So I queried David Wisehart about doing a "Kindle Author" interview with authors who sell their e-books through their publisher and not through Amazon and he said, "sure!" So here it is! Thanks agazillion David Wisehart. You are da man!
So here's a link to:
A most unlikely Kindle Author Interview
The truth will set you free and hopefully it will allow small published authors and self-published authors actually make the money that is rightfully theirs. At least those of us who are attempting to make a living with our God given talent as opposed to giving it away for free.
Showing posts with label Nook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nook. Show all posts
Monday, October 3, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Smashwords now falls into my "bonehead" category.
So I chose to distribute some e-book copies of Never Ceese through Smashwords. I learned that if you qualify for premium distribution your book will show up for sale on B&N as a Nook, whether you want it to or not. Well I don't want it to because B&N accepts returns of e-books which should be a function of the publisher and they make a nook available to their lending library where nooks are given away for free for an extended period of time, again a decision to be made by the publisher. So NO I don't want my nook on B&N. Due to this problem, I pulled my books from Smashwords. Here's how Smashwords handles me no longer using them as a distributor. Here's the link: Never Ceese
At the bottom of the page under reviews it reads: This book is no longer published, and is no longer accepting reviews.
LIE! That doesn't even make sense. And it would make even less sense if they add no longer published at Smashwords. No book is published at Smashwords. Smashwords is a dang distributor not a publisher. The book is published and sold through my PUBLISHER. So are all the e-book versions now. Just go to Black Bed Sheet Books to purchase any version you want.
Smashwords says all day long, "oh, we're not the publisher. You are. We're just a distributor." So which is it, Boneheads?" I'd appreciate it if you'd remove the inaccurate statement off the bottom of my book page on your site.
At the bottom of the page under reviews it reads: This book is no longer published, and is no longer accepting reviews.
LIE! That doesn't even make sense. And it would make even less sense if they add no longer published at Smashwords. No book is published at Smashwords. Smashwords is a dang distributor not a publisher. The book is published and sold through my PUBLISHER. So are all the e-book versions now. Just go to Black Bed Sheet Books to purchase any version you want.
Smashwords says all day long, "oh, we're not the publisher. You are. We're just a distributor." So which is it, Boneheads?" I'd appreciate it if you'd remove the inaccurate statement off the bottom of my book page on your site.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
B&N on-line beats Amazon!
Well they all get the information about the same time so I think it's worth celebrating who lists what first. LOL So here's the link:
"But," you say, "Sue I thought you detest B&N. Now you tell us to go purchase the book there." I detest the way they discriminate against any publisher that doesn't sign on to that ludicrous "industry standard" return policy by not ordering a book for their shelf if a publisher decides to NOT participate (thus insuring their survival.)
You still won't EVER find ANY of my books on their shelf because I've asked my publisher to save himself and make ALL my books non-returnable. But you can order ALL day long and B&N has to get it for you. ;) So do it and enjoy Electric Angel! It's a great book.
You won't see a nook version for sale on B&N though. You'll have to go to Black Bed Sheet Books for that. Otherwise B&N will make your nook lendable (or rather gives YOUR work away for free without asking) and makes your nook returnable (also without asking. What is that about?!!!!)
"But," you say, "Sue I thought you detest B&N. Now you tell us to go purchase the book there." I detest the way they discriminate against any publisher that doesn't sign on to that ludicrous "industry standard" return policy by not ordering a book for their shelf if a publisher decides to NOT participate (thus insuring their survival.)
You still won't EVER find ANY of my books on their shelf because I've asked my publisher to save himself and make ALL my books non-returnable. But you can order ALL day long and B&N has to get it for you. ;) So do it and enjoy Electric Angel! It's a great book.
You won't see a nook version for sale on B&N though. You'll have to go to Black Bed Sheet Books for that. Otherwise B&N will make your nook lendable (or rather gives YOUR work away for free without asking) and makes your nook returnable (also without asking. What is that about?!!!!)
Friday, August 5, 2011
Signed copies of Electric Angel available!
I have officially ordered author copies of Electric Angel. I do not get a ginormous discount. There is no special I can offer you other than offering to sign your copy. Please place how you want the books signed in the comment section when you order through paypal or use the email there to send me a note to tell me how you'd like it signed.
I do not have the books in hand yet. It will probably be a week or so before I do. If you're eager you may go to Black Bed Sheet Books and order it as a non-amazon kindle or non-B&N Nook or any other ebook format. However, this is the only way to get one signed by me presently. And hot off the press. SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!!!
This is for my US fans only and shipping as been worked into the cost which is
two dollars more than retail. Sorry, but even at that price I'll still eat some shipping. Here's your link and happy ordering. ;)
I do not have the books in hand yet. It will probably be a week or so before I do. If you're eager you may go to Black Bed Sheet Books and order it as a non-amazon kindle or non-B&N Nook or any other ebook format. However, this is the only way to get one signed by me presently. And hot off the press. SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!!!
This is for my US fans only and shipping as been worked into the cost which is
$14.98
two dollars more than retail. Sorry, but even at that price I'll still eat some shipping. Here's your link and happy ordering. ;)
Friday, July 29, 2011
Electric Angel NOW available!!!
