#and then barnes and noble is only selling ebooks

[afternoonteawithme]

b+n has a really really really good sale right now on manga/anime/other stuff like BUT they also have a ‘sale’ (is it a sale if you get stuff for free?) of all first volume Kodansha manga ebooks. cuz they’re all free right now

this is why I now own over 200 manga I didn’t own when I woke up this morning and I’m SO happy about it

[copperbadge]

Every time, you guys. Every time I look into alternatives to Lulu.com for self-publishing I come up with “Wow Lulu really is the best of a bad set of options, huh?” 

Recently, Draft2Digital bought Smashwords in order to bring a print book company under their aegis; they’d formerly only done ebooks. I thought I might investigate them as an alternative to Lulu, which I’ve used for about twelve years now. For ebooks I would venture D2D is probably top of the line. For print books they are....not. 

I’m writing this out half so other folks can see it but half so that in the future I can look this up and remind myself of why I’m still with Lulu. 

TLDR: Not only does Draft2Digital want 60% of my print book royalties where Lulu takes 0%, and $30 for a proof that costs me $11 at Lulu, but I also appear to have solved the problem of why Lulu was making me price my books so goddamn artificially high. Which is like. Honestly the best anti-anxiety drug I’ve experienced this week. 

Basically there are a number of elements that go into self-publishing with a print-on-demand service. For some publishers, there’s a “setup fee” which doesn’t really set anything up, it’s just there to be a fee, everything is done by computer on the back end. Traditionally, Lulu has not charged a setup fee. Smashwords used to charge $50, but Draft2Digital currently waives it. I was heartened by that because the setup fee was keeping me from migrating, since I can afford $50 but I balk at knowing I’m paying them $50 for nothing. 

Next is the cost of printing -- what it costs the company in paper, ink, machinery, labor, etc, to just make a book with no profit. Lulu’s price calculus isn’t super clear and I’ve never bothered looking at what the breakdown is, because they’re pretty up-front -- they tell you in the process of setting the book up how much it’ll cost. In this case, a 140-page 6x9 trade paperback, no frills, which is how all my books are printed, is $5. Draft2Digital doesn’t tell you the flat price anywhere but they do offer the breakdown information; it costs $1.22 flat plus $0.0133 per page. So, for a 140 page book, the at-cost is $3.08. So far so good. 

Now, if you’re going to sell through Lulu, the “at cost” is the minimum price. You won’t make any money but you CAN charge just $5 for a $5 book. Any pricing above that is your cut. So -- let’s price this 140 page trade paperback at $13-$15. That’s a bit high to be honest but let’s just see. At Lulu, your take is roughly $6-$8 based on those prices, because you’re just dropping out the cost of printing from the retail price. 

At Draft2Digital, the same 140-page trade paperback, which remember is quoted as costing roughly $1.20 less to print than Lulu charges, gets you $2.75-$3.50 in royalties per book.

....wait, what? 

So now we need to sidetrack a little but I promise it’s for a reason. One of the motivations for looking into a change to Draft2Digital is that I didn’t like that Lulu was setting higher “minimum prices” than I was accustomed to -- they would tell me the book only cost $5 to print but require me to sell it for $12 or similar, and I couldn’t work out why. I’m an idiot but the penny did finally drop: it’s because when you distribute them outside of Lulu (say, on Amazon or Barnes & Noble or similar) your royalties drop like a stone. $7 in royalties purchased through Lulu comes out to like twenty-five cents purchased through Amazon. So Lulu forces you to price the book at a point where you even GET royalties and don’t end up weirdly owing Amazon money. The “global distribution” is what’s driving that minimum up. 

So in price-quoting a competitor I actually solved the problem with Lulu. 

Which is good, because the fun doesn’t stop there. If you want a proof copy of a book from Lulu, it’s the at-cost of the book, plus tax, plus postage. Buying a proof copy of this book from Lulu would cost me $11. Lulu makes you order a new proof copy every time you make a change, which is shady, but usually I only need to make 1-2 changes across the life of a book, so at most the cost will probably be $35 and for that I’ll get three copies of the book. Draft2Digital doesn’t give you an option. If you want a proof pre-publication, it’s $30 flat. If you want to publish and then buy a copy you can, but you can only make one change to the book every 90 days once it’s published. If you want to make more than one change, it’s $25 every time you upload a new version of the manuscript within that 90 day period.

So Draft2Digital’s books cost less to print but they take a massive cut of your royalties out of the retail cost of the book. If the book costs $3 to print, and I price it at $15, that’s $12 in profit on the book. Of that $12, however, I only receive $4. Draft2Digital literally wants 2/3 of my royalties per book. They want $20 more than Lulu to send me a proof copy. If I need to correct the proof, the correction is free, but I’m assuming the second proof will also cost me $30. Any changes after that, within 90 days, will cost $25 plus $30 for a new proof.

