Ali Noel Vyain's Blog, page 49

Unique Book Title #73 Drugs

Drugs

eISBN: 9781005288518
A poetry collection about drugs, addiction, consequences, reactions and prejudices.

This is my second book release of 2021.

If you like my work and would like to support me, please do any or even all of the following:
*Spread the word about my work to others. This includes my books and the Sir Socks Le Chat—a magazine of cat tales.
*Order any of my books from your local library.
*Buy copies of any of my books from the store of your choice.
*Subscribe to my Patreon account.

Unique Title #72 Discounted

Discounted

Discounted
eISBN: 9781005646714
A poetry collection about being discounted and overlooked due to prejudice. Also includes reactions to the prejudice and perhaps some hope as to change.

This is my first book release of 2021.

If you like my work and would like to support me, please do any or even all of the following:
*Spread the word about my work to others. This includes my books and the Sir Socks Le Chat—a magazine of cat tales.
*Order any of my books from your local library.
*Buy copies of any of my books from the store of your choice.
*Subscribe to my Patreon account.

Amazon Kindle—A Review

I have had two kindle account with Amazon as a ways to sell my books. So, this is from that point of view. I have to say, it was much worse the second time around.

First thing: Amazon isn’t very upfront or clear as to their guidelines or what they expect from us. Nor do they explain how to use their system. It’s not intuitive or easy to understand. There are classes on how to use this publishing option. I don’t have time for such classes. If Amazon can’t be clear and upfront instead of springing fees on me at the last minute, then I don’t see why I need to do business with them.

I have noticed there are ebooks from traditional publishers which are several hundred megabytes big. I keep all my ebooks under 20 megabytes per Smashwords. Amazon now charges a delivery fee which comes right out of my royalties. I don’t know why they think they can charge that fee. I’ve never dealt with such a fee in my life.

I once tried to see if I could get one book into print. It was one that I knew some readers would want in that format. What I needed to know from Amazon was what are the specifications so I could set up the print files myself and how much it would cost me to get the book into print.

I looked and found information on what not to do. It gave me the impression they thought as a writer I was too stupid to even know how to set up print files and that I should just go with one of their experts. I started out in publishing learning graphic design which includes print and digital. I do know what to do, but when I can’t find clear instructions on the specifications for those files, then I can’t do it. Learning was a way for me to save myself money. Clearly, Amazon doesn’t want me to save money on my books. Nor is it listed how much it costs to print books with them.

Now they have the option of getting readers to see your books easily if you pay for marketing. I have to pause here. Advertising in my experience doesn’t pay off for books or magazines. The whole trouble lies in trying to find the actual readers. They may not be paying attention. I have always tended towards the free options. They may not work as well for me as the supposed experts claim, but at least I didn’t lose money on books when I chose the free options.

To make it really bad, there haven’t been any royalties for at least a year from Amazon Kindle. I don’t know why that is. I have my own personal site which includes information on all the books I currently have available. I have a few social media accounts which list my personal site too. The profiles all state I’m a writer. So, it’s hard to say what the problem is. Perhaps people aren’t really paying any attention or they are no longer readers.

I’ve been in publishing for nearly two decades now and I find it’s better not to spend money on books. I’m much too prolific to afford many of the services others may offer. It’s the only way I can keep writing and not worry about money. I do have royalties. Perhaps not very much, but in today’s world it is nearly impossible to earn money from writing anymore.

I have learned that if I don’t do everything by myself, I wouldn’t have a career or even a job. The old writing jobs have dried up. It has nothing to do with the pandemic. There aren’t enough writing and editing jobs anymore for even those who may want them. They are hard to find. It’s mission impossible to go work for someone else as a writer or a editor. I have looked. I typically run into scams more than actual jobs. Or the writing jobs don’t pay and yet the publishers think they can still get full exclusive rights.

The best way to get a writing or editing job, whether working for someone else or freelance, is through networking. I’m still learning what networking is and how to do it without getting a social hangover. So, I have to work on my own and hope for the best. I have no other options anymore.

I do have an account with Goodreads, but that’s not useful either. Goodreads only recognizes one store—Amazon. No others. That is elitist and unhelpful. Amazon takes 24-48 hours to get any Kindle book released worldwide. Makes me wonder why it takes them so long. I prefer their competitor because I upload the books once and they are available worldwide within minutes. That retailer then ships out to other retailers without me having to do anything at all. As my Goodreads account and Facebook account were linked, this account might be closed out soon. I’m not sure it will make any difference in royalties.

