”Selfpublishing is better.” ” Selfpublishing is the only path.” I’ve lost count on how many times I have read things like that, both in blogposts and in comments.. Don’t get me wrong, I can understand why selfpublishing is appealing, but for me it is more complex than that. When I consider which stories I’ll selfpublish and which I’ll submit to a publisher, it depends on the genre and the length. The Portal Universe stories is slated for selfpublishing, purely…
I have mixed feelings about Scribd, since an author search on their webpage is as likely to turn up an pirated copy, as it is an legal copy. Because of that, I was torn when they announced at a worldwide subscription service for 8.99 with the first month free, but decided to give them a try. The Content: I wasn’t sure what I expected when I downloaded the app, but I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t do any in…
My recent shopping spree at Kobo made me think about pricing, and what my sweet spot is for a new to me author, and how it has changed over the years. ( Not to say I’ll not buy anything at full price, I will.) I bought my first e-reader a Sony PRS 505, in Sept 2009 (Yikes! Four years already), and at first, I went wild. I didn’t care about the price, if it sounded good, I bought it since…
I meant for this to go live weeks ago, if not months but I never posted it. But here it is, and it especially vital after Amazon’s announcement that they are launching Kindle Matchbook. A good Integration with the online store No bookstore can keep every title in a series. While most stores offer to order it for you, there are ways it could be improved. For example, a major Swedish bookstore chain used to have that you could…
Yesterday Goodreads updated their review guidelines, and started to enforce them directly. While I am not affected directly by the new guidelines, since my reviews are short, and focused on the book, I am worried by the direction Goodreads have taken. After all the drama recently, and Amazon buying them, it doesn’t feel as if their focus are on readers anymore. A part of me can understand why they felt the need to start curating reviews and shelves more. But…
This is an elaboration on a comment I made to a blog post by Judith Tarr a month ago, or so ( I recommend that you read it. It is long, but eye opening.). And I am not talking about authors that release 1-5 books* a year, but rather authors that release 6 or more books. This post have been brewing for awhile, and Judith Tarr’s blogpost only made me verbalize what I felt. I love to read. I love…
The series goes on and on Don’t get me wrong, I love opened ended series. But when the books are a tightly connected, we are at book 14 and the author happily announce book 16-18 and states it isn’t the end? I walk away. I get having a long series, but when I have to re-read the books to remember what happend it isn’t fun anymore. A part of it is also what May wrote about in her post at…
The e-book market is competitive right now, and I have been thinking about what I wish e-bookstores* would do to survive, because I would hate for Amazon to be the only store to buy e-books from. So here is my wish list, but hey, maybe someone reads this and decides to implement part of it. ( And, yes, I would love for DRM to go away, but that is up to publishers, not e-bookstores.) 1. Offer subscriptions I know that…
I live in Sweden, but I read a lot of fantasy in English. In fact, there is a splendid bookstore specializing in fantasy, science fiction, horror, and related other genres. I shopped there a lot. And I happily paid their prices, which ranges between 10-15 US dollar (paperbacks) and 25-30 dollar (hardcovers). Then, I discovered the joy of internet bookstores, and the fact that they offered better prices. But I still supported the Scifi bookstore. Until I discovered e-books. Which…
Amazon: Amazon is the gigant in the e-book business ( with all the good and bad things that comes with it). For some countries they are the best source for e-books. Best prices, and the biggest sortiment. I’ll admit that I download free reads to Kindle for PC, and then transfer them to Calibre ( thanks to third party plugins, I am able to open up the encryption), and the convert them to epub. The thing that stops me from…