***This just in: One customer, when ordering, had to use Internet Explorer as the WONDERFUL Google Chrome couldn't cut it. So if you're having problems ordering, ditch the Chrome if that's what you're using. ;) ***
In case you miss it when you order an e-book, this is how it works at Black Bed Sheet Books:
THE WAY IT WORKS:
Make a selection and proceed through your shopping cart purchase. We will process your order and send your purchase as an attachment to your email address within 2 business days, but most likely sooner, like within 24 hours, but we say 2 days in case of emergency.
All ebooks available on this site, no matter what format, costs five U.S. dollars plus twenty-five American cents, or cheaper, ladies and gentlemen, or what equals that amount in foreign currency.
This is front and center on the E-book ordering page. This information does not print out on the receipt you get. In an age where instant gratification is usually key to securing a sale, I felt it was important to point this out. The check out program Black Bed Sheet Book uses doesn't presently support instant download capability but will very soon. If you think BBS should get a better check out program then buy their books so they can pay for one. For the record the receipt may very well boast the same message shortly. Again, thanks for being patient as we iron out the kinks.
It will be available for sale anywhere books are sold but NONE of those sites or stores will be able to give you this kind of deal!!! And NO, you won't see it on the shelf of any large bookstore because I refuse to shoot myself in the head with my own gun by making my books returnable which is the only way one gets into large bookstores.
They can order my books so that's all you need to know. Folks, small publishers do not see the books that large bookstores order, and then return because they can,and are therefore out the print cost of the book and the shipping cost for the book which they never see again. I WILL NOT subscribe to such lunacy just to say my book is in a large bookstore. Get over it!!!
For all my good Christian readers, the ones who favor work put out by targeted denominational publishers like Thomas Nelson, Zondervan etc . . . Electric Angel will also be available through Spring Arbor. That means large Christian Bookstores CAN order it but like large general market bookstores won't put it on the shelf.
Best bet, go to Black Bed Sheet Books to place your order. And here's a nice perk. Electric Angel is also available in Kindle format, Nook Format, Microsoft Reader Format WITH additional pictures added from the photo shoot with Jim Sorfleet of sNs-photo.net of Ron Fitzgerald the cover model. For an additional amount I will even sign the e-book copy of your choice.
No the Kindle won't be through Amazon and the Nook won't be through Barnes & Noble. Why would I do that when they give away an authors e-book for free. Don't think that's gonna be happening.
Here's a link to the page at Black Bed Sheet Books where you can purchase a Kindle or Nook or whatever! :D (Thanks Caprice!)
But yes, I put a LOT of time, effort and money into each MS, including paying for a high-quality professional edit with reviews from past work to prove that it's worth it. So I ain't gonna say it again. Go buy the darn thing! ;D
** Please be patient as we're still working out a few kinks we didn't know about in the ordering process. You can now order an e-book WITHOUT having to choose a shipping method. LOL It is charging tax though but I believe this will be fixed shortly. Also a message will be added, once you purchase the e-book to state that the file will be sent to you within 24-48 hours after purchase. It does say this on the Black Bed Sheet site but one can easily miss this so the message will be added to the receipt you recieve. Thanks so much for all y'all's patience!! Especially you Caprice. ;)***
In case you miss it when you order an e-book, this is how it works at Black Bed Sheet Books:
THE WAY IT WORKS:
Make a selection and proceed through your shopping cart purchase. We will process your order and send your purchase as an attachment to your email address within 2 business days, but most likely sooner, like within 24 hours, but we say 2 days in case of emergency.
All ebooks available on this site, no matter what format, costs five U.S. dollars plus twenty-five American cents, or cheaper, ladies and gentlemen, or what equals that amount in foreign currency.
This is front and center on the E-book ordering page. This information does not print out on the receipt you get. In an age where instant gratification is usually key to securing a sale, I felt it was important to point this out. The check out program Black Bed Sheet Book uses doesn't presently support instant download capability but will very soon. If you think BBS should get a better check out program then buy their books so they can pay for one. For the record the receipt may very well boast the same message shortly. Again, thanks for being patient as we iron out the kinks.
It will be available for sale anywhere books are sold but NONE of those sites or stores will be able to give you this kind of deal!!! And NO, you won't see it on the shelf of any large bookstore because I refuse to shoot myself in the head with my own gun by making my books returnable which is the only way one gets into large bookstores.
They can order my books so that's all you need to know. Folks, small publishers do not see the books that large bookstores order, and then return because they can,and are therefore out the print cost of the book and the shipping cost for the book which they never see again. I WILL NOT subscribe to such lunacy just to say my book is in a large bookstore. Get over it!!!
For all my good Christian readers, the ones who favor work put out by targeted denominational publishers like Thomas Nelson, Zondervan etc . . . Electric Angel will also be available through Spring Arbor. That means large Christian Bookstores CAN order it but like large general market bookstores won't put it on the shelf.
Best bet, go to Black Bed Sheet Books to place your order. And here's a nice perk. Electric Angel is also available in Kindle format, Nook Format, Microsoft Reader Format WITH additional pictures added from the photo shoot with Jim Sorfleet of sNs-photo.net of Ron Fitzgerald the cover model. For an additional amount I will even sign the e-book copy of your choice.
No the Kindle won't be through Amazon and the Nook won't be through Barnes & Noble. Why would I do that when they give away an authors e-book for free. Don't think that's gonna be happening.
