Amazon Updates

Big changes at Amazon.  Tomorrow marks the beginning of the new 70% royalty rate structure at Amazon.  The DTP dashboard has been totally revamped and the option to opt in to the new contract is now available.  Expect a lot of disruption over the next month as people struggle to figure things.  First impressions of the new dashboard and reports - meh.  Doesn't look great, slightly confusing and has no monthly grand total as of yet so will take some getting used to.  I'm not really interested in weekly sales but I'm sure we'll settle in with it eventually.

The new structure has been in beta mode for some writers.  Reports had been coming that were panicking a lot of authors.  Rumours were trickling in that pricing discounts on other sites could make Kindle books ineligible for the new royalty rate and worse, that the books would be removed altogether.  This has already happened to some people so many are at panic stations and I'm pretty certain lots of books have been pulled from Smashwords.  Or at least attempted to - the site seems to be down right now. 

There seems to be some automatic trigger regarding pricing disparity but from responses people are claiming to have received from Amazon, it will all be worked out in the end.  I personally can't see Amazon locking in writers in that way - it would mean we all have to stop distributing to other ebook stores in case they happened to discount our books.  It would be silly of Amazon to try this so I'm hoping it isn't the case. 

So far, all the changes have done is cause disruption and chaos - and it hasn't officially started yet.  Here's hoping it settles down soon.  I'm not raising prices on anything I have on Kindle so it doesn't really affect me as yet.  Except when all products are unavailable to buy, that is!  I hope people give both Amazon and Smashwords a chance to work everything out.  I'd hate to see Smashwords disrupted because of Amazon's actions.

Reading List

I've had the books of most of the indie writers from Kindleboards on my ereader for ages.  I'm trying to get through them but I don't have much time and the TBR pile is getting bigger all the time. 

This month I've finished Whiskey Sour and The Second Coming.   Today I finished The Whore of Freedom.  Okay, the name seems to have changed to Wife but I much prefer the original title.  I enjoyed all three.  They all either have or will have sequels so I'll definitely be looking out for those.  Overall, I'm very pleased with my reads this month because I've been having trouble finishing (trad published) books lately.  So yay.

Whiskey Sour is pretty well known as the first one of Konrath's Jack Daniels books.  Nothing profound or really original but it is a very enjoyable page turner.  I was surprised by how much I liked it.  I'm going to read the next one at some stage.

The Second Coming is a long fantasy set in an alternate version of earth.  This was one of the first indie books that caught my attention and I wasn't disappointed.  It kept me reading until the end, some of characters I found very intriguing and it was pretty original as far as fantasy goes.  I personally really enjoy fantasy so I might be a little biased on this one but I'm eagerly waiting the next one.  :)

I remember getting The Whore/Wife of Freedom after I read a description of it on Kindleboards.  Really drew me in but by the time I started it, I had forgotten what it was about and was worried it was a romance.  Not that there is anything wrong with romance, I just haven't been in the humour.  I kept reading though and was thoroughly entertained.  It's a quirky wee book and I found myself liking the MC more as the book went on.  At first she seems flighty but she pulls you onto her side easily.  I quite like strong female leads and she turned out to be one.  I felt like  the book ended with a decent resolution but I see the author is working on a sequel so I am definitely going to purchase it when it is released. 

I've also started The Weight of Blood but I'll probably read another book at the same time.  It's just how I roll.  This one is yet another book I've been meaning to read for months.

The funny thing about this post is I've struggled to put genres and descriptions on these books.  The Second Coming and The Whore/Wife of Freedom are both slightly outside the box.  I love that.  I've been so sick of formulaic books that these two were a breath of fresh air for me.  I like to read things that are a bit different and The Whore of Freedom in particular took me straight out of my comfort zone.  I think I just needed something brand new.  Me = happy camper.

Sony Pricing

On the Smashwords updates, they mentioned that books are starting to appear at Sony.  I checked my dashboard and saw that one of my books had in fact (finally) been shipped to Sony.  I did a quick search on the Sony ebookstore and saw my book.  The one listed on Kindle and Smashwords for .99c.  List price at Sony?  $4.95.  And people wonder why Amazon are selling more ebooks than other places?

Funnily enough, I don't expect to get many sales from distribution to Sony.  :)

Highlighting Good Books

Have to complain for a minute first.  One of my darling little angels has been on a mission to strip my laptop of keyboard buttons this month.  I'm actually used to that.  Every single laptop I have ever owned has ended up with a part bald keyboard.  The netbook I'm using has easily clickable buttons so it works fine except for the space bar which has been missing for a while.  I've been able to use, I just had to adjust my typing method slightly.  Anyway, yesterday, the spongey bit was removed from the space bar which just makes everything a million times more awkward so if I miss spaces or overdo a space then please ignore it.  It's taking me an hour to write a freaking paragraph as it is.

