Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Thanks again, readers!
Just wanted to say thanks again to everyone who has picked up copies of my books in the days since my Bookbub promotion. I hope you enjoy them, and I appreciate your support. :)
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Thanks, Google Play readers!
On Sunday, I made my first paid sales on Google Play. Thanks for supporting my work, GP readers, and I hope you enjoy the books. :)
On a related note, I got an email from Draft2Digital today. They have apparently finally secured a deal with Google Play. Lol... typical. I waited so long for that to happen, but I finally got tired of waiting and made an account with PublishDrive in order to get on Google Play. Then, just weeks after loading my books up there, D2D breaks the news. Ah, well. Them's the breaks. I'm sticking with PublishDrive, by the way. I love D2D, but I've grown fond of PD, too.
I might have already recouped the cost of the Bookbub Featured Deal. If not, it should definitely happen before this week is out. And the trilogy will still be steaming along on some serious algorithm momentum, so the promotion has been a huge boost--and well worth the money--any way you slice it. Thanks again, Bookbub, and thanks to all my readers for supporting my work. :)
On a related note, I got an email from Draft2Digital today. They have apparently finally secured a deal with Google Play. Lol... typical. I waited so long for that to happen, but I finally got tired of waiting and made an account with PublishDrive in order to get on Google Play. Then, just weeks after loading my books up there, D2D breaks the news. Ah, well. Them's the breaks. I'm sticking with PublishDrive, by the way. I love D2D, but I've grown fond of PD, too.
I might have already recouped the cost of the Bookbub Featured Deal. If not, it should definitely happen before this week is out. And the trilogy will still be steaming along on some serious algorithm momentum, so the promotion has been a huge boost--and well worth the money--any way you slice it. Thanks again, Bookbub, and thanks to all my readers for supporting my work. :)
Monday, February 25, 2019
An impulse
I've got the sudden urge to build something from wood. I was thinking about a three-legged stool. Then I started looking online at plans, and I wasn't really enamored of the whole glue-the-legs-on thing. Using screws seemed like it would make for a sturdier stool.
Then I thought, why use just a single screw to hold a leg on? Why not use brackets? So I started thinking about attaching stool legs with brackets.
Then I started thinking about the rigidity of the thing and the torque that would necessarily be put upon it if the legs were angled outwards at all. I decided some cross-brace-like thing would be a good idea.
Then I realized my idea was leading towards an inexorably larger and heavier stool, so I started thinking about hinged legs that fold out of the way for storage.
Hinges, though, might fold up at the wrong time with disastrous results, so it's a good idea to have a way of locking them in place. So I started thinking about locking hinges and similar devices.
After all that thinking, I'm not sure I want to build a stool anymore. But if I do, it'll be pretty awesome.
Then I thought, why use just a single screw to hold a leg on? Why not use brackets? So I started thinking about attaching stool legs with brackets.
Then I started thinking about the rigidity of the thing and the torque that would necessarily be put upon it if the legs were angled outwards at all. I decided some cross-brace-like thing would be a good idea.
Then I realized my idea was leading towards an inexorably larger and heavier stool, so I started thinking about hinged legs that fold out of the way for storage.
Hinges, though, might fold up at the wrong time with disastrous results, so it's a good idea to have a way of locking them in place. So I started thinking about locking hinges and similar devices.
After all that thinking, I'm not sure I want to build a stool anymore. But if I do, it'll be pretty awesome.
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Well, this is interesting
Ka-Bar is known for its high-quality knives. I've got two myself. They've apparently branched out, though. Now they offer an ice scraper:
https://www.amazon.com/KA-BAR-Lake-Effect-Ice-Scraper-black/dp/B00IJWR7ZW/
...and a fishing, uh, something:
https://www.amazon.com/Ka-Bar-Backpacker-Caster-Lightweight-Fishing/dp/B07D2LCLZZ/
I guess when you have injection-molding equipment and some extra polymer sitting around, you start getting creative. lol
Seriously, though, that's pretty cool. Props to Ka-Bar.
https://www.amazon.com/KA-BAR-Lake-Effect-Ice-Scraper-black/dp/B00IJWR7ZW/
...and a fishing, uh, something:
https://www.amazon.com/Ka-Bar-Backpacker-Caster-Lightweight-Fishing/dp/B07D2LCLZZ/
I guess when you have injection-molding equipment and some extra polymer sitting around, you start getting creative. lol
Seriously, though, that's pretty cool. Props to Ka-Bar.
