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The Zharmae Publishing Press

Cassie Knight

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As an editor who has worked for a number of digital presses, royalty only payment, while common, is not good if the goal is to earn money.

I've worked for a few places that paid a flat rate of $200 per book and others who have a set fee per book but will pay part in cash upon completion of editing and the other part at release and those who pay part in cash at completion of editing and the rest in royalties up to a certain amount and those who pay only in royalties. I know I'm preaching to the choir here when I say that for all the hours spent on those books (and I NEVER sacrifice my quality standards), I made pennies. When I did that job, I was new but it didn't take me long to realize my effort, time and talent are worth more. The other payment plans aren't great but the presses aren't New York either as far as money, and I'm okay with that. It's at least something until I decide if I want to do this full time (I have a fabulous day job) and make the leap to New York or big commercial presses.

Over the years, I've worked with editors who most definitely do not work as hard for royalties than they would if paid a flat fee or even partial. Or if they start out strong, when they start seeing what is actually coming in, they either leave if they are good or stay. He thinks he's going to make $15,000 per book? Did I really read that? In the past six years in all the houses I've worked with, only a handful have come close and over. Guess how much the editor saw? $150.00 ($75 up front and up to $75 in royalties).

I'm sure editors will respond. Likely they will be inexperienced/new, use that editing experience to get some work under their belts then go off and offer services as freelance editor (I know several who did just that) or move on to bigger, better paying houses.

It's a risk publishers who only pay royalties have to take. That business plan usually results in high turnover with editors or the editors who stay may be serviceable but not ones who have high quality standards. Now, before someone beats me up :), I fully recognize, as I know a number of these types of editors as well, there are reasons for staying such as they love what they are doing and don't need to worry about the money and are happy with what they get. They can be strong editors and perfectly content. I know some of them too.

However, for someone like me, who wells knows their value, I'll never take another position for royalties only. My work and time means much more to me than that.

An Old Hack, if an editor is not renewed or quits, in most of the presses they get nada. No more money. I've only heard of one press, and the name escapes me, that continues to pay editors royalties when they no longer work for the house. Most quite clearly state in agreement no more payments if editor quits or contract not renewed.

I wish Travis luck in finding (and keeping) good editors.
 

traveo2343

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Hi Cassie,

Our Editors do get paid indefinitely, so long as the work remains in publication. We have several individuals who no longer maintain an active contract who may attest to that fact. Their payments bi-annually, have been fairly stable. We also retain the option to hire them back, and for several, we do use them for overflow work is needed.

There is a turnover clause in their contract in case they resign during the middle of the contract. The contracts are for the most part renewed. Most who turnover, do so in the first 90 days of coming onto contract.

I will be the first to say that it would be cheaper in several respects to hire them onto a salary, I am working to rectify that, but to say the least, I am comfortable, and I am able to absorb losses, but they are not deep enough, yet, to bring editors onto salary.

Please let me know if there are other questions that you all would like answered. I saw the number crunching a page back...very interesting numbers.
 

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I think that even a flat-fee per book would probably work out more in the editors' immediate favour than ongoing royality payments. In order to live and work, and consider editing a job, people need to have some conception of what they'll actually be making and when. I think even if you said, 'We pay $200 for a full manuscript edit." (That's a very low fee, btw) I think that's much more fair and transparent to editors.
 

veinglory

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It is also IMHO more fair, as how well a book sells has fairly little to do with who edited it. So two editors performing at the same level with get very disparate pay rates.
 

allen.minor

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From A Scared Novice Author

I submitted to this publisher a few months ago and was very excited when I received a request a couple of weeks ago for a full manuscript. I, of course, had done my research into the company, and had seen the warning on Predators and Editors (which simply stated "bad contacts" and read through this forum. However, I made two vital errors: I did not look up their books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and I had read this forum on my phone, which didn't immediately reveal that there were 5 other pages (my phone only revealed the first 10 pages). Because of these two crucial errors, I had assumed that, given the P&E warning and the fact that the first 10 pages of this forum discuss mainly contact issues, that this was the only issue that people were having with this publishing house. Of course, I plan on bringing any contact that I get to a lawyer before signing anything (my cousin is in International Corporate Law, and I also plan on paying for a lawyer that specializes more in literary contacts), so I chose to dismiss these concerns.

