tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post6286921539954617814..comments2024-03-18T06:16:18.802-05:00Comments on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: ShakenJA Konrathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-43804147229910520122011-02-23T16:20:48.466-06:002011-02-23T16:20:48.466-06:00thanks bowerbird, I can see your points, and thank...thanks bowerbird, I can see your points, and thanks for your comment to all re 2 copies contained within K, and option to turn off switch, and caveats about same. Not at that point yet personally, but useful to those who are ready to launch, I think.dr.cpenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-10564594550622020082011-02-23T14:14:22.412-06:002011-02-23T14:14:22.412-06:00dr. cpe said:
> the first para
> of my ...dr. cpe said:<br />> the first para <br />> of my comment <br />> is me speaking, <br />> the other four paras <br />> should have carried quotes, <br />> as they are from the article <br />> that I gave the link to. <br /><br />ok, duly noted. :+)<br /><br /><br />> About subsidizing, <br />> dont know <br />> if should or could. <br /><br />i strongly believe that _no_<br />subsidizing should be done.<br /><br />this will become a big deal<br />once people start putting<br />audio and video in e-books.<br />(amazon's overall costs will<br />go up, dramatically, when<br />that starts happening...)<br /><br />and if amazon's costs go up,<br />it means that amazon has<br />less money to give authors.<br /><br />so the only _responsible_<br />course of action is to<br />recover those costs from<br />entities who cause them,<br />rather than force everyone<br />to share the burden under<br />the label of "overhead"...<br /><br />this is of special concern<br />to self-publishers, who<br />probably tend toward the<br />all-text books, which are<br />cheap to download, who<br />would thus be expected to<br />share the higher costs of<br />the video that big houses<br />will undoubtedly try to use<br />to "enhance" their e-books.<br /><br /><br />> Although the <br />> 'utilize blockbuster <br />> income to subsidize <br />> smaller runs of <br />> any kind of book, <br />> including comix,' <br />> seems a venerable, <br />> time-tested, and <br />> still viable premise, <br /><br />that works for _one_<br />publisher, to a degree.<br /><br />but it is unfair when<br />that one publisher is<br />expected to subsidize<br />_another_ publisher...<br /><br />so, if your book costs<br />just 5 cents for amazon<br />to download, whereas<br />my book costs 95 cents,<br />why should we _both_ be<br />forced to give up 50 cents<br />out of our "royalties"?<br /><br />that's unfair to you...<br /><br /><br />> though I'd like to <br />> see how this plays out <br />> as prices go down--<br />> if they do-- and <br />> royalty rates go down-- <br />> if they do. <br /><br />there is absolutely<br />no reason to expect<br />that "royalty" rates<br />will go down. none.<br /><br />if anything, they will<br />go _up_. in that vein,<br />it's wise for amazon<br />to recover its costs,<br />which is what it is<br />doing with this fee.<br /><br />amazon _does_ do<br />things that we should<br />be upset about, chief<br />among them being<br />the paltry 35% "royalty"<br />for items under $2.99.<br /><br />but this download fee<br />is _not_ such a thing...<br /><br />***<br /><br />now, having said all that,<br />there is one thing that<br />people here should know.<br /><br />the kindle converter now<br />automatically saves a copy<br />of the original file _inside_<br />the kindle file it generates.<br /><br />that means that it contains<br />_two_ copies of the file...<br /><br />which, of course, doubles<br />the size of the file, and thus<br />doubles the download cost.<br /><br />you can turn that option off.<br />and if your download cost is<br />too high, you should do that.<br />the only down side is that --<br />if amazon switches formats<br />(e.g., to .epub, but please no!)<br />-- then your customers will<br />have to re-download... but<br />that is a down side for them<br />and for amazon, not _you_.<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-10321442832551555992011-02-23T13:24:17.517-06:002011-02-23T13:24:17.517-06:00Joe, maybe you could explain how Amazon markets th...Joe, maybe you could explain how Amazon markets their products and how they decide which products (ebooks) to promote through their recommended list program. If you know.Gary Ponzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13171541464149058048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-81494748604719851822011-02-23T11:14:43.954-06:002011-02-23T11:14:43.954-06:00Does Amazon Encore hire freelance editors, or is e...<i>Does Amazon Encore hire freelance editors, or is everything done in-house? </i><br /><br />I wonder about this, too. My educated guess is that Amazon Encore is using the old BookSurge staff to launch this imprint and provide all the book design and formatting, etc. <br /><br />This may have been Amazon's master plan all along when they bought out CreateSpace and Booksurge in 2009.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-45675404515026080642011-02-23T08:56:27.222-06:002011-02-23T08:56:27.222-06:00My copy came yesterday. Although I'm a new Ki...My copy came yesterday. Although I'm a new Kindle owner my husband still likes the print versions so I ordered it for him. We are both huge fans of the Jack Daniels series and will be sad to see it end. I've especially enjoyed listening to the audio versions of the books.<br /><br />I'm currently working on a project of my own that I hope to self publish someday. The information in this blog has been enormously helpful.<br /><br />Wishing you continued success,<br />Cathy NeumuellerCathy Titus Neumuellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06278967201753020793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-67414231647307444792011-02-23T08:27:56.986-06:002011-02-23T08:27:56.986-06:00Congrats, Joe!
