Sorry all!

Hey everyone,

We're so sorry! We all forgot about some major deadlines some of us have approaching too damned fast and are now currently scrambling to get everyone back on schedule. Too many things all going on at once obviously. We will be back soon, don't know for sure when that will be, but we will be back.

Until then - ideas, tips and/or questions shoot them on over to our email and we will get back to you as soon as we can. The email is:  the-unvarnished-author@gmail.com in case you don't know it.

Back to the grindstone for us all. Stay aware and question everything!

The Moderator

Submitting #6 - Submitting do's and don't's

This is a topic that has a few hard and fast "rules" we'll call them and then a bunch of "guidelines" as well as a few "never hurts to do" points. We're going to focus on the hard and fast "rules" or the do's and don't's about Submitting in this post. The others were already covered, to a degree, in the previous posts under this topic so we won't harp on them.

The Do's:

• Spell & Grammar check - You won't catch everything so don't freak, but at least give it a good once over read to ensure that you haven't used a word that makes no sense in the midst of a sentence. Again, you won't catch it all but at least if you've done your best you've provided a good first impression.
  
• Follow their guidelines - Publishers ask for a very specific list of items to be part of your submission. Follow the list to the letter and if you have a question, ask - especially if this is your first submission, you'll pick it all up as you go so don't freak.
• Don't be too "wordy" - When they ask for something like a brief synopsis or a page synopsis or blurb or whatever it might be they are asking for keep it tight. This means to hit on all your key points of the story and not get lost in a retelling. Names, conflict, danger(s), trial(s) and resolution(s) are the best ones to put in. You're trying to sell your story in under, roughly, 300 words OR LESS. Think it through and then write it out. Once you have it written go back and edit and whittle it down to whatever their count requirement is. If you're over a word or two - DON'T FREAK. We've cheated and squeezed in a couple here and there a time or two, it's not a deal breaker
• Re-read your email - Before you send off your submission ensure you read the email or, if you have someone there with you, have them read it. Check the spelling of your name, your pseudonym if you're using one, your mailing address and phone number for contacting you. This is VERY important and we often overlook the simplest of errors especially when it comes to an address and phone number. Then you can quickly breeze through the other stuff with an eye to the details.
• Double check - Have you put in every single thing the publisher requires? ie: Name, Pseudonym, Address, Phone Number, Synopsis, Blurb, and so forth. Have you attached your manuscript? This is a biggie, you would not believe how often an author has sent off a submission only to realize, mere milliseconds later, they forgot to attach the most important piece - the manuscript. This is embarrassing since you now have to resend the entire email - just don't forget it a second time. Cause if you do you might as we just go into a closet and lock the door behind you.

The Don't's:

• Mass email - You may have a series written. You may have them all ready to go at the same time. What you may NOT do is mass email. This will just piss off your publisher and, if you're lucky, have them stick everything at the bottom of the received pile for the month. Unless you have specifically talked to and discussed it with your publisher, send no more than one email a week - just our guideline. If you HAVE talked to the publisher and s/he says to send them through one after another - do it. Do NOT take the initiative upon yourself.
• Play the field - This means submitting the same story to multiple publishers, don't do it. Submit to one publisher and if they refuse it then you can move on but if you do submit to two or more at the same time you have to think, what happens when two or more want it? Play it safe and don't be a douche bag.
• Oversell - Every author wants to believe their story is the next big thing to make or break the industry. But in this day and age, with so many publishers out there and so many dedicated e-book authors, it's doubtful. So don't be one of "those" authors that gets all cocky and oversells their story. Be honest, be sincere and let it speak for itself.

There you have it, some more stuff for you to consider when you send in a story. The above holds true for new authors and seasoned vets. No matter how many books you have under your belt, no matter how many publishers you write for, keep yourself humble in all your dealings. The publisher doesn't care that you sold 5, 500 or 5,000 on your last book. All they are looking at is what you've sent them in the now. Be in the now and not in the clouds.

The Moderator

The Scoop #6 - From the mouths... (warning: language)

The biggest blows to your career can come from multiple directions. One of the worst though, at least in our minds, come from your fellow authors. These would be those spiteful, conniving, vengeful assholes who think nothing of ruining your reputation just so they can find a little pleasure in their day. They only do this because they know for a FACT they are not even half the author you are, they are not even half the human being you are and because they want to feel better about themselves and their too pitiful little lives. It is a sad thought to know someone you might consider a friend is actually the one both stabbing you in the back but also twisting the blade.

