New Harlequin vanity press yields to protest by writers

Tuesday chick-lit publisher Harlequin Enterprises announced a new joint venture with vanity publisher Author Solutions that would allow writers who were rejected by Harlequin to pay to have their books published.

The new operation was to be called Harlequin Horizons. The name pissed off a lot of writers, particularly members of the Romance Writers of America (RWA). It's a trade association with over 10,000 members. Writers who had been published by the traditional Harlequin operation thought that their status would be diminished by writers who pay to publish books that would have the Harlequin name on them.

RWA has established standards for members books (gotta have a happy ending) and publishers. Vanity publishers are banned from RWA's national conference and their authors are banned from RWA contests.

Because of Harlequin's establishment of a vanity-press operation, RWA told its members and the world that Harlequin no longer meets RWA standards and would be dropped from RWA events and the RWA catalog. Harlequin has participated in RWA events for many years and RWA authors have won RWA awards.

As reported by E-Reads, Harlequin quickly blinked.

Harlequin boss Donna Hayes said, "It is disappointing that the RWA has not recognized that publishing models have and will continue to change. As a leading publisher of women's fiction in a rapidly changing environment, Harlequin's intention is to provide authors access to all publishing opportunities, traditional or otherwise.

Most importantly, however, we have heard the concerns that you, our authors, have expressed regarding the potential confusion between this venture and our traditional business. As such, we are changing the name of the self-publishing company from Harlequin Horizons to a designation that will not refer to Harlequin in any way. We will initiate this process immediately. We hope this allays the fears many of you have communicated to us."

Meanwhile Harlequin is faced with an additional protest from another writers' group -- the Mystery Writers of America.

MWA issued a statement saying, "...it is common for disreputable publishers to try to profit from aspiring writers by steering them to their own for-pay editorial, marketing, and publishing services. The implication is that by paying for those services, the writer is more likely to sell his manuscript to the publisher. Harlequin recommends the 'eHarlequin Manuscript Critique Service' in the text of its manuscript submission guidelines for all of its imprints and include a link to Harlequin Horizons, its new self-publishing arm, without any indication that these are advertisements."

"That, coupled with the fact that these businesses share the Harlequin name, may mislead writers into believing they can enhance their chances of being published by Harlequin by paying for these services. Offering these services violates long-standing MWA rules for inclusion on our Approved Publishers List."

"We are taking this action because we believe it is vitally important to alert our members of unethical and predatory publishing practices that take advantage of their desire to be published. We respect Harlequin and its authors and hope the company will take the appropriate corrective measures."

I'd like to see -- and maybe I'll have to start -- another writers group to fight vanity presses that misuse the "self-publisher" label to prey on misinformed and naive writers.

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Whoopie! My book is now a bestseller (sort-of)

There are lots of bestseller lists. The New York Times list is the most famous, but other lists are assembled by USA Today, Publishers Weekly and booksellers such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.

Like the Times, Amazon has several bestseller lists. Their main bestseller list includes 100 books from all categories. As of today, Sarah Palin's rogue book is at the top and Precious is at the bottom.

In the Amazon list of bestselling books about home based businesses, my Become a Real Self-Publisher hit #38 today, up from #46 two days ago. It's behind books on poultry, catering and child care -- but ahead of books about landscaping, massage and bookkeeping.

I never thought of my book as being about a home-based business (I actually drive to an office five days a week), but I'll accept the honor.

I'm not buying any champage to celebrate, but it sure feels good to be on any bestseller list. It's nice not being on the same list with Palin -- but I wouldn't mind changing places with her.

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Vanity press helps chick-lit publisher set up another phony "self-publishing company"

Last month Author Solutions (parent company of several vanity presses, including IUniverse, Trafford, Wordclay, Author House, and Xlibris) did a deal with "Christian publisher" Thomas Nelson. It enables writers who are not good enough to be published by Nelson, to pay to be published by Author House under Nelson's WestBow imprint.

Author Solutions has just set up a similar program called Harlequin Horizons with chick-lit publisher Harlequin -- a Canada-based behemoth which has sold about 6 billion soft-core bodice-ripping books over 60 years.

"Harlequin Horizons expands upon Harlequin's tradition of providing wonderful opportunities for fresh voices in women's fiction," said Donna Hayes, CEO of Harlequin Enterprises. "Partnering with Author Solutions, Inc., the recognized world leader in self-publishing [excuse me while I go to the bathroom to puke], is an innovative and original approach to discovering new authors to add to our traditional publishing programs."

The Harlequin press release said, "Through this strategic alliance, all sales, marketing, publishing, distribution, and book-selling services will be fulfilled by ASI, but Harlequin Horizons will exist as a division of Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Harlequin will monitor sales of books published through the self-publisher for possible pickup by its traditional imprints."

In other words, if a writer's book is initially rejected for publication by Harlequin, and the writer can be convinced to pay to be published by the Harlequin-ASI combo, and the book sells well, then Harlequin may decide to publish it without the author having to pay any more money.

