Letters To The Editor For February 4th
This Week:
- KUDOS TO: You and Me – American’s Medical Magazine!
- When POD Pubs Confuse Authors Regarding “Distribution”
Write, Get Published, and Get Paid Without Getting Screwed By Laura Bell
This sounds like a fundamental quest for any writer. The problem is that it sounds easy. If your writing career has been going smoothly, you are blessed. For the rest of us, let’s look at the issues realistically. Someone wants your work. You deliver and getting paid turns into one big headache. As far as I know writers are the only professionals who get treated this way. The world as a whole does not treat us professionally. Professionals get a decent wage and get paid on time.
Bargain Basement PODs – You Get What You Pay For
I am considering two different POD companies, BookLocker and CreateSpace. From what I can see, CreateSpace (owned by Amazon) has no set up fee but you pay a little more for each book sold. Honestly, after reading all the information you provide, I like your approach and I have purchased a book from you and I like the way it feels and looks, but I am having trouble justifying paying $500 when I can pay $0 in set up fees. Can you tell me if I am missing something with CreateSpace? I see they are not one of the companies you discussed in the comparison article. Thanks for any additional information you can provide!
Ghostblogging Pays My Bills By Susan Johnston
I’d heard from other writers that posting in the services section of CraigsList.org was a good way to gain more clients. Though I was skeptical, I figured it was free, so I forged ahead, promoting myself as an online copywriter and blogger. I didn’t hear anything right away, and then almost a week after I’d posted, I got an email from someone saying he needed a writer to ghostblog for his law firm. I was still skeptical (after all, I don’t have a law degree and I’ve barely sat through a complete episode of Law & Order), but I agreed to a phone interview to find out more.
Mason is Potty Trained! Whoo Hoo!
I’ve been potty-training Mason for 10 days now and, not only does he ALWAYS potty on the toilet when he needs to now, but he also takes apart his little potty and dumps it in the big potty. Yea, Mason!
He did have one accident (only one!) in the past week…and it was when he went #2.
How Much Do POD Publishers Profit from Those “Channel Distribution” Fees? Hmm… By Angela Hoy
Here’s a letter I received last week from a disgruntled Xlibris.com author. This has nothing to do with the purchase of the company as this has been going on at Xlibris for years.
Gullible People Who Apparently Want to Get Screwed
Dear Angela,
I’ve been reading WritersWeekly forever and enjoy the heck out of it (I’ve also gotten a few jobs from it). I got a major kick out of your article, Gullible People Who Want to Be Screwed. Not the gullible people part (after all, if there were no gullible people, what would the online scammers do?), but your annoyance at people asking you to Google things for them. That happens to me frequently, and I now send them this link: https://letmegooglethatforyou.com. They usually get the hint. Hope it works for you as well.
Stay warm!
Kelly Burgess
Senior Writer
iParenting.com, Disney Family Group
www.iParenting.com
https://www.myspace.com/kwrite
Wedding Bliss and Paychecks: Writing for the Wedding Market By Steff Green
Planning a wedding is big business these days – the average cost of a US wedding is $28,732 – that’s more than many people earn in a year! Most couples have never planned an event of this size or cost before, so they’re searching for any advice to help manage their wedding plans. Bridal magazines and online planning guides cater to these dazed brides and grooms. If you’re passionate about taffeta and lace, seating plans and wedding bands, perhaps you should consider writing for the wedding market.
POD and Returns
I was reading the web page of Booklocker.com and I saw your name in there. What I would like to know is; are there any POD publishers out there who take books back from the bookstores?
A Writer by Any other Name…By Shaunna Privratsky
Everyone is tightening purse strings, even editors. When I inquired about a possible rate increase for my writing in 2009, I was emphatically turned down.