Business End

Articles about the business aspects of publishing and self-publishing.

Car Horns

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Car Horns
CAR HORNS
Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca
http://www.michaeledits.com/

Let’s pretend that you live in China. Let’s also pretend that, unlike me, you own a car. A Volkswagen Santana, of course. Who do you honk the horn at?

Well, you honk at everyone who’s in your way, and who you think is in your way, and who you are passing, and who you think is trying to pass you. Every bicycle needs a honk in case the driver can’t see you. Every pedestrian, most definitely, because they’re not looking at anything except their feet as they float out in front of you, or the text messages they’re sending on their cell phones.

Every car does this, and the roads become a constant cacophony of car horns. The noise is such that everybody tunes it out in order to function, so the horns are pointless. Nobody is listening to the horns. Some of us wear MP3 players cranked up to full volume specifically to block the noise, which is why we’re deaf. But honking is a habit the Chinese driver can’t break. It’s like breathing.

Okay, now here comes a legitimate reason to honk the horn, an emergency, perhaps some fool walking right in front of your car. What do you do? Flick the headlights. Just how stupid is that? If he can’t hear your horn, he sure can’t hear your headlights. Of course he can’t see your headlights, because he’s not looking at you. That’s what caused the crisis in the first place. Plus, it’s daytime. Nobody can see headlights in the daytime when he’s facing the other direction.

I offer this little tale for authors who wonder why I prefer understatement. Superlatives are your car horns. Save them until you actually need them.

About Writing (Introduction)

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Here’s everything I know about improving your writing, publishing it electronically and in print, and promoting it after the sale.

Two questions you should ask:
1. What will it cost me?
2. What does this Michael LaRocca guy know about it?

Answer #1 — It won’t cost you a thing. The single most important bit of advice I can give you, and I say it often, is don’t pay for publication.

My successes have come from investing time. Some of it was well spent, but most of it was wasted. It costs me nothing to share what I’ve learned. It costs you nothing to read it except some of your time.

Answer #2 — “Michael LaRocca has been researching the publishing field for over 10 years.”

This quote from Authors Wordsmith was a kind way of saying I’ve received hundreds of rejections. Also, my “research” required 20 years.

But in my “breakout” year (2000), I finished writing four books and scheduled them all for publication in 2001. I also began editing for one of my publishers, a job I’ve been enjoying ever since.

After my first book was published, both my publishers closed. Two weeks and three publishers later, I was back on track.

See how much faster it was the second time around? That’s because I learned a lot.

Also, I found more editing jobs. That’s what I do when I’m not writing, doing legal transcription, or doing English consulting work in Thailand (my new home). But the thing is, if I’d become an editor before learning how to write, I’d have stunk.

I’ll tell you what’s missing from this monologue. What to write about, where I get my ideas from, stuff like that. Maybe I don’t answer this question because I think you should do it your way, not mine. Or maybe because I don’t know how I do it. Or maybe both. Once you’ve done your writing, this essay should help you with the other stuff involved in being a writer. Writing involves wearing at least four different hats. Writer, editor, publication seeker, post-sale self-promoter.

Here’s what I can tell you about my writing.

Sometimes an idea just comes to me out of nowhere and refuses to leave me alone until I write about it. So, I do.

And, whenever I read a book that really fires me up, I think, “I wish I could write like that.” So, I just keep trying. I’ll never write THE best, but I’ll always write MY best. And get better every time. That’s the “secret” of the writing “business,” same as any other business. Always deliver the goods.

I read voraciously, a habit I recommend to any author who doesn’t already have it. You’ll subconsciously pick up on what does and doesn’t work. Characterization, dialogue, pacing, plot, story, setting, description, etc. But more importantly, someone who doesn’t enjoy reading will never write something that someone else will enjoy reading.

I don’t write “for the market.” I know I can’t, so I just write for me and then try to find readers who like what I like. I’m not trying to whip up the next bestseller and get rich. Not that I’d complain. But I have to write what’s in my heart, then find a market later. It makes marketing a challenge at times, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

When you write, be a dreamer. Go nuts. Know that you’re writing pure gold. That fire is why we write.

An author I greatly admire, Kurt Vonnegut, sweated out each individual sentence. He wrote it, rewrote it, and didn’t leave it alone until it was perfect. Then he wrote the next sentence the same way, etc., and when he reached the end of the book, it was done.

But I doubt most of us write like that. I don’t. I let it fly as fast as my fingers can move across the paper or keyboard, rushing to capture my ideas before they get away. Later, I change and shuffle and slice.

James Michener writes his last sentence first, then has his goal before him as he writes his way to it.

Then there’s me. No outline whatsoever. I create characters and conflict, spending weeks and months on that task, until the first chapter leaves me wondering “How will this end?” Then my characters take over, and I’m as surprised as the reader when I finish my story.

Some authors set aside a certain number of hours every day for writing, or a certain number of words. In short, a writing schedule.

Then there’s me. No writing for three or six months, then a flurry of activity where I forget to eat, sleep, bathe, change the cat’s litter… I’m a walking stereotype. To assuage the guilt, I tell myself that my unconscious is hard at work. As Hemingway would say, long periods of thinking and short periods of writing.

I’ve shown you the extremes in writing styles. I think most authors fall in the middle somewhere. But my point is, find out what works for you. You can read about how other writers do it, and if that works for you, great. But in the end, find your own way. That’s what writers do.

Just don’t do it halfway.

If you’re doing what I do, writing a story that entertains and moves you, you’ll find readers who share your tastes. For some of us that means a niche market and for others it means regular appearances on the bestseller list.

Writing is a calling, but publishing is a business. Remember that AFTER you’ve written your manuscript. Not during.

I’ve told you how I write. For me.

Editing

The next step is self-editing. Fixing the mistakes I made in my rush to write it before my Muse took a holiday. Several rewrites. Running through it repeatedly with a fine-toothed comb and eliminating clichés like “fine-toothed comb.”

Then what?

There are stories that get rejected because the potential publisher hates them, or feels they won’t sell (as if he knows), but more are shot down for other reasons. Stilted dialogue. Boring descriptions. Weak characters. Underdeveloped story. Unbelievable or inconsistent plot. Sloppy writing.

That’s what you have to fix.

I started by using free online creative writing workshops. What I needed most was input from strangers. After all, once you’re published, your readers will be strangers. Every publisher or agent you submit to will be a stranger. What will they think? I always get too close to my writing to answer that. So do you.