Here's a link to the page at Black Bed Sheet Books where you can purchase a Kindle or Nook or whatever! :D (Thanks Caprice!)
But yes, I put a LOT of time, effort and money into each MS, including paying for a high-quality professional edit with reviews from past work to prove that it's worth it. So I ain't gonna say it again. Go buy the darn thing! ;D
** Please be patient as we're still working out a few kinks we didn't know about in the ordering process. You can now order an e-book WITHOUT having to choose a shipping method. LOL It is charging tax though but I believe this will be fixed shortly. Also a message will be added, once you purchase the e-book to state that the file will be sent to you within 24-48 hours after purchase. It does say this on the Black Bed Sheet site but one can easily miss this so the message will be added to the receipt you recieve. Thanks so much for all y'all's patience!! Especially you Caprice. ;)***
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Take that Barnes & Noble!
So I learn, after working my tail off to make my e-book available through Smashwords and into their Premium catalog, that once you're in the catalog B&N will list your Smashwords e-book as a Nook AND without asking will put your book in their wonderful "lending" aka "stealing" library. That's right. If Smashwords knows about this they put it in real small print because I never saw this. I'd never give an on-line store the right to "lend/steal/giveaway" an EBOOK for 14 days to see if someone wants to buy it just so they can sell more of their stupid readers. WHAT A RACKET and a joke!!!! So HA! My ebook is now out of Smashwords and I feel soooooooooooooooo much better. ;)
Want Never Ceese the ebook? Go to www.blackbedsheet.goshopper.net and order it in either Kindle or Nook very soon. But not through Amazon or Barnes & Noble because they're keen on giving things away for free . . . without permission. Funny how they get away with it too.
Want Never Ceese the ebook? Go to www.blackbedsheet.goshopper.net and order it in either Kindle or Nook very soon. But not through Amazon or Barnes & Noble because they're keen on giving things away for free . . . without permission. Funny how they get away with it too.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Just when I thought Smashwords was definitely the way to go.
While Smashwords is better than other ebook distributors for reasons mentioned before and so I won't repeat myself here, I found this today whilst looking over information they provide.
So it seems every distributor thinks they have the right to determine for themselves whether "your" book should be returned. They should only have this right if you tell them they can have it. This is never stated anywhere on Smashwords. These are ebooks. There is no reasonable reason for a return. At least 20% of the book can be previewed before purchase. And even at that, the distributor shouldn't be the one deciding whether the reason is good enough. Even at that, most ebooks cost less than $5.00
GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!
Come on Smashwords! Break the mold! EGADS!
Refunds: If you see a line item listed as "refund to buyer," it means that the customer's credit card company reversed the charge, or the customer was refunded for some other reason deemed reasonable by Smashwords.Epic Fail!
So it seems every distributor thinks they have the right to determine for themselves whether "your" book should be returned. They should only have this right if you tell them they can have it. This is never stated anywhere on Smashwords. These are ebooks. There is no reasonable reason for a return. At least 20% of the book can be previewed before purchase. And even at that, the distributor shouldn't be the one deciding whether the reason is good enough. Even at that, most ebooks cost less than $5.00
GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!
Come on Smashwords! Break the mold! EGADS!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Boycott {insert publisher of choice}
A new trend? It does seem to be the case. But I've found, at least so far, that the publishers being singled out by their authors don't operate much differently than all the other traditional presses out there.
They're attempting to play the game as set up by the money controlling "big dog" publishers without considering that doing so means certain death. The publishing industry rules only work for the larger publishers. Small presses need a completely different set of rules to survive.
So do I agree with boycotting small traditional houses? Not really (and I've been with two who went under due to believing they could actually operate under the rules set in place by large publishers.) And boycotting large houses is futile because they control the industry and are far tooooo big to be touched by our rock throwing. Readers aren't being affected by authors being "screwed" so life will go on.
And just in case you think I don't have a dog in the hunt, there are over 4000 hard-back copies of Never Ceese out there that I'll never see a penny from. Not one cent will come to me . . . ever. Gotta love that. ;)
They're attempting to play the game as set up by the money controlling "big dog" publishers without considering that doing so means certain death. The publishing industry rules only work for the larger publishers. Small presses need a completely different set of rules to survive.
So do I agree with boycotting small traditional houses? Not really (and I've been with two who went under due to believing they could actually operate under the rules set in place by large publishers.) And boycotting large houses is futile because they control the industry and are far tooooo big to be touched by our rock throwing. Readers aren't being affected by authors being "screwed" so life will go on.
And just in case you think I don't have a dog in the hunt, there are over 4000 hard-back copies of Never Ceese out there that I'll never see a penny from. Not one cent will come to me . . . ever. Gotta love that. ;)
Friday, March 18, 2011
Sue's Virtual Book Signing makes Gothic.Net Front Page news!
And here's the page where you can read all about it!
And if you're in the are do not miss this event being thrown in honor of Gothic.net's new design. ;)
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Never Ceese approved for premiere status on Smashwords.
Wow! What does that mean?
Well let's just explore that shall we. ;)
What that means is the content and the layout of the PDF uploaded to Smashwords to go through "their" meat grinder meets all "their" criteria to be approved for premium status which means Black Bed Sheet Books (in this instance) is officially a part of "their" distribution included but not limited to having Never Ceese (or any other approved PDF) show up in Nook format on Barnes & Noble on-line WITHOUT having to go through B&N (the bullies that they are.)
