Yesterday I discovered that two (so far) of my published books appear for free on Google Books. Since I didn't put them there, and I certainly have no recollection of having authorized anybody else to put them there, I'm wondering if you have any ideas about how to get them taken down. …
Back with another question and feel free to use this for the e-zine if you like. I just had a spirited exchange with an idiot who has stolen some column of mine that I wrote for Computer User, and is selling it on his horrible website. I wrote to him to tell him I own the copyright and to take the material down. I got nothing buy obscenities and insults back and I responded with a few of my own. Now, this material is being sold on Amazon by somebody--don't know who since Computer User went out of business years ago. So, I guess I have two questions. First, how can I get Amazon to stop selling content that is mine (Computer User did not buy the rights from me for this material, only the right to publish on the Web for a limited period)? Second, given my content has be pirated by several sites, what is to stop me from taking my columns and making my own self-published book out of them? …
I just googled my book. There are 16 websites selling my my book. I cannot understand why it's not selling. Can you help? …
My friend, who is a writer, suggested I contact you about a contract I was offered. I am a first-time author and a bit green when it comes to the business. Within the contact it is required that I purchase 3,000 books when it is printed. I have to buy them at 65% off the retail price. My friend said she has never had to do this before. Is this something new that publishers are doing to make up for the recession? Any advice would be appreciated.…
My friend, who is a writer, suggested I contact you about a contract I was offered. I am a first-time author and a bit green when it comes to the business. Within the contact it is required that I purchase 3,000 books when it is printed. I have to buy them at 65% off the retail price. My friend said she has never had to do this before. Is this something new that publishers are doing to make up for the recession? Any advice would be appreciated. …
I am working on a nonfiction book manuscript. I hired an editor to do line editing for $500.00 and book doctoring (critiquing) for an additional $500.00 - for a total of $1,000.00. I sent some sample paragraphs from my manuscript to the editor, which she edited and returned to me. There weren't any problems with the sample so I sent a check for $500.00 as a deposit for the job. The editor did do the job and return the edited manuscript back to be on time. The quality of the book doctoring was worth the money. The editing was not. The editor made improvements in areas like sentence construction, and eliminating unnecessary words to make the manuscript flow better. However, there were so many typos and issues with grammar in the edited copy that now I feel compelled to hire a professional proofreader to catch any mistakes I didn't catch myself. Hiring a reputable proofreader to fix the editor's mistakes is going to cost me hundreds of dollars. I haven't sent the remaining $500.00 to the editor yet. Frankly I am having a hard time bringing myself to write that check. My feeling is that the edited copy should have fewer flaws than my original, unedited copy. I don't know what to do. I can't insist the editor go back and proofread it herself because I don't trust the quality of her work. I have thought of emailing the editor and asking for a discount on the remainder of my bill to compensate me for the cost of hiring a proofreader. What would you do in my position? …
Just when I thought nothing would surprise me, I find that my book is available for rent on the Web. I use Google Alerts to search the Internet for anything relating to my book and this just popped up today. Chegg.com is offering it for rent. I'll have to admit that it's an interesting sales method. Is it legal for a company to offer a book for rent instead of for sale? It seems to me that recycling my book cheats meout of any profit after the first book is printed. Please let me know your thoughts on this matter and what steps I should take. …
A person who owns a membership website asked me to donate 25 e-books for the first 25 paid members they receive. Then, if they like it, they would consider paying a discounted fee for it. Before I say yes, I told her that I wanted to check with my publisher first. They say that they would promote it in a few ways on their website, but they don't have a lot of members at this point... …
Great advice for the writer whose work appeared on a free article website under someone else's name. I just have a quick question about it. Does that affect the writer's ability to sell the article? Can first, electronic or first print rights in a regional area or second North American rights, or whatever, still be sold by the author when those rights have already been illegally used. Do you tell an editor that the story has already appeared on the web when trying to resell the article? Does the $750 give all rights to the website? …
