Amazon screws up big time

Imagine you're me. You self-publish a book with BookSurge (an Amazon company) in 2008. To date, according to your author account, 52 books have sold on Amazon. 29 of those books sold in 2009, accounting for less than $150 in royalties. Now imagine getting the above W9 from Amazon along with 16 other W9s - in separate envelopes - from various Amazon subsidiaries totaling over $300,000! Yeah! Only $299,850 too much reported to the IRS!

It turns out it was a computer error. That's fairly obvious from the bogus social security number, but still - it gave me quite a start until I investigated.

Amazon says it has corrected the error in its records, hasn't reported the faulty information to the IRS, and will be re-issuing correct W9s.

Right.


P.S. If you want to toss me an actual royalty, my book is available at The Beat Handbook.

Customer reviews on Amazon

This is a reminder to readers that customer reviews on Amazon are very important in attracting additional customers. So far, my average rating on Amazon is very high - 5 stars - but I only have 8 reviews (out of 48 books sold). So, if you are someone who has my book and has not yet written a customer review on Amazon, I'd dearly appreciate your taking a couple of minutes to do it (and of course I'd prefer a 5-star rating to go with the review).

Same goes for Charlie's book, Life Lines: if you own it, please consider reviewing it on Amazon. I don't know what to do to get his sales happening. I guess poetry just isn't where it's at these days, which is sad because he is really an excellent poet and deserves a wider audience.

Another 5-star review on Amazon

The Beat Handbook has garnered another 5-star review on Amazon. The below was posted on January 1 by The Bootch from Massachusetts:

Book for ALL, Not Just Kerouac Fans! A MUST READ!

I have read all that Kerouac has to offer and I can say that this book offers a Fantastic View into the lifestyle of the "Modern Beat."

Ever wonder What Kerouac would do Today if.............?

Rick Dale guides you through a fantastic maze of excerpts from 2 of Kerouacs' classic books, The Road and Dharma Bums. Rick offers up wonderful, and in some cases life changing, activities (or as Rick calls them "Kerouactivities")to participate in!

Take my advice, read the book once, take a few notes along the way, then on your second read do as many of the Kerouactivities you can!

You may find yourself doing something as fulfilling as making a list of places you need to visit, listing your life priorities, giving away your favorite material possession or doing something as fun and liberating as peeing in your backyard or eating a homemade piece of apple pie and ice cream at a great roadside diner you have never been to before!
This book is for everyone not just Kerouac Fans.
Buy this book, read it at least twice, do at least half of the Kerouactivities, and pass the book on to someone else to enjoy..Recycle this book, or do what I do and carry it with you in your new used canvas rucksack (read the book and you will know what I mean!)

Thanks, Bootch! You rock!!

The outstanding question is: Have YOU posted your 5-star review yet?

Amazon reviews!

So far, The Beat Handbook has four 5-star Amazon reviews, and I appreciate each and every one! Who will be #5?

Crystal said:

Fun, fun, fun. Part beat `Kerouactions' and part journal for recording your own 'Kerouactivities.' I love that there's room to write - journal - right inside the book! Will fill mine up and have it to refer back to year after year. Maybe compare notes with friends - my journaled beat Kerouactivity for Day 10 is . . . what's yours? Yair! Let's go, go, go!!!

Matt said:

Sage like wisdom that brings an age old perspective to modern times. A real gem of a book.

Elizabeth said:

Not being entirely familiar with the "beat generation," (other than the most commonly read Kerouac), I was a little skeptical about whether or not I would "get" this book. I've met the author in person, and sometimes I felt lost in his company, as if I had missed something vitally important about life.

Now, I know what I was missing.

The Beat Handbook combines many different philosophies in a way that not only makes it feel inclusive but also accessible. Traditionally "beat," some passages call for the tossing away of convention and restriction. Others encourage us to think or act or just be content with what we have right now. Its part journal, part conversation, and part wisdom dispensed through a brilliant prose that feels like you're sitting across the table from an old friend.