So far Smashwords hasn't been able to woo Amazon into letting them list smashword kindles on Amazon. GO FIGURE!! I'm sure it's because Amazon won't have control of those kindles and can't give them away like they want to. Also if Smashwords PDF's converted to kindle shows up on Amazon well then they'd be considered for the New York Times best selling e-book list without being associated with Amazon except they'd be listed on Amazon. But since B&N is already allowing this to happen I'm sure Amazon will eventually cave. But as far as the New York Times best sellers list for ebooks go, listing smashwords kindle won't really help small pubbed authors get on it. NYT only hits the more "popular" and large on-line booksellers who are controlled by, you guessed it, large publishers.
So whoop-di-doo!
Do keep in mind you only get the signed and personalized DRM free PDF completely convertible into any format from www.neverceese.com and soon Black Bed Sheet Books as well.
Oh and if you want it for your Ipad or Ipad 2 then don't sweat it. To the best of my knowledge PDF's can be read on the Ipad's and so can kindles and nooks and every other dang format. So what in the world is the big deal about large publishers making their work so only theirs is available in a "specific" format that sells in the Ipad store. Good grief!
But yes, if you one day see Never Ceese available for the Nook reader on B&N just keep in mind I didn't sell out. It's on there through Smashwords. I'm not beholding to B&N though just laughing at B&N and Amazon for thinking they could run the world!!!
Well let's just explore that shall we. ;)
What that means is the content and the layout of the PDF uploaded to Smashwords to go through "their" meat grinder meets all "their" criteria to be approved for premium status which means Black Bed Sheet Books (in this instance) is officially a part of "their" distribution included but not limited to having Never Ceese (or any other approved PDF) show up in Nook format on Barnes & Noble on-line WITHOUT having to go through B&N (the bullies that they are.)
So far Smashwords hasn't been able to woo Amazon into letting them list smashword kindles on Amazon. GO FIGURE!! I'm sure it's because Amazon won't have control of those kindles and can't give them away like they want to. Also if Smashwords PDF's converted to kindle shows up on Amazon well then they'd be considered for the New York Times best selling e-book list without being associated with Amazon except they'd be listed on Amazon. But since B&N is already allowing this to happen I'm sure Amazon will eventually cave. But as far as the New York Times best sellers list for ebooks go, listing smashwords kindle won't really help small pubbed authors get on it. NYT only hits the more "popular" and large on-line booksellers who are controlled by, you guessed it, large publishers.
So whoop-di-doo!
Do keep in mind you only get the signed and personalized DRM free PDF completely convertible into any format from www.neverceese.com and soon Black Bed Sheet Books as well.
Oh and if you want it for your Ipad or Ipad 2 then don't sweat it. To the best of my knowledge PDF's can be read on the Ipad's and so can kindles and nooks and every other dang format. So what in the world is the big deal about large publishers making their work so only theirs is available in a "specific" format that sells in the Ipad store. Good grief!
But yes, if you one day see Never Ceese available for the Nook reader on B&N just keep in mind I didn't sell out. It's on there through Smashwords. I'm not beholding to B&N though just laughing at B&N and Amazon for thinking they could run the world!!!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Cleaning house on FB once more.
I know, right? And to think Social Media has become such a tool that it's important to qualify actions you take on your account. It's true though. I've many FaceBook friends and fans and sometimes I invite authors because we're all in this together.
A recent housecleaning had me getting rid of all those authors that wrote for targeted Christian publishers who, though claiming to write fiction that appeals to all Christian readers (something no one can actually do,) only write fiction for a very strict denominational segment excluding and rejecting ALL authors who submit MS's believing these publishers are something they truly aren't.
The next batch will be those authors who sell Kindle's on Amazon. I sell Kindle versions of my book (actually a DRM free PDF that the customer can convert to Kindle for free from any of the sites designed for this) but I don't sell a specific version for Amazon to steal from me. They take liberties with e-books that a distributor shouldn't be allowed to take. I've no time for that.
Actually it doesn't hurt to have author friends who publish their ebooks with Amazon as a Kindle but it hurts my heart to see Amazon promoted as the site to sell e-books. I suppose I'll keep a few of these authors has friends because they were friends first but the others have to go.
Sorry but the publishing industry has to change and while I can't change it all by my lonesome, I can choose not to see the postings of others who can't see the forest from the trees.
A recent housecleaning had me getting rid of all those authors that wrote for targeted Christian publishers who, though claiming to write fiction that appeals to all Christian readers (something no one can actually do,) only write fiction for a very strict denominational segment excluding and rejecting ALL authors who submit MS's believing these publishers are something they truly aren't.
The next batch will be those authors who sell Kindle's on Amazon. I sell Kindle versions of my book (actually a DRM free PDF that the customer can convert to Kindle for free from any of the sites designed for this) but I don't sell a specific version for Amazon to steal from me. They take liberties with e-books that a distributor shouldn't be allowed to take. I've no time for that.
Actually it doesn't hurt to have author friends who publish their ebooks with Amazon as a Kindle but it hurts my heart to see Amazon promoted as the site to sell e-books. I suppose I'll keep a few of these authors has friends because they were friends first but the others have to go.
