SNM Horror Magazine

If You Build A Mausoleum...The Dead Will Come!

          STEVE'S PICKS FOR WRITER'S RESOURCES

 

                     Hold the Press!    We're all booked up!

 

*Writer's Market - Get your copy of the Writer's Handbook in the most recent year before submitting for publication. This is the original source of publishing for writers to find agents and publishers in their respective genre markets.

Library of Congress - Get all your work copyrighted here before submitting any work to publishers. It is your only protection from having others who are less talented than you plagiarizing or stealing work. It's a writer's condom!

*www.duotrope.com - One of the top-rated directories for horror writers to seek a wide variety of top publishers that provides theme submissions, updates and deadlines as well as reports and info about the publisher's listings. Very professional looking site with invaluable information

*Preditors & Editors - A complete writer's review source of publishers: Who's legit who's not and whether they are a royalty paying or a vanity publisher. An aspiring writer's bible for breaking into print and submitting for first time publication. We are very big fans of theirs and use them.

Weird Tales Magazine - One of the top recognized paying magazines who has been around for quite a long time. They publish strange, well-written Poe-like short stories. They're a professionally bound print magazine with some excellent credentials and really boost writers' recognition.

*Means the link is available to click directly into the site. *For the others, just do a normal Google search on them. *Please note that we do not endorse Lulu.com anymore. *Please research each and read all the contracts carefully. *We're simply writers trying to help newer novice writers. **See below for a complete list of royalty paying markets.

Authors Advisory Against Using Lulu.com

 

Lulu Alert:

 

For any authors, editors or publishers looking to self-publish their written material, please be advised: Lulu.com has much controversy buzzing on the forums. They have not been paying us royalties on sales even though the number of sales are listed on our creator's revenue. Our last royalties paid out were back in February and they have not responded to multiple inquiries regarding sales updates. In fact, they have dropped their Live Help feature altogether and the only way to contact them is via e-mail, which will generate an auto response and issue you a ticket number for a reply that never comes. There is no longer a phone number to call. Also, they no longer allow you to cancel or even change your orders. So while they keep on taking, they are not giving anything: royalties, help, replies -- nothing.

Furthermore, if you try to delete your project, they declare as a retired project. Basically they claim that if any books have sold on an open market they cannot withdraw it. They're still taking and sending out orders, but some authors and publishers are not receiving any royalties. 
 
It is very unfortunate as I have 3 books published with them, as well as a royalty-paying anthology with funds that they are still witholding, so we have paid authors out of pocket on sales for the first 2 quarters of a 4 quarter period for something we never even collected. Even though family and friends still continue to support our endeavors and order our books, Lulu is not paying out royalties now it seems, and will now  ban you if you become what they deem to be hostile client. As feared, many authors have concured, hence the public humility.

If you're debating using Lulu to self-publish, please reconsider IMMEDIATELY. Do not let these ravenous vultures rip you off. There are too many scams out there and not enough legit markets especially now in a sensitive economy and competitive marketplace. To all authors, editors & publishers, DO NOT USE LULU.COM for your publishing needs. Do your research and diligence on any company from small press to large and check the forums on any major corporate retailers to see what kind of client experiences they had after using them.
 
If you are already involved with them and you still want to file a complaint on them, there are a few options available such as complaintsboard or if you Google the term "Lulu complaints," you will see the complaint board come up on top. Creators may  also file a complaint with the BBB or Consumer Reports to help bring these parasitical blights down at once. It looks like it's us verses them and we need to bring awareness to creators.

PLEASE MAKE OTHERS AWARE WHEREVER POSSIBLE!

My name is Steven Marshall and I approve this message and  yes, I disapprove of the folks at Lulu.com.

Note: This is my opinion based on my experience. Others may share a different viewpoint and please share yours. Until they persuade me otherwise, my belief shall not be compromised.


Darkest Wishes
Steven Marshall
Senior Editor/Moderator
SNM Horror Magazine
www.snmhorrormag.com

       *Updates on Lulu Awareness Alert*

 

Dear Fellow Creators,

This is a follow up to the Lulu Scam Awareness Campaign that we launched about a month ago, helping new, aspiring authors and making them aware of the new developments regarding Lulu book publishing and their  latest sneaky tactics and "new" site policies. Much like The Resistance fighting the evil Skynet in Terminator  we're the underdog vs. a monstrous corporate entity. Those who have a dream are the easiest to prey upon...

To start with, it is now 3 months since my first query and still I have not received any reply to "where are my royalties?" in four different queries. Ticket numbers are generated with an auto reponse for a reply that never comes. Our most recent payment was supposed to be issued on May 14th. It is now August 15th and my account still does not say "check issued" where it used to, even despite that I have over $100 in earned royalties due me. Not a big amount personally, but it's the principle. If you multiple that by 8 million+ authors, it adds up to quite a lot.

Please keep in mind that this is my experience which may not reflect the views or experiences of all, that's why I am posting this bulletin to acquire "all" feedback regarding their experience with Lulu.com. Now some authors avidly oppose having any problems with them may have to find out firsthand the hard way. Others may do their due diligence and...draw their own conclusions. Also note that I am not endorsing any other book publisher in its place, nor am I advocating that self-publishing is bad. But here are a few things that you should know about Lulu.com...

