Electric Angel has a cover model!

I now have a cover model for Electric Angel. I'll be posting more about this very soon! Be watching.

Amazon Continues To Give Publishers Run-Around.

For all of those who'd post otherwise, I'm not talking about publishers that have the money and the where-with-all to sue Amazon or otherwise cause them loss of business if they don't pay attention to them. I'm speaking of all those OTHER publishers who are at Amazon's mercy.

Oh you want an example. Well while I can give you many, I'll stick with my own frustrations as not only can I provide facts but also prove that the facts are genuine.

Amazon shows the Hardback of Never Ceese as being available through them as "new." The hardback of Never Ceese is out-of-print though and has been out of print for some time. More recently, the rights to the book have reverted back to me. I have the letter from the original publisher that states this.

Baker & Taylor, the original distributor, also has the letter. I sent it to them upon request and after a conversation I had with them. Do I know whether they actually stopped distributing the book? No. And I doubt that they did but I would have to take legal action to force them to and I don't have that kind of money.

Regardless of whether Baker & Taylor are acting in a legal manner or not, Amazon should. I've told them of the matter as well. I told them that if they list the hard copy as new and available through Amazon as such then they are breaking the law. The basic response to all of my emails to them, please talk to the publisher even though I am the publisher.

Bottom line, buy the book through second-hand sellers. I still don't get money but neither does the original publisher who liquidated over 4000 copies without giving me the opportunity to buy them back myself, keeping 250 copies so they could sell them themselves. How much did I make off of Never Ceese the hardback? A $500 dollar advance against royalties. So basically $500 dollars and some pocket change. Considering what I paid for editing, the original publisher didn't edit the book, and publicity, the original publisher did little in this area, I will forever more be in the red for the hardback of Never Ceese.

Oh and if Amazon has copies and you buy one, it's stolen and they know it because I've told them and provided them with information to show this. Way to go Amazon. Keep on bullying.

Sue Dent

Sad, so very sad!

Never have I been more disturbed than to find on my writing journey that the very folks who enjoy my stories the most will never find them in venues where they shop and here's a fine example of why they won't. An excerpt from a blog I ran across today.

"I strolled through the bookstore at Mount Hermon and what I saw deepened that dread and grieved me. In our desire to gain favor with the world, we have strayed from God’s Word, even to the point of exalting those things associated with Satan . . . "

I was going to respond on the blog but no other comments had been left and I did not feel like targeting the blog specifically because I'm not "down with that." If someone has a narrow mind it is their God given right to have it. So I'll post here what I would've posted there if I didn't "roll" the way I "roll."

My response:

Did you mean "Christian" bookstore or simply bookstore? I can tell you for certain no "Christian" bookstore allows any book in unless it is sorted out as being from a targeted Christian publishing house or not (and they don't allow stories about vampires of lore such as those I write about.)

As an author who is a Christian, I write about vampires of lore. To this day and despite being approved for distribution to the "Christian" market, no "Christian" bookstore will take my work. But it's because I don't write specifically for their targeted audience of Christians and not what I write about.

It is every readers option to enjoy a book or not. Why can't we associate something irritating with Satan. How about stories about garden gnomes? That's it. No one can write anymore stories about garden gnomes. They are of the devil.

Lots of folks who follow Christ enjoy a good vampire story. I thank God for each and every one of them. ;)

Gone from FamilyFiction.com.

Call it success if you want to. It just proves to me that publishing isn't what it's cracked up to be. These folks listed my books without asking after turning me down when I did inquire (and rudely at that) then listed the wrong title and a title that is out-of-print.

The solution should've been, IMO, to ask the publisher/author which books should be listed etc . . . but instead they simply pull everything without any explanation. Prove that they're exclusive so fine with me.

Carry on then. ;)

FamilyFiction.com? Why are ANY of my books listed here.

*Also and this is a big also, FamilyFiction.com is associated with if not run by the same folks who treat authors like me like the scum of the earth and were the ones responsible for this blog post I made Sue Dent Unprofessional. You wouldn't list me then. You better dang well not list me now. Or if you do, then list the right books. Forever Richard isn't even in print anymore. AND I'm the publisher of the copy of Never Ceese they're posting and they didn't even bother to contact me. Sorry. No can do. Take it down.*

First of all here's the link so you can see for yourself. FamilyFiction.Com Now here's the scoop!

