By
Scott D Parker
So on 1 May, I tried something: I advertised my books. It wasn't like I've never done it before. I've had people review my novels and the stories ever since I begin publishing them in 2015. I have promoted them on Facebook, Twitter, my own blog, and the blogs of other folks. Some have even been nominated for awards, giving those stories a little extra push.
But until this past Monday, I have never actually purchased any advertising. I now have.
On 1 May, I relaunched my re-branded westerns, all now having S. D. Parker listed as the author. And, as a further experiment, I put them in Kindle Unlimited. At this stage of my career, it seems like a good time to try going solely with Kindle. Lastly, I bought my first Facebook ad. I have hit publish for eight stories so far. That first one was scary, the one with butterflies in my stomach. Pretty much every other story I have published since then was exciting, but not nearly as exciting as that first book. I had an equal type of reaction when I clicked promote on that Facebook ad. It was exciting, a little scary, but mostly it was thrilling.
Later on this past week, I also began running ads on Amazon itself. The irony is that a mere three days after that Facebook ad, I had no issues hitting promote on Amazon's site. I guess you could call that experience.
The results were not immediate on the Facebook ad. Let's be honest: most of us have a vision that when we submit an advertisement, the readers will pour in. That never happens of course. This publishing business is long term. Sure there are some overnight sensations, but for the vast majority of us, we are in it for the long-haul, the slow burn and build up of awareness by readers of our work.
The Amazon ads, however, produced some immediate results. On the first day I ran the ads, I earned some page reads. The day after, a little more. I am not one of those people who checks their sales ranking constantly throughout the day. I am a writer. Therefore I write. But it was fantastic to see movement.
So for all you fellow independent writers out there, what type of advertisements do you run? Where have you had success?
Showing posts with label kindle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kindle. Show all posts
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Reading Resolution: 2016
First off, no, I'm not copying Steve. His Thursday column was about reading more in 2016. Turns out, that's my resolution as well. I used to make writing goals, but I've discovered my groove with writing, so I no longer have to do that. Now, I just need to read more.
On the recent podcast from Kobo Writing Life, they interview Michael Connelly. He mentions that he would like to read more. Because, let's face it: when we writers are actively writing, we can sometimes let the reading half of our lives lapse. I know I do.
Up to now, when I write a new tale, I tend to read something similar. That's not to get 'ideas' but to stay in a certain type of mindset. When I write a western, I want to read a western. It would be a tad difficult to read a modern technical thriller while writing a novel about the Old West. I suppose some writers can do that, but I choose not to.
Having said that, it's nice that my upcoming writing schedule should enable me to read westerns, modern mysteries, and World War II thrillers. (That's what is called a hint at what Quadrant Fiction Studio will be publishing this year.)
But I want to read more broadly as well. Again, I tend to find those genres and authors I like and just stay there. I'd like to discover a new-to-me author this year. I'd also like to keep more up-to-date with the modern mystery and crime fiction field. My eyes see so many books in all the various sources from which I consume content that it all becomes a blur. Then it becomes overwhelming and I don't know where to start.
Well, thanks to my Kindle Paperwhite, I have one place to start. "Kindle First" is a program for Prime members where you can download one free new book per month. Now, it's not *any* book, but one of 6 the editors have selected. Fine by me considering I know where to find the books and authors I already know. This way, I will have 6 likely new-to-me books/authors from which to choose. Here's January's list.
I'm not going to pledge anything. Reading isn't like NaNoWriMo. I can't read faster than my already moderate pace. Plus, I don't have a lot of time for reading. But I will certainly read more books. And I'll keep track of them, likely on my author website. More details on that forthcoming. But I don't want to just add books to the To Be Read pile. I plan on actually reading them. I know I won't end 2016 having read all that I want to read, but I aim to keep the pile manageable.
So, surely Steve and I aren't the only ones who want to read more. What are y'all doing to read more books in 2016?
On the recent podcast from Kobo Writing Life, they interview Michael Connelly. He mentions that he would like to read more. Because, let's face it: when we writers are actively writing, we can sometimes let the reading half of our lives lapse. I know I do.
Up to now, when I write a new tale, I tend to read something similar. That's not to get 'ideas' but to stay in a certain type of mindset. When I write a western, I want to read a western. It would be a tad difficult to read a modern technical thriller while writing a novel about the Old West. I suppose some writers can do that, but I choose not to.
Having said that, it's nice that my upcoming writing schedule should enable me to read westerns, modern mysteries, and World War II thrillers. (That's what is called a hint at what Quadrant Fiction Studio will be publishing this year.)
But I want to read more broadly as well. Again, I tend to find those genres and authors I like and just stay there. I'd like to discover a new-to-me author this year. I'd also like to keep more up-to-date with the modern mystery and crime fiction field. My eyes see so many books in all the various sources from which I consume content that it all becomes a blur. Then it becomes overwhelming and I don't know where to start.
Well, thanks to my Kindle Paperwhite, I have one place to start. "Kindle First" is a program for Prime members where you can download one free new book per month. Now, it's not *any* book, but one of 6 the editors have selected. Fine by me considering I know where to find the books and authors I already know. This way, I will have 6 likely new-to-me books/authors from which to choose. Here's January's list.
I'm not going to pledge anything. Reading isn't like NaNoWriMo. I can't read faster than my already moderate pace. Plus, I don't have a lot of time for reading. But I will certainly read more books. And I'll keep track of them, likely on my author website. More details on that forthcoming. But I don't want to just add books to the To Be Read pile. I plan on actually reading them. I know I won't end 2016 having read all that I want to read, but I aim to keep the pile manageable.
So, surely Steve and I aren't the only ones who want to read more. What are y'all doing to read more books in 2016?
Monday, March 21, 2011
Come Sail Away
Shhhh.
Who can deny the brilliant execution of Copperhead Road?
Or the execution of The Rising?
Within the next few days, SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES should be live and available of Amazon's Kindle story for 99 cents. I'm in the home stretch, hoping to catch any technical formatting glitches first, but will update my website as soon as the book's available. Look for more information Friday when I guest blog here.
Come closer.
That's it. Just lean in a little bit more. Wait.
Are you sure you're alone?
Just take a quick peek.... No, I won't talk louder. This is going to be our little secret.
It's just us?
Okay. Lean over. Let me whisper in your ear. Ready?
I'm sick of formulaic $h!t.
And it's all Brian's fault.
The other day, we were driving home and a song came on the radio. One Brian wanted to hear. We were close to the house, so he ended up driving around for a while so that he could make it to that moment. You know the one. That identifiable moment in a song when it kicks into high gear and grabs you.
Man, I love it when a song does that for me. Starts off slow, quiet. Lures you in, gets you inside it, and then BAM! It has you by the throat and won't let go. And I bet every single person reading this can think of a song like that, a song that gets them every time. For Brian, it was Come Sail Away. For me, King of Pain.
Amongst others. The more subtle touch of L'Affaire Dumoutier...
Who can deny the brilliant execution of Copperhead Road?
Or the execution of The Rising?
As we drove around just so that Brian could hear the song kick into high gear, it got me thinking, and it got me thinking about formula, predictability, and ultimately, writing.
Yes, there are limits to how we can approach telling a story, but why is it every blurb or review seems to suggest the action starts word 1, page 1, and doesn't let up until the end? Why, especially in crime fiction, is there so much pressure on that opening line of the book? Grab your reader in 30 seconds, or you won't get a chance to grab them at all?
Is everyone reading crime afflicted with ADHD?