It is also the truth. Because your fellow authors, one's you may chat with on a daily basis and who you might call "friend", are the ones that know just what to say to ruin your career. Oh, and they don't even care if they have to bend the truth a little or a lot, hell they'll even make shit up too if it serves their purposes. But they are not dumb, not by a long shot. They are complete and total idiots and morons, there's no doubt about that, but not dumb. They know just who to pass a word to, say just the right thing to have someone asking "what do you mean?" and then they can dish. But it always comes with the infamous and eye rolling precursor "now this may just be rumor but I heard..." insert smack talk here.

And there is not a fucking thing you can do about it. It's that simple. People will talk shit about you behind your back to those you are either trying to establish a working relationship with or are working with now just because they are jealous little ho's. We're sorry about the language (mostly) but it's the damned truth! If these people had even a smidgen of an ounce of self-worth they would never, ever feel the need to attack another human being in this manner. But then again, we're talking about self-centred ass wipes without a grain of a conscience being worse than a group of teenage girls who just saw the captain of the football team giving the "unpopular" girl a bit of attention instead of mooning over their primped and spoiled "cheerleader", and so damned fake, asses.

Straight up fact - women can be bitches, men can be assholes, you can even switch those roles around. But not everyone is that way. Some of the nicest people (on the surface anyway) on the planet would sell your soul, yours not theirs, for a few bucks while some of the biggest jerks (appearance/attitude wise) have some of the biggest hearts of gold around and would give you the shirt off their backs. No matter what - don't judge a book by it's cover, don't talk about your business (and by business we mean what you're doing to make money) with another person you don't trust implicitly and never online and don't ever, ever, smack talk about someone to anyone else. That shit will bite you so hard and you will come out smelling like shite!

There is our two cents on this topic with, we are so absolutely sure, more to come in the days and weeks and months to come.

The Moderator

The Unvarnished true story

We recently had someone send us an email that asked us just why we had started this blog and why now. These were very good questions and June knew we absolutely had to answer these for everyone to hear. So, for this next part it will be in first person from the person's point of view of just why this all came to be. No names will be mentioned at any time to protect everyone's anonymity and events mildly altered to give no information away that could cause trouble for anyone.

"It was a great day, a Wednesday if we want to be specific and I was meeting with a couple of my author friends for drinks to discuss life and just generally be social. The sun was out and the day was warm, there was a slight breeze bringing the scent of freshly cut grass right to us as we sat on the patio sipping our various and seriously alcoholic beverages. We were waiting on food to arrive when I get a call.

Excusing myself from the table I step away to take the call. It was not a good call, not in the least. My skin broke out in a cold sweat, my heart and pulse were thundering and I swear there were black spots dancing around my eyes. It was another friend and associate, one that was at a publishing house with me calling, she was in tears. We'd been screwed six ways of Sunday. The absolute worst mistake an author could make had just happened to me and in the blink of an eye I felt like I'd been hit by a speeding train that hadn't quite done the job.

The publisher we were with was in a legal tangle with no end in sight and, therefore, so too were it's authors. Myself and my associate on the phone with me included. Getting all the information from her that I could I thanked her, hung up and stumbled back to the table. Falling into my seat I grabbed my rum and Coke and downed that sucker like I'd just come from the Sahara desert after a month without water. My friends with me were all wearing various looks of concern as I waved down the waiter and asked for another double, hold the Coke.

Once I had the fortifying beverage in hand and half of it down I told them everything. They were all there for me, sympathy and offers to help in any way they could. But how could they? Really, how could these wonderful people help me dig myself out of this pit I find myself in without a rope or even a glimmer of light to guide me? Downing the rest of my drink I sat there staring blankly into space for who knows how long before I snap out of it.

Refocusing on them I look them each in the eye and say, quite clearly this I remember, don't make my mistake. Take this as a lesson for each of you and don't do what I did."

We all took those words to heart and got our friend through the mess that followed that phone call. While there is still a bit of turmoil over it we knew that we had to do something to help other authors out there. Yes there are groups out there already but so many of them are very clinical and slightly off putting in the way they are put together - absolutely NO offence meant to any of these groups, they just aren't the way we felt we had to do this endeavor. We wanted to do something that came from us, from the heart and from real life experiences that we all have had or heard about. So this is why June and the three moderators all got together to do this blog.

While we are all in varying stages of our careers we all felt we had something to offer to new and even established authors who are thinking about moving on or expanding. We can all learn something from one another and that is what this blog and the posts on it are all about. While a lot of our posts are from our own personal experiences, there are other posts that have been inspired by things we've read on various sites or have been triggered by the way someone has said something to us during our day.

