Received: from mail-3-191.rch001.net ([52.124.3.191]:39230 helo=mail-1-191.rch001.net) by stodi.digitalkingdom.org with esmtps (TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:256) (Exim 4.92) (envelope-from ) id 1hlZC4-0008J0-02 for Lojban@lojban.org; Thu, 11 Jul 2019 06:33:15 -0700 From: "Martin Foner" To: "Lojban@lojban.org" Reply-To: Subject: 50 Ways to Leave Amazon & Why You Should - Part Two X-BPS1: 7178001 Feedback-ID: 2326546:e3f358ff3e2f409298df36d6dac03a14:marketing:reachmail X-BPS2: 73291 Message-ID: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click X-Mailer: RM Mailer (v5.4.994.0) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="=-rvjmmkNITPQbe6CJ0pC3TA==" Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2019 08:33:04 -0500 X-Spam-Score: 0.1 (/) X-Spam_score: 0.1 X-Spam_score_int: 1 X-Spam_bar: / X-Spam-Report: Spam detection software, running on the system "stodi.digitalkingdom.org", has NOT identified this incoming email as spam. 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Click here to view it in your browse= r. http://link.rm0004.net/v/R0WNviWdrp4D4VVA7OmwGQ2 Make sure that you always get our messages: Add martin@ppgcpublishers.= com to your contacts. Click here to unsubscribe or update your email address. http://link.rm0004.net/subscription/?t=3DR0WNviWdrp4D4VVA7OmwGQ2 MARTIN FONER'S PUBLISHING NEWSLETTER Either You're Serious About Success in Publishing... Or You're Not Volume 24, Number 12 50 WAYS (AND WHYS) TO LEAVE AMAZON - PART TWO (A Six Part Series on Publishing Success) Hi, Everyone... Another short newsletter focusing on the issue of the 800 pound elepha= nt in the room... AMAZON. Publishers say they can't live with them and= they can't live without them. I asked you to read this article in the last issue. I know hundreds of= you did just that and I applaud you! I strongly recommend you read it= if you haven't, and re-read it before going on to the next part of th= e newsletter. Read This... Very Critical Read the latest Amazon crime blotter from the NY Times: http://link.rm= 0004.net/go/R0WNvvSJBDJAQuhjvTsyAQ2/ In case you didn't know, this information has been around for a while.= .. we as publishers just don't know what to do about it. And now there= are more reasons than ever to get the hell out of Amazon. We all KNOW= about this kind of crap that goes on with Amazon... I have one client= who has been engaged in a multi-YEAR battle with them to protect his = copyrights and licensing rights. Books being counterfeited and sold...= Books being copied and sold... Books sold by Amazon and not paid to p= ublishers both physical and ebook. Name it. IT GOES ON. In THIS newsletter I will cover the WHYS... Why you should leave Amazo= n. And if you tell me you can't do business without Amazon... then we = should talk and figure out how you got yourself into this terrible mes= s. Remember, for over 200 years books were sold in large quantities in= the US long before Amazon. So, it can be done. Quick anecdotal story as to WHY... I was speaking to a publisher this = morning. Apparently, a system glitch diverted two days of Amazon order= s to be filled by them, so these orders were arriving at Amazon custom= ers two days late. Mind you, two days' worth and all was back to norma= l. Didn't matter. Their account was suspended, and it took THREE MONTH= S to get reinstated by Amazon. They finally had to bring in a hired gu= n to deal with Amazon. I will also cover two more 'HOWs' to leave Amazon and do your own inde= pendent promotion and sales. In the last issue it was Pre-Pub programs= . In this issue it will be Author related sales and promotion. Yes, yo= u CAN get authors to help! For those of you with REAL Amazon issues, let me know and if I can, I = will hook you up with legal help, or as above, a company I have been d= ealing with peripherally, who is a hired gun... people exist who take = on cases against Amazon... or just other publishers with similar issue= s and how they handled them. Yes, there are PLENTY of them. WHY to leave Amazon? Since I have gotten some feedback that it isn't a= ll that important, just deal with the elephant in the room, I felt I r= eally need to repeat and emphasize what a danger they are to your futu= re. Really? If Amazon is that important to you, what would happen to y= our company if you were suspended for three months? Of course, if you would prefer to 'skip ahead' and learn all about the= 50 ways to sell outside Amazon, in a comprehensive, methodical, and p= rofitable way, I am available to consult, advise, work with, or do the= promoting for you for your title/s or entire publishing company. Purs= ue a discussion confidentially? Questions? Contact me at mailto:mfoner@nplconsult.com . WHY YOU SHOULD LEAVE AMAZON =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 You DI= D read the linked article, didn't you? If that article didn't put the fear of Amazon into you, then you have = drunk too much of the Amazon-Kool Aid.=C2=A0 And, believe it or not, o= ne client has specific information and reason to believe that Amazon i= tself may be complicit in some of these shenanigans if there is enough= money involved in the deals. =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 They m= ay not be honest with you You can count on them not being honest with you. They have touted thei= r copyright and licensing protection programs now for four or five yea= rs. We are quite aware they don't work, or hardly work, or are hardly = ever invoked. So, there may be great programs, but if they are never u= sed, counterfeiting, illegal copying, copyright violations, and the li= ke will run rampant, as they have. And... have you ever tried to get a real human being to handle an issu= e for you at Amazon? This is usually the first and biggest red flag of= all. If the company doesn't want to actually deal with their vendors.