The Vandal

5 Months With Amazon KDP Select

Derek Haines — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:02 +0000

Some months ago I wrote about my initial observations on using Amazon KDP Select. But now with five months of experience under my belt, I thought some may be interested in what my conclusions are. And for those using KDP Select, perhaps to compare experiences.

Firstly, it is worth saying that Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is still the easiest platform by far that I have used for self-publishing an ebook. So without joining the Select program, it would still be my number one choice because of ease and speed of publication and of course, the distribution of Kindle ebooks worldwide (well almost) via the Amazon network.

However, when you enrol in the Select program, you have one very big decision to make. Amazon insists on absolute exclusivity, so you cannot publish on any other platform or sell via any other retailer. Even your own blog or website. Because I had a number of ebooks already published before I enrolled in KDP Select, it took a very long time to have my ebooks removed from other retailers. Amazon do check carefully as well, and I received a few emails from them telling me that they had located some of my books on other retailers and gave me ten days notice to have the books removed or be suspended from Select. My experience with this problem was that as these books had been distributed to these retailers by Smashwords, it was better and more efficient to contact Smashwords directly regarding the removal than individual online retailers. I did contact Sony, B&N and a few others and had no response at all.

Then what do you get when you join? Well only two things really, five free promotion days per book every three months and admission to Amazon’s Prime Lending library.

I’ll start with the Prime Lending Library. A flop, a dud, a disappointment is all I can say. Each month I see a few ‘borrows’ in my account but nowhere near enough to justify giving exclusivity to Amazon. If it was only this, I would be out of the program pronto.

The free days however are a different matter. I know there are a range of opinions about giving books away for free, but as I’ve now been through nearly two cycles of five days with ten books, I have to say it pays off. Amazon list bestselling (yeah I know!) free books and if you can gain a prominant place, say in the top 30, it does help in attracting valuable reader attention. I have noticed that offering a book for one day doesn’t achieve as good a results as a two or three day giveaway and once your free days finish, expect your book to drop off the free bestseller list almost immediately. I have also found that weekends work much better than weekdays, but I suppose this is logical. Another consideration is about the number of books you have enrolled as the more books you have, the more free days you have to promote yourself.

If my conclusion about KDP Select was purely based on the number of borrowed books and having the ability to give my books away, of course I would be out. But there’s just one rather strange consequence that I’ve noticed since joining. My ebook sales keep increasing each month. For the life of me I can’t really put my finger on the reason though. Perhaps it’s all because of the free books, or maybe because I’ve changed deodorant. I really don’t know. But giving Amazon exclusivity has resulted in far, far more sales for me and more than make up for the few ebooks I used to sell on other retailers each month. As well as that it’s much easier to keep track of payments from just one source.

But even with a good steady increase in sales, my retirement on a tropical island is still a long way from being funded by Amazon, so don’t expect miracles.

I’d be interested in hearing the experiences of other KDP Select authors.

I Write, Because I Want To

Derek Haines — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:58 +0000

There are many reasons to want to write but for me, but making a fortune, achieving fame, being awarded glittering prizes or even just being recognised as a half decent author are not. In fact, and you can believe it or not, I’m not even that concerned about book sales. I write because I want to and find immense pleasure in taking the weird, whacky, happy and sad thoughts from my mind and setting them down in text. If someone actually likes it, thats great. And if they don’t, well there are always other books to read.

Now this is not to say that I’m not pleased when my books or ebooks sell, the contrary in fact, but it’s not the main aim in my mind. As an author who has been self-publishing for a very long time – from way back in the days long before ebooks and social media were words that had even been invented – I have always had the motivation to write because it it’s personally rewarding and a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I make this point because I see so many authors now entering the self-publishing scene that seem driven by the strangest of motivations. Greed being one obvious one and I really have news for these people. Go rob a bank. It’s a much faster way to make a buck than spending all that time writing, re-writing, editing, proof reading, re-reading and then working on all the time consuming marketing needed in trying to sell a million ebooks. The other new entrants are the competitive authors, who seem to think that criticising other authors is the way to attract attention and rise to the top. Well here again I have news for these people. It’s an utter waste of time and a great way to make yourself look like a real jerk. Writing is and always has been a non-competitive business, so if you feel the need to be competitive and ‘slag off’ your fellow writers, go into a real business like bidding for government contracts and have fun in the dog eat dog world of real competitive commerce.