As with Author Solutions' other sleazy business operations, Harlequin Horizons lies about providing as many as 25 "free" books to its authors.  The books are free only  if the author/customer/victim ignores the $599 to $1599 paid for the "self-publishing" package.

Just as no one can take a bath for you or eat lunch for you, no other person or company can self-publish for you.

Writers who pay Harlequin Horizons will NOT become self-published authors. They will merely become customers (or victims) of a vanity press.

Books published by vanity press are often ugly, error-filled, overpriced, sell poorly, and don't get reviewed.

Harlequin Horizons allows Harlequin Enterprises to do test marketing at authors' expense, and even make a profit on books that Harlequin originally rejected.

This takes sleaze to a new level.

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Try writing two books at one time

Many writers think they have several books "in them." Usually they are written in sequence, and trouble with one book can delay starting the next one.

As an alternative, consider working on two or more books at the same time. Lots of people read several books during the same week, changing books whenever they feel like it. There's no reason not to switch the books you're writing, too.

This way, if you hit a writer's block and stall on one book, or simply get out of the mood, you can switch books and keep being productive.

This doesn't work all the time, but if the books are very different the change can be both relaxing and stimulating.

In the spring of 2008 I wrote a humor book and a book about phone systems. In the summer of 2009 I wrote a book about self-publishing and another humor book.

Also, you may find that a concept or actual words in Book A can be used in Book B. Or maybe even give you an idea to write Book C.

What was going to be my Book C became my Book B, but parts of B are in C, and A gave me the ideas for D and E. I pushed back book E to work simultaneously on D and F.

And, even if you're working on just one book, you can skip around within the book. If you're having trouble with Chapter 3, work on a chapter that happens later, or go back and edit chapter 1.

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More lying by DiscountBookSale.com

Sleazy bookseller DiscountBookSale.com has just added my new book, Become a Real Self-Publisher, to their website.

The book's real cover price is $19.95, and both Amazon and Barnes & Noble discount it to $17.95.

The idiot/thieves at DiscountBookSale claim its cover price is $24.34. (Does any book have a cover price that ends in 34 cents?)

However, they will discount the book to an Amazon-beating $16.35 (falsely claiming it's a discount of $7.99/33%) for their BestBrandValues club members.

To join the club, you pay a "low $19.95 membership fee per month" -- nearly $240 per year!

You'll have to buy an awful lot of books before the $240 covers the $1.60 difference between their price and Amazon's price.

And strangely, the company claims both "Usually ships in 24 hours" and "Availability: 2 days."

Also strangely, the company has assigned the book a rating of 4-1/2 stars out of five, with absolutely no explanation of their rating system, or any posted reviews from readers.

They also lie about the cover prices and discounts for three other books I published.

There are many online complaints about this company, particularly from people who joined the expensive club without realizing it when they made a purchase.

Nobody needs DiscountBookSale. There are plenty of other booksellers around. This company should be shut down.

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Need a new PC? Shop carefully

For many years I bought a new PC every year. One year I'd get a desktop, and the next year I'd get a laptop.

Over the past few years, as PC technology sort of hit a plateau, my replacement cycle slowed down to about half its previous rate.

This week my formerly huge 21-inch monitor was beginning to look a bit small, and I wanted to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7, so I decided to shop around.

Sam's Club and Costco had similar HP machines with a hi-def 25-inch monitor for $999 ($300 less than what I paid for the 21-inch monitor alone!). I could also get a similar machine at a similar price right from HP, but I'd have to wait about a week, and pay for shipping.

Costco is one of my favorite stores, and they got to sell me the new PC.

The deal was clinched by their two-year warranty and tech support (twice what I'd get from Sam's or HP) and 90-day return period. I'm not likely to return the new PC, but if there's a better deal on "Black Friday," I'll have another chance to consider my purchase.

The new machine is super, BTW. So is Windows 7.

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Book promotion idea: readers can get your books for FREE, but you still get full-price

Amazon has their own branded credit cards, issued by Chase Bank.

You can use any credit card to buy from Amazon, but if you use your Amazon card, you can get FREEBIES from Amazon. You earn three points for each buck you spend with your Amazon/Chase Visa at Amazon, and one point for each buck spent anywhere else.

I have one card for business and one for personal use, and I use them a lot. Once I've accumulated 2,500 points, Amazon sends me a $25 reward certificate that I redeem online.

Now here's where it gets even better.

If you are an author whose books are sold by Amazon, this can be an easy and inexpensive way to send out occasional freebie copies of your books, and at the same time you'll boost your sales ranking a bit. (I am not condoning its use for this purpose.)

And even better than that:

If you encourage your fans to get a new Amazon/Chase credit card, they can get a $30 credit to pay for things like copies of your book. You'll make the usual money, people get free books to read and possibly recommend, and your Amazon sales ranking may go up.