Hey, I really don't mean to be too flip about that. Outside of writing, most of my adult life has been spent working with students who have ADHD, amongst other challenges. But I think that's what doubly frustrates me when it comes to the writing. No, I don't think a book should be completely boring and pointless and spend page upon page meandering to nowhere at the beginning...
But is the idea of heating steadily to a boil really such a bad thing?
Sandra Seamans and I seemed to be having the similar thoughts.
I adore those writers, too. I want to get something in my hands that's fresh. All too often, I think new writers are under the wrong pressure, to define themselves by having a character with some quirk or distinction that's going to set them apart. It's becoming more of the same. Got to be an alcoholic or a pill popper or a narcoleptic or suffering from a chronic skin fungus...
When was the last time you read a book with a protagonist who actually sounded kind of, you know, normal? When was the last time you read about a main character who got along with his mother, or liked something normal, like sports, or actually took a day off? Is it possible to present such a character in a compelling story that doesn't have to follow the Three Act Structure?
Several years ago, I took a creative writing diploma. I now tutor aspiring writers for the same school. As a student, I eventually learned that I had to throw some of the curriculum advice out the window and do things my own way. I realized that they had to teach us to pre-plot novels, because you can. Teaching someone to write by the seat of their pants? Almost impossible.
Here's how it happened. I'd started a manuscript. I was feeling pretty good about it. My tutor had nothing but good things to say. I'd done what I was told, outlined it, and written the opening chapters. I was about 90 pages along when I moved.
And lost the outline. And got discouraged. And convinced myself the manuscript wasn't worth finishing.
It was almost a year before I went back to the pages I'd written, and had to admit that they were pretty good. Why shouldn't I finish the book?
No outline.
Okay. So I went to the text of what I'd written, and decided to figure things out as I went along. I have no idea what I originally intended the story to be, who was guilty of what and how it all unfolded, but I finished it.
My first finished manuscript. (Because there's another that's about three pages from being done that actually predates this, but remains unfinished to this day.)
Then I edited it. And edited some more. And kept tweaking. I added a whole subplot on the third draft.
I've been thinking about that first finished manuscript a lot lately, because I recently regained my rights to the book. Yes, it was my first published book. It won a writing contest, placed in another international competition, and enabled me (after countless rejections) to finally land an agent and a bigger publisher.
When I started going over the manuscript a few weeks ago to reformat it for Kindle release, I went through all the usual thoughts authors have when they read an earlier work. What was I thinking? That's a bit wordy.
I also had some other thoughts, about the fact that I'd featured two protagonists who were genuinely decent people. Real. The kind of people who really could live next door, and you'd like them if they did. They're... normal.
But I don't think they're boring, and while the book may not start off with a cop chasing a perp down a dark alley with a gun, or the discovery of a body, or an assault, I think that's a good thing.
It starts off different. Subtle. Quiet. It starts off with a bit of bass before it lets loose on the drums.
Every time I sit down to write, I try to push myself to do something different. Even if I only change one thing in my approach to the character or the storytelling, my goal is to never grow complacent. I'm sick of having next to nothing to watch on TV because it's predictable, and I'm tired of formulaic books.
And now that SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES is legally free and clear and back in my hands, I can admit I'm proud of my debut. Sure, I wish I knew some of the writing tricks I know now back when I was writing it, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a book that's unlike anything I was reading at the time, and stands on its own, with two protagonists I'm hoping to spend more time with again very soon.
Within the next few days, SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES should be live and available of Amazon's Kindle story for 99 cents. I'm in the home stretch, hoping to catch any technical formatting glitches first, but will update my website as soon as the book's available. Look for more information Friday when I guest blog here.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Some Doings
So, thanks to the kind people at Needle Magazine--coughandweddlecough--I'm going to be putting almost all the old Jackson Donne stories up for the Kindle. Here's the link to check out the official announcement.
The intro was written by one of my favorite writers, Mr. Ray Banks. And Weddle got on me to write an afterword for the anthology. Here's a taste:
“Closure” is when it all clicked.
I didn’t realize it then—probably didn’t even realize it completely until I started looking over the stories for this collection. But that’s where it all started to come together for both Jackson Donne as a character and me as a writer.
What’s funny is, the story almost didn’t see the light of day. I wrote it for myself, just as a way to deal with 9/11. Like most, I had a lot rolling around in my head and I just needed to get it out. It sat on my hard drive for probably three months, before I finally showed it to someone, and finally sent it to an editor.
Before that story, Donne was just another PI. Vaguely self-destructive, but beyond that not too much to him. A regular old tough guy. But after Donne sees what another person who lost of loved one went through, he starts to change. Wake up.
I realized that the stories needed to be more about Donne, the character. They couldn’t be about Donne solving the case. They had to be about how the case affected him. “Get Miles Away” had to do with Donne trying to date again. Simple, but not really.
The anthology should be released next week. So for Valentine's Day... fall in love with Mr. Donne all over again.
The intro was written by one of my favorite writers, Mr. Ray Banks. And Weddle got on me to write an afterword for the anthology. Here's a taste:
“Closure” is when it all clicked.
I didn’t realize it then—probably didn’t even realize it completely until I started looking over the stories for this collection. But that’s where it all started to come together for both Jackson Donne as a character and me as a writer.
What’s funny is, the story almost didn’t see the light of day. I wrote it for myself, just as a way to deal with 9/11. Like most, I had a lot rolling around in my head and I just needed to get it out. It sat on my hard drive for probably three months, before I finally showed it to someone, and finally sent it to an editor.
Before that story, Donne was just another PI. Vaguely self-destructive, but beyond that not too much to him. A regular old tough guy. But after Donne sees what another person who lost of loved one went through, he starts to change. Wake up.
I realized that the stories needed to be more about Donne, the character. They couldn’t be about Donne solving the case. They had to be about how the case affected him. “Get Miles Away” had to do with Donne trying to date again. Simple, but not really.
The anthology should be released next week. So for Valentine's Day... fall in love with Mr. Donne all over again.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Zen and the Art of Book Browsing
By Steve Weddle
If you're like me and my pal Clark, then you enjoy browsing.
Here's what Saturdays are like at the Weddle cabin. We head into town for some Chinese food and bookstore trips.
This weekend, I grabbed some Tom Franklin, Haruki Murakami, and Lawrence Block. The rest of the family came out empty-handed.
And here's how this happens. I went in looking just to look. Everyone else was looking for something in particular. A certain series. A certain author.
This is one of those used bookstores in which the people are nice, polite, and completely overwhelmed. Not unhelpful so much as unable to provide help. Maybe that's the same thing. I'll never know because no one knew where the dictionaries were.
You ask for a certain author. Rick Riordan. Harry Harrison. Sally Jenkins.
Nice Bookselling Person: "Hmm. I think we had something."
Me: "Ah, OK. Where could I find the Riordan."
NBP: "You looking for a certain series?"
Me: "Percy Jackson."
NBP: That's over in the corner with the children's books.
Me: Sure. That's where I looked. I was having a tough time. How are they organized.
NBP: The children's books are in that corner.
Me: Yeah. I got that whole "in the corner" part. But they're just kinda piled up. I thought they might be in alphabetical order.
NBP: Hahaha. Yeah. That would be great. We haven't had time to get to that.
Me: Ah, sure. Well, do you have a section where I might find a book on organizing? I was thinking of getting it for this business-woman I just met.
NBP: Back in the far corner with the self-help. Should be a couple of boxes marked self-help.