Then there are the ‘nouveaux‘ experts. This is a new breed that I’m just coming to grips with. These are the authors, editors, proof readers and small publishers who have been in the self-publishing business for a few weeks and think they know absolutely everything about anything there is to know about everything and are willing to share (read perhaps shove down your throat) their recently acquired knowledge with everyone and anyone. Some even have the audacity to want to charge you for the privilege. Nice work if you can get it.

I write because I’m a writer and I don’t need to waste my time arguing my case on forums populated by ‘latter day know it alls’ or posting a minute by minute update of the progress of my WIP on Facebook. I don’t even feel the need to tell Twitter what my current writing project is about. And who on Google+ would be interested anyway?

No, I don’t need to do anything except write. But yes, when it’s time for me to self-publish a new book in ebook and paperback, I’ll make a little noise about it, but in the end, I’m sure interested readers will find it by themselves when they’re ready anyway.

What And Who I Read

Derek Haines — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:00:10 +0000

As all writers do, I read a lot. So I thought it might be an insight for readers of my blog to know who I read and why. Perhaps another day I’ll post a list of the books and authors I read, but today I’ll give you a taste of the blogs I read regularly, if not daily. So here we go with an insight into my daily reading.

Have We Had Help: I have to place my good mate Jack Eason at the head of my list. Not only do we both share a southern hemisphere upbringing, but we also share a love for science fiction. Not only this, but our love for this genre was born from similar reading when we were young, well younger. Erich von Däniken gave us both something to think about, but I’m one up on Jack. I’ve briefly met Erik!

Debbi Mack is not on not only one of my favourite authors, but one of my favourite bloggers. I don’t know how she finds the time to write and keep a brilliant blog going. My Life On The Midlist just has to be one of the most readable blogs going. Do yourself a favour and add her blog to your reading list.

When it comes to book bloggers and reviewers, my ‘go to’ is Charlie Courtland. There is no better book reviewer in my mind and Bitsy Bling Books is my absolute favourite when I want to find a new book to read.

When I feel like some great poetry, my first stop is Moondustwriter’s Blog. Well, I know her as Leslie Moon, and she is one of my oldest social media friends. Make your day and days and read the beautiful words she creates.

Mary Tabor just has to be one of my ‘Ad Fabs’ With a blog called Sex After Sixty, how could you not be at least a little interested. Mary is a wonderful lady, with a brilliant outlook on the world. Do yourself a favour and add her blog to your reading list immediately.

Then there is Mary Crocco, who wears two hats, as well as having become a great friend. As a writer, her blog Pleasure Prompts is a must for me. Then there is Mary the astute book reviewer. Do yourself a favour and subscribe to her Book Reviewer blog, simply titled, Book Reviewer!

Stella Deleuze has been on my Twitter stream for a long time. Her blog Words By Stella are not simply from a writer’s perspective, but from an editor’s point of view as well. Just beware that Stella takes no prisoners. Her turn of phrase is delightfully sharp.

I’m sure many of you know Claude Bouchard but may not be reading his blog Ramble On. He is of course a Twitter giant, but take a look at his blog as he really has some great insight into the world of self publishing and writing.

Sirragirl is an editor who has a great blog and gives excellent advice to writers. Do yourself a favour and add her to your RSS feed.

If you’re an indie author or just want to keep up to date on developments in reading, publishing and reviews, Good E-Reader is the place to go. Just don’t get lost and spend hours on this site like I do!

Of course there are hundreds of blogs worthy of mention here, but this was an insight into my reading. Hopefully you’ll enjoy discovering someone new to read from my list.

Your Final Draft Is Unacceptable

Derek Haines — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:00:28 +0000

After weeks, months or years, you have finally finished the last draft of your book. No doubt you have spent hours upon hours checking grammar, spelling, punctuation, plot errors as well as fixing formatting and style problems. You have probably read your final draft so many times by now that you are sick to death of it, but finally, you know it’s perfect and you’re ready to publish your new book.

NO! STOP!

DO NOT HIT THE PUBLISH BUTTON!

No matter what your level of expertise in writing, or your depth of acumen in English grammar and lexis, there is just no way on this planet that your manuscript is ready for publication yet. You wrote it, therefore you love it, therefore you do not have the independent eye that is now necessary to find the problems that still lie within your writing.

After publishing nearly a dozen books, I can speak from hard learned experience that errors within a published book not only reduce its readability, but also have a detrimental effect on your reputation as an author, and of course on book sales. Apart from my writing, I am an English teacher so it would be reasonable to assume I have a good grasp of the English language and can do a decent job of editing and proof reading. Well yes, but not of my own writing. There is something weird about the human brain that stubbornly refuses to accept its own mistakes.