Whenever I got some advice, I considered it. Some I just threw out as wrong, or because I couldn’t make the changes without abandoning part of what made the story special to me. Some I embraced. But the point is, I decided. It’s my writing. My name on the spine, not yours, and I want people reading it centuries after I die. Aim high.

After a time, I didn’t feel the need for the workshops anymore. I’m fortunate enough to have a wife whose advice I will always treasure, and after a while that was all I needed. But early on, it would’ve been unfair to ask her to read my drivel. (I did anyway, but she married me in spite of it.)

Your goal when you self-edit is to get your book as close to “ready to read” as you possibly can. Do not be lazy and do not rush. You want your editor to find what you overlooked, not what you didn’t know about, and you want it to be easy for him/her. EASY! Easy to edit, easy to read. It’s a novel, not a blog.

Your story is your story. You write it from your heart, and when it looks like something you’d enjoy reading, you set out to find a publisher who shares your tastes. What you don’t want is for that first reader to lose sight of what makes your story special because you’ve bogged it down with silly mistakes.

Authors don’t pay to be published. They are paid for publication. Always. It’s just that simple. Publishers are paid by readers, not authors. That’s why they help you find those readers.

Your publisher should also give you some free editing. But there’s a limit to how much editing you can get without paying for it. Do you need more than that? I don’t know because I’ve never read your writing. But if you evaluate it honestly, I think you’ll know the answer.

As an editor, I’ve worked with some authors who simply couldn’t self-edit. Non-native English speakers, diagnosed dyslexics, blind authors, guys who slept through English class, whatever. To them, paying for editing was an option. This isn’t paying for publication. This is paying for a service, training. Just like paying to take a Creative Writing class at the local community college.

By the way, I don’t believe creativity can be taught. Writing, certainly. I took a Creative Writing class in high school, free, and treasure what I can remember of the experience. (It’s been a while.) But I already had the creativity, or else it would’ve been a waste of the teacher’s time and mine. (Later I taught Creative Writing in China. We call this irony.)

If you hire an editor worthy of the name, you should learn from that editor how to self-edit in the future. In my case it took two tries, because my first “editor” was a rip-off artist charging over ten times market value for incomplete advice.

That editor, incidentally, is named Edit Ink, and they’re listed on many “scam warning” sites. They take kickbacks from every fake agent who sends them a client. Avoid such places at all costs, and I will stress the word “costs.” Ouch!

If you choose to hire an editor, check price and reputation. For a ballpark figure, I charge a penny a word. Consider that you might never make enough selling your books to get back what you pay that editor. Do you care? That’s your decision.

Your first, most important step on the road to publication is to make your writing the best it can be.

Publication

My goal is to be published in both mediums, ebook and print. There are some readers who prefer ebooks, and some who prefer print books. The latter group is larger, but those publishers are harder to sell your writing to. I want to be published in both mediums, because I want all the readers I can get.

Before you epublish, check the contract to be sure you can publish the EDITED work in print later. I’m aware of only one e-publisher whose contract specified “no,” but my information on this is very much out of date.

Also, you might want to make sure your targeted print publisher will accept something that’s been previously published electronically. That’s a nasty little change that’s taken place over the past few years. Will I have to choose between the “big publishers” and epublication? I shouldn’t be forced to, but it’s possible. Check on this with someone more knowledgeable than I am.

If you know your book just plain won’t ever make it into traditional print, print-on-demand (POD) is an option. Some of my books fall into this category. The best epublishers will simultaneously publish your work electronically and in POD format, at no cost to you.

A lot of authors swear by self-publication, but the prospect just plain scares me. All that promo, all that self-editing, maybe driving around the countryside with a back seat full of books. I’m a writer, not a salesman. Maybe you’re different.

(And did I mention that I live in Thailand? And don’t have a car?)

I self-published once, in the pre-POD days. Mom handled the sales. I had fun and broke even. With POD, at least it’s easier (and probably cheaper) to self-publish than it was in 1989, because you’ll never get stuck with a large unsold inventory.

POD setup fees can range anywhere from US$100 to well over $1000. Don’t pay the higher price! Price shop. Also, remember that POD places publish any author who pays, giving them a real credibility problem with some reviewers and readers, and that they do no editing or marketing.

Closing Thoughts

Here’s something you’ve heard before. When your manuscript is rejected — and it will be — remember that you aren’t being rejected. Your manuscript is.

Did you ever hang up the phone on a telemarketer, delete spam, or close the door in the face of a salesman? Of course, and yet that salesman just moves on to the next potential customer. He knows you’re rejecting his product, not him.

Okay, in my case I’m rejecting both, but I’d never do that to an author. Neither will a publisher or an agent. All authors tell other authors not to take rejection personally, and yet we all do. Consider it a target to shoot for, then. Just keep submitting, and just keep writing.

The best way to cope with waiting times is to “submit and forget,” writing or editing other stuff while the time passes.

And finally, feel free to send an e-mail to me anytime. michaeledits@michaeledits.com. I’ll gladly share what I know with you, and it won’t cost you a cent.

I would wish you luck in your publishing endeavors, but I know there’s no luck involved. It’s all skill and diligence.

Congratulations on completing the course! No ceremonies, no degrees, and no diplomas. But on the bright side, no student loan to repay.

A Report On Handselling My Self-Published Books

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I really must apologize for not keeping this blog as up to date as I would like. I’ve talked about a number of self-publishing processes and experiences, about our bookstore, The Book Barn, in Leavenworth, Kansas, and the status of my writing and preparing my books. I’ve also mentioned niche marketing and several of the eight public domain books I discovered of interest to people in our area. Now I thought you might find it interesting to learn of some of my in-person handselling experiences for both my books and these historical fiction/nonfiction public domain books in our store.

 
First I need to explain this time of year, between the graduating Command and General Staff College class at the fort and the arrival of the next year’s class makes for some serious down time. It can be as traffic ridden as a hot day in the middle of the Sargasso Sea—total doldrums. Given that, sitting at my table in the store and cheerfully greeting the few out-of-town visitors who come in has been an interesting experience. I politely ascertain if they’re new to the area. I then mention my historical book about how our community was founded if they would like to know more about it and offer them a copy to peruse. I also ask what kinds of books they like best and steer them toward those sections. Once they have a chance to scan the shelves, I ask if they like mystery series set in a particular locale. If they do, I mention my mysteries and show them a few. That ofttimes results in a sale of one or more. Then I ask them if they like frontier history. If so, I show them the public domain books. Again, this often results in additional sales.
 
