Halloween is over and it was a truly wonderful and magical day. Max was almost able to keep up with the big kids this year and actually covered two entire blocks before he started dragging his feet and asked us to carry him back home. We’re now gearing up for Christmas shopping.
A few weeks ago, I penned a piece on why all books should be non-returnable. In that article, I mentioned a scam that involves authors placing fraudulent orders at bookstores and then never showing up to purchase the books. Below is a series of emails I exchanged with a real author who admits she placed several orders for her own book at bookstores and then never purchased them.
In response to this Ask The Expert – What Exactly Is A Vanity Press?:
I would never consider BookLocker.com a vanity press for a few reasons…
The holiday season is synonymous with big spending. For writers this means assignment heaven. From the hospitality industry, to fashion, to auto dealers, real-estate firms, and even banking, businesses are rushing to promote new products and services in time for holiday splurging. The good thing is that a lot of these promotions carry over months after the New Year, making now a prime time for enterprising writers to cash in on the action.
I write non-fiction articles and every once in a while I have an interview subject who wants to review the material before it is published. I feel uncomfortable doing this because when I have allowed it, they want to change quotes that I know they have said. How do you suggest I handle this?
Being fat had its obvious rewards. Writing with an open box of Sugar Pops next to my thick thigh had always been a comfort. When I lacked ideas, chewing on a mouthful of pretzels helped stimulate my brain. A Dairy Queen Blizzard or an Entenmann’s Pound Cake helped steady my nerves when I became anxious about exceeding a word count. Food helped me write. Food helped me be funny. But when the scale topped 225 pounds and my doctor started screaming things at me about killing myself a little more every time I chomped down another super-sized portion of French fries or inhaling a pizza by myself, I knew it was time to repair my body and, as an unexpected side effect, put a little spice in my creative spirit.
We sustained yet ANOTHER blow-out last week on our way back to Maine.
Since we own an ebook and POD company, we work with quite a few authors. While most are as pleasant as can be, we do run into the occasional jerk. I thought I’d give you all a chuckle (or a roll of the eyes) this week.
Hope your return trip was safe and uneventful.
You are such a hero to continue to provide WritersWeekly. I am truly amazed at your tenacious desire to help aspiring writers. There are so many other websites that simply provide a blog/forum and nothing else.
However, after reading about Janet Kay & Associates, again, I must say the field of writing continues to resemble a badly managed lottery, with more scams per square inch than probably any other single category or endeavour. Yet you soldier on. I am sure there are many others in your “literary family” who use your site to pursue your goals and never think to thank you for such reliable entertainment and insignt into the world of writing and publishing.
In my case, as noted before, I have abandoned all interest in becoming a published author (would rather spend my money more easily on a lottery ticket). BUT I have been presented with a wonderful education into the industry. I learned a good deal about contracts and protecting publishing rights; learned how to spot a scam more quickly and accurately, and learned to be a better literary critic (which extends into film as well). And all for the price of an email address.
Keep up the good work. and thank you again for what you do.
Cheers,
Freddy
At a conference in New York City two years back (the first formal conference ever on the subject of blogging), panelists at a roundtable discussion were asked the inevitable question: “What is a blog?” A huge argument ensued because no one could agree on a single definition.
While even the experts can’t agree on what a blog is, everyone agrees that blogs are fueling something significant.