It's been a couple of weeks since I sent them my manuscript, and have been eagerly awaiting their response. Upon realizing my mistakes, I searched for their books on amazon. To my shock, there were/are 29 books listed in total, which isn't a huge deal, but all of their books are ranked in the multi-millions. Knowing that amazon sales ranks are not the be-all end-all, I chose to come back to this forum (is only recently started an account and wanted to post and ask if anyone had any RECENT experience with them). That's when I noticed the last 5 pages.

I would like to thank all of you for your diligence in this thread. I do not wish to speak ill ofind Zharmae, as I am only in the beginning of this process with them and would like to have my own experiences before making any judgements. However, to any novice authors like myself, who may not have seen it, I direct you to pages 14 and 15 of this thread, as it contains the most illuminating dialogues.

My concern is this: the final posts in this thread are in April of last year (2015). I know that it is probably unlikely that things could change much in that short time period, but anything is possible. That being said, is there anyone who has had any RECENT experiences with them, and would be willing to offer their two-cents?

If anyone from Zharmae is reading this, is there anything that you can add that might alleviate my fears?

I apologize that this post is so long, but I'm a writer not anecessarily editor! (That was a joke!). Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, and I will be sure to post any future experiences that I have for the benefit of others.

-A. S. Minor-
Author of "The Borderline Between Life and Poetry: A Complete Book of Poetry," which is available on amazon in all formats.
 

Old Hack

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I submitted to this publisher a few months ago and was very excited when I received a request a couple of weeks ago for a full manuscript. I, of course, had done my research into the company, and had seen the warning on Predators and Editors (which simply stated "bad contacts" and read through this forum. However, I made two vital errors: I did not look up their books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and I had read this forum on my phone, which didn't immediately reveal that there were 5 other pages (my phone only revealed the first 10 pages). Because of these two crucial errors, I had assumed that, given the P&E warning and the fact that the first 10 pages of this forum discuss mainly contact issues, that this was the only issue that people were having with this publishing house. Of course, I plan on bringing any contact that I get to a lawyer before signing anything (my cousin is in International Corporate Law, and I also plan on paying for a lawyer that specializes more in literary contacts), so I chose to dismiss these concerns.

Note that while lawyers might be able to tell you if the contract you've been offered is legally sound they're not going to be able to tell you if it's favourable, in publishing terms. They're not going to be able to tell you how its terms (and therefore, the payment and support you might receive from your publisher) compare to those offered by other publishers; they're not going to negotiate that contract for you and make it work for you.

All they'll tell you is if it is enforceable.

And many IP lawyers don't have the publishing experience to be able to even tell you that with any accuracy, because while they might know their area of the law, they don't necessarily know how publishing works.

Agents do this far better, in my experience, and will help you develop your writing career too.

My concern is this: the final posts in this thread are in April of last year (2015). I know that it is probably unlikely that things could change much in that short time period, but anything is possible. That being said, is there anyone who has had any RECENT experiences with them, and would be willing to offer their two-cents?

If anyone from Zharmae is reading this, is there anything that you can add that might alleviate my fears?

In my experience, publishers which don't start off well tend to sink lower. I don't think I've ever seen one which started off where Zharmae did improve to the point where I'd recommend them.
 

allen.minor

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Thank you so much for your valuable advice. Each time I research and publisher or agent I am again reminded of how amazing this forum is, especially for unpublished/unagented authors, such as myself. Thanks again, and I'm so glad that I finally made an account!
 

folclor

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Hello! I posted on this thread WAY back when it was started and then again a year later. Since then I've been relatively busy with other things and haven't been able to be online like I might wish. I did sign with TZPP and two of my books were published by them. I no longer am a Zharmae author because I chose to leave. I have hammered this out with Travis and my books will no longer be in publication with TZPP at the end of January.

While I had a good experience with editing initially, on my first book, along with the availability of staff, ease of communication, design of my cover, and initial release, I cannot say I've enjoyed the majority of my time with the company, which is regrettable. I felt Zharmae had promise. It may yet, but it is not a place I can flourish. I will be a supporter of Zharmae authors in as much as I am a supporter of any author, but I've learned my lesson and I will be listening to y'all from this point on.
 

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Hello! I posted on this thread WAY back when it was started and then again a year later. Since then I've been relatively busy with other things and haven't been able to be online like I might wish. I did sign with TZPP and two of my books were published by them. I no longer am a Zharmae author because I chose to leave. I have hammered this out with Travis and my books will no longer be in publication with TZPP at the end of January.