= .. why do you think that would be? Because all is going swimmingly? Uh= , NO! When a company puts you on the press 1 press 2 program... they d= on't want to deal with you. They want to do business, take your money,= take everyone's money, and be left alone. =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 They w= ill not share customer information with you To me, this might be Reason #1 why you need to leave Amazon. Let us as= sume you have a series of books. The first one does well, sells 5,000 = copies and now you are ready to start marketing the second in the seri= es. Under normal circumstances, you get out the mailing or emailing li= st for customers who purchased the first book and pre-pub mail to them= offering a deal on buying the second title. Again, under normal circu= mstances, you will get anywhere from 40% to 80% sell through on this o= ffer, meaning you will sell, in advance, to pay for the printing and m= ore marketing and inventory and profit, 2,000 to 4,000 books up front! Unfortunately, with Amazon, you will have ZERO pre sale until and unle= ss Amazon agrees to pre sell your title. And, of course, if you have f= ive titles in your series, you are stuck with Amazon for all five sinc= e you still have ZERO customer information about any of your sales. =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 They w= ill not share marketing information with you Even a distributor or wholesaler will take a little time to talk to yo= u about how your titles are doing with them...who is buying... how the= y are marketing... what you should be doing to support their efforts, = etc. Amazon could not care less. =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 If you= want to be placed higher or have more visibility, it will cost you de= arly What is interesting is if you want the BUY button, you only have to be= the highest bidder. We have one case right now where one of the scamm= er companies is holding the BUY button on a copyrighted product belong= ing to my client. Even after advising Amazon and their agreement, that= this company is not playing by the rules, they still haven't taken th= e button away. Ads, marketing programs, cross sells, again...if you are the highest b= idder you get these perks, but if someone legit or otherwise, outbids = you, they get to sell your products for their profit. =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 They w= ill try to talk you into doing an ebook (the business equivalent of do= nating your book to charity) Why do I think doing Kindle is donating your book to charity? 1> Ebooks are pirated all the time and many if not most wind up on fre= e ebook sites. Yes, given away with or without your permission. Find t= hem and the site people will pull them down, but it can be a full time= job to locate every site on the Internet. 2> Ebooks are, despite everyone's claims of high profitability, NOT as= profitable as physical books. This claim is made mostly by lazy peopl= e who would rather sell air than a book. Look... no inventory!=C2=A0 L= ook... no shipping!=C2=A0 Look... no profits! 3> And it sets you up for Free Kindle, below. =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 Then t= hey will talk you into doing Free Kindle where you share such infinite= simal amounts you had no idea a penny could be cut into that many piec= es, but your book is free to customers You get a ten thousandth of a cent per page. Uh, really? So, if someon= e reads 10,000 pages you get a penny. Ok, I don't have the exact figur= es in front of me, but even if it is 1/1,000 of a cent, you have to ha= ve 1,000 pages read to earn a penny. Now, Amazon earns on every transa= ction. They charge for Unlimited Kindle to customers or include in som= e other service for which they charge money. And for your cooperation = in their theft of published materials, you get fourteen cents this mon= th! WOW! And you think somehow once someone reads your ebook they will buy the = physical book? Really? This is a form of logic I am most curious about= and simply cannot understand, no matter how far I stretch reality. =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 Your a= bility to have copyright protection is virtually NIL The article makes plenty of examples if you don't want to believe me o= r any of my clients or anecdotal evidences. =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 Your a= bility to have counterfeit protection is virtually NIL Once again, the article makes a huge case for this, and current lawsui= ts against a number of so called publishers simply confirm that counte= rfeiting isn't limited to Gucci handbags and Nike tennis shoes. And, as with copyright above, even when Amazon does decide to bounce f= ive or ten scammers... they are back like cockroaches the very next da= y under another business name. My client had 22 eliminated one week an= d 16 returned by the beginning of the next week. And if you think this= is all a publisher has to do to fight off scammers... you are wasting= valuable time NOT running your company. =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 If the= re is an issue, count on having to waste hours and jumping through so = many hoops you will think you're a circus dog on steroids (How much are you willing to fight over $72 worth of lost books in the= ir warehouses? Really? And they know it.) I call this the 'time tax' of doing business. It happens with the phon= e company, any credit card companies you deal with, your bank, utility= companies, and almost the entire world. Try to make a change to your = account for anything, and it will put you on hold for hours on end, do= it incorrectly, make you repeat the process, and finally, you will gi= ve up and pay the extra $10 a month just not to have to go through the= experience again. Amazon has it down to a science. There is virtually no one you can spe= ak to either directly or the first time...but you are welcome to leave= voicemails galore. Maybe someone will get back to you but probably no= t. Maybe you will have to repeat your attentions five or ten times. Remember, the biggest red flag to a bad company is their lack of respo= nding to vendors and customers. =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 And, a= bove all, you have zero control over the pricing of your books. This m= ight not seem too important, but if you are marketing your own $29.95 = book, and Amazon's computers decide to reprice your title at $19.95...