What? What? What?

I don't support sites that discriminate based on denomination. And this site won't even list books unless they're written specifically for an "evangelical" audience. I was told when I first inquired about sites "like" this that I'd, at the very least, have to have my books approved by Ingram's "evangelical" arm Spring Arbor. I was then told, after both of my books were approved that my I'd have to have a targeted publisher. EGADS!!!

After I heard this I pulled both Never Ceese and Forever Richard out Spring Arbor Distribution as it was a worthless venture on all counts even if it was free. So now this sites and sites like it are listing my books. AND THEY CAN'T EVEN ORDER THEM because neither is available through Spring Arbor anymore. Not only that, Forever Richard is out of print AND they have the wrong cover posted.

Say it once, say it twice, say it three times, I don't support sites that openly discriminate. If you want to list my books then that's fine. But get the information correct and list the books that are currently selling. Again I DO NOT write for this market. Sites like this list my books without even asking AND they don't even list the right ones. For the love of God, if you're not going to help somebody out at least don't drag them down with you. Either list the correct books or don't list them at all. This is your first warning.

And don't forget to check this BLOG OUT! ;)

Nuther interview posted by a fan, friend and all around GREAT GAL!!! Love ya Book! Y'all go check it out for a chance to win a copy of Never Ceese, the Black Bed Sheet Edition!

http://matt5verse6.blogspot.com/2011/04/friday-featured-writer-sue-dent.html

Gotta love these groups! NOT!

So I get an email solicitation today. Here it is:

Greetings Sue Dent,

We thought you might be interested in our site for authors!

Author & Book Promotions promotes literary works by best-selling and new authors wanting greater online book publicity! A&BP have worked with authors across the globe including Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Caribbean, and the United States.

Our mission is to bring as much publicity to Authors of all stages and expose their books to readers around the world! We not only want to support those whose works are in print, we also seek to guide those who aspire to become authors in the book marketing process.

For authors wanting greater exposure, a Featured Books section is available. It is a service that A&BP is providing to best-selling and new authors seeking an increase in their online book publicity.

Sincerely,
A&BP
Author & Book Promotions

I know y'all are eager to see my response. So here it is! ;D

Sorry I've seen this group on FB and several other groups like it but it is my belief that until you STOP offering publicity to "best-selling" authors your small efforts to help new and small-pubbed authors will fall on deaf ears. Clearly "best-selling" authors don't need help, DUH! And mentioning them is pointless. They're already "best-selling" and have access to all sorts of promotion already. Also mentioning these authors sort of defeats the purpose of what you propose your little FB page is for. Just my opinion of course.

Sue Dent
Give me a break!

Just when I thought Smashwords was definitely the way to go.

While Smashwords is better than other ebook distributors for reasons mentioned before and so I won't repeat myself here, I found this today whilst looking over information they provide.

Refunds: If you see a line item listed as "refund to buyer," it means that the customer's credit card company reversed the charge, or the customer was refunded for some other reason deemed reasonable by Smashwords.

Epic Fail!

So it seems every distributor thinks they have the right to determine for themselves whether "your" book should be returned. They should only have this right if you tell them they can have it. This is never stated anywhere on Smashwords. These are ebooks. There is no reasonable reason for a return. At least 20% of the book can be previewed before purchase. And even at that, the distributor shouldn't be the one deciding whether the reason is good enough. Even at that, most ebooks cost less than $5.00

GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!

Come on Smashwords! Break the mold! EGADS!

Sue Dent signs multi-million dollar contract with Random House!

I've been waiting forever to post that headline. Thank-you April "FOOLS" Day for finally arriving so I could. And so everyone asks, "Sue if they did offer you that, would you turn it down? Knowing how you feel about large publishers and all."

To the "everyone" who might venture to ask this, that's one scenario I'll never have to worry about so I don't feel inclined to speculate.

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY THOUGH!