It seems like Amazon is on a mission! They have made The Sixth Discipline free in the UK Kindle store. That means it's now free in the US, UK, and Canadian Kindle stores, as well as most other retailers.
Fly free, little ebook! Fly free!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Sixth Discipline just got X-Rayed!
The X-Ray feature on Kindle is really handy for epic books with a large cast of characters or those stories that span years, where a character can disappear for pages and pages and then pop back in again. X-Ray give you a idea how important the character is, and who they are, but it only works if the publisher has gone the extra step and provided Amazon with a file to use to generate the X-Ray.
In addition to the newly-purchased Goodreads, Amazon also owns social reader site Shelfari, and one of the things this means is that on Shelfari, the author or any reader can create lists of characters and places in the book. Those lists are then available to view on the bottom of the product page on Amazon.
It looks like Amazon might be planning to spin this function off into creating X-Ray files for KDP books, because my book just got a whole bunch of characters added by someone known as "X-Ray," who has also added characters to a boatload of books!
It would be cool if it's true!
Update: I just downloaded this book again and it now has the X-Ray feature! Yay!
In addition to the newly-purchased Goodreads, Amazon also owns social reader site Shelfari, and one of the things this means is that on Shelfari, the author or any reader can create lists of characters and places in the book. Those lists are then available to view on the bottom of the product page on Amazon.
It looks like Amazon might be planning to spin this function off into creating X-Ray files for KDP books, because my book just got a whole bunch of characters added by someone known as "X-Ray," who has also added characters to a boatload of books!
It would be cool if it's true!
Update: I just downloaded this book again and it now has the X-Ray feature! Yay!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
The Sixth Discipline is free in Canada!
Good news, eh? The Sixth Discipline has been free in in the US Kindle store since August (due to price matching) but now Amazon has made it free in Canada!
Yay for price matching! I wish I knew what caused this? I've only given away a few copies but it' already moving up in the rankings!
Yay for price matching! I wish I knew what caused this? I've only given away a few copies but it' already moving up in the rankings!
Friday, May 10, 2013
Last day to borrow King of Trees
Today (May 10) is the last day that King of Trees will be in the KDP Select Program, which means it's also the last day it will be in the Kindle Owners Lending Library (KOLL). In additon to books published via KDP Select, there are a lot of tradionally published books in the KOLL, too. Amazon negotiated with some publishers and pays a fee every time somone borrows a book. The Harry Potter books are the most famous example.
If you own a Kindle or a Kindle Fire and you have Amazon Prime, you can borrow one book a month for free from the KOLL. The trick is, you have to borrow the book from your Kindle or Kindle Fire. You can't do it fom the web.
But, since King of Trees is no longer going to be in KDP Select, that means I can load it to other vendor platforms, which I plan to do ASAP. I'll be sure to post when it hits the major ebookstores.
If you own a Kindle or a Kindle Fire and you have Amazon Prime, you can borrow one book a month for free from the KOLL. The trick is, you have to borrow the book from your Kindle or Kindle Fire. You can't do it fom the web.
But, since King of Trees is no longer going to be in KDP Select, that means I can load it to other vendor platforms, which I plan to do ASAP. I'll be sure to post when it hits the major ebookstores.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Writing to make a connection
When people ask me why I write, I say it's because I was born a storyteller. I have a tin ear and two left feet, so music and dance were out as a way to tell stories. I can draw a little, but not enough to do what I would want to do. Telling stories in person is fun, but finding an audience is hard to do. That leaves writing. Putting a story down on (real or virtual) paper gives me the best opportunity to reach people. I want to make a connection; I want to tell a story and make people care about how it ends; I want to create characters and make them come alive in other people's heads.
Self-publishing is a fantastic breakthrough because in the past, unless an editor thought your story was marketable, it went nowhere. Notice I didn't say “good,” I said “marketable.” Editors are in the business of buying books from authors that they think readers will buy from them. RandomHouse didn't buy Fifty Shades of Gray from E.L. James because they thought it was great literature; they bought it because they knew people would buy it. Thousands of people were already buying it from online sellers because the author had self-published it. An editor might think a book is beautifully written, but if he doesn't think anyone will buy it, he won't buy it either.
Self-publishing has been around a long time, but in the print world, it costs a lot of money to do. In addition, a self-published print book had no good path to get into bookstores. There were a few authors who started that way, but not many. eBooks were a game changer not only because they were cheaper to produce, but because because their distribution is online, and not controlled by companies that deal only with publishers.
One nice benefit of technology is that online sites like Goodreads and online retailers like Amazon allow readers to post their thoughts on the books they have read. Admittedly, not all reviews are positive, but still, enough are that I can get a good buzz of connectivity, and know that I suceeeded. I'll take that deal!