I would never think of publishing anything longer than a blog post without an independent assessment of my writing. Whether it be an editor, a proof reader or a number of beta readers, the need for independent assessment is vital. In my case I use all three when it comes time to publish a new book.

It is common knowledge that self publishing has allowed every man, woman, and his or her dog to publish a book nowadays and that the poor quality of a lot of what is ‘Indie’ published is casting a shadow over self publishing. However, readers who scan Amazon and other ebook and book retailers for books to buy and read don’t necessarily divide their choices between big publishers and Indie publishers. They make their choice based on the old fashioned standard of quality. If there are clanging errors in the first 3,000 words that are available as a preview read for your book, you ‘dead meat’ so to say. So don’t rush to publish. Slow down and take your time and get those independent eyes working on your manuscript.

Then while you’re waiting for your new manuscript to be edited, proof read and beta read, why not spend your time productively? What about a great cover and a killer book description and blurb that will help sell your book as well as updating your author bio? Start making contact with book bloggers and reviewers and advise them of your upcoming book. What about an author interview or three?

Then, even with the most meticulous editing and proof reading, errors can still slip through. Luckily though, the technology of publishing now allows for a quick republish when these are spotted, so one could say that the process of perfecting a manuscript can be an ongoing process. In my case I have updated my books on numerous occasions as I have noticed small errors or typos that have slipped through.

So never sacrifice speed for quality. Publishing quality books that are readable and and thus enjoyable for readers takes and patience. Don’t rush to the publish button and ruin your reputation.

Slap An Indie

Derek Haines — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:00:38 +0000

My post title may sound like a bit of self-flagellation but a recent post by Stella Deleuze titled ‘Indies, sometimes I just want to slap them!’ caught my immediate attention. It’s of course no secret that self-publishing has been a fantastic development for Indie Authors, but unfortunately there are many writers (I do however use this term loosely for some of them) now coming to self-publishing who have no idea about how to conduct themselves when promoting their book or books.

Everyday without fail I receive emails, Twitter messages, Facebook messages and Goodreads messages from authors I do not know and have never heard of, who want me to promote their new books. I usually just hit the delete or unfollow button, but on some days when the tide becomes a tsunami of requests I sometimes respond with a friendly message. ’Grab a brain idiot. I’m a bit busy promoting my own thank you very much!’

As many of you may know, I do run a book promotion site, Whizbuzz, which is a paid service, so I am certainly not against promoting authors and their books. But as it takes me a good hour to prepare a listing and circulate it on my social media platforms, I think a small fee is justifiable. Then there are times I do mention certain authors freely on my blog or other platforms because I choose to. Usually because I have read their books or have developed some kind of rapport with them and believe they have something of value to say.

So for those new to self-publishing here are a few ‘Do’s and Don’t's’ that will keep you away from needing a slap from Stella or myself.

DO invest the time in building your own social networks.
DO have a blog and post regularly.
DON’T expect those who have worked hard to build their own social networks to let you use theirs for free.
DON’T set up ‘Auto Welcome DMs’ on Twitter. They are just plain annoying.
DO converse and interact. Yes this takes time but hey, so does writing a book.
DO contact book bloggers and ask them if they would like a review copy of your book. That’s what they do.
DON’T expect all your promotion can be done for free. Self-publishing is a business, not a charity.
DO unto others etc. If you hate jerks, why become one yourself?
DO think about separating your personal social media accounts by creating promotional accounts. Eg: Facebook Pages or second Twitter accounts.
DON’T ever think self-publishing will make you rich.
DO be patient and be prepared for a long haul and forget about becoming an overnight success.

Now lastly I’d like to say that you should all race over to check out author and ‘famous bitch editor’ Stella Deleuze, as we have made a pact to cross promote each other for free and sell one million books each this week!

Wish us success and get your ‘Amazon Kindle One Click’ finger at the ready!

Let’s Do It For Free

Derek Haines — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:35:14 +0000

One of the eternal mysteries for an author is why some books become popular and others don’t. In my case, after eleven books I can honestly say that my own favourite story is one of my worst sellers. Perhaps It’s the genre, the cover or one hundred other possibilities, but for some reason it just hasn’t been read by as many readers as I would have liked.

Not being one to give up however, I have decided to give HAL a long FREE weekend. HAL will be available for free on the Amazon Kindle Store from Friday 4th May through to Sunday 6th May. So if you haven’t read my favourite story, why not get over to your Kindle Store and grab HAL.

Oh and of course, if you do happen to enjoy HAL as a free offering, any reviews would be extremely welcomed by his author!

