Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 207
November 5, 2017
Interesting Links #5: 10 Years Of Kindle
This month is the 10th anniversary of the Kindle, so quite a lot of articles about it.
-Amazon didn’t invent the ebook, but the Kindle popularized it in the same way that Henry Ford didn’t invent the automobile but the Model T popularized it: Amazon Kindle Deserves Some Praise On Its 10th Birthday.
-Speaking of that, I liked this video about the 10th anniversary of Kindle Direct Publishing.
-There’s something to be said for selling lots of a cheap product rather than focusing on a premium one: Amazon Gains Share In Declining Tablet Market.
-It is here to not make friends and chew bubblegum, and it’s all out of bubblegum: Kindle Unlimited Is Not Here To Make Friends.
-Draft2Digital has a good piece on avoiding scams: Author Overhead, Part 2.
-The “first million words” thing seems daunting, but I did that a really, really long time ago: The First Million Words Are Practice.
-I don’t approve of ebook piracy, of course, but this comment from Joe Konrath at the Passive Voice seems a sensible view of it.
-I didn’t know a cheeseburger emoji could be offensive, but, well, here you go: Google CEO Promises To Fix Offensive Cheeseburger Emoji.
-This is an excellent guide to the different kinds of microSD cards. A Class 10 card is not the same as a Class 2: Best Micro SD Cards For All Your Devices.
-JM
November 4, 2017
GHOST IN THE GLASS progress update
Now that SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD is done, my next main project is GHOST IN THE GLASS, which I hope to have out sometime in December.
Right now I’m on Chapter 12 of 20, and just passed the 60,000 word mark. Over halfway there!
-JM
November 3, 2017
FROSTBORN characters return!
I won’t say which ones, but if you read SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD, two characters from the FROSTBORN series return in the book.
If you read SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD, I think you’ll agree that these were the logical two characters to return from the FROSTBORN series.
Available at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Google Play, and Smashwords.
-JM
SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD now available!
I am very pleased to report that SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD is now available at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Google Play, and Smashwords.
The quest of the Seven Swords has unleashed catastrophic war.
Ridmark Arban is the Shield Knight, the only Swordbearer in the realm of Owyllain. He is allied with the noble King Hektor Pendragon, who fights to reunify the Seven Swords and to end the destructive war they have unleashed.
But the tyrannical King Justin Cyros is marching to war against Hektor, and King Justin knows the secret of the malevolent New God, a secret that will kill everyone in Owyllain.
Starting with Ridmark and his family…
-JM
November 1, 2017
NaNoWriMo 2017!
November is National Novel Writing Month, and once again my schedule is out of sync with it. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a novel from start to finish in 30 days. Instead, I’m going to finish two books that I’ve already started and then start a 3rd one.
-I’m going to finish writing GHOST IN THE GLASS.
-I’m going to finish writing SILENT ORDER: WASP HAND.
-I’m then going to start CLOAK GAMES: BLOOD CAST.
Time to get cracking! 
October 30, 2017
SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD Table of Contents
Making good progress on SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD, so let’s see the Table of Contents!
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-JM
October 29, 2017
SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD update
Looks like SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD will come in at 104,000 words. The final book, with glossaries included, will be about 5200 Kindle locations long.
The bonus short story that will come with WARLORD is very cool, so be sure to sign up for my newsletter!
-JM
October 28, 2017
The 70th Novel
I did some math, and SILENT ORDER: FIRE HAND was officially my 70th self-published novel! Chart below:
[image error]
I think about fifty-five of those were written in the last six and a half years. I’ve been busy! (This might also explain why I never got around to finishing Skyrim, despite having bought the game in 2011.)
Thanks for reading! There would, after all, be no point in writing 70 novels if there weren’t people to read them.
October 27, 2017
Caina Amalas vs. Automotive Repair
Today I wrote all of Chapter 9 and most of Chapter 10 of GHOST IN THE GLASS while waiting for my car to get fixed.
This seems to happen quite a lot with the GHOSTS series. I wrote most of Chapter 14 of GHOST IN THE PACT while waiting for my car to get fixed, and then several months later most of Chapter 15 of GHOST IN THE WINDS while waiting on car repair.
Hopefully the car will remain functional for some time now. Writing while in a waiting room is productive, but I’d like to think that I can do without it!
Interesting Links #5: Ubuntu & Marketing For Writers
A lot of about Ubuntu Linux this week, since the new version came out on 10/19, and some links about book marketing.
But I’ve been writing about Ubuntu longer than I’ve been writing about Ridmark Arban, Nadia Moran, Jack March, or Rachaelis Morulan, and I’ve written about Ridmark, March, Mazael Cravenlock, and Caina Amalas on various Ubuntu computers over the years.
I also read a few interesting articles about the ongoing collapse of the American film industry.
-It’s the 13th birthday of Ubuntu Linux! But I didn’t start using it until 2006: Happy 13th Birthday, Ubuntu!
-The first version of Ubuntu without Unity in six years: Ubuntu 17.10 Is Back On Track With GNOME.
-I’ve always thought the Kindle Fire tablets are a great value, and this definitely adds value: How to add Google Play to the Fire 7, Fire HD 8, and new Fire HD 10.
-These days, it’s less “I use this system exclusively” than “I use a bunch of different systems in my workflow”: Why And How You Should Switch To Linux.
-I have to admit that I think all those studies that claim “reading a paper book is better than an ebook” are just wishful thinking on the part of publishers: How Lifehacker’s Kindle Hit Piece Misses The Point.
-Draft2Digital, of course, has a vested interest in writers not using Kindle Unlimited, by this article makes many excellent arguments in favor of that point: When Is It Time To Go Wide?
-I suppose I could write a Christmas-themed Nadia Moran short story: 11 Fantastic Ways To Sell More Books For The Holidays.
-In my opinion, when it comes to marketing slow & steady beats flash & dazzle: A Tale Of Two Marketing Systems.
-Smashwords has a podcast: Introducing The Smart Author Podcast.
-The American film industry was in serious trouble even before all the recent abuse scandals. Why go to a movie when you can watch comfortably at home? Hollywood Is Dying And Not Even Star Wars Can Save It. (In 2017 I only went to movies for social outings – things I really wanted to see I waited until I could rent them on streaming video.)
-Of course, part of the reason the American film industry is in serious trouble is because it is infested with many dishonest people, as Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s recent experience shows: Stealing Intellectual Property.
-I read Christopher Nuttall’s Angel In The Whirlwind series a couple of months ago and thought it was pretty good. so I thought his essay at the following link was interesting. But when I write books, I decree that the Rule Of Realism must always bow before the Rule Of Awesome: Social Change In SF/Fantasy.
-JM
