Friends
This is not my usual blog post as I am angry and I will explain briefly.
I am having trouble with my assisted self-publisher, iUniverse, that I am seriously considering involving the authorities, such as the Attorney General.
In December, Kenneth Moore, Senior Marketing Brand Manager at Author Solutions, the parent company of iUniverse, informed me that:
The requested sales report has shown me the following:
Title: “Kill Me Now”
25 book sales
Total sales amount $259.19
This is only from the iUniverse website, not including online sites such as Amazon.com.
***Update: A Eugene Hopkins has just called me to inform me that those were sales to me! If that is the case, then why did I not have access to that information? Why the hidden agenda?
Now, in their royalty statement, they are claiming that only 12 books have been sold, totally. I know of at least four Kindle sales from Amazon which do not appear. I also know of an e-book published from their own site which magically does not appear.
If any of you purchased my book, please let me know in a private email to [email protected] and tell me from what website you purchased, format (ebook or printed) and the date. In the meantime, if you are thinking of self-publishing, stay away from iUniverse, Author Solutions, and xlibris. Some authors that I have been speaking to, informed me that they felt threatened and did not want to come forward.
Just to add topping to the issue, because of these issues, Kenneth Moore sent me an eMail saying: “A Ms A.J. Barco will be in touch with you shortly to try and address these on your behalf. ” A.J. Barco is from the Author Solutions “Customer Satisfaction Department”. She took 48 hours to get back to me and was supposed to send me a detailed report of all sales. That report was promised within 48 hours. It has still not materialized.
***Update: A week later, AJ got back to me. No report of course. Eugene Hopkins has decided to send me a report of sorts.
I have started a Facebook group: iUniverse Reporting
Please also share this status with others. Tweet to @iuniversebooks