Need more info? Well here’s the guts of HAL’s story.

Millions of years before February The Fifth, Gloth was making a nice little profit from the planet Erde, with the help of some cunning Popes and the very, very secret Star Chamber.

Being disowned by his father and booted out of his family manor in England, then transported off to the distant sun drenched shores of Australia didn’t sound like such a bad punishment for Hal. All things considered. Sydney however, didn’t prove to be his cup of tea, but a quick move to Brisbane leads Hal to a wonderful new life full of friends, back yards, barbecues, beer, surfing, The Breakfast Creek Hotel and Narelle. The idyllic life.

For a short time unfortunately, as so often happens just when you think things are beautifully perfect, someone or something comes along to throw a spanner in the works. In Hal’s case, his idyllic life gets hit my a number of airborne wrenches. Then when he thinks things are are about as bad as they can get, they of course get a whole lot worse.

Afflicted by an allergic reaction to dust and scary things, Hal does a lot of sneezing as he goes about trying to make the whole lot worse a whole lot better.

I hope you enjoy reading HAL. My favourite story.

HAL also free on Amazon UK, Amazon DE and Amazon FR

As a bonus, MILO MOON will also be available for FREE on Saturday 5th May and Sunday 6th May! Get a copy from:

Amazon US or Amazon UK

Right! I’m Dead On Goodreads

Derek Haines — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:00:13 +0000

It took me a while to catch on, but then again, that’s not unusual as sometimes I’m a bit slow on the uptake. After enjoying adding a few new friends each day on Goodreads for some years now, I wondered why my popularity had dried up all of a sudden when quite some time passed without any new friend requests. Then I did what all morons finally do. I checked the Goodreads Help section.

So that’s the problem I finally discovered. Goodreads has done a Facebook and decided that if you have 5,000 friends, well, you’re popular enough, so just live with the fact that you can’t have any more. Nice! So what do I do now?

At first, I though well I’ll go and check Shelfari, but I’ve been there done that, and quite honestly it just isn’t anywhere near as good a social network as Goodreads. Perhaps I should spend more time on Facebook? Well, if I understood how Facebook worked I might have, but for some reason I just can’t get the hang of it. Perhaps because it changes weekly and I don’t particularly like change may be the reason.

My next ‘knee jerk’ reaction was to write this blog post because I realised that I’m really quite peeved with Goodreads now. I mean, 5,000 is not that many for an author hoping to sell millions of books. Yeah I know, in my dreams.

But when did someone decide how many friends I can have? I think this decidedly unfriendly attitude by Goodreads deserves one of my favourite phrases.

‘Damn nazi nanny attitude if you ask me.’

Short Story – The Alternative List By Alex Russell

Derek Haines — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:00:19 +0000

The Alternative List

With the local elections coming up Jane and I decide to drive to the Sous-Préfecture in the regional town and ask for advice on voting. Our request is met by a blank look.

“What happens?” I ask.
“You go to the Mairie and you vote,” replies the young woman, rather sniffily.
“Will we need a voting card?”
“Yes.”
“Where will we get that?”
“It’ll be posted to you of course.”
“And when we get to the Mairie to vote, what do we do?”
“You vote.”
“But how do we vote?”
“No-one can tell you how to vote in France.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. What is the process of voting? Do we put a tick or a cross against the names of the people we are voting for?”
“No.”
“So how do we vote for them?” I say, thinking this is where I started.
“You cross out the others.”
“How do you know what the candidates stand for? Do they represent parties?”
“No, they are grouped in lists, in alphabetical order.”
“Lists…? Who organises the lists?”
“The candidates do.”
“Can we vote for people on different lists?”
“Yes.”
“So, have I got this straight? There will be one or more lists of candidates and I cross out the names of anyone I don’t want to vote for?”
“Yes. But if you want you can add names.”
“Whose names?”
“Anyone you want.”
“But what if they don’t want to be a councillor?”
“Then they’ll refuse.”
“OK… how many people can we vote for?”
“As many as you like.”
“So we can vote for as many people as we like?” I reaffirm.
“Yes, but if you vote for too many it won’t count.”
“How many is too many?”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
“It depends on where you live.”
I tell her the name of our hamlet.
“Where’s that?” she asks.
“It’s where we live,” I reply, thinking I have just scored my first point.
“Which commune?” she asks, pulling a face. I tell her.
“How many people live in that commune?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t met them all yet,” I reply. (Second point to me.)
She looks up the commune in a directory.
“Twelve,” she says.
“What? Only twelve people live in our commune?”
“No. I don’t think that’s likely, do you?”
“So what’s twelve?” I ask (feeling I’ve been outplayed).
“You asked me how many is too many. It’s twelve,” she says, with a smirk.
(Game over. She’s won on points.)

