy
BOOKLOCKER ON FACEBOOK - Provides links to free excerpts!
https://www.facebook.com/booklockerbooks
ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750
ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
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
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