Does Amazon Encore hire freelance ...Congrats, Joe!<br /><br />Does Amazon Encore hire freelance editors, or is everything done in-house? Just wondering.Jude Hardinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994813046526310594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-3219269641713985952011-02-23T07:45:01.351-06:002011-02-23T07:45:01.351-06:00I occasionally have personal documents sent to my ...I occasionally have personal documents sent to my Kindle. Sometimes books that bought elsewhere. Amazon charges me $.15 per MB or any part thereof. I just looked at the charge I paid for Netgalley book-- $.30 for 1.2 MB.Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10489686882998063586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-4877744302519194642011-02-23T06:51:28.143-06:002011-02-23T06:51:28.143-06:00Congratulations, Joe! Diversification is a good th...Congratulations, Joe! Diversification is a good thing.JD Rhoadeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07123361739160525998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-80111054205558081282011-02-23T03:22:55.629-06:002011-02-23T03:22:55.629-06:00@bowerbird... I didnt. (I went back and looked at ...@bowerbird... I didnt. (I went back and looked at my comment and for some reason, it didnt take the quote marks Iplaced there. I did have /do have ongoing, some leg wrassling with open id/ name url in comments here. But, the first para of my comment is me speaking, the other four paras should have carried quotes, as they are from the article that I gave the link to. <br /><br />About subsidizing, dont know if should or could. Although the 'utilize blockbuster income to subsidize smaller runs of any kind of book, including comix,' seems a venerable, time-tested, and still viable premise, not sure that applies to bandwidth use in ebks... though I'd like to see how this plays out as prices go down-- if they do-- and royalty rates go down-- if they do. <br /><br />Most everything Bezos and Co is of interest, I think, to stay on top of the newest policies at Amaz, so we know the field. I sense all the no-nos, fees, deductions in all their varigations ought be analyzed together rather than as only those that apply to what one kind of content provider is concerned with.<br />Just my .02dr.cpenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-59860300055837234382011-02-23T03:12:06.573-06:002011-02-23T03:12:06.573-06:00@Kevin Mc, not sure, but think you'd have to g...@Kevin Mc, not sure, but think you'd have to go direct to the inker guys who seem not wanting to spend one more cent than the download reader charge off/deduction to royalties they say are already in place. Imagine in addition to the link to the long article, there are several articles on the net reflecting pro and con points of view... as well as spec on amateur sites where ink people gather<br /><br />I tend to lean toward watching all of Jeff Bezos policies with all the many kinds of content providers as Amaz unrolls their latest charges. Here we have a joke, that the Vatican might actually be more transparent and with less subtext than Jeff .<br /><br />Gotta have some M.A.S.H. humor in our line of business, I think.dr.cpenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-70257475629185887902011-02-22T22:56:46.419-06:002011-02-22T22:56:46.419-06:00Hey Joe: I work at a newspaper and recently receiv...Hey Joe: I work at a newspaper and recently received your book for review purposes. I was surprised for two reasons -- a) I'm a fan of your blog and I wasn't expecting to see one of your PHYSICAL books on the review pile and b)I saw the Amazon logo and wondered who was responsible for the actual marketing and PR of the title...<br /><br />In any case, I hope the print version treats you well. I, too, look forward to diggin' in at some point.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11413377601369107260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-48245448682583770332011-02-22T20:55:07.162-06:002011-02-22T20:55:07.162-06:00Hey, Dr.CPE?
