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BrownHerron
Publishing
Frequently Asked Questions By Authors
That's a good
question! Since BrownHerron Publishing regularly works
with dozen of authors to post their e-Docs as quickly as
possible, we thought it helpful to take the most-asked
author questions and address them on one page.
Is there a
source for more information? Yes. Amazon.com provides a
special page for publishers with questions about the e-Doc
process. Authors can also log onto "e-Documents:
Our Top Publisher Questions."
But I can't
find an answer to my question in print! No problem. Just
send a special query to the BrownHerron editors. We'll get
back to you ASAP. Click
here to send a special question.
GETTING
STARTED
01.
What are BrownHerron's style guidelines?
First, you
should be aware that we have a Step-By-Step Guide that you
can refer to. Secondly, we will be glad to send you our
style guidelines in an e-mail with a "live" e-Doc that you
can also study before preparing your own e-Doc(s) for
submission.
Fundamentally, all BrownHerron e-Docs should be submitted in
the latest version of Microsoft Word®, using Times New
Roman 14 pt. type for the body font, and Arial font (if
desired) for contrasting headlines and
subheadlines.
02.
I see the term "RTP." What does it mean?
BrownHerron
Publishing does not design or lay out e-Docs; we accept them
for publication, edit them (lightly), catalog them, and post
them onto Amazon.com. It is the author's responsibility to
submit e-Docs that are "RTP: Ready To Publish."
03.
Will a BrownHerron editor help me with my first
e-Doc?
Of course.
That's usually the best way to go as it provides you a
"personal template" which you can use to generate more
e-Docs in the future.
FIRST
SUBMISSION
04.
I've submitted my e-Doc. Now what?
First, please
note that all approved-for-submission e-Docs must be
received by us no later than the 15th of the month. Within
7-10 days, usually, BrownHerron will edit and convert your
e-Doc to Adobe Acrobat(r) PDF format. We always provide the
author with a final version of his or her e-Doc before it
posts on Amazon.com.
05.
I have my final e-Doc, but I don't see it showing anywhere
on Amazon.com. Why is that?
BrownHerron
tries to post new documents every Monday night, as possible.
It can take anywhere from 7-21 days for a new e-Doc to show
on Amazon.com. Normally, we notify all authors when their
new e-Doc first shows on Amazon.
06.
My e-Doc is showing on Amazon, but I don't see the image of
the doc nor the catalog description.
Not to worry.
But this problem could take time to resolve. As you can
imagine, Amazon must keep track of thousands and thousands
of items that they offer for sale. Books and e-Docs are only
a fraction of their offerings. As a result, Amazon's
computers do not always "build" the full display (title,
price, item image, catalog description) for each and every
item right away. It can often taken 7-14 days, or more,
AFTER first posting a new e-Doc for the image of the e-Doc,
or other related text, to show. After a month, if key items
are still missing from new postings, BrownHerron can (and
has) requested that Amazon do a special re-build of our
entire catalog. This has always resolved such problems in
the past.
07.
I just found a mistake in my e-Doc! I need to correct my
e-Doc! Help!
One of the
great things about electronic publishing is that it is
possible to make corrections instantly. Just advise the
editors at BrownHerron of what you need to correct and we
can usually handle the matter pronto. Once a new PDF of your
e-Doc has been posted to Amazon (usually on the Monday
following your submitted correction), all buyers of that
e-Doc will be able to download the corrected version.
SPECIAL
ISSUES
08.
My e-Doc is now for sale on Amazon and I have the final
version of the PDF. May I sell this e-Doc on my own website
as well? May I freely give it to clients and others who
might be interested in reading this e-Doc?
Under our
Author's Agreement, authors may share printed copies of
their e-Doc(s), but they have promised to not sell, post, or
distribute the electronic version of their BrownHerron
e-Doc(s) except through
www.amazon.com/BrownHerron.
09.
Can I use my e-Doc as part of a future book or as an article
for a periodical?
Of course. All
authors own full copyright to the material they submit as an
e-Doc. However, if the same material in a BrownHerron e-Doc
is published in a book or periodical, authors should take
special note of the fact that the electronic rights to the
material contained in the e-Doc have already been assigned
to BrownHerron Publishing. The same material used in an
e-Doc we publish may not be electronically issued by any
other publisher.
10.
BrownHerron Publishing has hundreds and hundreds of e-Docs
by a lot of great authors. As one Author Member, can I
access all of the e-Docs in the BrownHerron catalog without
having to go to Amazon and pay for them? What if I want to
use another Author Member's e-Doc in a book or article I'm
writing, giving full credit to the author in my own writing?
