Letters To The Editor For June 9th

Term Paper Mill Scum

Dear Angela:

All credit to you for your reply to that term paper mill. Well done!

Best,

Horacio

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Hope that your Memorial Day was eventful in very good ways.

Sock it to that academic (obviously overstated) scum mill. You did good. I’d sooner scribble p*rn – oops! Isn’t that er*tica in politer circles? Aside from what else you can say about it, you know what you’re getting.

G

Content Mills

Angela,

I have been meaning to write to you about my experience with a content mill. Your article about the homework mill finally pushed me to do it. I wrote about seven articles for them last year. They paid me $12 each.

I quit when it became clear to me I wasn’t being paid enough per hour for what I put into the projects, and also because they changed the format to where it felt like I was writing so someone could pick up my “article” and use the 15 required website links at the end to easily compose their own high school research paper with a bare minimum of their own research. I was never able to Google something I wrote.

SB

Our Survey

Just took the survey, but accidentally hit some button that caused it to “send” before finished with my comments. My FAVORITE part is the quarterly contest…I LOVE it!!

Thanks!
Arlene

Should I Try to Land a Traditional Publishing Contract?

Angela,

I always enjoy your advice to your readers. I have heard a few others say as you did in your recent reply to a reader, “Even if you did land an agent and a traditional contract, you would likely never earn more than your initial advance (if you get an advance at all).” However, I think a good publishing house that knows how to market can and should sell enough of your novels for you to not only make back your advance, but get you continual royalty checks.

My advances for my two novel contracts have only been five-digits, but before the first year after publication, they have been paid back. Royalty checks have followed. Yes, I’ve worked hard at selling my books, but so has my publisher.

I think having the best product is key. Too many wonder whether or not to go with an agent or certain publisher, when in reality, as novices, we are seldom able to be so picky. Write the stellar novel or non-fiction book, and then see where it leads.

Alice J. Wisler
Quirky Southern Fiction
https://www.alicewisler.com
Hatteras Girl is coming in October!
Also by Bethany House: Rain Song (Christy Finalist 2009) & How Sweet It Is (Christy Finalist 2010)