Writer Beware! ePublishers

I am hearing more and more about ePublishers and how so many unsuspecting writers are hooking up with these people. I do not think it is smart and most of them are only out to gather as many people as they can, throw some books out there and hope one takes off. This is like a vulture circling a dead carcass and the sad part is many writers are falling for this Scam.

I say scam as these publishers, and I use that word lightly, show where their heart is by the amount of effort they are willing to put into the project. How is it doing you any favors to have someone tell you that your work is not worth putting money into?

So they do not put a ton of money, as it is a test market thing, an mud sling and so the cover suffers, the editing if there even is any and the conversion. I know of one such publisher on Facebook and they do not even pay their authors as it is about a year old and so far no one is wise to the scam. They put out a few titles a week with the worst covers on the market not to mention most are stolen artwork from movies or video games. This bomb is ticking and when it goes off the mess will hurt the indie market in a huge way as yet again one more mark is set against anyone outside of the Big 6.

What should you do?

First, look at the publisher... do they put out good work or is it a hack job? Do they help market and is there a submission process or do they just take on anyone who will pay? Even if the publisher will do it for free that is the worst kind... run my friends RUN!

There are a ton of small presses like StoneHouse that try to do a New York job and will take on the authors it believes in... look for one like that and if all you want is to go E, well, do it yourself so when these scam publishers go under you will not be among the dead.

StoneHouse University (Blog Tour Class)

Time: 19 November · 10:00am - 4:00pm

Location: Nebula Shift Offices Suite 202 609 Main St. (Across from City Hall upstairs of the Bistro Building)

This class is 50 dollars a person and can be paid at the door or through paypal @pattersonbooks@hotmail.com

Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect. This is the first of many more classes and each one will be on a different subject to do with writing and book marketing.

The class speakers will be Michelle Carpenter of Media Guests and K.C. Neal a local author and a master blog tour crazy person! The first 2 hrs of the class Michelle will talk about tours for non-fiction as well what to do and what a tour is.

K.C. Neal will speak in the second part of the class on how to set up a tour on your own as an author. We will also cover what to do when your book is on tour and all the info you wanted and never wanted to know about blog tours.

This is a focused class and we want you leaving with a good idea of what to do and how to do it on your own or through a third party tour host.

Please RSVP here and pay through paypal or at the door. Thanks

Aaron

Nebula Shift Offices Suite 202 609 Main St. (Across from City Hall upstairs of the Bistro Building)

Extention

Because of being so busy at The Idaho Book Extravaganza we have decided to extend chapter 3's entry deadline through November. So apply apply apply share share share



Well we are thoroughly enjoying this contest. And now it's time for Chapter 3.

What will happen next?

Do you know...tell us?

Submit Chapter 3 to shwcontest at gmail dot com. But don't forget to go HERE and check out the rules and criteria.

And of course read the first two chapters together before you write on. We look forward to hearing from you guys. If you submitted before please do again. It was a tough pick.

Behind The Scenes

Sorry we have been quiet lately. But we have been preparing for the Idaho Book Extravaganza.  We get so excited about this every year. We get to meet amazing talents. Talk about the biz, meet with readers and authors. We look forward to it every year.

And this year we are really proud to announce that several of Stone House's own are featured speakers. Here is a list of a few.

Aaron Patterson will be discussing E-books

Vincent Zandri will be discussing from backlist to bestselling author.


Bri Clark and Chris White will talk about successful blogging (they have promised to behave)


It is not too late to get your all access pass. The trade show with several industry vendors including ourselves are set up. The trade show is free to the public. If you want to come and check it out then buy a pass there you can as well.

Hope to see you soon.

Feature Friday:Gift Packs Galore...

Remember how on June 1st we talked about this being a launch party? Well if you didn't then go here and check it out. Today we announce our gifts... but first a reminder of the rules.

1. Comment on this post here.
2. Comment on the Feature Friday post today.
3. Share...Share...Share. Please share this blog on your social media.
4. On Tuesday June 7,2011 we will announce the list of winners. 

 There will be 3 gift packs. Those that qualify will each be assigned a number and then randomly picked using random.org. However, each day between now and Tuesday June 7, 2011 every time our followers rise by 5 another gift pack will be added. Right now between Networked blogs and the Google friend follow we have 19. So every five up from that will create more gifts. So share share share....Now on with the gift packs.

1. The recipient of the number 1 pack will have their choice of 5 Stone House eBooks. 
2. The recipient of the number 2 pack will have their choice of 3 Stone House eBooks.
3. The recipient of the number 3 pack will have their choice of 2 Stone House eBooks.

Now for each addition they will get their choice of 1 Stone House eBook. Now to see the pickings....



PS...If for some reason there is a book from SH that isn't on the slide show it should still be eligible.

Writer Wednesday: It's a Launch Party

Welcome Welcome....Stone House Ink officially kicks off it's blog today. Stone House Ink and it's imprint Stone Gate is a full service publishing house specializing in edgy and inspirational fiction titles. We do things a little differently staying on the cutting edge of eBook publication and innovative marketing.