BOOKSURGE PUBLISHING SUCKS!!!

…yes, yes, I’m afraid it’s true, sad to say…

So here’s the deal: Last spring I had the notion to combine two of my previous poetry collections—‘Big, Naughty Monkey’ and ‘The Mad God’—into a single, hardcover edition, but keep them separate as paperbacks… both had been published through Booksurge, so for copyrighting reasons I went back to them with this idea. Now the reason I stopped using them as my primary publisher a few years ago was because I had to hound them every step of the process or it never got done—but then, when I got them to do it, they did it right… then they raised their rates and complicated their procedure… so I went shopping around for somebody new. What I’ve discovered this year, in working with them again, is that the hounding them every step of the way is still absolutely necessary—however, now they’re really rather incompetent as well. Which is really very bothersome…. First they took ‘Big, Naughty Monkey’ and changed the title and cover, to make that a hardcover—but the only sign of ‘The Mad God’ was its mention on the cover. So they started over—this time actually using the files I’d provided for them in the first place… (hound, hound, hound)—ah, ha! The digital proofs! So I went over them, they seemed fine… (hound, hound) …received the hard copy—and everywhere there was supposed to be italicized print, it was not only not italicized, but the font was somehow changed… don’t really know how they managed that one… (and from the sound of it, neither do they…) So, trying again… (hound, hound, hound)—digital proofs okay… hard copy okay… then they had to convert it into hardcover (because, for some reason, they start off making a paperback—then have to change it over… I don’t know why… perhaps just another way to draw things out and torture the poor, psychotic writer who just wants his goddamned book printed… but I digress…) So the hounding for the hardcover commenced—and then, finally!!! It was done… and I’ve yet to see it. It’s been nearly a month since I requested my copies (because, I guess, paying for them last spring when the whole ordeal began wasn’t incentive enough for them to be sent—I had to hound them for that as well)—still not here. I see a paperback version of my intended hardcover is available on Amazon… so that’s… well… wrong. Perhaps someday I will have my lovely hardcover edition, and it will be made available to the world… perhaps I shall die of apoplexy dealing with incompetent, impossible, goddamned publishers.

(I’m such a bitch, hey?… But, methinks, deservedly so…)

Big, Mad, Naughty Monkey God

…sigh~

…maybe someday…

P.S. If you’re looking for a good digital publisher, these days, I’d recommend Infinity… just FYI….

—MFZ

9-24-06