Third Installment in Sue Dent's Thirsting for Blood Series Coming Soon

Yes, the editing process has begun and I'm wrapping things up on my third installment and hopefully in time for Christmas. Do be advised though, I've asked my publisher to make this book short-run through Lightning Source. This means third-party sites like Amazon and GoodReads won't be able to post about the book or sell it. Others will be able to sell copies on Amazon or other third party sites but not the sites themselves meaning my publisher will have full control over the information concerning this title. 

The main reason I'm doing this is because sites like Amazon and GoodReads allow folks to leave reviews and what not on books they can legally list but they do not monitor or control the content in any shape, way form or fashion. I've therefore decided to take that power away from sites like Amazon and GoodReads. 

If you want to purchase the third installment of my book, you'll have to go straight to the publisher to pre-order or buy it. 

Because my publisher uses Lightning Source, the books will still be available for a reasonable rate wherever LSI is set up to print books. Therefore the decision to make my book short-run doesn't affect the limited distribution POD books have at all!!!! 

Just means I can sue the daylights out of Amazon or any other third party site if they attempt to sell the third installment themselves. Oh what fun!

Do keep in mind that I'm an independently published author who writes stories for folks to enjoy. The only distribution available to me is through POD printers. I've only had one publisher who came close to getting on with Ingram and they went under. The third installment in my Thirsting for Blood Series won't be any "less available" than it is now EXCEPT that you won't be able to go into a Barnes & Noble or other large bookstore to order it. But guess what, I don't make any sales that way anyhow. So there ya go! 

Once upon a time, on a Social Network far, far away . . .

Okay, so maybe not far, far away . . . LOL Yet round about when Never Ceese started to appeal to readers of a market I NEVER IMAGINED would like my work, I began looking for ways to get to where they shopped. I found Shoutlife.com and after being more or less banned from similar sites or being creeped out because "Jesus" friended me (seriously!) I sort felt like I was wasting my time.



Then I found Shoutlife and their response to my joining was to put me up as a featured author and make me Staff Pick. Well, well, well . . . GUESS WHAT? I sort of stopped hanging out there because I was soooooo busy writing and I can only handle so many Social Networks at a time. I just popped back in to began pimping Electric Angel and . . . wait for it . . . I am currently the Staff Pick on the Author's page AGAIN and currently number eight on their list of authors!!!



Here's the link to the page where they list their featured authors: Shoutlife.com



Yes you'll have to join to see it but it is free AND I promise you that Jesus won't attempt to add you to his page . . . well maybe he won't. LOL It's a pretty laid back and accepting site. Family friendly is their motto. So anyway, thought I'd share.

Simon & Schuster Celebrates Banned Book Week!

Here's the LINK: Simon & Schuster Celebrates Banned Book Week! or in this case, "here's your sign."



So the publisher responsible for the ludicrous "industry standard return policy" between bookstores and distributors that ensures ALL small publishers will fail if they abide by it, is now celebrating banned book week!



Is anyone really waiting for their true color to show?



Good Grief!

My mock-beta reader of Electric Angel has finished the book!!!!

And just give me a second for the head swelling to go down!. LOL

"I have completed chapters 15 through 30 and what a ride you have me on woman! Again, I don't want to spoil but the 20 year jump into the future and all that has gone on and the lives of those involved has really opened up a very real and unreal world. The balance of reality in current events and the fantasy of the characters intermingles to the point where you can actually imagine this happening! There is a lot of logic and scientific fact in this story and Sue,you have done your research! I feel like I am right there along with those guys in the car at the end of chapter 30 and I feel like we are so close to finding you know who!!!I can't wait! . . . .There is a quote that I just love between Zachary and Reg when Zach says, "You're comfortable molding situations to fit your ideology. I prefer to mold my ideology to fit the situation." That was bloody brilliant!"

I have to say I was blown away that she picked up on that quote as if you'll recall, that's the one I posted on FB when it came to me. I told y'all it was good! ;) Okay. Now for the rest.

