Fiona L. Woods's Blog, page 389

A New Panzerism

Panzer on board games:

I love playing checkers with Mom and What's His Name.

Especially that part where the noble jungle kitty sneaks through the tall carpet grass.

He waits patiently.

He slithers forward on his belly
You're free! Fly away!
and ...

pounces on the checker board, where all the plastic pieces take flight

like ...

a herd of butterflies.

Hugh Howey On KDP

I need to look into this.Panzer was out enjoying the sun in the Catosphere today. Our lazy little kitty boy stopped in at Hugh Howey's blog.  He likes to visit there because Mr. Howey always has interesting posts.

This time Mr. Howey is posting about being a "chump" for using Amazon's KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) for his books. Lately, he's been seeing a lot of posts and threads about how little money most indie authors make after publishing their books on KDP. So, he decided to tell the story of why and how he worked up to publishing with KDP. It's an interesting and enlightening read for all writers, not just indies.

Panzer says, "I guess I'm a chump too."

Note: As is always the case with Mr. Howey's posts, bring an e-x-t-r-a l-a-r-g-e cup of tea for your read today.

To read the post, tootle over to KDP

Amazon Temporary Warehouse Workers' Non-Compete Clause

Hide. Don't sign it.Panzer got woken up from his nap by all the caterwauling in the Catosphere today. Our poor tired kitty struggled into the Panzermobile to see what all the noise was about.

Following all the yowling and gnashing of teeth, led our black kitty boy to The Verge site. In a post by Spencer Woodman, he discovered Amazon has their temporary employees sign the same contract with the 18-month non-compete clause as the permanent employees.

The contract includes stipulations of not working anywhere where the former employee will directly or indirectly work with any product or service that might compete with any product or service that Amazon sells. Since Amazon sells practically everything known to humankind in the world, the non-compete clause limits former temporary employees' future employment options for 18-months after leaving Amazon.

Panzer says, "Hey, wait a minute. These are temporary employees. They can't work anywhere else for 18-months?"

Note: You'll need a v-e-r-y b-i-g cup of tea, as this is a v-e-r-y l-o-n-g post.

To read the full post, tootle over to Amazon warehouse jobs

Free Romances Today Only

Hurry! Today Only!You all know how much Panzer loves FREE stuff. Well, today our fantastic FREE finding kitty found a place to get FREE romance ebooks.

Don't be put off by the fact these are romances. There are ebooks with werewolves, shape shifter wolves, elves, and colonization of new planets. Oh ... and some human romances, too. There are ebooks for Kindle, Nook and Kobo.

Panzer says, "Hurry! These ebooks are only available today!"

Note: On the top right corner of the front page, you can sign up for the newsletter with the weekly FREE ebooks.

To check out the FREE ebooks, tootle over to Kindle Spring Break Romances

Oyster Subscription Service Expansion

Into the Catosphere our kitty goes.Panzer wasn't feeling well yesterday, so he took the day off.  But ... today, he's back in the pilot's seat of the Panzermobile.

Our big, black, bad kitty boy found an interesting post on the Oyster blog site. The Oyster ebook subscription service is one of the places Panzer's ebooks are available, so he stops in there frequently.

According to the blog post, Oyster is entering a major business expansion phase. The company expansion will involve an increase in the number of ebooks available and a global expansion making those ebooks available to more readers.

Panzer says, "Hmmm. What do you think this means for the future of Oyster? Maybe a stock offering in the future?"

To read the full post, tootle over to Oyster Books

A New Panzerism

Panzer on materialism:

What's His Name bought a new car and I just don't get why.

I spent the whole afternoon underneath the new car,

studying it closely.
It's new! It's shiny! He want's it!
And ...

it just doesn't look any different than the old one.

Maybe ...

if I was taller, it would look different?

New Game of Thrones Clip Season 5 Unveiled

Panzer stopped in at GalleyCAT today.

Our big kitty boy is doing the happy cat dance. He found a post by Maryann Yin there about George R. R. Martin's  Game of Thrones.

Let me see it!
And ...

MeWOW!

A video trailer from Season 5!

To read the post and watch the video clip, tootle over to New Game of Thrones Clip Season 5 Unveiled | GalleyCat

New Stephen King Book In November

Hurry up! I can't wait!Panzer took his usual leisurely Friday trip into the Catosphere today. Our big bad kitty boy found a post about his favorite horror author Stephen King.

According to a post by Alison Flood at The Guardian site, Mr. King has a new book coming out in November. Titled The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, the book will include 20 short stories. Mr. King will also include some of his insights on his writing. The insights will take the form of an introduction to each story about the hows and whys of its creation.

Panzer says, "I hope Mom doesn't get scared reading Mr. King's new book to me."

To read the post, tootle over to Stephen King

Rakuten Acquires OverDrive

I need to look into this.Panzer found an interesting post over at the Publishers' Weekly site today.

In a post by Jim Milliot, our inquisitive kitty reporter learned that OverDrive is being acquired by the Japanese company Rakuten.  The $410 million deal should close in April. According to the post, Steve Potash, founder of OverDrive, will remain with the company, so things should stay the same at OverDrive. Kobo is still a viable company even after Rakuten's acquisition three years ago, so we can hope.

Panzer says, "If you have your books with Smashwords, then you have the option to distribute to OverDrive. Let's hope that doesn't change."

To read the full post, tootle over to OverDrive

George R. R. Martin to Skip World Fantasy Convention

I'll see you there if you finish.Panzer was traveling around the Catosphere looking for news for you today. Our big, bad, kitty boy stopped in at George R. R. Martin's Not A Blog site.

According to Mr. Martin's March 16 post, he's skipping the World Fantasy Convention and Comicon. Instead, he plans to continue work on his novel Winds of Winter. He does say, if he finishes WoW, he will attend them.

Panzer says, "We'll miss you there."

To read the full post, tootle over to George R. R. Martin