What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia
I am an author, not a particularly well known author, but I'm trying to get there.
I have self published works on many major sites, the titles are considered self-published, and I retain all copyright. In this instance the book manufacturer is called Createspace. My only agreement with that company is to sell on their own site and Amazon.com. Indeed they are wholly owned by Amazon and for distribution anywhere else I'm required to opt-in and pay a fee. I have not done this for any title.
I also sell my titles as e-Books. I was surprised to find a copy of my paperback then listed today on Barnes and Nobel. My first though was surprise, but hey, it can't hurt right.
The listing is blank. It's completely unprofessional, there is no cover image, there is no product description, just a listing for one of my novels priced at over $40! Hey I'm not THAT good
Investigation revealed that the book is being 'resold' by a company called Stork Media. Stork Media, of Phoenix MD does not seem to actually exist in any tangible way. Indeed the only way I found to contact them is via Amazon.com. Amazon won't even give me a real e-mail address, all mail must go through them.
Stork Media has thousands of titles for sale at enormous prices on Amazon. Pretty amazing for a company that doesn't exist.
When I contacted the company and asked them to stop distributing my copyrighted material without permission they claimed to have "Right of First Purchase". Even though they list my work as new, they claim to have purchased it (retail I suppose) and are just reselling it.
Now I wasn't born yesterday. What they are doing is listing my book in a place it wasn't previously available, charging an enormous fee, then, if they do get a sale, they purchase the book and ship it to a customer.
To me that makes the "First Sale" the transaction between them and the consumer when they collect the proceeds, before buying the book after the fact and shipping it.
Honestly if they charged a fair price and professionally advertised my work I'd just let it be. They refuse, however, to take any responsibility for the listing of the work on major retail sites. They referred me back to Barnes and Nobel and said I was responsible for the listing! I didn't put it there, they did.
Anyway, how to stop this madness? I'm sure this company (or more likely individual) is doing the same with thousands and thousands of titles.
Thanks!
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
I am an author, not a particularly well known author, but I'm trying to get there.
I have self published works on many major sites, the titles are considered self-published, and I retain all copyright. In this instance the book manufacturer is called Createspace. My only agreement with that company is to sell on their own site and Amazon.com. Indeed they are wholly owned by Amazon and for distribution anywhere else I'm required to opt-in and pay a fee. I have not done this for any title.
I also sell my titles as e-Books. I was surprised to find a copy of my paperback then listed today on Barnes and Nobel. My first though was surprise, but hey, it can't hurt right.
The listing is blank. It's completely unprofessional, there is no cover image, there is no product description, just a listing for one of my novels priced at over $40! Hey I'm not THAT good
Investigation revealed that the book is being 'resold' by a company called Stork Media. Stork Media, of Phoenix MD does not seem to actually exist in any tangible way. Indeed the only way I found to contact them is via Amazon.com. Amazon won't even give me a real e-mail address, all mail must go through them.
Stork Media has thousands of titles for sale at enormous prices on Amazon. Pretty amazing for a company that doesn't exist.
When I contacted the company and asked them to stop distributing my copyrighted material without permission they claimed to have "Right of First Purchase". Even though they list my work as new, they claim to have purchased it (retail I suppose) and are just reselling it.
Now I wasn't born yesterday. What they are doing is listing my book in a place it wasn't previously available, charging an enormous fee, then, if they do get a sale, they purchase the book and ship it to a customer.
To me that makes the "First Sale" the transaction between them and the consumer when they collect the proceeds, before buying the book after the fact and shipping it.
Honestly if they charged a fair price and professionally advertised my work I'd just let it be. They refuse, however, to take any responsibility for the listing of the work on major retail sites. They referred me back to Barnes and Nobel and said I was responsible for the listing! I didn't put it there, they did.
Anyway, how to stop this madness? I'm sure this company (or more likely individual) is doing the same with thousands and thousands of titles.
Thanks!
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
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