Fiona L. Woods's Blog, page 403

A New Panzerism

Panzer's thoughts on Autumn:


Mom's asters are blooming today. She said they bring another Summer to a beautiful conclusion.

Hey ...

Wait a minute ...

That means Autumn is coming.

Cold weather.

Rain.

Sleet.

Snow.

She better appreciate my work.COLD!

I have to get outside now!

I have to dig out all those asters.

NOW!

It's up to ME to stop Autumn from coming!

Free Ebook for Kindle for a Limited Time

Panzer was out in the Catosphere today and stopped in at Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine.

Hurry before it's gone!You all know how much Panzer loves FREE ebooks, right? Well, my bad kitty boy found an announcement at Mr. Crider's site about a FREE copy of Heath Lowrance's Hawthorne: Tales of a Weirder West. This is the west like you've never known it.

To get the link to the ebook, tootle over to  Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: Free for Kindle for a Limited Time:

*A tip of the cat fedora to Kevin Tipple's Corner for the link to Pop Culture Magazine.

Amazon and Perseus Books Reach Ebook Sales Agreement

What does Perseus know that we don't?Panzer found an interesting post by Jim Milliot at the Publishers Weekly site today.

According to Mr. Milliot, Amazon and the Perseus Books Group have settled the terms of a new ebook sales agreement.

Wait.

What?

The rumor is Perseus Books Group has reached an agreement with Amazon.

Inquiring cats want to know: Why has Perseus accepted the new ebook sales agreement and Hachette won't?

Panzer says, "I want to see those ebook sales terms please."

To read the full post, tootle over to Amazon and Perseus

Collaborate with R.L. Stine on Wattpad

Collaborate? Really?Panzer stopped in at GalleyCAT today. My bad boy found a post by Maryann Yin about an interesting Wattpad contest.

Do you want to collaborate with thriller/chiller writer R.L. Stine on a short story? Well, here's your chance. The beginning is already written and posted at Stine's Wattpad profile page. You write the middle, then Stine will write the end. According to the rules, Wattpad and Stine will pick the winning "middle" entry.

You must be a Wattpad user, but joining is free. You have to post your entry to your Wattpad account. The entire short story will be only 1,000 words long, so keep that in mind when writing your entry. You need to hurry because the contest ends October 9.

Panzer says, "It's important you read the entire rules! There may be some things you don't want to agree to do."

To read the entire post, tootle over to Wattpad contest

Douglas Preston-Authors United vs Amazon Continues

You guys are washing the Panzermobile.Panzer headed out into the Catosphere, but his radar wasn't working because he immediately ran into a Douglas Preston-Hachette-Authors United vs Amazon cloud.

My poor little kitty could barely see out to keep control of the Panzermobile while he was dodging all the flying fertilizer and guano.

My intrepid captain finally landed the ship at the Publisher's Weekly site first. There he found a post by Paige Crutcher. The post was about the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance's luncheon for bestselling author James Patterson. Also present was Michael Pietsch representing Mr. Patterson's publisher Hachette.

As one of Panzer's friends, you'll remember that Mr. Patterson is one of the signers of Douglas Preston's letter /ad in the New York Times and the letter to the Amazon Board of Directors.

While neither Mr. Patterson or Mr. Pietsch made any direct comments about their dispute with Amazon, Mr. Patterson did make a disparaging joke about Amazon. All in all, the post makes interesting reading.

However, what was really splatting the Panzermobile was the post Panzer found when he stopped at The Passive Voice site next. It seems bestselling author Douglas Preston and his Authors United group have come up with another letter . This one is to the U.S. Department of Justice.

For what?

They want the DoJ to start an antitrust investigation of Amazon because they don't like the way the company does business.

Panzer says, "Let me get this straight ... Hachette still hasn't signed a new contract with Amazon to sell their books, but you guys want the DoJ and the US government to spend money to force Amazon to sell Hachette's books as if there was a contract."

To read the post about the letter to the DoJ, tootle over to Douglas Preston and Company

Amazon Customer Billing Changes Coming To Germany

Where is my phone?Panzer was over at the Slate site today. In a post by Alison Griswold he learned about Amazon's new plans for payments in Germany.

Plans are in the works to allow Amazon buyers to pay through Bango for their digital items (like ebooks) on their Telefonica Deutschland phone bills. The roll out of the new payment system is scheduled for next year.

Panzer says, "Don't be fooled. The beginning of the post is a review of Amazon's new ereaders and tablets. Just keep reading."

To read the whole post, tootle over to Amazon billing

A New Panzerism

Puppy-love? Who would read that?Panzer on Book Reviews:

I read a book review today that said

the storyline was about ...

puppy-love.

Dumbest plot I've ever heard of.

Learn Short Story Deep Structure

Panzer took the Panzermobile deep into the Catosphere today.

What kind of fadeout?My bad black kitty found a post by Dr. John Yeoman at the Write To Done site. In his post Dr. Yeoman explains about using deep structure when writing your short stories.

You're probably familiar with some of the tips included in this post. One is weaving a subplot into your story. Another is repeating a question asked at the beginning of your story at the end.

But have you ever thought about including an emblem in your story? Or how about an elegiac fadeout?

Panzer says, "What?"

To read the full post and find out what an elegiac fadeout is, tootle over to deep structure

Kindle Unlimited Authors to Get $2.7 M More

How much can I fit in here?Panzer was over at Publishers Weekly's site today.

My bad boy kitty reporter found some good news for writers in the Kindle Unlimited program. According to the site, Amazon has added $2.7 million to the base $2 million fund. This bonus cash will be split among the most popular Kindle Direct Publishing authors and books in the program. After this initial cash distribution, these authors and books will receive special badges on their appropriate pages.

Panzer says, "You know, Amazon really is an indie author's best friend."

To read the full post and how the money will be distributed, tootle over to Kindle Unlimited authors

Hugh Howey On Saving Barnes and Noble

I looked and I looked. Finally, I found.Today, Panzer got a late start in the Catosphere.

After searching and searching, my bad boy was able to find a great post for you over at bestselling author Hugh Howey's blog. Panzer enjoys going to Mr. Howey's blog because he always has informative posts for authors and readers.

In this post Mr. Howey is giving us his ideas about Barnes & Noble's slow demise. He brings up points that have lost the company buying customers. These include the loss of places to sit and peruse a selection of books before a buyer makes a choice, the introduction of loyalty cards, and the fact there are no longer author events. Mr. Howey has several more suggestions to help turn around Barnes and Noble.

Panzer says, "At least the company isn't on life support yet."

Bring a large cup of tea because this is a l-o-n-g post.

To read the full post, tootle over to Barnes and Noble