Amazon – Do They Draw The Line ANYWHERE?

Unless your Internet connection has been out for a week or so, you’ve likely seen the story about Amazon…

Unless your Internet connection has been out for a week or so, you’ve likely seen the story about Amazon…
This week:
I have a regular conversation with a freelance friend and it kind of goes like this: She laments not being able to find work. I say hit the job boards because that’s where I find them. She replies that she’s tried it and it’s hopeless. I believe her…
Angela, I’m ready to publish my book now. But, I believe I need a LOT! of help marketing it. I am not at all good on the computer.I don’t know where to get a computer email list of potential buyers, or how to go about comtacting them if I did. Are the marketing packages these other self publishing companies offer really working?
When I first started writing, I would find a market I was interested in writing for, send them a query and then wait to hear back from them. If they liked the idea, I’d write the story, they’d print it and I’d cash the check. End of story.
But it wasn’t the end of the story. Or it shouldn’t have been…

I woke up last night because Zach, our oldest, had the TV on too loud downstairs. I didn’t want to wake up the little ones so I didn’t run on the front hall light as I headed for the stairs, intent on reprimanding Zach.
I was walking down the stairs in the dark and, in a flash, heard a loud “MEOW!!!”…

I received this email from an unhappy POD author:
“I’ve really, really disliked Lulu, and have been very discouraged by the process. I don’t think a paperback of this book should cost so much (they claimed it’s necessary for the Amazon distribution). I actually haven’t marketed this book at all because I’m upset by the costs.
She provided me with her book’s information online. It’s a 390-page paperback (fiction) and it costs (are you sitting down?) more than $25! She’s right. That is WAY too expensive. Why would any POD publisher want to price a book out of the market like that?
I looked online and found two POD publishers that have some (not all) of their books appearing on Amazon with significant price differences compared to the list price on the publishers’ own websites…
Angela,
Here’s one more reason people should not swim in the dangerous waters of copyright infringement (read paragraph 4) – they may get caught in a net.
See: https://www.eff.org/press/releases

As a writer, consider yourself lucky come the holiday season. With a little creative thinking, you can offer some unique twists on your usual writing services to pad your pocket just in time for the upcoming shopping frenzy…
How long does it take Ingram to pay POD publishers? My friend bought my book from Amazon last month and it’s still not showing up in my earnings. And, how fast is Apple paying publishers for their iBookstore sales?