= you will NEVER make another sale outside of Amazon. They will have tr= apped your book simply by their pricing and there is nothing you can d= o about it. (Actually, there is but it requires some major surgery on = Amazon.) Yes while this isn't a likelihood, it is more than a possibility. And = worse, you have no control of ANY price changes Amazon makes to your p= roduct. One more interesting point... if they do reduce your retail to= $19.95, and can come up with a reason like they have found it retaile= d for that price elsewhere... they also have the right to reduce their= buying price from you to 45% of that number. Thus you might have been= getting $13.50 previously for your books, but now, you will get $9.00= . No they don't have to ask you or beg you, they just act and let you= swing in the wind. And, after all this, believe it or not, some publishers actually have = their customers on their own site and then, when it is time for the cu= stomer to order, they send the customer to Amazon, and somehow are hap= py to get the commission from Amazon and the book sale at over 60% dis= count including the shipping costs! REALLY?? Again, this is the lazy and foolish publisher's way of doing business,= and if that is the case, then they really do deserve to have Amazon t= ake advantage of them, don't they? Look at it this way, not only will Amazon stab you repeatedly, and wat= ch you die on the street, but they will be collecting your blood in co= ntainers that they will sell on their site. Whatever it takes to make = a buck. TWO MORE WAYS TO LEAVE AMAZON Ok, this issue I will cover ways that your authors, bless them, can pa= rticipate and assist in both promotion and sales. First, do not permit any author to tell you they will not participate = in promotions or sales work. Allowing this is a death knell for multip= le reasons including down line when the author advises you, via an att= orney letter, that they meant you can't promote the author at all. Bel= ieve it. Their participation becomes part of the Author Agreement when you sign= the book on. After the clauses laying out the numerous expectations o= f the publisher, comes YOUR expectations of the author. If you are una= ble to agree to anything, you are better off finding another title to = promote unless you have the next Harry Potter. These include promotions, book signings, readings (if appropriate), at= tendance at a minimum of two book fairs, promotion of the title on the= author's website with a purchasing link to your site (unless you have= an agreement to permit the author to earn extra income by selling the= books on his/her site, which is fine... a sale is a sale), speaking e= ngagements, keynoting, and anything else you might find as appropriate= to making sales of the book. And, of course, you then make the authors stick to their commitment (a= s you are going to stick to yours). If we are looking at non fiction e= xpertise, find conferences and workshops and offer your author as a ke= ynoter (a paid gig) first. Often, if you find the right fit, the group will take a copy of the bo= ok for each attendee (can you say Bulk Sale?). But if not, the fee wil= l cover travel and some reimbursement to the author. Media interviews,= magazines, newspapers, industry publications... get your author out t= here and work him/her. On the author's website, and in their social media, make sure they are= doing a quote a day, a blog a week, and an interview at least every m= onth, even if only with someone from the company. These need to be pro= moted and posted. Do not let the author's contacts get cold as to bein= g reminded about the book. And that goes for your customer base as wel= l. Working with authors collaboratively can be rewarding and profitable, = often for both of you. One last point... yes, give your authors a 50% discount all the time. = This allows for an additional income stream for the author, and often = that incentive is sufficient to make them work. I had an author who so= ld over 2,500 copies of a $40 hardcover book every year on her own. It= helped our sales and bottom line on that title immensely. It only tak= es a bit of encouragement, explanation as to how to do it, and follow = up. Ok, enough for this short newsletter. Stay tuned for my next newslette= r and Part Three of this informative series. If I may be of service or= lead your efforts to selling lots of books and creating profits, plea= se contact me confidentially at mailto:mfoner@nplconsult.com . If you want to be removed from this mailing list, simply either click = on the link in the newsletter footer, or send me an email with the wor= d DELETE, and it will be done. Thanks. Copyright Martin Foner, NPL Publishing Consultants, a division of Prof= essional Publishers Group Corporation. 2019.=C2=A0=C2=A0 mailto:mfoner= @nplconsult.com PPGC / NPL =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0Post Office Box 1010=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 Ve= ntura=C2=A0 CA=C2=A0 93002 800-501-6431 x3=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 mailto:mfoner@nplconsult.com http://link.rm0004.net/go/R0WNvor1hY3Df82tj3yAAA2/ This email is being sent to Lojban@lojban.org. 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= MARTIN FONER’S PUBLISHING NEWSLETTER

