Forum Moderators: not2easy
My site has been up since 1999 and I've always had the copyright notice posted. I talked to an attorney today - he told me that since I did not have a registered copyright, attorney fees are not recoverable in litigation. And since the book is self-published, there is not likely to be much available in damage recovery anyway.
Any ideas?
Mike
What probably happened is that the "author" of the book complained about the negative review, claiming that the reviewer had it in for him, or something. Amazon promptly took it down.
He then asked three friends to post positive reviews. If they are all worded the same, you may be able to get THEM taken down too... But another course of action may suggest itself to you too.
I'd say that 2 of the reviews sound like the author himself since both start of by saying "I first saw this book on ESPN" or "After seeing this in Sports Illustrated". Who talks like that?
I think everyone here should go make a review in amazon...
Sales rank is about 50,000 though!
I told him that threatening me was ludicrous if not silly. People are free to express their opinions, although in the case of this book evidently not since Amazon honors his request to censor reviews. (Keep that in mind when assessing Amazon reviews!)
He then claimed to have generated his book content independently, although he was 'aware' of my website. He said he had been building his collection long before my website was launched in 1999. But in his many interviews available on the web, he says that he started work on the idea during an airplane flight last year.
I told him the similarities are so strong it's hard to imagine people not being suspicious about the origin of his content. I went on to say that it made perfect sense to contact me before going to press for that very reason. He responded that he never dreamed there'd be a perception of plagiarism and strongly denys any exists.
His tone then changed -- he proposed we become partners. I could sell his book on my website and keep all the profits of sales generated there - roughly 7 bucks a book. He would also acknowledge the website in a 2nd printing (sales have been brisk). He also acknowledged that he had hired a publicist to get him his various national interviews to push the book.
I'm still mulling over the options. Part of me wants nothing to do with him or his book - even acknowledging its existence on the site is an endorsement of sorts. But since I can't sue him, this is probably the only way to see a smattering of compensation.
My concern is with the $7 he says he will pass along to you on each book. If the Amazon rating is in the 50,000 area, he can't be selling many, so he is probably using Print-On-Demand (POD) publishing. Of course it depends on the number of pages, but check to see if there are any added fees taken out for small volume sales.
After you have read his fine print, you can then making a better decision on whether or not to proceed.
Steve
I agree about the shill reviews.. at least two of the three are clearly written by the same person. But with that sales rank he surely can't be shipping that many?
It sounds like a good time to get legal advice, as if he's prepared to do what he's suggesting, is that not an admission of culpability?
Sources seem to indicate that an amazon rank of 100,000 means you're selling 5 books a week. Your rank can fluctuate drastically day to day depending on sales.
However, I believe by taking this road you have maintained YOUR integrity. I believe that this action will be of benefit to you in the future.
Please let us know of any further salvos in this particular battle of the war....
Probably the most astounding thing I've learned from this experience is that Amazon will work with sellers to manipulate product ratings.
So that leaves me wondering just WHO this bozo really is? And WHAT does he have going on with a major player of this nature? And I remember that a very clever attorney I know once told me, "follow the money"....
Get this: He asked me if he could 'have' my mailing list so he could could market his book that way. Evidently, my low-key personality comes through very well on the phone! I told him (truthfully) that I don't have such a list. He asked again if I'd be willing to sell his book on my site...I could feel the rage building up inside and simply had to end the conversation.
I sure hope he never calls again.
Then go ahead and let him post, and let your users respond. It could do more for the reputation of his book than he could ever imagine.
Four more shill 5-star reviews have gone up on Amazon. The book writer is simply not clever enough to disguise his obviously bogus self-reviews. They are so blatantly fake it's silly. That said, sales at Amazon have dropped considerably...the Amazon sales rank conversion chart provided by Tough Turkey indicates he is selling only 1-2 copies a week. I should also mention that the entire book can be searched on Amazon and it's full of grammatical errors, no doubt the consequence of self-publishing without a copy editor.
Slumping sales evidently prompted another email from my friend the website hijacker. He asked again if we could partner to sell his book on my website. I firmly refused and wished him luck (he didn't know of course, that I was secretly wishing him BAD luck!). I hope he and his book dry up and blow away.
A few days later, the price of the book on Amazon was decreased by 15%. I'm pretty sure most books do this after the initial hype wears off. In this case, the discount happened about three months after the initial press run.
Although this story may be far from over, I feel a sense of quiet victory here by refusing to partner with him. I've maintained my integrity. It also looks like it was a good decision to not pursue expensive legal action to stop him. Market forces may relegate this book to the trash heap without any effort on my part.
If you feel that your emotions are too involved here, so that you can't make clear business decisions, consider asking someone whose judgement you trust, and who would be suited for the task, to negotiate on your behalf. Often times in business situations like this where you have invested so much of yourself it is better to have someone else talk for you.
If there was enough money involved ideally that someone else would be a lawyer; if not enough money is involved still consider doing something to protect your rights.
If you do nothing there is the risk that you are tacitly admitting his book is NOT a copy. In the future, if sales of his 2nd or 3rd version are good, he will point to your inaction as proof that he did not plagiarize your book--you clearly knew about it and did nothing. He will later claim you popped up with your complaint only because he started making money.
So, it's better to settle this now. Have someone you trust send him a REASONABLE offer, and consider his joke of an offer just to be a starting point--and an admission on his part that his position is not as strong as he makes it out to be (or he never would offer you anything.)
The national interviews and magazine articles were arranged by an expensive publicist. His glitzy website (which is not a copy of mine but only a sales vehicle for the book) and publication run also involved a financial outlay. I know because he told me himself in the first phonecall when he was threatening ME with a lawsuit for 'orchestrating a negative review campaign' at Amazon. Finally, the book is sloppily written with grammar and spelling mistakes. I honestly don't want to be associated with it or even acknowledge it -- despite the obvious resemblance to the premise and organization of my website.
I don't believe a 2nd or 3rd printing is in the works and I suspect the guy has not even shown a profit yet.
You are almost certainly correct.
A couple of friends of mine have written what is considered one of the ultimate safety related books for sea kayaking. It is carried in virtually every shop that caters to this sport, and is required reading for lots of classes.
Even though it was largely a compilation of accident report and analysis articles that they wrote for a magazine, it took them years to reach the point where they figure that they were getting minimum wage for their thousands of hours putting it together.
Unless he can get the books on the shelves of the local bookstores, I can't imagine that he is moving many of them out of his garage.
So, my thoughts:
* File for at least one trademark for your website name.
Then:
* Turn the meat of your content into a free ebook
* Turn your full site a paid ebook, with exclusive content
* Offer the free ebook on your site
* Offer the paid ebook for sale at ... Amazon
I suggest a price of $9.95 - also add to your site that you have the MOST recent book on the subject, LOWEST price, and BEST GUARANTEE... and BEST REVIEWS. Then:
* Have someone buy the ebook and the copycat book
Amazon should then show "People who bought CopyCat book also bought *your* book" (does this work even after the books are returned - could be - so buy 10 copies throught 10 friends, then return them.).
The text of your ebook sales page on Amazon should point out that you can get a free intro-version of the ebook on your website (or stick the text on your cover so people can read the website name on Amazon.com).
Final note: Add a game on your website (many Flash programming sites offer free games you can use on your own site - some may require attribution, some don't). People like games, and stating that the ebook "ties into a fun online game at your-site.com" will liven up the interest of many people.
(I've no idea what your book title is - or the copycat book - so the ideas may not be all as usable as I think they are :) )