If they have just moved in, I ask if there are any books they haven’t been able to find. If so, I do a quick search of Baker and Taylor’s data base and if I find them, I explain our speedy special order service where we get books in 2-3 days with a 10% discount and no s&h. Again, this often results in an order or several. When they come back to pick up their books, they often will ask for other titles, which means they should become loyal customers.
 
My wife gets so busy with the day-to-day stuff, she doesn’t always have the time to do all this; however, we’re finding it’s sometimes doubling and even tripling our daily averages. Having a real live author talk books with the customers raises the store’s credibility. They like getting their purchases signed and personalized too.
 
I am so glad I decided to go back into self-publishing because it’s having a positive impact on our store business. We are also raising the community’s awareness of us as folks who are interested in the history and day-to-day of our town. This is all to the good. It’s also beginning to bring me a few book packaging clients of people who can see we know how to do all this. It all pulls together the various aspects of book production and retailing so that while other independent bookstores are having a tough time of it, we’re surviving and even doing a little better. It isn’t about doing just one thing. It’s about doing many related things in a cohesive way. To round it out is our reading of many books which we in turn can recommend, again making us a valuable resource.
 
I realize not many authors/publishers own their own bookstore; however, examine how we use all these different elements and consider how your books could fit into such a model. Convince bookstore owners and staff that your book or series is worthy of their personal attention to recommend and handsell to customers. This is why a poor turnout at a booksigning isn’t a disaster. It allows you the interface and time to connect with staff and owners and become their friend. Ofttimes the real success of a signing is in the handselling that takes place later.

 

This is a reprint from Bob Spear‘s Book Trends blog.

The Best Way to rob a Bank in the wisdom Age….Get your own Bank

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 Much has been said on the issue of wealth creation and paradigm of success. In the wisdom age, one needs not to break down his chromosomes trying to get wealthy. There exist already made wealth templates in the psychic pool of wealth in the cosmic cornucopia. The banks of this world only store money and not wealth in its vaults across the globe. To attempt robbing a bank from the outside is as good as diving straight into the Atlantic Ocean without a slightest knowledge of swimming in the pool. It is far better you opt for the knowledge on how to own a bank than think of robbing one around.

The best way to rob a bank in wisdom age is to own one. To create a pyramid scheme with viable products is the easiest way to own unending cornucopia of wealth. That is a multilevel marketing business that mints you money like crazy automated teller machine, and for life times you will be in money. Your business will grow across the globe and people you will never meet face to face will work for you and work for your children till your last generation on earth. It is explosive way to create your own bank and mint your own money.

The Federal Reserve will not make the poor rich rather make the rich in the land richer and create even more vital opportunities for them. But you have more than the Federal Reserve on the inside of you. Just discover who you are, what you are and where you are in the geometry of time and space of life in this wisdom age. Look up and look hard enough to see your wealth shimmering in the womb of the earth and give vent to it. You do not need a bail out to come out of poverty but a vision loaded enough with clear purpose is the magic wand you need to plot your way to the cosmos cornucopia of wealth.

The best way to lead in the wisdom age is to lead the way to bank robbery and live your golden dream here on earth beyond the imagination of the universe. To lead the robbery on banks you need a wealthy mind, healthy body and sharp focus to cut through the rough edges of doubt and numbness that belittle men in their prime. Then, create your own income grid using the legal instrument of the bank leverages, and float your own bank. This way you rob the most secured bank in the world even without a mask on the face. Get richer, do it legally, do something useful with it once you have got it, put something back and keep some of this stuff under your hat which is your claim to greatness.

Ritchie Felix,

Copyright By Ritchie Felix

 

Presidential Stuff

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Presidential Quotations
Assembled by Michael LaRocca
http://www.michaeledits.com

Laws made by common consent must not be trampled on by individuals.
—George Washington

The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion. —John Adams (often misattributed to George Washington)

The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster: cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites.
—Thomas Jefferson

The fetters imposed on liberty at home have ever been forged out of the weapons provided for defense against real, pretended or imaginary dangers abroad. —James Madison

The best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil. —James Monroe

America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. —John Quincy Adams

Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error. —Andrew Jackson

As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it. —Martin Van Buren

A decent and manly examination of the acts of government should not only be tolerated, but encouraged. —William Henry Harrison

I can never consent to being dictated to. —John Tyler

There is more selfishness and less principle among members of Congress than I had any conception of, before I became President of the U.S. The passion for office among members of Congress is very great, if not absolutely disreputable, and greatly embarrasses the operations of the Government.
—James Knox Polk

The idea that I should become President seems to me too visionary to require a serious answer. It has never entered my head, nor is it likely to enter the head of any other person. —Zachary Taylor

Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts of meanness.
—Millard Fillmore

The maintenance of large standing armies in our country would be not only dangerous, but unnecessary. —Franklin Pierce

The ballot box is the surest arbiter of disputes among free men.
—James Buchanan

The bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma.
—Abraham Lincoln

It’s a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word.
—Andrew Johnson

I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution. —Ulysses S. Grant

Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office seeking.
—Rutherford B. Hayes

The President is the last person in the world to know what the people really want and think. —James A. Garfield

I may be president of the United States, but my private life is nobody’s damned business. —Chester Arthur

A man is known by the company he keeps, and also by the company from which he is kept out. —Grover Cleveland

We Americans have no commission from God to police the world.
—Benjamin Harrison

War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.
—William McKinley

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. —Theodore Roosevelt

The world is not going to be saved by legislation. —William Howard Taft

I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.
—Woodrow Wilson

Progression is not proclamation nor palaver. It is not pretense nor play on prejudice. It is not of personal pronouns, nor perennial pronouncement. It is not the perturbation of a people passion-wrought, nor a promise postponed.
—Warren G. Harding

I don’t know much about Americanism, but it’s a damn good word with which to carry an election. —Warren G. Harding

Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business. —Calvin Coolidge

When large numbers of men are unable to find work, unemployment results.
—Calvin Coolidge

Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.
—Herbert Hoover

Remember, remember always, that all of us… are descended from immigrants and revolutionists. —Franklin D. Roosevelt

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward. —Franklin D. Roosevelt

The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.
—Harry S. Truman

It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own. —Harry S. Truman

Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear. —Harry S. Truman

Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed. —Dwight D. Eisenhower

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired is, in a final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. —Dwight D. Eisenhower

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. —John F. Kennedy

Evil acts of the past are never rectified by evil acts of the present.
—Lyndon B. Johnson

Certainly in the next 50 years we shall see a woman president, perhaps sooner than you think. A woman can and should be able to do any political job that a man can do. —Richard M. Nixon

We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another – until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices.
—Richard M. Nixon

I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.
—Gerald R. Ford

Things are more like they are now than they have ever been.
—President Gerald Ford

China should not pay any attention to anything that is said in America during an election year. —Jimmy Carter

Government does not solve problems, it subsidizes them. —Ronald Reagan

I have opinions of my own — strong opinions — but I don’t always agree with them. —George H.W. Bush

The era of big government is over. —Bill Clinton

I’m a uniter, not a divider. —George W. Bush

If you’re not with us, you’re against us. —George W. Bush

I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.
—George W. Bush

I remember meeting the mother of a child who was abducted by North Koreans right here in the Oval Office. —George W. Bush

BARACK OBAMA QUOTATIONS
Assembled by Michael LaRocca
http://www.michaeledits.com

A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, ‘Huh. It works. It makes sense.’