So, there you have it, the main (but not only) reason The Unvarnished Author came to be. We hope that you enjoy our blog and please, if you ever have a question, email it to us and we will answer you either directly or if we feel it merits being a post, we'll do one up just like we did here.

The Unvarnished Team, via The Moderator

Be Seen #6 - Don't forget to have fun

As the Subject suggests you have to remember that while you are in the business of promoting and selling your books, you can't do it all the time. You do need to relax and have fun as well.

Chat with your fans, find out what they are reading, what they love about characters, what they hate. Find out what they feel makes a good villain, a great hero and a readable heroine. Find out what/who they are currently reading and why they love the book or series. This is all information that you, as an author, can use to grow yourself. But don't forget to also talk about what/who you are reading and why you love the book/series. This allows your fans to get to know you better too in a not overly I-have-diarrhea personal way.

A number of authors do a day of the week event, as do many other groups including publishers, where they are just goofy and have fun with the day. For example, we know that there are groups on Facebook, for example, who do topless Tuesdays - usually geared toward the female crowd but there's usually a few geared for the men as well. Another we know about does a Throwback Thursday - blanking on the group name but if it ever comes to us we'll definitely give them the credit due to them for this brilliance. They usually do a head shot of an actor, back in the day side-by-side with one from more recent - a then and now sort of deal.

Whatever you do dedicate the day to just being a little bit silly and invite your fans to join in the fun by asking them to send you images, if that's the way you go, or info if you decide you want to do something different. It's a great way to a) interact with your fans; b) have them involved and; c) have a bit of fun!

One word of warning though. There will always be at least one person that takes offence to whatever you decide to do. DO NOT LET THIS GET YOU DOWN! No matter what group is out there, what you personally do or write, there will be haters. It's a fact of having a semi-public life. Let it roll off your back like water from a duck and move on with those that are fun and open to the silliness. And if this/these people/persons get out of hand - BAN THEIR FUCKING ASSES!

So it is, so shall it be. We have spoken.

The Moderator

The Scoop #5 - Be careful what you say

No matter where you say it, or why, you need to be careful of your words. We're not talking about slinging insults or "your mama's so fat..." jokes, we're talking about discussing your stories.

Not everyone out there is your friend. Even a "friend" may not be a true friend. So always be very careful about what you reveal about a book/story you are writing before you have it submitted to your publisher. We've been lucky and never had this happen to us but we're more than sure there are authors out there who have had a story idea/premise stolen through a conversation with a "friend".

We're not saying don't talk about your newest project, just don't reveal too much. What is too much? Good question, for example please see the below dramatic re-enactment provided to you by the people at FOX. Okay, we're kidding!

• Too much - I'm writing a new story about a man who wakes up with amnesia in a foreign land and yet knows the language. He has all these crazy ass skills, like hand to hand combat and weapons training, that just come to him when he needs them. People are out to kill him and he's trying to figure out who this mysterious government group is that apparently he belongs to, or did because they think he's dead. He races around the world trying to figure out who he is while taking out their agents and other officials trying to stop him. He kidnaps this French girl who assists him and they do this crazy drive through the city taking out vehicles and driving down stair cases. (In case you're wondering and didn't get the reference - we hijacked The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum for this demonstration)
• Enough - I'm writing a new story, it will be action packed and you'll never know where the danger is coming from. Which will be on several fronts, both supposed friends and foes will be after my character, it will be quite a ride.

As you will see in the "Too much" example, you've basically handed a plot line to someone out there. And if you do not have a copyright on it at that moment, you do not own it. Now, yes you thought it up (in this case we borrowed Robert Ludlum's premise) but can you prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone else didn't think of it sooner? Someone who then wrote it before you and submitted it before you did thereby getting copyright on it before you did. Likely not. Yes, the technological age has many amazing and great benefits. But for every benefit there is an asshole out there that has figured a way around it all and will screw you over.

So, better to taunt and tease a little by giving your readers, fans and potential "friend" just enough to whet the appetite but not enough to let them grab it and run. So, be careful what you say and to whom. You never know who might be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Sad to say, yes, but better mildly paranoid then out your next book.

The Moderator

Insider Info #6 - Things you may never have thought of

Now, as most of the first world population is on Facebook - and other social media sites - this problem may not come up. But it is something important you need to know.

As an author you want to have a fan page for, well, your fans. This will be a place for them to gather and rave about your greatness and... Okay, so that may be pushing the envelope a little, but we can all hope right?