Are comics really that bad on Kindle?...Hey, Dr.CPE?<br />Are comics really that bad on Kindle? Used to do digital art for games, myself, so I did a little playing after reading your post. I'm getting compressed image pages of about 50-70kB per page, which means 14-20 pages per 15 cent charge.<br /><br />Crank it up to 3mB at 45 cents, and you've got a 50-60 page book. Sell it at $2.99 and you're bringing home $1.65 per sale, which is pretty darned good income at that price point. I'm not seeing a problem with that - am I missing something there?KevinMchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01965779928268962182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-11574166736729610392011-02-22T18:25:27.688-06:002011-02-22T18:25:27.688-06:00Sometimes, I wish I'd had the marketing sense ...Sometimes, I wish I'd had the marketing sense to publish my book on my own. But I don't have the connections that my publisher does. <br /><br />Maybe someday.amberargylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058327741777322247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-41475325822930086592011-02-22T18:19:10.676-06:002011-02-22T18:19:10.676-06:00Love this cover, Joe. Congrats! Wishing you many s...Love this cover, Joe. Congrats! Wishing you many sales.Selena Blakehttp://site.selena-blake.com/category/adventures-in-publishing/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-74108950425816556552011-02-22T18:14:55.358-06:002011-02-22T18:14:55.358-06:00Ah this is the novel that infamous PW article clai...Ah this is the novel that infamous PW article claimed you were not quite self publishing, but not "really" publishing. Seems like a different world back then. Or maybe it's just that my eyes see differently.<br /><br />Stephen Prosapio<br />author, DREAM WARAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-85178880787722701782011-02-22T17:42:20.260-06:002011-02-22T17:42:20.260-06:00dr. cpe said:
> graphic novels have
> a...dr. cpe said:<br />> graphic novels have <br />> a much higher bandwidth, <br />> and could be forced into a <br />> lower payment/royalty rate <br />> and higher list price <br />> because of their file size, <br />> directly because of <br />> these Amazon fees<br /><br />the fee sounds fair to me.<br /><br />bandwidth is a real cost.<br /><br />so why should authors <br />who use very little of it <br />be forced to subsidize<br />authors who use a lot?<br /><br />-bowerbirdbowerbirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05962115094107919533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-6090768205410116742011-02-22T16:28:00.895-06:002011-02-22T16:28:00.895-06:00re Amazon fiddling with charges to authors: for th...re Amazon fiddling with charges to authors: for those of us who have much graphic content, this may be of interest to stay on top of so we know the field; it's over at publisher's weakly, sorry, I mean publishers weekly.<br /><br />In the comics world, most of the digital conversation is about comic books as apps for tablets and smart phones, with the iPad and iPhone getting the most attention. <br /><br />However, while there is a nascent market for comics on e-book readers like the Kindle and B&N’s color device, the Nook, Amazon’s recently introduced digital “delivery fee,” charging publishers 15 cents per megabyte to transfer a book’s file to the Kindle, has forced some comics publishers to rethink using the Kindle platform.<br /> <br />While novels are text-based and unlikely to run up a delivery charge much over $0.02, graphic novels have a much higher bandwidth, and could be forced into a lower payment/royalty rate and higher list price because of their file size, directly because of these Amazon fees. In addition, Amazon also has a recommended file size which affects graphic novel pricing.<br /> <br />An Amazon spokesperson explains that the $0.15/MB charge applies to the wireless charges associated with the Kindle and that the charge “roughly covers [Amazon’s] costs of delivery.”<br /><br />http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/46244-kindle-we-have-a-problem-amazon-s-pricing-policies-affect-publishers-.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Comics+Week&utm_campaign=6e92e28585-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=emaildr.cpenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-5834613343832509882011-02-22T16:25:23.866-06:002011-02-22T16:25:23.866-06:00congratulations Joe: The Triple crown aint just fo...congratulations Joe: The Triple crown aint just for horses.<br /><br />I understand about the propriety of mentioning royalties publicly. I sense they were as some of the old time gentlemanly agents used to say when they'd pulled off a great contract... "it is a nice deal."