As most of you know, yet another lawsuit has been filed against Author Solutions, which owns AuthorHouse, Xlibris, iUniverse, Trafford, Wordclay, and others. The lawyers are seeking class-action status, of course.
I have provided a break-down of the highlights from the lawsuit HERE.
Today, I’m gonna rant…
I started writing a book on my computer about ten years ago, but never finished it because life has been very busy for me. Recently, I watched this new show that started last year that is exactly the same as far as storyline and characters. Could it be coincidence?
On occasion, we hear from authors who are accusing their distributor of theft because their Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com “ranking” moved…but their actual sales numbers did not. Several years ago, one author claimed she was owed millions because her Amazon ranking was…in the millions. As you’ve probably guessed, this is a common problem. New authors often try to use bookstore rankings to estimate their sales and that doesn’t always work…especially if those authors don’t understand how the rankings are calculated…
Ernest Hemingway said that it is in the editing process that most writers break down. Hemingway was ruthless in editing his own work. One biographer I read said Hemingway edited everything he wrote up to thirty times. I have taught freshman composition for many years. I tell my students that good writing is rewriting, refining, and finding those little demon typos and errors that can damage the quality of what is written. Don’t be discouraged or surprised if your POD publisher encourages you to hire an editor.
We have all heard that there is a potential book within each one of us, just waiting to be written. But, what about the book that you have ALREADY written? That book could be hiding in your hard drive, ready to be copied and pasted into a folder of its own.
Sometimes you just gotta rant! At BookLocker.com, we have published more than 6,000 print and electronic books since 1998. The vast majority of authors we’ve worked with have been professional and pleasant. Many we now consider family! However, every once in awhile, we get a nasty one. It happens in every industry. Not every customer […]
This is a an example of the types of emails we occasionally receive from authors. They’re greatly abbreviated, of course. This type of offensive correspondence can, of course, result in a breakdown of negotiations, or not receiving a contract offer at all. And, just because you’ve already been offered a publishing contract doesn’t mean you can’t lose it through bad behavior…
I used to think that Print-on-Demand (POD) publishers sold their services only to desperate writers not good enough to win a contract with a traditional publisher. I learned differently when I explored the publishing world more closely.
POD Publishers that use Ingram’s printing division to print their books incur an annual fee, which is charged by Ingram for each title/ISBN. Ingram calls this their “Catalog Fee.” It provides: “Access to our worldwide distribution channels (the largest portfolio of wholesalers, distributors and booksellers worldwide).” Basically, this means they send out an automated feed to bookstores that includes all the available titles. It typically costs publishers $12 per year to keep a book in Ingram’s system…
Most authors assume, when they read “35% royalties” or “50 royalties,” that they’ll be getting that percentage of the list price of the book each time a copy sells. And, with many POD publishers, that is the case. But, some have confusing clauses in their contracts that state the percentage is actually based on the publisher’s net income…
