Last week, I discussed why so many authors choose to self-publish. This week, we're going to discuss how successful, self-published authors market their books online. I've enlisted the help of some of BookLocker's top-selling authors. …
There does indeed seem to be a camp of people online, most of whom have only been traditionally published, who loudly beat their drums against any author who dares to consider self-publishing. My problem with them is that they convey a "holier than thou" attitude when they have no idea who that hopeful author is, what their book is about, or what their potential sales might be. The fact is, there are self-published authors who have and are making more money than many traditionally published authors... …
Every quarter, we host the WritersWeekly.com 24-Hour Short Story Contest. The first thing you should know is we don't make a profit on the contest. After charging a $5 entry fee for the contest to the maximum number of contestants (500) and then paying the judges (by the hour), the winners ($300, $250 and $200) and also royalties to authors of books that are chosen as prizes for other contestants, we actually lose money on each contest. But, it is a good publicity tool and lots of fun so we keep it going, year after year. The best part of the contest is that I get to read lots of great stories! The worst part of the contest is dealing with disqualified or just plain grumpy contestants. …
Two things happened last week that disturbed me. First, an author I know wanted to hire a certain cover designer, but the designer refused to design his cover unless he published his book through the designer's "publishing company." Second, another author I know wanted to terminate her contract with iUniverse, but learned she'd need to pay them $1500 to obtain copies of her book text and cover files...files that she paid them to create! …
Angela is relaxing this week and trying labor-inducing tricks, like positive visualization, eating tons of pineapple and talking to the baby. "Come on, Mason! I'm ready! Time to come out and play! Are you listening to me? Hello???" Her column will return next week...unless she is STILL pregnant! …
I receive complaints about unscrupulous publishers daily. Sometimes, it's hard to tell if you're being scammed or not. Today, I thought I'd share some common excuses we see for non-payment. In all cases below, if the writer had obtained a contract, they'd have had an easier time securing payment. …
If you're going to get into bed with a cheat and a liar, don't come crawling to me for help... …
Unfortunately, there has been a huge increase in the number of websites for writers that automatically re-charge your credit card for everything from a subscription, to a job bidding/finding service, and more. If you don't read the fine print, you may find yourself paying, over and over again, sometimes even on a monthly basis, for something you don't want. …
In the future, when negotiating the price and terms with a "pays on publication" publisher, estimate the date when the payment would be due if it were published on schedule. Then, include a clause in your email agreement or contract ... …
Some publications are so hungry for content they'll publish anything - even content that ultimately hurts their readers. This is really no different from running ads (and accepting money from) companies that engage in questionable business practices or companies that do not serve writers in a positive way. …
I'm knee deep in email this week so I'm once again sharing snippets of some of the worst book proposals we've ever received. We hope you get a giggle from them like we did. Yes, these are real! …
We received a huge response to our article two weeks ago about the writer who received $500 for the unauthorized use of her work, and an even bigger response to last week's article, When Someone Steals Your Work. What all authors need to know is that there are not just companies and websites that steal from writers. There is also a growing problem of writers stealing from other writers... …
Every week, I get emails from writers who have discovered their work published illegally online. Some of the copyright crooks ignorantly don't realize they can't publish someone else's work online (meaning some people think the entire Internet is the public domain). However, in my opinion, most people know they can't put someone else's work on their website, but do it anyway, hoping they won't get caught, not really caring, and/or deciding they'll just remove it if anyone ever complains. However, it doesn't work that way. …
We were recently notified by a travel writer that some of her work had been posted to a website without her permission. The site's owner immediately responded to the writer and apologized, then she surprised us all by writing this: "I would hope this wouldn't be necessary but understand if you want to proceed and will respond through my attorney. I am actually shocked by your attitude. My material and articles have been published without my agreement all over the internet. I take that as a compliment and am willing to share my thoughts and experiences. I am actually very saddened by your email." …
