Wondering whether to renew my membership or not
By Lena Kovadlo
@lovebuglena (44712)
Staten Island, New York
September 10, 2018 2:30pm CST
I am a member of a website (AuthorsDen) that lets me share my poetry, lyrics, stories, articles, etc., put up info about my books, even include links where they can be purchased, and also have book ads.
My membership only allows me to have three book ads at a time though, which sucks because I have 12 books and I want to have ads for all of them. So, I have to alternate them from time to time. Still, the book ads feature and the fact that I can share about my books is one of the main reasons I am on that site.
Of course the membership is not free. I have to lash out $100 every year and I am paying this much because I am on auto renewal. Otherwise, the cost is $120 a year. That's a lot of money to spend. And I am not sure if it is worth it to spend that much every year, especially since I have no way of knowing if any of the book sales actually come from this website.
Another thing that I am wondering is whether everything that's already on the site will remain there if I do not renew or if it will get removed by admin. I do not want my stuff there to vanish. I tried to search for the answer on the site but could not find anything.
Anyone here use AuthorsDen?
5 people like this
6 responses
@lovebuglena (44712)
• Staten Island, New York
10 Sep 18
Well, there are different memberships. And there is a free one as well but that one is limited.
1 person likes this
@akalinus (43332)
• United States
10 Sep 18
@lovebuglena Do what you think is best for you. I have not heard of a free membership.
@lovebuglena (44712)
• Staten Island, New York
10 Sep 18
@akalinus It exists but doesn't offer all the benefits that paid memberships do. I don't remember how my friend did it but he never pays for his membership and he keeps posting new things on the site... I think he may have won a contest or something years ago.
1 person likes this
@irishidid (8687)
• United States
10 Sep 18
Never joined. Figured it wasn't worth my time.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (44712)
• Staten Island, New York
17 Sep 18
@irishidid That's great! What kind of books are they?
@lovebuglena (44712)
• Staten Island, New York
10 Sep 18
Do you write creative pieces - poetry, lyrics, short stories, etc.?
1 person likes this
@KristenH (33392)
• Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
10 Sep 18
I've heard of it but never used it. I don't have time for it either. Hope you get it all sorted out though.
@KristenH (33392)
• Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
15 Sep 18
@lovebuglena Hmm. Maybe it's time to leave the site.
@KristenH (33392)
• Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
15 Sep 18
@lovebuglena Hmm. Good point.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (44712)
• Staten Island, New York
15 Sep 18
I am not much active on there these days.
1 person likes this
@RonElFran (1214)
• Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
15 Sep 18
Are you making enough in book sales to cover the cost of AuthorsDen? If you are making steady sales, maybe you could drop AuthorsDen for a couple of months to see if sales go down. If so, then you'd know your membership is helping to sell your books, and you could renew your membership.
@lovebuglena (44712)
• Staten Island, New York
15 Sep 18
I have not analyzed the sales data but I do not think that being on AuthorsDen has any great effect on my sales. And because there is no way to track if any of my sales actually come from that site it is hard for me to know if it is worth spending that money.
As of late, I have not really been active there much or posting much of anything there either. Perhaps then, renewing is a waste of money. However, it seems that my stuff is being read but is it worth it to pay $100 for potentially more views of my work than my blog gives me?
I was thinking maybe not to renew this year and see what happens. Unfortunately, I have been automatically renewed already as I got a notification that my credit card was charged. I do not like that. I think they should let me know that they will process the renewal and confirm that I indeed want to renew before they charge my card. Wonder if I contact them if they will be able to cancel my renewal and refund me the money they charged.
@lovebuglena (44712)
• Staten Island, New York
15 Sep 18
They have automatically renewed my membership. I don't like that this happened. Prior to automatic renewal they should have contacted me to find out if I wanted to renew this year. They did not do that. I wonder if they will refund me the money if I contact them that I do not wish to renew.
I asked a friend who has been on that site much longer than me if my stuff will remain if I don't renew but he has no idea. Maybe I can get the answer if I contact the site.
@lovebuglena (44712)
• Staten Island, New York
15 Sep 18
I found one of the old emails from them from back in 2016. The email said that my membership expired and because they did not receive payment from me they are required to downgrade my Den and remove many of my work there. I guess that would hold true now as well. Wonder how much of my stuff would be taken down.