Self-publishing is a fantastic breakthrough because in the past, unless an editor thought your story was marketable, it went nowhere. Notice I didn't say “good,” I said “marketable.” Editors are in the business of buying books from authors that they think readers will buy from them. RandomHouse didn't buy Fifty Shades of Gray from E.L. James because they thought it was great literature; they bought it because they knew people would buy it. Thousands of people were already buying it from online sellers because the author had self-published it. An editor might think a book is beautifully written, but if he doesn't think anyone will buy it, he won't buy it either.
Self-publishing has been around a long time, but in the print world, it costs a lot of money to do. In addition, a self-published print book had no good path to get into bookstores. There were a few authors who started that way, but not many. eBooks were a game changer not only because they were cheaper to produce, but because because their distribution is online, and not controlled by companies that deal only with publishers.
One nice benefit of technology is that online sites like Goodreads and online retailers like Amazon allow readers to post their thoughts on the books they have read. Admittedly, not all reviews are positive, but still, enough are that I can get a good buzz of connectivity, and know that I suceeeded. I'll take that deal!
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Still riding the wave . . .
In my last post I mentioned that The Sixth Discipline had been featured in a BookBub promotion. Well, the heady rush of giving away a thousand books in a little over an hour has calmed down, but the book is still doing well. At its peak, it got up to #15 in free Kindle books, and #1 in free science fiction books. It has dropped to #37 in free Kindle books, but it's holding on to #3 in free science fiction.
Which goes to show you the size of the digital market! And also the value of promotion. Thanks to giving away the first book free, No Safe Haven, the sequel, is now selling better than it ever has!
Another benefit to BookBub is that it covers all the major ebook platforms, not just the Kindle store. BookBub patrons can select which ebookstores they want to receive notices for. Thus, whether an author has a book free in multiple bookstores, or only in one, he can still reach the right customers with BookBub.
I'm sure happy I signed on. I just wish Smashwords could get retailer data online faster, so I could see the impact of the promotion in other bookstores besides Kindle.
Which goes to show you the size of the digital market! And also the value of promotion. Thanks to giving away the first book free, No Safe Haven, the sequel, is now selling better than it ever has!
Another benefit to BookBub is that it covers all the major ebook platforms, not just the Kindle store. BookBub patrons can select which ebookstores they want to receive notices for. Thus, whether an author has a book free in multiple bookstores, or only in one, he can still reach the right customers with BookBub.
I'm sure happy I signed on. I just wish Smashwords could get retailer data online faster, so I could see the impact of the promotion in other bookstores besides Kindle.
Friday, May 3, 2013
BookBub: a great resource for readers of digital books!
BookBub is a new service that lists both free and reduced price ebooks, available on Kindle and other platforms. They charge authors a (very reasonable) fee for the promotion, but readers can get the info for free. BookBub posts to the web, and also to FaceBook, and they even offer free daily email, which you can filter so you only see books in the genres that interest you.
It's a great service! Did I mention that The Sixth Discipline is listed there today? here's the blurb they wrote for it:
As of 7:30 pm, it was up to #19 in free Kindle books, and #1 in free science fiction!
It's a great service! Did I mention that The Sixth Discipline is listed there today? here's the blurb they wrote for it:
“Ran-Del, a skilled forest warrior, finds his life turned upside down when a mysterious kidnapper takes him to a terrifying city, foiling his every attempt to escape — a gripping, futuristic novel simmering with suspense.”And it's going like hotcakes, too! #42 in Free Kindle Books and #4 in free science fiction!
As of 7:30 pm, it was up to #19 in free Kindle books, and #1 in free science fiction!
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
King of Trees is free for the last time!
Happy May Day!
My alternate history/science fiction novel KING OF TREES will be free in the Kindle store TODAY ONLY (May 1)! This is the last time it will be free!
Here are the links:
US & India Kindle store
UK Kindle store
German Kindle store
French Kindle store
Spanish Kindle store
Italian Kindle store
Japanese Kindle store
Brazilian Kindle store
My alternate history/science fiction novel KING OF TREES will be free in the Kindle store TODAY ONLY (May 1)! This is the last time it will be free!
Here are the links:
US & India Kindle store
UK Kindle store
German Kindle store
French Kindle store
Spanish Kindle store
Italian Kindle store
Japanese Kindle store
Brazilian Kindle store
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Writing in a series: why I created my own universe
I got a wonderful email the other day, from a reader who was requesting the free story I offer via this blog. It was the kind of email authors dream about because she said she had read The Sixth Discipline (which she got free in iBooks, but it's also free almost everywhere) and loved it enough to buy the sequel No Safe Haven, and loved it enough to buy all my other books in the iBooks store. On top of that, when I checked, she had left a review on iBooks! Talk about your ideal readers!
When I sent her the story, I suggested she read Tribes first, because it's most like the Haven books in overall tone, and I warned her that Shades of Empire is noticeably darker and more explicit than my other books. But when I was writing the email, it occurred to me that in some ways, the fact that she loved the Haven books so much could make it difficult for her to enjoy the other books.