Something you may not know though is that unless you create a page for your author persona and then a fan page, you could run into difficulties. Where? you ask. Glad you did. Advertising on Facebook. If you ONLY have a fan page - in other words you have your own personal page and you "Create a Page" - you can NOT advertise as your author persona, only as your real life self. At all. Ever. You need to actually make a Facebook account for your author persona and then create a page for your fans from that persona. This of course doesn't matter if you are using your real name but if you are writing under a pen name, be forewarned. Yeah, screwy huh?

We think so too but with the way things are always changing and moving on Facebook we're never sure what the hell is going on anyway. Which brings us to another tip we want to warn you about on Facebook. Check your "Active Sessions" on a regular basis. Wait! Before you freak, we have directions.

Go to the little "cog" in the blue bar at the top of your screen. It's the little round bumpy looking wheel to the right of your name and the little lock that looks like it's going really fast. Click on it and scroll down to "Account Settings" - click on it. Once you are in there you want to look to the left hand bar where a number of things are listed. It reads, in descending order:  General, Security, Privacy, Timeline and Tagging, etc, etc.

You will want to click on "Security". At the bottom of these bolded headings of the page that just appeared reads "Active Sessions". Click on "Edit" to the right of it (little blue link) and a drop down like screen will appear. You need to know where you are signed in from at all times so you know if someone is hacking your account. Try and remember if you check your Facebook from work, your phone, a tablet or iPad, etc. But these should (in theory - unless you are on a trip) be all in the same city. If there are ANY not in your current location - click the little link to the right that says "End Activity". Do this with every session NOT your own. Then, immediately, change your password and check again. Hackers are evil little shits and they love to do stuff to fuck you around.

Once you have done a second round of checks. Change your password one more time. This may seem redundant, you just did it. But that old saying, better safe than sorry, applies here. So do it! Once you have done that - warn your fans. Post up a message letting them know that you were potentially hacked -if you can, give a rough time line as well- and let them know that anything before your current message should be ignored as potentially dangerous spam especially anything with a link in it.

There you have it, our helpful tips to ensuring the safety of your online life. We will have more to come.

The Moderator

Be Seen #5 - Don't slack off now!

You've gotten yourself online, you've pimped your book and let everyone know it's coming as well as teasing them until the big day arrived in spectacular fashion, but you can't stop now.

Take a break, definitely, you need to take a little time for yourself once you've gotten over the hump. But you can only slack off for so long. You need to keep up your online presence so that you can chat with those that have just bought your book. Plus you need to mention it every now and again so it stays fresh in the minds of those who couldn't get it yet, didn't have a chance to get it or who are waiting until payday to go shopping crazed on the online sites.

This does NOT mean that you post everyday about your book that's now out and available, that just pisses people off. But posting once every couple of weeks is quite acceptable. In and between all that you should post about other things, talk about your next project or generally just stay in touch with your readers and fans. You need to keep yourself out there, but remember, don't share too much personal information (as discussed in Be Seen #1).

A good way to avoid too much personal information and yet still let people feel they are getting to know you, is talking about the next project on your plate. Is it a continuation (serial) to the book you just published? Is it something new you are trying? Give them a little bit of an idea about what it's about, just don't commit yourself to anything in particular. Especially if you are not 100% sure what the story will be yet. But you can talk about the idea a little, not too much though, you need to be very careful on this point. Too much information and someone else can scoop your idea.

Yes, that does happen, but that will be covered in another post so stayed tuned.

The Moderator

Submitting #5 - The wait

You've submitted your book and now one of the worst things possible begins... The wait.

This is the time period between submitting and getting word your work has been accepted, or rejected, by the publisher of your choice. If this is your first book it is a terrifying time of second guessing yourself and wondering what all else you could have done to maybe give your work a boost over all others. Question after question will begin to pour through your head as you go back to look at the email you sent in. Did I spell everything correctly? Did I mention something I shouldn't have? Did I not mention something I should have? Did I forget one of the steps that's a must to get this accepted? Did I even remember to send in the manuscript?

The questions will rattle you but, remember, this is normal and every author had this happen that very first time. It's a terrifying experience. More so because you know, for a fact, that some nameless, faceless person on the receiving end is now deciding your potential fate in the world of published authors. But have faith. If you followed your list of must do's (Submitting #2 - Create a check-list) then you are as well off as you possibly can be.

Get your mind off the wait, it is going to take a while no matter how polished and amazing your story is, how concise you were in your synopsis and cover letter. 

