Anna’s Comments (group member since Mar 21, 2017)

Anna’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

Thank you, Carmel. I really appreciate the support given in this thread/group.

The Amazon Marketing Services Agreement looks terrifying and I am usually so very wary of signing anything I have not read at least 6 times and with which I agree. But this time? I just wanted to get to the end and it was becoming more and more inappropriate but I ploughed on - in order to be able to place cheap adverts! The US ads cost a fair bit and I really don't end up with money in my pocket, but I do fill up Amazon' and various other sites that charge a fortune to advertise my cheap books!

All this time-consuming stuff stops the creative side of writing. Sigh.

Quetion for C.L. and Alex, please, did you sign the Amazon Marketing Services Agreement? I'm just trying to work out how far you got before you stopped filling stuff in!

I've not received a response within the 24 hours they say, so I have written again and asked them to cancel it - so that I can start again. I've never had problems before with their responses.

I fear I may now miss out on being able to advertise.

Alex wrote: "Hopefully it will all get sorted now that you've filled in the form."

Oh no... the form I filled in so meticulously was my original attempt. I filled in where it said 'company', even though I'm not a company because there were no options, I read their Terms and Conditions and thought none of it applied to me, still I carried on and on and at the very last it would not let me continue until I gave it my VAT details - which, of course, I do not have.

So I contacted them. Polite response in broken English, but I didn't know how to send them the requested screen shot in that little box they offer you. That wouldn't work either.

So I've asked for more help... I now want to cancel the filling in of the form that I have done so far and start again.

No response.

Didn't I just know this was going to happen. What a mess.

The problem, as far as I can see, is that their form is not designed for anything but big companies. C.L. was so very smart in ignoring all the bumph.

Why aren't I smart? Grrr.......

There was a form! I filled it in! Sigh. I should be more of a rebel. I still haven't heard back. Sigh (again).

Thanks C.L. I'm hoping for a positive reply that responds to my please cancel and let me start again.

Did you sign the Terms of Service?

Alex, this is all so tricky, isn't it? I look forward to hearing that your BookBub submission is successful.

Oh C.L. I've obviously filled in far too much info.

I had an email back from Amazon from someone, very polite, who could not write English very well and repeated back to me what I had written to them. I've sent another message.

How to maximise time spent on writing.

How to maximise efficiency in life so you can spend more time on writing.

Best I can manage...

I'm thinking, honestly I am, but not much is coming that would be of any use. Too tired tonight. Will try again tomorrow. Good night.

It looks like you'll stand a good chance, Alex, but I don't want to get your hopes up as you're right - too many others submitting.

I always have a Plan B for these matters... sigh.

See - it's just like I said on message 12

" I'm always afraid I'll get into something I hadn't intended to and then can't get out of it. "

And to think I'm about to put my books into print! What mess can I make there?

I think I filled in too much info yesterday and they think I am a company. Don't know how to get out of it now. Will contact a technical account manager, as it suggests!

Thanks for your help. I'll stay in touch.

Thanks Alex bu all those boxes are showing in red and they won't let me launch the campaign.

I must have done something wrong as usual.

What did you guys do about the bit at the bottom of the page where you have to fill in name etc re VAT Registration?

C.L. Thank you so very, very much.

BookBub are interesting in that as far as I can see, they do not require a certain number of reviews, nor do they insist on a 4+ star rating (like some sites). What they do is actually read and evaluate your submission. This is heartening for those of us who rely on genuine reviews and those who get stuck with some 1* reviews because someone only got as far as page 5 or mistook 1* as being the best rating. I saw one of those on someone else's book last night. Poor soul.

However, I've seen something about they give preference to those who use multiple channels. It doesn't say exactly that. The inference I took was that they are clever business people and, as they have more than enough submissions, they can pick not only well-written books but also decide on which ones will make them the most money. Fair enough - they are running a business not a charity for us poor stuck-in-a-garret authors.

Good luck, Alex.

I've been welcomed (and possibly billed) but as none of my books have ISBNs, I can't go any further.

Thanks for letting me know, Alex. I'll certainly not be shipping paperbacks around the country. I suspect, and C.L. will know if I'm right, that things would carry on as normal but it's not the way it looks!

I'm just about to put my books into paperback but as I do all this stuff myself, it will be a while before I manage even the first book. I'm reading them all through again. Half way through the first book now and found - horror of horrors, a missing full stop! And sloppy descriptions waffling on. Sigh. So it's a good time to let my 'fresh eyes' give them all yet another going over.

I'll keep you posted. Currently I'm hoping C.L. will be able to soothe my nerves!

Has anyone else negotiated to the end of this maze yet?

I am now a 'company'.

C.L. - Am I doing something wrong. It seems that I have to ship books from my home address. Is that right?

Feel for you, D.J. I know that feeling of not needing to do something and then worrying that I've messed everything up.

I'm trying to give myself a week off from all-things-writing but I just have to follow Navi, don't I?

Under a Dark Star #2 in The Dark Moon Series

Lieutenant Karl Thorsen arrived, as usual, like a drum roll prior to battle. Dismounting from his black stallion, he flung the reins around the hitching post and strode across to the open door of the early Georgian farmhouse.
“I need your help.”

Not telling... make of that what you will!!!

Hide in Time describes what one character has to do, so it came as the story took shape.

One Dark Night - aargh - I'd got to the end and the working title 'Choices' seemed bland. Talking myself through the story, I realized that a lot of the decisive action takes place one dark night.

Under a Dark Star - I'm fascinated by the physics of such things (though I know very little). It describes the villain.

One Dark Soul - I had the title before I even started. It probably comes from when I counselled some dark hearts.

Good question, Carole. I'll try not to dwell on it all day. I've got a working title for the next one...