I thought we had an understanding, you and I.
Well, not just you and I, but every writer who uses your NOOK Press platform.
We sell books on your website, you pay us after 60 days, thereabouts, less your commission.
Pretty simple, right?
And for a while it hasn’t been an issue, at least on my end. Every month you deposited money into my bank account. It was never clockwork—not like with Amazon—but I could always depend on the money being there near the end of the month, or at the very least right at the beginning of the month.
But something strange—not to mention worrisome—happened this past month.
No money was deposited into my bank account.
No money was deposited in several other writers’ bank accounts, either. I know, because I’m friends with several different writers, and they all confirmed to me they haven’t been paid. I’ve even seen writers on your infrequently-visited NOOK Press message board complain about not being paid.
Another complaint?
No communication.
Numerous emails from several different writers have been sent with no reply. Not even a public statement.
As you can imagine, this is quite worrisome.
It’s especially worrisome for us writers whose sole income comes from our writing. We depend on places like yours and Amazon and Apple and Kobo and Google Play to pay us every month. After all, we have rents to pay, mortgages, utility bills, car payments, the friggin IRS. And even for those writers who don’t make a lot of money on your platform—say it’s only a few bucks—money is still money. They might need to pay for gas. Or food for their kids. Anything at all.
I’ve never had any issue with you guys. While many want to dismiss you as a time bomb just waiting to go off, I’ve sold quite a lot of ebooks on your website. So much so that I could never bring myself to pull all of my books and put them exclusively on Amazon, as I know many other writers have done. A kneejerk reaction now would be to say that I’m going to do just that, but the truth is I make good money on your platform … at least, I do in theory. Until the money actually enters my bank account, they’re just numbers on the screen.
I suppose anyone publishing on your platform—just like any platform, such as Amazon’s—agrees to play by your rules. We agree to your terms, which means you can basically do whatever you want. Which is pretty shitty, but something we need to accept.
Still, the fact that several writers haven’t been paid yet—and many haven’t even received a response from you about said payment—does not bode well for the future of your company.
And as a writer who uses your platform to sell books—in which I make money and you make money—I’m beginning to question our understanding.
Because I’m not the only one who’s worried. There are many, many others out there. Many writers who could just as easily stop publishing on your website. Maybe not as many to make a difference to you at first, but the more time that passes in which you don’t pay us, the more angry writers get, and, well, you know how that goes.
Every cent counts. You know that just as well as we do. So how about your hold up your end of the deal and pay us our money?
Thanks for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Robert
UPDATE: I received an automated email on 9/10 from B&N:
A payment of $XXX.XX for your NOOK Book sales through NOOK Press was deposited into your account on September 5, 2014. It typically takes between one and five days for the payment to be reflected in your bank account. We apologize for the delay in getting this payment to you. Last week, we experienced a glitch in our systems and acted quickly to get it resolved. We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.
My latest ebook has just been released. It's called Giotto's Circle. It's a short story, about 6,000 words long, and it's quite good if I may say so myself.
November 15, to be exact. My first (and possibly last) literary novel. You can pre-order it on Kindle