3 points:

1- Ever since Lulu had made a partnership with Amazon.com things have been slowly going straight to Hell. Lately, it's gone straight to Hell, no going back. When big, monstrous corporate entities merge, little people get swallowed whole. Now Lulu has just bought Poetry.com who has one of the worst names in the industry as far as scamming authors. You are with whom you publish. They are with whom they sleep with for monetary gain.
 
2 - The reason no one is getting any answers is because there aren't live people anymore! Anywhere. Lulu has converted and become a fully automated website. It's basically a big computer program controlled by unseen forces. So any emails that they receive are sent through the server and probably chewed out until it vanishes. The end result, some Joe Blow is sitting back, sipping drinks on a Bahamas beach while their bank account gets fatter, while authors are still awaiting a reply. Now I am personally strongly against any kind of fully automated website where there is no more Live Help, no phone number to call or humans to interact with. It would seem Skynet and Lulu have eliminated any and all humans who built it to begin with!

3 - My books were self-published over a year ago and I never agreed to these "new terms" and "unconditional" conditions. Lulu has now changed all its agreements to make it *look* like the agreement was made from the start, but has essentially voided out its previous agreement with its authors who never agreed to the new term policies. So any newer authors will not be able to dispute it even though it is highly illegal because of these changes. Authors who published with them before Jan of 2009 most likely didn't print out a copy of the old agreement and can't even dispute it. Either way your hands are tied. Even taking it to court won't do anything; I'm sorry. All you can do is complain to the BBB, Consumer Reports or Complaintsboard. Lulu knows what they're doing is wrong and they don't care so long as they keep making money unharmed.

Now, on to the loophole. I have just received some feedback from my attorney who has looked further into this matter and has stated the following without you having to hire a laywer:

(He) informed me that in order for authors to fully protect their projects and themselves from the new "retired books loophole" Lulu just created -- meaning that if authors try to delete their work and now they can't technically, as Lulu possesses "first publishing rights" to it -- you can just go to the retired projects and make all the pages blank. It's a little complicated and has to be done fast because the automated system will default the project to retired, meaning (can't be revised) but it can be done. I've just done so myself and it worked!

This is what I did:

- Make retired project "Private." (Get any last in-print books )
- Quickly click on "Purchase Revision" (You don't actually buy anything unless you want your final copies in hand.)
- Click on the "Approve/Deny" link as fast as possible and then the "Create Revision" on the bottom of the page.
- Once in the Create Revision part, you're safe, the system won't default to "retired" until you've finished the revision.
- Start the Creation Wizard, upload a new PDF of 306 blank pages (the page count of my book). The first page will have a message that basically says "We're sorry, this isn't a legitimate copy, if you would like a legitimate copy, go here" etc, please contact your book dealer. (All nice and polite of course, and perfectly legal, although morally irreprehensible, if I may say.)
- Finish the Creation Wizard and wait. Within a few minutes the automated system will default the project back to Retired. But! The revision will be there and is now permanent! Hah!
Finally, in Lulu's email (the only way to contact them) say Fuck you to Lulu/Skynet. The humans have again outsmarted the computer  machine droids! Oh, but that would just be soooo unprofessional! 
If you are reading this then you are already part of the Resistance. We are legion. Keep in mind, even Edgar Allen Poe had his Rufus Griswald, but this is a much bigger playing field of Corporate versus us. Also keep in mind that greater souls have always faced violent opposition from mediocre minds, as Albert Einstein decreed...
 

Darkest Wishes,
Steven Marshall
Senior Editor/Moderator
SNM Horror Magazine
 
 
We do not endorse anyone in its place. Best advice: do your own research!
 
 

   HORROR ROYALTY-PAYING RESOURCE MARKETS!

 

                              

     Horror Short Story Markets

    http://www.fictionfactor.com/
 


Looking for somewhere to submit your short Horror fiction?
You will find plenty of horror markets to choose from below.
Our horror market listings are sorted in the following categories.

 

Pro Paying horror markets listed as paying more than 3 cents per word


Semi-Pro Paying horror markets listed as paying between 1 and 3 cents per word


Low Paying  horror markets listed as being from fractions of up to 1 cent per word


Token Paying horror markets listed as paying between $5 and $15 flat rate per story


Non-Paying horror markets listed as paying either exposure or contributor’s copy.


Keep in mind, many of the lower-paying markets may consider reprinted stories. This is a great market place to search if you are looking to re-sell something that has already been printed elsewhere. Don't discount them just because they pay a little less. They may still provide valid, published homes for your work! It all starts with getting your name out to the masses.

Download the Horror Short Fiction Market Listings ebook now, FREE!



                     

 

                                     Disclaimer:

Dont hold Steve responsible for any unpleasant experiences or rejections. It's just an unfortunate part of this business.*Even Steven has had his share of rejections! These are simply some writer's resources using the latest, most reputable compilations. The opinions reflects those of the chief editor.