Friday, February 22, 2019
Still tweaking that book 4 outline
I cut out a few hundred words from the outline last night. A couple of scenes simply weren't doing it for me, so they had to go. As soon as I did that, I felt better about the outline, so that tells me I made the right choice.
That's the advantage of outlining. Instead of cutting out thousands of words of first-draft prose, I cut out a few hundred words of outline. Less wasted work. I can do all the major surgery now while it's less expensive than doing it later.
It still doesn't feel quite right, though. I'll have to put some more thought into it. It might be March before I start the first draft.
That's the advantage of outlining. Instead of cutting out thousands of words of first-draft prose, I cut out a few hundred words of outline. Less wasted work. I can do all the major surgery now while it's less expensive than doing it later.
It still doesn't feel quite right, though. I'll have to put some more thought into it. It might be March before I start the first draft.
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Bookbub after-action report
On February 20, 2019, I had my first Bookbub Featured Deal, a promotion for my permafree Clouds of Venus. U.S. + international. The whole shebang. :o
I applied for the deal on January 21. My submission was accepted the very next day. Needless to say, I was shocked. I saw the email in my inbox, and my first reaction was a rather vulgar and loud exclamation. I stared at the email in stunned silence for the next few moments. When I had sufficiently recovered my wits, I grabbed my credit card and shelled out $518 faster than you can say, "Shut up and take my money!"
For the record, this was my thirteenth submission for a free deal for Clouds of Venus. The previous twelve submissions were rejected. Lucky 13, I guess. Heh.
Then I started making a mental list of things I needed to get in order before the promotion. There were several. For one thing, the book was free in some Amazon stores, but not all. I needed to contact Amazon and ask them to make it free everywhere. I did that, providing links to the Apple store in various countries. The only country I didn't have an Apple link for was India. So, after a couple of days, the book was free everywhere... except the India store. Then I realized that I could provide a Kobo link, so I did that. A day or two later, the book was free in Amazon's India store. It was now free everywhere, and as long as it stayed that way, everything would be cool and Bookbub wouldn't get mad at me.
I should add that I was deathly afraid of something getting screwed up. Permafree books on Amazon occasionally revert back to paid for no reason, and my biggest fear was that something like that would happen. I didn't tell a soul about this Featured Deal beforehand because I didn't want to jinx it. Terribly superstitious of me, I know, but there it is.
Another thing I needed to take care of was getting my stuff up on Google Play. I was already in the process of doing that. I'd opened an account with PublishDrive and was going to test the waters with Buddy for a while before adding my other books. There was no hurry, after all, so I figured I'd get comfortable with the site and make sure there weren't any glitches before adding the rest of the catalogue. The Bookbub deal accelerated my plans. I added everything else as fast as I could. The blurbs on Google Play ended up having formatting issues, so I had to contact PublishDrive and ask them to fix it. And they did. Réka is great, and my impressions of PD's customer service are excellent.
Once Clouds of Venus was live on Google Play, I contacted the folks at Bookbub and asked if they could add that store's link to the deal. They graciously agreed to do it. The people at Bookbub are great.
I was also in the process of changing my back matter. Again, this was something I had decided beforehand, so I wasn't in a hurry at the time, but the deal accelerated my plans.
Finally, I wanted to release the third book of Wheel of Fire before the Bookbub deal. So, in the midst of all this other stuff, I was proofreading and getting ready to publish. I published Ruined Worlds on February 12.
So that's the back story. Some frantic days, but I got it all sorted out as best I could. Nothing was left undone.
Now let's get to the results of the promotion.
On the day of the Bookbub, the free downloads of Clouds of Venus were as follows:
Amazon: 19,055
Apple: 2,258
Barnes & Noble: 1,017
Google Play: 1,176
Kobo: 1,544
Total: 25,050
I had previously learned that Bookbub-related sales from Amazon's Australian store usually didn't kick in until the day after the Bookbub. This was my experience, too. I only had one download from the .au store on the day of the Bookbub. As soon as the clock struck midnight, though, the Aussies flooded in. I've had 666 downloads from Amazon's Australian store today.
Now, about sell-through...