“Well,” says Jane, as we leave the building, “now we know.”
“Know what?” I ask.
“Twelve is too many.”

A week later.

“Mmm… that smells good,” I say, as I come in through the front door.
“It shouldn’t do – it’s soup,” Jane replies.
I’m not sure if that was a playful reply or…
“Oh well… never mind… The green lizards are grumpy today,” I say, putting on a jumper. “They don’t like moving house.”
Jane looks puzzled but I’ve got her interest.
“They’ve taken to living in the teepees, which I’m now dismantling. I’ve tried to explain I’m building low-rise stick-stores which they can use instead, but they’re still sleepy and not impressed.”
A muffled noise outside catches my attention. Looking through the murky glass panel of the door I see grey silhouettes. I open the door – it’s a… delegation? I recognise Marie, Bernadette and Regis, who troop in past me.
“Come in,” I say, following them.
They sit at the kitchen table, huddled in thick coats and scarves. It’s like an oversized Teddy Bears’ Picnic.
“Sit down,” I add, wondering at what point I will be able to catch up with them.

“Would you like a drink?” asks Jane.
“Not for the moment, thanks,” says Bernadette. All eyes turn to me. “We’ve come to persuade you to put your name down for the Alternative Voting List.”
“Ah, yes … The Alternative list… they told me a bit about that at the Sous-Préfecture last week. But, as you know, my spoken French isn’t fluent. I can’t very well represent people if I sometimes misunderstand what they are saying, can I?”
Regis frowns, rubs the stubble on his chin and says, “That’s a fair point, but Adolphe has been mayor here for fourteen years. If he gets in this time his Reich will be going for another six years. What are things going to be like by then? Don’t forget you’ll be here too,” he adds, with something like menace in his voice.
“Yes, but..,” I stutter, “it’ll be another couple of years before I’ve got enough competence in this language and in the meantime…”
“That’s OK,” says Regis. “For the first couple of years you stay in the background.”
“Anyway,” Marie cuts in, “that’s not the point. No-one’s going to vote for you anyway – you’re a foreigner…”
The cat, it seems, is out of the bag. There is a moment of silence. Nobody moves. They are sitting at our kitchen table and don’t look as if they are about to go. My head is swimming slightly.

“Nice cup of tea?” suggests Jane brightly to everyone-and-no-one and busies herself with the kettle.
“Right,” I say, searching for coherence. “You want me to be on the alternative list, but you don’t think there’s a chance that anyone will vote for me?”
“That’s right,” says Marie. The other two nod their agreement.
“That’s why it doesn’t matter that your French isn’t too good,” adds Regis.
Bernadette takes the lead.
“We need numbers,” she explains. “We need to show that we can put up an opposition team against the mayor – that there is opposition to his mad ideas, that we in the village have a different vision of how this commune can be…”
Her eyes become misty and unfocused – she is seeing the Promised Land somewhere over my left shoulder.

Jane hands round the steaming mugs of tea.
“Milk, anyone?” Suddenly the mood is broken. Our ‘guests’ are looking into their mugs, frowning. They look puzzled.
“Um… what is it in this cup?” asks Marie, hesitantly.
“Tea,” says Jane.
“But there’s no tea-bag in it…”
“It’s English tea. I made it in a pot.” She lifts the pot up to shoulder height as evidence.
“English tea..? And you put milk in it… in tea?”
“That’s right,” says Jane. She walks over with the milk bottle, tops up my mug and stirs it. “There. English tea!”

“I’m not sure,” I say, returning to the subject of the election. “People round here may feel it’s a bit presumptuous of me as a newly-arrived foreigner to put myself up to represent them. It could sour relations with everyone.”
Something in their expression tells me that a second cat has jumped out of the bag.
“No… I’m sure people round here wouldn’t take it like that…” Regis’ reassurance sounds a little forced.
I finish my tea and stand up.
“I tell you what. Let me sleep on it and I’ll phone Marie in the morning with my decision.”
With a shared, resigned look they stand up and shuffle out.
“I’ll phone tomorrow,” I say, shutting the door behind them.
“So what are you going to do?” asks Jane.
“No idea,” I reply. “Come on, it’s warm outside. Let’s go to the plot for a picnic.”