---
Lucky for me, though, I wasn't looking for anything. So I found some great books. Which is an experience that the Kindle has kinda ruined for me. I don't go into stores as often, and when I do, sometimes I figure I'll just download the book onto my Kindle and read it there. Though I still buy more than my fair share of dead-tree books. If you've seen my shelves, you know this. I browse. I buy.
And if you have an ereader, you know how painful browsing the online stores is if you do it from your device. I try not to do that. Slow. Cumbersome. Tougher to navigate than a family funeral when you're three drinks in and thought the deceased was a bit of an asshole.
Online, though. That's crazy.
Here's how ebook shopping is killing my browsing in stores.
I had an agenda set up for bookstore shopping--@bookstore. A little list, via GTD. So when someone would say something cool about a book, I'd make a note in that list. Then when I was in a bookstore, I'd go to that list and look at the book. Then I'd buy the book and add it to the pile I'd never get to.
I love the walking through bookstores. I love the picking up of books. The moving around the aisles. Talking to bookstore people who are organized and knowledgeable. Taking a few books to a comfy chair and deciding which one to buy with my birthday money.
I'd thought many folks like this. Maybe they don't. Maybe they like the browsing, but not the buying. Maybe that's why The Mystery Bookstore is shutting down.
Online browsing is much different. Someone says "check out Tom Franklin" and I hit the Googles, the Amazons, the IndieBound. I ask on Twitter. I keep an eye open on the blogs I follow. I email. I ask around. I read some reviews. I read the author's wikipedia page. Sometimes I hit the author's own web site or twitter feed. Sometimes to disastrous results.
Then I can add the author to my book list or click an online bookstore if I want a physical book. Or just download the mofo right to my Kindle and start reading.
My lovely bride says she'd prefer to shop in the bookstore because she likes to thumb through the book, read the first pages, see what she thinks.
I like the idea of downloading the first chapter and reading that to decide whether I want to read the rest of the book. I want to browse around the internet and see if the author seems like a nice person. Because I don't care how good the book is. What I want to do is pretend that the author and I could play cribbage together and be good friends. I kid, but one of the big reasons people buy books is because they think the author is a nice person. Check out this study (pdf) from the Sisters In Crime people.
Another goofy piece from that study is what people who responded said would get to buy more books. Better novels? Would two Dennis Lehane books this year do it? Would more collections of short stories? A novella bouncing off of a novel? What would be the top reason folks would buy more books? I know, more time in the week. If you got an extra day in the weekend, you'd read more, right? Er, no. Not better books. Not more books. Not more better books. Not more time. The number one thing that would make people buy more books. Lower prices!! You know, like socks.
What would make me buy more books is this -- the ability to find more books that I like. How can I do that? I can do that in your poorly organized store if I have time. I can do that on the internet if I have time. I can do that by word-of-mouth if you're helpful.
Years ago, I'd wander around a bookstore browsing books, reading blurbs and first pages. Now I wander around the internet, reading reviews and first chapters before deciding whether to order or download the book.
So I came home this weekend with three book I hadn't read. I'll start one soon, though. In a bit. I just downloaded the NYT Book Review to my Kindle. Wonder what looks good today.
If you're like me and my pal Clark, then you enjoy browsing.
This weekend, I grabbed some Tom Franklin, Haruki Murakami, and Lawrence Block. The rest of the family came out empty-handed.
And here's how this happens. I went in looking just to look. Everyone else was looking for something in particular. A certain series. A certain author.
This is one of those used bookstores in which the people are nice, polite, and completely overwhelmed. Not unhelpful so much as unable to provide help. Maybe that's the same thing. I'll never know because no one knew where the dictionaries were.
You ask for a certain author. Rick Riordan. Harry Harrison. Sally Jenkins.
Nice Bookselling Person: "Hmm. I think we had something."
Me: "Ah, OK. Where could I find the Riordan."
NBP: "You looking for a certain series?"
Me: "Percy Jackson."
NBP: That's over in the corner with the children's books.
Me: Sure. That's where I looked. I was having a tough time. How are they organized.
NBP: The children's books are in that corner.
Me: Yeah. I got that whole "in the corner" part. But they're just kinda piled up. I thought they might be in alphabetical order.
NBP: Hahaha. Yeah. That would be great. We haven't had time to get to that.
Me: Ah, sure. Well, do you have a section where I might find a book on organizing? I was thinking of getting it for this business-woman I just met.
NBP: Back in the far corner with the self-help. Should be a couple of boxes marked self-help.
---
Lucky for me, though, I wasn't looking for anything. So I found some great books. Which is an experience that the Kindle has kinda ruined for me. I don't go into stores as often, and when I do, sometimes I figure I'll just download the book onto my Kindle and read it there. Though I still buy more than my fair share of dead-tree books. If you've seen my shelves, you know this. I browse. I buy.
And if you have an ereader, you know how painful browsing the online stores is if you do it from your device. I try not to do that. Slow. Cumbersome. Tougher to navigate than a family funeral when you're three drinks in and thought the deceased was a bit of an asshole.
Online, though. That's crazy.
Here's how ebook shopping is killing my browsing in stores.
I had an agenda set up for bookstore shopping--@bookstore. A little list, via GTD. So when someone would say something cool about a book, I'd make a note in that list. Then when I was in a bookstore, I'd go to that list and look at the book. Then I'd buy the book and add it to the pile I'd never get to.
I love the walking through bookstores. I love the picking up of books. The moving around the aisles. Talking to bookstore people who are organized and knowledgeable. Taking a few books to a comfy chair and deciding which one to buy with my birthday money.
I'd thought many folks like this. Maybe they don't. Maybe they like the browsing, but not the buying. Maybe that's why The Mystery Bookstore is shutting down.
Online browsing is much different. Someone says "check out Tom Franklin" and I hit the Googles, the Amazons, the IndieBound. I ask on Twitter. I keep an eye open on the blogs I follow. I email. I ask around. I read some reviews. I read the author's wikipedia page. Sometimes I hit the author's own web site or twitter feed. Sometimes to disastrous results.
Then I can add the author to my book list or click an online bookstore if I want a physical book. Or just download the mofo right to my Kindle and start reading.
My lovely bride says she'd prefer to shop in the bookstore because she likes to thumb through the book, read the first pages, see what she thinks.
I like the idea of downloading the first chapter and reading that to decide whether I want to read the rest of the book. I want to browse around the internet and see if the author seems like a nice person. Because I don't care how good the book is. What I want to do is pretend that the author and I could play cribbage together and be good friends. I kid, but one of the big reasons people buy books is because they think the author is a nice person. Check out this study (pdf) from the Sisters In Crime people.
Another goofy piece from that study is what people who responded said would get to buy more books. Better novels? Would two Dennis Lehane books this year do it? Would more collections of short stories? A novella bouncing off of a novel? What would be the top reason folks would buy more books? I know, more time in the week. If you got an extra day in the weekend, you'd read more, right? Er, no. Not better books. Not more books. Not more better books. Not more time. The number one thing that would make people buy more books. Lower prices!! You know, like socks.
What would make me buy more books is this -- the ability to find more books that I like. How can I do that? I can do that in your poorly organized store if I have time. I can do that on the internet if I have time. I can do that by word-of-mouth if you're helpful.
Years ago, I'd wander around a bookstore browsing books, reading blurbs and first pages. Now I wander around the internet, reading reviews and first chapters before deciding whether to order or download the book.
So I came home this weekend with three book I hadn't read. I'll start one soon, though. In a bit. I just downloaded the NYT Book Review to my Kindle. Wonder what looks good today.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Ebooks: A Whole New Playing Field
By Steve Weddle
Yesterday, Joelle Charbonneau took a look at the books that pass through the gates of the publishing industry versus those that go straight to the reader. Her insightful post is here.
