Q –
Angela,
I get less than $50 per year for royalties. I know my book is selling because people tell me how good it is. I think my publisher is ripping me off. How can I find out?
– BG
A –
I’m going to be completely honest with you so you should probably sit down before you read this. Remember…you asked.
I found your book on Amazon. It’s doubtful your publisher is ripping you off. It’s far more likely that your friends and family are lying to you about buying your book.
Here’s why:
1. Your cover design is really, really bad. It is extremely simplistic and unprofessional.
2. Your book description on Amazon is full of grammatical and punctuation errors. The description is so bad that I can’t even understand what your book is about.
3. I clicked on the “inside the book” option on Amazon and the very first paragraph (a short one) has 9 errors in it.
Anyone reading the description or excerpt will not want to buy the book. Authors should always hire a professional editor.
Your book was published by one of the author meat markets so it’s not surprising that they put your book on the market as-is. They don’t care about putting bad books up for sale and they don’t care if any copies sell or not because they’ve already fleeced the author for thousands up-front. And, they clearly don’t care about their own reputation…nor yours.
I recommend pulling your book from the market, having it professionally edited, renaming it, and having a new (professional) cover designed. If you are serious about becoming an author, you need to completely disassociate yourself from the first edition. Heck, I would even write under a pseudonym from now on because the old description and excerpt from your first book will be searchable online probably for eternity. Yes, that’s how bad it is.
Any author who contacts me should expect honesty. I’m not here to soothe egos. I’m here to help authors sell more books.
HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.
ASK ANGELA!
Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.
Follow Angela: twitter | facebook | linkedin
Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
Learn more here: https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
I have learned one necessary trait an author must have is thick skin. My Amazon site is a great example. Keep smiling, life is a wonderful adventure.As a war veteran each breath is a blessing.We can’t waste precious time mulling over bad reviews, but we can look at the responses from readers and learn lessons from them, then move on.
Dear Angela and Richard:
If you are confident in your book-marketing plan, would you be willing to implement your plan for a good writer, for what you considered a fair price? I have published five novels (one with Berkley). Although I haven’t gotten far commercially, I have some non-delusional reasons for thinking I write what people would like to read. Recently, I came into some extra money that I can use for promotion, but I need someone to implement an honest strategy. Please advise.
Best,
Barry Knister
Hi Barry,
Please see:
https://marketplace.writersweekly.com/publicists/
Angela
I think your brutally honest assessment falls short. It makes me think corporal punishment is called for–not fines or insults, but flogging in the public square. Sign me up for pay-per-view.
Wow.
That honest review really blew my mind.
I feel bad that this writer went to this publisher first before getting a writing mentor who could have given them the proper guidance on writing a decent book.
Angela,
Howly schmockers Angie you are almost as bad/good as I!
Love it.
Linda G
Now I *really* want to look at that book — at the very least to make me feel good about my stuff. 🙂
Great wisdom; thanks for sharing.
El