tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post8030540607836680512..comments2024-03-28T02:00:11.260-05:00Comments on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: The Amazon AgendaJA Konrathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-8979954761519928592015-09-22T03:15:32.838-05:002015-09-22T03:15:32.838-05:00"But then, I've been cursed with integrit..."But then, I've been cursed with integrity." It's a horrible curse, but you gotta live with it. And I'm glad we noobs found a trustworthy source of self-publishing info. <br />-AnnWritesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-15760773616835343912015-09-04T08:40:10.580-05:002015-09-04T08:40:10.580-05:00Authors don't get to choose where their books ...Authors don't get to choose where their books are sold from my experience and you couldn't object or pull a book from a market. I've been a minor non fiction author and contributor. Trouble is that once you sign a contract, or in my case just submit work, when it is published with your permission not only do you get a tiny amount, and I often got paid around $30 for some of it, you often get no rights whatsoever to dictate where your books are going to be sold and I discovered, how often and when it can be reprinted and republished. This is the case for a lot of non fiction authors, especially in pattern jnstructions where you might get a flat fee of about $1500 for writing an entire book AND designing and making around 30 plus garments to be included in the book with instructions with no payment for months of labour. Mainstream book publishers treat it as a hobby or a bit of fun for you, or they tell you it is essential to attract more business (if you wanted to work on another book for a year on a pittance). <br />I once took a stand and refused to accept the poor deal offered due to unrealistic deadlines and a years work being expected in 7 weeks and withdrew my submitted ideas without signing any contract and was utterly shocked to find 'my' book on Amazon 2 yrs later, with my name as author and my ideas included but not my projects nor my text. Legally all I could do was get the name on the publication changed to another author and there was no copyright or intellectual property in my ideas included. And when I wanted to go further and found out the publisher had a major distributor with almost a monopoly in print distribution my lawyer said there would be little compensation offered even if I did win, and then the payback would be that no major publisher would ever want to work with me if I appear to be of a litigious nature.<br /><br />What I have learned from my 10 yr experience of dealing with mainstream publishers is if authors wanted to pull their books from Amazon they are powerless to do so. The only option for making any kind of protest, is to stop writing for the mainstream pubs, but then take on all the business side of the book yourself and sell your own product. Even then, if you didn't agree with the way 'zon operated, you would find it quite hard to find such a huge platform.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-11384859531104934642015-09-04T06:21:27.781-05:002015-09-04T06:21:27.781-05:00Great post man, I totally agree with all you have ...Great post man, I totally agree with all you have written. <a href="http://theappforpc.com/" rel="nofollow">TheAppForPC</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07391740832589975326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-42247432882382157892015-09-01T12:35:28.816-05:002015-09-01T12:35:28.816-05:00www.freetoplayonlinegameslist.blogspot.com F2P onl...www.freetoplayonlinegameslist.blogspot.com F2P online gamesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-45859963070647070472015-08-30T12:54:14.201-05:002015-08-30T12:54:14.201-05:00why does everyone write horror?why does everyone write horror?AnonymousWriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11346079936078675252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-90072294691835630282015-08-30T12:54:13.474-05:002015-08-30T12:54:13.474-05:00why does everyone write horror?why does everyone write horror?AnonymousWriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11346079936078675252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-63015524582077999842015-08-30T00:50:32.400-05:002015-08-30T00:50:32.400-05:00As a four-year employee of Amazon, the NYT was qui...As a four-year employee of Amazon, the NYT was quite startling. I don't work for the company portrayed in the article. I know someone who has gone through something similar to those in the article--they didn't work at Amazon though. They worked for the 'other Seattle' company. That same person is now at Amazon and couldn't be happier. What a shocker for such a horrible company. Anyway, thanks for this article and while I do agree with others that one thing doesn't directly relate to the other (the NYT article -vs- the publishing/legal aspects), it would not surprise if they were connected at some level. The article wasn't written with honest intentions, IMO, it was written to crucify--for what reason, only the authors know.<br />Traceyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00154301540263862012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-84077053964541896802015-08-29T13:27:36.638-05:002015-08-29T13:27:36.638-05:00Thanks, T.M. Hunter. Appreciate the tip. Hope the ...Thanks, T.M. Hunter. Appreciate the tip. Hope the twitching didn't get too out of control. Mark Edward Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09348437062900925019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-73996515532091079322015-08-29T12:52:47.251-05:002015-08-29T12:52:47.251-05:00@Mark Edward Hall:
