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