I know, I should be writing a book. One filled with new ideas, creativity, climax (one way or another) and hero’s and heroine’s fight to avoid the HEA that they are bound for. This takes time and mental turmoil to create works of art and bring enjoyment to readers.
Apparently, there is another way. You think I am crazy? Nah, there is a growing epidemic within the indie community that has been noticed among readers and authors alike. I thought I would share MY OPINION (<— Don’t get all fuckity) on this new trend!
See, there is a generalized process to publishing a book. Every release is different, but these things have to be done if you intend to sell the book.
Step 1 – Write the book
Step 2 – Edit the book
Sep 3 – Design a cover for the book
Step 4 – Market the book
Step 5 – Publish the book
Step 6 – Hope like fuck someone reads the book
Sounds easy, right? Like hell it is. Writing a book full of passion, anguish and originality will force an author through emotional stress that a reader will never see nor need to. Sleepless nights, sore wrists, hair pulling and an abundance of grunts and groans are things we, as authors, put ourselves through in order to deliver some reader hours of escape from reality.
Let’s talk about what an author gets in return, monetary compensation for the hell we put ourselves through. If we were to sell our book for $0.99 on Amazon. We will make $0.35 per book. Yep, you see this correctly – THIRTY-FIVE CENTS. If you read it on Kindle Unlimited – we get portions of pennies per page read with 3,547,334 stipulations that come with it. So, for the sake of readability, we will say $0.10 per book if read to completion. BIG MONEY MAKER HERE, Right? LOL, No.
What if I told you that there is a new fad, sweeping the indie community and Amazon. Believe it or not, some of the readers out there actually use the “New Release” option on Amazon. Checking everyday for their next book fix. What has been discovered is authors using pen-names, MULTIPLE PEN NAMES, and capitalizing on the Kindle Unlimited profits as well as the New Release reader.
“English, Virginia!” Yeah, I hear you. This is what I found in my quest to uncover a legal and very shady way of doing business on Amazon.
I will use my own work as an example. Most of you know of my book, Soulless Nights. Published February 6th, 2016, it was successful at the time, but my other books have over shadowed my debut release. Although, it was a well-reviewed book, it has lost its luster. This happens to all authors and what can you do about it? Nothing, other than promote it? Forget about it and move on? Give it away for FREE?
Maybe, I will remove it from Amazon, start using a new pen-name, make a new cover and title, market it as a new book and publish it on Amazon. SWEET! Then I will capitalize on readers that don’t want to or haven’t read a 2-year-old book! When the title has run its course. I WILL REPEAT THE PROCESS! Re-releasing the same book, under a new name, with a new cover, a new title and a fresh blurb and make more money!! My KU readers will surely read it again, for me! Street Wars by Ginni Holland – it is!!!
Watch this………
My new book is complete!!!! Mwuahahahahaha
(KILL ME NOW)
Maybe we should take notes from a few of the following author(s). Evelyn Glass, Kathryn Thomas, April Lust, Paula Cox, Zoey Parker, Sophia Gray, Naomi West, Nicole Fox, Heather West, Claire St. Rose… to name a few. Don’t ask me who the ‘real Slim Shady’ is, cause that is a fucking mystery in itself. From what I can tell, Evelyn Glass seems to be the first name used to publish the story that I found, first. I found TWO stories, both listed on Goodreads.
(I have linked the books, not to recommend them in any ways, cause the reviews speak for themselves, but of authenticity of the manipulation that the author(s) are succeeding with)
Play Dirty: Devil’s Mustangs MC by Evelyn Glass released in 2015
Biker Daddy: Devil’s Mustangs MC by Paula Cox released in 2017
Both books have the same story line and the same character names. I mean, they could’ve made this a little more difficult to Google. Either way, this is the same book only published 2 years later with a new name and cover. Pretty cool, huh? The fun part is that neither are available on Amazon, which makes me think that you may be able to find it on the New release section of Amazon in the near future.
I suppose if I had no morals or values I would move along with this outright fuckery, but I lack the ‘I’m going to fuck over other authors (KU payout), readers (may have already read it) and Amazon (technically, it is not illegal since the previous version had been removed).’
So, the next time an author is banging their head on a wall, trying to find the words that will rip you from reality and drop you face-first in to their imagination – Just think, they could easily give up and boldly lie to you with a New Release.
For the record, I am not releasing Street Wars but it is a cool fkn pic. LOL