Ali’s future mom-in-law, Sharon, came into town again last week so we gals hit the road in search of the PERFECT wedding dress. I honestly thought we’d have to go to several stores over several days but, within three hours, Ali had picked the perfect dress! And, it was the very first one she’d tried on!
Good news! You just landed a traditional contract for your self-published book! Better news!! Your current self-publishing service (a POD publisher) has a 30-day termination clause. That’s good because the traditional publisher offering you a nice advance isn’t going to want to wait for you to get out of another contract. Some traditional publishers require proof that an author’s book is no longer under contract elsewhere, and no longer for sale. In fact, if you can’t provide that proof, they may rescind their offer, and offer that contract to a competing author instead.
Guess what? If you’re an Xlibris, AuthorHouse, or Trafford author, terminating your book isn’t as simple as their “30-day” contract termination clause may appear…
Hi Angela-
Re: The item concerning marketing to bookstores in which you state:
“I recommend selling a few copies to a bookstore on consignment instead. I must warn you to not sell them more than a handful at a time because chances are most will be returned. One author reported a bookstore telling her all copies of her books were stolen. (They never paid her and I, of course, didn’t believe the bookstore was telling the truth.)”
I urge that authors selling to book stores:
1. Get paid up-front.
2. Give them written notice, with a copy duly endorsed by the store for the author’s files, that the Author will refund the price of any unsold copies returned in salable condition as determined by the author via prepaid shipment.
Some 10 years ago, my co-author and I provided some copies of one of his books on consignment to one small bookstore and one distributor. He has yet to receive payment or returned copies from the bookstore.
As to the distributor, another bookstore had recommended it to Eric and, when he mentioned he had difficulty collected the amount due despite repeated assurances to the contrary, the bookstore owner paid the invoice amount and told Eric no problem, she would deducted the amount from the next invoice she received from the distributor. It would not complain because she was a good customer.
After that, it was prepay only.
Harvey Randall, Author
A Reasonable Disciplinary Penalty Under the Circumstances
Layoff, Preferred Lists and Reinstatement (2014 Edition)
The Discipline Book (2014 Edition)
The General Municipal Law Section 207-a and 207-c Case Book
I learned the concept of the Rule of 5 at a seminar, “The Rule of 5 for Leadership,” by John Maxwell. Since then, I’ve heard the Rule of 5 for just about everything. The Rule of 5 is a list of the five key things that you must do every day in your business, in your writing, or whatever goal you may be pursuing…
I can see giving up ownership to my work if I was getting paid, but giving up both ownership and pay? Is that wise?
In 2012, I made plans for my freelance writing career to grow to full-time over a three-year period. The plan included keeping my full-time “day job” so I wouldn’t have to worry about paying the mortgage. This also afforded me the ability to refuse grasping at the low-paying and “low-hanging fruit.”
The Summer, 2014 Short Story Contest IS THIS SATURDAY! Rather than sweating and getting a sunburn, spend the day in the cool air conditioning, and come play with us!
You’re depressed. You’re confused. You’re thinking about giving up writing altogether. Why? Because the only people who have bought your book are your mom and your Aunt Bertha. With more than a million books published each year now (most of those self-published), there is lots of competition. However, many authors earn enough in book sales to feed their families. How do they do it?
Some of this may be hard to hear (I mean read) but, if you clicked on this article, you’re obviously seeking the truth. So, here it is…
Angela,
Thank you so much for your article on editing our manuscripts. It always amazes me how information shows up when I need it. I have been working with content editors, and cleaning things up. But, I wanted a copy editor to do a final edit and I am waiting for one final estimate. But, I really don’t think I will have the funds.
I appreciate the information on Natural Reader, which I can afford!
Have a nice day,
Robin
Having just completed another very successful “book signing” in a large venue setting, I would like to offer some pointers for authors that have had limited or no success in selling their books at the various library or local artist sponsored book signing events.