Can I freely acquire e-Docs from the BrownHerron catalog for
legitimate research purposes?
BrownHerron
Publishing always wants to help its Author Members. However,
when we co-sign an Author's Agreement, we only acquire the
rights to sell an author's e-Docs on Amazon.com. Thus, we
don't have the right to distribute an author's e-Doc(s) any
other way.
Of course, most authors would like to think that other
authors would buy their e-Doc, just as they might purchase
another author's book. This helps all authors by boosting
sales ranks and by increasing their royalties. It's a true
win-win.
Wanting to cite an e-Doc in your own writing is a special
case.
Since each author holds the copyright to his or her e-Docs,
the best way to address special research needs like this is
to contact the e-Doc author directly, explain your needs,
and ask if he or she will send you a printed copy of their
e-Doc on a special privilege basis. This is easy to do:
all
BrownHerron authors can be contacted by e-mail simply by
clicking on their name on our e-Authors
page.
For any e-Doc that carries the byline of "The Editors of
BrownHerron," these research requests should be directed to
the Editor at info@brownherron.com.
Should an author freely share his or her e-Doc with you, we
would ask you to pay special note to the fact that the e-Doc
you receive is a commercial product for sale on Amazon. By
common agreement, the e-Doc you received for research
purposes should not be posted on any website nor
redistributed electronically or in printed form. Thanks for
you special caution on this!
SALES
MATTERS
11.
When does BrownHerron report on sales? When does BrownHerron
pay royalties?
Tracking and
reporting sales information about e-Docs is difficult.
BrownHerron receives official sales reports from Amazon 60
days after the end of each month. So, for e-Doc sales in May
(for example), we find out in early August. Given the number
of authors we work with, it's just not possible to provide
detailed sales information other than when we issue royalty
checks, which occurs in April and September.
12.
I don't see a sales rank number on my e-Doc on Amazon.
What's wrong?
Not a thing.
Amazon does not place a sales rank number on any e-Doc until
at least one copy of the document has been sold. Relatedly,
we have found that only a handful of sales (12 or fewer) can
dramatically alter the sales rank position of an e-Doc. As
the "e-Doc revolution" continues to evolve, and higher
volumes of e-Docs sell, it will require more sales to move
an e-Doc higher in its ranking.
13.
How can I boost the sales ranking of my
e-Doc(s)?
While
BrownHerron does some promotion of e-Docs, mainly via the
BrownHerron
storefront on Amazon,
the most effective sales and marketing comes from the
author. Mentioning e-Docs via e-mail campaigns, website
announcements, and from the speaker platform has been shown,
time and again, to be the most effective way for an author
to boost his or her sales ranking.
14.
I've heard others in BrownHerron use the term "SNP." What is
that?
From time to
time, and purely at Amazon's discretion, e-Docs by
BrownHerron and other e-Publishers are spotlighted by
mention in an e-mail announcment sent by Amazon. This is
called an "SNP" (Single New Product) announcement, which
goes to thousands of Amazon readers.
15.
I see that my e-Doc is listed on "best-selling" lists,
either on the BrownHerron storefront or on some other page
on Amazon. Is that significant?
Yes, it is.
Best-selling status on Amazon.com is determined by how well
your e-Doc is selling compared to all others in their e-Doc
inventory. If you should sell, for example, 10 copies of
your e-Doc in one day, that could make it a best-seller
compared to other e-Doc sales for the period of time that
the listing counts (day/week/month/etc.). It is impossible
to tell how well your e-Doc is selling until official sales
reports are received by BrownHerron, which is why we report
sales twice each year. But anytime your e-Doc achieves
"best-seller" status, it is good news!
16.
I promoted my e-Doc to a select list of clients and friends,
and I just heard that one of them is having a hard time
downloading my e-Doc. Will BrownHerron get involved by
reporting this to Amazon and making sure the customer
successfully obtains the purchased e-Doc?
BrownHerron is
only one of many e-publishers on Amazon. We provide
top-quality e-Docs for Amazon to sell. Each month, Amazon
sells thousands of e-Docs to customers who successfully
order, pay for, and download their selections. All in all,
we receive only a few complaints each year about downloading
problems involving our e-Docs.
Thus, on issues like this, we
recommend that the customer contact Amazon
directly.
Given the myriad reasons why one customer may be
experiencing special purchase or download problems, it's
simply beyond our scope as a publisher of e-Docs to provide
technical support for Amazon's sales or download
process.
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