A GRONKING TO REMEMBER
According to a story in The Hollywood Reporter, a couple is suing Apple, Amazon and Barnes & Noble because the cover for a self-pubbed erotic novella–improbably called A Gronking to Remember—features a photo of them on “their engagement journey leading toward their wedding.”
The complaint states that, “The photograph was appropriated by the Defendants for commercial gain without the permission of the Plaintiffs nor with the permission of any lawful copyright holder.”
How did the couple happen to find out? This particular ebook–which became “a source of ribald humor on The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live, as well as being displayed and read before the press at media day for the Super Bowl”—unsurprisingly went viral.
Which leads us to the question: Authors…where’d you find your latest bookcover?
BAM! SELF PUBLISHING
Shelf Awareness reported this week that Books-A-Million (BAM) has launched an online self-publishing portal/platform, BAM! Publishing, a DIY website where authors can create, edit and publish their own books. The program offers perfect-bound paperback books and full-color covers, with both black-and-white and full-color printing of interior pages available. BAM has been informally printing books for self-publishing customers since 2013 through the two Espresso Book Machines they installed in BAM stores (one in Maine and one in Alabama).
ESPRESSO BOOK MACHINE: THE ORIGIN STORY
Thirsty for more indies via Espresso Book Machines? Check out IR’S interview with Karina Mikhli of On Demand Books, the creators of the Espresso Book Machine. Then take a peek at some IR- recommended EBM reading here.
ONE MORE TIME: DO SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES BENEFIT INDIES?
The 2015 Digital Book World and Writer’s Digest Author Survey investigated how authors are faring with ebook subscription services, which, they state, “may turn out to be a next game-changer in publishing, but for the moment is in a state of flux and expansion.”
After all, Oyster recently added an ebookstore loaded with Big Five titles, potentially attracting new readers and making the brand more competitive with Amazon. Scribd, meanwhile, is steadily bulking up on audiobooks. Meanwhile, Amazon is growing Kindle Unlimited, yet continues to pay participating indie authors at rates similar to those that spurred grumblings late last year (and IR reported on this past Monday).
The survey showed that, “Only a quarter (25.1%) of indie-published authors responding to the survey said that subscription services had enhanced their sales, and an even smaller share of traditionally published authors said the same (15.3%). Meanwhile, another 15.3% of traditionally published authors claimed that subscription services had actually hurt their book sales, with 13.7% of indie authors in our sample agreeing.”
It does turns out that indie author’s latest books were twice as likely to be available through subscription services as traditionally published books. However, trad pubbed authors were often unsure whether their most recent book was available through subscription services, because it is their publishers who are making that decision.
DAVID GAUGHRAN ON AUTHOR SOLUTIONS
We at IndieReader think that someone should give David Gaughran a big shiny medal for both his tenacity in uncovering the latest news about Author Solutions’ and his ability to break down and simplify their (seemingly) dastardly deeds against unwitting self-published authors (as the two pending class action suits indicate).
The breathtaking reach of Gaughran’s latest post should be required reading for all indies and wanna-be authors and reads more like a detective/horror novel than it does a dissection of a pair of class action suits.
That said, Keith Ogorek, Global Marketing Director at Author Solutions, told IR in a recent email that authors should “read the complete court documents” and “that they are available to the public”. We agree and to that end, Ogorek forwarded IR the documents this morning which IR will review before reporting on ASI’s side of the dispute in the next couple of weeks.
Either way, the lesson here for indie authors is to always read before you sign, always read the small print and always do your due diligence (Writers Beware is an excellent place to start).