Which means my upfront costs at Lulu are about $35 per published book; to do the same thing at Draft2Digital is between $60 and $105 depending on whether I need to make changes after the second proof copy. And even after that, my royalties at Lulu are just about twice what they would be at Draft2Digital per purchase. 

So, well, Lulu it is. And the problem I was having with Lulu is solved if I decide to just retail through Lulu rather than selling globally. Which...selling globally has done two things that I’m aware of:

1. Fucked up my author page so badly on Amazon that one of my books is still attributed to Kathleen Starbuck, and one of her books is for sale on my author page. 

2. Raised the minimum price I’m allowed to set my books at by like, 40%. 

So I think probably what’s going to happen is going forward my books will be for sale only on Lulu. I can still assign them ISBNs and they still will ship worldwide, and the prices will fall significantly. My deepest apologies to those of you who have paid an artificially inflated price for the last few books; I’m going to fix that going forward, I’m going to go in and try to fix it retroactively in the books that are already on Lulu, and if it’s any consolation at least the cash came to me, and TWO THIRDS OF IT didn’t go to Lulu. 

It’s gonna take me a little time, untangling Lulu’s relationship to other retailers is tricky, but eventually the Shivadh Omnibus and Twelve Points should come down significantly in price, and there ought to be a dollar or two drop for the older books as well. 

This is why it always pays to do the math, even if like me you are dreadful at it. 

[thebibliosphere]

this might be a stupid question but i figured i'd ask it. i'm definitely gonna buy the spicy red hunger pangs, but i was curious as to what purchase option would give you the most money. i would greatly prefer having a paper copy, but if you're only getting pocket change from barnes & noble, i might as well just get the payhip e book or whatever to support you more directly. is there a major difference between those two for your pay out?

Not silly at all! And thank you for asking.

And I earn significantly more from ebooks than print.

Print I get about $1-2 per book, regardless of how much the retailer is selling it for. (If you are in the US, the best place to buy paperback books is bookshop.org, as it provides the best affiliate rates for authors and also supports small indie bookstores. This is my bookshop affiliate link for the flirting edition.)

If you buy a DRM-free ebook from my Payhip, I get to keep 90% of my royalties. If you buy from other platforms, I get maybe 60-70% of my royalties. Depends on the platform.

Really, though, anywhere you buy from is appreciated. Sales rankings and reviews also really help authors because it gets us trending in the algorithms and boosts our chances of organic sales.

So yeah, I earn the most from my Payhip sales. But if you want a print, please buy a print!

[shoemakerobstetrician]

The Crow Road and Muriel in Season Three?

The Crow Road by Iain Banks is featured in season 2 several times. It’s part of Jim’s reorganization, we actually see the first page. Later Crowley gives it to Muriel, and we see Muriel reading it when she talks to the Metatron.

It’s about Prentice, whose uncle has disappeared, and how he uses the papers his uncle left behind to solve the mystery of his disappearance. People have suggested that this means that in S3 we will be looking for God, who seems to be missing in the present of S2.

Muriel is reading the book. Muriel has already helped them solve the mystery of what happened to Jim using her access to heavenly records. The Metatron has called her the ‘dim’ one, and has gone out of his way to make sure that she does not return to heaven. He knows the knowledge she possesses of heavenly records is valuable. Leaving her in charge of the bookshop wasn’t an afterthought, and calling her dim was a shrewdly chosen tactic to, hopefully, cause others to dismiss her.

I think Muriel is going to play a key part in finding out what has happened to God in S3.

Can I get a Wahoo for archivists and librarians?

An aside about trying to get the book:

I haven’t read The Crow Road yet, because it was virtually impossible to buy. I started trying the first week in August and have only just received a copy now, after having 3 orders get cancelled. The edition that is in the series is now listed on eBay for $50 and up. Barnes & Noble told me the book was out of print. We probably have at least 2 1/2 years before S3 comes out, I expect a lot of fans will be interested in reading it.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY could we please get an ebook of it? Iain Banks’ estate is leaving money on the table. I think if they did a kickstarter they could at least raise enough money for an ebook, (speaking out of my arse here), unless there are weird rights issues. (Maybe there is an ebook already, just not available in the states?) I found a pdf online before I found a different edition on eBay, but I’d much prefer to support the author’s estate if there were a legitimate way to do that.

ETA Apparently there is an ebook available, but Am*zon isn’t selling it in the states. I don’t know if I can buy it at .co.uk, or if I did if I could read it on my kindle. Has anybody tried this?

[poisonviolet-author]

Being Published!

I’m officially published on Amazon, Kindle, & Barnes and Noble! What’s it feel like and how hard was it?

Publishing this route is considered self publishing. You upload your manuscript and cover for the novel to places like Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and they will print, sell, and distribute your novel for you. I’m return you only get a portion of the sales. Usually about 25-40% of the sales go to the actual author. Meaning if I sold my book for 22-26$ I’d get about $4.64-$5.64 per physical book sold and even less if it’s an ebook.

