About a week ago, a webinar came across my Facebook feed having to do with selling more books, earning more money as a writer. And as you authors know, that's something we all want to do. So I picked my time & date, gave 'em my email address and waited.
Now, I'm always a bit skeptical of these things so the day of the webinar rolls around and I almost blow it off. But...I figure what the heck, I can put it on in the background and multi-task so I won't be wasting my time. Guess what though...instead of ignoring it, I got excited.
The platform they set up for authors was awesome! It did so many things...collected email addresses to build your list, had a store you can set up and fulfill orders, pointed readers toward authors who wrote what they liked to read, and was a social media hub that rocked with hundreds of members sharing and promoting my books. Plus several other things that authors really need to be doing.
And to top that...I could earn money writing posts on my page. That's right! They have a revenue sharing program. Yes, there were a few things you had to do to earn a share but they were things we should do anyway. To earn a share all you had to do was write one article a month on your page, share it a certain number of times on social media, write at least 10 posts on your page a month (similar to FB...I post there all the time so no big deal) and here's the kicker...you must spend at least $20 on advertising through their platform, buy one book from another author on the platform, and have your monthly subscription paid and active.
That's right, there's a monthly fee. But hey, I'm cool with that. They provide so much good stuff that $40 a month is totally worth it. And, since one share is worth over $100 I'd be making money and since I could earn at least 5 shares a month...awesome. Especially since at this time, a share is worth almost $145. I can even earn by referring other authors and readers to the site.
There was even a 14 day free trial so you can get started earning money before you have to pay them anything!!! Naturally, I join and soon am on the closed group Facebook page for the members. Shortly after I join though, things start going downhill.
First, the CEO, Ken Dunn, steps down. And he isn't the one who does the live video reporting this. Which him not doing the video isn't too odd...but he's still connected with the company so it was a surprise to me.
Naturally, there are quite a few, "we're going to miss you" comments on the post. But there were also posts asking about share payments that haven't been paid since April. Would they still be paid? Huge red flag for me.
The person next in charge, I'm not sure what her official title is, Morgan Adams, posts that she knows we have questions and concerns and they will be addressed in a FB live the next day.
Come to find out, over the next several days, that no one has been paid their shares since March. Some members are owed thousands of dollars. But their monthly subscriptions are still being collected each month.
When Morgan Adams does her FB live post, she basically says she hates the situation, knows that there are questions and the CFO will do a FB live sometime next week. That their team of over 60 employees are working hard to find a solution.
No answers...just more questions.
Naturally, people are upset. Heck, I can't blame 'em. If I was owed money, I'd definitely be torqued.
I did think about it. And $40 a month for the services they offer is reasonable. I'd decided to go ahead with them as long as they treated their authors right. As long as they did the right thing.
I've changed my mind though and have cancelled my subscription with them before the end of my free trial. Because...
1 - They aren't doing the right thing. Stringing along their authors that they owes thousands of dollars to without even a hope of being paid is wrong.
2 -Morgan Adams and her team are censoring posts on their page. If you don't have something good to say about them, your post isn't posted. She has also stopped comments on other posts and deleted the video announcing Ken's leaving and she deleted her post where she said the CFO would be doing a live next week. I actually have pictures of one post and the comments which include people talking about how much they are owed. I won't post them because that wouldn't be right to the people owed the money.
3 - A post I did requesting that all us authors keep connected on Facebook was deleted. I also had another post deleted and one not approved by the Admin. None of these were negative or against the company.
So...in conclusion....avoid GoRead. It's a great idea but the people behind it are not trustworthy.