#307: Curious phenomenon.  About the same time that Amazon bought the Washington Post, the New York Times had an editorial toning down its support for Apple’s position in the ebook price-fixing scandal.  A bit before that, the Boston Globe was sold to the owner of the Boston Red Sox.  Perhaps the Times, which I commend for having a digital edition for a while, is quivering a little.  They might prefer to work with Bezos than the New York Yankees’ organization?  The amount left on A-Rod’s salary would be a good down payment if the Yankees were interested.  Just sayin’….

#308: Calling all sci-fi addicts.  People have read my Survivors of the Chaos.  It even has a 5-star review on Amazon by a Pulitzer-nominated author, David Menefee.  That said, I don’t understand the neglect of the other two books in the “Chaos Chronicles Trilogy,” Sing a Samba Galactica and Come Dance a Cumbia…with Stars in Your Hand!  Maybe this is just non-productive whining, but this trilogy is my Foundation series, with the International Trade Union of Independent Planets (ITUIP) taking the place of the Foundation, and a power-hungry shipping magnate taking the place of the Mule (I didn’t write my trilogy with the Foundation trilogy in mind, of course—it just grew into a trilogy by itself, more or less, as often happens).  If you haven’t read Asimov’s trilogy (and later books in the series that meld it with the robot books and The End of Eternity), you have definitely missed some classics.  I’ll just say that my themes and settings are a bit more modern and there are ETs in my novels.

#309: Coming soon!  The next book in the “Clones and Mutants Series,” No Amber Waves of Grain, and a new anthology of speculative fiction, Paso Dobles in a Quantum Stringscape, are in final editing.  Look for them.  I’m hoping for a fall release.  Pricing is yet to be determined, but they will be a bargain.  I might even open with a freebie promo on KDP Select, so stay tuned.

#310: Please review my books.  Read them first, of course.  Anyone know how to donate ebooks to public libraries?  It doesn’t seem to be easy and the local librarians can’t seem to come up with a good way to do it.  Donating pbooks (I only have four) has been rewarding—people read them until they’re worn out.  At any rate, if you’re a reader-member of Amazon’s KDP Select program, you can borrow my books that are in that program.  Those who have, please drop me an email and tell me how that works for you.

Otherwise, you have to buy my ebooks to read them.  Compared to Big Five ebooks (i.e. ebooks produced by one of the Big Five publishers or their subsidiaries), indie ebooks are a bargain.  (Those bargains—good reading for less—are forcing some of the Big Five to reduce their ebook prices.  Apple’s lawsuit loss—the publishers settled beforehand—also helped.)  Moreover, they’re designed directly for ereaders, not just as a second thought.  Mine are no exception.

When you buy one of my ebooks, write a short review—it doesn’t have to be an MFA treatise.  Just tell other readers why you liked the book.  That helps me (I thank all people who have reviewed my books, by the way) and it helps other readers.  If you do that for other indie authors too, you are helping indie publishing—you benefit by having good stuff to read at a reasonable price.

#311: Authors wanting reviews for their books?  I’m a reviewer for Bookpleasures and do very little reviewing on the side.  I also tend to focus on mysteries, thrillers, and sci-fi, but there are exceptions (I’ve reviewed non-fiction books too).  You are better served by applying to Bookpleasures directly because we have many reviewers and many of them will focus on complementary genres to yours.  Go to our website and follow the rules for submission.  This works for both ebooks and pbooks, although some reviewers (like me) prefer ebooks.

Another way to find reviewers is to become a member of the Goodreads group “Good Reviews” and/or the Facebook group “Review Seekers.”  List your ebook there and offer a gift copy in exchange for an honest review.  You can also offer to exchange reviews with other authors—that puts pressure on both of you as reviewers, but I don’t see anything wrong with it per se.

Finally, you can visit Step-by-Step Self-Publishing for a list of reviewing websites .  Each website has different rules.  Be respectful and follow them when submitting your books.  Be careful.  Some sites offer a speedier review if you pay a fee.  You should never pay for a review.  Your gift copy in exchange for an honest review is all that should be required.

Many sites require your book to be available on Amazon.  Sites that require your book to have already a certain number of four- or five-star reviews should be avoided.  They’re putting authors into a vicious circle and should be boycotted.  Likewise those who charge for reviews—they’re just ripping you off.

#312: A candid interview.  Brian Feinblum, of Book Marketing Buzz Blog fame, just published an interview of yours truly.  I opened up and gave candid responses to his questions.  Some readers might call them opinionated, but I speak my mind.  Check it out.   Brian can be emailed at: brianf@finnpartners.com 

#313: The Rowling brand name.  Last time I looked, J. K.’s new book was number three on the NY Times bestseller list.  Am I jealous?  Not really.  She earned her credentials by turning Harry Potter and friends into a money-maker.  She developed her brand name by selling millions of books.  Her history shows that anyone can hit it big in the writing business.  Tom Clancy is another author that came from nowhere.  There are many others.

People win lotteries.  And the aphorism is true: you can’t win the lottery if you don’t play.  So, like so many other authors, I just keep playing—rather, writing.  My goals are modest.  Being on the NY Times bestseller list isn’t one of them.  I just want to entertain a large number of readers and have fun writing, so I keep producing books that I think will be as entertaining for readers as they are for me.  It’s all about the stories.

In libris libertas….

[If you enjoyed this newsletter, please support this blog: buy, read, and review some of my books.]

This entry was posted on Friday, August 16th, 2013 at 4:00 am and is filed under News and Notices from the Writing Trenches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.