" . . . I didn't realize that I only had about 10 more pages to read so I just finished the book! What a tremendous and very touching ending! I want to also say that if you have any interest in pitching this as a movie, I think you should do it!!!This would make a great film and at the very least a SyFy mini series or something like that!!Go for it! Keep up the great writting and I can't wait for your new books to come out! Now I can get back to Never Ceese!"

Thank-you soooo much Michelle for giving such a thorough response. I feel much better not about promoting this. So yeah. Y'all go buy the book. ;) Oh and off course the ebooks that you purchase through Black Bed Sheet Books has three photos taken of Ron Fitzgerald by Jim Sorfleet as the character "Jeri." Good stuff!

Any Independent Bookstores out there willing to help.

To the best of my knowledge all Indy bookstores work very much the same way large bookstores do with the exception that they will take books on consignment (at least some will anyway.) Sadly this means I'll have to CALL any Independent Bookstore to chat with them about the "possibility" of them taking a few books to put on their shelves for my readers to find. And yes, my readers will have to FIND my books if they are placed as all the coveted shelf space goes to the large publishers even in Independent bookstores because bookstores have to put out soooooo much money just to get these books to begin with. Meaning they have to actually buy so many just to stock them. Of course this isn't a real problem because bookstores can then send unsold books back for a full refund, eventually. But it is a lot of money for them up front just to carry books by large publishers. Not to mention fees and all of that and I think they have to actually qualify.



So in the meantime us small publishers who've put as much money, time and energy (some who've even earned legitimate awards) have to peddle our goods in a way that keeps us from making any real sales. At least we do unless we make our books returnable.



Only there's a very real problem with making ones books returnable if you're with a small publisher. The only distributors small press can afford, like Ingram's Lightning Source, they don't allow for small publishers to ever see their returned books again. Therefore small publishers lose product if the book is returned (or destroyed which is what Lightning Source SAYS they do with ALL returned books.) Large publisher's returned books are resold to second hand booksellers like Books-A-Million so that large publishers actually make money off books that didn't sell when they first flood their large bookstores with their latest books to drive those books to the top of the "New York Times" best-sellers list. Yes. A win-win situation for them. Sorry crooks.



Lightning Source doesn't even give you the option to see your returned book again. They make claims that the books have been through so many hands that it isn't something you'll want back. So they conveniently destroy them (or so they say. They wouldn't tell me, when I asked, where I could go to see where the destruction occurs.) They offer to reprint you a "new" book for "half" the price. Oh wow! Now their customers only eat "half" the recovery cost. I've seen returned from the bookstore books. I've not seen one that wasn't in impeccable condition. They have to be because they're a commodity. Books-A-Million will scarf them right up and so will other second hand resellers.



Bottom line is, Lightning Source isn't the only distributor that operates like this. My second publisher went through Book Masters. When I ordered new author copies from them I was sent books that I'd hand delivered to a Barnes & Noble in Louisiana. Books I had signed and books that had an autographed by author sticker on the FRONT COVER!!! They had been sent back and were being resold as NEW through Book Masters who claim ALL returned books go to "returned books" inventory for the publisher to deal with. They claimed what happened to me was an accident and next time they'd be more CAREFUL!! There was a sticker on the front of six of the books I ordered. These books shouldn't have been with new books. EVER!



Due to this sort of activity I've made my books non-returnable. It makes my job tougher as far as getting my books into brick and mortar stores and onto the shelves but at least my books aren't stolen and at least my publisher doesn't lose more money than they stand to make.



How can Independent Bookstores help? Give us small published authors the time of day. Many of us are going to start making our books non-returnable just to survive. Give us the same chance you give any publishers who play a game they can't possibly win.

Finished with Smashwords thanks to B&N!