It’s not really the best way to profit off of your novel(s). I’ll admit that. But! It’s a great way to get your book out there. If you aren’t really in it for the money, it’s a good way for others to buy your book and support your work as an author. I personally am not really doing it for the money, though being paid more for my projects would be amazing. Everything right now is out of my pocket and it makes it harder to publish a book when you’re spending lots of money to get it out there and not getting much back in return.

Was it hard to publish through these sites? Not really. They show and tell you how to format everything, though it does take a while to learn how everything works. Like how to work google documents inside and out. You also have to learn how files work and such to get the appropriate files uploaded for the appropriate novel type ( physical copies verses ebooks ) It was a learning curve for sure but easy once I got the basic understanding of it. I definitely still have lots to learn about everything that goes into publishing through the sites. I think I’ll be able to manage it better as I continue to publish more novels.

How’s it feel to be published? Honestly amazing! It’s not like I’ve sold hundreds of copies already and it’s become super popular or anything. I think I’ve sold 3 ebooks and 2 hardbacks in total. BUT just knowing people see my book, like it enough to buy it, and like it even more to read it or finish it makes me happy. I just want my stories read and loved. I’m by no means an amazing author or writer, I’m still learning even though I’ve been writing for years now. I want to get better though and I always studying and researching how to be a better writer. I hope this first book will be something I can look back on in the future and go “Wow! Look how far I’ve gotten! Look how much better I’ve become!” I want to see my journey physically improve through my novels. I’m super happy with my current novel, but I’m sure I’ll dislike how I wrote it in the future. That’s fine! It just means I’ve improved! I know not everyone will enjoy it or will even nitpick it. I want them to! Tell me what I did wrong or what you didn’t like! I want to know so I can improve!

I’ll be making a post after this one to discuss my future novel ideas and what I have planned out for Promising Recovery! So stay turned for that.

I hope you enjoy my writing and my blog! Look forward to the future!

[pretensesoup]

How to Publish a Book, pt 1

I told @tryxyhijinks I was gonna turn this into a shitpost, so here we go: how to publish an ebook in ten easy steps.

Write the book. This is, believe it or not, the fun part.

Edit the book. Slightly less easy, but you have to do this, no matter what anyone else has told you about "minimum viable product" or what have you. You can force your friends to read it, you can have a program read it aloud to you, you can read it backwards, you can hire someone to line edit your work, you can do some or most of the above, just get it edited. (Additional point: when hiring a professional, if you're happy with the plot, ask for line or copyediting; if you're not sure about plot points, ask for developmental editing; if you just need guidance, you may want to start with an editorial letter.)

Get a cover. You can make one yourself or pay someone to do it. You're going to want it to be about 1600x2500 pixels and 72 dpi. It's good to have a really nice cover, because covers sell books.

Typeset the book. I use Atticus to create an epub file. If you are also doing a print version or you are a control freak, I recommend it. Vellum and Reedsy are about the same, I think. If you have a lot of illustrations--big ones, I mean, not just an author photo--you should beg, borrow, or steal a copy of InDesign. You can use Calibre to compress your output epub file if you want to make sure you earn every available penny. However, my book is 6mb and it is about 8 cents to download. Also, if you're trying to do this on the cheap, you really can just do it in Word. The layout won't be as fancy, but you can do it. (Layout granularity, from least to most granular, is probably Word->Atticus->InDesign.)

If you want to publish under a press name that is not your name, you will need to start a business. Laws around taxes and registration may vary depending on where you are, but in general, you will want to register your name with your state or county registrar (for me, this cost $30 and I had to get a piece of paper notarized). Then you can get a business checking account (for me this part was free--I went through the bank I already have accounts with). In the US, sole proprietorships like this are taxed as pass-through entities, so you will pay personal income taxes on whatever money you make, but you don't have to pay corporate income taxes. If you are publishing books that could possibly get you sued (e.g., The Big Book of Welding While Juggling or Now You're Cooking with Napalm) you may want to form an LLC. Talk to a lawyer.

Open a KDP account. If you hate the Zon and want to only publish somewhere else (Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, whatever), that's fine--the process is about the same. If you think you previously had a KDP account and then didn't use it, search your emails etc. to try to find out, because if they figure that out, they'll close both accounts and then you won't get paid.

Add your new title to the catalog (you will need to add metadata, like your name, series name if there is one, and a description of the book) and set the prices. Unless your book is super big, you'll probably earn more if you select the 70% option. For some reason, I changed a few of the prices. If you're planning to publish on several platforms, I don't recommend this--just set your price in one place and then let it convert those. Otherwise, you'll have to reinput everything over and over, because it's in the terms of service that you need to price things the same on Kobo as you do on Amazon (and so on).

Set the day of publication and tell people about it. Like your mom. Your weird aunt who's always so supportive. Your friend who has been listening to you bitch about how hard writing is for the past six months.

???

Profit.

Q: Hey, I want my book in several online stores, not just Amazon.

