Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 183

Discoveries

So, on day three of the book fair I have made some interesting discoveries (mostly about the Italian market I ignored so far, but also on the European market in general).

Europe considers e-books "services" not books, with full VAT instead of the reduced one for books (that's 14 to 21% according to each European country law). Meh.

In Italy the average price for e-books is 10euros (less than 15$ but more than 10).

The Sony e-reader comes with 2 English dictionaries (American + British), 1 Italian + translations (such as French-Italian, or Spanish-English). And it has WI-FI, like the Kindle. But it's a touch-screen e-reader like the i-Pad which I don't like (that's why I never bought it, I've seen it at this yearly December fair every year since it came out, but wasn't convinced).

Italians who buy e-readers don't use them to read books. While I understand the i-Pad has other functions, if one buys a Kindle and doesn't use it to read, what did he buy it for?

But then – Italians write a lot, but they don't read!

Italian writers think the only way to publish is through vanity presses. They ask "How much do you want to publish my book/article" even to small publishers who don't charge.

70% of those small-medium publishers at the fair were vanity presses under different forms.

Italian publishers hate Amazon and its discount policy that make them lose sales in other distributors or their own shops (and I believe we're talking mostly of paper books here).

E-book sales are slowly rising also in Italy, but I'm still trying how to figure out how to get into the Italian e-distributors. A kind gal at IBS (which was born three years after Amazon and has its own e-reader) told me which they were, but I'm reading their terms of use and I'm not liking much what I see. The FAQs might say one thing, but the CONTRACT says another, and I'm not a lawyer, but I know the CONTRACT is more important than any FAQ or email on the subject. But that's only one of the two available to indies.

Today is my shopping day for myself, my mum and maybe a couple of friends (plus I have a list from mum who came yesterday and then called to say "can you pick that, that and that, please?"). Yes, dead-tree books, I'm still the only e-reader owner of my family and friends (and if e-books cost as much as paper books, I might as well find a little more room on my shelves…. *cringes at the crumbling sound behind her*).

Have a great weekend!

Linky Friday

First an announcement: Stories for Sendai, the charity anthology for the Japanese earthquake, will be on sale until Dec.15. I'm still reading it and hope to review it by then, but I have a busy book-fair week and not much time to read. So hop now to buy your copy before it goes out of print/publish.

Also, Michelle's books are at 99cents for the month of December if you want to check them out (I recommend Cinders, but I'm biased! ).

Now, to links. A semi-serious post on how to write book jackets for indie authors. Apparently not everything written here is ludicrous, so have a careful look at it – and hey, it's B&N!

Kris Rusch on how to evaluate a trad pub company.

Guest posts between C.S.Splitter and Cambria Hebert – self-publishing vs. trad publishing with a small company.

C.S.Splitter's short guide to self-publishing, which goes well with IlonaAndrew 's post on book cover design and Ruth Ann Nordin's how to write 4+ quality books a year.

David Gaughran on how a bestselling self-published novel inexplicably disappears from Amazon UK. And I'm still struggling with the whole thing. Yikes.

Literary Lab on research! You know, that thing you're supposed to do to write better… something I discovered only lately when I decided to write historical novels? Yeah, I'm still struggling with that!

Blood Red Pencil on Kindle and Smashwords quirks. Yeah, we all deal with the MeatGrinder and whatever KDP calls its system…

On agents and editors: Passive Guy, Dean Wesley Smith (on agents) and how we should demand some respect from editors (again Dean Wesley Smith) and hope for a writer-friendly trad publishing (Kris Rusch).

A guest post at Joe Konrath about e-book prices and the adventure of an indie.

Finally Writers Beware destroys some myths on finding agents and publishers.

Hopping off to my book fair… Have a great day!

Like a yo-yo

They say women have mood swings. I don't know if it's because I'm a woman or because I'm depressed, but those swings lately are getting worse. As soon as I get up again, another thing hits me. Sigh. I  guess that's life in these hard times of financial distress and whatnot, but it's wearying me out.

One day I meet with a supportive friend and feel better, the day after I encounter unexpected difficulties in this brand new world of publishing – either in Italy or in the US. Makes me want to whine about it, but I won't. Or at least I'll try not to! I know I'm on a new road  and I don't have anyone to "copy from" or follow, so I can only grind my teeth and keep going.

I have been asked by an Italian publisher why don't I go to people like him. I wanted to tell him "What do you offer that I can't do myself?" (considering also he admitted he put out less e-books than me this year). I kept my mouth shut because I know he charges his authors like most small publishers of his caliber… I just said "and let you have a percentage of my royalties?" and changed subject.

I'm currently attending a book fair (link is in Italian, sorry) here in Roma to see if I can figure out how to start my own business, but the first day didn't go well (mood swing again…). I'll update you on Saturday (the book fair is until Sunday, so I might write another post about it next week), as some people I needed to talk to weren't present on the first day (yesterday).