Joelle, whose delightful debut novel was published by Minotaur (a Macmillan imprint), was using the recent Amazon pedophile ebook horror as a jumping-off point. And, speaking of Joelle's publisher, the Weddles picked up a number of Macmillan/Minotaur titles at the bookfair this weekend. Duane Swierczynski. Ken Bruen. Ian Rankin. How cool is that? I love these folks. Heck, I think the only book I got that wasn't from Minotaur was a Steven Brust novel on Tor. Hooray for Minotaur.
Joelle's argument about having editors and publishers help select what goes to market is a solid argument. I'm glad Big Publishing decides what goes to market, how many are printed, and how they are distributed. If not for that, I wouldn't have been able to get 32 books for about $30 yesterday. All hail the marketplace.
I picked up a handful of Scott Wolven books at a bookfair this year. Some copies of John McFetridge's Dirty Sweet, too. And some Jim Thompson. And a ton of those fancy re-issues of Nabokov that Vintage did. You know, the ones with the expensive, pretty covers.
And if I'd wanted to build a bridge from here to Terabithia with copies of Franzen's new literary masterpiece, I could have done so at the bookfair for right around nine dollars.
Having so many books available from big publishers is great.
I'm not here to bury Caesar; I'm here to say that Brutus guy has some cool ideas, too.
Check out Chris F. Holm's fantastic short story collection, 8 Pounds. Chris took his award-winning and published stories, edited them for the Kindle format, got a gorgeous cover from John Hornor Jacobs, and started selling that ebook on Amazon for 99 cents. The book contains the Spinetingler-Award-winning "Seven Days of Rain," Derringer-Award finalist "The Big Score," and "The World Behind," which originally appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. You can't do that with big publishers. Why? Because Traditional Publishing tells us that short story collections don't sell. Except, you know, they do. Because I buy them when available -- as 99 cent downloads. And you buy them. Chris has been selling the Kindle collection pretty well as word of mouth keeps them moving. And he doesn't have to pay to print 10,000. Or have them stored in a warehouse. Or have them shipped to a bookfair in nine months to sell for a dollar each.
How about Discount Noir, a collection Patti Abbott and I put together with stories from more than 40 fantastic authors? Flash pieces about blood and murder in a big discount store. No big publisher wants that. A book of 45,000 words? That's tough to move off the shelves. Unless there are no shelves.
Traditional publishing works great for many things. I was in a bookstore last week just walking around, not planning to buy anything, and picked up Daniel Woodrell's Tomato Red. Without the physical store, I probably never would have run across the copy. But, dang, what a good book. Hooray for Busted Flush Press. And hooray for traditional publishing
Ink on paper works great. That's one reason we started Needle: A Magazine of Noir. Because the physical book is still a wonderful thing. And the big houses and the independent publishers know how to make this work.
But, you know, once we decided on the national level that all our citizens needed to be able to read and write, we pretty much opened things up for self-publishing. Everyone writes.
Just ask Charles Bukowski:
"and-
he WRITES TOO.
POETRY, of
course. everybody
writes
poetry.
he has plenty of time and a
postoffice box in town
and he drives there 3 or 4 times a day
looking and hoping for accepted
poems."
Everybody writes and everyone can put out ebooks. Fine. Everyone can make pizza, too. Doesn't mean I wouldn't rather have pizza from Vinny's than that crappy canned-sauce spread on canned-dough crap you and your kids made for "together time" last weekend.
The point is this -- Having ebooks as an option seems pretty cool to me, especially for those collections that traditional publishing doesn't want to handle. This allows us a Chris F. Holm collection. Discount Noir. A really cool sperm-bank-thieving collection from our own Byron Quertermous. And John McFetridge's own excellent collection of stories here. (pdf download)
Are ebooks the solution? Heck, I'm not sure what the problem is. Ebooks aren't the reason all those people got fired when Dan Brown's new book was late. The problem there was that publishing is set up for the next bestseller, not the mid-list authors. This isn't news to anyone. This is How It Works, you know? If I'm the next bestseller, that's how the damn thing should work.
But the other way it works now is this -- if Chris F. Holm wants to collect his stories, now he has a way. He can do that himself, relying on the quality of the work, the prior periodical publication of those stories, and word of mouth. And that works out just fine.
Traditional publishing is great for so many things, but we're in a time now in which ebooks offer us options that we have to be ready for, another outlet for books traditional publishing isn't interested in.
Oh, one more thing. The Do Some Damage collection of airport stories is available this week -- for Kindle over at Amazon. The book is called TERMINAL DAMAGE and you might be able to find it here. I uploaded this ebook on Sunday and it will take until Monday to become available. Which seems like a long time, you know, in the ebook world.
Yesterday, Joelle Charbonneau took a look at the books that pass through the gates of the publishing industry versus those that go straight to the reader. Her insightful post is here.
Joelle, whose delightful debut novel was published by Minotaur (a Macmillan imprint), was using the recent Amazon pedophile ebook horror as a jumping-off point. And, speaking of Joelle's publisher, the Weddles picked up a number of Macmillan/Minotaur titles at the bookfair this weekend. Duane Swierczynski. Ken Bruen. Ian Rankin. How cool is that? I love these folks. Heck, I think the only book I got that wasn't from Minotaur was a Steven Brust novel on Tor. Hooray for Minotaur.
Joelle's argument about having editors and publishers help select what goes to market is a solid argument. I'm glad Big Publishing decides what goes to market, how many are printed, and how they are distributed. If not for that, I wouldn't have been able to get 32 books for about $30 yesterday. All hail the marketplace.
I picked up a handful of Scott Wolven books at a bookfair this year. Some copies of John McFetridge's Dirty Sweet, too. And some Jim Thompson. And a ton of those fancy re-issues of Nabokov that Vintage did. You know, the ones with the expensive, pretty covers.
Having so many books available from big publishers is great.
I'm not here to bury Caesar; I'm here to say that Brutus guy has some cool ideas, too.
Check out Chris F. Holm's fantastic short story collection, 8 Pounds. Chris took his award-winning and published stories, edited them for the Kindle format, got a gorgeous cover from John Hornor Jacobs, and started selling that ebook on Amazon for 99 cents. The book contains the Spinetingler-Award-winning "Seven Days of Rain," Derringer-Award finalist "The Big Score," and "The World Behind," which originally appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. You can't do that with big publishers. Why? Because Traditional Publishing tells us that short story collections don't sell. Except, you know, they do. Because I buy them when available -- as 99 cent downloads. And you buy them. Chris has been selling the Kindle collection pretty well as word of mouth keeps them moving. And he doesn't have to pay to print 10,000. Or have them stored in a warehouse. Or have them shipped to a bookfair in nine months to sell for a dollar each.
How about Discount Noir, a collection Patti Abbott and I put together with stories from more than 40 fantastic authors? Flash pieces about blood and murder in a big discount store. No big publisher wants that. A book of 45,000 words? That's tough to move off the shelves. Unless there are no shelves.
Traditional publishing works great for many things. I was in a bookstore last week just walking around, not planning to buy anything, and picked up Daniel Woodrell's Tomato Red. Without the physical store, I probably never would have run across the copy. But, dang, what a good book. Hooray for Busted Flush Press. And hooray for traditional publishing
Ink on paper works great. That's one reason we started Needle: A Magazine of Noir. Because the physical book is still a wonderful thing. And the big houses and the independent publishers know how to make this work.
