Jeffrey Miller's Blog: Jeffrey Miller Writes, page 7
August 16, 2015
KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Pages) Update
The numbers are in, but it’s nothing to get too excited about.
Before Amazon decided to introduce KENP, I was making around $1.35 for each book borrowed. If you are a self-published/indie author that payout was depressing to say the least. Of course, there’s always the chance that if you allow your book to be borrowed that it could give your book more exposure and drive sales–something that a self-published/indie author prays for.
KENP is all about pages read and I can appreciate the logic behind the decision. Last month, one of my books, War Remains, had a total of 3,130 pages read which came out to $18.09. That works out to .0057 per page, which was what Amazon said the payout would be. I’m fine with that. What I would like to know is how many books does that work out to? War Remains is listed as 388 print pages, but KENP uses a different page count. I’m going to play it safe and round off the page count to 500 pages. That works out to almost $3.00 per book, which is not too bad. I can live with that.
On the other hand, only 480 pages were read (170 print pages) for I’ll Be Home for Christmas, which netted me $2.77. That works out to about the same, $1.35 per book that I made before.
I know the numbers are not too encouraging, but for the time being I am going to stick with KENP. It’s better than nothing.
August 13, 2015
Serious Rock ‘n Rollers
Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite photos taken of the legendary Illinois Valley band, The Jerks. There’s no gleaming and smiling at the camera. These boys are serious about their rock and roll.
Those were some fun times in the early 1980s when the band was in their nadir and everyone wanted to jump with The Jerks. I remember talking to the band’s soundman, Tom Joliffe, one night after a gig, and he said, “Sparks, you and I came along when the band had reached its height.”
They might have just been another bar band, but these seasoned musicians breathed life into local music scenes like so many other bands around the same time.
They carried the torch for rock and roll like so many other bands who have kept the fires burning.
August 11, 2015
Hot Summer in Daejeon
It’s sure been hot in Daejeon this summer. As summers have come and gone for me these past twenty-four years in Korea, this summer has been a brutal one. This past Saturday was ipchu, which according to the Korean Lunar Calendar, is the beginning of autumn. The nights have started to get a little cooler, so perhaps autumn is in the air.
That’s all right by me.
August 10, 2015
Amazon’s KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Pages)
It’s been a little over a month since Amazon launched its Kindle Edition Normalized Pages (KENP). I am curious to see what this is going to translate for me in terms of sales and how much Amazon is going to pay. Last month, one of my books War Remains, had 3130 pages read. The book itself is 388 pages, but Amazon has come up with a new way of calculating those pages. I read somewhere that Amazon will pay authors around .0057 cents per page. However, this is based on the average number of pages across the board. If it’s more than a $1.35 per book (that’s what I made on the old system) I am not going to complain.
I have had mixed feelings about this but I am going to see what it amounts to in the end.
June 10, 2015
The Panama Affair — The Soundtrack
It’s true that when I write, I often see a movie in a mind. And if I am seeing a movie in my mind, I need some music. At the same time, music from a particular period, such as the late 60s for Ice Cream Headache, also inspires me when I write.
For The Panama Affair, which begins in 1976 and ends in 1989, I had a lot of music to choose from which also was part of my musical growth, from classic 70s rock to Punk and New Wave.