A sale of Caverns of Mercury or Cities of Mars nets me about two bucks on Amazon or Kobo. I get a little less from Apple and Barnes & Noble due to D2D taking their cut. So I figured I'd need somewhere in the neighborhood of 250-300 paid sales of these books in order for the Bookbub to pay for itself. (The books are priced higher on Google Play, but the royalty is lower, too, and I have yet to make my first sale there, so I have no idea what to expect from that retailer.)
On Amazon, I had 86 paid sales of books 2 and 3 on the day of the Bookbub. I've had another 20 so far today.
On Apple, I had 9 paid sales of those books.
On Barnes & Noble, I had zip. Same for Kobo. Same for Google Play.
So I'm still in the hole as far as sell-through goes. I'm not worried, though, because I've read that sell-through doesn't really happen until several days after the deal. Which makes perfect sense, since reading a book takes time. Those who buy the other books of a series on the day of the Bookbub are generally the really voracious readers and those who decide to buy the whole series at once.
So that's the breakdown. I'm very pleased with how this promotion has gone, and I can't thank Bookbub enough. My hope is that this deal will give me some traction on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Google Play. Those places have been mostly dead zones for me so far, and I'd love to change that.
Now for some screenshots. :D
Why, hello there, Mr. Verne. This is an exclusive neighborhood indeed, isn't it? :D
So there you have it. My first Bookbub. This past month has been a whirlwind of activity and emotions. But I got everything done that needed to be done, and the promotion went off without a hitch. I'm truly blessed.
Thanks once again to the folks at Bookbub for making this happen. And thanks to my retail partners, too, for allowing me to publish my work on their sites.
Finally, thanks most of all to you, the readers. Without you, none of this would be possible. You're my life-blood and the reason I do it all in the first place. I sincerely hope you enjoy my work.
Take care, everyone, and thanks for reading. :)
I applied for the deal on January 21. My submission was accepted the very next day. Needless to say, I was shocked. I saw the email in my inbox, and my first reaction was a rather vulgar and loud exclamation. I stared at the email in stunned silence for the next few moments. When I had sufficiently recovered my wits, I grabbed my credit card and shelled out $518 faster than you can say, "Shut up and take my money!"
For the record, this was my thirteenth submission for a free deal for Clouds of Venus. The previous twelve submissions were rejected. Lucky 13, I guess. Heh.
Then I started making a mental list of things I needed to get in order before the promotion. There were several. For one thing, the book was free in some Amazon stores, but not all. I needed to contact Amazon and ask them to make it free everywhere. I did that, providing links to the Apple store in various countries. The only country I didn't have an Apple link for was India. So, after a couple of days, the book was free everywhere... except the India store. Then I realized that I could provide a Kobo link, so I did that. A day or two later, the book was free in Amazon's India store. It was now free everywhere, and as long as it stayed that way, everything would be cool and Bookbub wouldn't get mad at me.
I should add that I was deathly afraid of something getting screwed up. Permafree books on Amazon occasionally revert back to paid for no reason, and my biggest fear was that something like that would happen. I didn't tell a soul about this Featured Deal beforehand because I didn't want to jinx it. Terribly superstitious of me, I know, but there it is.
Another thing I needed to take care of was getting my stuff up on Google Play. I was already in the process of doing that. I'd opened an account with PublishDrive and was going to test the waters with Buddy for a while before adding my other books. There was no hurry, after all, so I figured I'd get comfortable with the site and make sure there weren't any glitches before adding the rest of the catalogue. The Bookbub deal accelerated my plans. I added everything else as fast as I could. The blurbs on Google Play ended up having formatting issues, so I had to contact PublishDrive and ask them to fix it. And they did. Réka is great, and my impressions of PD's customer service are excellent.
Once Clouds of Venus was live on Google Play, I contacted the folks at Bookbub and asked if they could add that store's link to the deal. They graciously agreed to do it. The people at Bookbub are great.
I was also in the process of changing my back matter. Again, this was something I had decided beforehand, so I wasn't in a hurry at the time, but the deal accelerated my plans.
Finally, I wanted to release the third book of Wheel of Fire before the Bookbub deal. So, in the midst of all this other stuff, I was proofreading and getting ready to publish. I published Ruined Worlds on February 12.
So that's the back story. Some frantic days, but I got it all sorted out as best I could. Nothing was left undone.
Now let's get to the results of the promotion.