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If you bought a book from Amazon, Walmart or Target, Sears will pay for it

The latest fallout from the bookselling price war is really weird.

If you ordered one of the future bestsellers from  Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Target.com or Sears.com at a stupid-low-price, Sears will give you a $9 refund in the form of a credit that can be used at Sears.com when you spend $45 or more.

CLICK for details.


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More on what is NOT self-publishing

.
For nearly a year I've been writing and ranting about the misuse of the term "self-publishing" by vanity presses such as Lulu, Outskirts Press, Xlibris and their customer/victims.

I've said that the term "self-publishing company" makes no sense because no company or person can self-publish for you -- just as no one else can eat lunch for you, take medicine for you, go to school for you, have surgery for you or commit suicide for you.

That last example got me thinking. I decided to try to come up with a list of phrases that begin with "self" to see if any of them could be done for you by another person or business.

• No one can self-immolate for you.
• No one can self-destruct for you.
• No one can self-medicate for you.
• No one can self-educate for you.
• No one can self-heal for you.
• No one can self-help for you.
• No one can self-direct for you.
• No one can self-appoint for you.
• No one can self-start for you.
• No one can self-deprecate for you.
• No one can self-aggrandize for you.
• No one can self-efface for you.
• No one can self-enhance for you.
• No on can self-express for you.
• No one can self-insure for you.
• No one can self-publish for you. The words just don't make sense!

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Why I boycotted Self-Publishing Book Expo

The first "Self-Publishing Book Expo" (SPBE) was held Saturday in Manhattan.

As a self-publisher who lives just 90 minutes away from the expo site, I originally was sure I would go, and assumed there would be much for me to learn.

SPBE presented 55 exhibitors touting their products and services, and (according to Epoch Times), there was "a small  but quality crowd of about 200 people" who paid $15 or $30 each for admission to the exhibits, panels, lectures and discussions.

$15 paid for the exhibit area only, where folks could schmooze, pick up brochures and perhaps buy books.

Self-publishers who wanted to exhibit their books paid $325 each for display space.  Bigger publishers, distributors and other suppliers apparently paid more.

The expo was promoted as providing the following:

"Sales - The SPBE will be open to the public, offering authors a unique opportunity to sell their books to the broadest possible audience.

Meet the Media - Producers of TV and radio programs, and editors of newspapers, magazines, and online media outlets, will attend the event, all looking for great stories that may otherwise be under their radar.

An Opportunity to Learn – Attendees will get to hear about the products and services offered by self-publishing companies from across the country.

Interact – Authors will have the opportunity to discuss their path to self-publishing, and share their unique ideas for marketing, publicizing, and selling their books."

At this point I can't say if the event was considered a success or a fialure. The self-publishers who paid $325 each to sell their books to the public, could not have sold many copies. As of this morning, Google shows exactly ONE news item about SPBE. When Google notices this blog post, that number should double.

So why didn't I go?

It wasn't the money. $30 plus about $25 for train fair wouldn't kill me. I don't mind spending $30 on a book if I get one good idea from it, and an expo about an important topic with knowledgable participants could possibly provide dozens of good ideas that would be worth much more than than the price of admission and transportation.

I boycotted Self-Publishing Book Expo because it was fundamentally fraudulent and flawed.

In an effort to fill up the space that had to be rented from the Sheraton hotel, and to fill up the "expert" panels, the Expo managers invited notorious vanity publishers which masquerade as "self-publishing companies" and exist to extract money from ignorant, inept, and naive writers -- not to sell books to readers.

I was not going to invest my time and money to be exposed to dishonest sales pitches from companies like Lulu.com.

I was not going to pay money to listen to advice from dangerously ignorant fools such as Brent Sampson (the boss of Outskirts Press who didn't know who wrote Roget's Thesaurus or the difference between a foreword and a preface), Bob Young (boss of Lulu.com, who boasted that “We publish a huge number of really bad books,” misspelled “misspell” and confused “less” and “fewer”), and Penny Sansevieri (an alleged expert on book marketing  and the Internet who wrote in her mis-titled book that a typical website should cost between $2,000 and $6,000 to build and needs both a designer and a “coder” to put the website together).

I found a better way to spend my time and my money. It was a beautiful day, and I took the ferry from Connecticut to Long Island.

If there is a second SPBE next year, I'll consider going. Even if there's nothing for me to learn, maybe I can sell some copies of my book about REAL self-publishing.

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When promoting your book, remember "vote early and often"

The famous advice to "Vote early and often" has been attributed to three notoriously corrupt men from Chicago: Al Capone-- the gangster, Richard J. Daley-- mayor from 1955 to 1976, and William Thompson-- mayor from 1915-1923 and 1931-1935.

It's possible that Thompson said it first, and the others copied him.

While it's not a legitimate strategy for winning an election, it is effective for promoting a book online.

As soon as you know your book's title and approximate publication date, start promoting it online -- even if you have six months or a year of writing and editing ahead of you.

