Infuriating.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Pride and Prejudiced Against Hollywood Movies
I understand Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier were considered to be wonderful actors. That said, Pride and Prejudice is on TCM right now and its awfulness is laughable.
Maybe Hollywood's intention was always making money and telling stories that would get people to cough up their money to be entertained. Is there something about being vaguely historically accurate that would prevent people from being entertained?
Baring all else, every Hollywood studio had a costume department. Did no one look at a Regency gown? Yes, they were ugly, but not half as ridiculous as the meringues Greer Garson is wearing--sleeves so enormous she has to turn sideways to get through the doorways.
I know Elizabeth says she is quite old when speaking with Lady de Bourgh, but I thought Lizzie meant about 22, not 35. This is like Norma Shearer, who I quite like and am grateful she took such good care of Irving Thalberg, playing a 15 year old Juliette. Come on. These women were too old for the parts.
The Bennets were supposed to be, if not poor, then certainly not rich. You should see the huge house Hollywood put them in. If they had this much money, what was Mr. Darcy's problem with Elizabeth and her family? The Bennets being well-off completely undercuts and undermines what Jane Austen set up. Oh well, writers are always too close to their work so what the heck did Austen know about her story anyway?
Maybe Hollywood's intention was always making money and telling stories that would get people to cough up their money to be entertained. Is there something about being vaguely historically accurate that would prevent people from being entertained?
Baring all else, every Hollywood studio had a costume department. Did no one look at a Regency gown? Yes, they were ugly, but not half as ridiculous as the meringues Greer Garson is wearing--sleeves so enormous she has to turn sideways to get through the doorways.
I know Elizabeth says she is quite old when speaking with Lady de Bourgh, but I thought Lizzie meant about 22, not 35. This is like Norma Shearer, who I quite like and am grateful she took such good care of Irving Thalberg, playing a 15 year old Juliette. Come on. These women were too old for the parts.
The Bennets were supposed to be, if not poor, then certainly not rich. You should see the huge house Hollywood put them in. If they had this much money, what was Mr. Darcy's problem with Elizabeth and her family? The Bennets being well-off completely undercuts and undermines what Jane Austen set up. Oh well, writers are always too close to their work so what the heck did Austen know about her story anyway?
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Conflict
I signed up with Pixels of Ink. Every day (dismayingly) there is quite a list of free or cheap books available at Amazon. I download only the ones I think there is at least a 50-50 chance I'll get to.
Unfortunately most are disappointing and wind up DNF (Did Not Finish). Many of them lack a center. They lack a central conflict. As I'm reading I can't answer the question "What does this character want?" We are we left with the sense that nothing is happening because without conflict, nothing is happening.
CONFLICT
Man v. man
Man v. nature
Man v. self
It's not enough that your main character discovers they are a fey child or have a super power. Saving the world is great, thanks for your efforts on my behalf!, but you need someone trying to prevent the saving of the world. There must be an adversary.
Someone famous in the romance writing world gave a seminar and said "If your main character is an arsonist, the love interest has to be the fire investigator."
You need to personalize the struggle, the conflict. Then you need to dramatize this conflict. You must show incidents with rising intensity of the conflict playing out.
Again I will tell you go read a book on screenwriting. Nothing will give you a clearer description of the three-act dramatic structure than that.
You're not writing a script? You're not writing a drama? Yeah, you are.
Readers don't care, all they want is a good story? That's how you create a good story.
Unfortunately most are disappointing and wind up DNF (Did Not Finish). Many of them lack a center. They lack a central conflict. As I'm reading I can't answer the question "What does this character want?" We are we left with the sense that nothing is happening because without conflict, nothing is happening.
CONFLICT
Man v. man
Man v. nature
Man v. self
It's not enough that your main character discovers they are a fey child or have a super power. Saving the world is great, thanks for your efforts on my behalf!, but you need someone trying to prevent the saving of the world. There must be an adversary.
Someone famous in the romance writing world gave a seminar and said "If your main character is an arsonist, the love interest has to be the fire investigator."