But, you know, once we decided on the national level that all our citizens needed to be able to read and write, we pretty much opened things up for self-publishing. Everyone writes.
Just ask Charles Bukowski:
"and-
he WRITES TOO.
POETRY, of
course. everybody
writes
poetry.
he has plenty of time and a
postoffice box in town
and he drives there 3 or 4 times a day
looking and hoping for accepted
poems."
Everybody writes and everyone can put out ebooks. Fine. Everyone can make pizza, too. Doesn't mean I wouldn't rather have pizza from Vinny's than that crappy canned-sauce spread on canned-dough crap you and your kids made for "together time" last weekend.
The point is this -- Having ebooks as an option seems pretty cool to me, especially for those collections that traditional publishing doesn't want to handle. This allows us a Chris F. Holm collection. Discount Noir. A really cool sperm-bank-thieving collection from our own Byron Quertermous. And John McFetridge's own excellent collection of stories here. (pdf download)
Are ebooks the solution? Heck, I'm not sure what the problem is. Ebooks aren't the reason all those people got fired when Dan Brown's new book was late. The problem there was that publishing is set up for the next bestseller, not the mid-list authors. This isn't news to anyone. This is How It Works, you know? If I'm the next bestseller, that's how the damn thing should work.
But the other way it works now is this -- if Chris F. Holm wants to collect his stories, now he has a way. He can do that himself, relying on the quality of the work, the prior periodical publication of those stories, and word of mouth. And that works out just fine.
Traditional publishing is great for so many things, but we're in a time now in which ebooks offer us options that we have to be ready for, another outlet for books traditional publishing isn't interested in.
Oh, one more thing. The Do Some Damage collection of airport stories is available this week -- for Kindle over at Amazon. The book is called TERMINAL DAMAGE and you might be able to find it here. I uploaded this ebook on Sunday and it will take until Monday to become available. Which seems like a long time, you know, in the ebook world.
Monday, September 13, 2010
DSD now on Kindle
By Steve Weddle
Since this blog started 13 months ago, we've worked to improve things in terms of style and content.
Yes, we lost a Canadian, but we replaced him with two Americans. I'm not sure what the exchange rate was, but this has worked out so far.
We've worked on some theme weeks and even have our first collection, TERMINAL DAMAGE, done and nearly ready for your reading pleasure.
And now we have an improved option in terms of delivery.
Sure you can read the Do Some Damage blog on the computer. But that ain't good enough for us. Now, through the magic of fairydust and cutrate pharmaceuticals, you can now get your DSD fix each morning delivered to your Kindle.
Each morning at about 3 a.m. eastern time in the US of A, the blog gets updated. (Unless it's Jay's day, then, you know, eventually.) Here's what it looks like on the Kindle.
So if you subscribe to DSD on Kindle, each morning you get the DSD blog sent right to you. I've subscribed to a number of magazines and newspapers, utilizing the FREE 14-day trial option Amazon offers. I sign up for the L.A. Times for a couple of weeks and end up with screens and screens of book reviews and feature articles. Want to see whether you like the New York Times Book Review? Trial subscription. Same thing with the Do Some Damage blog. Give it a shot on the Kindle and see what you think.
One of the little pieces of sweetness I like is that you get access to DSD archives. Check out the "section list" at the bottom of the screen.
Since this blog started 13 months ago, we've worked to improve things in terms of style and content.
Yes, we lost a Canadian, but we replaced him with two Americans. I'm not sure what the exchange rate was, but this has worked out so far.
We've worked on some theme weeks and even have our first collection, TERMINAL DAMAGE, done and nearly ready for your reading pleasure.
And now we have an improved option in terms of delivery.
Sure you can read the Do Some Damage blog on the computer. But that ain't good enough for us. Now, through the magic of fairydust and cutrate pharmaceuticals, you can now get your DSD fix each morning delivered to your Kindle.
Each morning at about 3 a.m. eastern time in the US of A, the blog gets updated. (Unless it's Jay's day, then, you know, eventually.) Here's what it looks like on the Kindle.
The sign-up fee for this is $1.99 a month, which gets you all 30-ish posts per month. I don't know why it's that price, which is set by Amazon. Whatever portion of that money makes it from Jeff Bezos's bank account to ours will be spent on lottery scratchers and whip-it cans.
So if you subscribe to DSD on Kindle, each morning you get the DSD blog sent right to you. I've subscribed to a number of magazines and newspapers, utilizing the FREE 14-day trial option Amazon offers. I sign up for the L.A. Times for a couple of weeks and end up with screens and screens of book reviews and feature articles. Want to see whether you like the New York Times Book Review? Trial subscription. Same thing with the Do Some Damage blog. Give it a shot on the Kindle and see what you think.
One of the little pieces of sweetness I like is that you get access to DSD archives. Check out the "section list" at the bottom of the screen.
If you missed Russel's bookselling post or Dave's discussion of Rutgers recruiting, you can just scroll back and catch up.
At first I thought that paying to subscribe to a newspaper I could get online for free was dumber than paying for water. But then I did the trial-subscription thing and understood. Delivered into your hands is pretty cool.
Anyway, if you have a Kindle and want to get the blog sent to you each morning, you can click HERE for a free 14-day trial subscription.
As if that ain't good enough, the DSD Podcast Season The Second -- or if you're in the Britains, Series Two -- should kick off soon. We're planning many more interviews and special guests, plus autographed photos of Jay Stringer, as those seem oddly popular now.
Keep in mind that debut novels from DSD's own Joelle Charbonneau and friend-of-the-show Hilary Davidson are coming out this month.
Kindle. Terminal Damage. Podcast. Debut novels. Phew. Getting kinda busy around here.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
My Kindle Problem--A Moral Conundrum
by Dave White
I have a confession to make.
After a long time resisting the trend, I got myself a Kindle. It was a wedding gift I asked for, and I was first able to use it on my honeymoon. And having the Kindle on the cruise gave me the idea for this blog post.
You see, I was all ready to say e-Readers weren't becoming popular. We were on a ship of 2000 people, and I figured it would be a good way to survey the popularity of the e-Reader.
The first day I had my topic. E-readers aren't popular outside of publishing. I wandered the pool deck and saw hundreds of people reading actual books. The Girl with the... The Joe Torre book... Jennifer Weiner... But no e-Readers. I was convinced. Only I had one, and that was because I was into publishing and was trying to conserve space in the condo.
And then a funny thing happened. As the trip went on more and more e-Readers popped up. At one point I had a running count 6 Kindles, 4 Nooks, 2 Sony, and two iPads. By the end, I think I was over 20.
It strikes me this isn't just a fad, it's really starting to catch. And I think authors are going to really love it. At one point I was talking to a couple about their iPad and Kindle (both liked the Kindle better) and the woman bought a copy of WHEN ONE MAN DIES on the spot.
Whoa.
It's hard to do that kind of hand selling on a vacation.
And here's where I come to the problem. It's a selfish problem, but a problem nonetheless.
I don't like the e-Reading culture. The e-Reader is going to create book monopolies. Apple and Amazon (and maybe BN will hang in there) are going to be the only booksellers and the rest will just drift away like independent record stores.
And I love my indie bookstores. So how do I reconcile my love of an indie with my love of the Kindle?
I spent the week thinking about this, before I started writing this blog. And here's what I came up with:
Anytime I want to try a new author, the book goes to the Kindle. They're cheaper, there's less risk involved. But my favorite authors.... yeah I still love the feel of a book in my hand. I still love wandering the stacks.
I love the smell.
