S.K.S. Perry's Blog, page 25
May 18, 2011
I’ve been procrastinating again. I’ve been re...
I’ve been procrastinating again. I’ve been reformatting my books for Kindle (I think I’ve finally got it right) instead of working on the WIP. Mostly, I think, because I have to write a sex scene—at least that’s the current excuse.
For anyone who knows me, sex scenes are really not my thing. I get all embarrassed squicky just thinking about it. Most of the sex in my books happens off-screen, but I really don’t think that will do in this case. And to be honest I doubt if I’m any good at it—um—writing sex scenes, not actual sex.
Worst of all, the sex itself isn’t what’s important in this scene. I’m less concerned with the mechanics of who put what where and who licked what than I am with the underlying emotions and why these two people are having sex in the first place. And I’m not sure I’m up to conveying that either.
Which is why I’ve spent the last two days formatting ebooks.
For anyone who knows me, sex scenes are really not my thing. I get all embarrassed squicky just thinking about it. Most of the sex in my books happens off-screen, but I really don’t think that will do in this case. And to be honest I doubt if I’m any good at it—um—writing sex scenes, not actual sex.
Worst of all, the sex itself isn’t what’s important in this scene. I’m less concerned with the mechanics of who put what where and who licked what than I am with the underlying emotions and why these two people are having sex in the first place. And I’m not sure I’m up to conveying that either.
Which is why I’ve spent the last two days formatting ebooks.
May 17, 2011
Believe it or not, most genre writers don't live like Ric...
Believe it or not, most genre writers don't live like Richard Castle, Temperance Brennan, or even Jessica Fletcher. Very few of us end up on Oprah. Most writers need a mundane day job just to keep them in MacDonald's coupons Kraft macaroni and cheese the manner they're accustomed to. Very few writers can actually make their living as a writer, and I'm talking about award winning authors here!
That's why illegally downloading books hurts so much. It's not like the music or movie industry where the corporation only makes 30 million instead of 35 because of illegal downloads (although I don't know how bad the actors get ripped off when this happens). Your average genre writer advance for a novel is between $5-10K, if they're lucky, for a book that may have taken a year or more to write.
I recently heard of one writer who found their book had been downloaded illegally 7000 times on one site alone. If that had been translated to actual sales, the writer would have made enough money to…um…supersize their meal at MacDonald's, at least.
And here's the thing: if you want an author to write more of your favourite books, you have to make it worth their while--or, at the very least, worth their publisher's while. If their book doesn't sell enough because everyone is illegally downloading it, odds are the publisher isn't going to buy their next one, which means you won't get to see it either.
Hey, the least you could do is send the author feedback and tell them how much you liked their work. After all, they don't know you stole it.
That's why illegally downloading books hurts so much. It's not like the music or movie industry where the corporation only makes 30 million instead of 35 because of illegal downloads (although I don't know how bad the actors get ripped off when this happens). Your average genre writer advance for a novel is between $5-10K, if they're lucky, for a book that may have taken a year or more to write.
I recently heard of one writer who found their book had been downloaded illegally 7000 times on one site alone. If that had been translated to actual sales, the writer would have made enough money to…um…supersize their meal at MacDonald's, at least.
And here's the thing: if you want an author to write more of your favourite books, you have to make it worth their while--or, at the very least, worth their publisher's while. If their book doesn't sell enough because everyone is illegally downloading it, odds are the publisher isn't going to buy their next one, which means you won't get to see it either.
Hey, the least you could do is send the author feedback and tell them how much you liked their work. After all, they don't know you stole it.
May 16, 2011
Amazon vs Smashwords
If you're a self-published author, or maybe even a traditionally published author who has control of their backlist and wants to get into the self-published market, sooner or later you're going to have to get your books listed somewhere. Luckily for you there are idiots people like me who learned the hard way have been there already, so you can benefit from our mistakes experience.