Posting a link to a search fun...@Mark Edward Hall:<br /><br />Posting a link to a search function on Amazon makes me physically twitch uncontrollably...maybe bookmark (and paste) your Author Page on Amazon for a quicker link? <br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Edward-Hall/e/B002X7W2BI/<br /><br />Also, there are ways to make the link clickable with some HTML code, but I won't bore folks with that here.T. M. Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04315726033990784930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-70984501443112328312015-08-28T22:08:03.020-05:002015-08-28T22:08:03.020-05:00Couldn't tell you, but it's not really rel...<i>Couldn't tell you, but it's not really relevant. Whatever Sreitfeld believes about the relationship between Amazon and the Big 5, that's not what he was writing about, and repeating what you've said in the past about that doesn't answer him here.</i><br /><br />That is one option. Why should we choose it? Another option is to consider the entirety of his work on Amazon, and place this piece in the context of that work. <br />Terrence OBrienhttp://www.obrienterrence.conoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-5995558426888863202015-08-28T16:13:51.409-05:002015-08-28T16:13:51.409-05:00@Rikard: you gave me an idea. On my Google + profi...@Rikard: you gave me an idea. On my Google + profile, I've added links directly to my books on Amazon.com and on Barnes & Noble. <br /><br />It's still a little difficult to get there: you have to click on my name here, then on the bio tab on G+, and then scroll all the way down. <br /><br />But it's better than nothing, I guess.Alan Spadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12265515535005420739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-76414358657701863562015-08-28T12:10:30.562-05:002015-08-28T12:10:30.562-05:00To Anonymous Writer....
my name is Kathryn Meyer G...To Anonymous Writer....<br />my name is Kathryn Meyer Griffith. I set up the Sasha Girl account many years ago when I first got into eBooks and thought I had to be invisible (thus I used my cat's name. Grin), but now I see I need to update it to my actual name. Thanks.<br />I've been writing over forty-four years and have published twenty-three novels since 1984. Like Joe, I was a legacy author for most of those years. I'm basically a horror writer but I write murder mysteries as well. Also my 9 self-published novels were accepted into Joe and August's ebooksareforever for the libraries. I can't wait until they fully launch later this year! I am so grateful to Joe for leading me to self-publishing in 2012 I could kiss him! <br />Hi Mark! Kathryn Meyer Griffithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05034564063539239120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-88483721731113501322015-08-28T11:53:32.914-05:002015-08-28T11:53:32.914-05:00I'm not sure Joe allows self-promotion on his ...<i>I'm not sure Joe allows self-promotion on his blog.</i><br /><br />I don't mind it as long as you contribute to the conversation, which you are doing.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-66910604618870220152015-08-28T09:45:31.432-05:002015-08-28T09:45:31.432-05:00@ sashagirl. I hear you and I sympathize. I got lo...@ sashagirl. I hear you and I sympathize. I got locked into a three book deal with the same small press publisher as you. What a nightmare. After five years I finally got the rights back to one of those books (The Haunting of Sam Cabot). <br /><br />As an independent I've sold more of those books in a year than I did with the publisher in five years. Another title reverts to me in three days and I'm very much looking forward to it. <br /><br />In the past two years I've written a best selling series (the Blue Light Series)and I will never ever go back to the days of no control over my own destiny. Good luck to you in the future, Kathryn.<br /><br />@ Anonymous at 4:32 AM. I sense your frustration. I too have had to jump through hoops to find out more about some of the author/posters on this blog. I'm not sure Joe allows self-promotion on his blog. In case you want to check out my Amazon book page, here's the link. No jumping through hoops. <br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_6?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=mark%20edward%20hall&sprefix=mark+e%2Cdigital-text%2C306<br /><br />Joe, if this is not acceptable please delete. Mark Edward Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09348437062900925019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-64098646940601488432015-08-28T08:58:23.995-05:002015-08-28T08:58:23.995-05:00@ Anonymous from 3:32 AM
On behalf of Indie autho...@ Anonymous from 3:32 AM<br /><br />On behalf of Indie authors everywhere, I'll say a hearty, "Thank you!" right back to you. People like you are the reason we can do what we do and I, for one, am eternally grateful for every reader.<br /><br />Here's to you and your nightly adventures!Alan Tuckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06003811594552160836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-25200081819062487532015-08-28T04:32:42.218-05:002015-08-28T04:32:42.218-05:00To sashagirl....and others.....