Well I went through the difficult task of making an ebook copy of Never Ceese good enough for Smashwords Premium Catalog. Now I see it showing up on B&N and available for their LENDING LIBRARY? What the heck? Does that not reek of Amazoness! 14 days to lend a book YOU purchased to a friend. Not with my book. The damn ebook cost $3.99. You can read a sample all day long to see if it's something you want. You can finish the book in three days. Neither my publisher or myself gave B&N permission to do this. So here's what I have to say to Smashwords and B&N.

Buh-bye now! Buh-bye!

Give me a break!!!

S D Enterprises asked to fill out publishing survey!

I know, right? At first I was honored but after reading the survey I was just sort of stunned. All I can say is that you should always keep in mind who is being surveyed whenever you read the results of any survey. Here's the letter I received to let me know what the survey was about and who was conducting it:

Dear Sue,

On behalf of The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and The Book Industry Study Group(BISG) we are requesting S D Enterprises to participate in our new joint industry statistics project, BookStats.

The aim of the program is to track transformational shifts in how book content is produced and sold in the age of digital. The new data product, to be released annually at first, will provide a comprehensive view of book sales aggregated by revenue, units, categories, formats and distribution channels.

Our efforts to improve the accuracy and quality of data collection rest primarily on the commitment and engagement of publishers like you. Whether large or small, we are hopeful that everyone will want to stand and be counted.

The survey is just ten questions and shouldn’t take long to complete. All data is absolutely confidential and it is important for you to know that your individual sales information will never be shared or used other than as part of the aggregate totals reported.

As a way to thank you for your time and commitment, participating publishers will receive complimentary access to the data once it is published.

First off I can't imagine how I even qualified to be asked to participate. What a joke! I know the reason though. I bought a block of ISBN's from Bowker. To be able to do this you have to set yourself up as a publisher which involves acquiring an EIN and saying you're a publisher. There are no other requirements.

The survey questions are for "real" publishers who have "real" sales which are only large publishers. I can show you the questions and you can laugh along with me. I think I'll save that for the next post though.

So oh boy another stupid survey coming down from the publishing industry that shows absolutely NOTHING!!! Just what us small press authors need.

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!!!

Concerning Virtual Book Signings . . .

From press release:

Concerning the idea of a virtual book signing Sue says, "It's a very real solution to a very real problem. Large chain book stores are distribution centers for large publishers. They don't embrace small published authors and certainly not self-pubbed ones. Most of us aren't even allowed to do signings. The reason? We have to play it smart and make our books "non-returnable" so bookstores don't eat us alive. Large book stores won't order your books if you make them non-returnable which means you don't get a book signing. A virtual book signing means we don't have to worry about dealing with these bullies anymore and we can sell face to face with folks all over the world!"

Making books non-returnable to survive in large bookstores set up to only distribute large publishers books is a bad idea anyway. The scenario of these bookstores ordering thousands of books (to subsequently push large publishers books to the top of best seller's lists) and sending all most all of them back for FREE isn't a scenario that will EVER work for small press or self-pubbed authors. It will take them down and has in record numbers.

And because I've neither the funds nor the "connections" to advertise my book signing the way each and every large publisher does, I MIGHT sell five books. Thank you large publishers for taking over the world with your money. I guess that means you WIN!

Okay Lets Go Over it Again!

This is for aspiring writers who listen and read blogs posted by "published" authors who don't really know how the publishing industry works or ever worked but like to blog about it as though they do.

First off, it takes quite a bit of research to get the "truth" of the matter or if you're lucky you'll run across a link like this one here that explains it all quite nicely. ;)

Bottom line, Simon and Shuester started the return policy/"don't worry about sending the book back just rip off the book cover and send it to save on postage" during the depression to keep the then small bookstores/now chain bookstores from going under. The publishing industry has warped and mutated since then until no one knows what's going on anymore.

Sufficed to say EVERYONE involved in publishing makes money off an author's work but the author. And no small publisher can operate with chain bookstores as ALL chain bookstores operate by "large" publisher's rules thinking it's perfectly legal to send unsold, over ordered books back with the covers ripped off etc . . . and not pay for 3000 years after a book sales because that's the way "large" publisher have done it for years.

