Tag Archives: Proof

Harassment in Business – ONGOING

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We’ve all been bullied at one stage or another. Narcissism is part of the world today, though it doesn’t mean we have to live with it. I, for one, am over the stupidity of some people and what they think they can do to you and or your business.

Let me tell you a story – It’s from the beginning of my business.

I was asked to format a book for a person who shall remain nameless. (I actually did two) We decided verbally to exchange service in 2014. They would help me with marketing my new business which I started about two months later in exchange for Formatting. My Formatting at that time was ok, not brilliant though good enough for publishing, after all, I was still learning the ropes on how things worked. This person knew this as well.

Part of my business was insisting that each client approved final manuscripts prior to me turning them into ebooks or paperbacks. This was to make sure nothing was wrong or if they wanted changes. They needed to reply with approval or changes, and this would go on until Approval was given. Yes, this person approved. I have the emails to this day along with a timeline of proof costing me over $500 in 2016. 

Due to circumstances and their dislike of my Formatting which they said stopped them from selling books because it was so bad…(it wasn’t) I offered to redo them, mainly because my skills had improved. Once again they were APPROVED…and then they were unhappy again etc.  What they were really after was FREE Formatting anytime they wanted it. Sorry NOT HAPPENING…I run a business.  On top of this, they never did any marketing except printing off some posters at their expense.  I also built two websites for this person. 

NOW THEY SAID THEY WERE TAKING ME TO COURT.

It never happened. Meanwhile, I had the proof I had done my share of the work. Everything went quiet. Then in 2017, the HARASSMENT started on FB. I had to block them because someone mentioned something to them. They tried to leave a bad and unfair review. They tried to friend me through their partner and on other sites as well. I ignored them all.  No court, nothing…It went quiet.

Meanwhile, my depression and anxiety kicked in so bad, I was a hermit in the town I lived to scared to go out and about in case I saw them. It was horrible. It affected my family life and my mental health.

I decided to take back control. Gave them one last offer which once again they didn’t accept. Not my problem. It was fair.

FOUR DAYS AGO the same person who told them something in about 2017 commented on a post. I thought it was nice to see them, even though I had unfollowed them. I noticed they had unfriended me…WEIRD.  Anyway, we chatted for a few days on my Business Page. And this person did it again. Told the same person I was back in New Zealand. Next, my daughter gets an email about something and obviously told me. Apparently, said person has been sending emails to her on and off over the last few years which she deleted and ignored. Harassing my daughter. REALLY.

Today they sent me another email – SEE YOU IN COURT… (small claims court)

OVER THIS TOTALLY. STOP HARASSING ME AND MY FAMILY!  NOW, I’M ANGRY AND NOBODY SHOULD MESS WITH A LEO. COME AND GET ME…SHOW ME A DAMN COURT DATE, AND I WILL DEMOLISH YOU AND SUE YOU FOR DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER AND HARASSMENT. I HAVE THE PROOF…EVERY EMAIL THEY SENT SET OUT IN A TIMELINE.

PLEASE DON’T LET ANYONE GET YOU INTO THIS TYPE OF SITUATION! DON’T SWAP WORK OR SERVICES UNLESS YOU KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT YOU CAN TRUST THEM 100%. 

I hate bullies, trolls, and being harassed. Move on and get a life… and stop using people to spy for you.  

The last bit… The person who spied for them deliberately sort me out chatted found out where I live (CITY) told the person harassing me and then deleted the chat they had with me. They are also now blocked on FB and Gmail.  

I’m not a trusting person, and now… I’ve been stomped on again… Be careful out there.

I CAN GIVE ANYONE WHO ASKS A TESTIMONY FOR THE WORK I DO. ONE OF MY CLIENTS IS AN AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR. I HAVE WORKED WITH OVER FORTY CLIENTS WITH SUCCESS…

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO THE STRUGGLES OF BUILDING A BUSINESS IN INTERIOR DESIGN & FORMATTING.

Uploading your Self-Published eBook to Lulu

Welcome to the world of LULU Uploading.  As promised here is the second installment about UPLOADING…This time it’s for eBOOKS.

WE start with picking what we wish to publish, of course this time it is the ebook we wish to do. So follow the images and I’ll explain what is what as you scroll through them.

You picked the ebook now it is time to think about if you wish to do this for FREE or need to ask for help.  This of course depends on how proficient you are at formatting and if you can format the way LULU need you to. 

One think I have noticed with ebook distribution sites, they all have their own styles of formatting. Some are easier than others. Once in the know…it becomes easy.

This blog is about how to publish your book for FREE and we would hit ‘MAKE YOUR EBOOK’ Tab to continue.  

Meanwhile. If you need any assistance and a guiding hand you can ask for some professional support  from LULU – who will handle the heavy lifting for you.