The truth is, the title is misleading. You don't want to pick one or the other--Amazon or Smashwords--you want to go with both. You want your book out there in every possible listing. More listings mean more people will see it which hopefully means more sales.
I won't bother going into the whole Amazon "stolen book" tale. You can skip back and read that later if you want. Besides, it's not fair because I don't have that experience with Smashwords so I can't compare how well they would have handled the same situation. I will note, however, that Smashwords doesn't do any more to verify that you have the rights to the book you're uploading than Amazon does as far as I can tell.
Uploading your book to Amazon is fairly easy--or at least as easy as filling out most forms are, and most of what they want is explained quite clearly. Same goes for Smashwords.
What Amazon doesn't really explain well is how to properly format your manuscript so that it makes for an easy read. I first uploaded my books in .pdf format, which I later learned is a really bad idea not ideal. If you dredge deep enough, and use a divining rod Amazon actually does have a section that explains poorly how to format your manuscript for Kindle. For instance, it prefers .doc, among other things.
Smashwords, on the other hand, has a handy-dandy guide that explains step by step how to best format your manuscript. It took me a couple of hours to format Darkside, but by the time I got to formatting the sequel I was a pro and finished it in about an hour.
And here's the other thing: At Amazon, once published, if you want to check out your book's formatting you actually have to buy them from Amazon--although you can preview it before publication, and it will let you download a sample for free. If you do, and find out the formatting is atrocious (like I did) you can upload a new version, but it takes a day or so before that new version takes effect.
At Smashwords you can download your book as often as you like in any format for free. It's your book after all. You can also upload newer versions, but I can't tell you how long it takes because I haven't had to do it yet. What I can tell you is that the Smashwords version came out formatted cleanly the very first time. (Maybe that hand-dandy formatting guide isn’t such a bad idea after all, eh Amazon?)
And that's the other thing:
Amazon formats your book to be read on Kindle.
Smashwords formats your book to be read in just about every electronic format out there--including Kindle.
That's right, Smashwords formats for the Nook, Sony Reader etc. and did a better job formatting for the Kindle reader than Amazon did! The Smashword's Kindle ebook formatted cleanly the very first time, with chapter breaks and a working table of contents and everything. At Amazon, I'm on my third version of Darkside and I'm still not sure if I've got it right yet.
Smashwords will even help you get an ISBN number. Why is that important? Because Apple, Sony, and Borders will not sell your book without one, and Smashwords will list and sell your books at all of these locations and more, whereas Amazon only sells your book at Amazon.
Having said that, even Smashwords admits that the Amazon market is about 2000 times bigger than theirs is. (However, if I'm not mistaken I believe Smashwords is in talks to cross market with Amazon, so this point could become irrelevant.)
Amazon pays you by monthly check once your sales top $100, or by deposit to a bank account. (Apparently if you set up for payment into your bank, they'll pay out even if you've made under $100.) It makes me wonder how much money Amazon makes on people who opted for the check, but never made sales over $100?
Smashwords offers payment by quarterly check (once your sales top $75) and PayPal (once sales top $10). All authors outside the U.S. are paid via PayPal.
Smashwords tells you upfront that if you reside outside the US, your Smashwords earnings are subject to a 30% tax withholding, mandated by the United States IRS. They also tell you countries have special tax treaties with the US, and these tax treaties can allow you to claim full or partial exemptions. They even provide you with the form you have to fill out.
To be truthful, I'm sure Amazon says the same thing somewhere written in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics but I haven't come across it yet.
As for how much you get paid, as a general rule, Smashwords pays higher royalties. Remember, though, that they're dealing across several sellers, and not all pay the same.
And how do you keep track of all this?
Smashwords has a wonderful link called "Dashboard" which puts everything at your fingertips: the status of your books, statistics as to how many people downloaded it and/or browsed it, sales, royalties, favorite sexual position, the ability to apply discount coupons and so on. Oh, and they'll email you whenever you sell a copy or two. (I'm sure you can opt out of this if you're Amanda Hocking and sell a gazillion books at a time.)