Americans… still believe in an America where anything’s possible — they just don’t think their leaders do.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.

I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war.

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

I think when you spread the wealth around it’s good for everybody.

I’ve got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.

If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists — to protect them and to promote their common welfare — all else is lost.

If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.

Issues are never simple. One thing I’m proud of is that very rarely will you hear me simplify the issues.

My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.

No one is pro-abortion.

There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.

We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times… and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen.

We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible.

We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old — and that’s the criterion by which I’ll be selecting my judges.

We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.

What Washington needs is adult supervision.

 

Right On Schedule, Amazon Changes the Arithmetic of Publishing By Launching 70 Percent Royalty Option for Kindle Digital Text Platform

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Right on schedule, Amazon followed through today on the promise it made in January to offer a direct 70 per cent royalty option to authors and publishers who use the company’s Kindle Digital Text Platform.

As we said here when Amazon made its initial announcement January 20, the effective doubling of direct author royalties is "a move that is likely to bring dramatic changes in the way that authors and publishers view their ebook publishing options."

The 70 percent royalty option will also have an enormously beneficial effect for Kindle owners and other Kindle content customers, in part because it will further accelerate the velocity with which new content comes to the Kindle Store. Equally important, the conditions upon which eligibility for the 70 percent royalty option is based will be a powerful force in organizing Kindle content prices into a mandatory $2.99 to $9.99 price range and setting a maximum price ration of 4:5 between a qualifying Kindle book and "the lowest list price for the physical book."

How big a change is the new royalty option? It’s more than just a matter of upgrading DTP royalties from their previous 35 percent level, although that’s nothing to sneeze at. Instead, Amazon vice president of Kindle Content Russ Grandinetti suggested in the January 20 press release, it has the potential, for authors and indie publishers, to transform the economics of trying to earn a living by writing and publishing:

"Today, authors often receive royalties in the range of 7 to 15 percent of the list price that publishers set for their physical books, or 25 percent of the net that publishers receive from retailers for their digital books. We’re excited that the new 70 percent royalty option for the Kindle Digital Text Platform will help us pay authors higher royalties when readers choose their books." 

The stunning arithmetic involved here is bound to get the attention of well-established authors who have plenty of choices when it comes to publishing their books, because all of those choices, at present, involve far lower per-unit compensation. As always, the point where the rubber hits the road in these equations involves the number of units that becomes the multiplier for per-unit royalty rates, and more than a few mid-list as well as bestselling authors are likely to get out their pencils and try to calculate how important their publishers are in generating book sales.

In an interview last week on Len Edgerly’s The Kindle Chronicles podcast, Grandinetti directly questioned the roles both of publishers and of Amazon and its retail competitors as intermediaries in the changing worlds of publishing and bookselling:

"Any of us in this business, publishers and retailers, aren’t that necessary. Really the only things that you need are an author and someone interested in his or her work, and all of us in the middle have to figure out how to add value between those two parties….

"We’ve long said that part of our work is to become a more efficient retailer, a more efficient intermediary between suppliers, publishers, authors, and cusrtomers and I think we’re reasonably well known for working hard to lower prices for customers. But if we think about authors as our customers, then making it easier and more feasible for an author to sustain a living writing is a great way to make our store better and to grow our business, so taking some of the efficiency that digital book publishing affords us and passing some of that efficiency back on to authors is a really great way to let digital publishing and digital bookselling drive a better customer experience.

"There are myriad examples out there of authors how self publishing allows them to earn a better income at their craft. We’re happy to take advantage of it but I don’t think we’ll be the only ones. That’s just going to happen as the book business shifts more and more to digital," said Grandinetti.

Under this new royalty structure, no DTP author with an understanding of the rules and of simple price-demand elasticity would ever price a book between $10 and $25, and few authors with any confidence in their product would ever price a book below $2.99. (This royalty structure does not yet apply to larger corporate publishers under the agency model, but they may create pricing trends that could affect all publishers, and Amazon has shown an interest in publisher parity and may try to move gradually in the future to bring larger publisher contracts into conformity with this structure.)

Here’s how royalties would play out at various price points, assuming a net delivery cost of 6 cents per unit:

Retail     Royalty      Net      Royalty
Price        Pct.       Delivery
                                 Cost
$0.99    35.00%    $0.00    $0.35
$1.99    35.00%    $0.00    $0.70
$2.99    70.00%    $0.06    $2.03
$3.99    70.00%    $0.06    $2.73
$4.99    70.00%    $0.06    $3.43
$5.99    70.00%    $0.06    $4.13
$6.99    70.00%    $0.06    $4.83
$7.99    70.00%    $0.06    $5.53
$8.99    70.00%    $0.06    $6.23
$9.99    70.00%    $0.06    $6.93
$10.99    35.00%    $0.00   $3.85
$11.99    35.00%    $0.00   $4.20
$12.99    35.00%    $0.00   $4.55
$13.99    35.00%    $0.00   $4.90
$14.99    35.00%    $0.00   $5.25
$19.99    35.00%    $0.00   $7.00
$24.99    35.00%    $0.00   $8.75
$29.99    35.00%    $0.00   $10.50

Here’s the guts of the Amazon press release this morning:

—————————————————————————————–

70 Percent Royalty Option for Kindle Digital Text Platform Now Available
Starting today, authors and publishers can earn more royalties from every Kindle book sold

SEATTLE, Jun 30, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that the 70 percent royalty option that enables authors and publishers who use the Kindle Digital Text Platform (DTP) to earn a larger share of revenue from each Kindle book they sell is now available. For each book sold from the Kindle Store for Kindle, Kindle DX, or one of the Kindle apps for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, PC, Mac and Android phones, authors and publishers who choose the new 70 percent royalty option will receive 70 percent of the list price, net of delivery costs.

