Success Story

The Flying Nun, Oprah, and Me – by John Riddle

March 28, 2019

The Flying Nun, Oprah, and Me – by John Riddle
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When I was 17 and a few months away from graduating HS in 1970, our family lived in public housing projects in Chester, PA. While watching an episode of “The Flying Nun” one night, I was intrigued by the closing credits that were dedicated to one of the writers who had passed away. Right then and there I prayed, and asked God if he wouldn’t mind making me a writer one day.

Moments later, I felt inspired to write my own episode. Using an old Royal Typewriter (with a few bent keys), I created eight pages of what I thought was “great material.” However, when I showed it to my English teacher at the Catholic HS I was attending, he told me it was “the worst piece of crap” (he used a different word) that he had ever read and that I should consider a career as a ditch digger.”

Right then and there I vowed that, one day, I would see my name on multiple covers of books and that I would travel the country, inspiring and teaching other people to follow their dream of writing. A few months later I enlisted in the Navy.

Fast forward through seven years of collecting rejection slips and I finally sold my first magazine article! I had arrived!!! With no college degree, but lots of clips, I could not get a job as a “real writer” so I drifted from being a payroll clerk at the Dupont Company (seven years) to a few part time jobs after I left there to pursue my writing dream.

A few years later, I found myself working as a Development Director in charge of fundraising and public relations at a local nonprofit agency. It was the best of both worlds, allowing me to use my gift of creative communication to write grant and fundraising letters, and to create special events. For example, I tried to set the Guinness Book of World Records by having the largest number of people dance the twist with Chubby Checker!

After seven years at one agency, I took another Development Director job at an agency closer to my home. I raised a boatload of money for them in the first 15 months or so and they rewarded me by laying me off.

As I sat home, licking my wounds, wondering where I was going to find another full-time job, etc., I remember watching the Oprah show one afternoon. She was going through the phase of the show where she would have self-help experts come on and tell people, “If you want it, make it happen, etc.”

I finally had my “light bulb moment!”

Why was I wasting my time looking for yet another full-time job when, by this time, I had tons of clips (The Washington Post, among others)? Thankfully, the Internet was still in the early stages and I started reaching out to editors online.

As of this date, I have written and sold 34 books to traditional publishers, and have worked as a ghostwriter on numerous projects. My byline has appeared in major publications all across the U.S., and I have written articles for over 200 Websites.

And I’m not done yet…

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John Riddle is a freelance writer, author, and ghostwriter from Bear, Delaware. His byline has appeared in major newspapers, magazines, websites and trade journals all across the country. He is the author of 34 books, including a few health and medical titles, and has worked as a ghostwriter on numerous projects. John is also the Founder of I Love To Write Day, a grassroots campaign he launched in 2002 to have people of all ages practice writing every November 15. Last year over 25,000 schools all across the United States held special I Love To Write Day events and activities. He is a frequent speaker at both Christian and secular writing conferences, and recently appeared at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. You can obtain a quote for John’s ghostwriting services here: https://marketplace.writersweekly.com/ghostwriters

Have a Freelance Success Story to share? We pay $40 on acceptance, non-exclusive electronic rights only. Success stories run around 300 words but we're very flexible. Our guidelines are here:

https://writersweekly.com/writersweekly-com-writers-guidelines

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Should I Pay The Online Book Club to Review My Book? NO!!!
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Q –

Angela and company,

I believe you frown on paying for book reviews. The Online Book Club is giving me a strong sales pitch that they can do wonders for me for $97 – $279 bucks. Have any comments on these guys? They’re showing me different success stories.

A –

Based on the numerous complaints about The Online Book Club posted on the Better Business Bureau website, I recommend all writers AND authors avoid that outfit.

Also:

Read the comments under this article: OnlineBookClub – genuine or scam?

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“Is $2,140 a reasonable price for an ISBN, copyright registration, and an LCCN?” HECK NO!!!
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Q –

Hi Angela,

Before I published my most recent book with BookLocker, I was using a company with the word “Amazon” in its name.  They want to charge me $2,140.00 to obtain an ISBN number, to register with the Library of Congress, and to copyright my book.

Am I being scammed? And, would BookLocker be willing to take on my book if I dump this current company?

A.D.

A –

If they are charging $2,140 for an ISBN, a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN), and copyright registration, you are definitely getting ripped off! Wow!! RED FLAG #1!

The actual cost for all of those services, if you did them yourself, would be under $300!!!