Today I wanted to sort of  think something through.  I've been feeling really bad that I'm reading or noticing a lot of books yet I never review them or mention them.  I'm really bad at reviews, I don't give 5 stars unless it is a book I would read over and over again, I try not to be overly enthusiastic which results in a bit of a lack lustre review and I'm pretty sure I manage to make the authors feel like they've gotten a poor review even if I haven't intended it as such.

I've been thinking about highlighting books on my blog.  Not reviewing.  I'm really trying to avoid anything looking like review exchanges.  More like highlighting books I want to read or have read and enjoyed.  Books I've noticed, authors I might like.  A little bit of a shout out as it were.  Because there are so many great ones that deserve a little attention.  (Not just indies btw.)  And I'd quite like to help out other writers even in a small way.  The only thing that is bothering me is what if I don't like a book?  Should I ignore it, not mention it, say I don't like it?  This is another reason why I don't review anymore.  Even if I'm trying to be helpful, there is a big chance the writer will be upset or take it personally.  Would love opinions/advice on this.

I'm way too honest sometimes.  It's a flaw.  Most people can't deal with honesty because there has to be empathy behind it softening the blow.  I have a serious lack of empathy so me being honest doesn't come over well.  I'm torn between wanting people to trust my opinion and striving to avoid the conflict that can come with it.  I think I'll take it a day at a time.  See how it goes.  Later this year, I plan on working on this blog a little harder so hopefully any book I highlight will be seen by a few readers. 

Space bar is seriously pissing me off.  I'll have to get it fixed.  Ugh.  I hate people touching my stuff.  :)

Enduring Change

Konrath posted on his blog about his two newest books.  He withdrew them from traditional publishing and decided to self publish them on Kindle instead.  Some said it was brave, some said it was stupid.  But right now this second, the first book, Endurance is #42 on the Kindle bestseller list.  As always, he promoted it wisely, involved his readers and fellow indie writers and basically managed to get a lot of us invested in his progress. 

It's always intriguing when someone does something new and we all find it fascinating to compare numbers so it was fun to see the book hop up the charts.  Now that it has broken the top 100, it is likely to stay up there.  That's the thing.  Getting past 100 means you're a topseller and lots of people are more likely to buy books on the topselling list.  It is the visibility factor and a tiny bit of the sheep factor if we're honest.  But it's a decent goal to aim for.

Another indie who is good at getting people behind her is Zoe Winters.  Her third novella in her Blood Lust Series is doing great.  Right now, Mated is ranked at #116.  If she gets past 100, she will fly up that list.  If her third book gets on that list then I reckon her first two will also.  They are cheap, they are paranormal romance, they are a series, they have pretty covers, you get the point.  I'm hoping it happens soon, it'll be very interesting to see how it unfolds once more and more indies make that bestseller list. 

These two writers aren't the first and won't be the last which is a sign of how much change is going on.  Plus, now that the price of the Kindle has dropped less than $200, we're heading to a point in time when ebook readers aren't exclusively used by "serious" readers.  Lots of ereaders are more accessible, more affordable and combining that with the ever growing list of free and cheap ebooks, it's an investment more than a luxury.  It's time to embrace the change.

Three Months Later

Three months ago, I made the decision to become an Indie writer.  I literally researched everything I could find, most of the really useful info coming primarily from the blogs of other Indies.  I had lost the dreamy notion that with publication comes great fortune and the opportunity to write whatever I liked all of the time.  Trad publishing doesn't work that way and the chances of becoming successful are growing slimmer all the time.  I found I was too impatient to wait around for submission responses.  I wanted to write books that crossed genres.  I wanted to write in multiple genres.  I wanted to do things my way.  I wanted to do everything rightnowthissecond.  It seemed as if the Kindle route was the shining light in the distance.  I felt like I could experiment, take chances and lose out on nothing doing it.  I had three finished novels that needed to be edited.  I wanted to see what ebooks could offer someone like me.

So I threw together a short story collection.  I had lots of short stories on my hard drive.  I would never submit them anywhere but I enjoyed writing them.  I had some personal ones that are a true reflection of incidents that happened to me - these I will never publish because I feel it would be unfair to the people in my life who are portrayed in them.  I have others that are undefinable.  They are dark in a way but not similar enough to place together.  Then I had ones which could be placed under the genre of horror.  I decided to take a chance, upload them and see what happened.  I had no expectations, horror, short stories, unknown writer, Indie publishing, unprofessional cover - it had everything going against it but still, I wasn't losing out.