You need to personalize the struggle, the conflict. Then you need to dramatize this conflict. You must show incidents with rising intensity of the conflict playing out.
Again I will tell you go read a book on screenwriting. Nothing will give you a clearer description of the three-act dramatic structure than that.
You're not writing a script? You're not writing a drama? Yeah, you are.
Readers don't care, all they want is a good story? That's how you create a good story.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
People are Strange
Not when you're a stranger--I could find that song, it's by The Doors, right?--people can appear to be fine and then they surprise you by coming off the rails.
I had someone stalk me once. Luckily not in a threatening way but it made me understand how easy it was for this person to lose their handle on clear thinking. In the throes of this behavior, it makes sense. All it requires is to step off the path and then everything else can be viewed through another prism.
No, this rumination is not apropos of nothing but that's the end of the rumination.
The D600 is an extraordinary camera. From a technical standpoint, I'm not smart enough to know how the D4 is appreciably better for 4 X the price. As I understand it, it's a more substantial body that can take being in the field better.
Yes I did drop my F once and that pretty much would have meant sending it into Nikon Repair but it was stolen a couple hours later so I never got the chance to know if it could have survived it. I'm not on a safari or climbing Mt. McKinley. I think my equipment is pretty safe.
From a personal standpoint, I took this photo, cropped it and uploaded it. Even as wonderful as I thought the D7k was, I always threw some sharpening on it. I would bump clarity, contrast and blacks. (There's my secret revealed.) What's here is an unprocessed image. I'm not interested in trying to improve it. I think this is good and leave it alone.
Maybe not every shot can be left so alone but it shouldn't be my responsibility to do what the camera's supposed to do.
I had someone stalk me once. Luckily not in a threatening way but it made me understand how easy it was for this person to lose their handle on clear thinking. In the throes of this behavior, it makes sense. All it requires is to step off the path and then everything else can be viewed through another prism.
No, this rumination is not apropos of nothing but that's the end of the rumination.
 | ||||
| D600 w/ 40 mm |
Yes I did drop my F once and that pretty much would have meant sending it into Nikon Repair but it was stolen a couple hours later so I never got the chance to know if it could have survived it. I'm not on a safari or climbing Mt. McKinley. I think my equipment is pretty safe.
From a personal standpoint, I took this photo, cropped it and uploaded it. Even as wonderful as I thought the D7k was, I always threw some sharpening on it. I would bump clarity, contrast and blacks. (There's my secret revealed.) What's here is an unprocessed image. I'm not interested in trying to improve it. I think this is good and leave it alone.
Maybe not every shot can be left so alone but it shouldn't be my responsibility to do what the camera's supposed to do.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
D600 Test Photo 2
This camera has an affinity for light.
I sent this to a friend and she said "It looks almost 3D"
Followers of this blog, know I've been talking about a stripped down Nikon that would deliver the finest possible images for the lowest possible price. This is that camera. Nikon got it right.
You may not like the placement of the buttons, but at least, at the very least, discuss the quality of the images it produces.
If you can't take a remarkable photo with this camera, it's not the camera.
 |
| D600 85 mm f 1.8 |
I sent this to a friend and she said "It looks almost 3D"
Followers of this blog, know I've been talking about a stripped down Nikon that would deliver the finest possible images for the lowest possible price. This is that camera. Nikon got it right.
You may not like the placement of the buttons, but at least, at the very least, discuss the quality of the images it produces.
If you can't take a remarkable photo with this camera, it's not the camera.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
D600 First Test Shot
It's not just a little bit better than the d7k, it's a lot better.
This is a raw image, taken with a 40mm Nikkor macro lens.
Unfortunately, it almost impossible to see on a blog/website how stunningly sharp this is.
It's basically the d7k body, a little bigger but not very. It feels the same in the hand as to weight. The buttons are all in relatively the same places. It takes the same battery. I took the chip and the battery out of the d7k when the 600 arrived so I could just go out and shoot.
