My brother in law has a traditional publishing house, small to be sure. He has ceased dealing with Ingram not only because of the discounts they demand, but also because of the mountains of returns he gets months later of books with torn covers, etc. What is your experience? …
I have been reading your site for a few months, and I was wondering if this would be appropriate for Whispers and Warnings. I have written four articles for a national women's magazine, one every month or two. The magazine's policy is that writers are paid 60ish days after publication. The first was paid late (in the meantime, I was working on the 4th), and after much haranguing, they finally paid about a month late with excuses about how the financial department was held up due to this or that. Now we're at over 90 days on the second... so I'm detecting a pattern. I never signed a contract (I know, I know...) My emails asking about payment for the second are going largely ignored (my contact keeps saying, "I'll check on it for you!" and then never responds). I've Googled, and I can't find anything from writers with similar experiences... what do you think? Thanks! …
Do you have any suggestions on how we can get the paperback edition of my book to appear first on the Barnes and Noble website? When shoppers look it up, the hardcover comes up first and I think the price is going to scare readers off, especially if they don't know how to navigate to other formats of the book. …
I have written four articles for a national women's magazine, one every month or two. The magazine's policy is that writers are paid 60ish days after publication. The first was paid late (in the meantime, I was working on the 4th) and, after much haranguing, they finally paid about a month late with excuses about how the financial department was held up due to this or that. Now we're at over 90 days on the second... so I'm detecting a pattern. I never signed a contract (I know, I know...). My emails asking about payment for the second are going largely ignored (my contact keeps saying, "I'll check on it for you!" and then never responds). …
Remember me? I miss you. You are by far the best publisher I've met so far. You answer e-mails, you keep promises, and you pay royalties on time to your writers. My current publisher doesn't do any of that, and that's why I'm contacting you. I plan to enter a complaint into your Whispers and Warnings section, but I want to touch base with you before I do it, and explain. (My other publisher) started off as a dynamic, responsive and very active publisher when she initially persuaded me to sign on. In September 2011 she did the royalty accounting and paid me a big check for the months up to and including May 2011, which covered the first month of my sales surge. I sold over 17,000 e-books on Kindle that May. In June, I sold over 19,500, over 10,000 in July and over 6,000 in August. I don't have exact figures because she never sent me exact figures after May. The problem is that she has not paid me royalties covering the period June 2011 to the present. And, she stopped sending me monthly sales figures around the same time. Also, she stopped answering my e-mails, except for very occasional one- or two-sentence responses that never mentioned royalties. It has now been 14 months without a royalty payment to me. Her other writers I am in touch with have similar problems with her, all centering around a lack of communication, missed deadlines and royalty problems. What else can I do? …
I recently collaborated with a much-published and widely read author to edit one of her pending publications. We discussed my literary life, too. She indicates I should get an agent to market my newest manuscript. What do you think? …
I messed up. I published my book with 1st Books, now named AuthorHouse. I want to have an ebook to sell, but not thru AuthorHouse. Do they own publishing rights? I know they have sold some books, but I have not received any money from them in years. …
Your price (at BookLocker.com) for cover design is much lower than freelance designers, I find myself wondering what I would get for $200. …
Do you guys know of any places where I can write online and make money for my articles, while retaining copyright? …
I checked my out-of-print books at Amazon and the print versions are still "available". However, their message to customers is that there is only one copy left, and on backorder. If there is only one copy left, where's the money for the other ones? How are they sold? In batches? I'm not getting anything because my book is out-of-print, so where's the money going to? …
I am working on a book trailer. Do you know of any people who create those professionally? …
A (local) man decided to do an anthology with the proceeds going to a charity. I submitted a poem and it was accepted with a small, simple contract offered. Everything was fine until the anthology came out and the man had listed himself and his wife as the authors of the book. Now, individual poems were listed by author but the cover / title page and back of title page showed the couple as authors. …
