The rule in business is — “It’s not what you expect, but what you inspect.” The self-publishing business is a model of high expectations and ho-hum inspection. Tales of woe from deceived authors fill the internet complaint departments. Some people are victims because they didn’t read the paperwork, but I did, and still the fog of confusion hangs heavy over the industry.
Amazon has an arcane way of reporting book sales designed by some green-shaded computer whiz in the basement of a New York skyscraper. I know his name. It’s Al Gorithm, and he has not produced any information I can use. There is nothing to inspect.
I have 14 books in process. Book #1 was a short bellwether-book to make a path through the system from doc file to the bookstore, to the e-book store, to the royalties. Two years have gone by and I still have no clue. Amazon says I have sold books, and yes, it sells 47% of the books published in the English language, and yes, I know those guys are wildly busy, but a check for even $10.20 would let me know someone there was alive and interested in their business and mine as well. There is no way to inspect.
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