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Hitch · 04-03-2020, 02:38 PM

Warning, longish (yeah, yeah, I know, SURPRISE, it's Hitch, and it's gonna be looonng...)

Guy starts emailing me, about...5 weeks ago. Self-published his own paperback and ebooks; did it through Createspace and now, as Createspace is no more, he finds himself as yet another washed-up self-publisher refugee of the Great Createspace Diaspora, aka the CS BoatLift.

So, he has his PDF of his paperback in two-page up mode, which he cannot use at KDP to republish the book. Moreover, he wishes to make some changes to the paperback's print interior and also have those changes made to his eBooks. Okey-dokey. He has a FINISHED cover, that needs a "little tweak" he says.

I quote him for that much work. More emails ensue.

Then, he decides, for expediency, he says he's in too much of a hurry, and can we JUST fix the pdf so that he can publish it as-is, and "fix" his cover? And how much would THAT cost? (grumble).

I tell him. He finds my email confusing (!) and I end up having to repeat the pricing, not once, but twice. Finally, he agrees.Hooray, huzzah, the heavens part and the angels sing. At this point, mind you, it's a $225 contract.

My production assistant puts him into production. We are in the middle of setting that up, wnen I get THIS: (spoilered for a variety of reasons)

Spoiler:

WHAT?

What?

So, TWENTY emails into this and he never, never had the money to pay us, in the first bl00dy place? REALLY?

Twenty emails, for a few hundred bucks that he never had? What happens if XXX says NO???

Oh, and OUR fees are $225, not $400, which makes my eyebrows climb up into my hairline, too.

Not to mention, some guy telling me to send an invoice to some OTHER guy and his daughter...

I'm just....boggled. Utterly boggled.

There are days, it's hard not to root for the virus, selectively applied, of course....

Hitch

04-03-2020, 02:38 PM	#33595
Hitch Bookmaker & Cat Slave Posts: 11,503 Karma: 158448243 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Phoenix, AZ Device: K2, iPad, KFire, PPW, Voyage, NookColor. 2 Droid, Oasis, Boox Note2	I just can't.... Warning, longish (yeah, yeah, I know, SURPRISE, it's Hitch, and it's gonna be looonng...) Guy starts emailing me, about...5 weeks ago. Self-published his own paperback and ebooks; did it through Createspace and now, as Createspace is no more, he finds himself as yet another washed-up self-publisher refugee of the Great Createspace Diaspora, aka the CS BoatLift. So, he has his PDF of his paperback in two-page up mode, which he cannot use at KDP to republish the book. Moreover, he wishes to make some changes to the paperback's print interior and also have those changes made to his eBooks. Okey-dokey. He has a FINISHED cover, that needs a "little tweak" he says. I quote him for that much work. More emails ensue. Then, he decides, for expediency, he says he's in too much of a hurry, and can we JUST fix the pdf so that he can publish it as-is, and "fix" his cover? And how much would THAT cost? (grumble). I tell him. He finds my email confusing (!) and I end up having to repeat the pricing, not once, but twice. Finally, he agrees.Hooray, huzzah, the heavens part and the angels sing. At this point, mind you, it's a $225 contract. My production assistant puts him into production. We are in the middle of setting that up, wnen I get THIS: (spoilered for a variety of reasons) Spoiler: (this is cc:ed to other people, XXX and YYYY, of whom I have never heard and with whom I have never corresponded, spoken, etc.] I need your help. Please!! 1. They can restore the paperback to the original. She [he's talking about moi] runs a book formatting/publishing business and for a reasonable price will restore the ZZZZZ book. 2. XXXX is the coauthor and YYYYY is XXXX's daughter and computer guru. 3. What I need from you XXXX is the money to do it (less than $400). So, [Hitch], please send the bill to XXX to get it all started. [snipped stuff for irrelevance to this rant] WHAT? What? So, TWENTY emails into this and he never, never had the money to pay us, in the first bl00dy place? REALLY? Twenty emails, for a few hundred bucks that he never had? What happens if XXX says NO??? Oh, and OUR fees are $225, not $400, which makes my eyebrows climb up into my hairline, too. Not to mention, some guy telling me to send an invoice to some OTHER guy and his daughter... I'm just....boggled. Utterly boggled. There are days, it's hard not to root for the virus, selectively applied, of course.... Hitch