Delivery costs are based on file size, and pricing is set at $0.15/MB. At today’s median DTP file size of 368KB, delivery costs would be less than $0.06 per unit sold. For example, on an $8.99 book an author would make $3.15 with the standard option and $6.25 with the new 70 percent option. This new option, first announced in January 2010, will be in addition to and will not replace the existing DTP standard royalty option.

In addition to the 70 percent royalty option, Amazon also announced improvements in DTP such as a more intuitive "Bookshelf" feature and a simplified two-step process for publishing. These features make it more convenient for authors and publishers to publish using DTP.

"We’re excited about the launch of the 70 percent royalty option and user experience enhancements in DTP because they enable authors and publishers to conveniently offer more content to Kindle customers and to make more money from the books they sell," said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content.

DTP authors and publishers are now able to select the royalty option that best meets their needs. Books from authors and publishers who choose the 70 percent royalty option will have access to all the same features and be subject to all the same requirements as books receiving the standard royalty rate. In addition, to qualify for the 70 percent royalty option, books must satisfy the following set of requirements:

 

  • The author or publisher-supplied list price must be between $2.99 and $9.99.
     
  • The list price must be at least 20 percent below the lowest list price for the physical book.
     
  • The title is made available for sale in all geographies for which the author or publisher has rights.
     
  • The title will be included in a broad set of features in the Kindle Store, such as text-to-speech. This list of features will grow over time as Amazon continues to add more functionality to Kindle and the Kindle Store.
     
  • Under this royalty option, books must be offered at or below price parity with competition, including physical book prices.
     
  • The 70 percent royalty option is for in-copyright works and is unavailable for works published before 1923 (a.k.a. public domain books). The 70 percent royalty option is currently only available for books sold to United States customers.

DTP is a fast and easy self-publishing tool that lets anyone upload and format their books for sale in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). To learn more about the Kindle Digital Text Platform, visit http://dtp.amazon.com or e-mail dtp-support@amazon.com.

 

This is a cross-posting from Stephen Windwalker’s Kindle Nation Daily.

Getting Back On Track As A Writer

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It’s been a bit challenging lately to keep things in some semblance of order. The balance of different tasks has been difficult to maintain. In other words, I’ve felt overwhelmed and confused. All writers feel this way at one time or another. Even someone who prides themselves on being organized and on top of things can slip into this position, given the right set of circumstances. For me, the trouble started when I was trying to make things better.

By making things better, I mean that I was trying to improve my writing productivity, while also making serious changes to how I organize my days. It’s been an all-out change revolution.

Unfortunately, I think I tried to do too much at a time. When you’re dealing with the process of putting words on the page, struggling to make coherent thoughts and ideas take appropriate shape, it is important to have some stable point of reference. Now this anchor may be anything. It could be how much time you spend on the work, the time of day you’ve established as "writing time," or it could be the type of writing you do at different points. Now, if you’re working one a single, massive project like me, there isn’t much time to get tossed about by different subject matter. Instead, you may find that the weight of that single work itself is enough to collapse on top of you when you let procrastination drop on top of you.

In The Mix

Right now, I have a book that is taking up the majority of my time writing. This alone is enough to occupy every stray creative thought I have. But, that’s not all I’ve been doing. I’ve been looking at submissions for my small publishing company, I’ve been contemplating another book, I’ve been attempting to organize my thoughts regarding different aspects of business development. Meanwhile, I’ve also been dealing with more domestic duties like training a child to use the toilet. Fantastic stuff, let me tell you. (I’m glad he’s finally making strides in that department, let me tell you!)

I know what some of you must be thinking. Why are you letting all this stuff pile up at once? There’s no need to get drawn into so much at once. Honestly, you should cut out this stuff or do something more to manage you time and delegate things when you can. You know what, I couldn’t agree more. I should have a plan in motion.

Yet, the act of planning has been a source of confusion and agitation – needless agitation I’m sure.  So what is my plan for getting back on track? How do I do it?

Back On The Track

Yes, it is a very good question. Simply put, I have to put things on pause long enough to truly evaluate what is most important and then do a wee bit more prioritizing.  That simple act would go a long way to curbing the force of this relentless confusion and weariness. Setting proper priorities is a tough step when you’ve let things coalesce into a whirlpool of chaotic thoughts and ideas. It takes time to remove the debris and see what’s waiting beneath.

This process will take me a while. Part of the process for me will also involve being more present on this blog. I’ve become lax in my posting and I would like to stop that. I want my readers to have a reason to receive my blogs in their in-boxes. I also hope that my renewed presence here will give me the opportunity to bring in new readers. I have much to say about the business of writing and publishing. I want to take the opportunity to voice some of my ideas and talk to you, the readers, about some of my plans.

That, at least, is one idea I will make good on. The other priority for me is getting that book done to the best of my ability. There is a lot at stake. It will also be a wonderful milestone for me. Wish me luck, folks!

 

This is a cross-posting from Shaun C. Kilgore‘s site.

Top 10 Audio Transcripts on Writing, Publishing Options, Book Marketing And More

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Recently, The Creative Penn podcast hit 50 episodes – that’s over 25 hours of free listening for you on Writing, Publishing Options, and Book Marketing from so many experts in their fields. (You can subscribe here on iTunes or check out the backlist here)

If you are confused about podcasting, they are just audio files you can play on an mp3 player like an iPod or play direct on your computer. So you can download them directly, or subscribe for free.
 
I love doing the podcast because I learn so much and it also helps so many listeners. Here’s a recent tweet from @IronMan1176
“Every writer needs to be following @thecreativepenn. The most instructional and inpsirational podcasts EVER.”
I also love consuming podcasts because it’s a great way to learn while doing other things (chores, cooking, exercise). But I know some people prefer reading so I have now got selected podcasts transcribed so you can read all about key topics.
 
Click on the links below to get the audio mp3 or the transcript (or both!). All audios are mp3 so you can listen easily on iPods and the transcripts are all PDF that are on Scribd so you can also share them on Facebook or Twitter. Remember, there are loads more free audios in these categories, so check the backlist for your educational pleasure!
 
On Writing
 
On Publishing Options
Book Design with Joel Friedlander, from TheBookDesigner.com => Transcript
 
On Book Promotion and Marketing

 

This is a reprint from Joanna Penn‘s The Creative Penn.

The Right (And Wrong) Way To Use Facebook Tags

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Facebook tags are a powerful tool that let you cross-promote with others on Facebook by placing a clickable "tag" within your status update.

To create a tag in a status update, type the @ symbol and begin to type the name of the person, group or page that you want to tag. For example, if you want to tag me, start typing @Dana. As you start to type my name, Facebook will display a list of your connections whose names contain the letters "dana", and then you choose the right person from the list shown.