Become an active participant in online forums, discussion groups (on Yahoo Groups and elsewhere), and email lists. Every time you write something, mention your book and provide a link to your website.
Submit brief articles to ezines that gobble of lots of content. Every time you write something, mention your book and provide a link to your website.
Contribute to the growing number of “free content” websites that provide material for other websites. Just Google “free content” to find them. Every time you write something, mention your book and provide a link to your website.
Use pages on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, MyLife, and other social network websites to promote your books and your website.
Use Twitter to tell the world about your book (if you think anyone will care).
Exchange website links with other compatible but not competitive websites.
Write a blog that promotes you, your books, and your website.
Include your website address on business cards and letterheads.
Get listed in directories of people in your field.
Make sure any membership lists, especially online, include your website address if possible.
Get your website linked from school and association websites.

I started writing -- and promoting -- my book on self-publishing back in February.

As of this morning, there are 971 Google links for the title, and the number has been growing by about 20-30 each day.

A Google Shopping search for the phrase "self-publisher" shows about 220 links. My book has the first two positions (and at least one farther down), and I'm ahead of books that have been out longer and were written by better-known authors.

A Google Shopping search for the phrase "self-publish" shows about 530 links. My book has the less-impressive #53 position, but it's still ahead of books that have been available much longer than mine.

I really don't know how many people use Google to search for books. A study three years ago showed that Google had 91 million searches per day, so now the figure could be 100 million, or more. I'll gladly settle for a tiny percentage of 100 million -- especially since I didn't spend a penny to get Google to notice my book.

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Today, it's baseball, not books

When I lived in the Bronx from 1946 to 1952, I lived just a few miles from Yankee Stadium, and only a few more miles from the Polo Grounds in upper Manhattan where the New York Giants played before they moved to San Francisco in 1958.

Despite all this nearby major league activity, I was no sports fan. I didn’t give a damn about baseball, and couldn’t understand why others did. When other kids asked who my favorite player was, I’d quickly answer, “Mickey Mantle.” It was an easy answer, because Mick and I shared initials, and no kid in the school yard would challenge my choice. I was lucky that none of them asked me for his batting statistics.

My mother’s parents, who lived near us in the Bronx, were big baseball fans and wanted to convert me. They surprised me with tickets to a double-header. It was a double-dose of torture.

It was the longest day of my young life.

It seemed like the 10 longest days of my life. I spent hour after interminable hour staring at white spots on a green field, listening to old men belch from their beers, while I kept asking my grandparents, “Can we go home yet?”

I loved Gramma Del and Grampy Jay, but this was child abuse.

In later years, I didn’t get to like ballgames much more. In mandatory games during gym class, my favorite position was to be “left-out.”

In college, I went through a strange metamorphosis.

There was an intramural softball program, and a bunch of hippies and assorted misfits thought it might be fun to form a team to play stoned, with absolutely no intention of winning. We’d get to smoke some weed, enjoy the great outdoors, work on our tans, and get free T-shirts. It sounded like a good plan.

What I didn’t plan on, was that I turned out to be a “power hitter,” a “homerun king” just like Mickey Mantle.

I found no joy in running around the bases, or catching balls hit by the opposing teams, but I loved to whack those balls as far as I could.

My teammates thought I was a traitor to the cause. The team fell apart, and it was many years before I picked up a bat or saw another ball game.

Around 1995, my nephew and nieces nagged me to take them to a Yankees game at Yankee Stadium, the site of my long-ago — but never forgotten — abuse.

I really didn’t want to go, but I like the kids, so I agreed. I packed a radio with a headset and plenty of reading material and glumly resolved to pass the hours as pleasantly as possible.

When we arrived at the stadium, the butch-bitch rent-a-cop at the gate searched my bag and seized my plastic bottle of Diet Pepsi so her co-conspirators upstairs could sell me $8 drinks.

She would not let me drink it before going to my seat, or take it outside to drink, or reclaim it after the game. She slowly and sadistically removed the cap and poured out the soda into a trash barrel while I watched helplessly as my money and refreshment dribbled away. It was not a good omen for what was to come, I thought.

When we got to our seats I tuned my radio to WCBS, allegedly an all-news station, and was both disappointed and shocked to hear a play-by-boring-play description of the ball game in front of me. For some unknown reason, I didn’t immediately select another station, and soon, for the first time in my life, I understood what baseball was all about.

In baseball, it always seemed to me that the hitters were the heroes. People like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Mantle (and even me) hit the homeruns that drove up the scores that won the games and the pennants. But what I learned from listening to the radio that afternoon was that it was the CATCHERS and PITCHERS, not the hitters, who were really in control.

Balls — not bats — made the big difference.

Throwing was more important than hitting; and it was the sneaky, stealthy, silent catchers, squatting in the dirt behind home plate, who signaled secret instructions to the pitchers who caused hero hitters to strike out.