It's happy with an FX lens or a DX which is framed in the viewfinder so you'll know how cropped down the image is.
I know there are nitpicky little things some people will glom onto and complain about but if you just want to go out and shoot and get a fantastic image, this camera will do it. I don't know about shooting in caves or sporting events or hanging upside down off the Eiffel Tower--those people probably wouldn't be happy with anything.
Anyone want to buy a slightly used D7k? I'll include the 55-200 zoom.
This is a raw image, taken with a 40mm Nikkor macro lens.
Unfortunately, it almost impossible to see on a blog/website how stunningly sharp this is.
It's basically the d7k body, a little bigger but not very. It feels the same in the hand as to weight. The buttons are all in relatively the same places. It takes the same battery. I took the chip and the battery out of the d7k when the 600 arrived so I could just go out and shoot.
It's happy with an FX lens or a DX which is framed in the viewfinder so you'll know how cropped down the image is.
I know there are nitpicky little things some people will glom onto and complain about but if you just want to go out and shoot and get a fantastic image, this camera will do it. I don't know about shooting in caves or sporting events or hanging upside down off the Eiffel Tower--those people probably wouldn't be happy with anything.
Anyone want to buy a slightly used D7k? I'll include the 55-200 zoom.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Nikon D600
I actually don't know when it was formally released today or on the 11th but at any rate, today is the day I pre-ordered it from Amazon. Why Amazon and not BH Photo? Because I've returned stuff to Amazon before and it's really easy. They're supposed to start shipping on the 18th but who knows how many people are ahead of me in the queue.
As with any Nikon all lenses will fit although older lenses will not be metered or have auto focus. After I've said that I can tell you I have a Nikon lens that absolutely does not work on my D7k. So YMMV.
My 40mm DX will work and my 85 FX 1.8 definitely will work so I got the body only. It was still much more than the $1500 bandied about earlier in the year.
I'll take a bunch of test shots and if I don't fall in love, back it goes.
As with any Nikon all lenses will fit although older lenses will not be metered or have auto focus. After I've said that I can tell you I have a Nikon lens that absolutely does not work on my D7k. So YMMV.
My 40mm DX will work and my 85 FX 1.8 definitely will work so I got the body only. It was still much more than the $1500 bandied about earlier in the year.
I'll take a bunch of test shots and if I don't fall in love, back it goes.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
How To Be Discovered
Some years ago a man who had written a movie you'd probably remember asked me about writing books. He told me this story he wanted to write and I couldn't follow it, maybe it was something about super-powers and invisibility. My agent gave it a definite nyetski. Movie ideas don't translate into good books.
I think now they do.
Books are more like novelized movies than ever. I won't name names but think about it.
There are so few ways to rise out of the multitude of books out there. Some people don't think freebies work anymore. My good friend thinks they do and runs them constantly. Do reviews help? Some say yes but if they're written by drunk trolls then no. If they're all 5 star whether the book deserves it or not, readers are cynical.
Ya can't win but for losing!
What's the answer? Be more Hollywood. Seriously. Have a high concept story (don't throw everything and the kitchen sink in, that's not high concept, that's the town dump) execute it relatively well, get a great cover, write a great blurb and wait. People will show up.
Here's 1 definition of high concept Steve Kaire.
"I love high-concept books. A lot of the books I read and represent are high concept and get a lot of film interest. I define high concept as a premise that can be boiled down into one sentence and sets it apart from other stories by its unique hook or angle." –Paige Wheeler, literary agent
High concept is simple and unique. It is different. It's not another story about vampires or the zombie apocalypse unless you really have a new twist on it.
It's not about bumping up the gore factor or the porn scenes (altho erotica sells. it's still not high concept).
It doesn't always work but it works so much of the time that people want it.
The movie Speed worked. Snakes on the Plane didn't. It should have but no one remembers it now. The title told the whole story, who had to watch the movie. Jaws. The Poseidon Story.
Come up with your own list. It'll be educational.