While I had a good experience with editing initially, on my first book, along with the availability of staff, ease of communication, design of my cover, and initial release, I cannot say I've enjoyed the majority of my time with the company, which is regrettable. I felt Zharmae had promise. It may yet, but it is not a place I can flourish. I will be a supporter of Zharmae authors in as much as I am a supporter of any author, but I've learned my lesson and I will be listening to y'all from this point on.

How many copies did your books sell through Zharmae? Can you share?
 

mrsmig

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And if you're willing to share that info, did you recognize any real profit from their "net profits" royalty model?
 

folclor

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I'm not sure if it's okay for me to share the numbers and I'd rather not get into any legal issues thereby. I can say I made almost nothing. I think I made somewhere in the $40 range with my debut book and my last royalty statement was $8.25. I don't know that it was the net royalty structure as much as a lack of ability to market or make large scale sales.
 

LindaJeanne

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Wait, is there actually a non-disclosure clause in your contract for your own sales numbers??
 

folclor

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I'm a bit confused on that, honestly. There is some sort of a non-disclosure clause, but I felt it was not made clear initially and I don't know what it covers, so I'm just playing it safe.
 

Old Hack

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I'm not sure if it's okay for me to share the numbers and I'd rather not get into any legal issues thereby. I can say I made almost nothing. I think I made somewhere in the $40 range with my debut book and my last royalty statement was $8.25. I don't know that it was the net royalty structure as much as a lack of ability to market or make large scale sales.

Those figures are dreadful. Just dreadful. I'm so sorry.
 

folclor

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Those figures are dreadful. Just dreadful. I'm so sorry.

Yeah, that's the main reason I left. I'm querying again, but I doubt I'll have much luck. Still, I'm willing to answer anyone's questions about an author's experience with Zharmae. Obviously, each person is different, but I will be as honest as possible.
 

Round Two

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In a very UNscientific way to gauge sales, I searched Amazon for the most reviewed book from the Zharmae line, and then I looked that title up on Bookscan. It sold 126 copies since release. Most of the other titles were significantly lower. Of course it's hard to predict sales with Bookscan, as it typically reflects a percentage of sales (those copies sold through most major outlets). But even if that represented 50% of the total print sales for that title, you're looking at sales in the 250 copy range.

Circling back to an earlier point raised in this thread--no editor is ever going to make a penny if that's a best case scenario. Even if the book stays in print for 20 years (assuming that the book has done the majority of its sales in the first year).
 

traveo2343

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Hi Everyone,

In an effort to get ahead of what I'm sure will be another round of conversation, all authors, artists, and staff do sign an NDA and Mutual Order of Public Suppression. While neither specifically bars the discussion of any particular item, it does forbid and protect all parties involved from making anything public that might work to discredit the other.

As a matter of a quick round-up of the end of the year, we have, at author request, released 11 authors who were unhappy, mostly their books had not sold recently, and in the case of a few, they were unhappy with us from a personality perspective which was unrelated to their sales. I did request that Folclor stay on as I personally liked her work, and had hoped to publish the series in it's entirety. While her sales and royalties earned are not necessarily unusual for some of our authors, if those were the average sales numbers, that would not keep us afloat. Financially, we have experienced 15% year over year growth for the last 3 years.

I am in the process of correcting the marketing issues that have plagued us over the last year or so. While working to emphasize the expectation of participation by Authors in the marketing program, and in developing a level of support by TZPP toward marketing efforts for our authors. This has included a concerted effort to get on with Baker & Taylor, and placing capital resources more aggressively into advertising activities. A clearly defined and replicable campaign structure. And a much closer hand in that process, which I had not personally done previously. But we do have to do better in terms of gross sales. The performance level, while getting better, and allowing me to dip into my own pockets a little less, still does not fully pay for itself. So for sustainability reasons, I am very invested in correcting our deficiencies.

While I do admire your caution Old Hack, I do think that we are improving on many fronts and that at some point in the near future you may, in fact, not overtly discourage new authors from working with us. And that hopefully over the last 5 years, we have at least moved somewhat closer to your ideal of what a publisher should be. Or perhaps we haven't, there always exists room for improvement.
 