In the example below, I am typing a note in my Facebook status update, posting a link to an article written by my friend Tony Eldridge. Notice that as I begin to type "@to" a list of friends whose names contain the letters "to" pops up.

FacebookTonyList 
As I continue typing the word "@tony", his name will appear on the list and I’ll click on it to select it. This will create a blue, clickable hyperlink to Tony’s Facebook profile. Here’s what my finished post looks like on my Facebook wall.

Tony3
Now, here’s the really cool part. This same entry will also appear on Tony’s profile wall. With this tag, I have given Tony exposure to my own friends by linking to his profile in my status update, and I have also gotten exposure to his friends through the entry on his wall.

Below is an excellent example of cross-promotion and tagging by Lynn Serafinn:

SpiritAuthorsTag
Rather than just reposting a resource link that I had posted online, Lynn added her own comments and inserted three different tags: her Spririt Authors fan page, my profile, and my Savvy Book Marketing group. Each of the tags is highlighted in blue and is a clickable hyperlink. This message appeared on the wall of all three of the tagged pages.

Now, let’s talk about some of the wrong ways to use tags. One breach of etiquette is using tags to place blatantly promotional messages on other people’s profiles or pages.

Tags in photos can also be a problem. Sometimes Facebook users tag a bunch of people as appearing in a photo that’s posted on Facebook, even though those people aren’t actually in the photo. Also, there are apparently some applications that will create a collage photo from a bunch of your Facebook friends and tag those people. The really annoying thing is that each time one of the people tagged in the photo "comments" on the photo, you will get notified via Facebook’s direct message system.

Used strategically, tags can be a great way to cross-promote with others on Facebook. Just be sure to use them in ways that are constructive.
 

 

This is a reprint from Dana Lynn Smith‘s The Savvy Book Marketer.

Blogging the Tortoise Way

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I don’t think there is anyone who would disagree that blogging on a regular basis is a must to gain a solid reader base. If you want to be noticed you have to get the attention of not just people, but the internet spiders, especially those of Google. The question, however, is how often should you blog?

 
The vast majority, I think, would say that you absolutely must blog everyday. Their reasoning? Usually it’s an assumption that everyone prefers having their email inbox glutted with “great” new posts on a daily basis. Or it’s all about increasing your Google rank. Or both.
 
While blogging daily will increase your Google rank, unless it is of very high quality, a daily blog (even just on weekdays) can be seen as a nuisance to your readers — and a major stress factor for you, especially if you’re a highly sensitive person. I strongly disagree with the thought that it’s a wonderful idea to blog on a daily basis, from both a writer’s and a reader’s standpoint.
 
From a reader’s view, I have enough emails to wade through that the daily blogs, unless they’re amazing, simply get deleted with nothing more than a quick scan. Those that come on a weekly or monthly basis I’m more likely to take the time to read because I believe that person really took the time to produce something of high quality. (It’s a judgement call, I know, but I just haven’t seen enough fantastic daily posts to believe otherwise.)
 
As a writer, a daily blog puts strain on an already tight schedule. For me, blogging isn’t just sitting down to write whatever pops into my head. There is a lot of research to be done for a quality blog. Not to mention a large amount of time actually crafting and editing it. After all, a “quality” blog gives useful information and makes sure the reader has ready access to helpful sites. If all I wanted to do was give a quick tip, I’d use Twitter.
 
One such advocate of daily blogging is Gary Smailes of BubbleCow. Gary says in his post Why (And How) Writers Should Blog Every Day, “If you are looking to build a platform then it all comes down to priorities. If you are going to build an online presence then you need to develop a voice and audience. The more you push, the louder your voice becomes.”
 
If you’re an HSP like me, then pushing and speaking louder is almost the antithesis of who you are. I’m sorry, Mr. Smailes, but there are other ways of making yourself heard.
 
Basic networking can be done via social media or face-to-face and you don’t have to shout to do it. Building a network, and a following, does not have to happen overnight. Trying to stretch yourself beyond what you can naturally do and without the needed downtime, something non-HSPs do on a regular basis, will only make a highly sensitive person overwhelmed. I know from personal experience that trying to market myself the way “everyone else does it” or, worse, the way “everyone else says I should do it” only gave me wicked heartburn and a lot of cranky days from lack of sleep. It didn’t improve my following at all.
 
What has worked is crafting quality weekly blogs and networking the old-fashioned way. As a highly sensitive person, I find I absolutely must be creative — and slow — in building my platform. I may not win a lot of readers today, but over time I’m positive I can entice many on The Road to Writing.
 
BTW: This post took 1 hour 15 minutes to write and edit. That time does not include research on the topic of blogging.

 

This is a reprint from Virginia Ripple‘s The Road to Writing.

How To Write Book Titles for People & Robots

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In advertising, it’s said, 80% of the effectiveness of your ad depends on your headline. Brian Clark of Copyblogger says

Your headline is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader. Without a compelling promise that turns a browser into a reader, the rest of your words may as well not even exist. From a copy writing . . . standpoint, writing great headlines is a critical skill.

Book titles, meant to entice a reader into a purchase, need to be even more effective than headlines. But book titles often seem like an afterthought, or maybe a title the author has been carrying around in their head for many years. Titles can be chosen for any number of reasonable or completely frivolous reasons.
 
But the success of your book might well depend on your book title. Dan Poynter, the author of The Self-Publishing Manual, says
Selecting the title and subtitle will be the single-most important piece of copy writing you will do for your book. A great title will not sell a bad book but a poor title will hide a good book from potential customers. Both your title and subtitle must be a selling tool. They are the hook that help sales.
For instance, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was originally called Trimalchio in West Egg. Don’t you wonder what the book’s fate would have been if Fitzgerald had used his original name?
 
 
The Best of the Worst Book Titles
The Bookseller runs an annual award, the Diagram Prize, for the oddest book titles of the year. Here’s a list of the finalists for the 2009 award:
  • David Crompton’s Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter (Glenstrae Press)
  • James A Yannes’ Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich (Trafford)
  • Daina Taimina’s Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes (A K Peters)
  • Ronald C Arkin’s Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots (CRC Press)
  • Ellen Scherl and Maria Dubinsky’s The Changing World of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (SLACK Inc)
  • Tara Jansen-Meyer’s What Kind of Bean is This Chihuahua? (Mirror)
self-publishing, book design templates

The Winner

I’m sure you’ll be interested to know that Daina Taimina’s Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes took home the prize. If you think the book wasn’t worthy, consider the Product Description on Amazon: “Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes is a work of gargantuan proportions whose influence will be measured for decades to come.” So there.

