Eric and Angie's "Book"

All images appearing on this page were either posted to Facebook as PUBLIC or are my own images and video*

I've gotten a smattering of emails this week so here are the answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions: Mailed Thursday August 4, arrived Monday August 8, Media Mail with tracking. I placed an order at full price in my own name on July 3 and expected to get an immediate refund. I don't remember what I paid for shipping but they definitely pocketed a little extra cash. And to the person who thinks this is "PROOF" that I am working with Eric, go concoct some other conspiracy theory. No one could be more shocked than I am that they actually sent this to me.

30 Days to Triumph.

Or a Year. Give or Take.

2017 is GO! GO! GO!

Eric Returns Home

On June 19, 2016, Eric "Fat Guy" Hites stunned the world by announcing in a video that he had returned home to Indiana. The dream seemed to be coming to an end but Eric assured his supporters that he would be addressing medical and dental problems and seeking sponsors and "doners." He insisted he wanted to find out why he has not lost weight "even though I'm putting in the work and the diet." He reaffirmed his commitment to get back on the road because HE WILL NOT QUIT!

By July 2, a page appears on the FGAA website along with a Facebook announcement.

Angie would later announce that she is self-employed.

Eric announces that they will print the book out themselves with a laser printer on card stock and purchase a coil binder. With the addition of several key chain designs, it's all looking quite exciting but Eric experiences a "darkness" that drives him to wear Spanx and 80s sunglasses while eating cake and crushing small animals.

This being "paralyzed" may explain why, after 14 months of this journey to renewed health, Eric can only manage 15 minutes on an elliptical.

A plan to raise money by having supporters cast bids to name the book character goes awry when Eric awards the privilege of giving him money to a grieving grandmother who wanted to memorialize her deceased granddaughter.

When the title character is renamed, Eric chooses to honor a supporter who invented outrageously bizarre lies about me. I admit I find it disappointing that to this day, no one has questioned how a random stranger would supposedly know my personal medical and financial history. As I am a decade too young to qualify for Medicare, I must assume he meant to accuse me of being on Medicaid and he's simply too stupid to lie well. I'd be interested to know what he might claim my disability is. After members of the CD group responded to the lies by posting that it would be OK if they were true, I decided my own group had jumped the shark and I gave up on it.

"The Tale of Mortimer the Tortoise & Simon the Snail" is about a turtle and a snail who decide it would be loads of fun to roll down a hill. So they do. It's written like a poem in that it includes rhyming words but there is no discernible rhyme scheme or meter.

The Truth About Self-Publishing

I worked in publishing and printing for two decades. I published my own book through Amazon CreateSpace and have consulted with several clients to publish their books and sell them on Amazon. If you are able to arrange for professional editing and have the skills to do your own production, it would cost NOTHING OUT OF POCKET to publish with CreateSpace and sell a book on Amazon. From there, you also need a strategy for how you're going to market and sell your book, of course. Getting on Amazon legitimizes your book but you still have to get found.

The primary revenue stream for all companies offering "self-publishing," including CreateSpace, Lulu, and IngramSpark, is selling editorial and production services to aspiring authors. Book manufacturing costs are covered per unit "on demand" through a fully-automated process. That is, when someone orders a self-published book, the printer's cut is taken first and the author gets the royalty. It's truly amazing technology that's been streamlined and automated so completely that a single book can be produced "on demand" for a few dollars but that is NOT the real money-maker for these companies. Once they get your email address (and god help you if you are stupid enough to call), you will be relentlessly hounded to buy everything from basic copyediting to shopping your book in Hollywood. I find it a truly disgusting business that preys on peoples' dreams. I have talked to people who sunk small fortunes into producing books that would ultimately sell only a few hundred copies, if that much. By the time the book is ready to sell, the self-publishing company has made its money off the author client. (Note: What I do is work with people to develop their book for a single flat fee. Before I accept a client, I discuss with them how they plan to market their book. Most of my clients have been business people who want to minimize costs to produce a book they use to market their services.)

Editing aside, as I'm certain no professional editor laid eyes on this material until my "book" arrived in the mail, Eric essentially did his own production including the cover. If the files could be output to a laser printer, they could have been sent through a self-publishing submission process. And by the way, setting up an account with any self publisher will require providing tax information. ANY amount of sales will generate a 1099-MISC at tax time.