Because of those good pitchers, even really good hitters seldom got a good hit. And when they did, the balls were usually caught by really good fielders, and the hitters did not score homeruns.

I actually enjoyed baseball that day.

If someone had properly explained baseball to me in 1950, my life might have been very different. I might have liked baseball enough to become a homerun king for the New York Yankees.

As Marlon Brando said in On the Waterfront in 1954, shortly after I left the Bronx, “I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody.”

-From my book, Stories I'd Tell My Children (but maybe not until they're adults), due in April, 2010.

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WOW. I've been banned by another blogger's robo-censor!Publishing Pinocchio Michael Hyatt can't tolerate truth or criticism

Michael Hyatt is chief exec at "Christian" publisher Thomas Nelson.

The company recently established a sleazy joint venture with vanity press Author Solutions.

The new operation, WestBow Press, exists to extract money from ignorant, inept and naive writers whose work is not good enough to be published by the "normal" side of Thomas Nelson.

Last month I wrote that the company's lies about "free books" that are not really free, and calls its service "self-publishing" when it is really vanity publishing.

No one can "self-publish" for you, just as no one can eat lunch for you or go to school for you. The term "self-publishing company" just doesn't make sense.

Hyatt writes a blog that promotes his business and carries ads for such high-morals services as a pastors conference, "soul care" for Christian leaders, and an online seminary. (For a mere $19,000 I can earn a Master of Divinity degree while sitting at this desk in my underwear.)

Hyatt recently posted about WestBow, and invited comments from readers. Some readers were thrilled to have the opportunity to have their previously unpublishable work published -- even if they have to pay as much as $6,499 (including some "free" books).

This morning I tried to upload a brief comment about WestBow's dishonesty, and I said that lying is particularly inappropriate for a holier-than-thou company that tries to cash in on its Christianity.

As soon as I clicked on "submit comment," my words disappeared and were replaced by a somber note saying, "This comment has been deleted by the administrator."

The rejection took less than a second and it was obvious that no human administrator had read my words.

I was suspicious and tried two tests. I simply tried to submit "test" and then "good morning," and both comments were instantly rejected by Hyatt's robotic censor.

It looks like the pathetically paranoid Hyatt maintains an enemies list, just like "Tricky Dick" Nixon. His blog is programmed to block my words based on my IP address, even if I say something nice.

Hyatt says, "Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are snarky, offensive, or off-topic."

He also deletes comments that try to reveal the truth about his lies.

I hope there's a special place in the worst part of hell for priests who molest children, ministers who cheat on their wives and steal from their congregations, and for overtly religious businessmen who lie to their customers.

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This publisher's real story is stranger than fiction

PublishAmerica (“PA”) tells potential authors it’s a “unique and traditional publishing company.” It is unique, but since a PA author’s advance may be just a dollar, and editing and promotion are almost non-existent, it’s not a traditional publisher.

The company says that it’s the “nation’s number-one book publisher,” and that it “publishes more new titles than any other traditional book publisher.” PA even claims to “receive more queries from new authors than any other book publisher in the nation.” That’s a statistic that they can’t support because other publishers certainly won’t give them query numbers.

PA has a strange marketing philosophy. It wants authors to provide a mailing list so PA can pester friends and relatives to buy and publicize books.

Jenna Glatzer is a magazine article writer, book author, contributing editor at Writer's Digest, and editor-in-chief of Absolute Write, an online magazine for writers. In an interview with WBJB radio, she exposed some of the wacky and scary tactics of PublishAmerica.

According to Jenna, “They harass their authors, they start smear campaigns against their authors, they’re just an incredibly abusive company.” She also said that PA is “built on deception,” and has “vindictive, abusive, and strange people who have crossed the line.”

Jenna discussed author Ken Yarborough, who tried to prove that PA was not selective about accepting manuscripts and did not reject 80% of proposed books, as the company states. Ken submitted a book that consisted of the same 30 pages repeated over and over again— and PA accepted it!

When Ken revealed what had happened, PA reported him to the police, alleging fraud.

In another case related by Jenna, an author asked PA to lower the retail price of a book to make it more saleable, or to release him from his seven-year contract. PA tried to have him arrested for harassment.

Miranda Prather, PA executive director, claims that the company accepts only high-quality manuscripts for publication and has “30 full-time editors.” Apparently none of them checked PublishAmerica’s own website. The site says, “We submit the book to our wholesalers and wholesalers,” “There’s [sic] 190,000 other authors out there,” and “There is this fast-growing number of Internet bookstores.” Yuck.

Prather’s own life would make an interesting book.

She received national attention in 1997 when police accused her of faking a hate crime while working as a teaching assistant at Eastern New Mexico University.

According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, “Prather was accused of threatening several professors and staging an attack on herself. She was charged with concocting an elaborate hoax that included circulating fliers and mail claiming to be from ‘The Fist of God,’ which threatened death and injury to specific ENMU professors and to homosexuals in general.”