I looked at the website URL you sent to me. Their “testimonial” pictures are total fakes. Using Google Image Search, I found the guy with the crossed arms on a dentist advertisement as well. Same exact picture! RED FLAG #2!

Also, beware of “publishers” that use the trademarked name “Amazon” when they are NOT Amazon. RED FLAG #3!

Yes, of course we will publish the book for you.

Since you’re already part of the family, there is no need to go through the formal submission process. We give our returning authors discounts on their second and subsequent books. 🙂

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Scammers Trying to Trick Publishers Into Handing Over Their Authors’ Production Files, Royalty Info., and much more!!
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Q –

Angela,

How’s business? I’ve been seeing our posts on the group list. Haven’t had time to participate myself. Question. Have you been contacted by the company below about any of your authors’ books? It looks suspicious. I’m not replying until I hear back from our author but I questioned if you’d seen anything like this before.

-Name removed (because it’s a friendly competitor of BookLocker)

A –

Hey, (removed)! Long time no text!!

Yes, in fact, I have been contacted by that same company. They told me the author had contracted with them, and (ha ha ha) asked us for:

  1. A transfer or rights from us to them. (As you know, we don’t take rights from our authors. BookLocker authors always retain all rights to all of their files and copyrights. If he’d truly talked to our author, he would know that.)
  2. The login info. for our Amazon business account so they can “make changes” to the author’s book page. (I just about peed myself laughing over that!)
  3. A full listing of the author’s past sales.
  4. Copies of the authors’ production files (the print-ready files for the cover and interior).
  5. The username and password the author uses to access her author account in our system.

I was reading the email to Brian and we were cracking up! These scammers sure are getting creative! Good thing you and I have been in the industry long enough to know better. Unfortunately, new companies, or employees at those newer companies, may not know any better. The email was very well-written, and appeared extremely professional. No errors at all.

I contacted the author. She’d never heard of them.

I sent three words back to the scammer: “Nice try, (bleep)!”

😉

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HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

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“What are the possible repercussions of giving my book the same title as other books on the market?”
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THE  FALL 24-HOUR SHORT STORY CONTEST IS NEXT SATURDAY, 09/09/23! Only 500 participants permitted so DON’T DELAY IF YOU WANT TO PLAY!! Our Fall contests are always the most popular!

Q –

I wrote my book and I really need to keep the same title I chose long ago. I’ve already mentioned it on social media and I’ve even done some pre-publication marketing.

I learned today that there are books, articles, and even an old movie with the same title as my book. I really don’t want to change it at this point. What can I do?

A –

Titles can’t be copyrighted but they can be trademarked.

I searched the trademark database. The title of your book was trademarked by what appears to be a videogame company (perhaps they made a b-grade movie back in the day) back in 1995. However, the trademark has been abandoned (is expired).

Yes, there are several books by that exact same title on Amazon. That is a big problem.

To avoid confusion, we recommend authors come up with an completely unique title.

If there are other books with the same title, people searching for that title may end up finding those other books on Amazon, and buying another author’s book by mistake. In other words, your marketing efforts can end up enriching those other authors. And, when one of your readers receives a book by that title written, but written by some other person, guess who they’re going to be upset with? YOU. They may even accuse you of trying to ride on the coattails of some other, more popular author.

I’m an industry expert and it happened to me one day. I was in a hurry, and ordered a copy of Swan Song. That’s my favorite book and it was written by Robert McCammon. Over the years, I’ve purchased copies for all of my adult kids and my parents. Well, since I was in a hurry, when ordering a copy for a friend one day as a gift, I ordered a completely different book came by a different author…but with the exact same title.

If it can happen to me, it can happy to anybody. Change the title of your book. Make it completely unique. It’s easy to search Amazon for new titles you have in mind. Be sure to put quotation marks around the titles you are searching for.

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HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!





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“Are you interested in creating a speakers’ bureau for authors?”
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Q –

Any interest in creating “a speakers’ bureau with the express goal of sending your authors to college” for purposes of book promotion gigs?

– L.S.

A –

Unfortunately, that is not a venture I would be willing to undertake. Aside from the fact that we don’t have the manpower to arrange such engagements, they would certainly be too costly for authors. You’d have to sell a LOT of books to make up for a plane ticket, lodging, and other travel expenses. I’ve been telling authors for years, through WritersWeekly, that author appearances cost far more than any resulting book sales…to say nothing of the time it takes to arrange, and then participate in them.

I recommend doing local appearances only (and, not just bookstores and schools – other retailers may be interested in book signings or book readings as well). Even then, you might find that the effort and time spent was not worth the low number of book sales.