Why are you so te...To sashagirl....and others.....<br /><br />Why are you so terrible at making it easy to find your work/books?<br /><br />Constantly i see comments on here by authors - who must be trying to sell their work - i click on their name and get taken to a profile or links to other websites where it's still an absolute mystery to what their full author name is and what books they have written.<br /><br />It just seems like madness and is so infuriating when you see that someone mentions they are a writer and you want to get an idea of their work.<br /><br />Rikard<br /><br /><br /><br />AnonymousWriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11346079936078675252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-6219403951780045382015-08-28T03:32:11.039-05:002015-08-28T03:32:11.039-05:00I hope that Amazon is changing their warehouse wor...I hope that Amazon is changing their warehouse work environment for the better. As someone who worked in a warehouse in the 70's, I can tell you that the work environment in a warehouse was much, much worse back then than any expose I've seen about Amazon. I then went to college and worked in both aerospace and then in other large corporations as a software system architect. I must say I may never have become an entrepreneur if I moved from one of those jobs to working in the kind of white collar environment that Amazon provides. I would have felt absolutely spoiled rotten. Aerospace was horrible, other large corporations were just vile. Fortunately for me, there were no jobs with environments like that when I left to start my own company. Bring your dog to work? Absolutely. Had two pit bulls in there the other day, both napping in the sun by the front door, and a 10 pound maltese trying to hump one of them.<br /><br />As a voracious reader, I am very happy when more of the money I spend on a "book" goes directly to an independent author ( I wish music publishing was opening up for independents the way book publishing is). I refuse to purchase ebooks that are over $7.99 because the Big 5 are ripping off the authors and the readers. Unfortunately that means I won't buy new ebooks from some of my favorite authors. Sometimes it can take a while for them to go down to a reasonable price. I think it took a year for the last Dresden Files. Also, one of the main reasons I originally bought my Kindles is precisely because I am concerned with the paper waste. I don't buy printed books anymore unless they're used.<br /><br />I am a bit of a techie nut. I bought the first kindle the November after it came out and then another one 3 months later for my daughter. I have purchased and read over 600 ebooks since that November. And about 100 used books from the local used bookstore. I don't use my kindle anymore because it doesn't work very well, but I will purchase a new one before I travel out of the country again. In the meantime, I read on my smartphone or my laptop. <br /><br />And I thank each and everyone of the authors, independent or otherwise, that I spend eleven til one a.m. with almost every night. Thank you, thank you, thank you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-65260871520787765742015-08-27T18:30:55.203-05:002015-08-27T18:30:55.203-05:00I'm 100% behind you Joe. I published with trad...I'm 100% behind you Joe. I published with traditional publishers for 30 years and never made a living, or even close, to it. They controlled what my book looked like, its cover, where it sold and when, and how much I made from it (a whopping 4-18% over the years and very small advances). I worked my butt off and still had to hold down a full time job. 5 years ago I foolishly locked in 14 of my older books with a small publisher...it was right before I discovered self-publishing (thanks to your blog). The publisher won't release them until the very last day of their infernal contracts though they claim to sell very few books a year and I have begged to be let out of them (only 16 months to go!). Self-publishing saved my writing career. I now have 9 books self-published and am finally making good money, while my 14 books with that publisher made me a whole $600 last year. I will be frank, I don't like KU and haven't been in it for a while, but I have/had the choice to be in or out. The choice. I value that immensely.