Amazon has a link that basically lists status, sales, and royalties, and allows you to upload new versions.
So there you have it. I would say that other than Amazon's much larger market (which, let's face it, is one heck of a selling point) Smashwords is the much better platform.
But as I said, it really doesn't matter, because you should list with both anyway.
The truth is, the title is misleading. You don't want to pick one or the other--Amazon or Smashwords--you want to go with both. You want your book out there in every possible listing. More listings mean more people will see it which hopefully means more sales.
I won't bother going into the whole Amazon "stolen book" tale. You can skip back and read that later if you want. Besides, it's not fair because I don't have that experience with Smashwords so I can't compare how well they would have handled the same situation. I will note, however, that Smashwords doesn't do any more to verify that you have the rights to the book you're uploading than Amazon does as far as I can tell.
Uploading your book to Amazon is fairly easy--or at least as easy as filling out most forms are, and most of what they want is explained quite clearly. Same goes for Smashwords.
What Amazon doesn't really explain well is how to properly format your manuscript so that it makes for an easy read. I first uploaded my books in .pdf format, which I later learned is a really bad idea not ideal. If you dredge deep enough, and use a divining rod Amazon actually does have a section that explains poorly how to format your manuscript for Kindle. For instance, it prefers .doc, among other things.
Smashwords, on the other hand, has a handy-dandy guide that explains step by step how to best format your manuscript. It took me a couple of hours to format Darkside, but by the time I got to formatting the sequel I was a pro and finished it in about an hour.
And here's the other thing: At Amazon, once published, if you want to check out your book's formatting you actually have to buy them from Amazon--although you can preview it before publication, and it will let you download a sample for free. If you do, and find out the formatting is atrocious (like I did) you can upload a new version, but it takes a day or so before that new version takes effect.
At Smashwords you can download your book as often as you like in any format for free. It's your book after all. You can also upload newer versions, but I can't tell you how long it takes because I haven't had to do it yet. What I can tell you is that the Smashwords version came out formatted cleanly the very first time. (Maybe that hand-dandy formatting guide isn’t such a bad idea after all, eh Amazon?)
And that's the other thing:
Amazon formats your book to be read on Kindle.
Smashwords formats your book to be read in just about every electronic format out there--including Kindle.
That's right, Smashwords formats for the Nook, Sony Reader etc. and did a better job formatting for the Kindle reader than Amazon did! The Smashword's Kindle ebook formatted cleanly the very first time, with chapter breaks and a working table of contents and everything. At Amazon, I'm on my third version of Darkside and I'm still not sure if I've got it right yet.
Smashwords will even help you get an ISBN number. Why is that important? Because Apple, Sony, and Borders will not sell your book without one, and Smashwords will list and sell your books at all of these locations and more, whereas Amazon only sells your book at Amazon.
Having said that, even Smashwords admits that the Amazon market is about 2000 times bigger than theirs is. (However, if I'm not mistaken I believe Smashwords is in talks to cross market with Amazon, so this point could become irrelevant.)
Amazon pays you by monthly check once your sales top $100, or by deposit to a bank account. (Apparently if you set up for payment into your bank, they'll pay out even if you've made under $100.) It makes me wonder how much money Amazon makes on people who opted for the check, but never made sales over $100?
Smashwords offers payment by quarterly check (once your sales top $75) and PayPal (once sales top $10). All authors outside the U.S. are paid via PayPal.
Smashwords tells you upfront that if you reside outside the US, your Smashwords earnings are subject to a 30% tax withholding, mandated by the United States IRS. They also tell you countries have special tax treaties with the US, and these tax treaties can allow you to claim full or partial exemptions. They even provide you with the form you have to fill out.
To be truthful, I'm sure Amazon says the same thing somewhere written in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics but I haven't come across it yet.
As for how much you get paid, as a general rule, Smashwords pays higher royalties. Remember, though, that they're dealing across several sellers, and not all pay the same.
