Q –
I am moving my book from CreateSpace to BookLocker. Silly question, but I imagine that you get asked this a lot? How come BookLocker is so much less expensive than all other companies?
Marc
A –
Yes, we DO receive that question a lot and, unfortunately, some people look at our prices, and move on to a firm that costs far more because of “perceived value.” But, the value is NOT less and, in fact, since BookLocker’s inception 19 years ago, we have been known for our excellent customer service, quality, and advocacy activities for the rights of authors and freelance writers. We and almost all of our competitors use the same printer and distributor so quality and distribution are the same.
The reason our prices are so low is simple. At BookLocker.com, we break even on setup fees, and earn our profits on book sales. That way, we and the author have a vested interest in the success of their book. The “other guys” get as much as they can out of authors up-front, and then don’t seem to care if the books sell or not because they’ve already made plenty of money on the front end. Of course, that doesn’t stop them from upselling authors on worthless services even after the book has been published.
At BookLocker, we don’t do business that way. According to Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing:
BookLocker.com 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 has 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.”
If you’d like to know more about BookLocker, or if you have any questions at all about publishing (even traditional publishing), I’m RIGHT HERE to help. 🙂
– Angela
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- How to Go Broke AFTER You Publish Your Book! (Hint: Buy your publisher’s worthless marketing products and services…)
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/pub/angela-hoy/78/719/390
Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
Read More Of Angela's Articles HERE
90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy
Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.
We know what you're thinking. You're an author, not a marketer. Not to worry! We have more than a decade of successful online book selling experience under our belts and we're going to teach you how to promote your book effectively online...and almost all of our techniques are FREE!
Online book promotion is not only simple but, if you have a step-by-step, day-to-day marketing plan (this book!), it can also be a very artistic endeavor, which makes it fun for creative folks like you!
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A systematic approach to writing that generates better quality quickly!
Chock full of ideas, tips, techniques and inspiration, this down-to-earth book is easy to read, and even easier to apply. Let author Jeff Bollow take you through a process that brings your ideas to the page faster, more powerfully and easier than ever before.
Read more here:
https://writersweekly.com/books/3695.html
Search Ask The Expert For Answers
Recently Answered Questions:
Q –
Angela,
I was considering hiring a marketing company that emailed me. Their email says “a *BBB-accredited business*. I looked at bbb.org and found the company. It says they’re accredited but there are lots of complaints posted there. So many that I won’t be hiring them after all.
Why does the Better Business Bureau say some companies are accredited, and that others are not?
A –
I haven’t written about the Better Business Bureau in quite awhile but I’m happy to do so again.
According to bbb.org:
The BBB Seal, it’s The Sign of a Better Business℠
In a market saturated with companies vying for customers, BBB Accreditation gives consumers confidence that they’re dealing with an ethical and vetted business. Apply for BBB Accreditation and show customers that your company operates honestly and with integrity.
I can tell you that having a company being listed as “accredited” with the Better Business Bureau does NOT mean they all operate honestly and with integrity.
And, what does the BBB mean by “vetted?” Did you know businesses have to pay for that accreditation?
Again, according to bbb.org:
“BBB accredited businesses pay a fee for accreditation review and monitoring for continued compliance and for support of BBB services to the public.”
and
“BBB accreditation does not mean that the business’s products or services have been evaluated or endorsed by BBB, or that BBB has made a determination as to the business’ product quality or competency in performing services. Businesses are under no obligation to seek BBB accreditation, and some businesses are not accredited because they have not sought BBB accreditation.”
I wonder how many companies have paid the BBB for accreditation…but that were then not accredited by the BBB. I’m betting not many…or any. I’m thinking “member” would be a better descriptive word than “accredited.”
I have been contacted many times by the BBB over the years. They keep wanting me to join their ridiculous program. It feels like a shakedown. Pay to be listed as accredited…or your listing says you are NOT accredited. I refuse to pay a company makes bad and even horrible companies look good by giving them an A+ rating when they are clearly ripping people off.
I prefer to let our reputation speak for itself. Incidentally, we also have an A+ rating on bbb.org.
So, what does that A+ part mean? You’ll find many companies with A+ ratings that have dozens or even hundreds of negative reviews and complaints posted about them on bbb.org. So, why do they still have an A+ rating? A company only needs to post a response to all of the complaints to get an A+ rating. Even if your response does not help the angry customer, and even if you insult the customer in your response, it’s still a RESPONSE.
Here an example:
Author Solutions is what we call an author meat market. They have many different company names, including AuthorHouse, Balboa Press, Xlibris, iUniverse, Trafford, WordClay, Palibrio, Booktango, and others. Author Solutions is in partnership with Archway Publishing, LifeRich Publishing, GABAL, Partridge, and Alliant Press.