= Either You’re Serious About Success in Publishing= … Or You’re Not

= Volume 2= 4, Number 12

=  

= 50 WAYS (AND WHYS) TO LEAVE AMAZON – PART TWO

= (A Six Part Seri= es on Publishing Success)

=  

Hi, Everyone…

Another short newsletter focusing on the issue of the 800 pound= elephant in the room… AMAZON. Publishers say = they can’t live with them and they can’t live without them= .

I asked you to read this article in the last issue. I know hund= reds of you did just that and I applaud you! I strongly recommend you = read it if you haven’t, and re-read it before going on to the ne= xt part of the newsletter.

Read This… Very Critical

Read the latest Amazon crime blotter from the NY Times: = https://w= ww.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/technology/amazon-domination-bookstore-books= .html

In case you didn’t know, this information has been around= for a while… we as publishers just don’t know what to do= about it. And now there are more reasons than ever to get the hell ou= t of Amazon. We all KNOW about this kind of crap that= goes on with Amazon… I have one client who has been engaged in= a multi-YEAR battle with them to protect his copyrights and licensing= rights. Books being counterfeited and sold… Books being copied= and sold… Books sold by Amazon and not paid to publishers both= physical and ebook. Name it. IT GOES ON.

In THIS newsletter I will cover the WHYS&helli= p; Why you should leave Amazon. And if you tell me you can’t do = business without Amazon… then we should talk and figure out how= you got yourself into this terrible mess. Remember, for over 200 year= s books were sold in large quantities in the US long before Amazon. So= , it can be done.