So when my favorite authors put a new book out, I'm going to an indie. I'm ordering from an indie. I will not just download the book.
Laura Lippman's newest, for instance. Sometime in the next week I'll be taking a trip to a local store to buy it, even though I have a gift card to Amazon sitting in my account.
It clears my conscience. It makes me feel better.
It means I can have my books and Kindle too.
What do you think?
PS: Thanks to Joelle and Bryon picking up the slack the last two weeks. I read Joelle's Thursday posts, and Bryon's other posts and they did a bang-up job. Really appreciate it.
BTW, if you want to hear my thoughts on my actual honeymoon, check out my actual blog by clicking here.
I have a confession to make.
After a long time resisting the trend, I got myself a Kindle. It was a wedding gift I asked for, and I was first able to use it on my honeymoon. And having the Kindle on the cruise gave me the idea for this blog post.
You see, I was all ready to say e-Readers weren't becoming popular. We were on a ship of 2000 people, and I figured it would be a good way to survey the popularity of the e-Reader.
The first day I had my topic. E-readers aren't popular outside of publishing. I wandered the pool deck and saw hundreds of people reading actual books. The Girl with the... The Joe Torre book... Jennifer Weiner... But no e-Readers. I was convinced. Only I had one, and that was because I was into publishing and was trying to conserve space in the condo.
And then a funny thing happened. As the trip went on more and more e-Readers popped up. At one point I had a running count 6 Kindles, 4 Nooks, 2 Sony, and two iPads. By the end, I think I was over 20.
It strikes me this isn't just a fad, it's really starting to catch. And I think authors are going to really love it. At one point I was talking to a couple about their iPad and Kindle (both liked the Kindle better) and the woman bought a copy of WHEN ONE MAN DIES on the spot.
Whoa.
It's hard to do that kind of hand selling on a vacation.
And here's where I come to the problem. It's a selfish problem, but a problem nonetheless.
I don't like the e-Reading culture. The e-Reader is going to create book monopolies. Apple and Amazon (and maybe BN will hang in there) are going to be the only booksellers and the rest will just drift away like independent record stores.
And I love my indie bookstores. So how do I reconcile my love of an indie with my love of the Kindle?
I spent the week thinking about this, before I started writing this blog. And here's what I came up with:
Anytime I want to try a new author, the book goes to the Kindle. They're cheaper, there's less risk involved. But my favorite authors.... yeah I still love the feel of a book in my hand. I still love wandering the stacks.
I love the smell.
So when my favorite authors put a new book out, I'm going to an indie. I'm ordering from an indie. I will not just download the book.
Laura Lippman's newest, for instance. Sometime in the next week I'll be taking a trip to a local store to buy it, even though I have a gift card to Amazon sitting in my account.
It clears my conscience. It makes me feel better.
It means I can have my books and Kindle too.
What do you think?
PS: Thanks to Joelle and Bryon picking up the slack the last two weeks. I read Joelle's Thursday posts, and Bryon's other posts and they did a bang-up job. Really appreciate it.
BTW, if you want to hear my thoughts on my actual honeymoon, check out my actual blog by clicking here.
Monday, August 9, 2010
My Kindle can DO that?
By Steve Weddle
So BQ took a look at ebooks yesterday. And Chris LaTray has been blogging about his Nook.
My brand new Kindle is going back next week (probably) so that I can get the new one, Aug. 27.
Let's throw all of this into the DSD blender and see what some of the ideas here are.
> Having free or cheap ebooks available online means we're swamped with lower quality works. If we don't have publishers and editors and curated bookstores, how will we find quality?
The idea is that if we have a totally open market ungoverned by corporations,our best seller lists will be filled with poorly spelled, horrific, nearly unreadable, low-quality novels instead of books by James Patterson and Glenn Beck, books in which most of the words are spelled correctly.
The counter-argument to this is: "I don't buy books based on best seller lists. I buy books based on recommendations and reviews."
Yeah, but the reviews go to best selling authors. People hear about books because they've heard about the authors. The system (oh, noes. the systems ruins everything. or is that 'society' that ruins it all?)
So what's wrong with having ebooks straight from the authors? Not enough proofreading? The book hasn't gone through corporate gatekeepers?
Look, I've read tons (seriously, I've weighed all the books I've read. Roughly 47,323 pounds of books.) of great books from big, big, large, enormous publishing houses. I haven't read as many great books that I've downloaded for free. But I'm not convinced one thing has much to do with any other. I've read big house books with typos every 10 pages and flawlessly comma-ed first drafts. Whuppy-damn-ding-dong.
Would I be more likely to read a big house book than some free PDF I downloaded from some dude's geocities site?
But I'm reading three free ebooks right now on my Kindle. And they're great.
You see, years ago if someone wanted me to read some pages she'd written, she'd mail me 20 pages. Then if I survived, maybe another 50. I'd mark up and send back.
Then folks could just email me a PDF and I could read it on my laptop, sitting at my desk or in front of the TV, scrolling through pages until my eyes hurt.
Now my fellow writers can email me a file and I can load it on the Kindle and read it just like a "real book" while I sit on my back deck, drinking iced tea and watching the sun go down. I can read a fantastic zombie novel from a future best-selling author in the exact same way I read the latest John Corey novel.
I haven't seen too many people point this out, but it's phenomenal. I don't have to take my pal's PDF file down to Kinko's for a print-out I can carry to the park. I carry the Kindle and it has the file on it, as well as "books." I dunno, this just seems so handy.
Not only that, but I do a good deal of submission reading for NEEDLE magazine. Someone sends in a 3,500 short story for consideration and I take it with me, not printed out on dead trees, but wedged between some books I'm reading. Handy.
Having this Kindle has allowed me to ignore what the book looks like. I don't know what has thirty blurbs on it and what just got emailed to me. I mean, I DO, of course, but it doesn't stick. The Kindle is the great equalizer. I can't just judge a book by its cover. I have to start reading it and see what holds my attention, whether it's a heist story for NEEDLE or the latest from Michael Connelly.
I'm reading a good deal of unpublished material of high quality on my Kindle, so the argument that the removal of barriers to publication will allow people to read more crap doesn't make too much sense to me.
Like I said, Big House Publisher puts out good books. I know, because I've read some good books that have been on the best seller lists. But you know what? When I've been out there listening to folks, looking around, bouncing from idea to idea, I find some pretty cool stuff, stuff that doesn't pop up on the best seller lists.
Does opening the flood gates to ebooks mean that we'll drown in crap? I don't think so. More likely, I'll fill up my Kindle with some stuff I wouldn't have discovered otherwise, some things I'll want to tell everyone about.
Books will get "blurbed" by email and tweets, by Facebook updates and great blog reviews.
Maybe ebooks will help us more from best seller lists to a list of good reads.
So BQ took a look at ebooks yesterday. And Chris LaTray has been blogging about his Nook.
My brand new Kindle is going back next week (probably) so that I can get the new one, Aug. 27.
Let's throw all of this into the DSD blender and see what some of the ideas here are.
> Having free or cheap ebooks available online means we're swamped with lower quality works. If we don't have publishers and editors and curated bookstores, how will we find quality?
The idea is that if we have a totally open market ungoverned by corporations,our best seller lists will be filled with poorly spelled, horrific, nearly unreadable, low-quality novels instead of books by James Patterson and Glenn Beck, books in which most of the words are spelled correctly.
The counter-argument to this is: "I don't buy books based on best seller lists. I buy books based on recommendations and reviews."
Yeah, but the reviews go to best selling authors. People hear about books because they've heard about the authors. The system (oh, noes. the systems ruins everything. or is that 'society' that ruins it all?)
