Is it normal for an author to be required to produce documentary evidence to his/her publisher, in order to be credited with a sale?
In 2007 I launched my book, ‘One Answer’ with print-on-demand publisher Trafford Publishing. For the first couple of years it sold a handful of books but then sales stopped. I would look on line every month, only to be disappointed with the message that there were no sales this period. I couldn’t quite believe that my incredible book wasn’t selling any copies – not one since 2008. And so I decided to buy one myself from Amazon to see if the sale would be recognised. That was nearly two years ago, and it has never been recognised.
I contacted Trafford and they say they have no record of any sale and say that the retailer must have failed to tell them of the sale. I contacted Amazon and they say their policies do not permit them to release sales data to me. What can I do to get my sale recognised?
Trafford did say that if I could provide documentary evidence of a sale then they could investigate. However, at the moment I am reluctant to provide that evidence because I suspect there may be other sales that have been missed. How can get assurance that my sales are being properly counted without having to provide documentary evidence for each and every sale?