Getting a publisher – not always the “coup” you think it is! Guest Post by Published Author Valerie Byron

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Valerie promoting her book. Click on the picture to visit her website!

I had a huge wake-up call today. Amazon.com is not the caring, welcoming, all-encompassing website I thought it was for those who are published by someone other than Amazon, i.e., a “real” publisher.

Why?

I have been published in paperback form. The bad news is, my publisher is in London, England and I am in California, USA. Also bad news – it took them a year to put the book together.

The moment the book went “live” – so did I. I promoted my book to my friends, family, acquaintances and even strangers and had a massive positive response. It seems everyone wanted to buy my book.

The positive? If people went directly the publisher’s website, joined and purchased the book there – in British pounds on their credit card – they would receive the book in less than two weeks.

The negative? If they went to Amazon.com (either in the UK or USA) – they would probably see a notice that says NOT IN STOCK.

I had no idea that Amazon “purchases” newly published books only THREE AT A TIME. So when those three are sold, they are out of stock. In order for them to be prompted to buy more, the prospective purchaser has to order the book, pay for it in advance, and hope he will receive it within the next few weeks.

To me, this is outrageous. Those buyers who might have been excited to buy the book, will probably forget all about it if they can’t buy it right away – which is a lose-lose for the publisher and for the author.

To tell you the truth – apart from the excitement and “prestige” of being published, I am now thinking I would have been better off using Createspace on Amazon, publishing the darned book myself on a print to order basis, and having a continuous flow of books available from Amazon. Even better, I would have received a far higher royalty that way than the measly 20% I get from the publisher.

For those whose dream is to be published, this is something to seriously consider.

Buy No Ordinary Woman by Valerie Byron