Angela's Desk

TRICKY BUSINESS? Another Reason to NEVER Let Someone ELSE Register Your Website Domain!

July 20, 2023

TRICKY BUSINESS? Another Reason to NEVER Let Someone ELSE Register Your Website Domain!
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Here is a conversation I had with an author last week.

AUTHOR:

A website design firm designed and managed my website. I really liked it. They recently contacted me, and are willing to turn over the website with all the access codes, including the domain name, for a payment to them of $1,500.00. Is this a good idea and desirable thing to do? Also, is the price worth it?

ME:

It seems odd to me that YOU paid them to register and design your website yet THEY claim to own it? I would check your original contract with them. Seems like a brewing scam to me.

AUTHOR:

The scam part is that I paid to have the web site developed, and now they want me to pay to have it developed a second time so I can possess it. I checked my contract and it doesn’t look good. Here is what it says:

I. Service Provider Rights
The Author acknowledges and agrees that the Publicist retains all property rights to data, files, and
materials that the Publicist prepares for the publication of the Work, including but not limited to
production data, files, and materials, whether or not completed, in the possession of the Publicist.

I’m not a lawyer and I can’t see how this clause would apply to ownership of a domain name. But, I could be wrong. The problem is this author paid someone to purchase something for him (his domain name), and paid that person/firm to develop the website. Now that he wants to update the website himself (or hire someone else to do the job), he has to pay them another $1500 for the privilege. The author should have read that clause, and understood what he was giving up when he signed with that company.

If you need a website, buy the domain name yourself. It’s fine to pay someone to work on your website but always, ALWAYS have them sign a work-for-hire agreement, which will give you ALL rights to what they create for you. That person will still want to work with you. If they don’t, find a more ethical website designer or publicist.

At WritersWeekly Marketplace, all service providers agree to give all rights to the authors we refer to them.



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About The Author

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


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https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/



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