I'm still baffled that some really big name Small Press authors don't get this. They act like they don't know anything about publishing. It's right there for anybody to see. I certainly see it. There are more than 4000 copies of Never Ceese out there that I've not received one cent of royalty for and never will. Gotta love that!!! NOT!!!

E-books may give us authors and small press publishers to turn this all around but we've got to be smart about it. We have to learn from the past but dear Lord you have to know what the past is before you can learn from it. EGADS!

Chain Bookstores going under?

One can only hope.

I made a comment recently along that line and of course many replied that I must be insane to wish that such a thing would happen. I did express concern about employees who would lose jobs but they should easily be able to find work at Independent bookstores that would flourish in the aftermath.

To understand my thinking one must understand the facts surrounding the publishing industry. Once upon a time all there was in the world were large publishing houses. Bookstores were a way for these houses to get their very large number of books to the public. Large publishers also used these chain bookstores to help warehouse all the books they had to print. You see, back in the day it was expensive to print books and publishers had to print A LOT of books at a time to justify the cost.

Come around to today and what we have are tons of Small QUALITY Publishing houses. There are Independent bookstores who showcase these talents but as you well know they are few and far between. Clearly, these small publishing houses would do much better IF they could get into these chain bookstores but that just isn't happening. Chain bookstores are more or less owned by large publishing houses and why would large publishing houses do anything to benefit their competition (or threat thereof.)

And that is why I could care less whether chain bookstores survive. They don't support small press authors and their attempts are feeble at best. Sort of like letting a cat participate in a dog show. They won't ever come around because they are pretty much in existence for the large publishing houses anyway (remember that used to be all there was.)

So let them go under. Independent bookstores are quite capable of filling the gaps left. You also have to keep in mind that a lot of best-selling authors have left the gravy train line (because the gravy was too thin) to self-publish. These authors can't even get into the chain stores so you readers are actually missing out on more quality fiction than you'd think you'd lose if chain bookstores fell under the weight of not supporting ALL quality fiction.

Of course you don't have to agree with me. I don't expect you to. Just like folks to understand why I don't care if chain bookstores meet their demise. It won't hurt my book sales at all or any other small press publisher.

Large publishers aren't the only ones in the game anymore. Not by a long shot.

Christian Chain Bookstores going under?

Well, since we're on a roll, the same logic applies here. Christian Chain Bookstores are even worse. Not only were they created to support ONLY publishers who pay a fee to belong to CBA or the Christian Booksellers Association, an Association formed to make sure all books put out by member publishers met strict and specific evangelical guidelines decided by them, they also say nay, nay to ANY other publisher large or small who isn't a paying member.

And yet their books find their way into chain bookstores due to the fact that larger publishers added CBA houses as imprints. So they get a double whammy from me. Can't wait to see these guys go because I've given up on them ever coming around. It would be an easy fix for them too. All chain Christian bookstores would have to do would be to state what kind of bookstore they are or allow all publishers who provide work that doesn't offend Christian readers of all faiths or at least most to come in. They've made no move to do either. So bye-bye to them. And yep, there are Independent Christian bookstores that treat all books by all publishers equally, affiliated or not. ;)

Jackson MS Books-A-Million signing.

Never mind. LOL

I don't have the funds to promote a booksigning and sure don't see the point when the bookstore no longer has me in their system so they can order more if they do sell out. Just do me a favor and go buy the nine that are at the Jackson Books-A-Million before they can be sent back to my publisher who will then lose money hand over fist because they have to pay for books that are returned.

Do know that as far as Books-A-Million goes, for whatever reason, Forever Richard no longer shows up in their system at all on-line or otherwise. Sad. Very sad.

Also if you do buy one of the nine copies and don't have Never Ceese or haven't read it, please contact me at sdent1@bellsouth.net and I'll be glad to get you a copy. The Bookshelf in Ridgeland has copies and can call me to bring them up there if they run out.

Good folks there! ;)