Sorry but the publishing industry has to change and while I can't change it all by my lonesome, I can choose not to see the postings of others who can't see the forest from the trees.
New York Times Best Sellers List for E-BOOKS???
Sure. Why not? And it seems some self-pubbed authors are making the list.
Oh my!
Should we be impressed?
Well, I don't know about impressed. It did make me want to go explore however. And so I did.
It should be common knowledge by now that the New York Times Best Selling print book list is determined by the number of books a publisher sells to bookstores. It should also be common knowledge that large publishers regularly ship tons of new releases to their large bookstores to ensure their numbers stay up, something small press and self-pubbed authors can't do. One, because they can't afford to play the big bookstores game of making books returnable and two, large bookstores won't order their books in large quantities. That's a deal they have with large publishers only.
Therefore the New York Times Best Sellers list for print books reflects which large publisher unloaded more books to their bookstores than say, the other large publishers that month. The number is not based on actual purchases of the books. There's no way to accurately track that.
Now lets look at how they're judging (or not judging) sales of ebooks. Here's what it says on the bottom of the list if you look:
You don't say. Leading on-line vendors. Hmm . . . who would that be I wonder. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the very few on-line sites that cater to and are associated with large publishers. I noticed a few e-books on the list from authors who self-pubbed at Lulu. I thought, wow, they're considering books that Lulu sells. Then I decided that since all small press and self-pubbed authors end up on Amazon, whether they like it or not, that this is where the ranking comes from.
"Big deal," you say. "It still made the list."
You have a point there but the point is lost with me as I'll not list my ebooks on Amazon or Barnes & Noble because they still don't embrace small press or self-pubbed authors and never have. Well, to be fair, Amazon makes an attempt but usually succumbs to the barking big dog publishers when it comes down to it. Also both Amazon and Barnes & Noble take liberties with the e-books they list such as offering returns? or giving them away for free in an effort to sell their e-reader?
Therefore my ebooks will never show up on the New York Times ebook best seller's list even if I sell a million copies at my virtual book signing on March 20th. And neither will thousands of other authors who choose to distribute their work through sites that aren't considered "leading online vendors" and who don't take liberties with the work that they are only supposed to be distributing. EGADS!
And so it continues!!
So nope. For right now, I'm not impressed that a self-pubbed author makes the NYT best-sellers ebook lists but you can be impressed if you want to be.
Oh my!
Should we be impressed?
Well, I don't know about impressed. It did make me want to go explore however. And so I did.
It should be common knowledge by now that the New York Times Best Selling print book list is determined by the number of books a publisher sells to bookstores. It should also be common knowledge that large publishers regularly ship tons of new releases to their large bookstores to ensure their numbers stay up, something small press and self-pubbed authors can't do. One, because they can't afford to play the big bookstores game of making books returnable and two, large bookstores won't order their books in large quantities. That's a deal they have with large publishers only.
Therefore the New York Times Best Sellers list for print books reflects which large publisher unloaded more books to their bookstores than say, the other large publishers that month. The number is not based on actual purchases of the books. There's no way to accurately track that.
Now lets look at how they're judging (or not judging) sales of ebooks. Here's what it says on the bottom of the list if you look:
E-book rankings reflect sales from leading online vendors of e-books in a variety of popular e-reader formats.
You don't say. Leading on-line vendors. Hmm . . . who would that be I wonder. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the very few on-line sites that cater to and are associated with large publishers. I noticed a few e-books on the list from authors who self-pubbed at Lulu. I thought, wow, they're considering books that Lulu sells. Then I decided that since all small press and self-pubbed authors end up on Amazon, whether they like it or not, that this is where the ranking comes from.
"Big deal," you say. "It still made the list."
You have a point there but the point is lost with me as I'll not list my ebooks on Amazon or Barnes & Noble because they still don't embrace small press or self-pubbed authors and never have. Well, to be fair, Amazon makes an attempt but usually succumbs to the barking big dog publishers when it comes down to it. Also both Amazon and Barnes & Noble take liberties with the e-books they list such as offering returns? or giving them away for free in an effort to sell their e-reader?
Therefore my ebooks will never show up on the New York Times ebook best seller's list even if I sell a million copies at my virtual book signing on March 20th. And neither will thousands of other authors who choose to distribute their work through sites that aren't considered "leading online vendors" and who don't take liberties with the work that they are only supposed to be distributing. EGADS!
And so it continues!!
So nope. For right now, I'm not impressed that a self-pubbed author makes the NYT best-sellers ebook lists but you can be impressed if you want to be.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Not your usual LAME Virtual Book Signing!
That's right. There have been a few others ATTEMPTING to do a BRICK & MORTAR book signing and broadcasting it live via whatever platform providing the guest with a signed electronic CARD or label they can PASTE into their PRINT book should that be what they order.
My Virtual Book Singing will be the first ever and probably only one of its kind for quite a while where you receive, shortly after the signing, your very own personally signed DRM Free PDF to be converted into whatever format is your preference via one of many sites out there that allow this.
The up side, I don't have to go near a large "bully" book store and YOU get an ebook signed to YOU or to whoever you'd like it signed to with a personalized message. Just wanted to clarify that. No other author or publisher has offered this to date.
Here's the link once more in case you need it. ;D
Hope to see you there!
