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Hen81
Regular Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 27
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 12:01 am: | 
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Idrissa Uqdah's review of my second book Rooftop Diva - A Novel of Triumph After Katrina is now posted on AALBC. This is the link:
http://reviews.aalbc.com/rooftop_diva.htm
It is more interesting for me to read this review after I had visited New Orleans a couple of months ago. Seeing the area and conditon of my fictional character's home town brought a dose of cold reality to a fictional story.
www.DTPollard.com
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Djcopeland
Regular Poster
Username: Djcopeland
Post Number: 22
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 06:37 pm: |
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Congratulations! Great review. How is i-universe treating you? I'm cancelling my contract with them next month. Have you heard from any of the big pubs yet? =)
~Debbie Copeland, Author
The Kids at Latimar High
www.latimarhigh.com
djcopeland@latimarhigh.com |
Emanuel
Veteran Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 487
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 09:06 pm: |
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Congrats on the good review of "Rooftop Diva." I'm waiting for my reserved copy from the local library. It's in high demand so I've been waiting for a while.
Debbie,
What's next for you since you're canceling your I-Universe contract? |
Hen81
Regular Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 28
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 - 09:35 pm: |
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Debbie I have only submitted to two major publishers and I am waiting to hear from them. I submitted Rooftop Diva and my new book Fools' Heaven. I have been hesitant to submit to some publishers and the agent chase is another game that I don't really enjoy. It's sad for me to say as my books get great reviews, but I am cautious about a publisher picking up the books. A lot of the smaller publishers seem to work in a manner not much different from the publishing services providers like iUniverse from a support standpoint. My books are a little different and don't fall into the "hot" genre and fall more into a literary fiction category. That will take a publisher with a wider view of what they want to present from an author of a certain ethnicity.
As for iUniverse, I had to get a little forceful with them on a couple of items regarding replacing damaged books but they were resolved. They don't really do a lot and I could have cut them out and truly self-published my last book. The only thing I'm concerned about is am I getting my full sales count as even today I found three more libraries that have added my book as part of their collection. I don't know if all of those sales are showing up. I do know that most of my sales are not through online retailers. The lag time in sales repoting in the book business makes it hard to keep track.
www.DTPollard.com
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Emanuel
Veteran Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 488
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 - 11:09 pm: |
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Although it won't account for all of your sales, you should check out what sales are going through Ingram by calling their stock and title information line at 615-213-6803. Just follow the prompts. You'll need your ISBN number too. If your royalties don't at least match Ingram sales, there could be a problem.
Unfortunately, most libraries purchase through Baker & Taylor, so your library sales probably won't show up here. However, you can check http://www.worldcat.org to see what libraries have ordered your book.
I do believe IUniverse only distributes through Ingram and Baker & Taylor. They might use Brodart too.
Trusting publishing companies to accurately report your royalties happens with many traditional publishers as well. Only true self publishing can prevent the worry. |
A_womon
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: A_womon
Post Number: 2067
Registered: 05-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 - 10:34 pm: |
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Emanuel,
How important is it for a new writer to be reviewed by Kirkus, Booklist, and Publisher's Weekly? How hard is it to obtain a review from these folks? |
Emanuel
Veteran Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 490
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 - 10:58 pm: |
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My books have never been reviewed in any of those publications (As a self-pubbed author I never tried.), so I can't speak from experience. However, when I was cold calling libraries to convince them to buy my novel, a lot of them needed to see a review from one of these publications and others (Bookpage, New York Times, USA Today, etc.) before they could purchase books.
Most of these publications will only review traditionally-published books from known publishers. If you visit their websites, you can read their review guidelines.
I imagine these reviews can strengthen your media kit though. It could impress other media outlets to give you some press, a radio interview, or even a TV interview. In her book "Get on TV" by TV producer Jacquie Jordan, she talks about the importance of building a media kit and discusses how to use it to get on TV.
However, many many authors have done very well in sales, reviews, and awards without having been reviewed in any of those publications.
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Hen81
Regular Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 33
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 - 11:06 pm: |
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I check the Ingram number often and have their 1-800-937-8000 number. I also use the google book search and find in a library function and the worldcat listings show up.
iUniverse has an account tracking system on sales but it lags behind on reporting. I've had reports from Baker & Taylor, Midwest Regional Library Buying Services and Alibris shows up in my library search. I believe Alibris is also a library buying service.
What is almost impossible to know is which numbers that show up on my report as Ingram wholesale are going to retail stores or libraries.
It's hard to have confidence that everything is being caught.
www.DTPollard.com |
A_womon
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: A_womon
Post Number: 2068
Registered: 05-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 12:08 am: |
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Thanks for the info. |
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