Quick anecdotal story as to WHY… I was = speaking to a publisher this morning. Apparently, a system glitch dive= rted two days of Amazon orders to be filled by them, so these orders w= ere arriving at Amazon customers two days late. Mind you, two days&rsq= uo; worth and all was back to normal. Didn’t matter. Their accou= nt was suspended, and it took THREE MONTHS to get reinstated by Amazon= . They finally had to bring in a hired gun to deal with Amazon.=

I will also cover two more ‘HOWs’ to leave Amazon a= nd do your own independent promotion and sales. In the last issue it w= as Pre-Pub programs. In this issue it will be Author related sales and= promotion. Yes, you CAN get authors to help!

For those of you with REAL Amazon issues, let me know and if I = can, I will hook you up with legal help, or as above, a company I have= been dealing with peripherally, who is a hired gun… people exi= st who take on cases against Amazon… or just other publishers w= ith similar issues and how they handled them. Yes, there are P= LENTY of them.

WHY to leave Amazon? Since I have gotten some feedback = that it isn’t all that important, just deal with the elephant in= the room, I felt I really need to repeat and emphasize what a danger = they are to your future. Really? If Amazon is that important to you, w= hat would happen to your company if you were suspended for three month= s?

Of course, if you would prefer to ‘skip ahead’ and = learn all about the 50 ways to sell outside Amazon, in a comprehensive= , methodical, and profitable way, I am available to consult, advise, w= ork with, or do the promoting for you for your title/s or entire publi= shing company. Pursue a discussion confidentially? Questions?

Contact me at <= span style=3D"font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">mfoner@nplconsult= .com = .

 

= WHY YOU SHOULD LEAVE AMAZON

 

<![if !supportLists]>·       <= span style=3D"font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You DID read the = linked article, didn’t you?

If that article didn&rsquo= ;t put the fear of Amazon into you, then you have drunk too much of th= e Amazon-Kool Aid.  And= , believe it or not, one client has specific information and reason to= believe that Amazon itself may be complicit in some of these shenanig= ans if there is enough money involved in the deals.

 

<![if !supportLists]>·       <= span style=3D"font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They may not be h= onest with you

You can count on them not = being honest with you. They have touted their copyright and licensing = protection programs now for four or five years. We are quite aware the= y don’t work, or hardly work, or are hardly ever invoked. So, th= ere may be great programs, but if they are never used, counterfeiting,= illegal copying, copyright violations, and the like will run rampant,= as they have.

 

And… have you ever = tried to get a real human being to handle an issue for you at Amazon? = This is usually the first and biggest red flag of all. If the company = doesn’t want to actually deal with their vendors… why do = you think that would be? Because all is going swimmingly? Uh, NO! When= a company puts you on the press 1 press 2 program… they don&rs= quo;t want to deal with you. They want to do business, take your money= , take everyone’s money, and be left alone.

 

<![if !supportLists]>·       <= span style=3D"font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They will not sha= re customer information with you

To me, this might be Reaso= n #1 why you need to leave Amazon. Let us assume you have a series of = books. The first one does well, sells 5,000 copies and now you are rea= dy to start marketing the second in the series. Under normal circumsta= nces, you get out the mailing or emailing list for customers who purch= ased the first book and pre-pub mail to them offering a deal on buying= the second title. Again, under normal circumstances, you will get any= where from 40% to 80% sell through on this offer, meaning you will sel= l, in advance, to pay for the printing and more marketing and inventor= y and profit, 2,000 to 4,000 books up front!

Unfortunately, with Amazon= , you will have ZERO pre sale until and unless Amazon agrees to pre se= ll your title. And, of course, if you have five titles in your series,= you are stuck with Amazon for all five since you still have ZERO cust= omer information about any of your sales.

 

<![if !supportLists]>·       <= span style=3D"font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They will not sha= re marketing information with you

Even a distributor or whol= esaler will take a little time to talk to you about how your titles ar= e doing with them…who is buying… how they are marketing&= hellip; what you should be doing to support their efforts, etc. Amazon= could not care less.