My Virtual Book Singing will be the first ever and probably only one of its kind for quite a while where you receive, shortly after the signing, your very own personally signed DRM Free PDF to be converted into whatever format is your preference via one of many sites out there that allow this.
The up side, I don't have to go near a large "bully" book store and YOU get an ebook signed to YOU or to whoever you'd like it signed to with a personalized message. Just wanted to clarify that. No other author or publisher has offered this to date.
Here's the link once more in case you need it. ;D
Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Oh Let's do dicuss Random House shall we!
Alternante-Title: How many times do we have to watch large publishers go down this road?
New article out and hot of the press. What are large publishers doing now besides running around blindly as they hit wall after wall after wall. Well here ya go! A nice article on Random House's goings on.
Again just a link to support my discussion about parts of it. ;)
Oh boy! Small publishers of the world rejoice as one. The large publishers who could care less about your existence and step on you at every turn have now ALL decided on a way to hopefully keep you locked out of the market.
No! Really? Of course they showed up on Kinde and Nook stores. The Nook is Barnes & Nobles ereader format. Barnes & Noble is a chain bookstore set up to distribute books published by large publishers. DUH! And Amazon . . . well, they're just Amazon and for Random House another safe haven because the books are DRM encrypted (which really means very little if you know anything about anything.)
What? What? What?
Oh YEAH!!!! Another distributor attempting to corner the market by making something digital impossible to buy from anyone but them. *Sue chanting* "Go Apple, it's your birthday . . . go Apple . . .!"
I'm so glad all the large publishers know what they're doing. Aren't y'all? All I can say about this particular news is that, well, the APPLE doesn't fall far from the tree! HA!
Did you really think large publishers weren't going to band together to try and form some sort of alliance. They did it during the depression to survive with Simon and Schuster going out on that proverbial limb to extend that insane return policy to keep their bookstores from going under. All the other publishers of the day had to follow suit or go under.
Just keep this in mind. When it says large publishers have all joined together to do something, it doesn't mean they all agree. It simply means they don't trust each other. They're all in heated competition and each one is so influential that if something works for one of them the others are sure to fail if they don't go along with it.
This should all be very interesting to watch. *Sue sits back with her bucket of popcorn.* Very interesting indeed.
New article out and hot of the press. What are large publishers doing now besides running around blindly as they hit wall after wall after wall. Well here ya go! A nice article on Random House's goings on.
Again just a link to support my discussion about parts of it. ;)
Random House, one of the largest book publishers in the world, has finally joined its peers in coming on board to Apple's digital e-book platform, the last of the major publishers to do so.
Oh boy! Small publishers of the world rejoice as one. The large publishers who could care less about your existence and step on you at every turn have now ALL decided on a way to hopefully keep you locked out of the market.
Random House books do appear on the Kindle and Nook stores . . .
No! Really? Of course they showed up on Kinde and Nook stores. The Nook is Barnes & Nobles ereader format. Barnes & Noble is a chain bookstore set up to distribute books published by large publishers. DUH! And Amazon . . . well, they're just Amazon and for Random House another safe haven because the books are DRM encrypted (which really means very little if you know anything about anything.)
Apple has tweaked its guidelines and enforcement for apps like Kindle and Nook, which means it may soon not be possible to buy e-books on an iPad from any place other than the official iBooks outlet. . .
What? What? What?
Oh YEAH!!!! Another distributor attempting to corner the market by making something digital impossible to buy from anyone but them. *Sue chanting* "Go Apple, it's your birthday . . . go Apple . . .!"
I'm so glad all the large publishers know what they're doing. Aren't y'all? All I can say about this particular news is that, well, the APPLE doesn't fall far from the tree! HA!
Did you really think large publishers weren't going to band together to try and form some sort of alliance. They did it during the depression to survive with Simon and Schuster going out on that proverbial limb to extend that insane return policy to keep their bookstores from going under. All the other publishers of the day had to follow suit or go under.
Just keep this in mind. When it says large publishers have all joined together to do something, it doesn't mean they all agree. It simply means they don't trust each other. They're all in heated competition and each one is so influential that if something works for one of them the others are sure to fail if they don't go along with it.
This should all be very interesting to watch. *Sue sits back with her bucket of popcorn.* Very interesting indeed.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Big publishers trying to weasel their way in?
With technology making e-books more than just a novelty, it's only a matter of time before larger publishers try to find a way to make the kind of profits off them that they did on print books. Seems they've already started and it also seems that they're relying heavily on reader's ignorance.
Why should an e-book from a larger publisher sell for almost the exact same price as a print book?
No matter what is said, there's absolutely no reason for this kind of pricing. The cost to produce e-books is next to nothing, there are no warehousing issues or none of the other things that drove the price of a print book up.
Well . . . there is one thing that might drive the price of a large publisher's e-book up since they choose to only use Amazon's Kindle or B&N's Nook to publish. That would be the cost of paying for the ENCRYPTION to keep these books from being read on anything BUT the exclusive readers purchased from either Amazon or B&N. Adobe works with B&N to secure their Nook books. I'm sure Adobe charges enough for that. And I'll bet it isn't cheap for Amazon to keep up to date with their encryption.
But why encrypt anyway?