The most effective way to promote a book is to do it aggressively and regularly online, sitting at your laptop. 🙂

Please see:

HOW TO SELL OUT AT BOOK SIGNINGS! What’s the Most Important Tool in Your Arsenal? By W.W. Brock

and

“Special Event Signings” Sell Far More Books Than Bookstore Signings! (Or “Why Should I Order Copies Of My Own Book?”)

and

Book Signings? More of a (Flattering) Time-Waster Than a Money-Maker!

REMINDER: The Fall, 2023 24-Hour Short Story Contest is only 2 weeks away! Our Fall contests are always our most popular ones!! 🙂

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Are Book Signings Big Book Sellers? Not Usually… – 09 2013

How to Sell More Books at Stalls and Signings! by J Harker Shaw – 11 2016

How My Bookstore Signings Led to a Traditional Publishing Contract and Film Consideration! By William Creed – 03 2016





HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

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Author Hasn’t Been Able to Get in Contact with Stratton Press for 4 MONTHS!
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Q –

My wife is an author of (two books). We have been with Stratton Press for about four years. We read what you said about their “F” rating. We haven’t been able to get ahold of them for four months. Do you have anything you can do to get the copies we paid to print these books for their warehouse and the manuscripts? Or any recommendations ? We would appreciate any help we can get!

A –

I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. If you require legal advice, please consult with an attorney. That said…

Unfortunately, no. You are probably out of luck all the way around.Here is a screenshot shot I just took of Stratton Press’s Facebook page. Based on this, and other complaints online, you’re not the only ones. Notice these were posted within the past week:

You can try having an attorney contact them for your wife’s files but it would probably be less expensive in the long-run to start all over with publishing the books. Also, you can report them to their state’s attorney general’s office. And, if they have broken the terms of your wife’s contract, she should contact them immediately to terminate the contract. She can then contact Amazon, and ask the retailer to remove her books.

And, if you do republish, I recommend changing the titles of her books so people won’t get confused, and try to buy copies that Stratton Press may still be selling.

Sometimes, these firms get into financial trouble and, instead of doing the right thing, and alerting their customers, they simply stop operations with no warning (or they keep sucking in new customers, but start ignoring their existing ones). They stop responding to emails and phone calls, stop paying royalties, stop shipping out books, etc., etc. They simply…disappear. With their customers’ money, of course.

Check out the info. about Stratton Press at the sites below:

BBB.org

Author Christopher D. Schmitz (and, read the comments underneath his article)

Mercy Pilkington

Nerdy Shique Universe

Victoria Strauss

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HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!







90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy

Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.

We know what you're thinking. You're an author, not a marketer. Not to worry! We have more than a decade of successful online book selling experience under our belts and we're going to teach you how to promote your book effectively online...and almost all of our techniques are FREE!

Online book promotion is not only simple but, if you have a step-by-step, day-to-day marketing plan (this book!), it can also be a very artistic endeavor, which makes it fun for creative folks like you!

Yes, online book promoting can be EASY and FUN! Let us show you how, from Day 1 through Day 90...and beyond!



“My book was on Amazon last week and now I can’t find it?”
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Q –

Angela,

My book was recently published. Last week, I was able to find it by just typing the title into Amazon’s search engine. My book would typically be found on the first page along with other books that had one or two similar words. I know the book could always be found using the ISBN number. So I figured that a potential buyer would only know to put the title in the search engine. When I do this now, I don’t see it. What do you think is going on?

-J.

A –

I found your book on Amazon by searching for the ISBN (without hyphens). It popped up right on top. So, yes, your book is still for sale on Amazon. Unfortunately, your customers aren’t going to be using your ISBN to search for your book.

Amazon changes their search engine algorithms all the time to prevent people from gaming the system.

That’s why we recommend that authors do the following:

1. In your marketing materials, use a specific URL where people can click to read more about your book. That can go to your website (preferred), your publisher’s site, or even to Amazon’s (but the Amazon URL will probably be too long for email and social media marketing).

2. If you make that link go to your website, put a prominent link on your website where people can immediately buy the book (put that link at the top and bottom of that page on your site). If you want readers to buy from Amazon, link directly to your book’s page on Amazon. If you want them to buy from your publisher, link to that specific book page. If you want them to buy from you, include a link to your website’s purchase page.

With multi-millions of books for sale on Amazon, it’s very, VERY rare for a customer to stumble upon a book and buy it. Most people buying your book will be folks who hear about it through the marketing efforts of you, as well as those friends and associates that help you spread the word.