Richard White

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Well, if I ever had considered signing with this publisher, the concept of signing an Non-disclosure Agreement AND a Mutual Order of Public Suppression makes me wonder what the publisher is attempting to hide. Muzzling people ahead of time MIGHT make some sense if you were doing a new movie/video game/software program where letting out proprietary information could affect business, but there's nothing proprietary about publishing, especially not about experiences.

And if you believe people won't talk no matter what they've signed, well, you have a lot more faith in people than I do. They'll just be sneakier about it and instead of being able to address their issues in public, you'll be fighting a retrograde action trying to do damage control well after the damage is done.

I'd never sign it and I'd highly recommend before anyone sign it they run it past a lawyer not associated with this publisher. Poorly written NDA's are a lot more career damaging than you might think up front. They can actually prevent you from working/writing for another company depending on how they're written/interpreted. Not saying this specific one is--I haven't seen it--but my employer's lawyers will not let us sign any NDA (government or private) until they've vetted them first because of possible future complications.
 

Round Two

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Travis - If you're saying that you're going to sink money into Baker & Taylor ads as your primary vehicle for promoting books, I'd caution that you're going to be spending a lot of money for little return. You'd be much better served by getting reviews in the trade publications that go to bookstores and libraries (especially libraries). To do that, though, you're going to need to produce books at market standard from both an editorial and production standpoint.
 

traveo2343

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Hi Round Two,

I was not intending to mean that we would be placing a large emphasis on B&T Ads. There are however a great number of advertising activities that do go directly to Booksellers and to Librarians, which is where our emphasis is. Also on the use of NetGalley, and in-person signing events for some of our authors. The marketing program is designed to be much more holistic in its approach to reaching readers and influencers. B&T is ideal as a distribution medium for our authors to get backorders into bookstores. While we have worked with CS for some time, and while their approach to stocking is in line with my retailing experience, bookstores prefer their shelves to be consignment only, B&T simplifies that ordering process for them.
 

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While I do admire your caution Old Hack, I do think that we are improving on many fronts and that at some point in the near future you may, in fact, not overtly discourage new authors from working with us. And that hopefully over the last 5 years, we have at least moved somewhat closer to your ideal of what a publisher should be. Or perhaps we haven't, there always exists room for improvement.

I still find it impossible to recommend you, Travis. Sorry. The old problems with your business are still there, and now you've added a new one into the mix with this:

In an effort to get ahead of what I'm sure will be another round of conversation, all authors, artists, and staff do sign an NDA and Mutual Order of Public Suppression.

Richard White has explained very nicely why this waves such a huge red flag over your business. Don't do it. It's a really bad idea.

I am in the process of correcting the marketing issues that have plagued us over the last year or so. While working to emphasize the expectation of participation by Authors in the marketing program, and in developing a level of support by TZPP toward marketing efforts for our authors. This has included a concerted effort to get on with Baker & Taylor, and placing capital resources more aggressively into advertising activities.

Ads tend not to be very successful in selling books. They do help if you're advertising a hugely popular, mega-bestselling author; or if you're advertising a book to booksellers, as part of a much larger promotional campaign of which the paid-for ads are only a tiny part. But on their own? I think there are better things you can do with your money (and yes, I have worked in marketing, sales and publicity at director level).

I was not intending to mean that we would be placing a large emphasis on B&T Ads. There are however a great number of advertising activities that do go directly to Booksellers and to Librarians, which is where our emphasis is.

Booksellers are not really swayed by ads. They're useful as an announcement: "That book you heard about through our promotional efforts, by that really nice writer who visited your shop on the pre-publication tour we organised, is now available. Get your orders in!" But they're not very effective as a "Buy this book!" tool, when the ad is the first time the bookseller has heard about the book.

And you can advertise to librarians all you like, but unless they also read strongly positive reviews in the publications which matter, they are not likely to buy your books.

Also on the use of NetGalley, and in-person signing events for some of our authors.

Book signings don't work on their own. You need a fuller approach: for them to be effective, those signings have to come alongside reviews, interviews, articles, radio interviews announcing the signings, and so on. The bookshops where the signings are happening have to hold stock of the book and so do other retailers in the area.

Have you organised this sort of thing too?

The marketing program is designed to be much more holistic in its approach to reaching readers and influencers.

Could you provide us with more details of your new marketing approach? What, exactly, does it involve? And who are the "influencers" you're trying to reach?

For example: a friend of mine recently had her first novel published. It's called "The Trouble With Goats and Sheep", and her name is Joanna Cannon.