I finally closed out my Amazon account. It took longer than I thought necessary. I had to ask them to close it. There’s no way for us to close our accounts on our own. Then I received email notifications from four different Amazon sites that I was going to be paid royalties. I received four payments of $6.27, $3.22, $4.71 and $22.77. Not sure which books sold or when. Suspect they were holding the royalties and would refuse to tell me. Grand total of $36.97.

I find it disturbing. I have no way of knowing which books they are for. I have one book so far which I donate the royalties to a charity. If I don’t know if it’s sold, then how can keep accurate records and pay the charity? This won’t get better as there will be more books like that one in the future.

I must draw the conclusion Amazon withheld my royalties without warning. They took advantage. When their warehouse employees have to be frisked off the clock once their shifts are over, I draw another conclusion — Jeff Bezos doesn’t trust anyone. He doesn’t care what happens to writers or to his employees. As long as he has his money, he doesn’t mind screwing the rest of us.

Amazon is not clear, upfront or transparent about how to work with it. They withheld my royalties and now expect me to pay for advertising to make my books more visible. Jeff Bezos created this nightmare and has proven he’s not worthy of my trust. Failure to change when you pay out royalties or even being inconsistent about that and demand I pay you is grounds for dismissal. I will not do business with Amazon. After this recent awful experience, I don’t care if my books ever end up on Kindle.

If I had to rate Amazon with the star method, I’d give them none. No stars is what Amazon deserves after what they’ve done to me. I doubt my story is that unique.

Dear readers, if the lack of Kindle format bothers you, then please complain to Amazon. They don’t have a bulk uploader and are trying to put all the other book retailers out of business. My books are still available on Smashwords and anyone they ship out to. This includes libraries. There are many options and none of us get screwed in the process. But when Amazon is involved, the creative people and other hard workers get screwed all the time.

Lockdown Diary Entry 7 April 7, 2020

*Got up just before 10 am.

*Cleaned out three litter boxes.

*Studied French.

*Continued CampNaNoWriMo.

*Read a book.

*Did a load of laundry.

*Cook dinner of pasta with tomato sauce, vegetables and nuts.

*A rather uneventful day. Nuri was pretty happy.

CampNaNoWriMo Progress:

Drafted some more cat fairy tales.

Total books to edit: 3

Lockdown Diary Entry 6 April 6, 2020

I have a censor who would not like for me to post this current lockdown entry. So it will be omitted to accommodate her and her delusional fantasy that I’m a selfish little murderer. I have been practicing social distancing. I have been washing my hands. I have stayed away from the censor, but she feels the need to get in my face and scream at me. She even blocked my doorway so I couldn’t wash my hands. I told her and she refused to move. I have tried to be reasonable with this person, but it’s no use. She refuses to listen to me. She is also following my blog. So she will remain nameless and I will go looking for a new place for Nuri and me to live away from her. If she’s smart, she will not access my computer. I don’t clean it and it could be germy for all I know…but I’m the only one who uses the computer so I don’t see what the big deal is.

Lockdown Diary Entry 5 April 5, 2020

Lockdown Day 5 April 5, 2020

*Got up just after 10 am.

*Cleaned out three litter boxes.

*Cooked baked potatoes, vegetables, and nuts.

*Studied French

*Discussed with mom me going to the welfare department to get my food stamp card. She doesn’t want me to.

*Continued CampNaNoWriMo

*Read a book

*Cooked pasta with tomato sauce, vegetables and nuts.

*Loaded and started the dishwasher.

*Watch Mansfield Park with mom.

Question of the day:

What kinds of things do people do in the name of survival?

Answer to previous question:

By banging on pots and pans in individual apartments to protest terrible and weak leaders.

CampNaNoWriMo Progress:

prepped four novels

Total books to edit: 3

Lockdown Diary Entry 4 April 4, 2020

*Got up just before 10 am.

*Mom saw my hair and laughed. She said it was the best bed head hair she’s ever seen. I had just washed my hair last night and laid down with wet hair. It’s still wild looking after I brushed it out. It’s very puffy and sticking out similar to how Einstein’s hair when it was all white, but mine is stick quite thick with fine and thick strands. I have a lot of strands of hair on my head. Many are still French black, but a few are silvery.

*Cleaned out three litter boxes.

*Put clean dishes away.

*Placed food order with mom.

*Copied down cake recipe. Couldn’t bake the cake for mom yet because the brown sugar was too hard.

