Writing a book is hard. Publishing and promotion can be difficult as well. Most authors are professionals but some still fall for the outrageous marketing verbiage dished out by some of the Print on Demand (P.O.D.) publishers. A lot of this garbage is downright insulting. Do authors really fall for this stuff? Unfortunately, some do! …
At BookLocker.com, authors frequently copy and paste their Amazon reviews (in their entirety!) into an email, asking us to republish those reviews on their book page on our site. Doing so would be a copyright violation. Other authors also contact me on occasion asking if they can republish Amazon's reviews. Here's what I tell all of them. …
While self-published books don't carry the same stigma they did even as recently as a few years ago, they still aren't considered on the same tier as traditionally published books. So, most self-published authors don't want to make a big deal out of the fact that their book is "self-published." …
There seems to be no shortage of ways that POD publishers can concoct to separate authors from their money. Here are a few DOOZIES that we bet cost far more than most (if not all) authors will ever earn back in resulting book sales. …
Ah, the large POD publishers will say just about anything to get your money, including offering ridiculous sales that look like good deals...until you do the math. …
For the past six weeks, we've spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Spring, 2012 24-Hour Short Story Contest. In case you're not familiar with our quarterly contest, this is how it works. On the date of the contest, at start-time, we send out the topic for that specific contest to all registered entrants, while also posting it online. Entrants then have 24 hours to write and submit their stories. The stories "must deal with the topic in some way to qualify" and they must not exceed the pre-assigned word count. After reading the entries for each contest, we can see how difficult it is to come up with a unique plot when working with an assigned topic. But, inevitably, a few writers do manage to successfully break away from the pack. So, today, taste the salt on your lips and feel the sun baking your skin... …
I received a frantic email from an author over the weekend who'd been threatened with a lawsuit. Of course, the first thing I told her was that I'm not a lawyer and that I can't give legal advice. I then calmly told her to send me a file containing all the correspondence between her and the angry contributor because I'm always happy to give my non-lawyer opinion about a situation. Here's what happened... …
There are many content mills out there that have a confusing, vague, or buried clause in their contract that states contributors won't receive a check until the amount owed meets a specific threshold. In many cases, contributors never reach that threshold. They end up terminating their contract, hoping to receive payment for the paltry amount they are owed...but then realize the contract terms prevent them from EVER receiving a payment until/unless that threshold is met. That means the writer has done all that work - for free... …
Many authors publish (and pay for) stories from others to include in their non-fiction collections. One author sent me this question last week: What I could really use is a template or some kind of information on the format and layout for this type of book to be published with BookLocker. I've got my ideas, can write them and have a publisher with guts to get this done, being you. The market is there for mostly physical books but I will also sell them in ebook format. Can you point me in the right direction? …
Don't wait for somebody to post something to your book's page on Amazon. Ask readers, via your website and your newsletter, and even during the ordering process on your website (if you're processing your own orders), to submit their comments about your book to you by email or through an automated form on your website... …
I received an email this week from a writer I'll call "Susan." She needed my advice about a "client" who owed her a few hundred dollars. He hired her last year to write an ebook for him. What mistakes did this writer make to contribute to the scammer's success? …
Jeff Bezos is a BILLIONAIRE!! He is worth 18.4 BILLION dollars. Instead of putting air conditioning in the ovens his company calls warehouses, he's blowing his money trying to recover rockets from past space flights. Why?! …
An author recently asked me about using real people (friends, relatives, acquaintances) in a novel. I told her doing so would be very risky from a legal standpoint. She assumed just calling the book "fiction" would protect her from a lawsuit. She also assumed simply changing a few names would also protect her from a lawsuit. …
Last week, I was absolutely STUNNED when I discovered a comment online from a rejected author who said I "discriminate." I am one of the most laid-back, easy-going, and accepting people you'd ever meet. During my life, I have had friends and boyfriends of many different races and religions. I have friends and relatives who are gay, straight, and bi. I, personally, don't think there is any one religion favored by God so who am I to decide if there are any right or wrong ones? Everybody should have an equal chance to publish their own feelings on faith, provided, of course, their manuscript does not promote hurting others... …
Last week, Author Solutions announced they're for sale. Author Solutions, which is owned by Bertram Capital, has several publishing services companies, including AuthorHouse, Xlibris, iUniverse, Trafford and WordClay. They also have some lesser-known services like HollywoodPitch.com, AuthorHive.com and Palibrio.com. The announcement included some pretty revealing financial information about the company. It sure looks like Author Solutions has separated authors from a LOT of their own money! Let's dissect the numbers, shall we? …
It's no secret that that there are just a handful of major players in the Print on Demand (POD) industry (with a few thousand smaller ones) and that there are numerous complaints about the largest ones online. Oddly, under those complaints you rarely see the company in question defending itself. Why? …
For the past six weeks, we've spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Winter, 2012 24-Hour Short Story Contest. In case you're not familiar with our quarterly contest, this is how it works. On the date of the contest, at start-time, we send out the topic for that specific contest to all registered entrants, while also posting it online. Entrants then have 24 hours to write and submit their stories. The stories "must deal with the topic in some way to qualify" and they must not exceed the pre-assigned word count. After reading the entries for each contest, we can see how difficult it is to come up with a unique plot when working with an assigned topic. But, inevitably, a few writers do manage to successfully break away from the pack. So, today, hear distant cracking as you step out onto the ice... …