On the day of the Bookbub, the free downloads of Clouds of Venus were as follows:
Amazon: 19,055
Apple: 2,258
Barnes & Noble: 1,017
Google Play: 1,176
Kobo: 1,544
Total: 25,050
I had previously learned that Bookbub-related sales from Amazon's Australian store usually didn't kick in until the day after the Bookbub. This was my experience, too. I only had one download from the .au store on the day of the Bookbub. As soon as the clock struck midnight, though, the Aussies flooded in. I've had 666 downloads from Amazon's Australian store today.
Now, about sell-through...
A sale of Caverns of Mercury or Cities of Mars nets me about two bucks on Amazon or Kobo. I get a little less from Apple and Barnes & Noble due to D2D taking their cut. So I figured I'd need somewhere in the neighborhood of 250-300 paid sales of these books in order for the Bookbub to pay for itself. (The books are priced higher on Google Play, but the royalty is lower, too, and I have yet to make my first sale there, so I have no idea what to expect from that retailer.)
On Amazon, I had 86 paid sales of books 2 and 3 on the day of the Bookbub. I've had another 20 so far today.
On Apple, I had 9 paid sales of those books.
On Barnes & Noble, I had zip. Same for Kobo. Same for Google Play.
So I'm still in the hole as far as sell-through goes. I'm not worried, though, because I've read that sell-through doesn't really happen until several days after the deal. Which makes perfect sense, since reading a book takes time. Those who buy the other books of a series on the day of the Bookbub are generally the really voracious readers and those who decide to buy the whole series at once.
So that's the breakdown. I'm very pleased with how this promotion has gone, and I can't thank Bookbub enough. My hope is that this deal will give me some traction on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Google Play. Those places have been mostly dead zones for me so far, and I'd love to change that.
Now for some screenshots. :D
Why, hello there, Mr. Verne. This is an exclusive neighborhood indeed, isn't it? :D
So there you have it. My first Bookbub. This past month has been a whirlwind of activity and emotions. But I got everything done that needed to be done, and the promotion went off without a hitch. I'm truly blessed.
Thanks once again to the folks at Bookbub for making this happen. And thanks to my retail partners, too, for allowing me to publish my work on their sites.
Finally, thanks most of all to you, the readers. Without you, none of this would be possible. You're my life-blood and the reason I do it all in the first place. I sincerely hope you enjoy my work.
Take care, everyone, and thanks for reading. :)
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
My outlines are obsolete
The outlines for books 5-8 need to be totally reworked. On the one hand, I hate that I so badly missed the mark of where I wanted the series to go. On the other hand, those preliminary outlines helped shape the series just enough for me to get it rolling good and proper. Mixed feelings.
Here's an interesting anecdote: I was working on the book 4 outline last night, but I needed to remember some detail or other, so I brought up Mind Games and started using the "find" feature to find what I was looking for. Well, I ended up at the barn scene, and before I knew it, it was several minutes later and I hadn't accomplished anything productive. I had allowed myself to get swept up in the action. And I wrote the darn thing! It's not like the outcome was a surprise or anything. But it still grabbed me as if I was reading it for the first time. Crazy how the brain works.
I had a reader tell me recently how much she enjoyed Mr. Wilson. It made my day. If you've enjoyed something you've read recently, consider letting the author know. That sort of praise from readers really does make a difference.
Here's an interesting anecdote: I was working on the book 4 outline last night, but I needed to remember some detail or other, so I brought up Mind Games and started using the "find" feature to find what I was looking for. Well, I ended up at the barn scene, and before I knew it, it was several minutes later and I hadn't accomplished anything productive. I had allowed myself to get swept up in the action. And I wrote the darn thing! It's not like the outcome was a surprise or anything. But it still grabbed me as if I was reading it for the first time. Crazy how the brain works.
I had a reader tell me recently how much she enjoyed Mr. Wilson. It made my day. If you've enjoyed something you've read recently, consider letting the author know. That sort of praise from readers really does make a difference.
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
I'd forgotten...
...that I was following myself on Bookbub. I got a reminder in my inbox, though, when they notified me of my new release.
If you're an author, and you've claimed your books on Bookbub, then it's a good idea to follow yourself so that you can see the "new release" emails that your others followers get. I'm following myself on Amazon, too, for the same reason. It's good to see when those notification emails go out. Amazon, for example, usually takes a few weeks before sending them. I'm sure they have their reasons for the delay.
Anyway, it's neat to see the email.
For those interested in the book, the links to all the retailers at which it's available are on the sidebar. Just scroll down until you see it.