*Studied French by listening to some children’s songs.

*Continued CampNaNoWriMo.

*Baked a cake. Mom loves it. I can’t eat it because it’s not vegan, but it was for her. A birthday/retirement anniversary cake.

*Food stamp interview. Relieved that I have them to help with my food bill.

*Attended the Readers’ Meeting in Second Life.

*Continued CampNaNoWriMo.

*Cooked more curried rice with vegetables, nuts and agar.

*Read a book.

Question of the day:

How does one protest while using social distancing?

Answer to previous question:

Hard to answer when it’s only the fourth of the month and I’ve just started the drafting process.

CampNaNoWriMo Progress:

Prepped three new poetry books so I can write up 100 poems per book.

Total books to edit: 3

Lockdown Diary Entry 3 April 3, 2020

*Woke up at 6:25 am after having a dream. The word “gottlieb” came up. Looked it up and found out it’s German for god’s love. Went back to sleep.

*Got up after 10 am.

*Cleaned out three litter boxes.

*Cleaned house.

*Put away food delivery. I got enough that I don’t need to worry until the next food delivery arrives.

*Continued CampNaNoWriMo.

*Played with Nuri.

*Cooked pasta with vegetables and almonds.

*Studied French.

*Updated contributors/staff information on Sir Socks Le Chat magazine.

*Did a quick and rough version of the hokey pokey for my mom. I told her she knew she needed me to do that for me. She laughed and told me I was right.

*Read a book.

Question of the day:

How many books will I have drafted by the time the month is over?

Answer to previous question:

Depends upon what we are missing from our order if we need to go out or we can stay home.

CampNaNoWriMo Progress:

*Finished drafting a creative non-fiction book.

Total books to edit: 3

Lockdown Diary Entry 2 April 2, 2020

*Got up just after 9 am.

*Cleaned out three litter boxes.

*Did a load of laundry.

*Cooked a meal with rice, vegetables, peanuts, curry powder and agar.

*Read a book while cooking.

*Ran dishwasher.

*Attended the Writers’ Meeting in Second Life.

*Studied French.

*Updated new submissions for Sir Socks Le Chat.

*Continued CampNaNoWriMo while listening to music.

*Finished reading a book.

*Started reading another book.

Question of the day:

*How many books will I have drafted by the end of the month?

Answer to previous question:

*My feet were fine today. It was pleasant out and my feet weren’t cold at all.

CampNaNoWriMo Progress:

5 chapters of a non-fiction book drafted

Total books to edit: 2

Lockdown Diary Day 1 April 1, 2020

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Yesterday I went for a long walk on the Rillito pathway. I went to the sun circle and took some pictures. The sun was so bright that my iPad was a like a mirror. I took the pictures blindly. Then I went back home.

I came home before lockdown started at 5 pm local time. That’s Mountain Standard Time and also currently Pacific Daylight Time. When I got to the door of the house, Nuri greeted me. She was happy I was home.

I filled out my tax forms for 2019 and 2018. Then tried to relax. I was exhausted and didn’t get anything else done.

Today was different. I got up somewhat early for me. (Before 9 am perhaps…) I didn’t bother putting on socks or even shoes today. It’s warm enough in Tucson right now that I can do without socks. Good for me as my socks are wearing out too quickly.

*I ate some breakfast.

*Cleaned out three litter boxes.

*I studied some French via agreenmouse.com site. Read some and listened to a British lady speaking French with French subtitles. Usually know most of the vocabulary she uses. Don’t care that it’s geared for children. I just want to learn and keep it in my head.

*Printed out my tax forms and letter to the IRS. Mailed the taxes.

*Filed my nails.

*Helped mom put our food delivery away. Sadly, I only got two bottles of kombucha. Not even the flavor I ordered, but something came. Also didn’t get a bottle of extra virgin olive oil. We went over what we got compared to what we ordered. I got everything else.

*Updated Sir Socks Le Chat—a magazine of cat tails by making the April list of articles.

*Folded and put sheets into closet.

*Started CampNaNoWriMo while listening to music. Some of the musician are dead. So, I listen to the voices of the dead now…

*Cooked dinner.

*Read a book.

Questions of the day:

*How will food delivery work out if I can’t get extra virgin olive oil or enough kombucha? Will I have to go out and get those items?

*Will my feet be warm enough without socks?

CampNaNoWriMo Progress:

*Drafted one non-fiction book.

*Already had drafted the last book of The Starlover Series last month.

Total books to edit: 2