Do the only thing you can, occupy yourself. Pour all that nervous tension and energy into something productive, like another story. Any time your mind starts to wander and you start looking at the calendar to calculate the days, hours, minutes and seconds since you emailed the publisher, push it aside and write. Focus everything you are on a story to get out of your own head.

Or you could clean, if you really wanted to, but who really wants to clean? Cooking is also good or baking, but do something to keep yourself busy and otherwise occupied mentally.

Remember, just because you haven't heard back from the publisher within 8 minutes 42 seconds of sending the email, means NOTHING. Most publishers have a huge waiting list of works to look over. Check the submission section (or the FAQ) of their site and you will likely find what the "average" time for word back on a submission is. On average 2-6 weeks is relatively standard. Some will give longer time frames depending on the time of year. Remember, these people get holidays too. So, chill!

The Moderator

The Scoop #4 - The clique mentality

Oh, how we fucking hate this. It's not bad enough we all had to suffer through the clique's in high school, now we have to do it in the business world too.

All publishers have clique's, it's a fact no matter how much they deny it. There are some "good" clique's and then there are the ones that we will be discussing.

• Genre Clique's - These are not necessarily bad, but can go that way if the people involved don't keep their heads out of their asses. This clique is based specifically around the genre's in which author's write. For example: Historical Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Paranormal, Erotic are just some of the many genre's. In most cases, but not all, these clique's are geared toward assisting writers in these specific genre's and they do tend to be helpful. From providing help over blocks, assistance in research to just reading something that isn't working for you and providing a second (or third) set of eyes to help you figure out why this isn't working.
• Ass Kissing Clique's - These are bad, bad, bad clique's. Like in high school these clique's are a group of people that revolve around one central figure and generally can't think for themselves. They always look to the central figure, or leader, of the clique for how to behave and what to say in any given situation. This is the clique that if you are not on the inside you are on the outside and acts much like Sheeple (which we covered in The Scoop #3). These are "yes" men and women who, like a group of high schoolers, really don't have the mentality to stand up for anyone because then they wouldn't be "popular" any more. These are also the ones we often refer to in our posts as the Golden Ones.

The above are just two of the clique's most seen but there are clique's within clique's, sub-genre's if you will, that can be potential holes to fall into. No matter what you do as an author remain true to yourself. Think for yourself and be yourself. While this will not always be popular, who said life was fair?, at least at the end of the day you can feel good about yourself and what you did that day. Which is better than wanting to crawl into a little hole and hide because you compromised your own integrity.

The second clique from above is more likely to be found in smaller, more intimate publishing houses. Think under 100 authors. Any of the bigger houses it's harder to find these clique's but they do exist, it's just not as noticeable and obvious and therefore a little trickier to navigate. Unfortunately if you are a part of a smaller publishing house and you are not in the clique than you are pretty much screwed. Because those inside the clique will gleefully and with permission make your life and career hell. Not that you'll be able to prove anything, but you have to remember that they are going to do whatever is necessary to ingratiate themselves further with the leader of their pack of assholes.

Just don't get sucked in. If they are into making snide and snotty comments that ride the line of bullying, always be chipper and cheerful, don't give them anything they can use as fodder against you. Remember, because they are sadistic brats they will be reading all your posts looking for an opening to dig into and be shit heads. If they step up their game to outright bullying and such, screen shots and report their asses to anyone and everyone you can think of. While it won't stop them from coming back at you at a later date, at least they know you are onto them. The downside of that of course is they will likely come back with a strategy that is harder to prove.

That's all we've got on this topic, for now. Sadly there are enough assholes out in the world of writing that we will end up with more over time.

The Moderator

New FAQ page

Greetings one and all,

You may have noticed we now have a 3rd page added to our site - look at us grow! This is a page of FAQ's that we thought may help you know more about us.

If you too have a question you'd like to see up on the page with our answer email it to us at:  the-unvarnished-author@gmail.com and we will post it up. The FAQ page will grow over time so remember to check it out once in a blue moon.

June Smith, Owner

Insider Info #5 - Publisher stance on reviews

A book review is a scary thing. A reviewer is some stranger that will be reading your book and giving an opinion on it. That there is key, something you must remember, a review is one persons personal view of your work. Not all people will like your works and not all will have nice things to say about it.

But since we covered that in the post Insider Info #1, we will be looking at the stance of the publisher toward reviews. Specifically we will be looking at the publishers that tell you not to bother getting reviews or say that they don't permit their books to go to reviewers. This is a serious flag on the play.