Author Solutions has 1.27 out of 5 starts on bbb.org. Yet, they still have an A+ Rating!
Check this out:
184 complaints in just the past 3 years
and
Notice that Author Solutions responded to every complaint. That’s why they have an A+ Rating at the BBB. You can read many customers’ responses to Author Solutions messages under the complaints and you can see how many of them are still angry. But, since Author Solutions responded to the initial complaints, they still have their A+ rating, which is ridiculous.
The Better Business Bureau should change the way they give alphabet ratings. But, they won’t. They’ve been doing it that way for years.
Here’s another problem. If a company moves, their BBB profile gets wiped and they get a brand new one. That means people can’t see the complaints previously posted about that organization.
Also, they don’t take into account different divisions of companies. For example, you can’t find “Amazon KDP” on bbb.org because all of the reviews fall under the name “Amazon.” So, good luck finding out about problems authors are having at Amazon KDP amongst all the complaints from people who weren’t happy with whatever product they ordered from Amazon.
Don’t worry, though. We’ve already researched specific complaints about Amazon KDP for you.
In my opinion, the Better Business Bureau is NOT on the side of the consumer. As long as a company either pays their fees, and/or follows their instructions for responding to every complaint, the company gets far more benefit from that website than consumers do.
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- Complaints about Specific Publishers
HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?
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Hi Angela,
Just a note to add another set of scams to watch out for. I used to be able to drop into Upwork and pick up freelance work when I was between editing jobs but, lately, the place is knee-deep in scammers wanting (for example) original first rate novels in a three-book series, 30,000, 40,000, 50,000 words for maybe .02 a word, delivered fully edited, complete with chapter synopsis, etc.etc. etc. Also, no less than 15,000 words a week.
Sometimes monetary compensation is significantly lower with the same phrase repeated from job to job posting “I’m new to the industry so I can only afford to pay $50 to edit 20,000 – 40,000 words.” Sometimes they’ll deliberately (and very badly) mis-spell the text of the ad to make viewers think they’re really new authors.
The chances of them receiving fine quality original writing at those rates is pretty slim so now I’ve noticed them looking to pay editors something like $25 to fix a full length novel. The problem however, when people look at those ads, is that people think writers and editors work for pennies. Not if we aim to keep the lights on we don’t.
It does occur to me to wonder (since there are so many requests for three book series) what they’re doing with poorly written stories. Where would they be marketing them and why on earth would anyone buy book two if book one was really badly written?
Just tossing that out there.
Best,
C.G.
Thank you for submitting this warning for our readers. I’ve always found that sites like upwork diminish the value of real writers because the fees can be so low.
The good news is, when a person or company hires someone for pennies on the dollar, and receives a very poor work product back, they are less likely to hire that person in the future. And, if it happens enough on one website, they’re going to be far less likely to keep using that website.
I recommend looking for high-quality writing work on WritersWeekly and on professional job sites like Indeed.com. On that site, you can click the “remote” option at the top of the site to find jobs where you can work entirely from home. Many of them are now full-time with benefits! We features several of those full-time, remote jobs each week in WritersWeekly. Look for Browse Recently Added Jobs RIGHT HERE.
Regarding the books they’re putting on the market: They are probably putting garbage up for sale on Amazon that costs just a few dollars to produce. They’re hoping on the occasional sale to make them some money. It’s a really dumb business strategy because, when those one-star reviews start piling up, nobody will be buying those garbage books.
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.
ANGELA ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy
ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750
ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-hoy-39071978/
Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
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!
Q –
Angela: I appreciate all of the information you provide, and I wish I had found you before completing my book. I am quite pleased with the cover design, the layout, and the professional editing, but I probably could have saved some money if I had worked with you.
My question revolves around using Amazon KDP. Because I didn’t actually know what I was doing, I just sent my book to Amazon and selected both ebook and paperback. I would like to have the book be available to be sold by our local, independent, non-profit bookstore but they refuse to deal with books that are on Amazon.
Do you have any suggestions?
K.M.
A –
Many bookstores (and even some libraries) refuse to order books that were PUBLISHED by Amazon KDP. They will order books published by others that are for sale on Amazon (though they will order from the publisher; not from Amazon).
I recommend terminating your print edition with Amazon, and publishing it through another company. Then, you won’t be “guilty by association” because Amazon published your book. Amazon KDP will publish pretty much anything and everything. The Amazon KDP catalog is full of really awful books. Also, there are lots of complaints about their printing quality online.
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- And, Even MORE Complaints about Amazon KDP!
Read More "Ask The Expert" Articles
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,
In just the last 6-months, I’ve received 3 contacts concerning my book. One was a phone call from a supposed production company “interested” in setting me up to pitch my book. Couldn’t catch the name of the company, but have wrote down the telephone number, and couldn’t bring myself to call it back.