The Panama Affair Playlist
1. Welcome to the Jungle – Guns ‘N Roses
2. Bad Company – Bad Company
3. Sonic Reducer– Dead Boys
4. Psycho Killer– Talking Heads
5. Desperado –Alice Cooper
6. Fortunate Son– Credence Clearwater Revival
7. I Can’t Get No Satisfaction – Devo
8. We’re Not Going to Take it – Twisted Sister
9. Life During Wartime – Talking Heads
10. Hotel California – Eagles
11. Love Hurts –Nazareth
12. Happy Hunting Ground – Sparks
13. Jet Airliner –Steve Miller Band
14. Roland theHeadless Thompson Gunner – Warren Zevon
15. Storm the Embassy– Stray Cats
16. Refugee – TomPetty
17. Lawyers, Guns,and Money – Warren Zevon
18. Ballroom Blitz– Sweet
19. Highway toHell – AC/DC
20. Search and Destroy – The Stooges
21. Slow Motion –Ultravox
22. Bad Reputation- Joan Jett
23. Mad World –Tears for Fears
24. Let’s Have a War – Fear
25. Hey, Hey, My My (Into the Black) – Neil Young
26. Free Bird –Lynyrd Skynryd
27. Wait for the Blackout – The Damned
28. Born to Lose– Heartbreakers
29. Highway Star –Deep Purple
30. Paranoid –Black Sabbath
31. Hotter thanHell – Kiss
32. Wasted Days and Wasted Nights – Freddy Fender
33. Dangerous Type– The Cars
34. Come Back Jonee– Devo
35. Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
36. Commando –Ramones
37. Boys of Summer– Don Henley
38. Livin’ Thing –ELO
39. Blinded by theLight – Manfred Mann
40. Fernando –ABBA
41. Don’t Fear the Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
42. Ghost Riders in the Sky – The Outlaws
43. I Wanna Be Sedated – Ramones
44. White Lines –Grandmaster Flash
45. Surrender –Cheap Trick
46. Bad to the Bone – George Thorogood
47. Poor Boy (TheGreenwood) – ELO
48. GoingUnderground – The Jam
49. Too Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die – Jethro Tull
50. I Fought the Law – The Clash
51. Heartbreaker –Pat Benatar
52. Show Me the Way – Peter Frampton
53. Dream Weaver –Gary Wright
54. Rock and Roll– Led Zeppelin
55. We Didn’t Start the Fire – Billy Joel
56. Run Like Hell– Pink Floyd
57. Running with the Devil – Van Halen
58. Homicide – 999
59. Gut Feeling/SlapYour Mammy – Devo
60. Havana Affair– Ramones
61. Cum on Feel the Noise – Slade
62. Waterloo –ABBA
63. Rumble in Brighton – Stray Cats
64. They Don’t Want Me – Wall of Voodoo
65. Let’s Lynch the Landlord – Dead Kennedys
66. Living Next Door to Alice – Smokie
67. La Grange – ZZTop
68. Black Betty –Ram Jam
69. Prisoners of Rock and Roll – Neil Young
70. You’ve Got Another Thing Coming – Judas Priest
71. One –Metallica
72. Eye of Fatima –Camper Van Beethoven
73. Shanghai’d in Shanghai – Nazareth
74. Orange Crush– REM
75. Beef Boloney –Fear
76. It Takes A Worried Man – Devo
77. The Heat is On– Glenn Frey
78. You Got Lucky– Tom Petty
79. Beds are Burning – Midnight Oil
80. Don’t You Forget About Me – Simple Minds
81. Hang em High –Van Halen
82. Flirtin’ With Disaster – Molly Hatchet
83. Pretty Vacant– Sex Pistols
84. Back in Black– AC/DC
85. Cretin Hop –Ramones
86. Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who
87. No Thugs inOur House – XTC
88. For Whom the Bell Tolls – Metallica
89. Big Shot –Billy Joel
90. Immigrant Song– Led Zeppelin
91. Burning Down the House – Talking Heads
92. Running on Empty – Jackson Browne
93. Games Without Frontiers – Peter Gabriel
94. Hair of the Dog – Nazareth
95. The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum – Fun Boy Three
96. Breaking the Law – Judas Priest
97. I Remember Death in the Afternoon – Ultravox
98. Generals and Majors – XTC
99. Because the Night – Patti Smith
100.Who Are You –The Who
June 9, 2015
And so it begins
On June 9, 1976, I started Air Force basic training.
On June 9, 1980, I started classes at Southern Illinois University.
On June 9, 1989, I arrived in Japan to teach English.
Today I published The Panama Affair.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
After almost two years of writing and revising and then writing and revising more and more, my novel about Panama finally entered the world today. It was a long journey that actually began in 1980 when I first sat down and penned a screenplay about Panama (which has long since disappeared). Of all my novels, this one was the most challenging because of the twists and turns in the story but it was also my most rewarding effort (right up there with Ice Cream Headache) because of the memories I drew upon to bring this story to light.
A lot of memories in this one.
Like all my other books, I hope this one will be successful. There’s always this feeling of apprehension when you come out with a new book. After all those months of writing the story and getting yourself out of all the corners you wrote yourself in, you hope that people will be interested in what you have created. You’ve done all you could do to promote it and hope all those friends who “liked” your status on Facebook or other social networking sites when you uploaded the photo of the cover or shared a blurb with them will be interested in reading the finished product.
Hope. That’s a big word when it comes to self-publishing. It’s not easy these days when you find yourself competing with thousands of other authors who also hope their writing endeavors will also pay off. The market has become a lot more saturated than it was when I published War Remains in 2010.
Without question, it’s a nerve-wracking experience to self-publish. First, you hope that you’ve done all you could have done to tell a good story; then, you have to start marketing and promoting your book. I am at a bit of a disadvantage living in South Korea. It’s not like I can contact a local bookstore and do a signing. Sadly, and sometimes tragically, I have to rely solely on Facebook to let the world know of my literary accomplishment. I’m not alone, though. Indie authors rely on reviews and word of mouth testimonials to help promote and market your book. Those reviews and testimonials will ultimately determine if your book is successful or not.