If you're an author, and you've claimed your books on Bookbub, then it's a good idea to follow yourself so that you can see the "new release" emails that your others followers get. I'm following myself on Amazon, too, for the same reason. It's good to see when those notification emails go out. Amazon, for example, usually takes a few weeks before sending them. I'm sure they have their reasons for the delay.
Anyway, it's neat to see the email.
For those interested in the book, the links to all the retailers at which it's available are on the sidebar. Just scroll down until you see it.
Rough weather
It's not often we get thunderstorms in the heart of winter, but we got one today. With hail, too.
I'm trying to think if I've ever included a hailstorm in a story. I can't recall any instances. I'll make a mental note of it and have some hail pummel my characters at some point. Weather is a great tool for setting a mood.
I'm trying to think if I've ever included a hailstorm in a story. I can't recall any instances. I'll make a mental note of it and have some hail pummel my characters at some point. Weather is a great tool for setting a mood.
Monday, February 18, 2019
Coolest collaboration ever
Indy Neidell of the wonderful "The Great War" YouTube channel has teamed up with Swedish power metal band Sabaton.
Not kidding.
Basically, Indy is going to go over the history behind every Sabaton song. When he finishes, one of the band members then talks about the song itself. They plan to do one video every week. They've already done videos for 40:1 and Blood of Bannockburn.
I've watched both videos, and I'm ready for the next one. This is so cool. :D
Anyway, check out the Sabaton History Channel:
Not kidding.
Basically, Indy is going to go over the history behind every Sabaton song. When he finishes, one of the band members then talks about the song itself. They plan to do one video every week. They've already done videos for 40:1 and Blood of Bannockburn.
I've watched both videos, and I'm ready for the next one. This is so cool. :D
Anyway, check out the Sabaton History Channel:
I think everything's sorted out
It looks like Ruined Worlds is now available at all retailers and all the product pages are up and running. It took several days for Barnes & Noble to populate the blurb, and the formatting of the blurb on Google Play needed to be fixed, but all that's now done.
Special thanks to Réka of PublishDrive for her assistance.
Special thanks to Réka of PublishDrive for her assistance.
Thursday, February 14, 2019
More links
Got a couple more links for Ruined Worlds:
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130573425
Google Play: http://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=EcuHDwAAQBAJ
The blurb hasn't populated yet at B&N. That's typical. Don't ask me why.
The blurb at Google Play is squashed together with no line spaces between paragraphs. Again, typical. I previously contacted PublishDrive about fixing that on my other books, and they did, but it's frustrating that it seems to be endemic. I've decided to try my own fix this time. I added extra carriage returns. If it works, then I'll know what to do going forward, and I won't have to bug the folks at PD about it. If it doesn't work, then I'll bug PD.
I've updated the back matter for almost everything everywhere, and I think it's all the way I want it for now.
I'm also taking a break to do a little reading.
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130573425
Google Play: http://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=EcuHDwAAQBAJ
The blurb hasn't populated yet at B&N. That's typical. Don't ask me why.
The blurb at Google Play is squashed together with no line spaces between paragraphs. Again, typical. I previously contacted PublishDrive about fixing that on my other books, and they did, but it's frustrating that it seems to be endemic. I've decided to try my own fix this time. I added extra carriage returns. If it works, then I'll know what to do going forward, and I won't have to bug the folks at PD about it. If it doesn't work, then I'll bug PD.
I've updated the back matter for almost everything everywhere, and I think it's all the way I want it for now.
I'm also taking a break to do a little reading.
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Ruined Worlds, Wheel of Fire #3, is now live!
Well, it's live at some places. Not all. Retailers all move at different speeds. I'll provide the other links as they're made available. Right now, the book is available at Amazon, Kobo, Apple, and Scribd. Links below.
Here's the product description:
If you pick up a copy, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting independent authors like me. :)
Here's the product description:
Jerry Harper is back on Homestead recovering from his ordeal. The galactic political situation is deteriorating, and it looks like war between the Agrarian Commonwealth and the Reliant Mentarchy is inevitable. Jerry's ordered to report in, and the military puts him back into action. He's a spaceborne Rifleman once again.
The last hopes for peace are dashed. War is declared! Jerry and his men begin their first war patrol. But the Mentarch hits fast and hard, and its atrocities leave the Commonwealth reeling. Jerry's electrokinesis is Homestead's not-so-secret weapon, but he's still just one man. He can't be everywhere at once, and the defeats start to mount.