The choice is made and you are starting a NEW PROJECT. It’s time for the TITLE and AUTHOR NAME.  It also asks what you wish to do with your project. Most people want to sell their books and this is the recommended route to take. After your choices are made click save and continue.

Next you get to choose your ISBN for your book.  You can pick the FREE LULU ISBN which can only be used on books you distribute via LULU. 

If you are uploading to another site, it is likely they will offer their own FREE ISBN.  If you have already purchased a set of ISBN then use them.  There is a link on the below image on how to purchase your own numbers. 

If you don’t wish to use an ISBN then you WON’T be able to distribute through LULU retail channels.

Below is shows the FREE ISBN for my book which they will email to me.  Since you haven’t yet uploaded your manuscript, now is the time to add the ISBN to your copyright page and save it again.

DO NOT UPLOAD YOUR MANUSCRIPT UNTIL YOU HAVE SET UP YOUR CHAPTER HEADINGS IN ACCORDANCE WITH LULU RULES.  YOU CAN ALSO DELETE YOUR CONTENTS PAGE HYPERLINKS…LULU WILL MAKE THIS FOR YOU.

Choose you manuscript and upload. You will see the BAR below turn and orange-yellow.

Once it has uploaded it will show the document as below.  If you have to make amendments later make sure you delete this file first on the X

Remember back to when you organised the HEADINGS in your manuscript.  Well this is what LULU do. They show you the list for your contents table which you can adjust by changing the headings.  When you do the HEADINGS you can use HEADING 1 – 3 ONLY You will also need to change the style to what you wish to see, making sure you embed the fonts as well.

Most Authors will also have their own BOOK COVERS by this stage in the process. If you do then you will need to upload the cover during this next stage.  Having your own BOOK COVER means you can use any Theme, they are technically irrelevant though you still need to choose one.  As you can see I stayed with the gold one with my name in the bottom right corner.

Click onto Backgrounds & Pictures. You can see where you can change the colour and edit the image.  If you have a BOOK COVER already made you will need to EDIT the IMAGE. If you need to build your own you can ask for professional help from a LULU Cover Designer.

Once again LULU have a criteria for the BOOK COVER.  This is where you will USE A DIFFERENT FILE – as shown below. Or you can accept this image and proceed to building your own cover.

Since you have clicked ‘Use a different file’ this new box will appear asking you to either upload your cover from your computer or browse the LULU GALLERY.  When you upload your own file make sure the sizing is correct or….

Before the ‘OR’   The file will upload the same way as the manuscript did…One the bar has finished loading you will be asked to ACCEPT or TRY AGAIN due to sizing requirements.

As show here…The first time I uploaded my BOOK COVER the requirements weren’t met, meaning they rejected my file asking me to alter it and upload it again.

Once the BOOK COVER file meets their criteria you will see the image – like shown below. Now you can ACCEPT the file and move on to the next stage.

Now you can see your cover you will need to click on TEXT. If you have a ready-made cover you will need to take out the TITLE and AUTHOR information as shown below.

If you have built your cover here then you can now edit your TITLE & AUTHOR name, give them the font, size and colour you wish them to have.

Once you have done, click SAVE and CONTINUE to go to the next stage.

You’ve nearly finished now. Unlike Kindle, Createspace & Draft to Digital where you describe your project at the beginning. With LULU you do this towards the end

Fill in the blanks. On my children’s book this is what I choose to go with. You can change this at any stage.

My children’s story is all about adventures in the Insect world in a Country Garden. It is suitable for ages 3 upwards though parents, grandparents, siblings etc would need to read to the younger children.

Fill in the description which you would usually find on the back of a PRINT Book. This will show on your AUTHOR PAGE and in the LULU Shop. I choose the Standard Copyright License though there are quite a few you can look through and choose from.

YES YOU MADE IT…IT’S TIME TO REVIEW, DOWNLOAD THE INTERIOR, CHECK THE FORMATTING, SEE IF IT ALL WORKS CORRECTLY. IF NOT THEN YOU HAVE SOME WORK TO DO, OTHERWISE IT IS TIME TO PRICE YOUR BOOK

DISTRIBUTION TIME – PLEASE REMEMBER IF YOU HAVE UPLOADED YOUR EBOOK ELSEWHERE THEN UN-TICK IT HERE.  ALSO REMEMBER YOU CAN GET YOUR BOOKS DISTRIBUTED VIA INGRAM SPARK WITH LULU

Make sure your LULU website is in the country where you live. Then pick the price and how much royalty you wish to make. Tick the boxes you need and hit REVIEW PROJECT. 

Next is the eBook Distribution Terms and Condition. Read them and ACCEPT if you wish to publish.

The next slide shows your REVENUE excl taxes. Once you are satisfied you have what you wish go to the last TAB – SAVE and FINISH.

CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE PUBLISHED

 

This is all from me for now. I hope it helps.  I will be making a post on how the HEADINGS work next week. Meanwhile enjoy the read and please SHARE.