That was three full months ago.  I sell copies slowly but steadily.  Last month I got my first reviews on Amazon.  I rarely sell anything on Smashwords aside from free coupon copies but my stuff is there and even on B&N.  I uploaded another short collection that was extremely experimental.  It sells very little but in my own way, I'm proud of it nonetheless.  I'm still terrified of what people will think of the things I've uploaded.  I worry that the horror stories are weak, that people won't get the faery one, that I'm not good enough to write.  But I've learned so much.  And I'll keep learning.  And writing.  And experimenting.  And being happy.  Because the whole Indie thing is stressful and time consuming and can chip at your self esteem sometimes.  But the happiness it gives me cancels it out. I love it.  Even the horrible bits like book covers, formatting and self promotion. 

There's something freeing about being in control.  Again, I've lost nothing from this.  My stories were there, doing nothing.  I'm slowly earning something from them.  More than what I was gaining when they were sitting quietly on my hard drive.  And I'm working on new things, novellas and novels plus the occasional piece of flash fiction.  I'm still working on one of the completed novels, the other two will be looked at again eventually.  They are for the younger reader so not as popular on Amazon as of yet but maybe some day they'll have a place.  There's no pressure though.  That's the best bit.  I can take my time, I can change my mind, I can be as creative as I like. There's a place in Indie publishing for people like me and I'm going to enjoy it for as long as I can.  Highly recommended.  ;)

Hyperlinking TOC - Smashwords

Hopefully this will be easy to follow, I've been holding out on writing it until I get a decent sleep but it's never going to happen so I'll dive in.  Smashwords have a particular method of hyperlinking the table of contents.  You can use this one for Kindle.  Basically, you're linking from your chapter/story titles in your index to the chapter/story titles throughout the book.  You're also linking from the chapter/story titles throughout the book back to the index.  It makes it easier for the reader to move around the book.  I used this method of linking back to the index on my kindle version too.  Both ways seem to work quite well on the Kindle.  On Smashwords, it is supposed to work in certain formats only, once your book is converted.  EPUB, MOBI and PDF.  As far as I am aware, a linkable table of contents is required to submit your ebook to Sony.

I followed the Smashwords Style Guide, the information on hyperlinking is a little over half way through the book.  Of course, if you use an EPUB, MOBI or PDF version, you can easily click on the link in the table of contents to go directly to the right section.  First of all, make sure you have a full table of contents listing all of your story titles/chapter headings.  Don't add page numbers because they don't matter in ebook form. 

As per the instructions, I went through my entire document, highlighting all of the story titles (chapter headings) and inserting bookmarks.  In my Word program, I went to the Insert tab, looked for the links section and added a bookmark for each title.  When you click on bookmarks, a dialogue box appears.  You type in the name of the bookmark (no spaces), then click add.  You'll be using these bookmark titles later so it is very useful if you use the exact title of your header.  It makes it easier to find and harder to make a mistake.  In my case, the first one was SkeletonInTheCloset but if it was a novel of mine it would have been ChapterOne, for example.  Add these bookmarks to all of the story titles/chapter headings and don't forget to add a bookmark to the heading on the table of contents page itself.

Next you create hyperlinks to all of the bookmarks you made.  Go to the Table of Contents page.  Select the first story title/chapter heading to highlight it.  In the same place as before, (the Insert tab and then the Links section) click on hyperlink.  A dialogue box appears.  To the left, it is automatically selected to "Existing file or web page."  Right under this is a box called "Place in this document" - click on this.  All of the bookmarks you previously created should show up in alphabetical order.  Click on the relevant bookmark (for example my first one was SkeletonInTheCloset) then click okay.  Your first story title/chapter heading in your contents section is now linked to your first story/chapter.

Follow this step for each title/heading in your Table of Contents.  Next, go through the document and highlight the story titles/chapter headings and link all of these back to the bookmark you created for the table of contents itself.  Linking both ways makes it easier to flip through the book.  Finally, test all of the links by clicking on each title in the Table of Contents which should bring you to the relevant stories/chapters.  Click on all of the story titles/chapter headings throughout the book to test the links you made back to the Table of Contents. 

That's it.  All done.  This should upload to Smashwords without any problems.  It takes a bit longer than the other version I talked about but it is still relatively simple once you follow the steps.