A: You have a few options. Draft2Digital/Smashwords and IngramSpark both distribute digitally to various places so you only have to set things up once. But they take a cut of the profit for this service. You can also set up independent accounts with each store and upload your stuff.

Q: What happens in step 9?

A: You know. Meet other indie writers and try to gain their trust. Read a lot. Work on the sequel. Get some sleep, because deadlines are exhausting, even self-imposed ones. Learn about advertising. That sort of thing.

Next time, I'll do the paper side of things.

[janedoewrites]

Did you self-publish? If yes, what was it like? Any advise for writers looking to publish?

I did self-publish, yes.

How I Did It

It was easier than I thought it'd be, at least, the way I approached it. Caveat that I went through KDP (i.e. Amazon) for a number of reasons that basically came down to a) ease of publishing b) availability of hard copies c) the shipping of hard copies on a global scale (not all countries are available but it's a decent amount) d) it's a place people often go to for books period e) the cost of publishing (the way it works is that print is done "on-demand" it's slower but I don't have to pay out of pocket for X print copies that I then have to sell to make the money back). f) fairly good royalties g) the general terms and conditions and 'ownership' of my material.

There are downsides in that it's through Amazon, whom nobody likes, and that there's return shenanigans in that if I get money from a purchase and if someone chooses to then return the book then that money gets taken away from me personally. (This has gotten better, recently, with ebook purchases as now if a reader reads past a certain percentage they're considered as having 'bought' it where before a lot of people treated it like a library and didn't realize it was the author they were fucking over and not Amazon who makes sure they're not the ones taking the cut).

And look, to those who want to give me flack, we live in a society and people buy books on Amazon. Them's the breaks.

There are other ways to self-publish and platforms you can pay to be a part of where they'll work to not only get you listed on Amazon but bookstores such as Barnes and Noble but it's a little more complicated/does cost some amount to do.

What Was it Like

It's a fairly simple process through KDP at least. What you do is set up an account with tax information/agree to terms of service/so on and so forth. You can then manage your books through a profile and the manuscripts you can write in pre-provided document templates that have the print structure for whatever size book you want to write (e.g. 6"x9").

When you're finished and have your page count in the formatted text, you go and see what size covers are required for hard copies (if you're interested) and can either use stock images to generate covers or else cover images that you own (e.g. you do it yourself or commission it as a book cover by an artist). For e-books they give specifications on the quality your cover should be for the best resolution/results.

You then submit your manuscript/cover art for copyright review, get an ISBN (KDP provides this for free for hard copies if you use them), and decide on digital rights management, promotion options, and pricing structure (where you're told up front the cost of printing/the amount you get after KDP's cut of the royalties).

It sits in reviews for up to 72 hours and provided all goes well you're then live, you get an author page and links to your works, and you can distribute how you want/tell the world to buy your book.

In other words, it was stupid easy.

Should You Self-Publish

There are pros and cons to self-publishing vs. publishing in general.

One great pro is nobody tells you what to do and so long as you follow terms of service (which hopefully you do as it's things like: don't write about the glorification of violence, glorification of sexual violence, so on and so forth) you can publish what you like without having to necessarily be 'marketable'.

Remember that published books are intended to sell and they generally either target extremely niche markets in a very deep way or else try to cast a very wide net with a book everyone can enjoy. One thing you'll see a lot of if you go the publishing route is "I as an agent enjoy unique stories. Now, tell me at least five books that are exactly like yours that were published in the last five years." There are exceptions, but it's generally not a field that likes risk or shaking the boat. They want to be able to sell books.

Another great pro is you're depending only on yourself. You can publish the book as soon as you're finished editing without having to convince someone else it's great stuff.

And of course, there's the pro that you don't have to get an agent or publisher to say yes. The way it typically works is if you want the big or prestigious publishers, you have to have an agent and that agent usually has to have some in roads with that publisher. Which means you have to submit a few pages of a manuscript/a summary and other things to them and hope they get back to you on that. This can be very time consuming (as they generally allow a window of 4-6 weeks) and annoying.

The cons is that you have to market yourself and you don't have the leg up that publishing would otherwise get you (where you are associated with whatever books they already have published just by being published by them, they may or may not run marketing campaigns and advertising for your material, and they can get your books distributed on a much wider scale). What this means is that if you don't have a large-ish platform already and care about sales/intend to make a living on this then you're going to have a very rough time getting a foot up.

The other part of this is that obviously you don't get a forward/amount of money before any books are sold as you otherwise might with a publishing agency. You only get the royalties you earn through sales.

Any Advice?

The self-publishing bit is easy enough that the hardest part is the writing and the editing. Obviously, I haven't gotten far in at this point, and I'm also not all that concerned about sales (I have no intentions of quitting my day job and becoming an auteur any time soon) so I'm perhaps not the person to ask at this point in time.

If you go Amazon worth thinking about is if you want to go the Kindle Unlimited route or not. I haven't as of yet, because I'm not feeling the burn for promotion.