This week, we're again sharing snippets of some of the worst book proposals we've ever received. We hope you get a giggle from them like we did. Yes, these are real! …
Forgive me while I step up onto my soapbox today. I am SO tired (whine!) of receiving book manuscripts from convicted felons who have written books about the government conspiracies waged against them... …
We recently ran an article on low-paying Bottom Feeders. Basically, there are people, with seemingly no business experience, who are starting fledgling websites online and offering ridiculously low fees to writers. Unfortunately, sometimes new writers don't know any better and find themselves spending hours writing an article that will bring in less than $10. They then learn they've sold all rights to the greedy company. In some cases, they may even find their articles online later, appearing under somebody's else's name. (If a firm buys all rights, they can do pretty much whatever they please with it, including putting their name on the article.) Some people buy articles for pennies and turn around and sell them for hundreds. …
I received the following email last week: Since my initial entrance into the World of Writing, as I like to call it, I have not generated any sales for my four novels, including the one we, (my wife and I) paid a POD Company $650.00, for what turned out to be a rather bogus list of media outlets and bookstores with which to try and get my latest novel into. I am not looking to get rich overnight, but it would be wonderful to walk into a bookstore and see my novels displayed upon a self. If you're wanting to see your book in bookstores, the best way to do that is to get an agent and then try to land a traditional publishing contract. …
Last week, I listed my New Year's Writer's Resolutions and asked readers to share theirs, too. Here are some that arrived by email. My, but we are an ambitious bunch!! …
5. Create a new budget and stick to it (And I really mean it this year!!) 4. Add a Writer's Guidelines database to the WritersWeekly forum I started this on Tuesday. You can see what I've posted here: https://forums.writersweekly.com/viewforum.php?f=12. Many publications don't yet feature their guidelines online so we're offering to publish them on WritersWeekly to cut down on their incoming email. If you own/operate a paying publication or traditional publishing house and would like to be included, please email your guidelines to me here at: angela - at - writersweekly.com 3. Stay caught up so I'm not behind when the baby is born in June...or in case complications arise. I'm having some problems with debilitating hip pain and, from what I've read online, it's a very common problem with no known cause or cure (though lots of speculation). I'm still researching, however, and I have a doctor appointment tomorrow. 2. Writing some fiction for fun. I want to write a novel someday, but I'm always buried in non-fiction projects. If I write some fiction for fun this year, maybe I'll be able to build up my confidence a bit and attempt a novel in the next year or two. 1. And my #1 resolution for 2006 - Work on one of my books for at least one hour each morning (before I dive into my email box) and finish and publish at least three books this year. I've already started two of them! I'd love to hear about some of your New Year's Resolutions, too! Send them to me here at: angela-at-writersweekly.com …
In the BookLocker submission guidelines, we feature this note: "All BookLocker authors are part of our family. We treat all authors with the same kindness and a smile. We don't work with "prima donna" authors-people who think they're more important than other BookLocker authors. To put it simply, we don't work with jerks. If you fit this description, please do not submit your manuscript to us." The funny thing is this statement really seems to offend the "jerks" out there and makes everybody else (the nice people) laugh. So, it's been a very good way of weeding out the "jerks." Let's face it, life's too short to work with jerks, even if they're willing to pay us to do so. Every once in awhile, one of those jerks will send us a scathing diatribe about how our statements mean we're self-righteous, horrible human beings. I received once such letter by mail this week. …
What does it matter if the market is "saturated" as you put it, when "oceans" of POD books fail to sell? If "cold turkey", a POD publisher suffers no financial loss in readying a book for sale, does it really matter whether it is thought of as a late comer? One feels loathe in thinking that they, i.e. the POD publishers at large, presume to be gifted with an un-erring ESP as to what will sell and what won't. …
Unfortunately, when you own a company that has more than 800 clients (authors), you're forced to deal with the sad loss of a few of those clients each year. While it is sad to lose someone I've exchanged dozens of professional and often personal emails with over the months or years, the aftermath can get pretty ugly. You see, authors of published books leave behind a legacy. And, that legacy is an asset that is often bringing in some money. What's more, most people tend to think all authors are rich (ha ha). And, any asset that is bringing cash in each month will likely send the survivors in that family into a frenzy. …