I know I've said a lot about SmashWords lately but here's why. Their books are DRM free! What's that mean? It means the Kindle book they produce can be read on a Kindle reader WITHOUT the publisher of the book having to deal with a company like Amazon who attempts to act like the publisher and distributor by forcing things such as their "lending library" on their publishers. Then of course there's the allowing 7 days for an e-book to be returned. As I've said before, return of any item should be the publisher's choice, not one made by the distributor. Barnes & Noble's Nook also allows for returns I'm sure since B&N doesn't know any other way to operate.
SmashWord's books are DRM free!
I suppose they could be called the Napster of e-books. Oh and no, you won't see the large publishers going to SmashWords for e-book distribution. They aren't interested in anything but taking the most money they can from the reader. Well . . . they might if folks stopped buying Kindle's from Amazon or Nook books from B&N. But we all know that ain't gonna happen. In fact, the "big dog" publishers are counting on it!!!
Quite frankly I think it's time for a revolution. I'm just saying.
from your .doc and the Nook they produce can be read on ANY o only specific e-book readers can read them is simply a way to knock all other publish
Why should an e-book from a larger publisher sell for almost the exact same price as a print book?
No matter what is said, there's absolutely no reason for this kind of pricing. The cost to produce e-books is next to nothing, there are no warehousing issues or none of the other things that drove the price of a print book up.
Well . . . there is one thing that might drive the price of a large publisher's e-book up since they choose to only use Amazon's Kindle or B&N's Nook to publish. That would be the cost of paying for the ENCRYPTION to keep these books from being read on anything BUT the exclusive readers purchased from either Amazon or B&N. Adobe works with B&N to secure their Nook books. I'm sure Adobe charges enough for that. And I'll bet it isn't cheap for Amazon to keep up to date with their encryption.
But why encrypt anyway?
I know I've said a lot about SmashWords lately but here's why. Their books are DRM free! What's that mean? It means the Kindle book they produce can be read on a Kindle reader WITHOUT the publisher of the book having to deal with a company like Amazon who attempts to act like the publisher and distributor by forcing things such as their "lending library" on their publishers. Then of course there's the allowing 7 days for an e-book to be returned. As I've said before, return of any item should be the publisher's choice, not one made by the distributor. Barnes & Noble's Nook also allows for returns I'm sure since B&N doesn't know any other way to operate.
SmashWord's books are DRM free!
I suppose they could be called the Napster of e-books. Oh and no, you won't see the large publishers going to SmashWords for e-book distribution. They aren't interested in anything but taking the most money they can from the reader. Well . . . they might if folks stopped buying Kindle's from Amazon or Nook books from B&N. But we all know that ain't gonna happen. In fact, the "big dog" publishers are counting on it!!!
Quite frankly I think it's time for a revolution. I'm just saying.
from your .doc and the Nook they produce can be read on ANY o only specific e-book readers can read them is simply a way to knock all other publish
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Kindle Lending Library?
Supporting roles:
Amazon = Brain
Pinky = Well, everybody has to have a side-kick.
**********************************************************************
Pinky - Whacha doing Brain?
Brain - What's it look like I'm doing? I'm making it so all the Kindle books on our site are available to the public.
Pinky - How're you going to do that Brain?
Brain - I'm going to make it so that anyone who purchases a Kindle book will get points for loaning it out for free for two weeks. That way folks will buy more KINDLES and we can make more money and take over the WORLD!
Pinky - For free? Won't that make publishers of Kindle books unhappy?
Brain - Of course not! They'll get more publicity than they've ever had. They're books will be everywhere.
Pinky - So they'll make more money.
Brain - No! They'll make nothing unless the borrower of said book decides after two-weeks of reading they wish to purchase it.
Pinky - Two weeks is a long time to have a book to just review. I read One-Fish, Two-Fish in one night and that was written by a Doctor! I don't know if folks who've published through Kindle will appreciate that.
Brain - If they don't like things they can opt out.
Pinky - Well that's awfully nice of you Brain!
Brain - Nice! HA! The window of opportunity to opt-out will be very short. And of course due to the fact that the program is so new, I'm quite certain the link to opt out won't be working before it's TOO LATE!!!!! And I'll be well on my way to TAKING OVER THE WORLD! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA
Pinky - Does that mean I don't have to pay for that doctor's book now? Because I'd much rather buy a cookie with that money.
**********************************************************************
Stay tuned for another riveting adventure coming soon as I'm sure Amazon will keep me well supplied with fodder. So happy I took all my books off Amazon's Kindle. Happy indeed! Y'all have fun selling those Kindles. Want to publish in Kindle format, go with Smashwords.
Added today: Here's the actual e-mail going out to folks who have e-books on Amazon's Kindle:
Dear Publisher,
We are excited to announce Kindle book lending. The Kindle Book Lending feature allows users to lend digital books they have purchased through the Kindle Store to their friends and family. Each book may be lent once for a duration of 14 days and will not be readable by the lender during the loan period.
All DTP titles are enrolled in lending by default. For titles in the 35% royalty option, you may choose to opt out of lending by deselecting the checkbox under "Kindle Book Lending," in the "Rights and Pricing" section of the title upload/edit process. You may not choose to opt out a title if it is included in the lending program of another sales or distribution channel. For more details, see section 5.2.2 of the Term and Conditions.
For more info on how Kindle Book Lending works, see our FAQ here: http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.
