Page Pusher - a marketing based reseller

[gmw]

Anyone here read or know much about Page Pusher?

I got an email from BookBaby saying they were about to add Page Pusher to the list of resellers they distribute to. I finally got around to checking them out. If I understand correctly they offer to refund the price of the book to a reader if five of their friends buy that book - in theory the author still gets paid.

For authors, PagePusher make the claim of "no upfront cost ebook marketing and promotion", but that turns out to be slight distortion of the facts. From their FAQ for authors you see this:

6. How much does it cost?
Though there are no upfront fees, this revolutionary e-publishing platform cost us a fortune to build, so unfortunately we can’t let you use it for free. That being said, PagePusher still features one of the most competitive and simple pricing structures in the industry. We charge 30% of each book sold plus a listing fee of $149 per title. However, we’re so confident that you’re going to sell more books than ever before that we’re putting our money where our mouth is. We’ll advance you the entire listing fee so that you don’t pay anything to start. And wait until you see all the other stuff you get…

7. Are there any upfront fees or hidden fees?
No. To get started all you need is a manuscript and some friends.

So, if I read item 6 correctly, a more accurate answer to item 7 is: Yes there is an upfront fee but we've hidden it by placing your account in debt to the tune of $149.00, see item 6.

I have written to BookBaby asking if this arrangement applies to books listed with PagePusher via BookBaby. At the moment I would like to assume not, since it would be the height of rudeness not to mention such a detail in the emails they sent. I'll let you know if/when I get a response.


Note: None of this is to say that the $149.00 "advance" is necessarily a bad deal if the system works, but their presentation of this upfront fee is - I think - not very open/clear.

[kennyc]

Thanks for that. I suspect there is some 'arrangement' between Bookbaby and PagePusher that is behind the scenes of all this...

[gmw]

I probably should point out that BookBaby allows me to opt-out of any of the resellers, so it's not that big a deal from that perspective, I still get to choose, it's just one of those details that I expect to be informed about rather than having to research.

I was curious to know if others have heard of PagePusher. It's an interesting idea and the 30% commission seems quite reasonable in these circumstances. The listing fee seems a little pricey to me, but if they get popular enough I guess it could be worth considering.

[kennyc]

I've not heard of them, but that's not unusual.



Hope things are okay with you, looks like bad fires there....
http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/firefigh...ires-1.1504961

[gmw]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Hope things are okay with you, looks like bad fires there....
http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/firefigh...ires-1.1504961

I do live in the bush, but thankfully (so far, touch wood, or maybe fingers crossed is the better apotropaic saying in this case) the fires are still a long way from our house. Close enough that we've had a couple of days of purple horizons and smoky air, but not as bad as some years ... yet.

[VydorScope]

I would be interested in hearing your experience with them if you do go forward.My books make enough to cover the 149... but I rather not throw away $149 if its naught but a cute marketing gimmick that goes in the pile of worthless cute marketing gimmicks

[gmw]

I just got confirmation from BookBaby: "The PagePusher $149 listing fee does not apply to books listed on behalf BookBaby customers".

Which makes my choice easy. I will let you know how it comes out, but I'm probably not the best test-case, it's not as though I have a big audience.