Tomorrow I have a sort of appointment with a publisher/bookseller friend who is a Templars expert to read him bits of my historical novel for accuracy, so I better re-read it and see what it's like after three months of not touching it! Hopefully I'll go up again, excited at the prospect of this story…

I've also been working on the paper versions of most e-books issued in the second half of the year. I was kind of behind with my Lulu account, but hopefully soon you'll have print versions of BoI – Water, Ether and Earth and TSK1 & 2. Back to work…

Fantasy National Anthem

I read a 1991 article by Isaac Asimov titled "the Star Spangled Banner". I don't have the rights to paste it here, nor did I actually finish reading it because – well – I'm not American and I don't really care about the whole thing.

I'm not a patriot or a nationalist either (happens when you grow up learning 3 national anthems in 8 years! ), I feel international and still dream of a world without borders, BUT I had to "reply" somehow to this paragraph:

In fact, most national anthems are hymns, slow and stately and sleep-provoking. The only two anthems, beside our own, that I can think of as blood-stirring, are the French "Marseillaise" and the old Soviet "Internationale" (which they have replaced with something that is incredibly dull).

My comment is that the Italian anthem is not as blood-stirring as the French one, but it's not slow and sleep-provoking either (but the Swiss one is. Sleep-provoking, that is).

Anyway, my favorite was the Marseillaise, and in fact the Original Silvery Earth of the late 1970s had a national anthem with the music of the Marseillaise and words changed accordingly to include Silvery Earth, my sister's Golden Earth and my little brother's Fire Earth. I will spare you my French (although at the time it was much better than what it is now, LOL! I actually spoke more French than Italian – which I used only with my parents! ), just imagine three Italian kids (Allons enfants!) singing the French anthem with reinvented words – something kids love to do, reinvent lyrics!

I don't know if the actual Silvery Earth has an anthem or not – probably not. In their evolution they're no that nationalist yet. Although maybe, after Humans get rid of the Magical Races, some nationalism might show up here and there. But that's not stories I'll ever want to write. Wars of conquest or religious are more than enough to make my point – that humans tend to destroy everything beautiful, magic and/or simply "different".

I saw that drawing with a musical background stops the brain from over thinking, so I better go back to drawing AND reading those manuscripts I want edited and out soon…

Writerly updates

So, the publishing year is closed for me with 5 novels and 15 other – mostly shorter – books under the Unicorn Productions umbrella with another pen-name writing contemporary fiction in English and the Italian one. I uploaded more (cheaper) titles on Kindle as well, and even managed to duplicate one, yikes! Blame it on the first cold of winter or life getting in the way (DayJob sucks and my mum had health problems – solved now).

Anyhow, I  even discovered I uploaded the Italian novel on Smashwords with the WRONG ENDING when I checked the Kindle version… luckily I had had only sample downloads and even if it had gone through the Premium Catalog, I doubt I have sold any copies yet – the Italians are still catching up with the e-book thing, in spite of the opening of Kindle Italia.

I'm falling behind with SKYBAND, but when I draw I have too much time to think – which is very good if you're in creative mood, not so good if you're on the down curve of a depression. So I'd rather keep my mind busy with reading, editing and writing. And no, the Holidays are NOT my favorite time of the year. Sorry, people.

Still, I managed to discover wrongly numbered pages in Chapter 10 of SKYBAND, which meant some readjusting of frames and dialog to fit the 22pages format. I was happier when I didn't care about page numbers and improvised even the comics and graphic novels – sometimes not finishing them, sometimes ending with odd page numbers, sometimes having to find "fillers" for the printed version!

In spite of depression, I did find a few more happiness to share, so I have another couple of months covered. And I'm struggling with backgrounds on SKYBAND, and have to draw many covers anyway – meaning, my dear one reader, that I will finish SKYBAND but probably won't do the next. But then, you never know. I tend to change my mind a lot with drawing – because it's not a talent that comes natural like writing to me, more of a passion, and passions come and go. Right?

Ahem, well… wishing you a happy week!

Oh, and another good news: the map-maker has been spared as he finally did the map for Earth. So check it on the maps page. I also made the final trailer with the decent map!

Happiness is…

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to December, Saint Barbara (today, although not everywhere in Italy they celebrate it – but I do because it's my name! ) and my latest release – the last Book of the Immortals – Earth. I'll introduce the main characters throughout December starting with the one that resembles me the most: Brenda de Zorig – yes, it's a pseudonym, she doesn't use her real family name either!

Here is the start of her obsession with the character you'll meet next week.

***

Brenda was captured by the eyes: they looked veiled with melancholy, as if the sitter didn't want to be there. "Kevan de Sire" she read under the painting. Kevan didn't look too happy about his new status.

Brenda compared him to both Bors and Catherine. There was a resemblance, especially with haughty Catherine. Gossip said he was a legitimated son of the Duke, and from his looks it seemed to be true.