So what's wrong with having ebooks straight from the authors? Not enough proofreading? The book hasn't gone through corporate gatekeepers?
Look, I've read tons (seriously, I've weighed all the books I've read. Roughly 47,323 pounds of books.) of great books from big, big, large, enormous publishing houses. I haven't read as many great books that I've downloaded for free. But I'm not convinced one thing has much to do with any other. I've read big house books with typos every 10 pages and flawlessly comma-ed first drafts. Whuppy-damn-ding-dong.
Would I be more likely to read a big house book than some free PDF I downloaded from some dude's geocities site?
But I'm reading three free ebooks right now on my Kindle. And they're great.
You see, years ago if someone wanted me to read some pages she'd written, she'd mail me 20 pages. Then if I survived, maybe another 50. I'd mark up and send back.
Then folks could just email me a PDF and I could read it on my laptop, sitting at my desk or in front of the TV, scrolling through pages until my eyes hurt.
Now my fellow writers can email me a file and I can load it on the Kindle and read it just like a "real book" while I sit on my back deck, drinking iced tea and watching the sun go down. I can read a fantastic zombie novel from a future best-selling author in the exact same way I read the latest John Corey novel.
I haven't seen too many people point this out, but it's phenomenal. I don't have to take my pal's PDF file down to Kinko's for a print-out I can carry to the park. I carry the Kindle and it has the file on it, as well as "books." I dunno, this just seems so handy.
Not only that, but I do a good deal of submission reading for NEEDLE magazine. Someone sends in a 3,500 short story for consideration and I take it with me, not printed out on dead trees, but wedged between some books I'm reading. Handy.
Having this Kindle has allowed me to ignore what the book looks like. I don't know what has thirty blurbs on it and what just got emailed to me. I mean, I DO, of course, but it doesn't stick. The Kindle is the great equalizer. I can't just judge a book by its cover. I have to start reading it and see what holds my attention, whether it's a heist story for NEEDLE or the latest from Michael Connelly.
I'm reading a good deal of unpublished material of high quality on my Kindle, so the argument that the removal of barriers to publication will allow people to read more crap doesn't make too much sense to me.
Like I said, Big House Publisher puts out good books. I know, because I've read some good books that have been on the best seller lists. But you know what? When I've been out there listening to folks, looking around, bouncing from idea to idea, I find some pretty cool stuff, stuff that doesn't pop up on the best seller lists.
Does opening the flood gates to ebooks mean that we'll drown in crap? I don't think so. More likely, I'll fill up my Kindle with some stuff I wouldn't have discovered otherwise, some things I'll want to tell everyone about.
Books will get "blurbed" by email and tweets, by Facebook updates and great blog reviews.
Maybe ebooks will help us more from best seller lists to a list of good reads.
Monday, July 26, 2010
The Kindle Problem
By Steve Weddle
“You know the big problem you’re going to have with your Kindle?” my wife asked me the other day.
I’d just finished ALREADY DEAD by Charlie Huston. Dang, what a nice book. I had to explain to people what I was reading. “Yeah, it’s a vampire book but it’s got great characters and all this plot and these factions and such cool science-tech stuff and it creates this world” etc, etc. The kind of talk in which people only hear the first part, then hang on to something there and don’t hear anything else you say. You know, like if you came home and said, “Yeah, honey, I was naked in a room with her, but it was because my clothes burned off while I was carrying the handicapped kids out of the burning orphanage” etc, etc.
So, anyway, one of the nice things about the Kindle is that people don’t see the cover. “Hey, Weddle. You make fun of vampire books. Now you’re reading one? Haha. You’re an asshat.”
When the Kindle first came out, some paper, let’s say it was the NY Times, did a story about how the uber-skanky romance novels were increasing in sales figures by a gazillion percent because folks could hide what they were reading.
Yeah, what you’re doing is reading in private, much more so than if you had that paperback with naked people and fat-fonted titles proclaiming your genre love. Ashamed to read “Star Wars: Attack of the Dark Sith Demon Spy Prophecy”? Read it on the Kindle. Penthouse letters? On the Kindle.
Which, sorta ties in to what my wife was saying about the problem I was going to have with my Kindle.
I’d had the Kindle for a couple of weeks when she’d mentioned that, but I’d been reading on the Kindle app for much longer. On my iPod Touch and on the new Blackberry. Nice little app with tons of books available. I’d read ebooks for years on the Palm Pilots and then the Zire and then the Palm Treo. So I knew a little something about reading ebooks.
The downside of the Kindle, and in almost all ebooks, is that you can’t pass them along when you’re done, as my wife had pointed out.
When I’m done with a book, I tell people how awesome it is. Unless it’s crap, of course. Then I tell them that.
I’ve loaned out GUN MONKEYS probably eight times. I doubt I’ll ever see my copy of WINDUP BIRD CHRONICLES, again. When the HOGDOGGIN hardback was accidentally $6 at Amazon, I picked up a few copies to hand off to folks. JT Ellison. Charlie Huston. If you come to my house (please don’t) you won’t know how much I love these books, because they’re not in our library. They’re out. I loan out a Nathan Singer book, then someone buys a couple more of his and sends one my way. Book sharing. A great way to learn about new-to-you authors.
And a big shortcoming on ebooks.
Amazon makes a big deal about how you can “share” your ebook among six devices. Uh, yeah, if they’re all your devices. If I own a Kindle and an iPod Touch and a Blackberry, which I do, I can read the same book on all three, syncing up wherever I leave off. That’s great, but it ain’t book sharing.
As is often the case, my wife is right. (Though, I think I should point out that last summer when she said I would break my fool neck if I tried to clean the gutters again in the same haphazard manner I devote to all my homeowner chores, well, I didn’t. So there. In absolutely no culture, past, present or future, is a broken elbow the same as a broken neck. So there’s one. It’s like 2,372 to 1, but still, it’s something.) So my wife is correct in seeing early on how much this is going to bug the hell out of me.
So when I read a book I like, I have to buy it for someone and mail it to them. Which, as my wife pointed out, is probably a good business model for Amazon.
A $20 hardback brand new can be passed around and resold used and account for at least seven or eight readers. An ebook is for one reader.
So, yeah, the Kindle is absolutely great for reading books.
Turns out, it’s pretty damn smart for selling books, too.
“You know the big problem you’re going to have with your Kindle?” my wife asked me the other day.
I’d just finished ALREADY DEAD by Charlie Huston. Dang, what a nice book. I had to explain to people what I was reading. “Yeah, it’s a vampire book but it’s got great characters and all this plot and these factions and such cool science-tech stuff and it creates this world” etc, etc. The kind of talk in which people only hear the first part, then hang on to something there and don’t hear anything else you say. You know, like if you came home and said, “Yeah, honey, I was naked in a room with her, but it was because my clothes burned off while I was carrying the handicapped kids out of the burning orphanage” etc, etc.
So, anyway, one of the nice things about the Kindle is that people don’t see the cover. “Hey, Weddle. You make fun of vampire books. Now you’re reading one? Haha. You’re an asshat.”
When the Kindle first came out, some paper, let’s say it was the NY Times, did a story about how the uber-skanky romance novels were increasing in sales figures by a gazillion percent because folks could hide what they were reading.
Yeah, what you’re doing is reading in private, much more so than if you had that paperback with naked people and fat-fonted titles proclaiming your genre love. Ashamed to read “Star Wars: Attack of the Dark Sith Demon Spy Prophecy”? Read it on the Kindle. Penthouse letters? On the Kindle.