If you want a lot of attention fast, this is the way to go. High Concept.
(No I'm not being horribly shallow talking about movie ideas on the anniversary of 9-11. I already rewatched the tapes of the morning news shows of the day, I already did my crying, and I'm still certain most people don't get that it's not over. You can't choose peace when your enemy choses war.)
I think now they do.
Books are more like novelized movies than ever. I won't name names but think about it.
There are so few ways to rise out of the multitude of books out there. Some people don't think freebies work anymore. My good friend thinks they do and runs them constantly. Do reviews help? Some say yes but if they're written by drunk trolls then no. If they're all 5 star whether the book deserves it or not, readers are cynical.
Ya can't win but for losing!
What's the answer? Be more Hollywood. Seriously. Have a high concept story (don't throw everything and the kitchen sink in, that's not high concept, that's the town dump) execute it relatively well, get a great cover, write a great blurb and wait. People will show up.
Here's 1 definition of high concept Steve Kaire.
"I love high-concept books. A lot of the books I read and represent are high concept and get a lot of film interest. I define high concept as a premise that can be boiled down into one sentence and sets it apart from other stories by its unique hook or angle." –Paige Wheeler, literary agent
High concept is simple and unique. It is different. It's not another story about vampires or the zombie apocalypse unless you really have a new twist on it.
It's not about bumping up the gore factor or the porn scenes (altho erotica sells. it's still not high concept).
It doesn't always work but it works so much of the time that people want it.
The movie Speed worked. Snakes on the Plane didn't. It should have but no one remembers it now. The title told the whole story, who had to watch the movie. Jaws. The Poseidon Story.
Come up with your own list. It'll be educational.
If you want a lot of attention fast, this is the way to go. High Concept.
(No I'm not being horribly shallow talking about movie ideas on the anniversary of 9-11. I already rewatched the tapes of the morning news shows of the day, I already did my crying, and I'm still certain most people don't get that it's not over. You can't choose peace when your enemy choses war.)
Monday, September 10, 2012
Go Read About Screenwriting
While I was in California and I was in television, I never did a movie. That's not to say I didn't try.
What does this have to do with digital books? Just about everything as far as I can tell. The same techniques apply to both businesses.
Let's assume you are not writing great literature. You're writing commercial fiction.
I had someone say they wanted to have their book discovered by Hollywood and turned into a movie.
That's a good goal. I don't think it's very easy when Hollywood is constricting and making increasingly uninteresting sh*t for the masses. Don't blame me, check the box office stats on it.
But okay you want someone in Hollywood to find your book and maybe make it a cable movie. Or a webmovie.
Whatever level you get to, you'll be happy, right?
Write a book that sounds like a movie.
Then pitch it like a movie.
Blurb it like a movie.
You want to write an ebook that will get noticed? Do all of the above.
With one proviso--don't write off-genre like I do.
What does this have to do with digital books? Just about everything as far as I can tell. The same techniques apply to both businesses.
Let's assume you are not writing great literature. You're writing commercial fiction.
I had someone say they wanted to have their book discovered by Hollywood and turned into a movie.
That's a good goal. I don't think it's very easy when Hollywood is constricting and making increasingly uninteresting sh*t for the masses. Don't blame me, check the box office stats on it.
But okay you want someone in Hollywood to find your book and maybe make it a cable movie. Or a webmovie.
Whatever level you get to, you'll be happy, right?
Write a book that sounds like a movie.
Then pitch it like a movie.
Blurb it like a movie.
You want to write an ebook that will get noticed? Do all of the above.
With one proviso--don't write off-genre like I do.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Worst Blogs and/or Websites
Black backgrounds.
Am I right? Almost impossible to read. If they used a bold type font in white, it would be better but they never think of that. Sometimes they even use yellow. I've seen blue. I never bother to struggle I just leave.
Is there a hidden meaning in the choice of a black background?
Someone more knowledgeable about digital book sales than I assured me Christmas themed works sell well.