Book Titles Are Serious Business
Rachelle Gardner wrote a useful post with some ideas on how to brainstorm your book titles, and she has several suggestions for practical exercises you can do. Here’s one example:
Nothing is off limits—write down anything you can think of that conveys anything about your book. Use visual words that suggest a scene. Other words that evoke an emotion. A sensation. A location. A question. You should have at least 100 words.
But here’s my idea. Once you get finished finding exactly the right title, stop and think about the world in which your book will be sold. Particularly for nonfiction books, one of the chief ways people will find your book is through search, specifically through online searches.
 
Since we know that careful study and use of keywords can be influential in how people find our books (as well as our blog posts, articles and other online writing) we can use this information to help guide us to better book titles.
 
Titles for Humans and for (Search) Robots
Here are some examples of titles that work well for both of your constituencies: the person browsing in a bookstore or at an online retailer, and the robots sent out by search engines to catalog the web. Take a look at these titles and see if you can spot the pattern, the way they were carefully crafted on both ends.
 
The Devil’s Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers

In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War

Black Wave: A Family’s Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them

Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America

Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression

The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance

The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-Shek and the Birth of Modern China

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream

The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
 

In each case, a punchy, evocative title grabs attention and attempts to create curiosity, suspense or interest in the reader. Then comes the subtitle. These are typically longer than the title and have two equally important roles to play:
  1. The subtitle has to adequately convey, at a glance, what the actual subject matter and scope of the book is.
     
  2. The subtitle also has to contain the one or two critical keywords that best represent your book.
While the title addresses the human browser, the subtitle has to flag the search engine robots with keywords that will turn up in any relevant search on your topic. Look through the list above again. In each case, the punchy title is followed by keyword-rich descriptions. Each subtitle is far more specific than its corresponding title. In fact, without the subtitles, many of these titles would tell you almost nothing about the book they were attached to.
 
As almost all book discovery moves to digital databases and online searches, more and more of your success will rely on your ability to alert searchers—both robotic and human—to the worthiness of your book when they search on relevant keywords for your subject area.
 
These are the same keywords to use in filling out bibliographic information for Books in Print on Bowkerlink, to incorporate in your catalog copy and any descriptions of the book you write, or any press materials, media releases or sales copy.
 
This combination of title and subtitle gives you the greatest chance of your book being found by exactly the right people. Put some really good thinking behind your choices—it will serve you well.
 
Takeaway: For nonfiction books, combine an attention-getting short title with a long, specific and keyword-rich subtitle to achieve the best discoverability for your book.

 

This is a reprint from Joel Friedlander‘s The Book Designer.

6 Common Publishing and Marketing Mistakes

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In [this] guest post [which originally appeared on The Savvy Book Marketer], Mark Coker, founder of ebook publisher Smashwords, shares some of the most common mistakes that he sees authors make in publishing and marketing.

The most common ebook publishing mistakes that I see are:

1.  Sloppy editing:  Although Smashwords makes it fast, easy and free to publish an ebook, we don’t make it easy to write a great book.  Many indie authors rush their books to market before the book has been properly edited or proofread.  I can’t underscore the importance of good editing.  Every book benefits from the unforgiving eye of an independent editor and proofreader. 

2.  Sloppy book covers:  Some authors, after investing a lifetime in writing their book, invest under five minutes to create a quality book cover. If a picture tells a thousand words, an ugly book cover image tells the book buyer, “don’t click here.” Good ebook cover design services can be had for under $40, so why sell yourself short? 

3.  Failure to understand that ebooks are formatted differently:  Some authors, especially those with years of professional publishing experience, have a difficultly making the transition from print design to ebook design. With ebooks, simpler formatting and layout actually improves the value of your book to the reader. If authors obsess over making their ebook look like an exact facsimile of their print book, they invariably cause themselves great frustration, and ultimately release their book in fewer formats or worse, they damage the reading experience.

Common book marketing mistakes include:

1.  Late to market:  If an author waits until their book is published to start their marketing, they’re too late. Authors should build their marketing platforms early, before they’ve even put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard. Marketing should be a career-long endeavor.

2.  Failure to make marketing a daily priority:  Every author needs to realize they are competing against millions of other authors for the limited eyeshare of readers. Authors should spend a minimum of one hour a day to make themselves and their work more visible to readers.  Online social networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and message board forums not only make this easy, but rewarding as well. At the end of every day, authors should ask themselves, “what did I do today to build my platform, and what will I do tomorrow?”

3.  Spamming social network followers:  Bookselling has always been about word of mouth, and nothing catalyzes an author’s marketing campaigns like a good social networking presence. If you can cultivate hundreds or thousands of followers on Facebook or LinkedIn or Twitter, and you can motivate them to care passionately about your success, then you have a powerful marketing tool at your disposal. But don’t spam your followers with a constant barrage of “buy my book” messages because they will tune you out.  Instead, enter into a two-way relationship with them.  Contribute value to your online communities. Participate. Pay it forward. The value of your network is not how many books they will buy, but how, as your advocates, they will spark the word of mouth necessary for true book success.

I encourage all authors to download Mark’s free Smashwords Book Marketing Guide for some terrific book promotion tips. For information about publishing ebooks through Smashwords, see  How to Publish at Smashwords. You can follow @MarkCoker on Twitter. And don’t miss my interview with Mark: How to Make Your Books Available in Multiple Ebook Formats.
 

 

This is a cross-posting from Dana Lynn Smith‘s The Savvy Book Marketer.

Another USPS Update

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Here we go again. When I’ve complained to others about losing two packages, I’ve heard stories about people not pursuing the insurance claims that went unanswered when the Postal Service lost their package. That’s why I started out to see how far I could get with my claim after a year of waiting to hear. Others might want to try to get their insurance claim settled, too, if I have any luck. If we pay the insurance fee and the fault of loss is the fault of the Postal Service, we have the right to be reimbursed.

The denials I’ve received have been easy to dispute because I kept my paperwork for over a year. If I hadn’t I wouldn’t have been able to pursue my claim, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get satisfaction. The Postal Service has the intention to wear me down until I quit and must have a long list of denials that they can throw at me yet.

I received two letters at once from the Postal Service Claims Department in St Louis. The first one was the $55 check, settlement from my insurance claim, that I refused and sent back. I was told to go ahead and cash the check. If I was to win my appeal the rest of my claim would be sent to me. I’ve got a year to cash that check so I’m not cashing it for awhile. I’m afraid doing so would make it look like I’ve accepted the Postal Service decision. This is one of the things I stated in my reply to Washington DC.