Sitting together at the picnic table we sip our home-made soup and chew crusty fresh bread. The sun is warm through our clothes. Birds chirrup in the trees around us. The valley before us is aglow with light.
“One day, we’ll live here,” says Jane. “We’ll be sitting here and this will be our garden. And our house will be just over there.”
“Yes,” I say, “one day…”
An owl hoots. My eyes fill with tears; my body must have sensed something, but it will take more than a year before I recognise that owl’s hoot as an omen – a bad omen – that our dream will become a nightmare.

We spend the afternoon measuring the position of the trees for the scale plan of the garden we are working on and we upset another sleepy green lizard as we remove more slender tree trunks from a ‘teepee’. At teatime we visit Lily.
“I wouldn’t get involved in local politics if I were you,” she says, seriously.

When we get back there is a phone message from Maurice, inviting us to an aperitif.
“It could be he wants another favour,” says Jane. “I hope he doesn’t want me to look after Sylvie again. I don’t think I can bear babysitting a thirteen-year old throughout another night.”
An hour later we walk round to Maurice’s house, past the church and up the lane. First there are drinks and small talk. Then I tell Maurice about this morning’s delegation.
“I wouldn’t get involved in local politics if I were you,” he says, seriously.
“I told them I’d sleep on it,” I reply vaguely.
After he has poured us another drink he says, “In May I’m doing a conference in Rheims and during the 2nd week Isabelle will have to be in Paris… I don’t know who’s going to look after Sylvie. It’ll be all right during the day – she’ll be at school but we can’t leave her on her own overnight…”

Just after nine o’clock in the morning I phone Marie and say I will put my name on the Alternative Voting List.
“Why did you agree to do it? I didn’t think you were going to,” says Jane, “not after everyone warned you not to.”
“Well, that was part of it, I suppose. But mainly it was the thought of Adolphe being in power for another six years without my trying to do something to stop it – I don’t think I could have lived with myself.”
“You know there may be repercussions – he could become an active enemy – he’s got a lot of allies round here.”
“I know, but I didn’t come all this way from England just to be a yes-man. He’s got most of the village scared by his growls and threats and tantrums – there’s no point to being here if we are going to cave in as well.”
“Secretly I was hoping you’d say that,” says Jane, hugging me. “You’re my hero you are.”

Find out more about Alex Russell

Would you like your short story featured on The Vandal? Click here for submission details.

Are Ebook Prices Heading South?

Derek Haines — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:00:28 +0000

There has probably been no subject related to ebooks more discussed than price. From the beginning of the Kindle, iBook, Nook and Sony ebook revolution, pricing seems to have been the ‘X’ factor. ‘X’ here being the unknown factor.

While ebook prices were originally gauged against paperback and hardcover versions, this formula went out the window extremely quickly. No matter the arguments about the time it took an author to write a book, or how long an editor slaved over each word or how much money was spent on cover design and book promotion, the perceived value of an ebook in a customer’s eyes just didn’t add up to the old physical book price calculations.

After all, it’s just a little electronic file. As the music industry and software companies now know, a file is a file is a file and prices have plummeted over the last five or so years.

I recently read an interesting article about ebook price predictions for 2012 on Author Media. Not surprisingly most industry experts confirm a range from $0.99 up to a premium price of $9.99. While this is logical, the unknown is how many books will sell at each rung of the price ladder.

Clearly, $0.99 has proved to be irresistibly popular for Kindle owners especially, but at the next level of $2.99 some buying resistance starts to set in. Logically, the next levels of $4.99 and then up to $9.99 meet further buyer resistance. Trying to use Amazon Kindle’s bestseller list is a poor guide to this price resistance as it is such a ‘secret’ as to how it is formulated, and is dotted with ‘promoted’ books. However, in scanning the list of the top 500 ebooks, $0.99 cent books absolutely abound.

Then there is the ‘other’ ebook price. Free. Whether by Amazon’s KDP Select, or via an author or publisher promotion, free is a very attractive price and useful marketing tool. But then there is a dangerous kind of free.

As the Internet’s history has proven, if something is simply a digital file, the pirates will step in. A recent article in The Daily Mail reported on ebook piracy and gave an alarming example.

One example is 77 Shadow Street, the new novel by Dean Koontz. Amazon customers will have to pay £11.96 to pre-order it – but an eBook and audiobook version are already available for free from the pirate site.

So the next 12 months will be interesting. The only ‘sure thing’ is that ebook prices will not be heading North anytime soon.