Great! I need something that will sell! Does it have to be a romance???? Yes. Okay. Thinking cap on. Okay. I'll cobble together a couple ideas that weren't happening and use them in concert and have a Christmas tale to tell.
I finished Bittersweet 1 and instead of jumping right into something with "meaning", I decided to do Christmas. Oh yeah, I am so there. And before 1000 words were written, I had the whole thing turned on its head. But I like it so I'll have to finish it. It'll be a novella so it won't be that time consuming. Part of the time consuming is I'm making the mistake of attempting to illustrate it to some degree. If only I could draw! I do have pine cones left over from last year so I could take photos but I don't think that will work.
So if you were wondering what I was doing and why I didn't show up here for a week, I was writing and designing and having other things happening that were very distracting.
Am I right? Almost impossible to read. If they used a bold type font in white, it would be better but they never think of that. Sometimes they even use yellow. I've seen blue. I never bother to struggle I just leave.
Is there a hidden meaning in the choice of a black background?
Someone more knowledgeable about digital book sales than I assured me Christmas themed works sell well.
Great! I need something that will sell! Does it have to be a romance???? Yes. Okay. Thinking cap on. Okay. I'll cobble together a couple ideas that weren't happening and use them in concert and have a Christmas tale to tell.
I finished Bittersweet 1 and instead of jumping right into something with "meaning", I decided to do Christmas. Oh yeah, I am so there. And before 1000 words were written, I had the whole thing turned on its head. But I like it so I'll have to finish it. It'll be a novella so it won't be that time consuming. Part of the time consuming is I'm making the mistake of attempting to illustrate it to some degree. If only I could draw! I do have pine cones left over from last year so I could take photos but I don't think that will work.
So if you were wondering what I was doing and why I didn't show up here for a week, I was writing and designing and having other things happening that were very distracting.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Saturday Morning Thought Dump
August was a much better month for Kobo sales. They still have a way to go on their basics like navigation.
I like knowing where the sale was but big blue blobs on the map are an interesting graphic but simply having it in text
Dream Horse-Canada
would be fine.
I like how BN does it. It tells you what sold that day.
Unfortunate there's no running total. We need the both. What just sold TODAY and what is the MONTH total.
Has no one mentioned this to them?
I'm doing all the clean up work on Mounted. No idea what I'll do next. Eenie-meenie-mynie-mo would be as good as making a decision.
Isn't traditional publishing ridiculous? Well ridiculous until they offer me a 6 figure deal, which they won't so I can very easily say they've become something bizarre and anachronistic.
The new Nikon D600 will likely be announced at some big shindig called Photokina on Sept 13. The waiting list will stretch into next year.
I like knowing where the sale was but big blue blobs on the map are an interesting graphic but simply having it in text
Dream Horse-Canada
would be fine.
I like how BN does it. It tells you what sold that day.
Unfortunate there's no running total. We need the both. What just sold TODAY and what is the MONTH total.
Has no one mentioned this to them?
I'm doing all the clean up work on Mounted. No idea what I'll do next. Eenie-meenie-mynie-mo would be as good as making a decision.
Isn't traditional publishing ridiculous? Well ridiculous until they offer me a 6 figure deal, which they won't so I can very easily say they've become something bizarre and anachronistic.
The new Nikon D600 will likely be announced at some big shindig called Photokina on Sept 13. The waiting list will stretch into next year.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Bittersweet Farm 1--Mounted
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Actually I think it still is quite a fine idea. My new YA will be live in a couple days. As I comb through it, a friend is reading it to see what it's about and how the blurb should be crafted.
I'm almost at the point where I think of the three elements that go into digital book, the book itself is least important. First is the cover which by now has to be a knock-out or potential readers won't stop scrolling. Then you have to have a great, nay super-great, blurb. Then the book. EL James proved if you shovel enough smut, you don't have to be Shakespeare to sell 20 million books. After reaching a threshold of readability, how good does a book need to be? Are digital books the new pulp fiction or are they literature? Is beautiful writing wasted? Do readers just want a story? I don't know the answers.