What it is for those not familiar is that Amazon will market your book much more internally (e.g. that stuff that pops up on your kindle when you turn it on), run sales and promotions on it, but your ebook version can be read for free/lent to others for free with you getting a small amount of money depending how far readers make it into the book. The idea being that as you reach a much larger audience, you get more money than you otherwise would have. It's a good way to market if you have no platform/following already and a good way to proliferate the book but you lose out on people actually buying it.

[xavier-elrose]

I Wrote A Book!

I wrote two A Books!

I'm gonna try this. I am gonna try this. I'm gonna try and be an author, and NOBODY is gonna stop me!

Not even me. Take that, me!

If you enjoy my writing on here, you should probably check them out.

"I'll Pontificate When I'm Dead" is a collection of stories from my time on Reddit, with some stories expanded slightly (and galling errors removed. I know other people don't care much, but I hate typos in my work so much).

It also includes four new stories you can't get any other way, because that seems to be the way you entice people to buy a thing? I am many things, but a marketing expert is not one of them.

Seven stories in four different 'categories'- straight high fantasy (I entitled that section 'going your own way', because that is also a theme in the section), the afterlife (I have written a bunch about different afterlives, which kinda caught me off guard), a silly section (do you want to know the real meaning behind "The Twelve Days of Christmas"?), and a section where I do a lot of pontificating.

Sometimes I just like to talk.

"Lightning Wolf" is a...novelette? (Too short to be a novella, too long to be a short story) about a young sorceress out on her first adventure. Things...don't quite go according to plan. And now she has to abandon her party, and civilization, to try and deal with the werewolf curse. Will she succeed? Or will the curse consume her?

Recommended reading for anyone who has ever wanted to be able to zap things with lightning.

And remember: every book I sell makes it more likely that I write more. I'm quite encouraged when things actually work.

Available on Amazon, Apple, Baker & Taylor, Barnes & Noble, Bibliotheca, BorrowBox, Gardners, Hoopla, Kobo, Odilo, OverDrive, Palace Marketplace, Scribd, Smashwords, Tolino, and Vivlio.

I would be tickled pink by any reviews, and if you asked your local library to carry a copy. I approve of libraries. Shocking from an author, I know. (That was heavy sarcasm, just in case).

Ebook only, though it looks like it's possible to also set it up to be distributed as a paperback? I probably won't do that, but let me know if that's something you, personally, would want.

[juleskelleybooks]

Some interesting numbers, for anyone who is interested. I think that book sales could use more transparency - I understand why they're vague, sometimes, because no matter how much we love our fellow authors, it can also feel discouraging or spark jealousy or envy when someone who started on the same playing field as us has hit that magic combination of timing and luck that sends them skyrocketing to bestseller status - but I also think that a little peek into the gears and realities of non-bestsellers can be useful, even encouraging.

I am, however, putting it behind a cut in case you're one of those people who absolutely needs to Not Know how other people are doing because you get so distracted you can't do your own stuff.

So I went wide with Welcome to the Show's publishing in...May? I took it down off Kindle Unlimited and published it to other venues through Draft2Digital. Notably, I do not have any paperbacks published through D2D for WTTS, those are only through Amazon at this time.

It had been doing pretty steady numbers on Kindle Unlimited - nothing huge, but maybe three to four people a month reading it through, but the minute I went wide with it, sales dropped off. I don't think I made a single sale with it for all of May, and maybe one or two for June (through Amazon - I haven't sold any units through any of the wider distro*).

Polyamorous romance, though, is a hard sell sometimes. There are still a LOT of people out there who think that threesomes are only good to spice up some bedroom scenes but it's not a truly happy/romantic ending unless it ends with the main couple realizing they're happier together in a monogamous pairing. Not as many as when I first published it in 2012, but enough.

There's also the fact that I warned for issues of consent/misunderstanding that I think worry some people, which I understand. So this particular book has a lot working against it, but I am thinking about taking it down off D2D and putting it back on KU, if only because people seem more likely to take a chance on it if they're not paying for it directly but are rather getting it as part of a larger subscription.

*The addendum here is that Smashwords ran a summer sale for the month of July, and I opted in for WTTS at 100% off - it was free. Reports show that 21 people downloaded it during the sale. So while I haven't sold any units through wider distro, it did get downloaded through another avenue while it was free to obtain.

Stars Still Fall released on July 12, almost halfway through the month. It got 12 preorders on Amazon, it got one preorder on Barnes & Noble, and one either sale or preorder on Kobo. By comparison to WTTS, it did numbers in the Smashwords summer sale - 53 downloads while it was free.

Last month it had 26 orders on Amazon (ebook & paperback combined) and this month it's had four already, which is a pleasant surprise for me, lol.

Other than Amazon and Smashwords, it did actually do some sales on wider distro. I can't see the unit numbers yet so I'd need to do math, but royalty-wise it's made the most from D2D print (oddly enough) at $7.68, secondary from Overdrive (yay libraries!) at $5.60, and then the little bit from Kobo and B&N (about a dollar each). It hasn't sold any in wider distro so far this month.

