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... …
An author of books already in print contacted me last week, saying she's considering abandoning her print books because there has been so much in the news about ereaders and ebooks. I told her that would be a huge mistake... …
In January, 2005, I published what would soon become one of my most popular articles, Deadbeat Editor Giving You The Run-Around?. I later heard from dozens of writers who used the advice in that article to collect money from deadbeat editors and publishers. There have been lots of updates online, of course, and today I am adding a supplement to that article. …
Just about every journalist and periodical editor has received countless press releases by email, fax and mail. While at WritersWeekly.com we don't publish press releases, and never have, we are still inundated with them on a daily basis for everything ranging from publishing services to insurance for the self-employed. But, we get far more "new book release" press releases than anything else. And, let me tell you, even though I'm an avid book reader and buy several books each month, it is very rare that I receive a new book press release that keeps me interested past the first sentence... …
While we're busy moving over the next three weeks, Angela will be updating her most popular columns. Is customer service and fulfillment devouring your writing and marketing time? At BookLocker.com, we are frequently approached by authors who are weary of all the problems they've encountered while trying to sell their books themselves. While they started out wanting to write for a living, they now find they're spending most of their time on website repairs and upgrades, customer service, troubleshooting, fulfillment, and even dealing with credit card fraud and bounced checks. …
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, step out into the sunshine and have a conversation with an outdoor food vendor... …
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... …
Over the years, several authors have written to me, sharing a "unique" idea they had about getting bookstores to stock their books. They walk into a store, pull a couple of their books out of their purse or jacket, place them on a shelf, and walk away. It's like backwards shoplifting. We call it shopdropping....and it's a very, very bad idea... …
POD Publishers that use Ingram's printing division to print their books incur a $12 annual fee for each title/ISBN. They call this their "Catalog Fee." Ingram's catalog fee provides: "Access to our worldwide distribution channels (the largest portfolio of wholesalers, distributors and booksellers worldwide)." Basically, this means they send out an automated feed to bookstores that includes all the available titles and it costs $12 per year to keep a book in their feed. Most POD publishers pass this fee onto their authors but under a variety of names. While it's common to mark up a fee a small bit for a variety of reasons (administrative costs, their own file hosting expenses, etc.), some POD publishers take "marking up" to a whole new level. …
As I wrote last week, "Some companies will say or write just about anything to get your business..." …
At BookLocker, we are frequently contacted by authors who say they are surprised by our candor. We never tell authors their book might become a best seller...because it probably won't (most traditionally published books never become best sellers, either). We don't twist our words around to make it appear an author's book will be stocked by "25,000" bookstores. It won't. And we don't publish verbiage that makes an author think we do something we don't. We just don't do business that way. Authors appreciate our honestly because they have read so much confusing blurbage on other POD publishers' websites. Here are a few examples of what we believe is "hot air" on some POD publishers' websites. Of course, this is our opinion. You can form your own... …
It's disgusting but it's true. Some POD publishers will do anything to make it financially and logistically impossible for you to switch to another POD publisher if you are unhappy with their services in the future. We call this a "forced marriage." One way they might do this is to include verbiage, buried in the middle of their contract (or multiple contracts as some POD publishers offer different contracts for each service), that states they own all rights to the materials you have paid them to create... …
Last week, we discussed how most POD publishers' websites not only do almost nothing to promote their authors' books, but also tell everyone their authors paid to have their books published. This week, we'll look at those ridiculous "free book!" offers. …