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HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!





Read More "Ask The Expert" Articles



90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy

Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.

We know what you're thinking. You're an author, not a marketer. Not to worry! We have more than a decade of successful online book selling experience under our belts and we're going to teach you how to promote your book effectively online...and almost all of our techniques are FREE!

Online book promotion is not only simple but, if you have a step-by-step, day-to-day marketing plan (this book!), it can also be a very artistic endeavor, which makes it fun for creative folks like you!

Yes, online book promoting can be EASY and FUN! Let us show you how, from Day 1 through Day 90...and beyond!





7.625 STRATEGIES IN EVERY BEST-SELLER - Revised and Expanded Edition


At this moment, thousands of would-be authors are slaving away on their keyboards, dreaming of literary success. But their efforts won’t count for much. Of all those manuscripts, trade book editors will sign up only a slim fraction.

And of those titles--ones that that editors paid thousands of dollars to contract, print and publicize--an unhealthy percentage never sell enough copies to earn back their advances. Two years later, most will be out of print!

Acquisition Editor Tam Mossman shares seven essentials every book needs to stay in print, and sell!



Read more here:


https://writersweekly.com/books/5635.html



“Should I buy book returns insurance from my publisher?”
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Q –

New author on verge of publishing first memoir. I would desire exposure through Amazon, B&N, etc. etc. in addition to brick and mortar book stores. How serious should I consider book return insurance and what’s a reasonable estimate to budget for?

Thank you in advance for your opinions and thoughts.

-P.L.

A –

I do not recommend book returns insurance (nor any derivative of those words – lots of publishers call it all sorts of things). If making a book returnable really resulted in more net book sales, all publishers would be offering that service for free.

1. Making a book returnable isn’t likely to result in increased net sales (meaning total sales less returns). In fact, you might find yourself in the red because the returns process can cost you even more money in the long run.

2. Bookstores should be responsible for their own ordering practices. Publishers and authors shouldn’t have to foot the bill for a bookstore that over-orders.

3. Most people are going to buy your book from Amazon anyway because just about everybody has an account there.

4. Even if your book is returnable, is is HIGHLY unlikely it will get stocked in stores. With more than a million books being published now, in addition to the best sellers, mid-list titles, and classics, there simply isn’t enough shelf space.

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HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!





Read More "Ask The Expert" Articles



90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy

Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.

We know what you're thinking. You're an author, not a marketer. Not to worry! We have more than a decade of successful online book selling experience under our belts and we're going to teach you how to promote your book effectively online...and almost all of our techniques are FREE!

Online book promotion is not only simple but, if you have a step-by-step, day-to-day marketing plan (this book!), it can also be a very artistic endeavor, which makes it fun for creative folks like you!

Yes, online book promoting can be EASY and FUN! Let us show you how, from Day 1 through Day 90...and beyond!




“Someone is selling a fake copy of my old book on Amazon!”
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Q –

Hi, Angela,

I noticed a third-party seller on Amazon is offering one of my older published dog books with what is clearly a homemade, fake cover. This book is likely out of print and I get no royalties on it anyway, but it just seems wrong that this seller is allowed to do this. Is there anything I can do about it?

Thanks,
Cindy

A –

Hi Cindy,

You can file a copyright infringement complaint about the seller with Amazon RIGHT HERE.

Angela

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HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!





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Yes, BookLocker authors earn royalties when a contest winner chooses their book as a prize!
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Q –

Angela,

I noticed that I received a royalty as the result of a “contest.” When you get a moment, can you just let me know what that was all about? I’m just curious.

Tim (a BookLocker author)

A –

At WritersWeekly.com, we hold a quarterly “24-Hour Short Story Contest.”

1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners receive monetary prizes. Runners-Up winners receive free e-books of their choice from our BookLocker.com bookstore. Even though they don’t pay for the books they select, we pay out the royalties to the authors for those copies. 🙂





HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!





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2 Responses to "The Flying Nun, Oprah, and Me – by John Riddle"

  1. Amy Bartlett  May 4, 2019 at 2:46 am

    Great piece and great encouragement as always to keep the writer’s nose to the grindstone. Consistent message from one of the best freelance-process “coach”es in the biz.

  2. Roy Stevenson  March 30, 2019 at 8:38 pm

    Nice inspirational piece, John! Good for you, for keeping on. I’m wondering if the 200 websites you have written for all paid for your work, or if you wrote for some of them gratis?