Short Story – I Got Beat At The Park By Mary Crocco

Derek Haines — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:00:48 +0000

I Got Beat At The Park

I’ve been feeling really bad lately since my mom is feeling so bad. I talk to her daily, but there is no conversation anymore. We used to talk about the books we were reading, TV shows we were watching, foods we were preparing, current events, and more. But she just makes it to the computer for about two minutes and we talk about nothing. She doesn’t call me even though I suggest it may be less painful. I can’t force her to call instead of using Instant Message. I just hope she does it because she likes it better, not because I hate the phone. I do call her when I just need to hear her voice, but it’s never a good conversation and she makes it short. Sigh.

She has lost interest in everything. She doesn’t read, watch TV, cook, or keep up with the news. She has pain in her hips and knees. She doesn’t sleep well. This comes from a person who slept for 8 – 10 hours nightly forever. There is no joy in her life whatsoever.
She has a nurse’s aide daily, she has Meals on Wheels, and now she has a new doctor who comes to her. The only time she went out was to go to the doctors, now the doctor comes to her. Her aide comes back after her regular daytime hours to help her with dinner and going to bed. This is what did it for me. I pretty much lost it when she told me this.
My mother is a strong woman. She doesn’t tell me things that she knows will make me worry any more than I already do. But I think she is telling me more things a little at a time because I’m going to be there on April 24th for a week. She won’t be able to hide much then. She does this out of love; because she knows what my daily life is like. I visited her 6 months ago and I can’t believe how fast she is going downhill. My brothers live close to her and see her often. I don’t get any calls from them about my mom. I have to figure out for myself how she really is doing.

It wasn’t too long ago that I set my mom up with everything to make her life easier. I went to the Medical Supply store and got all there was for comfort and necessity. I even got her new hearing aids. She was doing fine. Then she made a bad decision to go to rehab to get strength in her thighs to have surgeries. It was a bad idea and I told her so. I knew the outcome would be exactly what happened. But she didn’t listen to me. She has said she wished she listened. But it’s history now.

So, today is Thursday. I’ve been pretty sad since the weekend after hearing about the aide coming back at night. I have so many feelings swimming around in my head. I feel sad, I feel guilty, and I feel helpless. I haven’t been to the pool to exercise this week. My ear doesn’t feel right and I figure I better not risk getting water in it. But today I just had to do something because I was left feeling really bad about myself last night.
So I went to the library to look for pictures to use in my book for my grandson. I spent way too long looking and started feeling pain, but I wanted to walk in the park and get some sun, so I took the books I collected and left. I went to the park and I got beat up!
I couldn’t believe the parallel between beating me up mentally and being beat up while walking in the park. The day was windy, but beautiful. I was thinking about my mother and how I should be there every day to take care of her and all of a sudden my face was whipped with what felt like shards of glass. At first it took me for a loop and I couldn’t figure out how leaves could hurt so much.

I kept walking and before long I saw acorns on the path. I picked up a couple and that’s when I realized it was acorns that beat me up. It was like a good slap in the face, but it only lasted a minute. I went right back to feeling like crap.

So, as I’m walking my hips are killing me and I’m wondering if I can even make it once around the path. I start thinking about when I used to come to this park before I got sick and how many times I walked this path. I’d never counted but I certainly walked more than once and for hours. I had put two of my attackers in my pocket earlier, and took them out now and rolled them around in my hand for a minute. I thought it might get me to change my negative thoughts.

I now turn the bend in the walking path and see the swings where I used to swing with a boyfriend 11 years earlier. I wanted to swing again so I go off the beaten path (pun intended) and my eyes fixated on a swing. There was a young teenager on the far swing and three empty swings. I didn’t for one minute think I couldn’t swing. I don’t know why, but it never crossed my mind. Well, add to my getting beat up by acorns to experiencing one of the most humiliating moments in my life.

I get to the swing and turn my back to it to get on and I can’t pull myself up onto the swing. I have no strength in my arms and hands to lift myself up. Oh my gawd. I think, no way. I exercise 2 hours every other day, I can do this. I try again, this time pushing the swing under my butt thinking it will give me an edge. It does not. Now there are two younger girls running to the swings next to me and a father holding onto the swing poles staring at me. I try again and I can’t get on the swing. I look at the dad and I am so humiliated I can’t believe it. So I leave and continue walking.

Oh I forgot to mention another reason I’m feeling so sad. My 24 year old son, Bob, is currently in Lake Havasu City with friends. I lived there for a couple of years when my sons, Jim and Rich were about 3 and 6 years old until they were about 6 and 9. My sons know I absolutely love LHC. They have wanted to take me there many, many times, but I haven’t made it yet. I always say someday. Bob has been sending me pictures of the lake and asking me to set a date to go. Rich said we should all go in the summer, him and his new family, Bob, and me. Again, I said maybe.

