So, after spending 3 or 4 days on CreateSpace last week, struggling with their templates for both interior and covers (is was sooooo much easier with Lulu!), I decided not to redo all the print versions. From now on the POD version will be with CreateSpace (so, next title is Star Minds Snippets), but I won’t republish with a CreateSpace Edition the older works. The MatchBook program doesn’t seem to be live yet (or I’d see it on Star Minds), so no hurry.
Since it costs a fortune to have proofs shipped and then pay for the extended distribution, etc, I’ll spare myself the expense this year – on the old titles at least. I have updated the covers and interiors of the Lulu editions, though. Better or worse, I’m not selling any, so for now they will do. I’ve ordered proofs of 5 Lulu PODs and 1 CreateSpace – waiting for delivery. They should arrive today, but I will post them next week, so you can compare.
I’m still very much in the red – if I didn’t have DayJob to pay the bills, I would have quit – and it might take me longer to find my readers, but I’m in for the long run. I’m not trying to get rich quick. And the learning curve for CreateSpace doesn’t pass the WIBBOW test. I’m better off writing than struggling with POD templates. No matter what they say, I can’t sell printed books in the US from Italy, so I’ll just get back to writing and try to put out more titles in e-book format.
Now if you want another taste of the Snippets before the actual publication, Shooting Star is out! Kol-ian’s stay on Earth finally revealed, with some backstory on S’lyss as well – no, they never met on Earth, but they go back a long way! 😉 And if this goes on LousyBookCovers again, I don’t care. Whoever buys a Snippet as double will have a discount for the complete book when it’s out – with the great cover by Phoenixlu, very similar to the one that is already out, but with Ker-ris instead of Kol-ian facing the reader.
Find Shooting Star on Smashwords, Kindle, Barnes&Noble and then Kobo and Apple (US i-bookstore). Since I love one of the drawings of M’aera S’iva, in a couple of weeks you’ll have also his story as a single at 99cents – and then it will be Star Minds Snippets! The whole story in one book (280pages in print) at 4.99$ – but again, if you have proof of purchase of a 2.99$ Snippet, you can have it for half the price.
The Kobo controversy is over, and I sure hope they get rid of those glitches in categories and DRM soon. Now in November I’ll have to write and read in Italian, since I want to translate Star Minds for a Christmas release, but I will publish one last title in English before the end of the year, in December, just in case you want to gift yourself with the latest Barbara G.Tarn’s title! 😉
Oh, and I spent Sunday lettering S.K.Y.B.A.N.D 13, so… it’s out! 🙂 Only on DriveThruComics as PDF, as usual. My dear reader will probably wait until the third and final Omnibus, I know, it’s okay. I really hope to finish it next year – I’m not really expecting to draw the last two chapters by Christmas. But then… you never know! 😉
As for B.G. Hope… well next year I’ll publish more. I’ll have the third and last body switch and then a M/M romance novel or novella. Now the writerly links of this week! 🙂
Kris Rusch and the Priests vs. the Mathematicians. And how writers get caught between them – unless they decide to ignore the gatekeepers, that is.
David Gaughran sharing more Amazon “secrets” – should I dust out of the drawer my historical novel now that Amazone makes life easier for authors of historical and literary fiction?
David Farland on what to look for in a beta/first-reader – I’m all for #6. You have no idea of how many offered and then never got back to me, saying “oh, I didn’t think it was urgent” when the first thing I say is “I need it by…” 😦 That’s why when I’m asked to do it for someone else, I get back to the writer ASAP (or don’t apply if I don’t have time). I have a non-native beta who might not grasp the grammar and typos, but she’s very good at spotting plot holes or descriptions that don’t fit – thank you, Bookwatcher, for your prompt comments that urged me to discard two stories and write a new one instead! 😉
And then from Colleen Doran’s Facebook page, this article about Slaves of the Internet, Unite! – valid for writers and artists as well. No more free books from this author, I value myself too much. I won’t raise prices either, since I price them according to wordcount, but no more “free” stuff for exposure (unless it’s Wyrd Worlds 2 because that’s fun!). Free doesn’t bring in sales of other titles anyway.
Tomorrow I’m off to Lucca Comics and Games, so I’ll probably be offline until the weekend – unless I manage to use a wi-fi connection from my Kindle somewhere. So have a great week!
Barbara G.Tarn - writer 