And how do you keep track of all this?
Smashwords has a wonderful link called "Dashboard" which puts everything at your fingertips: the status of your books, statistics as to how many people downloaded it and/or browsed it, sales, royalties, favorite sexual position, the ability to apply discount coupons and so on. Oh, and they'll email you whenever you sell a copy or two. (I'm sure you can opt out of this if you're Amanda Hocking and sell a gazillion books at a time.)
Amazon has a link that basically lists status, sales, and royalties, and allows you to upload new versions.
So there you have it. I would say that other than Amazon's much larger market (which, let's face it, is one heck of a selling point) Smashwords is the much better platform.
But as I said, it really doesn't matter, because you should list with both anyway.
May 2, 2011
What's this about Osama Bin Laden finding Obama's birth c...
What's this about Osama Bin Laden finding Obama's birth certificate while getting a massage from Jack Layton? (I really have to stop getting the condensed version of the news.)
In an odd sort of synchronicity, the Universe seems to be...
In an odd sort of synchronicity, the Universe seems to be shoving The Beatles in my face everytime I turn around lately. Maybe The Beatles are trying to tell me something? (Although that didn't turn out very well for that Manson fellow, did it.)
April 26, 2011
And the unit has a new Div Commander after less than a ye...
And the unit has a new Div Commander after less than a year. Luckily I didn't waste my time sucking up to the old one.
April 23, 2011
FYI Al, back when I was a bodyguard it would have cost yo...
FYI Al, back when I was a bodyguard it would have cost you a small fortune to get away with calling me Betty.
April 21, 2011
Finally, a little professionalism!
I sent obooko an email last night querying how Darkside: Waking the Dead ended up on their site without my permission. I received a reply from them at 03:45 in the morning. (I have no idea what they were doing up at that time of night, but okay. After all, they didn't question the fact that I was up, too.) Anyway, here's their response:
Hi S.K.S.,
Please accept my sincere apologies: we received a submission form
(attached) in your name, along with the PDF file. I'm fairly new here and assumed this was from you; I can now see the email addresses differ.
This is obviously a prank and I should have been more vigilant. I will have your book removed immediately.
They even sent along the submission with the sender's email address.
Would that Amazon had acted with even one tenth the professionalism and concern for an author's rights.
I find it interesting to note that most people are happy that I managed to resolve the issue with Amazon. Sure they took the stolen copy down—eventually – but nothing has been done to prevent this from happening again to someone else. As far as Amazon is concerned it's business as usual.
As for obooko, on further consideration I decided to let them leave Darkside: Waking the Dead up on their site—something they were only too happy to do.
I mean, why not? A quick Google search only proved that both books are available for free on at least half a dozen sites now, and I have neither the time, resources, nor inclination to try to take them down. At least obooko keeps track of how many times they've been downloaded so that I have an indication of whose reading it, and they're in .pdf format which is great for anyone who doesn't own a Kindle. (To be honest, the formatting in pdf is probably a gazillion times better, too. Heck, I don't even own a Kindle, so I couldn't tell you what my books look like on that platform.)
I have no illusions that I'm going to strike it rich selling Darkside or its sequel. I had a lot of fun writing them, and at one time I had hopes that they would be commercially viable enough that I could continue to write more of them, but I don't see that being the case.
So you can read Darkside for free, online here. *
Or you can read both Darkside and Darkside: Waking the Dead for free on obooko here and here.
Or you can pay a modest fee for the Kindle downloads here and here and in the U.K. here and here. **
Or you can pay a lot more and get the hardcover copies at lulu.com here and here.
Or you can go read something by George R.R. Martin or Jim Butcher—but you'll have to find them yourself. Thptttt.
I'm at the point now where I've put my books out there—if you want to read them, fine; if you want to pay me for them, even better. If you read them, and you like them, drop me a line at sks_perry@sympatico.ca and please let me know. Better yet, review them.
In the meantime I'll be over here working on my new book.
