Q.
My publisher hasn’t paid me a dime yet I know copies of my book have sold because there are people selling used copies of my book on Amazon? Am I being ripped off?
A.
Unfortunately, we hear this complaint a lot and I’m surprised some POD publishers don’t cover this in their Author FAQ like we do.
Ingram is the largest book distributor. Anybody with an Ingram account can pick up Ingram’s automated feed, and list copies of Ingram’s books for sale anywhere they choose, including on Amazon.com, eBay.com, and other sites.
These “new and used” copies available online have not even been printed yet. These companies are simply trying to get a piece of the Amazon customer action, as well as sales on other sites.
Once someone orders from that book seller, only then will that seller order a copy from Ingram. We feel this is deceptive advertising and it is most certainly frustrating and confusing for authors.
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.
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Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
Learn more here: https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
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