She stated that she invests a $1,000 in each book she publishes. The rant went on and on, but what stuck with me most was the investment of a $1,000. What the heck constituted such an amount?
When I asked, Rosa listed a series of expenses, none of which made any sense. Rosa seemed to forget that I self-published before signing up with her and as such know a thing or two about publishing.
When I pressed for clearer answers she stated that cover design and editing are very expensive.
I know that editing is expensive, but I also know that my novel “Lily” wasn’t edited by Rosa. The book is exactly like the manuscript, word for word.
Rosa didn’t like it when I said that. Her exact words were “Bullshit! I am an editor.”
I was slightly stunned by this claim. Rosa is an amateur writer, a micro publisher and now she claims to be an editor? Does she even know what an editor does?
I worked with a real editor in the past and I was amazed at what this woman could do. She took a story of mine and made it so much better. It was like I had given her a drawing in black and white, and she made it come to life with colors.
Rosa didn’t do anything like that with “Lily”.
In fact, I doubt she even proofread it. One reader got in touch with me and stated that she had found numerous typos. She said that the mistakes didn’t take away the beauty of the story, but that I should fix them nonetheless.
As for cover design … most of the cover designs at Rosa’s publishing house are terrible. There are a few nice ones, but the majority is downright ugly and tasteless.
Whatever she paid her amateur “designer” it’s too much. So I thought I’d give her a shot at working with a professional who has worked with a lot of authors and has never charged more than $150. She shot me down.
That’s not all she did though, she terminated my contract. Within minutes I received the following email:
"You have so totally crossed the line. Your contract for Debbie and your contract for Lily are hereby terminated, effective immediately. Your rights to both manuscripts in their original forms as you submitted them are yours to do with as you wish. Both books will immediately be delisted and remain out of print. Any royalties due you will paid within 10 days."
When I read that royalties due will be paid, I nearly burst out laughing. Was she joking?
My so called royalties will be discussed tomorrow in Part II.