The second letter was a denial to send me any more money. Reason this time was their payment reflects the limit of insurance I purchased. I’ve lost count of how many copies of my insurance claim I’ve sent to the Claims department, but on the form it states that I paid $2.80 for the insurance on $135. I was told I was allowed to get back my postage and tracking fee so that is the $141. Now another employee has told me the Postal Service never refunds postage. I’d just be happy to see the $135 at this point, but a Postal employee did fill out the insurance form to show that I could claim postage and tracking fee.

How could I have not paid enough to cover the value of my package? When is the last time any of you have taken a package to the post office, asked to insure it and decided to pay a lower amount that wouldn’t cover insurance on the package especially when the insurance fee is so cheap. That didn’t happen. When I filed the insurance claim, a postal employee filled out the claim form for me and signed it. So the proof that I paid the right amount is down in black and white and still this latest denial says I didn’t pay enough insurance fee. Post Offices have a rate sheet for insurance. In one office, it was a small sheet that was out of sight. In another I just visited, the insurance rate was on the wall above the counter. Tell me the St. Louis Claims department has a different rate sheet with higher fees, and see if I believe it.

I was given an address to write for my FINAL appeal and that was stressed so that I am to know that I am about to end my fight. I think it would be wise from now on if I need to appeal any other claim to write directly to this address and get it over with. Here it is if anyone needs it.

Vice President & Consumer Advocate

US Postal Service-Domestic Claims Appeals

475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 10343

Washington, DC 20260-0343

The letter I received said I was to appeal focusing only the basis of the last claim denial about the insurance fee not being enough. I take it to mean I’m not to digress about any other correspondence with the St. Louis Claim Center. I went to the post office and asked to see the insurance rate. Turns out $100 – $200 is a fee of $2.75. I paid a nickel too much according to the chart. Also, the employee said that a machine determines the fee. I was charged what ever the machine said. That I didn’t go in to. It was enough for me to see the rate sheet.

In my DC letter, I explained what the employee said and mentioned that I saw the fee chart so I know the fee to be accurate. Plus the fact that not paying enough to cover the value of the package didn’t make sense. Going on the premise that there might be a reason why I wasn’t suppose to bring up ALL my correspondence with St. Louis when I wrote Washington DC, I went into the history of how the first package was lost, then I insured the next one, thinking I’d be compensated if it was lost. I suggested if whoever reads my letter needs anymore information than what I’ve provided, the Claims Center in St. Louis has a file full of documentation from me that can be fax to Washington DC. I stated that if there had been a mistake in the rate charged me it would have been a postal employee’s error not mine since I wouldn’t have any idea what I was suppose to pay, but I’d have paid any amount I was asked and did.

The fact that Autria Finley from the Postal Claims Center kept apologizing to me at the end of her letter didn’t matter. I had lost a valuable customer because of the 10 week delay in shipping a shipment of books. Since I should be considered a valuable customer, I again sent a customer site map and business card to prove I was a business and used the Postal Service all the time.

While I was at it I said I know the Claims Center is busy, but their PR is lacking. I waited patiently a year to hear from them about my claim. I wouldn’t have heard if I had not wrote to ask the status. When I received the check there wasn’t any explanation of why the amount was only a third of what I had coming. I had to write again. I suggested better communication with their customers would be a good thing. I’ve certainly been communicating with them.

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Comparing Ebook and Print Book Covers

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Clifford Freyman and Angela Farley were the two illustrators I was fortunate to have designing my mystery series covers. Cliff, known as @Selorian on Twitter, is a web designer and author who did my ebooks/audio covers. Angela, a freelance designer in Kansas City, has always done my print book covers. I thought you might find their work comparisons interesting.

Both are superbly creative but approach their media differently. Cliff”s, on the right,  have to standout on the screen and Angie’s, on the left,  have to catch a customer’s eyes on a book shelf.

 

      

 

      

 

      

 

 

This is a cross-posting from Bob Spear‘s Book Trends blog.

Attention

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What kind of attention do you want, as a writer?
 
Your first instinct, if you’re someone I hang around with, is to say you’d like any and all attention, just to get your writing some visibility. You are so confident in your work (hopefully) that you are anxious, eager, and bursting at the seams to get more eyeballs on your work.
 
[Editor’s note: strong language after the jump]

 
 
You are willing to throw it all in for that attention. You’ve blogged exhaustively. You’ve been nice to people you don’t know and don’t so much care about all over the internet. Your Twitter life is overtaking your own, all for the sake of gaining fans, followers, readers.
 
You are reading every piece of shit and every mark of brilliance you can get your hands on so that you can raise your own bar for your work product. The book review process is painful for you, with little feedback or responses. You feel like you’ve built the only platform you can, but…
 
You admittedly whore yourself all over the blogosphere, commenting everywhere and trying tactfully to get your plug in wherever you can.
You hang on opportunities to get a  reading, or a mention on some notorious blog.
 
You study those stats, analyze the analytics, and query to death your traffic. You’re doing everything you can, in between your day  job, your kids, your mortgage, your in-laws, and the goddamned lawn that needs to be mowed. Fuck.
 
So here comes an opportunity, you think, to really blow yourself out of the water. To really shine. You need something because everyone around you is raising that bar, doing video book trailers and podcasts, and selling just a few more through the Amazon threads (or so they say), than you are.
 
And you are better. You know what will bring attention to you. You didn’t want to talk about politics, or religion, or baby-killers, whatever the hell it will take to bring attention to yourself, just to get more eyes on your work. But then all of a sudden, you think, maybe being shameless isn’t as shameless as it may seem. Everyone else is doing their thing, why are you keeping to the book and maintaining all of the integrity that you feel may be the one thing holding you back?
 
So you go ahead and make that post or you label yourself in such a way that, well, labels you. You lay it all out.
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Have you LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND?
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Not necessarily, but you’ve lost yourself. You lost your objective. What is your objective? You are an independent writer. You need to be proud of your work and the few readers who do appreciate your writing and art. Not that you shouldn’t aim higher because you always should. But just leave it at that, will you?
 
Indie writers are surrounded by exponentially-expanding ranks of competition for a diminishing group of readers. There are enormous opportunities, but you have to love what you’re doing because you love writing and talking about writing and reading about writing and arguing about writing to feel any glory. Or else you really have lost your integrity.

And so then what the fuck are you doing if you have no integrity? 

 

This is a cross-posting from Lenox Parker’s Eat My Book.