We received a card in the mail from Federal Express early last week, sent to our P.O. Box, saying they had something for us. The card said they would return it in 7 days if we didn't call them for delivery or go pick it up. The "from" line was written in squiggly handwriting and appeared to say "self counsel" but we couldn't be sure. We'd never heard of that company, but the "counsel" part sure made us think it was from an attorney... …
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. …
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. …
As you may all remember, Janet Kay & Associates (including her husband George Titsworth) were accused of ripping off hundreds of hopeful authors in a horrible scheme of deceit. With the help of many writing websites and discussion lists, she and her husband were finally caught, indicted and arrested. Months later (last week), we received an email from the District Attorney letting us know the Titsworths plan to plead guilty in November, will serve no prison time, and have agreed to pay restitution...even though they don't have the money... …
This article may be reprinted/redistributed freely as long as the entire article and bio are included. After publishing last week's article, I received a flood of email from authors. One mentioned that she'd heard bookstore returns were instituted during the depression to help bookstores stay in business. Interestingly, however, the practice never died, despite the end of the depression. I researched this interesting tidbit and this is what I found. …
This article may be reprinted/redistibuted freely, as long as the entire article and bio are included. Bookstores have a long history of ordering too many books and then returning them for a credit, often damaged and at the expense of the publisher or self-published author. At other times, the books are simply destroyed (or sold to a big salvage bookstore), again, at the expense of the publisher or self-published author. It is my strong opinion that bookstores, like other retailers, should be financially responsible for their own sales forecasts... …
In response to last week's article, When Authors Spam, I received the following inquiry this week: By your definition, press release distribution services would always be sending spam? I agree it is a big problem but in the field of PR it is common to send form releases to a variety of markets whether they are addressed individually or sent to a group by a service. How else could someone contact book/product reviewers or columnists for a national campaign? One by one would take forever and I don't think most individuals could even find half of the contacts the distribution services have. …
I receive several hundred spams each week. Most want to show me how to make my male anatomy bigger (even though I'm a woman) while others want to dump a bunch of money into my account from some foreign dignitary who's on the run from his or her government. The only spam that I usually forgive is spam from non-fiction authors. You see, I'm running an ezine for writers and authors. If they send me a marketing message about their book, I'll usually overlook it. They could very well want me to review their book (even though we never publish book reviews). But, they may not know that, so I give them the benefit of the doubt. …
This week, I'm sharing snippets of some of the worst book proposals we've ever received. I hope you get a giggle from them like we did. Yes, these are real! …
In April, 2002, we published Tax Planning Strategies for the Self Employed by A.J. Cataldo. The process went quite quickly and A.J. was very pleased with the final product. We put the book up for sale and A.J. subsequently wrote articles during the tax season for our WritersWeekly.com readers. So, we were stunned on Saturday when a reader notified us that, on the book's Amazon.com page, there was a scathing review about the quality of the book, written by the author himself...but dated six months prior to the publication date. Huh?! …
After we ran last week's article, we received a record number of letters from readers... …
Ah, but what a kettle of controversy we stirred up with last week's article. In case you missed it, we came out publicly against those so-called "Amazon.com Best Seller" programs, which are very good at taking money from hopeful authors while teaching them how to manipulate the Amazon.com best seller database, thus giving the false impression that their book is any good and is selling in great numbers. Basically, these programs teach you how to get a bunch of people to buy your book on the same day, around the same time, making your book, albeit for just a few minutes or hours, an Amazon.com Best Seller in a certain category. You then get to say your book is an "Amazon.com Best Seller." …
I received the following inquiry from a reader two weeks ago: Angela, I saw an ad in a well-known zine that offered a "free telephone seminar" about "how any author can become an Amazon.com bestseller." What are your thoughts on their message? C. …