If Eric had set his "book" up through CreateSpace and priced it at the original full price, these are his estimated royalties per sale and what he'd have to pay if he wanted to buy books at cost.

Amazon CreateSpace Self-Publishing Royalty Calculator

Amazon CreateSpace Book Manfacturing Cost Estimator

Note: There is no bulk purchase discount

If you use Amazon CreateSpace as your publisher, you do not have to purchase your own ISBN number and barcode; you will be assigned a number and given a barcode AT NO COST. An ISBN and barcode cost $150 from the official US agency, Bowker. Since the Hites claim they will be "writing" multiple books, they could do what I did which is take Bowker's best deal—10 ISBNs for $250. But since they claim money is very tight, they could have chosen the CreateSpace free option especially in light of the fact that every new edition requires a new ISBN.

Eric (or more likely his parents) has had to spend money on printer ink, a coil binder and coils, card stock, and mailing supplies and postage. The Internationally-Known Power Couple have had to assemble everything by hand and take care of all the shipping. They can't fulfill international orders without going to further expense. With all these expenses and screwing over people who paid full price with the number of times the IKPC have run reduced-price "sales," I would estimate any per-book profit is down to maybe a dollar a book if anything. They may even be losing money overall.

The Lulu Option
A sale page has appeared on Lulu.com. Click here to see it. Let's compare the Lulu choice with CreateSpace. First you have to opt for a "Premium Paperback" to get the 8.5" square format. A full-color 48-page book will be priced at a downright STUPID manufacturing cost even with a volume discount. Oh ugh.

The book is now available for TWENTY ONE DOLLARS. Consider I've estimated the manufacturing cost at $10.53. When the Lulu version was originally priced at $23, Eric claimed they would only make $1 profit per sale. This is a LIE. Lulu's commission is 20% of the net so the $21 book at a manufacturing cost of $10.53 nets $10.47.
Lulu's estimated commission: $2.09. Eric's estimated profit per Lulu sale: $8.36

We can see that "New Hites Publishing" is listed as the publisher. This means that Eric (or probably his dad) shelled out for an ISBN. When you buy your own, you can enter ANY publisher name you want. It does not have to be an actual business entity. This is a cool secret trick I like to share with my clients. Self-publishing companies tend to sell it like a service to rip people off. Did Eric know the secret? Or did he pay for this "service"? I am not going to invest the time in looking up what Lulu offers.

It's quite amusing that they call it "Second Edition" but failed to make the change in the actual book as evidenced by the Preview. They DID change the "past" error so we know they updated the book file and failed to change the edition information.

Besides Lulu's higher manufacturing costs, the Hites will also be penalized by Amazon. CreateSpace books are up on Amazon within a day; any others take up to eight weeks. Also, Amazon will not promote a non-CreateSpace book. You know how Amazon makes suggestions to you based on what you've been looking at? CreateSpace books will be recommended; others will not.

A Matter of Copyright

Eric has claimed that he will file copyright infringement against anyone who reproduces his "book" online. But he will not hold an enforceable copyright.

While copyright is automatic upon creation of an original work, to file a lawsuit for money damages based on a claim of copyright infringement, a copyright must be registered with the US Copyright Office. Eric could have begun the process of Pre-Registration before he began shipping the books. Technically, the book is now "published" and is no longer eligible for pre-registration. Registering a copyright online with pre-registration costs $140 and takes about 3 to 5 months to process. At this point, Eric could register with paper forms through postal mail which would cost $55 and take 7 to 10 months to process.

Putting a threatening notice in a book does nothing not even if you print it twice. Eric's "copyright" is as enforceable as Larry Landsman's infringement claim on that trademark Eric does not own. And no, there's no DRM angle for a work that is only published as print material on paper.

If and when Eric completes registration, he can file his lawsuit against me sometime in 2017.

The Editor's Determination

I have received email asking me about the "passed vs. past" issue. It seems no one knows the sentence in question. Here it is:

This usage is definitely incorrect and it should not be up for discussion. "Passed" is the past participle of the verb "pass." In this context, "past" should be used as an adverb where "continued" is the verb. Simplify the sentence to understand, "They continued on past Berkley's old tree." I'd like to know the "English professor" who thinks this is even a question.