Last week, one of the people quoted in my story emailed me to let me know that someone else had taken my story, revised it a bit, and posted it on one of those free article websites, under his own name. I emailed the site to complain and a few days later they sent a message that the story had been removed. However, they simply moved it to another page on their website! This is probably the most blatant example of plagiarism I've ever seen. …
Do I need a model release form if I use a picture of my granddaughter on the cover of my book? I'm the one who took the photograph.…
I've had lots of stuff published in the consumer zines and in professional journals. I'd like to take some of these and put them on my MySpace thingie, hoping perhaps it'll generate more business. My concern is that the articles and manuscripts essentially now belong to others and I was wondering if, even though I was the author and they would be going onto a social networking site, if plagiarism issues can result. If so, what if I added to each article or manuscript "This article/manuscript appeared in such-and-such magazine (or journal) on (whatever date)"? Would that cover me? Or, should I just drop the whole idea altogether? …
I'd like your opinion of the new Reptile Media site posted online. Writers are supposed to post unpublished articles on the site. Editors are supposed to look at the site, pick the ones they like and make an offer to the writer. This saves the trouble of writing a query letter or targeting a publication. Besides writing on spec, it seems like it would be open season for the people that steal other writers' work. Your opinion? …
I'm starting to write a book from my journal memoirs and it's around 550 pages in Word. What format and font/style, etc. should I create it in so that it can more easily be published later? How do I set up a proper index? …
I'm really in a muddle about epublishing because I can't figure HOW it works. If I put my book online and someone wishes to buy it, how does that happen? I do understand there is no way to prevent people from burning my book on CD's and selling them or giving them away. That's the down side. But I don't understand why people cannot just download the book to begin with. Please explain at your convenience. …
Do you suggest getting an agent for nonfiction books? Or sending the book proposal directly to a publisher? …
I have completed a business book. It was written using Word and I have converted it to pdf. The front and back covers are designed and saved as Word files along with the spine design. I have an ISBN and have assigned a number to the book. I am considering going to a standard printer, but would like to consider going with a POD publisher instead, or maybe also. Does this make sense? …
I keep seeing freelancing writing ads for "interns" but I'm not sure they're legitimate. Can you help? …
I'm feeling a little stupid - I read on your website that iUniverse gives authors only a 20% royalty for a book sold on Amazon. However, if I understand correctly, your royalty (for wholesale orders) is only 15%, which is even less. What am I missing? …
How can I get my book into bookstores? Would I go up to the purchasing agent of that bookstore and tell them about my book? Or will they not work with me? …
I received this e-mail from an agent I queried for my novel. ANYTIME a prospective agent offers editing services as part of their "full package", AND at the author's expense, it raises a red flag. To me it's a complete conflict of interest. What do you think? …
It's a service for freelancers in several fields. The writing jobs are incredibly low paid ($1.00 per page...$15 for a 1000-word article!).…
I am curious to know your take on a situation I have encountered the last few months with publications--their editors, in particular--whose "writers wanted" ads I have responded to after seeing them listed in WritersWeekly's jobs and opportunities. The issue is this: professional courtesy and timeliness in responding to e-mail and returning phone calls. …
Q. The editor of the local paper, who serialized my first book after it was published, suggests I serialize my next book as it progresses, BEFORE publication. What do you suggest? A. The original star of electronic book serialization (not newspaper) was famous novelist Doug Clegg. Years ago, long before Stephen King took a shot at it, Clegg was distributing a free chapter of his book to his fans every Friday, via email... …
In writing my autobiography, is it okay to incorporate material one sees on the Internet if there are no conditons such as; "cannot be copied, etc., without the author's permission?" …
My book has been out of print for a long time but it is still listed for sale on lots of websites. Why? …
I wrote an article for a small magazine that was accepted for their January 2005 issue. There were no rights discussed (I'm not so naive now!), just the acceptance, which read that they had accepted my article and to let them know if I had any questions. Now I would like to use the article in its entirety in my upcoming book. Do I need to secure permission? …
I want to publish a funny celebrity quote on my book cover. Can I legally do this? …
I think I heard somewhere that if one is writing a book on the subject, you can't take chapters and send them into magazines as articles. But, I don't know if that's true, and don't know the reasoning behind it. …
I sent a review copy of my book ON REQUEST to a journalist...and he then tried to sell me an ad!…