Put yourself in the publishers shoes for a moment. If you have helped this author, nurtured them, done editing, made suggestions to make the work richer and more satisfying, wouldn't you want this book to get a stellar review? Now, because reviews are one persons opinion this won't always happen, but in a lot of cases a reviewer will provide a suggestion from their point of view that could help the author or just that work. We think this is a good thing.

So why then do some publishers say you are not permitted to submit your book to a reviewer?

Exactly! Why? Because there is something to hide. Whether it is because they know their editing department is a bunch of hacks and are trying to cover this up or because they just want to keep a low profile, none of these reasons are acceptable. As an author you have the right to send your book for review. Period. If this puts a shameful face on you and therefore your publisher, so be it. But getting the opinion of some outsider is a good thing and may show you just what slipped under your radar in regards to your work and your publisher.

Now, there is one thing you absolutely have to check and should have caught your eye if you've been reading your contracts as we've told you you must. Is there a clause in your contract that says you, as the author, are not permitted to send your book for reviews? If there is, make sure this is the last book you ever send this publisher and move on with your career elsewhere. Anyone that leaves it up to the Amazon Trolls and such, to review your book, is not a publisher you want to be with.

The Moderator

Rule #6 - Sales/payment reports

Every publisher out there must submit to you a report of what you've sold per pay period.

A good publisher will send you a detailed sheet that has the book title, number sold, the price sold at and a tally of dollars at the end. They will then add all those up for your subtotal and then come the horrid deductions. These will be from the 3rd party sites (Amazon, iTunes, etc) all charge fees - basically processing fees for the use of their site to sell your product. Then the publisher will take their cut and whatever fees (ie: marketing) that you approved for them and, after all that, whatever is left over is what you get paid. 

Each and every publisher has their own method of sending these to you.

• Some will send all the 3rd party sales reports along with a page from them of summary and what fees were deducted and your payment
• Some will send a multi-page document that lists each sales site in it's own little section. It would include their own site, the 3rd party's, with the names of each book, price sold at, quantity sold and the final $$ earned on that book and a total for each site before being added up as one giant subtotal. Before, once again, the deductions begin.
• Then there is the one that will send you a Word Doc, an Excel spread sheet, or something else of this nature that they have doctored up (like the below) with the magic words that should throw up a RED-mother-fucking-FLAG on the play... "Approx Price per Book".

ie: if you get something that vaguely looks like this, run:

(click image to view at readable size)

There is no "approx" book prices. Book prices are set, always are, and that is the price you sell at. Just because your publisher doesn't want to admit what the processing fees are from each 3rd party site because they are skimming your money is no reason at all. If you see this, fucking get up in their grill and demand the detailed reports from the 3rd party's. These will show exact numbers and the exact fees for processing the orders on their sites at the end of the quarters. Now, be warned about these 3rd party reports lag - you will have to wait a while for them, so a little patience at this point is required. Especially iTunes, they are one of the THE hardest places to get a sales report out of.

But if you haven't seen anything after 20 business days, make a pest out of yourself, huge. While they may claim you are annoying them by asking repeatedly for these reports, keep doing it. The more they refuse the more you need to be suspicious. A reputable publisher will get them for you.

Just remember, they do take a bit of time. Especially from 3rd party sales sites as your publisher has to request them and then wait until the request is processed and then wait some more until they get an answer back. Anything over a month though and it's time to put the gloves back on and dive into the ring.

Last thing before we run away - do everything in writing so you can keep track of when you sent the request. This way you have a good idea how long to give your publisher to get the reports to you. Keep the letter polite but firm in tone. You still have to do business with them but they need to know that you will not be yanked around by them. Also, if you can, send the email in a way that either a) you know when they've opened the email and therefore likely read it; or b) you get a return receipt from them when they've read it. Depending on your mail service you'll have one of these options or something similar. This way, if they claim that they never got anything or never read anything you have the evidence in your inbox ready to send to your lawyer so the next request will come from him. And trust us, lawyers don't play nice when it comes to their clients being fucked around for money - especially since you'll be using some of that to pay him/her!

There you have it and we're off to cause trouble elsewhere.

The Moderator

The Scoop #3 - Beware the sheeple

Sheeple:  A group of people who have a sheep like mentality and follow the leader blindly

Do not be sheeple people! Sheeple are much like lemmings, they blindly follow along with the group and never question "why" something is happening.

In the author trade (and other places too so no one feels left out/offended) we refer to these people as "yes" wo/men, or "brown nosers". They don't question anything and just do whatever the higher ups say. They have zero thoughts for themselves and actually, in most cases, find it comforting when someone else takes control and guides them along. Though they can be some of the most vicious and spiteful people on the planet when they are stabbing you in the back.

