Question about Amazon self-publishing

[gouligann]

Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012

Really? There was somehow a "glitch that would not allow reviews"? Really? What, exactly, was this "glitch"?

And you didn't get paid for what sold? Really?

Excuse my skepticism, BUT I have a very very very hard time believing these things. Especially with amazon (of all publishers). THEY make money ONLY when you sell, so of course they would WANT you to sell, so it's hard to believe that they would do something to make sales LESS likely.

You didn't give any details, which unfortunately makes me more skeptical ... and I DO apologize if I am wrong or overly cynical (both of which are possible). But please give details so we know what actually happened.



Honestly, THIS is why self-published books don't tend to do well. It's often clear when friends are writing reviews ...

Again, I am VERY SORRY for all the self-published writers who would have (in the past) been published by a "real" publisher.

dubious:

While I agree that there are many horribly written books, full of spelling mistakes and poor grammar on Amazon, I wish you wouldn't lump ALL self-published authors together. I refuse to read a book that is full of mistakes, no matter how good the story might be. I'm proud to say that my editor found very few mistakes in my manuscript, and none of them were spelling or grammar. (mostly, missing, or incorrect punctuation marks) In fact, I corrected her when she thought one of my words didn't need a capital, when indeed, it did.

The problem is, is that many of these authors don't have the funds to hire an editor, and a lot of them were raised with English as a second language. English is hard enough to learn and write as a first language, let alone, a second. They mistakenly think that running their manuscript through an online translator is good enough.

What I believe is a real problem with Amazon publishing, is that there is no quality control for the books they pump out. I've even seen glaring spelling errors on published book COVERS. Pitiful. The "look inside" function is very helpful in weeding them out.

It's very sad for the authors who have done everything in their power to produce a decent book, whose books are lost amongst the millions that are absolute cr@p.

As for using a real publisher, it's next to impossible to get one in the first place, and I've read frustrating accounts from authors waiting years for their books to hit the shelves. They've also said that the publishers do NOTHING to promote their books. The marketing is still left up to the author, so finding a publisher isn't all it's cracked up to be, either.

[FiveLoaves]

Originally Posted by gouligann

For eBook royalties, Amazon pays the author or publisher 60 days after the end of each month’s sales. For example, if you earn $1,000 in royalties from book sales in January, Amazon will send your royalty payments 60 days after the end of that month’s sales. So you would receive royalty payments for your January eBook sales on April 1.

Prices for short stories for St Paddy's day: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=short+st+...ref=nb_sb_noss


Hope this helps.

Thank you very much for this information.

[Mark_605605]

Let’s say you self-publish your book. At which point a real publisher would get interested in publishing it in a paperback format to distribute it? How does this transition happen? Would it be after a specific number of online sales?

[gouligann]

Originally Posted by Mark_605605

Let’s say you self-publish your book. At which point a real publisher would get interested in publishing it in a paperback format to distribute it? How does this transition happen? Would it be after a specific number of online sales?

I'm not sure. Someone else would have to answer this.

[Floorist]

Originally Posted by Mark_605605

Let’s say you self-publish your book. At which point a real publisher would get interested in publishing it in a paperback format to distribute it? How does this transition happen? Would it be after a specific number of online sales?

If you have a book published on Kindle, it gives you the option of offering it as a paperback.

[kitkatbar]

Originally Posted by Mark_605605

Let’s say you self-publish your book. At which point a real publisher would get interested in publishing it in a paperback format to distribute it? How does this transition happen? Would it be after a specific number of online sales?

This can happen but it's very rare.

If a self-published book is selling really well and hitting bestseller lists, a publisher may get interested in it. Examples would be Andy Weir's The Martian, or Colleen Hoover's early books. But this rarely happens.

[Techy02]

I will need to figure all this out fairly soon as well. Thanks for all the info in here. Anyone who has self published on Amazon if you could make kind of a list of tips and tricks I would appreciate it.

[steiconi]

The Really Really Bad Books on Amazon often have spirited defenders. I reviewed an Amazon book citing its many seriously mangled idioms (one was "three bars below par"). Someone posted a reply to my review saying I must not be very well read.

[Floorist]

Originally Posted by Floorist

I had a book on Amazon Kindle that did ok. Then they got a glitch that would not allow reviews. Reviews are the life-blood of Kindle books. After 3 months of them not being able to fix it, I unpublished. This was the 2nd time I tried Kindle, the first time I didn't get paid for all that sold.

Republished my book on Kindle. And again, I am not getting credited for sales. Just to be sure, I had my daughter buy it. The sale did not show up. Tried to contact someone at Amazon, I just get the run around.

[Floorist]

A couple of my friends bought my book and still no sales credit. Amazon just gives me the run around.