 

<![if !supportLists]>·       <= span style=3D"font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you want to be= placed higher or have more visibility, it will cost you dearly=

What is interesting is if = you want the BUY button, you only have to be the highest bidder. We ha= ve one case right now where one of the scammer companies is holding th= e BUY button on a copyrighted product belonging to my client. Even aft= er advising Amazon and their agreement, that this company is not playi= ng by the rules, they still haven’t taken the button away.

Ads, marketing programs, c= ross sells, again…if you are the highest bidder you get these p= erks, but if someone legit or otherwise, outbids you, they get to sell= your products for their profit.

 

<![if !supportLists]>·       <= span style=3D"font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They will try to = talk you into doing an ebook (the business equivalent of donating your= book to charity)

Why do I think doing Kindl= e is donating your book to charity?

1> Ebooks are pirated a= ll the time and many if not most wind up on free ebook sites. Yes, giv= en away with or without your permission. Find them and the site people= will pull them down, but it can be a full time job to locate every si= te on the Internet.

2> Ebooks are, despite = everyone’s claims of high profitability, NOT as profitable as ph= ysical books. This claim is made mostly by lazy people who would rathe= r sell air than a book. Look… no inventory!  Look… no shipping!  Look… no profits!

3> And it sets you up f= or Free Kindle, below.

 

<![if !supportLists]>·       <= span style=3D"font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then they will ta= lk you into doing Free Kindle where you share such in= finitesimal amounts you had no idea a penny could be cut into that man= y pieces, but your book is free to customers

You get a ten thousandth o= f a cent per page. Uh, really? So, if someone reads 10,000 pages you g= et a penny. Ok, I don’t have the exact figures in front of me, b= ut even if it is 1/1,000 of a cent, you have to have 1,000 pages read = to earn a penny. Now, Amazon earns on every transaction. They charge f= or Unlimited Kindle to customers or include in some other service for = which they charge money. And for your cooperation in their theft of pu= blished materials, you get fourteen cents this month! WOW!  

And you think somehow once= someone reads your ebook they will buy the physical book? Really? Thi= s is a form of logic I am most curious about and simply cannot underst= and, no matter how far I stretch reality.

 

<![if !supportLists]>·       <= span style=3D"font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Your ability to h= ave copyright protection is virtually NIL

The article makes plenty o= f examples if you don’t want to believe me or any of my clients = or anecdotal evidences.

 

<![if !supportLists]>·       Your ability to have counterfeit protection is virtually NIL

Once again, the article ma= kes a huge case for this, and current lawsuits against a number of so = called publishers simply confirm that counterfeiting isn’t limit= ed to Gucci handbags and Nike tennis shoes.

And, as with copyright abo= ve, even when Amazon does decide to bounce five or ten scammers&hellip= ; they are back like cockroaches the very next day under another busin= ess name. My client had 22 eliminated one week and 16 returned by the = beginning of the next week. And if you think this is all a publisher h= as to do to fight off scammers… you are wasting valuable time N= OT running your company.

 

<![if !supportLists]>·&= nbsp;      If there is an issu= e, count on having to waste hours and jumping through so many hoops yo= u will think you’re a circus dog on steroids

(How much are you willing to fight= over $72 worth of lost books in their warehouses? Really? And= they know it.)

I call this th= e ‘time tax’ of doing business. It happens with the phone = company, any credit card companies you deal with, your bank, utility c= ompanies, and almost the entire world. Try to make a change to your ac= count for anything, and it will put you on hold for hours on end, do i= t incorrectly, make you repeat the process, and finally, you will give= up and pay the extra $10 a month just not to have to go through the e= xperience again.

Amazon has it = down to a science. There is virtually no one you can speak to either d= irectly or the first time…but you are welcome to leave voicemai= ls galore. Maybe someone will get back to you but probably not. Maybe = you will have to repeat your attentions five or ten times.

Remember, the = biggest red flag to a bad company is their lack of responding to vendo= rs and customers.