There are half-sisters in competition with each other. Are they competing over the horse shows or the new trainer? Is it about the after-effects of a riding accident? How much should be said in a blurb? How long is the "description" supposed to be? How much do customers really want to read and what do they expect?
Is the blurb at Amazon like the 1 paragraph we used to pitch to agents? Should a blurb contain plot or only the dynamics/conflict of the story? I think it's all become very Hollywood and the more one sticks to screenwriting principles and behavior, the less astray you'll go.
Give 'em the sizzle not the steak. That means don't talk about the plot, talk about conflict. Make it simple enough to be shouted across a parking lot and be understood.
How long should the description/blurb be at Amazon? No more than 150 words. 1 paragraph. They have Look Inside. If your blurb is compelling enough, they'll read the sample. If not, they're not intrigued enough to click buy anyway.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Waxed Paper Is Wonderful
I saw the coolest patterned wax paper for sale from Japan. Then I read the sales blurb. Total Engrish.
It goes down under the cake at parties and,
Paper of the stylish pattern that is good to perform lapping of a cake or bread♪
I can wrap handmade bread and candy, the various things including the flower from a cake splendidly.
I am glad even if I take it if I have you present a handmade cake with such a wonderful wrapper!
I can wrap it without the doughnuts which are oily being sticky!
As for the hospitality is possible smartly if spread it under the cake, and washing a dish easily!
I am pretty and am the convenient wax paper which is excellent even if I take it.
It is ... the party that I am more stylish, and is wonderful in a time of the afternoon♪
It goes down under the cake at parties and,
Paper of the stylish pattern that is good to perform lapping of a cake or bread♪
I can wrap handmade bread and candy, the various things including the flower from a cake splendidly.
I am glad even if I take it if I have you present a handmade cake with such a wonderful wrapper!
I can wrap it without the doughnuts which are oily being sticky!
As for the hospitality is possible smartly if spread it under the cake, and washing a dish easily!
I am pretty and am the convenient wax paper which is excellent even if I take it.
It is ... the party that I am more stylish, and is wonderful in a time of the afternoon♪
Unexpected Spike
I was waiting yesterday for the illustrator to put up a horse on Fotolia for me. I was hoping she would do Bigstock as well but then decided that if it was 9 pm in Italy it probably wouldn't happen and I couldn't work on the new book if I was preoccupied with the cover issue. So I bit the bullet and did Fotolia. (They make you buy credits and price everything so you buy more credits than you need to purchase an item. I don't like that.)
I think it's a good change. Now it has nothing to do with the Dream Horse cover which is bad for branding but they're both in the top 10 of children's books horses or whatever it is, they always are, so there's not much room for improvement. I doubt if the general audience is ever going to find horse books that interesting so it's a niche audience, and those 2 books are there. I would like to see Summer Horse do a bit better so maybe this will help.
So as all this was going on I checked the sales at BN and Her Cold Kiss had sold 7 copies. I don't think all the sales since publication all sites combined equals 7, so I was shocked. Now less than 24 hours later, that figure has doubled to 14. (I know peanuts compared to fill in the blank).
Why did this YA suddenly get found? Unfortunately it's at BN where I can't even find the top ranking lists. The book is still in the 300,000's. If it was Amazon and there were 14 sales in 12 hours, the ranking would have improved by about 275,000 places and I'm serious. Amazon's algorithm works on numbers and speed.
It's fun to have that happen. I don't know what made it happen. I don't know why it would be on a list. Maybe someone read it and it was mentioned on a blog. I certainly didn't do anything.
One of the great mysteries of digital publishing.
I think it's a good change. Now it has nothing to do with the Dream Horse cover which is bad for branding but they're both in the top 10 of children's books horses or whatever it is, they always are, so there's not much room for improvement. I doubt if the general audience is ever going to find horse books that interesting so it's a niche audience, and those 2 books are there. I would like to see Summer Horse do a bit better so maybe this will help.