Jo's publishers took her on a tour of UK bookshops before her novel even went to print: she was on the road for a couple of weeks with this, at her publisher's expense, of course. They carried out a little prize draw and winning booksellers took home a case of wine. Then she toured the printers while her novel was being printed. In publication week, she had several interviews and articles published, and loads of great reviews; her book is featured as Waterstones' book of the month, I think, with window displays and single-title tables in branches all over the country; there are ads on the tube, and elsewhere. Her publishers threw her a huge party, which was mostly attended by her friends--this was a social event, not particularly a promo event. Her book was published on a Thursday and by Sunday was number seven on the Sunday Times best seller list--a huge achievement for so few days' worth of sales--and I think in the following week it was number four. It's a wonderful book, and her publisher has invested a lot of time and money in its success. They have now offered to pay for her to go to a writing retreat for a week or two to get the next novel going. And in a few months, when the book comes out in paperback, she'll be doing a signing tour, again, at her publisher's expense.

I realise not all publishers can invest this much money or time into the books they publish: but all publishers can do SOME of the things on this sort of plan. I also realise that it's the combination of a really good book, a very personable author, and a wide variety of promotional events which has made this book the huge success it is, and that one can't expect to enjoy 50% of this book's success by doing 50% of the promo work, as it doesn't work like that. But good publishers can and do promote their authors in similar ways, in order to get strong sales.

I'd like to know what you're doing to promote the books you sell. If it's just ads to Baker and Taylor, then it's not enough. If there's more to it than that, why not share your plans with us? It would be very interesting.
 

traveo2343

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Hi Old Hack,

You are correct, in all of your commentary. In our experience book signings generate 8-12 sales in a 3 hour period, only 3 authors have exceeded that sales number independently (all of them in Seattle - which seems to be where our strongest authors come from).

Advertisements alone do not generally sway corporate buyers, and my pockets simply are not deep enough to blanket a market for direct consumer advertising. There is a program by the ALA that ships info directly to Booksellers, which does appear to have a decent response rate (meaning that it results in enough sales to at least cover the activity which is important)

NetGalley has shown promise in terms of relatively early reviews when used in conjunction with IBPA and a Media outreach and giveaway approach. People really seem to like giveaways, especially bloggers.

While, I am sure that your friend had a very strong, and positive response from what her Publisher did, I would really want to emphasize that such an approach is typically not feasible in the United States, for any but the very best selling authors, with a clear and defined sales history to support that type of cash outlay. I could imagine, conservatively, the minimal cost for something similar running into the $1mm - $3mm range easily. It's not that the activities themselves are particularly expensive, it is that such activities would have to be replicated at least 1,500 to 2,300 times to get a full and similar effect. And for us, who work off of a $0 base budget, the question is not how much to spend to market and promote a title, it is more about where to spend the funds that are available, and is there an ability to take advantage of some type of economies of scale for an activity with 3 or more authors. Do we have strength in relationships with local partners to generate additional support from them. Can we make the quid pro quo worthwhile for them.

So, what do I mean by a more holistic approach? The approach is designed to achieve four things:


  1. Generate broad based Exposure and Recognition
  2. Develop a well regarded Author & Imprint Brand
  3. Create Sustainable Sales
  4. Establish full-circle Licensing Opportunities

The program is intended to be a continuous circle as most of our authors are with us for quite some time, and this anticipation is built into the overall program schedule. On order for us to accomplish this, the Marketing program was sectioned into four primary task functions:


  1. Approval -- Used to Approve the full list of works for the Qtr and Identify a worthwhile activities mix.
  2. Research -- Key Research and Initial determinations.
  3. Preparation -- Used to prepare all major aspects of the book plan and to review items to ensure quality standards are met.
  4. Execution -- Used to actually begin key activity engagements, this will likely bleed into the first quarter of the book’s publication.

This allows us to ensure that all aspects of the program are ready to go well in advance of release of a title. Ideally, everything is ready 1 full Qtr in advance and all we have to to when the time rolls around is press play on everything. Additionally, the new approach is designed to take advantage of the full audience of the entire company at large (including our authors, artists, and staff).

Here is a short snippet of the types of task that have been built into this program by phase. If you happen to have suggestions or experience with anything, please do let me know. My goal with this task list is to be as comprehensive as possible, and if you have suggestions for additional tasks or activities, I would love to hear them.