 <= /strong>

<![if !supportLists]>·=        And, above all, yo= u have zero control over the pricing of your books. This might not see= m too important, but if you are marketing your own $29.95 book, and Am= azon’s computers decide to reprice your title at $19.95… = you will NEVER make another sale outside of Amazon. They will have tra= pped your book simply by their pricing and there is nothing you can do= about it. (Actually, there is but it requires some major surgery on A= mazon.)

Yes while this isn’t a= likelihood, it is more than a possibility. And worse, you have no con= trol of ANY price changes Amazon makes to your product. One more inter= esting point… if they do reduce your retail to $19.95, and can = come up with a reason like they have found it retailed for that price = elsewhere… they also have the right to reduce their buying pric= e from you to 45% of that number. Thus you might have been getting $13= .50 previously for your books, but now, you will get $9.00 . No they d= on’t have to ask you or beg you, they just act and let you swing= in the wind.

And, after all this, believe it or not, some publishers actuall= y have their customers on their own site and then, when it is time for= the customer to order, they send the customer to Amazon, and somehow = are happy to get the commission from Amazon and the book sale at over = 60% discount including the shipping costs! REALLY??

Again, this is= the lazy and foolish publisher’s way of doing business, and if = that is the case, then they really do deserve to have Amazon take adva= ntage of them, don’t they?

Look at it thi= s way, not only will Amazon stab you repeatedly, and watch you die on = the street, but they will be collecting your blood in containers that = they will sell on their site. Whatever it takes to make a buck.=

 

= TWO MORE= WAYS TO LEAVE AMAZON

=  

Ok, this issue I will cover ways that your authors, bless them,= can participate and assist in both promotion and sales.

First, do not permit any author to tell you they will not parti= cipate in promotions or sales work. Allowing this is a death knell for= multiple reasons including down line when the author advises you, via= an attorney letter, that they meant you can’t promote the autho= r at all. Believe it.

Their participation becomes part of the Author Agreement when y= ou sign the book on. After the clauses laying out the numerous expecta= tions of the publisher, comes YOUR expectations of the author. If you = are unable to agree to anything, you are better off finding another ti= tle to promote unless you have the next Harry Potter.

These include promotions, book signings, readings (if appropria= te), attendance at a minimum of two book fairs, promotion of the title= on the author’s website with a purchasing link to your site (un= less you have an agreement to permit the author to earn extra income b= y selling the books on his/her site, which is fine… a sale is a= sale), speaking engagements, keynoting, and anything else you might f= ind as appropriate to making sales of the book.

And, of course, you then make the authors stick to their commit= ment (as you are going to stick to yours). If we are looking at non fi= ction expertise, find conferences and workshops and offer your author = as a keynoter (a paid gig) first.

Often, if you find the right fit, the group will take a copy of= the book for each attendee (can you say Bulk Sale?). But if not, the = fee will cover travel and some reimbursement to the author. Media inte= rviews, magazines, newspapers, industry publications… get your = author out there and work him/her.

On the author’s website, and in their social media, make = sure they are doing a quote a day, a blog a week, and an interview at = least every month, even if only with someone from the company. These n= eed to be promoted and posted. Do not let the author’s contacts = get cold as to being reminded about the book. And that goes for your c= ustomer base as well.

Working with authors collaboratively can be rewarding and profi= table, often for both of you.

One last point… yes, give your authors a 50% discount al= l the time. This allows for an additional income stream for the author= , and often that incentive is sufficient to make them work. I had an a= uthor who sold over 2,500 copies of a $40 hardcover book every year on= her own. It helped our sales and bottom line on that title immensely.= It only takes a bit of encouragement, explanation as to how to do it,= and follow up.

 

Ok, enough for this short newsletter. Stay tuned for my next ne= wsletter and Part Three of this informative series. If I may be of ser= vice or lead your efforts to selling lots of books and creating profit= s, please contact me confidentially at mfoner@nplconsult.com.

If you want to be removed from this mailing list, simply = either click on the link in the newsletter footer, or send me an email= with the word DELETE, and it will be done. Thanks.

© Martin Foner, NPL Publishing Cons= ultants, a division of Professional Publishers Group Corporation. 2019= .   mfoner@nplconsult.com<= /a>

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