Evan Kail, the author of "Ubered: My Life as a Rideshare Driver," has found himself a book deal with Texas-based Black Rose Writing.
"It's a small, independent publisher," Kail said Monday. "I found them through a website, authors.me. Now the book is in paperback for the first time. They are very excited about the book. They like to forge relationships with emerging authors, so it's perfect. I digitally self-published a year ago and now I've received backing to put physical books in readers' hand. I didn't want to print books when I was self-published because I was afraid of poor quality."
Kail will sign copies, do a reading and take questions Saturday, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., at 1307 N. 2nd Av., Minneapolis. That's the location of Blasted Art Inc., owned by my friend Kerry Dikken. When Kail, who is also a friend, told me the setting he imagined for his book-release party, I pointed him to Dikken. I previously produced a video with Kail about his book, which included an exciting ride-along (bit.ly/2ksuefn).
Q: Has either Uber or Lyft contacted you since you originally wrote "Ubered?"
A: No. I'm quite surprised, especially because I believe I now own the copyright to the word "Ubered." Maybe I'll call the sequel "Lyfted" so I can broaden my copyright assets.
Q: Which service is better?
A: More like which service is worse. I've caught Uber [pocketing] my no-show fees. They once even changed the split from 80/20 to 70/30 and waited to see if I'd notice. (They claimed it was a "whoops," but I don't buy it.) What's good about Uber is their customers don't expect much, and since it's the Kleenex of ride-share, rides are frequent and close together. Lyft is like "Planet of the Apes." Its customers are the worst, they don't tip, [and they] back-seat drive, complain. Lyft as a company infuriates me with their ethos. They [preach] a sense of "community" but they are to community like Donald Trump University is to alumni status. Also, their standards for drivers [are] obscene. You get these calls on Lyft that are like 15-20 minutes away, at a regular rate. You will lose money if you take the trip, but if you ignore it, it hurts your driver score and Lyft will send you warning e-mails about skipping trips. Neither grants sacred employee status to its drivers and that's the whole crux of the ride-share problem and why it's not sustainable as an occupation.
Q: How many times did riders vomit in your car?