<br />70% royalties and complete control over my work has been a godsend. When those contracts are over I will NEVER go back to publishers. I'd rather stop writing completely and become a nun. I'm so grateful to Amazon, Nook, iTunes and all the others that I can now make a living. I was sick of dog food.Kathryn Meyer Griffithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05034564063539239120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-61998300586804520342015-08-27T10:26:26.105-05:002015-08-27T10:26:26.105-05:00Streitfeld has a 700,000 rank? Yay, I have a highe...Streitfeld has a 700,000 rank? Yay, I have a higher rank. I feel so self important now. :)<br />I really can't comprehend why supposed author groups are so worried about publishers, the publishers really aren't worried about them. But I guess when your IP is in servitude to your publisher for your life plus 70 years you do start worrying about pleasing your lord and master. <br />I may never be James Patterson but at least I control my destiny. If I ever feel Amazon is abusing me, I'm on to something better but I've yet to see a move on their part that actually hurts the authors selling there. They seem to be more focused on helping customers and this only hurts middlemen who add almost nothing to the writer>reader equation.Edmund de Wighthttp://ionospherepress.com/dewightnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-38809702721922619202015-08-27T09:50:14.505-05:002015-08-27T09:50:14.505-05:00Slightly off topic, but since Amazon is being disc...Slightly off topic, but since Amazon is being discussed -- does anyone have any opinions concerning Kindle Scout, Amazon's new reader-powered publishing program?Keithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-7931047345040068712015-08-27T09:33:53.482-05:002015-08-27T09:33:53.482-05:00Some journalists know the truth because they'v...Some journalists know the truth because they've tried to get books published, too. That's when reality hits that Amazon gives everyone author a chance to display their work, and the Big Five New York publishers don't like new authors.Walter Knighthttp://www.waltknight.yolasite.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-11933163964855276492015-08-27T05:06:11.854-05:002015-08-27T05:06:11.854-05:00JAK,
I want your thoughts on this....
http://www...JAK,<br /><br />I want your thoughts on this....<br /><br />http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/11824405/E-book-readers-guilty-pleasures-revealed.html<br /><br />RickardAnonymousWriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11346079936078675252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-66924103130072553342015-08-27T04:54:28.720-05:002015-08-27T04:54:28.720-05:00I heard that for your e-reading device to be an ec...I heard that for your e-reading device to be an ecologic purchase, you had to read at least 50 ebooks on it. So, you may want to refrain from buying the latest e-reader (I own mine, a Kindle Paperwhite, since 2012, and it works perfectly). Alan Spadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12265515535005420739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-86840210591950887742015-08-26T21:06:45.215-05:002015-08-26T21:06:45.215-05:00Every time I see the AU and AG whining about Amazo...Every time I see the AU and AG whining about Amazon and their ebook pricing policies and publishing I go back to the whole issue of political correctness and environmentally conscious mentality that permeates the ranks of both. Most of these authors have come out publicly for protecting the environment and yet they say nothing about the damage to the environment done by publishing in the form of billions of trees cut down for the pulp to make the very books they are trying to protect and keep from the endangered resources list. Ebooks are forever, as you have said numerous times, and ebooks are not a drain on the natural resources of this planet as pulp books are. Why does no one see that portion of the agenda? Pulp books, hard cover and paperback, are created with their destruction since books are no longer made with rags/fabric. Pulp books require that readers buy replacements in about 5-10 years even when they keep their precious paper books in plastic in acid free environments. The pages yellow and become brittle and are damaged the more they are read. Not so with ebooks. <br /><br />Why can't people look beyond the surface issues and see what is going on? These politically correct authors are contributing, nay demanding, planned obsolence and the waste of natural resources (trees) to make their pulp books, most of which end up in landfills in the millions. Like so many clashes of ideologies, this isn't about Amazon or even about books, but about privilege: those who have it and don't want to lose it. And it isn't the authors they claim to protect. Authors are the farthest thing from their minds, unless it's the authors in the mirror every morning when they brush their teeth. Jacklyn Cornwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07703031152094274587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-19296510336307668302015-08-26T13:43:08.827-05:002015-08-26T13:43:08.827-05:00I don't think not liking book reviews is reall...<i>I don't think not liking book reviews is really relevant</i><br /><br />Neither do I. But if you follow my blog, you know I'm critical about Amazon's policy of removing reviews.<br /><br />http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/07/amazon-and-reviews.html<br /><br />JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.com