Latest Amazon/Booksurge thang:
The Amazon rep called up and oh so nicely said, with the new Booksurge contract -- and a total favor to me (I should be grateful, right?) -- would be wiping the accounts I owed them because of the older model of contracts they originally had with authors. Quote: "We'll start fresh."
This makes me wonder if they're wiping all these accounts that owe them money because of the right-hand-pays, left-hand-bills model they're using.
The rep didn't want to hear about the Lulu model (customer -- including retailers if they directly to the site -- covers manufacturing costs, shipping, small profit fees to author and Lulu) that ultimately keeps the prices down for the customer. Can I say "huffy"?
He attempted to pat me on my head by telling me I didn't know about professional publishing. Yes, I think I'm quite aware of over-orders, returns and shredded books. The only professional distributors who get it right are in comic books: leftover books are sold, then discounted, finally given away as loss leaders. If a comics retailer gets a damaged book from me, they have only to GIVE it to a likely-looking customer. It never fails: a few bucks given away results in a brand-new addict rushing back in for an order that can come to $125.00 on the spot.
When I spoke to prose authors early in my career, they were quite starry-eyed about getting 50 cents a book. Now I know about manufacturing costs, shipping, etc., and considering the retail costs of books, I'd like to ask: what are the publishers and distributors doing -- shipping those books in golden boxes? Or is the money being dumped into the huge waste model of returns and shredding? It's going somewhere -- who's getting it?
Booksurge was set up by prose authors, who don't want to know. Comics authors know because of our ridiculous censorship model that put our art form in the toilet -- and which we are gradually hauling back out with the roto-rooter of independing publishing and a lot of female authors -- who have to work outside the boxes because the art form didn't give a damn about us.
Oh, and Amazon now say, "WE pay the manufacturing costs." Oh, so that's not the customer's money? Where are they getting this money they're calling "theirs?" Same place governments get theirs?
That's the customer's money. I don't want 30% of the net -- I want a rock-bottom cost that covers manufacturing, shipping, and a bit of cash to the printer, author and distributor. Customers can afford to buy more, so more money all around. More books distributed. More books in the long run.
Then again, with the new electronic-reading devices, this may all be moot anyway.
Showing posts with label Booksurge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Booksurge. Show all posts
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Amazon and Booksurge Are Run By Idiots
I've recently been trying to get it through the little pin heads of the actual human beings at Booksurge/Amazon that they cannot give Amazon a 55% markup AND the author a 30% cut OF THE GROSS.
This has caused massive confusion and anger among thousands of Booksurge publishers an authors, who were never told it was not out of the NET.
We've been trying to figure out for years why the publishers and authors keep getting billed for manufacturing costs, when in POD the customer is supposed to be covering those. A wienie accountant did her job recently very thoroughly -- as she's supposed to -- and sent out thousands of dunning notices for thousands of dollars, and this is when this screwup came to the surface.
I've told them to go look at how Lulu.com works -- customer pays for manufacturing and shipping, and throws a little fee at Lulu, and a couple bucks for the author, for each book. One action, one time, and every month Lulu dumps a payment into the my Paypal account. If we want to see our accounts they're right there on the site.
Booksurge CAN't cover manufacturing costs. No matter how high we mark our prices -- screwing the customer -- we can't get the costs high enough to get around that 30% cut. Later, they expect us to turn around and write them a check from the money they sent us. Since nobody's known this was from the gross, we've not budgeted to pay it back. They pay with one hand and expect it back with the other.
In real terms, this means thousands of publishers cannot pay back Booksurge. Amazon is wrapped up in these payments.
I'm glad I haven't got any stock in Amazon....
(PS; when Bank of America pulled out of Clallam Bay, I said it was to get into the mortgage bubble and have the cash to grab foreclosed properties when the crash came. I also said Soviet Union practiced "state capitalism" not "communism" {which has only ever been practiced in its true form by small villages run by women). So pay 'ttention when I start pointing. Cassandra said Troy would burn.})
This has caused massive confusion and anger among thousands of Booksurge publishers an authors, who were never told it was not out of the NET.
We've been trying to figure out for years why the publishers and authors keep getting billed for manufacturing costs, when in POD the customer is supposed to be covering those. A wienie accountant did her job recently very thoroughly -- as she's supposed to -- and sent out thousands of dunning notices for thousands of dollars, and this is when this screwup came to the surface.
I've told them to go look at how Lulu.com works -- customer pays for manufacturing and shipping, and throws a little fee at Lulu, and a couple bucks for the author, for each book. One action, one time, and every month Lulu dumps a payment into the my Paypal account. If we want to see our accounts they're right there on the site.
Booksurge CAN't cover manufacturing costs. No matter how high we mark our prices -- screwing the customer -- we can't get the costs high enough to get around that 30% cut. Later, they expect us to turn around and write them a check from the money they sent us. Since nobody's known this was from the gross, we've not budgeted to pay it back. They pay with one hand and expect it back with the other.
In real terms, this means thousands of publishers cannot pay back Booksurge. Amazon is wrapped up in these payments.
I'm glad I haven't got any stock in Amazon....
(PS; when Bank of America pulled out of Clallam Bay, I said it was to get into the mortgage bubble and have the cash to grab foreclosed properties when the crash came. I also said Soviet Union practiced "state capitalism" not "communism" {which has only ever been practiced in its true form by small villages run by women). So pay 'ttention when I start pointing. Cassandra said Troy would burn.})
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