I was referred to you by a friend. I just found an article I wrote, that was published in March, also published in April in a completely different magazine. I had no idea it was being published in April, have never heard of the publication, and received no payment. I am trying to figure out the best way to handle this... is this not copyright infringement? …
My POD publisher recently released an ebook version of my book without telling me. I only want a print version of my book available. What can I do? …
I have a question about first electronic rights. I have a writing blog where I "publish" a lot of my writing, including short stories, articles and poetry. If I've published something on my blog, can I no longer submit it to anyone requesting first electronic rights? My blog is set to public, but I don't have a ton of followers or anything. Do you know the legal ramifications on this? …
Some POD publishers imply their books are available in all bookstores but you don't make that claim. Why? …
My publisher, who placed my book on the Kindle, has disappeared. He previously obtained my royalties and forwarded them to me. I have been unable to contact him or anyone at Amazon so that arrangements can be made for me to deal directly with Amazon. …
I have many friends asking me for a signed copy of the book when it is published. As I have thought about this, I need to ask for advice. Do I order the books and sell them? Do I direct them to a particular bookstore and ask the store to order so many copies? I want to have a book signing for them as there were many who supported me in this effort and I am not sure of the best course to accomplish this. Thank you in advance for your input. …
There are so many sites with ads that seem desperate to hire writers. I think most of them are content mills. How can I easily spot one? …
Do you feel there is high risk in replying to a blind ad with a Craigslist address? …
My manuscript is a humorous mystery and uses some of the local haunts in (my city). I don't say anything bad about any of them. It's mainly the characters going to places like (a local restaurant), which is considered a local original. I explain why. Also, (a local diner). Everyone in the area where my heroine lives would know this place. They would also know that the bathroom is decorated with (a well-known cartoon character) accessories. This is mentioned in my manuscript. One character also works at a local charity, mentioned by name. Is it okay to use them as long as I don't show them in a bad light? Or, should I get them to sign something? If so, what? …
For some inexplicable reason, my novel has been attacked in an Amazon review by a first-class idiot who hasn't even taken the trouble to read it. I can't imagine why anyone would want to damage my book's credibility, but I suppose there are some people who are capable of such nastiness. I've contacted Amazon. but they won't remove it, saying it doesn't violate their guidelines. Hard to believe that they would keep a review that falsifies a book's major premise. I'm hoping anyone with half a brain will understand that this is a vicious, mindless, unfair, and irresponsible smear, and not a legitimate review. …
My POD publisher keeps hounding me to pay them money to display my book at book fairs, for a fee of course. Do authors ever sell lots of books at those things? …
I hope that you're doing well. I read and printed the article about self therapy and I'm interested in writing personal experience stories. However, do I need to worry about lawsuits? …
I've been reading your book, 90 DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan. It is very handy to have all the info. in one place. I especially like the idea of an ezine (Days 4-7 in the book), and think I could write one about my ideas on writing fiction. I need to find something to offer free to attract new subscribers and I have an idea I'd like to run past you. I have an unpublished non-fiction manuscript. Even though I now write novels, does it make sense to offer chapters of my non-fiction book as the free item to attract people to subscribe to the Ezine? …
Another company published a book with the same title as mine. Is that kosher? Should I do something? Can you give some advice on this? …
Do you know of a good outlet for photos and artwork that are in the public domain? Once I find something, how can I be sure it's really okay to use? …
I sent a story (to a magazine) via the post office, certified mail, to make sure it got there, and no one claimed it. It was sent back. I sent an email asking for their mailing address and it was where I had mailed it to. I sent another email asking about it, and in the email I got back, I was told that certified mail is not accepted, and to send the story via email. The guidelines specifically state that emailed stories are not accepted. I sent another email stating that, and never heard back. …
A bookstore emailed me to see if I wanted them to carry my POD book. First, I had to send a copy to see if it was "appropriate." Now they say it is, but they want me to send books to them. They do not want to order them from my publisher. Also, I have to sign a 50/50 contract, meaning I'll lose money on each sale. I'll even have to pay postage to ship the books. Wouldn't I be stupid to do this? …
Would you say that an author buying his own ISBN has almost no advantage over taking the free one from an online publisher such as your company? …
