Angela’s Desk

CREATESPACE COMPLAINTS – Part II

Published on September 21, 2011

At the end of 2009, the name BookSurge was retired, and that business was rolled under the CreateSpace name. Since there were so many complaints about BookSurge posted online (we were a previous victim as well), we investigated CreateSpace's forum in April, 2010 to see if things had gotten better. You can see our past findings (they're not pretty!) HERE. We have continued to receive complaints about CreateSpace since that time and, this week, we decided to revisit their forum to see if things have improved. We weren't terribly surprised by what we found... …

More World’s Worst Book Proposals

Published on September 7, 2011

Today, I'm going to share another installment of our popular column, World's Worst Book Proposals. Yes, we can learn from others' mistakes! …

Avoiding a Trademark Infringement Lawsuit is SO Easy!

Published on August 31, 2011

Avoiding a Trademark Infringement Lawsuit is SO Easy!

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... …

Topic, Common Themes, and Winners of the WritersWeekly.com Summer 2011 24-Hour Short Story Contest!

Published on August 24, 2011

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... …

Do NOT Use Odd Punctuation and Misspelled Words in Book Titles!

Published on August 17, 2011

Do NOT Use Odd Punctuation and Misspelled Words in Book Titles!

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... …

Amazon Vs. Apple Vs. Amazon Vs. Apple…

Published on August 10, 2011

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... …

Offering Credit to Bookstores Can Be VERY Risky By Angela Hoy

Published on August 3, 2011

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... …

Should Authors Abandon Print Books For Ebooks Only? HECK NO!

Published on July 27, 2011

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... …

Press Releases Are Boring – News is Not By Angela Hoy

Published on July 13, 2011

Press Releases Are Boring – News is Not By Angela Hoy

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... …

Reasons NOT to Sell Your Own Book By Angela Hoy

Published on June 29, 2011

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. …

More World’s Worst Book Proposals

Published on June 8, 2011

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... …

Do NOT Sneak Your Self-Published Book Onto Bookstore Shelves! By Angela Hoy, Co-owner of BookLocker.com and WritersWeekly.com

Published on June 1, 2011

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 SECRETS REVEALED: How Much Do POD Publishers Profit from Those “Distribution” Fees? Hmmm… – Angela Hoy, co-owner of BookLocker and WritersWeekly.com

Published on May 25, 2011

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. …

POD SECRETS REVEALED: Ridiculous Hot Air on Some POD Publishers’ Websites – Angela Hoy, co-owner of BookLocker.com

Published on May 11, 2011

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... …

POD SECRETS REVEALED: You Pay… But THEY Own the Rights?!

Published on May 4, 2011

POD SECRETS REVEALED: You Pay… But THEY Own the Rights?!

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... …

POD SECRETS REVEALED: “Free” POD Services Can Be Very Expensive!

Published on March 30, 2011

Tempted to sign up with one of those POD publishers that are claiming to be FREE? Think again! If you're a graphic designer and you can layout your book on your own, and if you can create a professional and original book cover on your own, too, and if you want to severely limit your book's availability (and salability), that's one thing. But, if you want to get your book published for "free", in some cases you can forget about having an ISBN (which online and brick and mortar bookstores and libraries require), forget about being distributed by Ingram, the largest book distributor, and forget about a lot of other things as well... …

POD SECRETS REVEALED: List Prices, Royalties and Author Discounts

Published on February 9, 2011

When authors are researching POD publishers, they often just look at the setup fees, glance at the royalties (not knowing what they're a percentage of), and go from there. Unfortunately, they don't always think about asking what the list price of their book will be, don't understand how the royalty structure works or when royalties will be paid, and don't always ask how much they'll have to pay for copies they purchase themselves after the book is ready to sell... …

POD SECRETS REVEALED: SHIPPING COSTS – Giving Authors the Run-around Instead of Firm Quotes?!

Published on February 2, 2011

You did it! Your book is finally in print! After months of sweating over details like editing and cover colors and even the final list price, you're ready to start that marketing campaign! You've even figured out that you can make more money buying copies at your author discount and doing your own fulfillment at appearances than you would if you sent potential readers to your publisher's website. But, wait... You just tried to place an order for 100 copies of your book...and discovered that your publisher is charging you around $1 per small, paperback book for shipping and handling! Say what?! That blows your budget right out of the water! …

THIS MAKES ME SICK! Company Admits Buying 5-Star Book Reviews!!

Published on January 19, 2011

THIS MAKES ME SICK! Company Admits Buying 5-Star Book Reviews!!

This week's story makes me sick to my stomach. After last week's article about an author who admitted manipulating Amazon's sales rankings and reviews, I received an email from a reader who had applied for a freelance writing job online. The company in question wanted to pay writers for book reviews....but only for 5-star ones. …

Even Friends Need a Contract!

Published on December 29, 2010

Below is a recent email I received. I have removed identifying information for obvious reasons. I'll call this victim Regretta. Dear Angela, Three years ago, I started a blog and website describing my talents as a writer. They were both under one domain name. All this setup was done by my best friend. He had handled all the money matters and setup as he is a technical guy and worked as a web administrator. We were also involved emotionally and I trusted him blindly... The email went on to say that the "friend" hadn't worked on the site in two years, and didn't make any updates, but kept encouraging Regretta to grow the blog. He was earning Google Adsense money on the blog and he was sharing the revenues with her. By now, you know where this is going... …

When You Get An Email Meant For Another

Published on December 22, 2010

Okay, I admit I'm being lazy with the writing this week because I have a TON of stuff to do before the relatives arrive on Thursday. I've been trying to fit this in somewhere and this seems like the perfect time. Below is part of an email that somebody forwarded to me by mistake. I usually delete these immediately when I realize they aren't meant for me but I didn't realize this was one of those until I'd finished reading. I was shocked by what it said. Would love to hear your opinion, too. Am I being too cynical in thinking this person intended to read and then return the print book whether he/she liked it or not?? This would definitely explain why some bookstores return books that look so shabby! Here it is: I have two important errands. I need to pick up a book and I could only find it at Borders. The book is 20 bucks and I could get an ebook but I wanted something I could return. Comments? Questions? Have a similar ditty to share? Email Angela at angela-at-writersweekly.com. …

What’s the Best Ebook Format?

Published on December 1, 2010

Here is an excerpt from an email I received: I just finished my first ebook about travel and safety . I own Adobe Acrobat Pro and can create PDFs with no problems. I see there are "compilers" that have very strong security to prevent any form of "sharing" our hard work. What do you think is the best way to go? …

Does Amazon Remove Old Book Listings? No!

Published on November 24, 2010

Does Amazon Remove Old Book Listings? No!

When an author publishes a brand new edition of their book, or when they move their book from one publisher to another, or even when they get the rights back to their book and decide to self-publish, they are often frustrated to learn that Amazon will not remove the old version of their book from Amazon.com... …

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