Authors be aware of Blurb

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Authors be aware (and if you want share): I self-publish my books through Blurb. It's not the most convenient of self-pub, but I found their dashboard easy to deal with, and it was also one of the self-pub that was more convenient for physical bookstore. Moreover, they sold also through Amazon, so I was having all sides covered. So far so good. I publish historical travel guides and I update them once a year, usually in October, to be ready for the Christmas season. And so I did this year. I'm not usual to check the sales reports, but when I publish my updates there is an increase of sales, therefore in October I do it. Around the 21 of October I noticed there was something strange in the sales report, all my sales showed a profit equal to 0. After a few days they replied there was a glitch with the sale in September in $ and that they were correcting it manually. But at that time I also saw that the sale in October, equal to 0 again. I updated my request but they never replied until Mid of December, after also my November sales (230 books), showed profit equal to 0. They told me they did an update on the printing price on October 19 and that they alerted me of this change on October 9. I replied I have never received this email, but in any case, I opened an enquiry on October 21, so if the change happened on October 19, why they did not tell me soon? the reply of the sales department I was interacting with was they did not know I was not aware of the change... So what they did, since I did not update my selling price in accordance to the increase of the basic price, was to continue to sell my books with 0 profit for me... I lost more or less 600/700$ and they are telling me they do not believe they can reimburse me. So basically, they changed the basic price, and instead of stopping selling my books waiting for me to adapt my selling price, they sold my books with their gain but with my profit to 0... Good for them, bad for me, isn't right? So yes, authors, be aware that Blurb first of all make sure their gain is safe, of your profit who cares?

Comments

[erulissedances]

Well! That totally sucks!

- Erulisse (one L)

[julesjones]

How very convenient for them. I'm sure it was pure coincidence that their email failed to get to you.

Sorry about all this. :-(

Thanks for the advice, I'll look at Blurb

[megburns]

Also...I just stumbled across your bio of Peter Harvey, whom I knew back in the Seventies. He did indeed lease a flat at 96 Perry Street, however in the early 70s at least he was mainly living in a loft on Prince Street, across from a big painted billboard for pinking shears. His friend Richard David Flagg was subletting 96 Perry (legally or illegally, I don't know; but Harvey remained on the mailbox downstairs), and Richard in turn would have a series of flatmates using the bedroom at the south end of the apartment. Big living room, but everything was pretty bare and austere. Once after hitchhiking to New York from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in 1972, I crashed at 96 Perry for a few days. Richard was staying with a boyfriend and lent me his room. I recall Peter also had a little house in Kingston, Rhode Island. Other than that, you clearly know a lot more about him than I ever did! When The Children's Mass folded after a week in May 1973, they brought Tennessee Williams along to the big dinner. He was in town appearing in his "Small Craft Warnings." Tennessee told playwright Fred Combs that the problem with the "The Children's Mass" was that it didn't have a dog. "People lak dawgs."

Thanks loads.

Meg Burns
megburns@nbnm.net
megburns@dreamwidth.org
9 Dec 2023