And so it begins again. I’ve written and published another book. It’s a good story. There will be many who will like it; others will probably say it was an okay story. Some readers will write reviews; others won’t. After eight books, I know what to expect and what not to expect, but I never give up hope, yes, there’s that word again, that this book will be the one.
In the meantime, I am working on my next book because that’s what writers do.
May 6, 2015
The End is Near
After almost two years of writing, revising, editing, and doing it all over again, my latest novel, The Panama Affair will soon see the light of day.
It’s been quite the journey. In fact, this novel originally started out as a screenplay in the spring of 1980, just a few months before I got out of the United States Air Force on May 9th. Although that screenplay was lost, I recreated some scenes from it for the novel. Additionally, there were two short stories, “Love Song from the Zone” (which was part of my MA thesis) and “Pictures for Lily” which also served as an inspiration.
I had planned to publish this novel in November, but due to circumstances beyond my control, it had to be delayed. It was to be a blessing in disguise. The delay was the best thing that could have happened to the story because in that time I rewrote some major scenes and added other ones which strengthened the story. The manuscript I have now is ten times better than the one I thought was ready to publish seven months. Stephen King is right. The best thing a writer can do when they finish a novel is put it away for a couple of months. You’d be surprised how it reads, and perhaps doesn’t read, after you have put it away for a while.
And once again, my designer, Anna Takahashi, has come through in a very BIG way with her cover design. This by far is her most impressive cover design.
I can’t wait to share this book with the world. It’s been a labor of love and I have laid to rest some ghosts from my past while resurrecting others.
I’m happy with the yarn I have spun.
March 15, 2015
The Panama Affair — Coming Soon!
It’s such a thrill to say those two words, coming soon, when I am ready to publish another novel.
I am very excited about my latest, The Panama Affair. Of all my books, this one was by far the hardest to write. A lot had to do with all the twists and turns in the plot as well as trying to find the right angle to tell a story about Panama, the Canal Zone, and Howard Air Force Base.
This novel dates back to the spring of 1980 when I wrote a screenplay about Panama when I was stationed at George AFB. Although that script has long since vanished, there are still some elements from that script in my novel.
I’m really happy the way this novel turned out–nothing like I imagined when I first started writing it over a year ago.
December 7, 2014
I’ll Be Home For Christmas — 2014
It’s that wonderful, magical time of the year again.
December 6, 2014
“Silent Night, Holy Night” — A Korean War Christmas
MacArthur said the boys would be home by Christmas.
They weren’t.
KOREA — Christmas Eve, 1950
They clanked their cans together and took a drink of the icy cold beer. It was the first beer either tasted since the regiment withdrew to Chunju. They were about to take a second drink when they suddenly stopped. It had gotten eerily quiet outside and that’s when they both thought they heard what sounded like some far-off singing.
“Did you hear that?” Bobby asked. “What do you reckon that is?”
What Bobby and Harold thought was singing started low, almost like a whisper and had grown louder and nearer. They recognized the song immediately. One by one, the men in the platoon walked out of their tents to find the source of the mellifluous melody, which turned out to be a dozen young Korean boys and girls aged around ten or eleven huddled together with a middle-aged Korean man around a fire burning inside an empty fuel drum. Bobby, Harold and the rest of the men who came out of their tents to investigate, gathered around these tiny carolers and listened to them sing.
Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright.
‘Round yon virgin, Mother and Child
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
It was the first time that most of the men had close contact with any Koreans, especially children. They came across thousands of refugees fleeing burning villages along the Pusan Perimeter last summer and passed thousands on the road to Pyongyang. Seeing all those refugees always put a different perspective on the war for the men, but this was different.
Flames from the fire burning inside the fuel drum danced in the cold night air and illuminated the dirty, rosy-cheeked faces of the children. The girls were bundled up in thick woolen jackets over traditional Korean hanboks while the boys wore similar jackets over baggy trousers. They sang slowly and eloquently, enunciating each word clearly and carefully.
The men stood silent, transfixed by the carolers and their sweet, angelic voices. A few of the men with children of their own back home thought about them and how much they missed them, especially at this time of the year. Those without children, thought about parents, brothers, sisters, and other loved ones at home. Almost all of the men were a little misty-eyed, even First Sergeant Marshall, who was never known for showing any kind of emotion in front of the men, looked a little choked
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