Then, I received an email from a “media company” concerning pitching my book for a “movie”.
I also received an email from a a company offering to turn my book into an audio book.
Yesterday I had a voice mail (that was difficult to understand) about an “invitation” to somewhere in California for a book fair and they left a number, but hard to hear. I think I wrote the number down correctly. I’m considering calling back, but decided to ask you first.
You are the only person I know that might know how I can find out if these calls are legit or if I should stay away from them. There are so many scams floating around about just everything.
I did read one of your articles recently about these type of scams going around. That’s what prompted me to write to you and seek advice.
Hope this finds you and your family well.
There are countless bottom feeders in the industry now. They find new books on Amazon, hunt for the author’s contact info. online, and then flood you with spam and/or telemarketing calls. Some even find your family members’ contact info. online, and call them, trying to get them to talk you into using their services!
Any firm that uses spam and telemarketing should be avoided at all costs. If they were really good at what they do, they’d have customers coming to them. The only thing these companies are good at is emptying authors’ wallets.
Incidentally, I’ve been in the industry for more than 20 years. I have never spammed anyone, nor have I ever made even one sales phone call. The reputation of my company speaks for itself.
Avoid anyone who spams you or cold-calls you. Period. If that’s the way they’re contacting you, you’re most certainly about to get scammed.
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.
ANGELA ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy
ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750
ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-hoy-39071978/
Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
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!
Q –
If my Amazon KDP account has been terminated, do you know any way I can get it back? Their last 2 emails have been very vague and say the same thing:
“As we previously stated, we still detect activity for your books originating from accounts attempting to manipulate Kindle services. You’re responsible for ensuring that strategies used to promote your books comply with our Terms and Conditions. I’m sorry, but we can’t offer any additional insight on this matter.”
-J.
A –
It seems all of Amazon’s “reasons” for terminating so many Amazon KDP authors are vague.
I haven’t heard of any terminated Amazon KDP author getting their account back. You will need to have your book published elsewhere.
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- MORE AMAZON KDP COMPLAINTS! Poor print quality, incorrect sales reporting, dismissive customer service reps, and more!
- Don’t Give Amazon (or anyone else) the Power to Put You Out of Business!
- 25 Sure-fire Signs Your Publisher May Be Going Out of Business (and what you can do NOW to save your book!)
- HELP! MY PUBLISHER IS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!! How Can I SAVE MY BOOK Without Going Broke?!
HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.
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Hi Angela & Co.!
Whether you can post about this on your website or respond to this email, I’m hoping you have an answer to this question.
I don’t like the term “content mills,” but that’s the issue.
I started noticing clients disappearing when Covid started, but during the last year or so the job boards have been almost entirely empty.
I’ve noticed on reddit and wahm.com other freelancers are experiencing the same problem. One person remarked AI has taken over, so there’s little hope for us to find work.
I’ve been freelancing for more than 16 years, and there was never a shortage of work til the last couple of years. Do you have some input on this subject?
C.S.
We are having no problem finding plenty of writing jobs to post each week. And, we only post 30 each week. There are a lot more out there. Many of them are now full-time remote. That means they hire the writer full-time, and the writer receives benefits, but the writer still gets to work from home. Maybe some writers don’t want a full-time commitment but, if I didn’t already own my own business, those are the types of jobs I’d be applying for.
You can find our weekly job listings RIGHT HERE. Look for the link titled “Browse Recently Added Jobs.”
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.
ANGELA ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy
ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750
ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-hoy-39071978/
Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
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At BookLocker.com, we reject numerous manuscripts each year. Our reputation is our most valuable asset and publishing books that are, forgive me, garbage, would harm that. While many of our competitors are running “author meat markets” (they don’t care what they put on the market as long as the author has money in his/her pocket), we don’t do business that way.
You don’t want your book published by an author meat market because you’ll be guilty by association. Many libraries and bookstores won’t buy books from publishers who put bad books on the market.
When I reject a manuscript, some authors come out swinging. In the exchange below, you can probably guess why I originally rejected the author’s manuscript. He then submitted his manuscript again, using a different name and email address. I’ve seen that trick a thousand times over the years. I’m not stupid.
FROM THE “AUTHOR”
Angela at last there is finance. Can u publish my books now? Should i introduce my financier to u?
MY RESPONSE
I’m sorry but we rejected your manuscript back in January of last year.
FINAL RESPONSE FROM THE “AUTHOR”
Angie u re a racist bcos u dont want poverty to be eradicated seeing that it will benefit blacks more and u hate my gut for criticising western world.u re enemy of urself,mankind and even d west.they will pay ur money.u re not a christian.ok
Whatever, dude. I did not respond. I’m far too busy to engage loonies.