At Booklocker.com, we often receive books from authors who have quoted song lyrics in their text, usually without permission. Sadly, some authors have quoted song lyrics extensively throughout their books and must do major rewrites if they can't obtain permission to use the lyrics. Obtaining permission can be a frustrating and expensive pursuit. And, you must obtain permission to use them. …
It seems it's not enough that some POD publishers charge new authors thousands of dollars to publish a book. Some have taken the low road by attempting to trick their competitors' authors into thinking they need more than one publisher... …
Dear Angela, A friend is taking an online course on how to write ebooks. At one point the instructor told the students that they could write a book on a subject they know nothing about simply by reading several books on the topic written by others, and compiling the information. I was shocked when she told me that he then suggested creating a pseudonym that sounds like an expert in the field, and purchasing a portrait from a stock photography website to go with the name... …
In December, I wrote about an author who thought it was okay to use a deceased person's work simply because that person had claimed to want to write a book with him someday. In that article, I explained why he could not do that. This week, I wanted to share the rest of the story with you... …
Last week, we discussed ways some victims could have protected themselves from being scammed online. Here are more examples based on actual complaints that have been sent in over the years... …
Over the years, I have helped hundreds of writers and authors who have been wronged or downright scammed by an individual or business in the industry. It's very frustrating when it's so obvious that most of the victims could have avoided being victimized in the first place, or could have at least limited their losses, had they simply done a bit of research. …
Today, I'm going to share another installment of our popular column, World's Worst Book Proposals. Yes, we can learn from others' mistakes! Featured below are real quotes from book proposals submitted to me over the past few months. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried... …
An author submitted a manuscript to us a couple of weeks ago that contained numerous letters he had exchanged with a lady friend. I, of course, assumed it was his wife but, just to be safe, I asked. He responded that she'd lived overseas and that she died. On further questioning, it appears he assumed, since the woman stated in her letters that someday she wanted to write a book with him, that meant he owned her work... …
Back in 2009, we published THIS ARTICLE, which featured numerous complaints about Lulu, posted directly to Lulu's forum by Lulu's own authors. I recently surfed back to their forum to see if things have improved. Apparently, they have not. Below are quotes taken directly from Lulu's own author forum... …
Well, it happened again. An author submitted a novel and a so-called "fictitious", non-profit organization he created for his novel was accused, in his novel, of being involved in a child abuse ring. He listed the "fictional" organization's name and website URL in his novel. I've seen this before and it took me a mere second to Google the name and the website address and, guess what? They both exist... …
For the past six weeks, we've spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Fall, 2011 24-Hour Short Story Contest... …
At BookLocker.com, we have always provided authors with free copies of their ebooks. It costs us nothing to send the author a copy of their own ebook so why in the world would we charge them to do so? If an author writes in asking for a copy of their ebook, we send it to them - with a smile. I have no idea what justification other publishers have for charging authors for copies of their own files but there is no shortage of those that do! …
As you can see from our "World's Worst Book Proposals" series, there are plenty of really bad books being shopped to publishers and, unfortunately, most Print on Demand (POD) publishers will print anything and everything just to get an author's money... …
Today, I'm going to share another installment of our popular column, World's Worst Book Proposals. Yes, we can learn from others' mistakes! …
Imagine you just finished your new book. You came up with the perfect title years ago, when you first started thinking about writing it. You've paid a cover designer to design the perfect cover and you've paid your POD publisher to design the interior. You spent weeks or months on the publishing process and you bought a domain name that matches the title of your book. Your website is finally live and your book up for sale! Then, just as your starting the marketing phase, you're completely blindsided by a nasty letter from a law firm. They're demanding you immediately cease and desist using THEIR trademarked phrase... …
For the past six weeks, we've spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Summer, 2011 24-Hour Short Story Contest. In case you're not familiar with our quarterly contest, this is how it works. On the date of the contest, at start-time, we send out the topic for that specific contest to all registered entrants. We also post it online. Entrants then have 24 hours to write and submit their stories. The stories "must deal with the topic in some way to qualify" and they must not exceed the pre-assigned word count. After reading the entries for each contest, we can see how difficult it is to come up with a unique plot when working with an assigned topic. But, inevitably, a few writers do manage to successfully break away from the pack. So, today, join two newlyweds embraced on the beach, and learn what he's been keeping from her... …
Last month, we received a manuscript with a book title that featured odd punctuation and characters in the middle of words in the title. Last week, another author submitted a book with three of the four words in the title purposely misspelled (all the s's had been changed to z's). Some authors think they're being clever in this regard, or perhaps they think this will make their book title more memorable and that these things will increase sales. However, the opposite usually occurs... …
The industry is abuzz this week over a class-action lawsuit filed against Apple and six of the big publishing houses alleging ebook price fixing. Amazon is mentioned several times in the press release, which states, "The complaint claims that the five publishing houses forced Amazon to abandon its discount pricing and adhere to a new agency model, in which publishers set prices." Amazon is not listed as one of the plaintiffs (two ebook buyers are) but it's difficult to imagine Amazon is not somehow involved because the name Amazon is mentioned eight times in the press release... …
Long, long ago, when we first started publishing print books back in 1999, we used to offer all retailers, schools and libraries credit. Some had ridiculous terms, like "Net 90" (meaning we had to wait three months for a check that sometimes never arrived), while others blatantly violated our purchase terms... …