Anyway! There you go. For science.

Also about 90% of the reviews so far have been from people who either know me, or got the book as part of BookSirens' ARC distribution. Just as a data point on that front, too.

[ghoulishbuck]

This post is for those who want to know places to get books or where I personally get mine. If you would like to add places please leave them in the comments.

Ways I acquire books:

•Libby- this is an app that connects with your library card(s). 90% of what I read I loan from my library using this as audiobooks and ebooks at times are easier for me to use.

•Kindle Unlimited- I own an old fire tablet that I just got two months of kindle unlimited for free on but personally I won’t continue it after it ends because I have a hard time with ebooks.

•Amazon- I rarely buy things on here now but they do often have a lot of books on sale. I do also browse for deals on ebooks and have gotten a plethora of ones I’m interested in for free.

•Secondhand stores- most of my collection comes from secondhand/ thrift stores. I very rarely buy a book from chain stores or for full price. This also includes antique stores.

•PangoBooks- 98% of the time if I want to buy a specific book I’ll look for it here before I look elsewhere. They also at times do give out coupons like spend $20 get $5 off.

•NetGalley- every now and then I’ll request digital arcs (ebooks and audiobooks that aren’t released yet). As long as you read the books you request and review them (or state you DNF’ed and why) on the site and keep your ratio at least at 80% of all accepted request reviewed you’re golden. But, having another place where you talk and review books does increase your chances. Personally, I have my Goodreads and Instagram account linked to help even though I haven’t touched my Instagram account in awhile.

•Library- I’ve barely checked out any books in person since I got my library card but that’s purely because I’m really trying to read my physical tbr and stay away from adding more to it.

•Gifts- if people ask me what I want for something for example my 21st birthday which is a few months away I’ll either say a certain book, an author, or a gift card to someplace that sells books. Sometimes I’ll say other things depending on the person. Now that doesn’t mean I’m expecting a bunch of books especially new ones in fact when I gave someone a list of books and author names I only gave them things that I thought they could easily find in a thrift store and always remind them that it’s not a list of things that needs to be completely bought but more of a scavenger hunt that they can end at anytime.

•Audible- for awhile I had a subscription mostly due to multiple free trials and it not cancelling even after I cancelled… Anyways, I prefer using Libby.

•Half Price Books- this is both a secondhand store and not. A good chunk of my books have come from here although these days this is mostly only my go to when I’m near one, when I don’t have time for a thrift store (I will look at nearly the entire place), or when I’m hoping to find certain more popular books.

•Barnes & Nobles- I very rarely went to Barnes even when I lived near one but every now and then I would buy some books from there. I do wish I could be near one when they do their 50% off hardcover sale they usually do on the 26th of December.

•Giveaways- I’ve won quite a few e-book giveaways on Goodreads. Personally, I’ve only won one physical giveaway and never received it. Which is pretty 50/50 when it’s the publisher doing the giveaway from what I understand.

•Dollar Tree- this is pretty hit or miss but whenever I go I make sure to check out their book section because they do sometimes have books I am interested in.

•Target- their price on books especially viz manga always gets me. Along with the deals they do every now and then like buy one get one 50% off or buy two get one free.

•Walmart- they also have about the same pricing for books as Target does but the only extra deal they do is for books they put on clearance which they put in cardboard bins.

•Book Outlet- discounted books that are pretty cheap although condition can vary. Not like extremely bad but like I have gotten a book with a small rip in the cover, the cover smushed on the top and bottom of the spine and a broken spine on a hardcover. I just think it’s better to know what the condition could be be before going into it. As long as your fine with the chance of getting that I highly recommend it. They are currently doing a fiction books sale right now where their only $5.99 and everything else is 20% off. Just dropping my referral link below if you use it you get $5 off of a $25 or higher order.

•Rightstuf (rip now is under Crunchyroll)- they had some great deals on manga, graphic novels, anime figures, and anime. I sadly didn’t take part in the birthday sale even though I really wanted to but I did make one or two purchases from them and had a good experience.

•Book of the Month- I’ve been getting books from them for just about to be a year and one month. I personally have really enjoyed it but I also will read anything that interest me and usually even if I don’t care for the months picks after watching people react to them and talk about them I want to pick up at least one of them. Book of the Month referral below.

•Aardvark- I got this one month with the discount code they always have where you get your first book for $4. There’s been a few books I wanted that they have but it’s been too rare for me.

Other ways that I haven’t yet done:

•Library sales- every now and then libraries will sell the books they no longer plan to keep in circulation and the profits go directly to the library.

•Little Free Libraries- these are strictly take a book leave a book deals. Most of these are run by a book lover who just wants to make books more accessible to people but they have to take the money out of their own pocket to keep it filled.

