Buck it...

So, there is always drama in romance writing land. Porn versus romance. This writer hates that writer. Help me, but I won’t help you. Crap editors. Horrible covers from cover artists who think all women are stick thin.  And then there are the Publishers.  This comment, about the crapacious and unprofessional Noble Romance Publishing, was on the Karen Knows Best blog and it pretty much sums up the ebook industry and the half arsed publishers in it.   

"I'm throwing up my hands with most publishers at this point."

Yes. Exactly. Probably why self pubbing is so popular. You don’t have to deal with dishonest publishers. There are a lot of them around and it’s not until you actually get screwed over by one that you learn the lesson. But can you go it alone? Of course. Will you? Doubt it. There’s a lot of scared writers out there worried about bucking the system. Buck it I say. The system only changes if you challenge it.   

Apparently...

I cannot work out June 2011, July 2011 and August 2011 royalty spreadsheets from Noble Romance Publishing.  At all. One of them has the picture above on it. It doesn't inspire confidence does it?

Answers? I have asked…a lot. Apparently there are none. Apparently I’m stupid.

Yes, we have your royalties, please tell us why we held on to them...

Okay, so I get this email from Noble Romance Publishing – copy most definitely kept -  saying that they had found all these royalties of mine that were kept to ‘the side’ by the previous owner/not owner person and could I explain why she did that? Well, I could suggest incompetence, lack of professional ethics and poor management. Actually, I did suggest that. They then went on to explain how it would take awhile to pay these royalties that were on the side. Why?  Good question. I pointed out if they know how much they have illegally withheld then they knew how much to pay. Pretty much a no-brainer huh?

Pay out the Noble authors and set my people free...

Ask. Research. Bug the hell out of people…

 

 

So, I’m waiting to see what happens in the ongoing Noble Romance Publishing–will-they-pay-me-all-the-royalties-they-have-failed-to-for-frigging-yonks? I got several emails yesterday from them, which is unusual, because other than blaming the person that left Noble in a bugger of a mess, they have avoided speaking to me or many other authors at all. Word is they will only speak to the obedient, suck up authors. I should point out, firstly, that’s not me and this ‘word’ has not stopped me emailing them. My personal belief is just because someone ignores you it doesn’t mean you stop doing what you know is right for you – and this gets to the point of this blog. Publishing – epublishing especially – because any bugger on the planet can set up an epublishing company online – is a messy business. To be honest, you can’t trust anyone but yourself when it comes to your rights in it.  

• Look and learn from other authors. Noble isn’t the only epublisher with crapaciousness going on.  

• Read author blogs. Email those authors and ask what they think of a publisher. A decent author will give an honest opinion. 

• Look at the publisher’s website. Check out the names of the people listed on their ‘who are we/info’ page and google them to see if they are made up people. Yeah. It happens.  

• Check out the authors. Heard of any of them? No? Probably a bad sign. Yes, everyone has to make a name for themselves but ask yourself do you want your work going to a place where there is not a single author you have heard of? If you see an author name you know – email. Ask their opinion. Most authors will not screw another author over. I say most. There are exceptions of course.  

• Check out who owns the company. What do they know of publishing? 

• Go to the 3^rd party distributors and see where they are ranked in sales. 

• Talk to readers – who are they buying from? Readers are smart and they will form allegiances to epublishers they believe in and trust.      

• If an epublisher sounds sus in their emails to you then they probably are. Don’t be dazzled by promises.  

• Trust your gut instinct before signing a contract. You may be desperate to get your work out there but think ahead a couple of years – will you be desperate to get it back? 

I started in this game – and it is that – 6 years ago. If I knew all this back then…but that’s a moot point. Ask. Research. Bug the hell out of people…it's your rights at stake.