Now, this is NOT like working for a company with a project leader - for example. A project leader expects certain things from their people and yet also expects questions and answers that may or may not be what they want to hear. They are looking for communication and dialogue - this is not what a sheeple herder wants. The herder of the sheeple expects complete and total loyalty and if not, then you are branded a trouble maker and basically ostracized.

Becoming the black sheep of the sheeple community also means that you need to be doubly aware of your surroundings and who you speak to and who can see what of your public persona. It also means being extremely careful about what you say about certain things in all arenas. Sheeple are easily offended and assume everything is about them or their herder. Which means if you make some flippant, off the cuff and, to your mind, humorous comment about something (with no names, no real details) they will become offended and start a war on-line. They will also tattle on you faster than you can say Yankee Doodle Dandy. Which then brings the herder, who may or may not be your publisher, into the picture and now you get to deal with them.

They will NOT have gotten the entire story or, more than likely, anything truthful from their sheeple informant. But you will be at fault. Plain and simple. You will be the bad guy and the sheeple will demand restitution, aka - the apology in a public format. If you can't avoid getting into a sheeple confrontation, likely you won't because these are basically douche bags with sticks so far up their asses they have splinters on their tongues, try and pacify the herder. Show them the original post and ask how that appears in any way offensive to a reasonable, functional and logic based adult with the mentality of an adult (not a 13 year old in 40 year old body for example). You may still be required to pass along an apology but tell them, flat out, that while you will give the apparently injured party a private, off-line apology for the fact they have no sense of humour, you won't be doing it on-line because you and the other 90 people that commented on the post had no trouble seeing the humour in it nor did they see it as a dig at anyone.

While this likely will pacify the herder of the sheeple and, if you are lucky, the sheeple in question, don't bet on it. But, whatever you do, stick to your guns as long as you are 100% positive you have done absolutely nothing wrong. And ensure you get screen shots of all the sheeple interaction, you may need it later if they decide to erase their portion of the conversation because they are that low and slimy.

The Moderator

Rule #5 - Know your rights

This is actually pretty important. Especially since you are entering into the business world and, as such, you need to know what your rights are. This would include things like what you can and cannot do in regards to your Contracts. You've read them but now you need to understand them.

Not as easy as it sounds actually, there are a lot of nifty little legal nuances that can be tricky and hard for the average person to understand. This is where your lawyer plays a huge role. As mentioned previously you need to have at least the most basic of understanding as to what you are getting into with your Contracts. But now you really need to understand them, especially since you have signed. This will include just what limitations may be placed on you as the author and what limitations the publisher has put on themselves. Things like:

• Marketing - Will your publisher do it? Will they charge you for it? What is their rate for this and do you have a say in how that money is spent? If you do your own marketing will they pay you back or is it out of pocket for you?
• Covers - Most publishers have artists on hand that do their cover art but find out if you can get your own done, if you can will you be reimbursed for this? If you are reimbursed be aware that the publisher now owns the rights to the cover for whatever time frame they determine. Find out what that time frame is before you decide whether you want to be reimbursed and lose the rights or not.
• Copyright - Not all publishers will pay the fees required to copyright your books. You may need to do this out of pocket and it gets expensive the more books you have coming out as you need to do it per book and can't do it as a group deal. Most likely if you are under contract with them for seven (7) years or more though they will copyright the work for you - but confirm this. If your work is NOT copyrighted there could be legal issues down the line, so ask.

These are just some of the finer points you need to be aware of. There will be others. Remember one thing, if you ever have a question about something write it down so you remember it. We cannot express the number of times we had a question, didn't write it down and then when we had the chance to speak with our publishers or lawyers we went blank. We knew we had a question but couldn't for the live of us remember what it was.

Also remember that while the question may seem silly to ask, it was important to you in the moment and therefore deserves an honest answer from someone. Besides, if you are just starting out, there are no silly questions in this bizarre and insane business. Questions show that you want to learn and are willing to learn about the business in order to grow yourself and your works. Never, ever, let anyone say it's a "dumb" question. It might well be to someone that's been in the business but for you it's not. You wouldn't be asking if you had the answer...right?

The Moderator

Rule #4 - Beware start-up Publishers

While every Publisher has to begin somewhere you need to know how to avoid the ones that are scams. Yes, scams. These publishers are ones that spring up and yet look great on the surface. But they are nothing but piranhas waiting for you to step into their pool and then tear you apart. These publishers have all the bells and whistles, sound amazing, have contracts and even have websites. There are a few things you should know though to be able to spot a fraud over the real deal.