Prather, an open lesbian whose name was listed first on the fliers, was accused of faking an attack on herself that caused slight injuries. She initially said two men attacked her, and then blamed an imaginary woman.

Prather was charged with seven counts of harassment and one charge of filing a false police report. She agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for probation instead of imprisonment. After the plea bargain, Prather joined PublishAmerica— a company with a reputation to match her own.

Authors told Publishers Weekly that PA “sells books to which it no longer holds the rights;… doesn’t pay royalties it owes; engages in slipshod editing and copyediting; sets unreasonable list prices; and makes little effort (and has had little success) in getting books into bookstores.”

The company says, “PublishAmerica is not in any way a POD,” and “In the most commonly used context, POD indicates Publish On Demand.”

That’s not true. There is no such thing as Publish On Demand. The standard meaning of POD is Print-On-Demand— a process that PA does use. Books can be printed on demand, but they can’t be published on demand.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

PA’s low standards have been exposed by several stings in which it agreed to publish deliberately bad books. Atlanta Nights is an assumedly unpublishable collaborative novel created by a group of sci-fi and fantasy authors to test whether PA would accept it. The book was supposedly written by “Travis Tea” (travesty). The Crack of Death author was said to be “Sharla Tann” (charlatan), and the book is filled with bad writing, bad grammar, spelling errors, malapropisms, gender shifts, age shifts, name shifts, and more.

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Find & Replace warning

A while ago I decided to change a real name to a fake name in a mostly true book, to avoid embarrassing someone who might not want to be written about.

I used Microsoft Word's Find and Replace feature, which quickly made about a dozen substitutions in a chapter.

But when I read through the chapter I was surprised to find a few instances of the old name, which had escaped the Find function.

It's important to do a manual verification, because Word might not notice hyphenated words, or words with apostrophes or in their plural form, as targets for replacement.

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"Price War" books are rationed to prevent other booksellers from stocking up

Two weeks ago, Walmart, Amazon and Target got into a price war, selling upcoming bestsellers for about $9 each-- far below their normal selling prices, and also below what the companies pay for the books.

While small independent booksellers lack the "deep pockets" to match the low prices, the price war seemed to offer them a way to stock up on popular titles at a lower cost than if they bought books through normal wholesale channels.

It was not meant to be.

The price warriors are limiting sales to two or three copies per title per order.

It's common for purchase quantities to be restricted on loss-leaders as merchants limit losses from individual customers who might also make more profitable purchases. It's also a way to keep competitors from depleting inventory that is meant for retail customers.

Arsen Kashkashian, head buyer at the Boulder Book Store, in Boulder, Colo., told The Wall Street Journal that he had intended to buy as many as 70 copies of Barbara Kingsolver's "The Lacuna" from Walmart, Target or Amazon, because their prices are "more than $5 cheaper than what we can get it for from the publisher, Harper." Kashkashian said he was surprised to see that the three retailers were limiting the quantities sold. "We're a big store, and if a customer wanted to order 100 copies of anything, we'd sell it to them," he said.

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Aging Baby Boomer’s Low-Tech Secret Weapon

If you remove the Caps Lock key, you can’t tap it accidentally.

As you write, be conscious of your habitual errors, which may increase as you get older. I have many “senior moments” (also known as “brain farts”) while typing.

Don’t laugh at me if you’re just 30 years old. The 20-year-olds are laughing at you.

It takes just about 15 minutes to go from age-30 to age-50. It takes five minutes to go from 50 to 60.

I’m a proud member of the first cohort of the Baby Boom. I was born in 1946 along with Billy Clinton, Dolly Parton, Candy Bergen, Donny Trump, Georgie and Laura Bush, Cher, Linda Ronstadt, Lisa Minnelli, Patty Smith, Jimmy Buffet, Reggie Jackson, Ilie Nastase, Sly Stallone, and Oliver Stone.

In the new system, we are all still middle-aged, and we will remain middle-aged until dirt is shoveled on top of us.

Lately, I’ve frequently and stupidly held down the shift key as I pressed the key to insert an apostrophe, and ended up inserting a colon. I often type “i nthe,” “hsould,” “nad” and “fro ma.” I now tap the Caps Lock key a lot by accident, the semicolon instead of the apostrophe, and the “Page Down” key instead of “delete.”

I’ve also degenerated from being the world’s fastest six-finger typist to a pretty-good two-finger typist. (I actually have 10 fingers but I’ve never used them all for typing.)

If I live long enough, I’ll probably develop even more bad habits that I can’t control. I hope sloppy typing is not an early sign of dementia. I guess having to fix typos is better than dying young and perfect. When I start drooling on the keyboard, someone should take it away from me.

A reference book you can read for fun

When Cynical Cousin Dave unpacked a carton from Amazon and saw that it contained two books on “style,” he immediately expressed doubt about my heterosexuality. I had to explain to the Gen-Yer that I was not researching the proper length for cargo shorts or the merits of various grooming products.