<br /><br />dr.cpedr.cpenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-40647538805779969852011-02-22T15:57:15.736-06:002011-02-22T15:57:15.736-06:00Congratz Joe - I found it very interesting that Am...Congratz Joe - I found it very interesting that Amazon released in ebook format first then the print later - kind of like the hardcover/paperback days of old.<br /><br />I'm not sure how much bookstore presense AmazonEncore does - but I'll look for it at some of my local stores just to see if they are stocking. I already bought kindle version.<br /><br />Robin | <a href="http://www.write2publish.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Write2Publish</a> | <a href="http://www.ridanpublishing.com/michaelsullivan.html" rel="nofollow">Michael J. Sullivan's Writings </a>Robin Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00613910688999698522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-9190862924467294112011-02-22T15:54:21.661-06:002011-02-22T15:54:21.661-06:00Kelli Perry said...
Places like AmazonEncore look...<i> Kelli Perry said... <br />Places like AmazonEncore look like the future, but from what I've heard, they're closed to submissions. </i><br /><br />I wasn't aware they were ever "open to submissions". The way I understood AmazonEncore is they "tap you" based on a solid track record of sales.<br /><br />Robin | <a href="http://www.write2publish.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Write2Publish</a> | <a href="http://www.ridanpublishing.com/michaelsullivan.html" rel="nofollow">Michael J. Sullivan's Writings </a>Robin Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00613910688999698522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-61401713702911058602011-02-22T15:51:26.535-06:002011-02-22T15:51:26.535-06:00Hi Joe,
Congrats on the deal with AmazonEncore. T...Hi Joe,<br /><br />Congrats on the deal with AmazonEncore. Though I tend to lurk on here more than comment, I just wanted to say thanks for putting all of this information out there for us newbies. After a lot of thought, I've decided to take the plunge. I will be putting out the series of books that I have been working on for the last four years. The traditional route has gotten me nowhere despite much positive feedback on my work so I'm going digital. See you in silicon heaven and keep up the great work with the blog.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />GregG.R. Yeateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10242249395438588449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-87737767541681090212011-02-22T15:10:10.596-06:002011-02-22T15:10:10.596-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Kendall Swanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18187117992380108891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-59126334772784432672011-02-22T15:09:50.922-06:002011-02-22T15:09:50.922-06:00Too bad you can't disclose the details. But l...Too bad you can't disclose the details. But like Helen said, I'm sure if it made you happy enough to not self publish, then it must have been a great deal. The Amazon Marketing Machine would be an AMAZING asset for any title. <br /><br />I still need to read the rest of the series first. <i>Whiskey Sour</i> is in my tbr pile. But I do look forward to reading it as I have loved your shorter works (including Serial). <br /><br />Thanks for the blog. I look forward to every post. <br /><br />Kendall <br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002MH3PK6" rel="nofollow">NAKED Cheerleader and Other Stories</a>Kendall Swanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18187117992380108891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-55041117227470841522011-02-22T14:23:30.759-06:002011-02-22T14:23:30.759-06:00No one bit. I went on to write some other books, g...<i>No one bit. I went on to write some other books, got a little bit of traction with ebook sales, and then got an offer for SHAKEN from a major publisher.</i><br /><br />Yet another example of the way everything seems too hard to market -- until someone successfully markets it. Then it becomes an obvious Good Idea. Gumption gets people places!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11865524260060421873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-16426121997686411102011-02-22T14:01:09.635-06:002011-02-22T14:01:09.635-06:00Congratulations! I'm sure making you pleased ...Congratulations! I'm sure making you pleased contained a fair number of zeros. Seeing your characters live on must also count in the tally.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13922434004092399756noreply@blogger.com