Highly recommended!

Jaime said:

The perfect companion for a road trip or life's journey. Rick Dale combines the many experiences of Kerouac with his own to imbue the reader with the true spirit of a "beat". No matter the conundrum, there is sure to be an entry that will address your quandary. A must read for anyone tired of living in a world fueled by stuff!

If only I were Tom Brokaw...

This is going to strike someone as sour grapes, and I assure you, it isn't. If you're a sour grapes-seeking malefactor (I love that word) and what-have-you and so on and the like, go read Tom Brokaw's book blog, not mine. (Oops! My bad. He doesn't have one, or at least not one an average Joe like me can find.)

Here's my point. Brokaw just published - in paperback (the hardcover came out November 2007) - a book called Boom! Talking About the Sixties: What Happened, How It Shaped Today, Lessons for Tomorrow. It's already ranked #2,223 on Amazon and that's all pre-orders!

Man, what I wouldn't give for a platform like he has, hawking it on Chris Matthews, riding the success of The Greatest Generation, capitalizing on his - well-deserved, I will add - fame. On Hardball, Chris Matthews was going on about how all of the things going on in the sixties are timely today, blah blee blah.

Most of The Beat Handbook: 100 Days of Kerouactions is timely today (living cheaply and greenly and doing something - go go go), and a lot of it is timeless (eastern philosophy).

Yet, my sales rank is 153,275 (the lower the number, the better).

Believe me, I am ecstatically grateful for every single sale that put my book at its current number. Don't get me wrong, it's way better than being at 850,000+ (which it's also been at). But there is just something irksome about the correlation between a book's popularity and the powerful position (or lack thereof) of the book's author, sometimes (and probably not in Brokaw's case), irrelevant of the content.

I know. I know. That's the way things are.

But I don't have to like them.

And I know if my name were Tom Brokaw, my book would be a bestseller.*

So I say, launch a shot across the bow of the oppressive establishment in this country and buy a copy of The Beat Handbook! Thank you.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm Rick Dale, and I approve this message.



*And if my book were titled Penis Pokey, featuring scenes with holes in the pages through which you put your unit in order to complete the scene, well-known publisher Chronicle would have published my book instead of rejecting it. True story.

"So you'd like to . . ." guides on Amazon

Until recently I had not known about the "So you'd like to . . ." guides on Amazon. It allows Amazon users to create "how-to" advice, including links to products (Amazon is so smart!).

I created one last night titled, "So you'd like to . . . be a beat." Check it out on Amazon. Yes, it's shameless self-promotion.

While you're there, perhaps the beat writer in you will feel the muse and you'll create your own guide. We've all got something important and interesting to teach!

The Beat Handbook is on Amazon!

My first book, The Beat Handbook, is now available on Amazon! Some information (e.g., description) has yet to be populated into the product details page. That should happen soon - it's a process. Also, for now the only way someone can find my book by searching is to type in the entire title - The Beat Handbook: 100 Days of Kerouactions - or my name as follows: Rick Dale, D.Ed.

I had no input into the latter, but hope to figure out how to change things so searching for "The Beat Handbook" or "Rick Dale" will bring up my book. I'm sure it's a simple fix - it's just one I haven't figured out. As a first-time author, this is all new to me and it's an exciting learning experience.

By the way, if you want to go directly to the Amazon page for my book, here is the link: The Beat Handbook. The links on my website for buying the book at Amazon aren't hot yet, but that should happen in a couple of days.

Patience is something I'm (re)learning through this process!

The Daily Beat Test Post

This is a test post on The Daily Beat, my blog that links from my new website - http://www.thebeathandbook.com/. My website and my blog are all about promoting my first book, The Beat Handbook, published by BookSurge. My book should become available at Amazon.com in a matter of days. At that point, I will begin blogging here in earnest. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

And thanks, Jack, for the inspiration.