The Sales functions include licensing activities and more hard physical sales activities. So if this seems overally digitally focused, that would be the cause. The Sales activities related to physical book signings and events have been pulled out into a Sales phase separate from the marketing phases.

Approval

  1. Publication Dates
  2. Breakout Titles need to be Identified for the Qtr.
  3. Giveaway Titles need to be identified by week.
  4. Events, if any need to be capitalized
  5. Author Schedule proposals need to be generated.
  6. Book Plan Components need to be determined
  7. Budget and Investor buy-in (if any), needs to be proposed and Author needs to confirm.

Research

  1. Marketing Prep Call to Confirm Author Availability and Verify Participation activities and to confirm Book Plan Components
  2. Genre and Partner identification and Influencer List Generation
  3. Determine Cross-Promo Authors and External Quid Pro Quo Opportunities
  4. Send Author Comprehensive Interview (or have them re-forward interview email)
  5. Send Artist/Designer comprehensive Interview (for Breakout Titles ONLY)
  6. Ensure Websites are updated and that all Author Info is live and correct.
  7. Ensure base On-Boarding files for Media/Mktg Kit are uploaded to Drive and have been saved to Mktg Kits section in Drive
  8. Schedule Exclusive Influencer Only Interview Event with Author via Hangouts on Air to Steam to YouTube
  9. Confirm we are following all Author Social Media Outlets and that Author is also doing the same.
  10. Approve Blog Z article topic with Author
  11. Budget and Investor buy-in needs to be solidified.
    1. Author needs to know that if Investors Buy-in to the book project, they are repaid with First Moneys

Preparation

  1. Write FB/TWTR posts and schedule in Hootsuite
  2. Write Press Releases
  3. Send eARCs and Review Requests out to ALL Identified Partners and Influencers and All Standing Review Partners
  4. Add Author to HARO Pitch Review List for Media Opportunities
  5. Produce Image Collateral for Instagram and Pinterest
  6. Create and Confirm Sales Sheet and Direct Order Information
  7. Collect Cross Promo Reviews and other External Quid Pro Quo items
  8. Collect Comprehensive Interview from both Author and Artist
  9. Schedule Cover Reveal Date and Announcement emails
  10. Collect Blog Z Article with author.
  11. Ensure Book has been Added to Goodreads
  12. Buy NetGalley Service for book, if required.
  13. Schedule Book Launch Party and Take book orders for event
  14. Send Radio & Podcast Interview Auction and Schedule times

Execution

  1. Schedule Giveaways
    1. Goodreads
    2. Amazon
    3. Rafflecopter
  2. Host book launch party and ship book orders for the event and collect and schedule image posting for Instagram and Pinterest.
  3. Conduct Reddit AMA event.
  4. Conduct Radio & Podcast Interviews
    1. Be sure to pull the URL of the interview and save to Media Kit
    2. Ensure that TZPP Social Media follow the producers/show.
    3. Schedule x3 mentions of URL and producer for TZPP
    4. Authors need to schedule x5 mentioned on Social Media
    5. Add URL to Author Website.
  5. Buy Fiverr Reviews & Promo
  6. Schedule Thunderclap and Push Company Wide.
  7. Conduct Cover Reveal
    1. The Cover creal should coincide with the Author/Artist Interview placed onto Blog Z.
    2. Press Release should be written to accompany CR
  8. Re-Promote backlist titles, if established author.
    1. Set-up Backlist title as a PayHip $1 eBook for for 48 hours after Cover Reveal.
      1. Run Monday to Wednesday ONLY
  9. Begin Follow-up on any outstanding items on this list.

I look forward to your thoughts.
 

Polenth

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Buying reviews from Fiverr is not a way to improve your company's reputation. You will get what you pay for: a fake positive review from someone who skimmed the back cover. It'll make people doubt the honesty of all the reviews you receive. It could also harm the reputations of your authors, if people think the authors were the ones who bought the reviews.

If you want more reviews, make it easier for reviewers to request copies from you. Your site doesn't have a page for reviewers / press that I could see (I went looking as someone recommended one of your books to me... but there was no clear way to request review copies, and randomly emailing publishers without a policy for handling reviewers tends to end badly).

Netgalley is a good idea. You'll get more for your money listing there than buying fake reviews. Those reviews will be honest, generally higher quality, and by people with actual fanbases. Unlike your average fake reviewer.