***

Books of the Immortals – Earth (a fantasy with not much magic left) is out on Kindle and Smashwords. It's 50% off for the first weekend. Simply enter the code ZT83Q on check out – you have until fpnight

Now hop back to the Official Blog for more six sentence goodies… Have a great Sunday!

Book reviews

I've read True Colors because I was very curious to read more from Michelle and didn't have the courage to buy her novel Monarch because it's very different from her self-published debut Cinders (which I loved). So I tried this collection of short stories – some very short, some almost poems, some a little longer – and for every taste. It's mostly literary fiction, but anybody can find a little gem somewhere in here. My favorites are The Threshold, Clover and Signs.

Still, I prefer Michelle's fairy tales revisited and I look forward to her collection Bonded (although I have to wait until 2013)! I'll keep following her efforts, though, so you might hear me mention her again. When my TBR pile goes down a little, I might even try Monarch, just because I'm that curious!

A quick reminder – she was interviewed on this very blog last year and Cinders review is here. Also, here are the Buy-links for True Colors:

Amazon (paperback) 
Amazon (Kindle ebook)
Amazon UK (Kindle ebook)
Barnes & Noble (Nook ebook)
Smashwords (all formats)

Another review (even if I haven't actually finished the book yet) is for C.S.Splitter's The Reluctant. I read Book 2 first, so I already know what to expect. I love Tom's voice and humor and am enjoying my a-ha moments (like "A-ha, this his why in The Willing he…"). Yeah, I don't have a problem with spoilers! So I know I'm going to enjoy this ride and recommend the title along with its sequel – which we discussed here.

Sorry, but the busy release week prevented me from visiting all your wonderful blogs, hence I have no links to share at this time. Hopefully next week (I'm off DayJob) I'll have time to catch up!

Have a great weekend!

p.s. this new theme is only until snow falls on WordPress blogs… will be back to the other one as soon as it stops!

Kindle – likes and not likes

Now that my Kindle is three months old (and I haven't given it a name yet, yikes! ), I'm going to list the pros and cons I discovered through usage – not so intensive, I mean, I'm not addicted to it yet. BUT I like some things and don't like others, so here goes the list.

I like its size and the unlimited (for me) number of books I can load it with – and no change in size or weight. Very good for travel. I have now my 20 books + 30 something between fiction and non-fiction, and I've read only half of them.

I like the fact that I can go online when I find a wi-fi spot when traveling without carrying a laptop – although the Kindle keyboard for me is very unpractical.

I like the text-to-speech option when I'm sick of Bollywood soundtracks – although I'm not a fan of audio books, so I'm using it only on my own work.

I DON'T like the fact that I can't check how long there is until the end of the chapter or the story (if it's a collection of shorts). If I don't have much time or am very tired, with dead tree books I can check how long the next bit is, with e-books… not so much. Yes, there's the percentage of the book, but this doesn't tell me how long that particular chapter/story is.

And it's not good for comics, graphic novels and illustrated books – yet. Maybe the new models are. For a first e-reader, it's cheap and does its job, so I'll keep it. I'll buy an i-Pad or something else when I have some royalties to share!

But what I most like now is that we have Kindle on Amazon.it! Yessir, from this month us KDP authors will sell also in Italy and Spain! Will have to upload some Italian titles ASAP… And I'm assuming that when Amazon India opens in January, KDP will get there very quickly as well… yay!

Oh, and to celebrate the latest release, 50% off for the first weekend. Simply enter the code ZT83Q on check out – you have until Sunday night. Happy reading!

Books of the Immortals – Earth

I am very excited about the last Book of the Immortals. When I wrote the first draft back in 2005 I was just back from my first trip to Iceland and it was my first attempt at fantasy without magic (or very few). It's set 500 years after the first book – Air – and the Magical Races are practically gone, so, like one of my editors said, "It felt, and this may be odd to say, more "human" than the other stories".

And I had the discussion about horses because I so love those Icelandic horses with short legs that are TRAINED (not dressed, gotcha! ) to walk with one leg on the ground at the time to avoid breaking their legs on the lava fields and other irregular terrains of that wonderful, magical island.

model for one of the protagonists' horse - Manycolored Mane

And here's the "crouched horse" bit – based on a horse I actually saw there. Revised version, hope this time I've done it right!

"This one is gorgeous," Brenda called, excited, pointing at one lying in a corner, disdainful. Valfred was breathless when he saw it.

"Hvittfax!" he said. Axel's horse. How did it go back to the Land of the Clans?

"Is that his name?" Kevan asked. "What does it mean?"

"White Mane. It's the horse in my dream."

"He looks like the elven king's horse," Brenda said, staring at the long white lashes of the gray horse with totally white mane and tail. It got up when Kevan touched it.

Barb & the elven king's horse

Anyway, horses apart (Tresses Marglitur AKA Manycolored Mane is not a full character like Maya was in Air, but there are a lot of horses in this story! ), here's the blurb/book trailer.

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AND it's available on Smashwords and Kindle – printed version coming in January!