Frequently Asked Questions
Does Empower Copyright my book for me? No. Copyrighting today is a much simpler process, one that an author can accomplish by going online to the Library of Congress registration portal and following simple instructions. Empower will furnish the digital files you need if you decide have your book copyrighted. For those who aren't computer savvy, we will copyright your book for an additional $50. One form of "intellectual property protection" that automatically comes with your book is your ISBN number. This is also recorded by the Library of Congress and is an expression that everything in your book is you intellectual creation and cannot be used without your expressed permission.
What if I don't want to use Empower anymore? Once we have published your book, you are not contractually stuck with us in anyway. Some self-publishing houses lock authors in for years and use fancy schemes to drag more money from them. We think this is unscrupulous and ought to be illegal. Should you decide to stop using Empower, we will remove your book from our dashboard and unpublish it on Amazon and Kindle. Sales money may continue to come in for book that have already been sold (Amazon can take 90 days to forward sales money), so that any royalties that do come in even after you leave us will still be forwarded to you.
How can I promote the sale of my book? What's the point of writing a book if no one is going to read it? There are lots of folks out there who know that all writers want readers and, because of this, many schemes and promotions have been developed to take advantage of authors. At Empower, we have watched many authors try a plethora of different means to market their books. This has allowed us to develop what we call the 10 Commandments for Promoting Your Book, which you can see if you click here.
How can I know what my book costs to print and how do I estimate the cost of an order of books? Printing and shipping costs are areas where Empower really shines. Apart from the setup process, we only charge a handling fee to authors when they order books. This amounts to $1.00 per book and it will never increase. When you want to order copies of your book, you'll pay the actual printing cost, tax, shipping and handling. Books and book orders various in price depending on several factors. To get an understanding of the different things that impact book prices and orders, click here.
How much can I legally quote or copy from other authors in my book? How much can I say about other people, companies or events without getting in legal trouble? The main thing to remember when you're dealing with words or ideas that originated from other individuals, published or not, is to give them credit in your book. If you are directly quoting someone for some reason, you have to set their words off in quotation marks and attribute it to them. Your quotation of them should be used to enhance your own writing in some way. In other words, you can't publish a book of someone else's poetry without their permission. All this is referred to as the "fair use" principle. The idea is, you can discuss, emphasize or disagree with what others have written as long as your give them credit for their ideas. The sampling of their material should not be any longer than is necessary to demonstrate your intentions. Regarding the use of names or descriptions of events: as long as you are telling the truth, you can say whatever you want. Remember, though, even if you are telling the truth, people can still get angry about it.
Can I use my own imprint rather than saying my book is published by Empower? Sure. We can make that happen. If you want your book published as Crafty Betty Publishing, that's no problem. We just need to make sure no one else is using that title and, no, it doesn't cost a thing.
Why is Empower so much less expensive than other self-publishing companies? We have a simple priority that we have adhered to over a dozen years and 600 titles: help authors get their books in print. We also are authors. We understand that the muse who drives writers to create never seems to check our bank accounts. Our prices are intended to cover our costs and empower you to publish.
publish.empower.now@gmail.com (336) 257-9276