So as all this was going on I checked the sales at BN and Her Cold Kiss had sold 7 copies. I don't think all the sales since publication all sites combined equals 7, so I was shocked. Now less than 24 hours later, that figure has doubled to 14. (I know peanuts compared to fill in the blank).
Why did this YA suddenly get found? Unfortunately it's at BN where I can't even find the top ranking lists. The book is still in the 300,000's. If it was Amazon and there were 14 sales in 12 hours, the ranking would have improved by about 275,000 places and I'm serious. Amazon's algorithm works on numbers and speed.
It's fun to have that happen. I don't know what made it happen. I don't know why it would be on a list. Maybe someone read it and it was mentioned on a blog. I certainly didn't do anything.
One of the great mysteries of digital publishing.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Expectations of Excellence
I'm noticing that my images are much sharper in PS than they are once uploaded which is a disappointment.
Onto the question of excellence.
A vast number of people (going by the reviews) think that E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey is poorly if not amateurly written. Vast numbers say it's the greatest thing ever. I think this is a bad example because the erotica element clouds the mind.
Let's just say for the sake of this rambling argument that any book (almost any) reviewed on Amazon will be perceived as both good and lousy.
When paperback books were invented, did people really pick them up thinking "I love to curl up with Shakespeare" ? Aren't the covers a dead giveaway you're not getting great literature? Go to Book Scans for 1000's of them.
Aren't most indie ebooks really as disposable as a 25 cent paperback? Texas druid cowboys. Regency romances, erotica, police procedurals, hundreds of thousands of books like every paperback ever written on the planet was dumped on Amazon. At rock-bottom bargain prices, people buy them and a lot of people somehow expect literary perfection.
Boy are they misunderstanding this process!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Kobo Boosts Royalty Rate
That was an unexpected announcement this morning. They're going from 70% to 80% from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30. So that would be exactly the length of a stint with KDP Select.
If a writer was thinking about going to Select or Kobo for those 3 months, that could be a deciding factor. It's not the still measly 5 free days Amazon offers. You can be free for as long as you like at Kobo.
It's true that Amazon is the big boy on the block and IF (repeat IF IF IF) you expect substantial sales due to your involvement with Select, then you'll want to stay with Amazon. If you haven't seen great or have seen diminishing results with Select and their freebies, you might want to try Kobo.
This is an interesting move by Kobo, putting them into competition with Amazon. They are still a small player but obviously they don't intend to stay small (who knows what BN intends). Amazon needs this. I hope they respond with some kind of upgrade to author services because I have no interest in Select at all. It does nothing for me except tie up books that might sell somewhere else.
The key, of course, is discoverability. The site which makes it easiest for the work of writers to be found is where the writers will go. This is not a hobby, this is a business. It's about sales, it's about money.
Up until now these sites thought they were doing us a favor. That attitude seems familiar to me, where did I hear it before. Let me think. Oh yeah. Traditional publishing. It didn't work out so well for them and to continue to treat writers as though they should be grateful to have a place to sell their books will not work much longer for digital either. We should be grateful for each other. That's how this system will work best.
If a writer was thinking about going to Select or Kobo for those 3 months, that could be a deciding factor. It's not the still measly 5 free days Amazon offers. You can be free for as long as you like at Kobo.
It's true that Amazon is the big boy on the block and IF (repeat IF IF IF) you expect substantial sales due to your involvement with Select, then you'll want to stay with Amazon. If you haven't seen great or have seen diminishing results with Select and their freebies, you might want to try Kobo.
This is an interesting move by Kobo, putting them into competition with Amazon. They are still a small player but obviously they don't intend to stay small (who knows what BN intends). Amazon needs this. I hope they respond with some kind of upgrade to author services because I have no interest in Select at all. It does nothing for me except tie up books that might sell somewhere else.
The key, of course, is discoverability. The site which makes it easiest for the work of writers to be found is where the writers will go. This is not a hobby, this is a business. It's about sales, it's about money.
