The D word
by Christine Kling
If you are a writer, you know the word I’m talking about. Distraction. That word that whispers alluring messages in my ears when I am supposed to be working on the new book. That word against which I am sometimes so poorly armed. That word that, uh, just a minute, my computer just dinged receipt of a new email….I’ll be right back.
For my new book I am attempting to write a storyline that takes place in 1942 and another that takes place in 1798 when Napoleon invaded Malta. What do I know about the Napoleonic era in Malta? I am learning plenty, but the point is I need Internet access all the time as I do the research into how people lived at that time. But with that Internet comes this pipeline of news and ideas that is so hard to ignore.
This week has been a particularly difficult one for me so rather than let my distractions be all for naught, I’ve decided to blog about them. He he he. Very clever of me, I think.
Geek that I am, of course, I was up early the day of Apple’s recent big event and their introduction of the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch. Bandwidth here doesn’t allow me to watch the keynote like I usually would, so I distracted myself with searching the web for reports and reviews. Last year when I returned from the Bahamas with a drowned iPhone, I considered upgrading to the iPhone 5s, but instead I told myself to wait for the newer model. I had no idea then that when the time came I would be living in Majuro. The telecommunication company (NTA) here in Majuro simply doesn’t offer cellular data, so I’ve been trying to talk myself out of the huge expenditure that an unlocked iPhone would be. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t spent many an hour distracted and dreaming of playing with the better camera and the new method of purchasing called Apple Pay.
The most important part of the Apple announcement for writers has to do with the new operating system for i-devices called iOS8. Up until now, if users wanted to buy books from iBooks, they had to download the app onto their iPads or iPhones. For the first time in iOS8, iBooks will be a permanent app on the front page of devices. According to this article in Digital Book World, “some 150 million Apple mobile devices have iBooks installed as of June 2013, the latest figures available. As of June 2014, the company had 800 million iOS devices in circulation . . .” They go on to point out that even if only a small percentage of those 650 million devices (a number growing daily) upgrades to the new iOS, it will means millions more devices potentially in the ebook market. The article goes on to say that Apple is going to promote iBooks by offering a selection of 54 titles from 39 publishers in 30 countries and nine languages free to users. They are top notch best sellers, so if you have an i-device and you are upgrading, check out the iBooks offer.
The second most important part of iOS8 for writers is the new feature called Family Sharing. According to this article on digital sharing in the New York Times, Amazon is also offering a similar program. The Apple plan “lets you share books, movies, music and apps that you’ve bought at iTunes, iBooks and the App Store with up to six members of your family who are logged in using their own iTunes accounts.” Lots of people have seen the inability to share digital content as a roadblock to adopting ebooks. I believe these sharing features will be one more nudge to push people towards ebooks.
Then when it comes to distractions, there is hardly anything better than the ongoing Amazon Hachette dispute and the ridiculous posts that are flying around on both sides such as Authors United’s recent missive to the Amazon board where their thousand some authors managed to miss the typo in the first sentence and to dis all non-American authors — and Joe Konrath’s hilarious response titled Nonsense United.
And finally, the Steven Pressfield blog piece titled When not earning out is a good thing, is a fascinating look at the how the top earning authors are really paid and how publishers calculate what to offer them.
Even with all these interesting distractions, I managed to make some breakthroughs this week on the new book. And now, it’s time to get back to it.
Fair winds!
Christine
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