•Asking Publishers for physical arcs- this is the one I’m most anxious about and know the least about. From what I heard you have better chances of getting accepted for physical arcs if you have a big following. And it’s better to wait until you have had a book blog be somewhat regularly active (every week or two minimum) for six months. After that point you have to send an email to the publisher specifically asking for a certain physical arc(s), link your blog, make it professional sounding and just cross your fingers.

•Independent bookstore- I live in the middle of nowhere so the closest one to me is over two hours away (this is actually the closest bookstore period) and it’s also pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I just have a hard time paying full price so even though I love browsing through a bookstore the drive just for the bookstore that’s full price isn’t worth it.

•ThriftBooks- I like to know the condition I’m buying books in so I’ve never bought something from here as new could actually mean good condition depending on the person.

•SciFier- this is what a lot of people especially in the UK use especially for manga. It’s like a Rightstuff but from what I’ve seen better.

•eBay- I feel more comfortable with Pango’s system of just incase the seller screw’s you over than with eBay’s so I’ve never bought anything from here.

•Facebook Marketplace- I don’t have Facebook so I’ve never used this but I have seen some good deals.

•Garage/Yard/Estate Sales- I haven’t been to any of these in quite some time but when I did go things were quite cheap because they just wanted to get rid of things.

•Illumicrate- special edition book subscription service

•Fairyloot- special edition book subscription service

•Owlcrate- special edition book subscription service

•Broken binding- special edition book subscription service

•Forbidden planet- Manga, books, comics and figures store

•Indigo- Canada’s verison of Barnes & Nobles

[nikethestatue]

I don’t know what to make of sjm/bb silence about the cc3 preorder. Its been up for days and no statement has been made. The barns & noble one has even been updated with an ebook option as well as a discount already 😒 and yes, the purchase goes through. So they can take our money without even having the decency to make a statement.

Yah, i was talking to a friend and we were wondering about this 'strategy'.

Nameless book. No Synopsis. No announcement. No cover. Available on some vague day in 2024.

But please pay $21 for Kindle!!! JFC

The only thing I can think of is either they are just so sure that it will sell that they don't feel the need to do any promos, or they are aware that the fandom is mad and impatient, and even though they dont have any concrete info from SJM, they are throwing this as a crumb, to quell the unrest.

[6qubed]

in reference to that last point: there was a time when Amazon only sold physical books. not ebooks, kindles didn't exist (yet), physical books. but they could compete with the likes of Barnes & Noble, or Borders/Waldenbooks, these massive chains that also sold books, because they didn't have to maintain brick-and-mortar locations. additionally, this was back in the early days of the internet, and while everyone was familiar with mailing off order forms for, say, music subscriptions and such, filling out those forms by hand was A Chore and actually mailing them off was Also A Chore. "order thing online and thing is mailed to your house" was novel enough to capture attention

and once Amazon had that attention, and a secure-enough cashflow to get brave, they had the wild idea of ebooks, and then selling things that weren't books. and here we are

[doesbuck]

Book Sales and Marketing Is Work

Book Sales As an author, I thought I could write and publish a book that everyone would like. What I found out is that even if you have a good book, if people don’t know about it, they can’t buy it. When I released Salvation and Doom, Amazon.com: Salvation and Doom: The Cathardi Prophecy eBook : Jones, C.Buck: Kindle Store, I figured people could search Amazon and find the book without any trouble. I learned that wasn’t the case and initially had a hard time finding it myself. Fortunately, my Kindle Direct Publishing page allowed me to go to the listing on Amazon.com where I could copy the link to my book’s listing which I could share. Salvation and Doom Cover The first page or perish, is a saying concerning sales on Amazon.com. In other words, if your item is not listed on the first page of the Amazon.com search, you sell anything. My understanding of books is, that Amazon uses recent sales and customer reviews to determine which books are listed first. The table below shows my sales for November 2023 - January 2024. From twenty-plus book sales, I have only four ratings with three of the four leaving reviews. Neither gets me on the first page. All the reviews, on both Amazon and Goodreads, are four and five stars. Monthe-bookPaperbackKindle UnlimitedNovember 20235101December 2023150January 2024001Book Sales To Date Marketing Efforts Somehow I need to let people know about my book, and the limited number of people within my Facebook and Instagram accounts are not sufficient to get any significant results. I am trying various methods to publicize my book to a broader, more targeted audience. I paid someone to post my book on several book blogs. The January posts resulted in one KU sale which won’t cover my costs. I have signed up for Online Book Fairs Hosted By Authors | eBookFairs which will show my book to a broad audience. The first fair is scheduled for February 9, 2024, and I will provide more details as the fair approaches. Next week I will visit our library, as well as the local Barnes and Noble bookstores, to see if they will carry my book as a local author. Writing Update In the meantime, I am continuing to edit my next book, a portal fantasy, that I hope to publish this year. I am also working on a sequel to Salvation and Doom. Word is that book sales increase if you have more than one book. If you enjoy my blogs, please sign up for my mailing list to receive updates on future projects. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts. Read the full article