Which, sorta ties in to what my wife was saying about the problem I was going to have with my Kindle.
I’d had the Kindle for a couple of weeks when she’d mentioned that, but I’d been reading on the Kindle app for much longer. On my iPod Touch and on the new Blackberry. Nice little app with tons of books available. I’d read ebooks for years on the Palm Pilots and then the Zire and then the Palm Treo. So I knew a little something about reading ebooks.
The downside of the Kindle, and in almost all ebooks, is that you can’t pass them along when you’re done, as my wife had pointed out.
When I’m done with a book, I tell people how awesome it is. Unless it’s crap, of course. Then I tell them that.
I’ve loaned out GUN MONKEYS probably eight times. I doubt I’ll ever see my copy of WINDUP BIRD CHRONICLES, again. When the HOGDOGGIN hardback was accidentally $6 at Amazon, I picked up a few copies to hand off to folks. JT Ellison. Charlie Huston. If you come to my house (please don’t) you won’t know how much I love these books, because they’re not in our library. They’re out. I loan out a Nathan Singer book, then someone buys a couple more of his and sends one my way. Book sharing. A great way to learn about new-to-you authors.
And a big shortcoming on ebooks.
Amazon makes a big deal about how you can “share” your ebook among six devices. Uh, yeah, if they’re all your devices. If I own a Kindle and an iPod Touch and a Blackberry, which I do, I can read the same book on all three, syncing up wherever I leave off. That’s great, but it ain’t book sharing.
As is often the case, my wife is right. (Though, I think I should point out that last summer when she said I would break my fool neck if I tried to clean the gutters again in the same haphazard manner I devote to all my homeowner chores, well, I didn’t. So there. In absolutely no culture, past, present or future, is a broken elbow the same as a broken neck. So there’s one. It’s like 2,372 to 1, but still, it’s something.) So my wife is correct in seeing early on how much this is going to bug the hell out of me.
So when I read a book I like, I have to buy it for someone and mail it to them. Which, as my wife pointed out, is probably a good business model for Amazon.
A $20 hardback brand new can be passed around and resold used and account for at least seven or eight readers. An ebook is for one reader.
So, yeah, the Kindle is absolutely great for reading books.
Turns out, it’s pretty damn smart for selling books, too.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The State of eBooks and the Stone of Orthanc
“There’s more to life than books you know, but not much more.” - The SmithsBy Steve Weddle
I like to think that Nicholson Baker and I don’t often agree. Turns out, maybe we do.
I first read his stuff when I was at LSU. We’d been assigned “Books as Furniture” in our non-fiction class. The essay was smokin’ hot, looking at all those books stacked up on coffee tables and chests in the Pottery Barn catalogs. Soon I was reading VOX, his phone-sex novella, which was, ahem, smoking hottier. Man, I would have much rather been reading that on an ereader. Some folks kinda move away from you when they see you’re reading that one.
But I’m not so sure I’d want to read it on the Kindle, and here I suppose I tend to agree with Mr. Baker. His recent “A New Page” in the New Yorker explores the Amazon device that costs a little more than the iPod Touch and does a lot less.
Mr. Baker takes a close look at the Kindle and ereading in general. He is, of course, a very bright man. You know this because he writes things such as: “Everybody was saying that the new Kindle was terribly important – that it was an alpenhorn blast of post-Gutenbergian revalorization.” Haha. I don’t know what the hell he just said. Something about the Kindle being important because you can read the Steve Gutenberg biography, I think.
Anyway, the Kindle is fantastically popular, because once you spend a few hundred bucks or more on the device, you’re able to buy $10 ebooks. I’m not certain I understand why this is popular. I generally don’t understand why things are popular. (Except that slap chop re-mix on the YouTubes. That’s gold, Jerry. Gold.)
So it’s nice that Mr. Baker takes the time and the New Yorker’s budget to fly around talking to people about why they love the Kindle. “Maybe, I thought,” he thought, “if I ordered this wireless Kindle 2 I would be pulled into a world of compulsive, demonic book consumption, like Pippin staring at the stone of Orthanc.” Again, um, no idea. However, if I were reading this article on the Kindle, I could just connect to Wikipedia and look up this Orthanc thing. Turns out the name Orthanc, according to the great W, “means both ‘Mount Fang’ in Sindarin, and ‘Cunning Mind’ in Old English, the language Tolkien uses to ‘translate’ Rohirric.” I had to wait to find this out until my iPod Touch was within range of a Wi-Fi network, by the way. Still, I feel so much better now that I have access to all of this information I don’t understand.
I think this would be a problem with the Kindle, this linking to the world of information. If I’m reading a book or article on paper, I’m much less likely to go from rathole to rathole, searching out answers to questions I only vaguely understand. I’m more likely to just sit down and work my way through a book, in linear fashion. The problem with the Kindle, one of the problems, is that it opens up the whole world to you, by way of being connected to everything on the Internet. You want to download the next book in a series as you’re finishing this one? The Kindle is for you. If you’re a curious person, though, I’d think you’d be as tempted as I am to clicky-click on a word to find out more. (My attention tends to scatter off like birdshot after a drunk neighbor.) I read ebooks on my iPod Touch, so I’d have many more steps to find the information, which, as I've mentioned, would only be accessible when Wi-Fi was present.
I don’t know how you are (Seriously, how could I?) but I’m more likely to finish a book on my iPod Touch than I am a print copy. If I get to page 20 of a paperback and I’m not sure about continuing, I’ll just set it down. There it is, over on the shelf. I can see it. It exists. I can go get it in a couple of days if I feel like it. I'm not afraid to set it aside, because I can pick it back up and start reading again. But on the ereader, it’s gone. I close that file and open another one and it falls back into ones and zeroes, as if it doesn’t really exist. The new ebook acquires the space of the older one. I have no second chance with that book. In a couple of days, if I’m in the mood for a thriller, I’ll be unlikely to go back into the list of files on the iPod Touch and search for that one. I’d be much more likely to notice it laid sideways on the bookshelf, waiting for me to pick it back up when I’m in the mood. So moving from one ebook to another is forever. I have to keep reading the ebook or it’s gone. I have a couple dozen books on my iPod Touch. Every book I’ve started there I’ve finished, except Shutter Island, which I’m currently reading. That’s far from true about the shelves in my house.
On the iPod Touch, I can read books in many forms, unlike the proprietary Kindle files on the Kindle. (Buy a book at the Kindle store and you can only read it on the Kindle or Kindle-licensed products.) I have Stanza (pictured), eReader, B&N eReader , and the Kindle reader on my iPod Touch. Each piece of software offers various reasons to use it. The Kindle software syncs up with the Kindle store, allowing me to buy Kindle books without having a Kindle. Stanza has great links to online stores with a good deal of free content.
And that’s what this is all about, finally. Content. Would you read a book on a small screen such as the iPod Touch? I tried with the first Palm I ever had, the Palm M125 which I’ll blog about in a couple of weeks. Reading on that Palm did not work. Reading on the iPod Touch does. As Mr. Baker says about the iPod Touch in his essay, “The nice thing about this machine is (a) it’s beautiful, and (b) it’s not imitating anything.” Now that’s something I can understand.
The iPod Touch is my music player, my blog reader, my email checker, my soccer manager player. I use it to check the weather, read my Word files and update my Facebook status. The thing is always with me. That’s the main reason I get so much read on it. It fits into my pocket. Whatever book I’m reading is always with me as long as it’s on my iPod Touch. And isn’t that what we want? Books that stay with us.
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