Wednesday, July 15, 2015

52 Likes by Medeia Sharif, Ouch for Self-Publishers

I came upon this article in Publishers Weekly about the class action lawsuit some authors have been involved in against the self-publishing giant Author Solutions. Didn't go so well for the authors as the judge basically said they had no real prove that Author Solutions was running their business to make their profit by fees charged to authors instead of actually helping the authors sell books. Read the details if your want a grimace to start the day.

In happier news, today is something called Prime Day. Amazon is celebrating its 20th birthday even though it seems the retailer has been around forever. On this day, the retail giant is offering special deals to its Prime members that are supposed to rival Black Friday. Is it a sweet deal or just a temptation to spend money on gadgets?

In other good news, Medeia has a book special going on this week. Only a few more days to make a great buy 

Medeia Sharif's 52 LIKES is 99 cents on Amazon for a limited time. This edgy, paranormal YA title has been receiving rave reviews. Important issues such as rape, bullying, and social media abuse are tackled in this novel. You can connect with Medeia through her blog, Twitter account, Goodreads page, and Instagram to learn more about this book and her other titles.


52 LIKES, Evernight Teen, 2015: After a brutal rape and near-murder, Valerie wants to get past feelings of victimhood from both the assault and her history of being bullied. She’s plagued by not knowing the identity of her rapist and by the nasty rumors in school about that night. Valerie follows clues from ghostly entities, past victims of the rapist-murderer, contacting her through a social media site—why do all of their eerie photos have 52 likes under them? Their messages are leading her to the mystery man, although he’ll put up a fight to remain hidden.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I will check out the Prime deals.

Thank you for sharing my promo.

Ann Bennett said...

When I first started to write, most books an many businesses get into marketing a book. There is an entire industry to make money off writers which is sad. Now I encounter so many courses, etc on how to write this, that and the other. If you just want to make money off writing, pitching the latest to writers seems a quick opportunity.
For writers taken advantage of with author's solution, I'm glad they took them to court. They may not have gotten their money back but they warned other writers in the process.

nashvillecats2 said...

Most interesting to read, I self publish and the three I had done I've had no trouble at all. A few hiccups yes before publication but once published all ok.
The only problem I had was with Amazon who kept altering their way of where to send books but all in all I enjoyed the process.
Yvonne.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Technically, any marketing service a subsidy press sells to the author is worthless because the industry knows it's from a subsidy press.

My husband has already found some good deals on DVDs at Amazon today. I guess they will be getting some of our money.

Pat Hatt said...

With the cdn dollar, no good deal on amazon for us today haha

Christine Rains said...

I've been seeing Amazon's big sale everywhere lately! I wonder if it will be a hit for them.

Chrys Fey said...

I won't be checking out the Prime deals. I'm not signed up with Amazon Prime and besides that...I have enough books to read!

Speaking of, I got 52 Likes and can't wait to read it. :)

SpacerGuy said...

Amazon is great for running a caboodle of contests, the trick is in spotting them, thanks Susan!

betty said...

I used to have Prime, loved it, but then had to cutback on the budget LOL, so its probably a good thing I don't have it any more or I would be heading over to see what the deals were. That book 52 Likes does sound interesting; might have to check it out!

betty

The Armchair Squid said...

Hello again, Medeia!

diedre Knight said...

52 Likes sounds great! Good reason to check out Amazon. Thanks for sharing!

J E Oneil said...

Somehow I don't think Prime Day is going to replace Black Friday. And that's a relief.

Everyone should go by Medeia's book. She's an amazing writer.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I think with self-publishing as in all consumer business it is buyer beware. Congrats to Medeia!

Denise Covey said...

Congrats to Medeia. Just bought her book. Sad about that publishing business, but it certainly is 'buyer beware'. :-)

Liz Blocker said...

Amazon is only 20?? it really does seem like they've been around forever. prime day was OK, but mostly just seemed like an excuse to buy gadgets! Congrats Medeia!

Carrie-Anne said...

Amazon has been around since 1995? I figured it was somewhat younger than that!

Congratulations, Medeia!

Jennifer Ruth Jackson said...

The book sounds quite intriguing.
I don't have Amazon Prime so I didn't participate. Apparently, I didn't miss much.

There are judges who will not come down on businesses, no matter what kind they are. Though, I heard the lawyers representing the authors made a few missteps.

Stephanie Faris said...

Sadly, I think the only recourse an author has against these opportunists is research. Fortunately, there are sites out there that specialize in providing this information. I heard someone brag once that they'd been published by Tate Publishing--got accepted on their first try. I knew it was one of the bad ones, but I kept my mouth shut. Who am I to rain on someone else's parade?

The Happy Whisk said...

Congrats. Hope you sell bunches and bunches.