The stylebooks I received were about writing -- specifically the rules to achieve consistency and accuracy in spelling, punctuation, abbreviation, sports scores and more of the nitty-gritty that writers have to deal with any time they tap the keyboard.

The Associated Press Stylebook was first published as a stapled 60-page booklet in 1953 and it became an important reference for the media members of the Associated Press, as well as many writers and even students.

Over the years the "Bible of the Newspaper Industry" grew considerably in both size and scope. The 2007 version that I bought is still a rulebook, but it’s also a dictionary, encyclopedia and textbook.

There are other stylebooks, most notably from The University of Chicago and the New York Times. Sometimes the three agree. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they disagree with popular dictionaries. You can pick which book you want to follow, or pick and choose bits and pieces from each. You can even disagree with all three and make up your own rules — if you have a good reason and don’t do anything too stupid.

Besides accuracy, the main reason to use this book or your own homemade cheat sheet is to achieve consistency in your writing. Some rules are arbitrary, so if you follow the rules you won’t have to make a decision on the spot, and end up with “homemade” on one page and “home-made” on another.

Don’t just consider this a book to be kept on a shelf until you need to check on a specific word. Spend a day or a week or a weekend with it. Read it cover-to-cover, flip through, or just stick your finger between two random pages. I promise you’ll be enlightened and maybe even be entertained.

Cynical Cousin Dave and I have endured and enjoyed a long-term battle about his sloppy generation saying “jive” instead of “jibe.” I checked the entry for “jibe,” expecting to find a warning about “jive.” There was no warning, but Dave and I did learn a new word, “gibe,” to add to the confusion. I won't explain it here. I want you to buy the book and look it up.

I also learned the difference between “flyer” and “flier,” “flak” and “flack.”

One big surprise is that “B.C.” goes after the year number, but “A.D.” goes before. Yeah, right.

The Stylebook also has extensive sections on writing about sports and business writing. I was surprised to learn that "firm" is not a synonym for “business.” It specifically means a partnership, like a law firm -- but not a corporation.

There’s also a lot of info on media law, to help you get vital information and avoid being sued; and some specific references for handling photo captions and submitting news stories that probably won’t be useful in writing a book.

List price is just $18.95, making it a very good value for a well-packed 419-page book. I paid just $12.89 at Amazon.

Size DOES matter: think beyond 6 x 9

The most common size for "trade" paperback books is 6 inches wide by 9 inches high. It's the size I've used for five books.

It's not the only size available.

Many "mass market" paperbacks have smaller 5 x 8 pages.

Some "gift" books and photo books are 8 x 8.

I have a book about sports cars that measures about 30 x 40.

Some reference books are small enough to fit into a pocket.

If your book is only text or mostly text, the size doesn't make much difference -- as long as the combination of page size, typeface, type size, and margins provides a readable book.

However, if you are going to include photographs, illustrations or charts, bigger is usually better.

I recently had a rude awakening when I bought The Step-By-Step Guide to Self-Publishing for Profit! by Christy Pinheiro and Nick Russell.

The book is aimed at writers who want to use Amazon's CreateSpace publishing service. It's good-looking, well-written, accurate and useful.

But what most attracted me -- and made me jealous -- is its 7 x 10 page size. That size is an inch bigger than my books in each direction, and provides 16 more square inches of page size.

The big pages have room for lots of "air" (white space) which makes the pages very appealing and accessible, and provide lots of room for computer screen shots and charts.

The popular "Complete Idiot's" and "For Dummies" books are about 7.2 by 9 inches.

If I was not such a complete idiot and a dummy, I might have used bigger pages in a couple of my books. I may try it next time.

If you're still in the planning stage of a publishing project, consider going beyond 6 by 9. Keep in mind, however, that if you have bigger pages, you'll probably have fewer pages. When people read a book's description they are more likely to notice the page count than the page size, and a book with only 96 pages may seem skimpy.

Another thing to consider: page size may not affect what you pay for printing. A book with pages up to about 7.5 x 9.7 inches may not cost any more than a 5 x 8 book, and since you can get more on each bigger page, with fewer pages you'll pay less to print each book. You can charge less, or make more, or both.

On the other hand, a book with bigger pages won't fit into the convenient and free 9.25" x 6.25" x 2" Priority Mail "large video box" that can be mailed for $4.95.

Size isn't everything, but it's important. Think about it carefully.

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A1 Books, another Pinocchio of Publishing

A1 Books lies about list prices and lies about discounts. Some of their prices are actually HIGHER than list price. (These are books I wrote, so I am sure of the list prices. I assume they also lie about other books.)