* Someday when I redo my website I'll put up Waking the Dead as well.
**Apparently it's also available now at Amazon.DE, whatever that is.
Hi S.K.S.,
Please accept my sincere apologies: we received a submission form
(attached) in your name, along with the PDF file. I'm fairly new here and assumed this was from you; I can now see the email addresses differ.
This is obviously a prank and I should have been more vigilant. I will have your book removed immediately.
They even sent along the submission with the sender's email address.
Would that Amazon had acted with even one tenth the professionalism and concern for an author's rights.
I find it interesting to note that most people are happy that I managed to resolve the issue with Amazon. Sure they took the stolen copy down—eventually – but nothing has been done to prevent this from happening again to someone else. As far as Amazon is concerned it's business as usual.
As for obooko, on further consideration I decided to let them leave Darkside: Waking the Dead up on their site—something they were only too happy to do.
I mean, why not? A quick Google search only proved that both books are available for free on at least half a dozen sites now, and I have neither the time, resources, nor inclination to try to take them down. At least obooko keeps track of how many times they've been downloaded so that I have an indication of whose reading it, and they're in .pdf format which is great for anyone who doesn't own a Kindle. (To be honest, the formatting in pdf is probably a gazillion times better, too. Heck, I don't even own a Kindle, so I couldn't tell you what my books look like on that platform.)
I have no illusions that I'm going to strike it rich selling Darkside or its sequel. I had a lot of fun writing them, and at one time I had hopes that they would be commercially viable enough that I could continue to write more of them, but I don't see that being the case.
So you can read Darkside for free, online here. *
Or you can read both Darkside and Darkside: Waking the Dead for free on obooko here and here.
Or you can pay a modest fee for the Kindle downloads here and here and in the U.K. here and here. **
Or you can pay a lot more and get the hardcover copies at lulu.com here and here.
Or you can go read something by George R.R. Martin or Jim Butcher—but you'll have to find them yourself. Thptttt.
I'm at the point now where I've put my books out there—if you want to read them, fine; if you want to pay me for them, even better. If you read them, and you like them, drop me a line at sks_perry@sympatico.ca and please let me know. Better yet, review them.
In the meantime I'll be over here working on my new book.
* Someday when I redo my website I'll put up Waking the Dead as well.
**Apparently it's also available now at Amazon.DE, whatever that is.
April 20, 2011
Here we go again
Back before the whole Kindle fiasco, I had offered Darkside as a free .pdf download on obooko , and even though I'm selling it on kindle for .99 cents I decided I would still allow it as a free .pdf. (You can also read it for free online at my website.) However, when I went to obooko to check how Darkside was doing just now, I saw that they are also offering the sequel, Waking the Dead as a free pdf download as well.
In the past, as a special offer I would send the sequel to people who had the wherewithal to email me and tell me who Drat's bride to be was, but I never gave anyone permission to offer it as a free download -- obooko included.
So, where did they get permission to do this? Who sent it to them for download? It's only been up for a few days--it wasn't there the other day when I checked--but it's already at 28 downloads.
I just sent them an email to get to the bottom of this, so let's see how this one plays out.
In the past, as a special offer I would send the sequel to people who had the wherewithal to email me and tell me who Drat's bride to be was, but I never gave anyone permission to offer it as a free download -- obooko included.
So, where did they get permission to do this? Who sent it to them for download? It's only been up for a few days--it wasn't there the other day when I checked--but it's already at 28 downloads.
I just sent them an email to get to the bottom of this, so let's see how this one plays out.
April 19, 2011
We had a barbecue for lunch at the unit t...
We had a barbecue for lunch at the unit today, and someone went to the trouble of making an actual Easter Bunny Cake!
Note to self: When the Chief offers you, "Bunny Cake?" the correct response is not, "Yes, Sweety-pie?"
Note to self: When the Chief offers you, "Bunny Cake?" the correct response is not, "Yes, Sweety-pie?"