Sincerely,
Amazon Digital Text Platform
Isn't it nice to know that Amazon considered YOU the publisher and even asked YOU the publisher what you thought about them taking YOUR work and giving it away for FREE! Oh but Kindle owners will just love this and isn't that what it's all about? How many KINDLES Amazon can sell at the PUBLISHERS expense. Gotta love it!
This is an absolute JOKE!!! IMO. So happy not to have a dog in this hunt. BTW, the publisher who got this letter attempted to opt out several times during that short period of time when they could do so and the link never worked. Now their book is been LENDED for free, without their permission. Go AMAZON! You so RAWK!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
A fan helps out with Nook! Aww, thanks!
See, I still won't buy a Nook myself due to the association with B&N (sorry they don't recognize small publishers for what they are so I'll not be responsible for funding their bullying ways) but I'll gladly post things like this. Fran Veal, a new fan, downloaded Never Ceese and posted instructions on how to do so for your Nook! How dang cool is that!!! (Fran also said she read Never Ceese in one sitting and that she loved it. Just thought I'd throw that out there too. ;D)
So if you have Nook, here's how to get the book!
Me again. I'm going to give an FYI instructional for your fans who want to read your books on the Nook (and I assume Kindle is similar).
1. Find the book and purchase it in the adobe format. (If you don't already have Adobe Digital Editions, there are steps to follow, but those instructions are clear on the purchase site.) Leave Adobe Digital Editions open.
2. Attach your Nook (or other ereader) to your computer.
3. Find the book file on your computer and send it to your ereader.
4. Go to Adobe Digital Editions. There will be a box that says "Authorize device". Click on it.
5. Go to your ereader.
6. Enjoy!
So if you have Nook, here's how to get the book!
Me again. I'm going to give an FYI instructional for your fans who want to read your books on the Nook (and I assume Kindle is similar).
1. Find the book and purchase it in the adobe format. (If you don't already have Adobe Digital Editions, there are steps to follow, but those instructions are clear on the purchase site.) Leave Adobe Digital Editions open.
2. Attach your Nook (or other ereader) to your computer.
3. Find the book file on your computer and send it to your ereader.
4. Go to Adobe Digital Editions. There will be a box that says "Authorize device". Click on it.
5. Go to your ereader.
6. Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Kindle, Nook preference?
No. I'm not really asking. Just thought I'd share my views on both as far as having my work published on either one. I choose . . . NEITHER. ;D
Kindle is Amazon's e-book reader and therefore caters to and was basically designed for those books published through Create Space, Amazon's POD. From my personal experience with Kindle, they don't have a clue what they're doing and so I'll steer clear. I work very hard at marketing and making certain, as best I can, that my books don't show up in front of readers who'd rather NOT read the kind of story I've written. Amazon's thinking seems to be ask the publisher where they want the book to show up but then disregard the response for the sake of spamming anyone that looks at Kindle. The only one star review I've received so far has come from a reader from the Kindle version of my book and the simple explanation was that they couldn't believe the book was listed where it was listed. And it wasn't one of the places where I chose. Thanks Kindle. Thanks sooooo much.
As far as Nook goes, well, that's Barnes & Noble's e-book reader. They don't support, care, help or give a rat's patoody about small pubbed authors so why in the world would I want to support them by placing my books on Nook. They'll be just fine publishing the large published authors they have access too until they most likely go the way of Borders and all the other chain bookstores for not acknowledging Small Press or self-pubbed authors.
All my books through Black Bed Sheet Books are on every legitimate format available through their distributor.
No, I've no preference whatsoever for Kindle or Nook but I as you can tell I do have an opinion on both. ;)
A POD is a POD. When it comes down to it none of them can offer anything that the other can't offer. I think Amazon and Barnes & Noble should stop trying to take over the world. That's how publishing got into this mess to begin with. You think they'd learn. Apparently not.
Kindle is Amazon's e-book reader and therefore caters to and was basically designed for those books published through Create Space, Amazon's POD. From my personal experience with Kindle, they don't have a clue what they're doing and so I'll steer clear. I work very hard at marketing and making certain, as best I can, that my books don't show up in front of readers who'd rather NOT read the kind of story I've written. Amazon's thinking seems to be ask the publisher where they want the book to show up but then disregard the response for the sake of spamming anyone that looks at Kindle. The only one star review I've received so far has come from a reader from the Kindle version of my book and the simple explanation was that they couldn't believe the book was listed where it was listed. And it wasn't one of the places where I chose. Thanks Kindle. Thanks sooooo much.
As far as Nook goes, well, that's Barnes & Noble's e-book reader. They don't support, care, help or give a rat's patoody about small pubbed authors so why in the world would I want to support them by placing my books on Nook. They'll be just fine publishing the large published authors they have access too until they most likely go the way of Borders and all the other chain bookstores for not acknowledging Small Press or self-pubbed authors.
All my books through Black Bed Sheet Books are on every legitimate format available through their distributor.
No, I've no preference whatsoever for Kindle or Nook but I as you can tell I do have an opinion on both. ;)
A POD is a POD. When it comes down to it none of them can offer anything that the other can't offer. I think Amazon and Barnes & Noble should stop trying to take over the world. That's how publishing got into this mess to begin with. You think they'd learn. Apparently not.
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