"I Only Flunk My Brightest Students"

Real List Price: $15.95

Phony List Price: $19.95

Phony Sale Price: $17.55

Phony Savings: -12%

Real Difference: +9%

"Phone Systems & Phones for Small Business & Home"

Real List Price: $19.95

Phony List Price: $29.95

Phony Sale Price: $22.03

Phony Savings: -26%

Real Difference: +9%

"AbleComm Guide to Phone Systems"

Real List Price: $15.95

Phony List Price: $19.95

Phony Sale Price: $16.43

Phony Savings: -18%

Real Difference: +3%

"Become a Real Self Publisher"

Real List Price: $19.95

Phony List Price:

Phony Sale Price: $22.30

Phony Savings:

Real Difference: +11%

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Bookstore group complains to Feds about price war, and low eBook prices

Yesterday the Board of Directors of the American Booksellers Association sent the following letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting that it investigate practices by Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Target that it believes constitute illegal predatory pricing that is damaging to the book industry and harmful to consumers:


We are writing on behalf of the American Booksellers Association, a 109-year-old trade organization representing the nation's locally owned, independent booksellers. A core part of our mission is devoted to making books as widely available to American consumers as possible. We ask that the Department of Justice investigate practices by Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Target that we believe constitute illegal predatory pricing that is damaging to the book industry and harmful to consumers. We are requesting a meeting with you to discuss this urgent issue at your earliest possible opportunity.

As reported in the consumer and trade press this past week, Amazon.com, WalMart.com, and Target.com have engaged in a price war in the pre-sale of new hardcover bestsellers, including books from John Grisham, Stephen King, Barbara Kingsolver, Sarah Palin, and James Patterson. These books typically retail for between $25 and $35. As of writing of this letter, all three competitors are selling these and other titles for between $8.98 and $9.00.

Publishers sell these books to retailers at 45% - 50% off the suggested list price. For example, a $35 book, such as Mr. King's Under the Dome, costs a retailer $17.50 or more. News reports suggest that publishers are not offering special terms to these big box retailers, and that the retailers are, in fact, taking orders for these books at prices far below cost. (In the case of Mr. King's book, these retailers are losing as much as $8.50 on each unit sold.) We believe that Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Target are using these predatory pricing practices to attempt to win control of the market for hardcover bestsellers.

It's important to note that the book industry is unlike other retail sectors. Clothing, jewelry, appliances, and other commercial goods are typically sold at a net price, leaving the seller free to determine the retail price and the margin these products will earn. Because publishers print list prices indelibly on jacket covers, and because books are sold at a discount off that retail price, there is a ceiling on the amount of margin a book retailer can earn.

The suggested list price set by the publisher reflects manufacturing costs -- acquisition, editing, marketing, printing, binding, shipping, etc. -- which vary significantly from book to book. By selling each of these titles below the cost these retailers pay to the publishers, and at the same price as each other, and at the same price as all other titles in these pricing schemes, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Target are devaluing the very concept of the book. Authors and publishers, and ultimately consumers, stand to lose a great deal if this practice continues and/or grows.

What's so troubling in the current situation is that none of the companies involved are engaged primarily in the sale of books. They're using our most important products -- mega bestsellers, which, ironically, are the most expensive books for publishers to bring to market -- as a loss leader to attract customers to buy other, more profitable merchandise. The entire book industry is in danger of becoming collateral damage in this war.

It's also important to note that this episode was precipitated by below-cost pricing of digital editions of new hardcover books by Amazon.com, many of those titles retailing for $9.99, and released simultaneously with the much higher-priced print editions. We believe the loss-leader pricing of digital content also bears scrutiny.

While on the surface it may seem that these lower prices will encourage more reading and a greater sharing of ideas in the culture, the reality is quite the opposite. Consider this quote from Mr. Grisham's agent, David Gernert, that appeared in the New York Times:

"If readers come to believe that the value of a new book is $10, publishing as we know it is over. If you can buy Stephen King's new novel or John Grisham's 'Ford County' for $10, why would you buy a brilliant first novel for $25? I think we underestimate the effect to which extremely discounted best sellers take the consumer's attention away from emerging writers."

For our members -- locally owned, independent bookstores -- the effect will be devastating. There is simply no way for ABA members to compete. The net result will be the closing of many independent bookstores, and a concentration of power in the book industry in very few hands. Bill Petrocelli, owner of Book Passage in Corte Madera, California, an ABA member, was also quoted in the New York Times:

"You have a choke point where millions of writers are trying to reach millions of readers. But if it all has to go through a narrow funnel where there are only four or five buyers deciding what's going to get published, the business is in trouble."

We would find these practices questionable were they taking place in the market for widgets. That they are taking place in the market for books is catastrophic. If left unchecked, these predatory pricing policies will devastate not only the book industry, but our collective ability to maintain a society where the widest range of ideas are always made available to the public, and will allow the few remaining mega booksellers to raise prices to consumers unchecked.

We urge that the DOJ investigate and request an opportunity to come to Washington to discuss this at your earliest convenience.

According to The Wall Streer Journal, antitrust attorney Gary Reback said the ABA bid is unlikely to find its way to court: "Successful predatory-pricing cases are as rare as Bigfoot sightings" and that the antitrust division of the Justice Department now has a "lot on its plate."

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