Please note, these are just a few of the ways to discover if they may not be what they claim to be.

• Search their name and see if they have a business licence. The most reputable publishers out there will have one. The easiest way to tell is if they have a LLC you would most likely see attached to their legal name indicated they have a business licence. They can't put it on there if they don't have one but not all have it visible in the obvious places, so do the search to be sure.
  
• Do a web search to see if they have any legal issues. For example, are they being sued or are they behind on paying taxes or some such thing.
• Search their domain name on something like GoDaddy.com. If you can purchase their domain that means they are likely using a free version on wherever their host is. This also means they can pull up stakes damned fast if they feel the need.
• They tell you that you will need to pay for edits. This is a huge red flag, anyone that is anyone in the publishing business doesn't make their authors pay for their own edits. This is beyond low.
• They have a very generic contract that has the wrong jurisdictional information. In other words, in their contract, it shows that they are based in Florida and yet their contract would be legislated in New York. Do you smell something foul yet?
• Check with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and see what their standing is, if they even have one.

Now, these are but a few of the instant ways to be aware you are dealing with hacks. There are many more and, really, always trust your instincts. If something doesn't feel right to you, trust that gut reaction and go with it. It's better to be wary and safe than to find out you've been fucked over by scumbags only out for a buck.

The Moderator

Contract Information

Since this post kind of hits many of our normal tags from Rules, to Insider Info and even into The Scoop, we felt we'd leave this in the "General" realm and just give it multiple tags.

The below links are from an authors website (Tymber Dalton). Please note: We are NOT promoting her as an author. We are NOT promoting her works by any of her pseudonym's. And we are NOT promoting any of her publishers.

We were pointed toward her by one of our Moderators and, after reading the posts we've supplied links for, felt the need to share them with you. She is quite knowledgeable about contracts as her husband used to practice law and has a few years experience that also allows her to know what she's talking about. Now, she is NOT a lawyer, just married to a man who used to practice law and what she has to say is sound advice but in no way admissible in a court of law. However, if you read through each of the articles we've supplied links for, you will see she has provided quite a bit of information to assist you in untangling the legal web a hokey publisher can weave.

We found the articles detailed, intriguing and with a very unique and informative spin to them. But if you happen to buy her books that's fine too, that's just not the purpose of this post or why we are supplying her links.

Pop Quiz: Contracts

A Bad Publishing Contract Deconstructed, Part 1

A Bad Publishing Contract Deconstructed, Part 2 - The Ugly Truth

A Bad Publishing Contract Deconstructed, Part 3 - The Uglier Truth

And since you may not also remember these other links that she supplied here they are again nice and clear:

The Passive Voice (Contract Counsel)

Writer Beware

Preditors & Editors

Duration of Copyright (USA) things to know and understand

There you have it. Some more information about contracts spelled out in a manner that makes sense for those of us who get the urge to fall asleep the moment we see legal documents. Hopefully this extra information will help you to avoid pitfalls that some of us have had to learn the hard way. Now, one last time, the author that supplied the deconstruct of the contract in question is NOT a lawyer. She has been in the business a while and has a husband who practised law so she is knowledgeable but not, in any way, shape or form a lawyer. If you ever have a question about a contract, ask your own lawyer.

The Moderator

Happy New Year

We at The Unvarnished Author hope you all had a wonderful time saying "goodbye 2013" and "welcome 2014". We definitely did a bang up job ourselves and are now starting to recover from it all.

As we all welcome in 2014 and welcome new people to read our blog we'd like to quickly review our one rule and standards, few though they are. We enforce these with an iron fist and take no prisoners.

• Rule #1: Be nice, if you can't say anything nice do not say anything at all
• All posts are our opinions and only our opinions on the subjects discussed
• We welcome discussion but will not tolerate argumentative behaviour
• Name calling and attacks on people or their opinions are not welcome - will have you banned/removed
• Watch your language - while we may get hot in our posts all comments should be kept cordial and polite
• Have a topic, tip or piece of wisdom you want discussed, email us at: the.unvarnished.author@gmail.com with how you'd like to be recognized (ie: real name or a moniker), note that how you send it to us will be exactly how we place it into the post, no editing provided

And there you have it, our one and only rule and all the standards we expect those who visit us to abide by. They are very simple and shouldn't be that hard to continue to hold to in the New Year. Now, that said, everyone you may return to nursing your hangovers and praying to the porcelain gods.

We'll be back soon with a lot of new and interesting stuff.

June Smith, Owner & The Moderators