Last week, I was pretty shocked when Infinity Publishing tweeted that BookLocker.com is a “discount publisher.” And, they didn’t tweet it in a nice way. (The Tweet has, of course, since been deleted.)
They had originally posted an ad on Twitter, offering the victims of defunct Tate Publishing a 15% discount on Infinity’s publishing packages. Well, 15% off of (cough cough) $599 to $2599 is still a ridiculously high amount to charge authors who already have a book on the market (and who likely already have their production files).
I tweeted a response, asking why they were charging authors $599-$2599 when authors could move from Tate to Booklocker for only $78.
That’s when he (or she) at Infinity tweeted back a comment about us being a “discount” publisher.
I responded by asking why authors should pay them $599-$2,599 when those authors may already have their production files.
Production files are essentially ready-to-print. Tate’s authors just need a new ISBN, a new copyright page, a new barcode, and a new publisher logo on the back cover (to cover up Tate’s). This type of work literally takes about 15 minutes on the publisher’s end. Of course, a new printed proof will need to be produced by the printer, shipped to the author, and approved by the author as well but, again, why spend $599-$2599 on something that is so darned simple??
Rather than man-up, and respond with an intelligent rebuttal, Infinity took the defiant toddler way out…and blocked us from their Twitter feed. Here’s proof:
So, naturally, I had one of our employees here pull up Infinity Publishing’s Twitter feed on his personal account. Infinity had removed my posts but left their ad up…still offering 15% off $599-$2,599. A horrible deal!! And, they’ve repeated the ad on Twitter several times since.
Here’s the beef. If an author already has their production files (Tate Publishing is sending those to authors…for a $50 fee), only minor changes must be made to those files to get the book back on the market. There is NO NEED WHATSOEVER for these authors to go through the entire publishing process all over again!
So, our response to Infinity Publishing is this: if saving authors $500-$2,000+ dollars (and saving them a lot of time and hassle, too) makes us a “DISCOUNT” publisher, than we are VERY proud to be just that.
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What’s really hilarious is that, in many cases, Infinity Publishing and BookLocker USE THE SAME PRINTER AND DISTRIBUTOR! So, implying our books are somehow lower quality than theirs is laughable.
If using the same printer and distributor as the “big guys”, while charging hundreds to thousands less to publish a book, makes us a “discount publisher” than we are very proud to be just that.
~~~
Infinity Publishing has an “F RATING” at the Better Business Bureau. YES, A BIG FAT “F” RATING AT THE BBB!
(One of our employees guffawed when he saw that and said, “Wow! You have to work really hard to get that!”)
BookLocker.com, of course, has an “A+ RATING” at the Better Business Bureau.
Hey, Infinity, if having an A+ RATING at the Better Business Bureau (versus your embarrassing F rating) makes us a “DISCOUNT” publisher, than we are VERY proud to be just that!
~~~
Self Publishing Review rates Infinity Publishing only a 6.6 out of 10.
Here’s what Self Publishing Review says about BookLocker.com (there is no rating as the review was posted before they started assigning ratings):
“Overall, BookLocker offers a very particular kind of POD publishing service, honest, upfront, a quality product, but no unnecessary frills. This model may not suit all authors, but their personalized approach and focus on book sales is worth all the value alone.”
If being called “honest,” “up front,” and offering “a personalized approach,” “a quality product,” but “no unnecessary frills” makes us a “DISCOUNT” publisher, than we are VERY proud to be just that.
~~~
In The Fine Print of Self Publishing, attorney and author Mark Levine only rates Infinity Publishing a “B” when it comes to communicating with prospective authors. He writes, “While initial emails about royalties and production files were responded to right away, when RA followed up to clarify their answers about the production files, her email was not returned. RA received a response to a later email about print costs, but she was told information about print costs could not be shared.
In the same book, Mark Levine rates BookLocker an “A” for communicating with prospective authors, writing, “While RA was able to find most of the information on BookLocker’s website, when she did email with questions, every inquiry was answered right away, even well outside of standard business hours.”
* If answering a hopeful author’s questions quickly, completely, and “well outside of standard business hours” makes us a “DISCOUNT” publisher, than we are VERY proud to be just that.
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For like services, Infinity charges $1,097 while BookLocker only charges $895.
* If charging $202 less (while often using the SAME printer and distributor!) makes us a “DISCOUNT” publisher, than we are VERY proud to be just that.
~~~
And, to break even on setup fees vs. book sales, authors only need to sell 156 copies through BookLocker but they must sell 262 copies through Infinity.
* If it selling 106 fewer copies than Infinity before authors can break even makes us a “DISCOUNT” publisher, than we are VERY proud to be just that.
~~~
I have a personal message for Infinity: If you can’t take the heat, DON’T USE TWITTER.
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Find more stories from Angela’s Desk HERE.
RELATED:
Complaints about Infinity Publishing:
Search for Infinity on THIS PAGE, too. Ouch!
Print on Demand Price Comparison
Q & A – “I’m looking for a publisher. How do I know I can trust you?”
HELP! MY PUBLISHER IS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!! How Can I SAVE MY BOOK Without Going Broke?!
How to Test Your POD Publisher’s Sales Reports
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
90+ Days
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In my former business we did not charge a set up fee for what we did. Our competitors did, like $100s of dollars to not much more than open a new folder on the computer, give it a name and add the new client to the mail list. We too were maligned by others in our community as being unprofessional. (we also did not have a fancy office -we worked in it, not meant for show) I lasted 20 years and an employee who took over the business has been there 15 more. The others are all gone! Keep up the good work, Angela.
Dear Ms Hoy, you cover all the bases, don’t you? A knockout blow in every paragraph. Good girl!
Yer boy, Pete
Ditto what Johnny Townsend wrote! Also, the Self Publishing Review quote: “honest, upfront, a quality product, but no unnecessary frills. This model may not suit all authors, but their personalized approach and focus on book sales is worth all the value alone,” echoes my sentiments exactly!
I am so lucky to have found you guys right from the start and not have to go through the nightmares associated with so many other publishers. You guys rock!