Ask The Expert

“I would like to just write books, and have somebody hold my hand through the rest of the process.”

April 16, 2026 No Comments

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REMINDER!!! ***THIS SATURDAY*** IS START-TIME FOR THE SPRING, 2026 24-HOUR SHORT STORY CONTEST!!

1st Place: $300 + a free book publishing package from BookLocker valued at $975; 2nd Place: $250; 3rd Place: $200; + 100 Honorable Mentions! Those writers receive a free ebook of their choice from BookLocker.com. 

Read all past winning topics and story, and sign up, RIGHT HERE!

Q –

I published my memoirs in 2023. A lot of friends bought copies, but despite having been ‘professionally’ proofread by two different providers, it was full of errors. Another criticism from readers was that it seemed dauntingly long when they first got it.

I have unpublished it and split it into two books, and have two more that are written but need the eye of someone more skilled in editing than I am. In the meantime, Amazon KDP banned another of my books, unrelated to the memoirs, for reasons that I have not been able to clarify. Since then I have had severe difficulties accessing my work and communicating with them. 

How can you compete with Amazon? The huge behemoth seems to have a monopoly in many fields and I have been led to believe that they sell about 75% of all books in the western world. 

I have been inundated by ‘Vanity Publishers’ and I have managed not to become trapped by reading what I can about them online.

I struggle to get my head around the complexities of self publishing, and in particular in negotiating Amazon Ads. I would just like to write and have someone else hold my hand and take care of the tasks I get stuck on.

Am I being unrealistic? 

A – 

My name is Brian Whiddon. I am the Managing Editor here at WritersWeekly, and the Operations Manager at BookLocker.

First, BookLocker does not “compete” with Amazon for book sales. All of BookLocker‘s authors’ books are for sale on Amazon, as well as through thousands of retailers around the globe, including BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Target.com, BookAMillion.com, Chapters/Indigo in Canada, and countless others. Any retailer that has an account with our distributor can pick up their automated feed, and list our authors’ books for sale on their website.

Our authors’ ebooks are on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Google Play, Apple, Kobo, and Overdrive.

Now, occasionally, Amazon tries to pull a fast one and will slip some wording into their contracts that don’t serve the best interests of publishers and authors. In 2008, Angela sued Amazon for violating federal anti-trust laws and WON. She tried to recruit other publishers, but everyone else was too frightened to step up against the behemoth. Unfortunately, those companies are still stuck with Amazon’s contract that they begrudgingly signed at that time. You can see the details of the two-year lawsuit saga HERE.

Angela is still the only small publisher to successfully sue Amazon.

There are LOTS of publishing services out there and, these days, most of them are scammers operating out of Nigeria, the Philippines, India and China. It’s extremely important that you educate yourself and recognize the signs that a company may be a scam. I’d like to refer you to one of our articles on this subject: 11 Ways to Know If a “Publisher” or Other Service Provider is an Overseas Scammer. You should also listen to The WritersWeekly Podcast for true stories from publishing scam victims, and for advice on how to avoid those.

Above all else, we are dedicated to protecting authors from falling prey to those vultures, who are experts at sucking thousands of dollars out of an author before they realize they have been taken for a ride.

Angela started BookLocker 27 years ago. I know it’s going to sound corny, but the we have remained successful by simply treating our authors right and working hard for them. We are still a family-operated company. I came on board in 2016. Besides helping Angela with day-to-day operations, I handle book trailers (short videos to advertise authors’ books) and design some of our book covers, along with serving as Managing Editor for WritersWeekly. I also produce and edit our podcast. I’m sure if you listen to some of our episodes, you’ll find that Angela and I are just two down-to-Earth, fun loving folks. There’s nothing really flashy about us.

I fully understand your position of just wanting to write and let someone else handle the details of getting your book on the market. That’s always at the forefront of our operation; being the lead partner in this process because this is what we do all day, every day. At the same time, we make sure you understand how the process is working, and at what point in that process your book is in at any given time.

If you want to write books, and have someone else  handle EVERYTHING else for you, including post-publication, we recommend Book Coach and Professional Editor Clayton Jones.

Step 1 of the publishing process at BookLocker is here:
https://secure.booklocker.com/booklocker/new/intro.php

Use this discount code, which is available to WritersWeekly readers: Social777

Using that, you’ll get $150 off one of the following packages:

At Your Service Package
Professional Author Package
The Works! Package

NOTE: Your second and subsequent books will qualify for our returning author discount.

The primary advantages BookLocker authors enjoy are:

1. Fastest full-service publisher in the industry (2 to 4 weeks to market while others take 4-6 months).

2. Family-owned and -operated (made in the U.S.A.!). We don’t outsource to overseas call centers and you will always know who you are working with at BookLocker.

3. We are in our 27th year and we have an outstanding reputation. See:
https://publishing.booklocker.com/testimonials

4. We don’t accept anything and everything so you don’t have to worry about bookstores and libraries discriminating against your book (like they do with Amazon KDP and other author meat markets) simply based on which firm published your book.

5. We aren’t going to upsell you on worthless marketing products and services. You will receive a free copy of 90+ Days of Promoting Your Book Online: Your Book’s Daily Marketing Campaign AND a free copy of 55 Dos and Don’ts of Book Selling: If You Can Write, You CAN Sell Books! The information in those books works. Press releases, bookmarks, and even book fair appearances do not. Those just make money for the firms selling those services. These books offer FAR better ways to promote your book and almost all of those methods are completely free.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

FOR BLACK-AND-WHITE-INTERIOR BOOKS:

AT YOUR SERVICE PACKAGE
Original cover design, interior formatting, ISBNs, basic epub (ebook) formatting/conversion, and full distribution.

PROFESSIONAL AUTHOR PACKAGE
All of the above PLUS copyright registration, Library of Congress Control Number registration and category/keyword analysis by BoostABook.

THE WORKS
All of the above in both packages PLUS a hardcover edition (in addition to the paperback and ebook), a book trailer, and proofreading of the first 25,000 words. Additional proofreading can be purchased at $0.025/word, which is optional, of course. NOTE: For color-interior books, there are no extra formatting fees if this package is chosen. Otherwise, color-interior books require extra formatting work, which costs $7.50 per page and $8.50 per image.

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Brian Whiddon is the Managing Editor of WritersWeekly.com and the Operations Manager at BookLocker.com. An Army vet and former police officer, Brian is the author of Blue Lives Matter: The Heart behind the Badge. He's an avid sailor, having lived and worked aboard his 36-foot sailboat, the “Floggin’ Molly” for 9 years after finding her abandoned in a boat yard and re-building her himself. Now, in northern Georgia, when not working on WritersWeekly and BookLocker, he divides his off-time between hiking, hunting, and farming.

 

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