The Commonwealth desperately needs a victory, something to boost morale. Jerry knows his ability is powerful enough to swing a battle. But he still has orders to follow, and his options are limited. If he can't find a way to help turn the tide soon, it might never happen. Because the Mentarch is relentless, and it's determined to reduce the Commonwealth to a collection of ruined worlds.
If you pick up a copy, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting independent authors like me. :)
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Just hit publish
Book 3 has been released into the wild. :D It will be live in a matter of hours. When it is, I'll send out a newsletter to announce it and then I'll make a blog post about it.
Sunday, February 10, 2019
New back matter
I've updated the back matter for the trilogy on D2D and Kobo. I may update it again for D2D; I'm still trying to decide if I want to add a Books2Read link for the next book in the series. There's already a link added automatically, so this would be redundant, but it would put it right there on the last page of the book instead of a couple of pages later. Decisions, decisions...
I'll have to update the back matter for Mind Games when I upload this latest book, so I've still got some of this stuff to do.
I'll have to update the back matter for Mind Games when I upload this latest book, so I've still got some of this stuff to do.
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Stick a fork in it
Book 3 is DONE. :D
I've finished proofreading it. All I need to do is add back matter, convert to epub, and publish.
Word count = 129,048. That includes chapter titles, copyright page, and all the rest of that stuff. It's the longest story I've ever written.
I won't publish this weekend. I prefer to do that on a weekday. But I'll plan to do that Tuesday night, so it should be live Wednesday.
My plan for the rest of this month is to re-vamp the outline for book 4, do some household chores that I've been putting off, attend to some family obligations, and get my tax documents ready for when I meet with my accountant some time in March or April.
When will I start the first draft of book 4? Good question. It might not be until April. It depends on how everything else goes. It especially depends on how long it takes me to be satisfied with the outline. I already know it needs work. I have no idea how long that work will take.
But right now, I'm feeling pretty good. It took a year, but I finally got it done.
Three down, five to go. :D
I've finished proofreading it. All I need to do is add back matter, convert to epub, and publish.
Word count = 129,048. That includes chapter titles, copyright page, and all the rest of that stuff. It's the longest story I've ever written.
I won't publish this weekend. I prefer to do that on a weekday. But I'll plan to do that Tuesday night, so it should be live Wednesday.
My plan for the rest of this month is to re-vamp the outline for book 4, do some household chores that I've been putting off, attend to some family obligations, and get my tax documents ready for when I meet with my accountant some time in March or April.
When will I start the first draft of book 4? Good question. It might not be until April. It depends on how everything else goes. It especially depends on how long it takes me to be satisfied with the outline. I already know it needs work. I have no idea how long that work will take.
But right now, I'm feeling pretty good. It took a year, but I finally got it done.
Three down, five to go. :D
Friday, February 8, 2019
First impressions
I contacted PublishDrive recently and asked them about formatting the product description on Google Play. The paragraphs aren't separated the way they should be. I also wanted to test out PD's customer service. This is a minor issue, and should be a simple fix, assuming it's fixable, so it makes a good test case.
So far, I'm pleased. The PD guy told me he tried to fix the formatting and that we'd probably know by Monday if Google made the fix happen or not. He then offered to set up an author bio for me on Google Play since he noticed I didn't have one yet. I took him up on his offer and gave him the same bio I use on Amazon.
So, yeah... my first impressions of PD's customer service are very good. Google Play is kind of a stick in the mud about some things, but I think I'm going to like working with PublishDrive. I'm still finding my way around the site, but I think I'll like it a lot.
So far, I'm pleased. The PD guy told me he tried to fix the formatting and that we'd probably know by Monday if Google made the fix happen or not. He then offered to set up an author bio for me on Google Play since he noticed I didn't have one yet. I took him up on his offer and gave him the same bio I use on Amazon.
So, yeah... my first impressions of PD's customer service are very good. Google Play is kind of a stick in the mud about some things, but I think I'm going to like working with PublishDrive. I'm still finding my way around the site, but I think I'll like it a lot.
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Another naming goof
This time, at least, the names were very similar. But it still bugs me. Grrr...
On a side note, the manuscript of this book is now at 128k and change. It won't just be the longest story I've ever published. It'll be the longest one I've ever written.
On a side note, the manuscript of this book is now at 128k and change. It won't just be the longest story I've ever published. It'll be the longest one I've ever written.