Up until now these sites thought they were doing us a favor. That attitude seems familiar to me, where did I hear it before. Let me think. Oh yeah. Traditional publishing. It didn't work out so well for them and to continue to treat writers as though they should be grateful to have a place to sell their books will not work much longer for digital either. We should be grateful for each other. That's how this system will work best.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Question About Length
Late last week someone became very grumpy about the length of Fly Away. It is a novella but at 20,000+ words it didn't satisfy her. I wish she had asked for her money back instead of upsetting herself. Amazon is really good about refunds.
Joe Konrath has a comment on his new post where he talks about length.
I know on some level readers are spoiled by legacy publishers who wanted long books in order to make more money. They're not accustomed to short. Oh well.
I like short and I'm going to be doing "short" from now on. If I have to price it less, yeah I know Amazon isn't very helpful in the royalty schedule but Kobo is. So maybe it'll even out.
I made a cover for a book this morning that I don't have the story to but I was scrolling through Bigstock and found something so cute that for $2.99 I had to.
Joe Konrath has a comment on his new post where he talks about length.
I know on some level readers are spoiled by legacy publishers who wanted long books in order to make more money. They're not accustomed to short. Oh well.
I like short and I'm going to be doing "short" from now on. If I have to price it less, yeah I know Amazon isn't very helpful in the royalty schedule but Kobo is. So maybe it'll even out.
I made a cover for a book this morning that I don't have the story to but I was scrolling through Bigstock and found something so cute that for $2.99 I had to.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Free Free Free
Last month when Fly Away was free, a friend told me about Pixels of Ink. Today I was reminded of it. I don't remember quite how it works, if you submit your freebie to them or they find you but they have an email that goes out listing some Kindle freebies. I think I downloaded two today from there and one Kobo because I wanted to see these particular writers' styles.
You could read indefinitely for free. I feel this week that you're better off pricing your book reasonably at $2.99 or whatever and then if you want to put it on sale for 99 cents, that's a deal. That's fine. Amazon isn't particularly involved, you don't have to be in Select and they're not price matching.
So 209 copies of Sweet Tarts was downloaded for free at Amazon in the past 3 weeks or whatever. (Again thank you Amazon, it made me smarter.) The point of this short story besides that I think it's a window into this character and her life, is that Nothing Serious is excerpted in it. There have been no sales of NS at Kobo and so minimal at Amazon I wouldn't attribute them to the excerpt.
I still think excerpts are good and so do most writers. As a reader, I don't think I ever read one but it makes sense to do it.
I can't say that having Sweet Tarts free for an extended amount of time did anything for any of my other books. Most of the downloads were immediate then trickled off. But it's a short story and it's not porn. It's about a call girl but there's no hot sex in it. It doesn't deliver if the reader is ...not looking for something that will make them think. (Yay! I think I worded that well.)
You could read indefinitely for free. I feel this week that you're better off pricing your book reasonably at $2.99 or whatever and then if you want to put it on sale for 99 cents, that's a deal. That's fine. Amazon isn't particularly involved, you don't have to be in Select and they're not price matching.
So 209 copies of Sweet Tarts was downloaded for free at Amazon in the past 3 weeks or whatever. (Again thank you Amazon, it made me smarter.) The point of this short story besides that I think it's a window into this character and her life, is that Nothing Serious is excerpted in it. There have been no sales of NS at Kobo and so minimal at Amazon I wouldn't attribute them to the excerpt.
I still think excerpts are good and so do most writers. As a reader, I don't think I ever read one but it makes sense to do it.
I can't say that having Sweet Tarts free for an extended amount of time did anything for any of my other books. Most of the downloads were immediate then trickled off. But it's a short story and it's not porn. It's about a call girl but there's no hot sex in it. It doesn't deliver if the reader is ...not looking for something that will make them think. (Yay! I think I worded that well.)
Saturation
At some point the market becomes saturated with all the derivative works trying to piggyback on the original success. This is simply a fact. Then the market moves on looking for the next shiny new thing.
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