I recently read this article posted by www.epublishabook.com found here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/5D4AR7/www.epublishabook.com/2012/07/16/need-an-advance-for-your-book-get-your-future-readers-to-fund-you/.
It was an interesting read about helping indie authors. The article then listed
a few websites. The one that caught my attention was the authr.com reference -
a website dedicated to helping authors by allowing them to pre-sell incomplete books.
(For the record, epublishabook did update their post warning that there is a
monthly fee, and it is to my belief that they did not intend to be misleading or is an affiliate of authr.com.) I thought it looked interesting and curiosity got the best of me,
so I clicked on the website and read over it. I was appalled at what I
discovered.
Authr, @authr, www.authr.com offers a publishing service
enabling authors to take donations and pre-sell their books at a monthly fee of
$14.95. They ask authors to target family, friends and fans. They also offer a
free page on their website, and they claim their page can be used as a
marketing tool. The founder of Authr is none other than Eric Bowman who also writes books on Marketing and Social Networks. He certainly has done his fair share of marketing research. That's for sure.
Here’s the run down. Authr.com is targeting new authors who
most likely haven’t published a book yet or those ‘hopefuls’ out there who
think their book is a best seller and want some upfront cash. Here’s the
problem, most new authors don’t do that well. Every author believes their novel
is great and best seller potential, but the reality is, it rarely works out
that way. Basically they’re preying on authors who don’t really understand the
publishing world by making it sound like they can make easy upfront cash. They
even try to sell authors on the idea that their page acts as a marketing tool.
Okay great, but there’s a problem with that. Their website is designed to
attract new authors, not readers.
Now we come to the ethical side of it. They’re asking
authors to take donations and pre-orders on unfinished work. These ‘authors’
aren’t authors either. That means there is no guarantee that the work will even
be finished. This puts the aspiring author in a really bad position by having
them ask friends and family to donate/order unfinished work. What happens if
they never finish it? This could cause some serious personal problems. Being an
author myself, I know how tough it is to get that first novel written. Some
take years and most never see the light of day. Meanwhile, the author has to maintain
their service fee to keep those donations and pre-orders active.
Here’s how I see it. Debut novels don’t usually do very well
especially from an unknown Indie author. Every author hopes and dreams they
will do great, but the reality is that they most likely won’t. It takes a ton
of effort and exposure to even sell one book. If you need the extra money,
borrow it. Please don’t use authr to reel in your close network of friends and
family for promises you may or may not be able to keep. Realistically, you won’t
sell enough pre-orders to justify the fees, and those fees add up quickly over time.
If Authr truly wanted to help you out, they’d do like the rest of the
established publishing world and take a cut from each sell. A monthly fee is
the first indicator that any ‘publishing service’ is a predator. That’s
publishing 101. Take some time and research predatory publishing. What’s even
worse is that authr.com has taken predatory publishing to an all-time low. They
are charging for services for a product that doesn’t even exist. Companies like
these will always be trying to find new ways to separate authors from their
money by offering big money quick schemes.
If that isn’t enough, there’s a nice little hidden feature.
They say you have to give these ebooks/paperbacks out yourself. That’s all on
you. If you’re sending out ebooks, they make it sound very simple. You just gift
it using amazon’s ‘send a gift’. Sounds simple right? Wrong. You have to PAY
for those gifts. You may be the author, but those ‘gifts’ are not free nor are the paperbacks.
This could be a major problem once you have to shell-out the money for those books to your
family and friends. Authr’s business model is not author friendly. They make it
sound easy and that you’ll get quick cash, but heed the warning, it’s never
easy. This model may work for a few select authors – ones with a solid fan
base, and who have a track record of completed work.
Here are some key features that they are operating under the
illusion of big money while actually offering a predatory service. These lines
were taken straight from their website (They may have changed them since the
time of this post.).
About Us (authr.com) Page:
1. First, you set up your project at Authr telling people about you and what your book is all about.
2. Your Authr page is set up for Fundraising to accept donations from friends, family and fans excited to support you and your book concept.
Key words here, Friends, Family and Fans. News Flash: New Indies don’t have fans. This costs $14.95 a month or $118.95 (I shudder at the thought) a year. If you're new to the internet (sarcasm), PayPal allows you to take donations for FREE.
3. Once your fundraising goal is met, your project then automatically transforms into a book pre-order sales page.
This alone states that they are targeting authors with incomplete work. Customers and authors should both take this as a warning. There is no actual product.
4. Finally, after your book is written and published, your project transforms again into an ongoing sales and marketing page with links to online stores where readers can purchase your book.
Let’s be frank here, authr.com is not the place you want to pay for an ongoing marketing campaign. Their business model is designed to attract new authors, not new readers. This also indicates they want you to keep paying a monthly fee thinking that this site is a marketing tool for you. I’ll be the first to tell you, it’s not. Spend that money elsewhere where it gives you exposure to actual buying customers.
Authr.com Mission Statement, first sentence:
“Our primary goal is to help aspiring authors…”
They are
targeting new Indies that don’t have experience in publishing. This entire website
is built on the illusion that new authors will receive easy money and
marketing. Even their slogan says it all: Authr: Get Paid To Write Your Book. Selling books
is not easy. Trying to get donations and sell pre-orders on unfinished books from an
unknown author is insanity – good luck. Save yourself the headache and money and don’t sign up.
Feel free to comment below. And for those who may not agree with me and feel
that authr does offer something rewarding for authors. That’s Terrific! Because I
forgot to mention that I was building a bridge. Any and all
donations or pre-orders would be greatly appreciated. Just Buy Me a Brick. However, I do feel obligated to warn you that the bridge most likely will never be complete and that any and all donations will most likely go to buying me a beer. Thanks!
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