It’s a double edged sword for me. Memories of my kids are precious. I love thinking of the happy times. But I was divorced in LHC after almost 10 years of marriage and their father never saw Jim and Rich again, (except for when they came to court with me for child support). It was in LHC where I met Bob’s father and was with him in Phoenix for 17 years before we divorced after again almost 10 years of marriage. He didn’t see Bob again either (except for when he popped back into our lives when Bob was 13 years old for about 6 months.) How sad is this paragraph?

I just had another revelation. I’m thinking maybe another reason I’m feeling so sad this week is because Bob isn’t here. He pops in whenever, so I’m always thinking I can’t be sad or be crying. Now that he’s not around, even for a few days, my guard may be let down. Not sure, but it just has me thinking this may be.

OK, I digressed; let me return to the park. I have to scroll up to see where I left off. I can’t believe all I’m writing. My hands are just typing away and I have no cramps, which is very odd. OK, so I’m walking the path again, after my humiliation. My hips are burning and I look at my watch and I haven’t even walked for 15 minutes yet! I feel stinging on my hand, so I look down and my pinky finger is bleeding. I guess I cut it on the chain trying to get on the swing. I’m still getting beat up! Oh my gawd.

As I reach where I began my walk I say to myself, walk it again. I know I can do this. So I kept walking. My hips didn’t hurt as much the second time around. I walked the path again and when I end up where I started, I know I can’t do it again. But I don’t want to go home yet. It’s so beautiful out and I know if I go home I’ll just feel sad. So I sit at a picnic table thinking all is good.

I start crying and I think, so much for my theory. Oh my gawd. Memories flood back to when I walked here with yet a different boyfriend 13 years ago, and then another potential boyfriend at a later time years ago. I start thinking about how I will never have another man in my life. The tears are really flowing now. My face starts stinging and I think it must be cut from the acorns. Then I feel the heat, I got sunburned! Oh my gawd, I’m still getting beat up.

I decide to just sit there and cry. What the hell. I’ll get it all out. I mean the acorns beat me up; the swing chain cut my finger, I was humiliated, my hips are hurting, my face is burning, I have guilt about my mother, I’m sad over memories of LHC and the loss of my son, I realize I’m going solo the rest of my life, what else could go wrong at the park?
So I sit, I think, I cry. I keep changing positions so I don’t turn into a lobster. I’m sitting facing the parking lot because the sun is setting and my legs were turning red facing west. I’m just sitting, thinking, and blubbering when a dog comes up to my left leg. Oh my gawd. I thought, you’ve got to be kidding. I’m going to get bit by a damn dog now? Holy shit on rye. The dog licks my leg and the owner calls her dog and he obeys right away and walks away. Wow. I couldn’t believe I did not get bitten by this dog.
As I sit there, for some reason the Beatles song, Yesterday, is singing in my head. It’s not a favorite of mine, but there it is singing in my head. Go figure. More tears.
I decide it’s time to go home. I walk to my truck and begin my drive home. I kid you not, this is the song that played on the way home, Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This.

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A Number One And A Nasty Reviewer

Derek Haines — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:36:01 +0000

I must start this post by congratulating my good mate Jack Eason for his book The Seventh Age making it to Number One on the Amazon UK paid bestsellers under Science Fiction adventure. There is surely no one who deserves this success more than Jack.

However, as I looked at the book’s page on Amazon, and starting reading the reviews, I noticed something that is becoming more and more prevalent. The new nasty reviewer. These low life always hide behind anonymity to post their rubbish and vent their spleen, which I imagine is from some sick sense of envy, gaining notoriety, or simply childish attention seeking.

I checked the so called reviewer whose comment had irked me and was not surprised to find a long list of previous reviews that followed a similar theme. Trash bagging I would call it. There was a blog link on the reviewer’s page on Amazon, which I followed, but once again struck total anonymity.

Unfortunately there are more and more of these, for want of a better word, scumbags, who seem to have little else to fill their lives other than wading around Amazon looking for writers and books to bag. It’s one reason I avoid Amazon forums like the black plague.

So what can you do if you are unlucky enough to get one attacking your book? The best advice I’ve heard is to just ignore them. You can click the button saying that the review was not helpful, but commenting or attacking these idiots is just what they want, so don’t feed them.

In the case of Jack’s book as it is almost always, the cretin’s review sticks out like a sore thumb as being from and idiot and most readers are smart enough to figure this out for themselves and will ignore it.

We’ve all learned to live with spammers, so I’m sure we’ll learn to live with these new idiots too.