Another author, with whom I’d spent a considerable amount of time corresponding, finally submitted his manuscript this week. It was chock full of misspelled words and punctuation errors. It was really, REALLY bad. I asked the author if he was planning to have his manuscript professionally edited. He gave me the same cockamamie story I’ve also heard too many times over the years.
“My misspellings and punctuation are ALL very purposeful.”
Uh huh. No, they’re not. You’re just upset that somebody noticed them.
He went on to say that his purpose was to: hover BELOW th’line of “standard” of “correctness”, to show the “uneducated” that it IS possible to achieve.
Yeah, right (yawn…). He then wrote that he didn’t want to damage my company’s reputation with his “art.”
And this: …no room at the Inn for unconventional. CONVENT!, Dress correct!, COMPLY!, OBEY!, Do This Correctly or Be Gone!!! Whew!
When I reject a manuscript, I am extremely professional and I apologize to the author. However, some just can’t resist coming back with several swings below the belt.
Again, just another day in the life of being a book publisher. Magazine publishers experience this from some freelance writers, too.
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Hi Angela,
I created five non-fiction books using ChatGPT. I think they turned out really good so I submitted my manuscripts to a literary agent. She said publishers aren’t going to want to publish my books. What do I do now?
C.R.
ChatGPT pulls information from the Internet and other sources. Things YOU did not write. There is no way your books have not violated any copyrights. Amazon’s algorithms are very good at finding copyright infringement in books. They alert authors that their books contain “information freely found on the Internet.” And, then that author’s book gets removed from Amazon.
Furthermore, if you don’t correctly quote and cite your sources, you can get sued for copyright infringement, plagiarism, or both. ChatGPT may or may not provide you with the correct sources it’s used. If it does not give you sources to cite, or gives you incorrect ones, guess who’s going to get sued? Not ChatGPT because they didn’t publish the book. YOU will get sued.
“When asked to add sources without being told which ones, (ChatGPT) tends to create plausible-looking citations for sources that don’t actually exist.”
– Scribber.com
While Amazon is selling some books created by ChatGPT right now, we expect them to stop doing that pretty soon. They already refuse to sell audiobooks with AI voices.
So, what should you do?
Do what authors have been doing since the beginning of the written word. Write you own d*mn book.
Read More "Ask The Expert" Articles
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!
Q –
Hi Angela,
I’m wondering what you might know about poetry awards and prizes, such as the Pulitzer Prize (I know, it’s like winning the lottery), the National Book Award (which can only be submitted for consideration by the publisher on behalf of the author), and others ones.
Oh, how I would love to bring recognition to my book.
I know you offer so much generous advice about how authors can promote their books, but I’m fixated on what I believe my book deserves – awarded recognition.
Really, any advice, assistance, opportunity you can offer would be wholeheartedly appreciated.
L.
A –
I don’t keep a list of book awards organizations because I don’t recommend authors participate in those. They earn a LOT of money for the organizations, but usually cost a LOT of money for authors.
Even if you win an award (the best ones are, indeed, harder to win than the lottery), you aren’t likely to get much exposure. I mean, seriously, how many people read press releases put out by book awards companies? Not many.
Probably the biggest benefit is when an author wins an award, and can put the award emblem on their book cover. But, that takes paying to participate, and then possibly (but not likely) winning.
If you haven’t already done so, please check out:
90+ Days of Promoting Your Book Online!
~AND~
55 Dos and Don’t of Book Selling
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.
ANGELA ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy
ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750
ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-hoy-39071978/
Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
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!
Q –
Angela
I have a question. The publishing company for one of my books has gone out of business and I am told by (name removed) that they want to re-publish my book for $2100 dollars. What do you think about this?
H.G.
A –
Here are the warning signs from the email you received:
1. I’ve heard of bottom-feeder publishers crawling all over Amazon to find the names of authors, using Google to find those authors’ contact info., and then spamming them to Kingdom Come. Many also find the phone numbers of those authors online, and call them relentlessly with sales pitches, offering to publish a “better” edition of their book, and promising their book will be the next best seller. In the end, the author has basically the exact same book on the market under a different publisher’s name, but their wallet is a few thousand dollars lighter.
2. I have never heard of a publisher actually going after authors of defunct publishers in the same fashion. That’s a new one on me but it’s the same type of scam.
3. They spammed you. Any so-called publisher who is so desperate for new authors to scam that they use spam should always be avoided. They won’t be in business long.
4. I wouldn’t put it past some of these small, scammy publishers to purposely go out of business, start a new one under a new name (with different contact info.), and, through a “special deal,” convince the authors to pay the publishing fees all over again to the “new” publisher.
5. Do NOT pay $2,100 to publish a black and white interior book!!
You can find a far more reasonable deal RIGHT HERE.
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!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
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