Decisions
Success! The books I loaded to PublishDrive and sent to Google Play are now all listed as live in the GP store on the PD dashboard. I'll start adding links to the sidebar. But it's nice to know that it just took a while, that it wasn't a glitch or anything. Obviously, I'm still feeling this thing out.
Now I need to decide two things: back matter and prices.
Since I'm only distributing to Google via PD, I'm thinking about putting Google-specific links in the back matter. I'll have to check PD's terms and conditions to make sure that's cool. But if it is, then I'll probably do that. The downside is that I'd have to change all that back matter again if I ever wanted to send the books to any of the other retail options offered by PD.
As for prices, PD automatically adjusts the prices to compensate for GP's ridiculous discounting policy. If PD can be relied upon to do this in a timely enough manner to avoid me getting a nastygram from Amazon, then I can change the prices so that they're the same as those at Amazon. I'm leaning towards doing this. Still mulling it over, though.
Also, Barnes & Noble has finally changed the price of Mind Games back to $3.99, so I've submitted the price change at Amazon.
While proofing book 3, I came across a goof. I had the wrong names in some places. I fixed it, and hopefully that's the last goof of that sort. I hate it when I do stuff like that. But this is why I go over this stuff as carefully as I do. I want the end product to be as error-free as possible.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading and supporting my work. :)
Now I need to decide two things: back matter and prices.
Since I'm only distributing to Google via PD, I'm thinking about putting Google-specific links in the back matter. I'll have to check PD's terms and conditions to make sure that's cool. But if it is, then I'll probably do that. The downside is that I'd have to change all that back matter again if I ever wanted to send the books to any of the other retail options offered by PD.
As for prices, PD automatically adjusts the prices to compensate for GP's ridiculous discounting policy. If PD can be relied upon to do this in a timely enough manner to avoid me getting a nastygram from Amazon, then I can change the prices so that they're the same as those at Amazon. I'm leaning towards doing this. Still mulling it over, though.
Also, Barnes & Noble has finally changed the price of Mind Games back to $3.99, so I've submitted the price change at Amazon.
While proofing book 3, I came across a goof. I had the wrong names in some places. I fixed it, and hopefully that's the last goof of that sort. I hate it when I do stuff like that. But this is why I go over this stuff as carefully as I do. I want the end product to be as error-free as possible.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading and supporting my work. :)
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Update
Thanks to everyone who purchased Mind Games during the promotion. Hope y'all enjoy it. :)
I'm trying to get the price back to its normal $3.99, but Barnes & Noble hasn't changed it yet. It's been about 24 hours since I submitted the change via D2D. And I can't change the price back on Amazon until B&N changes because I don't want any price-matching shenanigans and resulting nastygram from Amazon. So come on, B&N. Get your act together.
Free downloads of CoV have fallen off a bit lately. Probably just a seasonal thing; a similar pattern happened last year at this time. I've got a promotion planned for later this month, but I might run a bknights or something in the meantime to give a little boost. Still deciding.
Book 3 is mostly proofread now. First 28 chapters are done. Just a few more days.
Google is doing away with Google+. That's fine by me. I think I accidentally uploaded something to it once. I was trying to click on one thing, but then something Google+ loaded and I inadvertently clicked that instead. Just a pain. Good riddance to this nonsense.
Still trying to figure out PublishDrive/Google Play. My product pages are there, but on my PD dashboard, the books are still listed as "on the way."
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. :)
I'm trying to get the price back to its normal $3.99, but Barnes & Noble hasn't changed it yet. It's been about 24 hours since I submitted the change via D2D. And I can't change the price back on Amazon until B&N changes because I don't want any price-matching shenanigans and resulting nastygram from Amazon. So come on, B&N. Get your act together.
Free downloads of CoV have fallen off a bit lately. Probably just a seasonal thing; a similar pattern happened last year at this time. I've got a promotion planned for later this month, but I might run a bknights or something in the meantime to give a little boost. Still deciding.
Book 3 is mostly proofread now. First 28 chapters are done. Just a few more days.
Google is doing away with Google+. That's fine by me. I think I accidentally uploaded something to it once. I was trying to click on one thing, but then something Google+ loaded and I inadvertently clicked that instead. Just a pain. Good riddance to this nonsense.
Still trying to figure out PublishDrive/Google Play. My product pages are there, but on my PD dashboard, the books are still listed as "on the way."
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. :)
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