August 13, 2008

Letters To The Editor For August 13th
printable version

Attorney Susie Hoeller's BookSurge Experience

In August 2007, I wrote my first book, RECALL, Food and Toy Safety: An American Crisis. I was very anxious to get the book on the market before the Christmas/Holiday shopping season because my book advised consumers how to avoid purchasing tainted foods and dangerous toys. I selected BookSurge, a subsidiary of Amazon, because I thought they would provide my book with wide distribution. After all, this is what they claimed on their website. I knew that as an unknown, first time author, I would have to work hard to market and promote my book and I did not expect BookSurge to do this. My only expectations of BookSurge were that they would publish the book; list it on their website; list it on Amazonís website; and fulfill on-line orders and orders from bookstores in a timely manner. BookSurge represented in writing that they could fulfill orders through bookstores as well as on-line orders at amazon.com and other websites they control.

In addition to the regular fees, I paid BookSurge an "expedite" fee to push forward the production time. I also waived my right to review the layout of the entire book and instead I just reviewed one chapter to save time in the production process.

I was satisfied with the production quality of the book and the marketing person at BookSurge who handled my account was very responsive. However, my readers and I experienced many problems in the customer service and order fulfillment process, such as:

People ordering via telephone to BookSurge were told by BookSurge customer service that the book was not available when it was.

People ordering via telephone to BookSurge were called back later by a BookSurge customer service person because their calls were not answered when placed. In other words, BookSurge did not have enough customer service agents to handle calls as they were received.

When the book was listed on Amazon.com, the cover of the book was not posted and I had to contact BookSurge to have this corrected.

When people ordered on Amazon, their orders were not fulfilled in a timely manner. One customer received an email (that she forwarded to me), which said the book was not available for order. One customer waited six (6) weeks for the book to be shipped.

The local Barnes and Noble and Borders in my area wanted to order the book but it was not available on their computer systems for order. BookSurge told me it would be but it was not because BookSurge later admitted they were not able to coordinate properly with distribution channels outside of their own system. So I lost sales of my book due to this.

BookSurge later told me that they would stock some of my books with a distributor so computer systems would show the book as available at bookstores. Despite this assurance the book was still not showing up in bookstore computer systems.

My large author order, which I needed for a local book signing, was late as the shipment was misdirected to another addressee in another state.

After this experience, I would never use BookSurge again because they did not fulfill their contractual obligations to me and they actually hindered the sales of my books. I paid them a lot of money for very little value.

Contrast this situation with my experience with my second book, IMPASSE: Border Walls or Welcome the Stranger, concerning immigration policy reform. Booklocker.com published this book. Their fees are lower than BookSurge and their service is SUPERIOR.

The cover design of the book is far superior; the printing job and layout is much better; the production process (without any expedite fees) was much faster; the bookís listing on the Booklocker.com website is superior in format and style; customer orders and my author orders have arrived promptly. I am 100% satisfied with every aspect of Booklockerís services and it is a pleasure to work with the Hoy family. They are truly interested in and dedicated to their authorís success.

When I went to a local independent bookstore to arrange for an upcoming book signing, my book immediately came up in the bookstoreís computer through Ingram. My second book was not "missing in action" like my first book was when BookSurge could not link it to other distribution systems.

I have just recommended another author I know to Booklocker.com and will continue to recommend them highly. I am working on a third book currently and will select Booklocker.com as my publisher.

Susie L. Hoeller
Hoeller Law Firm
http://www.hoellerlaw.com

BookLocker vs. Amazon / BookSurge

Hi Angela,

That Amazon thing really bums me...all this time, I have been giving them my money and unknowingly furthering their plan to takeover the publishing market. Greed is America's biggest shame - it will be our downfall.

Fight the good fight, Angela, your cause is just.

mt