In the world of self-publishing companies, there are more than a few scam outlets that steal not just authors' hard-earned money, but also their hopes, aspirations, and even their reputations. Many of these companies have thankfully been thrown on the trash heap due to shady business practices, while some have even spent a good deal of time in court desperately trying to defend … [Read more...] about Big Changes at BookBaby
Indie Author News
Predators Ripping Off Authors Are Worse than Ever
Imagine building a company slowly, one that is intended to give authors a place to sell and distribute their own ebooks. You grow that company into a household name in the publishing industry and enjoy a measure of success that goes with it. You even publish a few very helpful ebooks on your site--Smashwords, incidentally--so authors can benefit from years of industry insight … [Read more...] about Predators Ripping Off Authors Are Worse than Ever
Reedsy Launches Book Discovery Platform for Indie Authors
Since the the dawn of the current indie publishing revolution, startups across every aspect of the publishing process have come and gone. Some of these offered formatting, cover design, and editing; others promised to garner much-needed book reviews--legitimate ones or not. Other companies took authors' money and promised beautiful print and ebook editions, while other … [Read more...] about Reedsy Launches Book Discovery Platform for Indie Authors
Is the Dream of a Traditional Book Deal Dead?
There was a time when self-publishing your book through a vanity press was the kiss of death for any hope of a writing career. It was considered tacky and desperate, and not something any worthwhile author would ever consider. Then, with the self-publishing and digital publishing revolution, the notion of having more control over your work trumped much of the negativity … [Read more...] about Is the Dream of a Traditional Book Deal Dead?
New Allegations of Romance Plagiarism
To the outsider, the publishing world might not seem like a hotbed of intrigue, manipulation, and outright lies, but recent events--okay fine, since the dawn of time and the written word--prove that's not the case. From price fixing to review faking to author bullying to Cockygate, half the entertainment value of a book happens in the making of it, not the reading. Social … [Read more...] about New Allegations of Romance Plagiarism
Authors Don’t Make As Much Money, AG Report Finds
"According to the survey, literary authors suffered the largest decline in income (down 15% over the last four years) they received from book publishing, followed by authors of general nonfiction, whose income from books declined by 8%. Roughly 25% of all published authors surveyed earned no money at all from book publishing in 2017; while 18% of full-time book … [Read more...] about Authors Don’t Make As Much Money, AG Report Finds
Tate Publishing Crooks Receive 20 Years, Nearly $1M in Restitution
In a victory for indie authors, the founder and CEO of vanity press Tate Publishing and his son who worked with him have been sentenced to a total of about twenty years in prison for taking money from authors for services they never provided. The jail sentences for a variety of charges have been suspended, meaning Richard and Ryan Tate will not have to serve that time as long … [Read more...] about Tate Publishing Crooks Receive 20 Years, Nearly $1M in Restitution
Findaway Voices gives authors a 45% Audiobook royalty with Apple iBooks
Apple iBooks sells both audiobooks and ebooks through their app for iOS. This is pretty well the only way you can make in-app purchases on the iPad and iPhone, since most other companies do not want to give Apple a piece of every sale that they make. Findaway Voices is a relatively new platform that launched in July of 2017 and it provides an alternative to Amazon ACX, which is … [Read more...] about Findaway Voices gives authors a 45% Audiobook royalty with Apple iBooks
Authors, It’s Time to Grow Up
In every corner of the art world, there are salacious tales of petty arguments, long-held feuds, squabbles and fiascos. Whether it's actors who vow never to work together again or singers with a spotlight-sized axe to grind, it not only doesn't surprise the public anymore, it actually makes for good media fodder. Perhaps for too long, we've thought authors could be better … [Read more...] about Authors, It’s Time to Grow Up
Where Would We Be Without Amazon? Buying Books on Smashwords
There's little doubt that Amazon has changed everything about publishing. It's not just a matter of opening the doors for indie authors, producing a viable e-reader device and then creating a platform for content to fill it, or leveraging the power of enhanced searchability to give authors potential visibility. Amazon has even sparked change in traditional publishing, such as … [Read more...] about Where Would We Be Without Amazon? Buying Books on Smashwords
Amazon Claims to Resolve “Disappearing” eBooks Issue
A couple of weeks ago, prolific author, advocate, and self-pub expert David Gaughran published a blog piece on a disturbing phenomenon: international customers were having trouble buying titles that had been published via KDP. The post had over 100 comments in the first twenty-four hours, largely from authors who detailed their own problems with trying to sell their books on … [Read more...] about Amazon Claims to Resolve “Disappearing” eBooks Issue
KDP Launches New Reports Dashboard in Beta
Self-published authors whose works are distributed via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing platform may have noticed a couple of beauty-wise changes to their author dashboards. A new report dashboard, currently in beta, gives the muddled old dashboard a much-needed facelift. However, other than being more eye-catching and appealing, not much has changed about the sales report. … [Read more...] about KDP Launches New Reports Dashboard in Beta
Bowker Announces Data Breach of Self-Pubbed Authors’ Credit Cards
Bowker, the international clearing house for ISBN numbers, has announced a breach of its MyIdentifiers.com website which resulted in theft of payment card information. This theft resulted in an alarming pattern of fraudulent transactions on the cards that Bowker customers had used to order their ISBNs. The number of self-published titles has grown dramatically … [Read more...] about Bowker Announces Data Breach of Self-Pubbed Authors’ Credit Cards
Do Indies Need to Worry about Adaptations of their Books?
If only every indie author had it so rough: being so successful with their books that they now have to worry about film adaptations of their work. Right? A new Netflix ten-part series adaptation of Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House has left some fans of her work elated, others fuming. None other than Stephen King tweeted that he thought she'd be proud of the … [Read more...] about Do Indies Need to Worry about Adaptations of their Books?