Readers love books in a series. Once they find a character they like, they want to stick with him or her. When a local book club read my fantasy novella Where Magic Rules, one of the questions the readers asked me was did I have any books in a series.
Authors, on the other hand, often find it difficult keep finding new things to say about a character. The Haven “series” is only two books long, and I didn't know it would be two when I started it. As it turned out, I had too much story in my head for it to fit into one book. Fortunately, there was an eight-year gap in the story, which made a logical place to end the first book; I just had to be sure there was enough resolution of all but the one significant plot point that continues in the second book.
But in a sense, most of my books are in a series. All of my far future science fiction stories take place in a universe in which people from earth colonized other worlds in a way that left them cut off from our earth. The societies and cultures they created varied, depending on why they left their own world. I call them "sleeper worlds," partly because the colonists traveled in suspended animation. In the Haven books, there were three distinct groups on the colony world of Haven: one looking for new resources, one wanting isolation to experience harmony with nature, and one hoping for a total lack of government. In Tribes, the world was a prison colony, and its culture and government evolved from prison gangs. The colony world in The Nostalgia Gambit is an exception in that it's not a sleeper world.
I named my universe the ThreeCon universe, for the Third Confederation of Planets, the organization I created to oversee commerce and other interaction between the worlds. Although there are no characters shared between stories (except for the Haven books), the universe has a consistent, shared history. There are events mentioned in one that carry over into other stories, too.
My next book, most likely titled Saronna's Gift will be a romance, but it's also set in the ThreeCon universe, and the sleeper world the story takes place on was founded as religious colony by a charismatic but despotic leader who believed in an Old Testament-style patriarchy. After a few centuries of isolation, the world is a pretty awful place, in a lot of ways. The story starts when a young woman's father takes her to a city to sell her. I'm hoping the book will appeal to both romance readers and science fiction readers.
Really, my kind of series is the kind authors like: low overhead for the writer in creating the overall history, and a new set of characters each time. I don't know how much benefit that is to readers. If you have an opinion, let me know in the comments.
When I sent her the story, I suggested she read Tribes first, because it's most like the Haven books in overall tone, and I warned her that Shades of Empire is noticeably darker and more explicit than my other books. But when I was writing the email, it occurred to me that in some ways, the fact that she loved the Haven books so much could make it difficult for her to enjoy the other books.
Readers love books in a series. Once they find a character they like, they want to stick with him or her. When a local book club read my fantasy novella Where Magic Rules, one of the questions the readers asked me was did I have any books in a series.
Authors, on the other hand, often find it difficult keep finding new things to say about a character. The Haven “series” is only two books long, and I didn't know it would be two when I started it. As it turned out, I had too much story in my head for it to fit into one book. Fortunately, there was an eight-year gap in the story, which made a logical place to end the first book; I just had to be sure there was enough resolution of all but the one significant plot point that continues in the second book.
But in a sense, most of my books are in a series. All of my far future science fiction stories take place in a universe in which people from earth colonized other worlds in a way that left them cut off from our earth. The societies and cultures they created varied, depending on why they left their own world. I call them "sleeper worlds," partly because the colonists traveled in suspended animation. In the Haven books, there were three distinct groups on the colony world of Haven: one looking for new resources, one wanting isolation to experience harmony with nature, and one hoping for a total lack of government. In Tribes, the world was a prison colony, and its culture and government evolved from prison gangs. The colony world in The Nostalgia Gambit is an exception in that it's not a sleeper world.
I named my universe the ThreeCon universe, for the Third Confederation of Planets, the organization I created to oversee commerce and other interaction between the worlds. Although there are no characters shared between stories (except for the Haven books), the universe has a consistent, shared history. There are events mentioned in one that carry over into other stories, too.
My next book, most likely titled Saronna's Gift will be a romance, but it's also set in the ThreeCon universe, and the sleeper world the story takes place on was founded as religious colony by a charismatic but despotic leader who believed in an Old Testament-style patriarchy. After a few centuries of isolation, the world is a pretty awful place, in a lot of ways. The story starts when a young woman's father takes her to a city to sell her. I'm hoping the book will appeal to both romance readers and science fiction readers.
Really, my kind of series is the kind authors like: low overhead for the writer in creating the overall history, and a new set of characters each time. I don't know how much benefit that is to readers. If you have an opinion, let me know in the comments.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Still no iBooks for The Nostalgia Gambit
My next-to-latest novel The Nostalgia Gambit was successively loaded into the Smashwords platform, passed their review for their premium catalog and was “shipped” to Apple on March 27. That books is still not available in iBooks!
I'm really hoping posting this notice will cause the book to pop into iBooks, just like giving up and starting to walk home always makes the bus you were waiting for appear.
I'm really hoping posting this notice will cause the book to pop into iBooks, just like giving up and starting to walk home always makes the bus you were waiting for appear.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)