Iuniverse Fails Royalty Report Card

First of all I’d like to thank everyone for making Epic Ode to Pinkie Toe the most viewed and liked post on my blog. I suppose every once and a while we all need a good laugh.

On to bigger topics. . .where is my royalty? Okay, since I started using Iunivierse, oh way back in 2012, my royalties were sort of paid on time.  The first one was paid to the date, the second was paid out a day late, the third about a day late. This year, the first quarter was almost a week late, now this second quarter is twenty days late.

It’s not like my life hangs in the balance of my payout. Lord knows I haven’t done any real promoting of the book over the summer so I could take a hiatus from social media a bit, but it goes without saying that as an author I’m pretty darn curious about my sales. Wouldn’t you be? The only way I know what I sell is to see my royalty sales figures and I wanna know.

My best guess was that I’d be using Iuniverse again for Life by Chance, since I have zero or less time to jump on and put my book up to every site out there. And if you’ve read my rants about Amazon then you know I won’t go the KDP route or Create Space route. Heck, I’m still waiting on them to post my book on my author’s page so I can see ranks & sales, etc. I digress, it’s a learning experience.

I never had any real problems with Iuniverse. They were polite, friendly, not overbearing, and did a fantastic and professional job with my book. They placed it on every market from Nook, and Kindle, to Kobo and iBook. It’s on every platform and bookstore for purchase worldwide. Their potential to be so strong is so huge, but it fails when it comes to payouts and reporting monthly royalties in a timely manner.

If I were selling books by the droves I know I would want my payout in a timely manner. On the iUniverse report card for reporting royalties in a timely manner they get an F.  Sorry Iuniverse, this area has become worse as time goes on. I’m sure I’m not the only person to rant about this.

Tania L Ramos, Author Waiting and Waiting and Waiting
BeStillNovel.com
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Epic Ode to Pinkie Toe

~My ode to the pinkie toe~
Little piggie pinkie toe
wee wee wee
Why run all the way home

Stubbed and wounded
Nail with a noose
Hanging–hanging

Pain and curse words
She bangs she bangs
against the bed rail

wee wee wee
Water stinging
Don’t you cry little piggie toe

Then the stupid shampoo bottle falls on your injured toe as if it didn’t have an ENTIRE shower floor to fall on. NO! just smack dab on the teeny tiny little baby toe that has been brutally assaulted over the past 24 hours by that flippant little thing we call fate! Why does fate have to pick on the smallest toe? Because fate is a big fat bully…ugh. Wee wee wee, this is what it sounds like when pinkie toe cries

Maybe pinkie toe should have went to market with big toe!

Tania L Ramos RN, Author Who Knows why Little Toe Ran All The Way Home
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Something Amazing Happened

Life by Chance has been sitting on the cyber shelf for months now. I’ve complained for sometime that my own life has gotten in the way of my budding writing career. I was able to put two books out in ten months when I was staying at home and my only written doctor’s orders were to not get fat and not eat Oreo cookies in bed. As if! Mmmmm, cookies–

So, I opened my cyber shelf and pulled out the book to start edits.  I had already edited the first so many chapters a few months back, so I started where I left off. Something amazing happened! I was so enthralled by this story line that I forgot to edit. Two chapters in, I was blubbering like a wounded child. My own story made me cry. Holy cow.

It had been so long since I wrote it that I forgot just how intense and wonderfully dark it was.  I text Glenn just to announce that I was an amazing writer.  Not  to toot my own horn but beep beep.

Once I wiped my eyes dry, I went back to do the editing. Something amazing happened! I realized that my grammar and my creative writing skills were at the opposite ends of the “amazing” spectrum.  I was blubbering like a wounded child. My own story made me cry . . . at just how much professional editing is going to cost me.  Holy cow.

How do you feel after rereading your manuscript that has been shelved for a while? I’m loving all the Twitter and FB responses so far.

Tania L Ramos RN, Author whose day job pays for editing

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Cover design concept by Mariano

The Artisan Project

This has been an idea in the making for quite some time.  The idea for Blackbird LSD’s (Literary Services and Development) Artisan Project has been on the table for about a year, but finding a venue and backing has proved to be difficult.  Not only did the Blackbird staff want the ability to hold one of the biggest shows in the Inland Empire, but they wanted to incorporate all of the arts, as they are not just lovers of indie authors, but of indie music and indie artists.

When Daniel, of Blackbird, landed himself back in college and on the school newspaper the opportunity had at last arose.  After hob nobbing with some of the college’s finest, and after making some crucial associations in both the literary, musical, and world of art, bringing his baby to life was becoming more and more attainable.

Of course any local vendor event benefits me because I don’t have to drive far, so I offered any services I could.  Note to self: always rethink volunteering for big projects.  But I digress, I am in charge of vendor booths for now because this event just keeps growing on itself.  On a great note: there are already several featured artists and authors on the line-up, and just days into the announcement.

So what will this “Artisan” Project have that not many other shows have? Everything! The point is to publicly display the independent arts in every form.  There will be indie bands on one side, displays of art on another, and the giant lake will be bordered by rows upon rows of indie authors.  Toss in a few vendors to make it a truly crowd gathering event and you have the ingredients for one powerful day and a plethora of talents!

For more info on the Artisan Project, or to be part of all the fun visit Blackbird LSD.  Event is held in Victorville, CA in March 2014.

Double Duty Trip: Seattle,WA

Hello fellow bloggers, especially those in Seattle, WA. After several years of being cooped up with three hours of my home I am finally taking a wonderful weekend trip to Seattle.  It isn’t all fun and R&R though. I am headed out with Glenn to go to an It Works! convention. (For those catching up, I have taken to selling body wraps and health supplements as a means to pad my income and pay for editing).

We fly in early Thursday and pretty much have the day to ourselves to roam about freely. We aren’t renting a car so this will be interesting. Either we learn to ride the rails, the bus, or we walk everywhere.  I’ve been told that everything is relatively local to us, so that is a bonus.

Friday we have convention late the evening, so we will find ourselves some mischief during the day.  Saturday is all day convention, then Sunday morning we fly home.  So this is a double trip for me: I look forward to convention and getting energized and ready to wrap the world into skinniness, but I’m also excited to tote my book around the city and leave it at random places to be found. I’m thinking a scavenger hunt is in order. Either way, it’s a tax write off!!!! Weeeeee!

If you’re in the downtown/convention center area let me know. Maybe we can grab some tea or you can suggest some places we must go to.  We are really just winging it and hoping we don’t get lost. Pics to follow.

Tania L Ramos, Author, Pacific Coast Traveler, Mischief seeker

http://www.BeStillNovel.com

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