[mybookplacenet]

Featured Post: Back to Slavery by Rod Ballard

About Back to Slavery: Royal is an outstanding high school basketball player from Atlanta, Georgia, with a bright future ahead of him. Even though things are going great for him, he doesn’t understand how far his people (African ancestors) have come for him to be able to be in his position. Royal didn’t care much about what his ancestors had to go through in the past. He thought slavery was pretty simple. “Just sit back, do your work in the fields, and listen to the white man. How bad could that be?” Not caring about how brutal slavery was for his ancestors, one night after he falls asleep, Royal awakens in an unfamiliar place. He isn’t in Atlanta, Georgia, anymore. He wakes up in slavery times on a plantation, where he witnesses hangings, beatings, sufferings, and hard labor in the fields, but he goes to sleep every night wishing to wake up in his bed back in Atlanta only to wake back up in slavery every time. Royal is horrified as he tries to survive slavery and everything that comes with it. Will Royal ever make it back home? Or will he forever be stuck back in slavery? (Kindle on sale for $2.99 on Amazon through Dec. 31st, 2023) Targeted Age Group: Adults Written by: Rod Ballard Buy the ebook: Buy the Book On Amazon Buy the Print Book: Buy the Book On Amazon Buy the Book On Barnes & Noble/Nook Author Bio: Ballard is an Award-Winning, acclaimed writer and entrepreneur who is a native of South Carolina, born and raised. With four published books to his credit, including his newly released title "Back to Slavery," he has been awarded numerous Readers' Favorite 5-Star Editorial Reviews. He has been writing since childhood but took it seriously in 2015. Rod's books are available on Amazon Books, Amazon Kindle, Barnes Noble, and many fine online book sites. Rod is committed to fitness and health, living a positive life, as it is his personal belief that how you keep yourself fit on the outside reflects who you are on the inside. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, writing, movies, and listening to music of various styles but favors Smooth Jazz and R&B. With one goal accomplished of being an award-winning and best-selling author, his next aspiration is to see one of his books come to life in the movie "Silver Screens." Rod continues to reside in South Carolina. He enjoys engaging and hearing from his reader fans and welcomes your comments and thoughts by email. Feel free to connect with Rod using his social media handles below. Instagram: @hotrodfit Twitter: @hotrodfit Email: rod.ballard@yahoo.com Follow the author on social media: Learn more about the writer. Visit the Author's Website Facebook Fan Page Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Read the full article

[schneidt79]

TimeReaping in Deadwood (Deadwood Mystery Series Bk 13) by author Ann Charles (Art by CS Kunkle/ Graphics by Sam Lucky)

My Book Review: 5 *****

In Violet and crew's latest adventure: will she ever catch that darn critter running around Deadwood causing mischief and mayhem wherever it goes? Will she avoid getting found out by Masterson that she killed one of his "pets"? Are her kids developing new abilities and how much longer can she protect them from the truth? The truth of their slayer bloodline and the truth of who their father really is. Is her evil sister really willing to bury the hatchet-and not in Vi's back? What is going on with those crazy Timekeeper clocks? And will she ever sell a house? All this is and sexy Doc moments are waiting for you in the latest Deadwood Mystery book!

Ann Charles' Deadwood books always deliver laughs, chills, and "the feels", all in an addictive series that you never want to end! They are part comedy, mystery, romance, and thriller with supernatural & paranormal fights to the death. They are also about family, both blood and chosen, and loyalty to the end.

This heroine may not have signed up to protect people from evil but she's the only one to take up the call. She's scared but does what she must in order to protect her kids, her friends, and the innocent. All while trying to hold down a job, raise said kids, get quality time with her man, and somehow manage to stay alive.

Not only do you find yourself rooting for the heroine but all of her friends and allies too. Nobody writes quirky and lovable the way Ann does. The reader gets pulled into the lives of these zany characters & they begin to feel like real-life friends.

Her human "bad guys" are so "real" that you'll have inevitably met someone in your day to day life that reminds you of them. You end up loathing these baddies and cannot wait til they get their due! You love to hate them.

Her "other" baddies are spooky, creepy, & mysterious-usually with a lust for mayhem and a craving for flesh and blood. These monsters are sometimes humanoid and not quite so bad but usually they are looking to kill. Unfortunately, Violet and her crew are the only ones around to stop them.

Every new book is like visiting old friends but these old friends are always getting pulled into a new adventure that keeps the story fresh and exciting. I highly recommend the Deadwood Mystery Series and every other series by Ann Charles! TimeReaping in Deadwood is book 13 in the series. If you are new to this author and interested in this series, book 1 is titled Nearly Departed in Deadwood.

Author Series Link: https://anncharles.com/book_cat/deadwood/

Author Buy Link: https://ann-charles-company-store.myshopify.com/products/timereaping-in-deadwood-book-13

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CJ29HLNT?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_12&storeType=ebooks

Barnes & Noble/Nook Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/timereaping-in-deadwood-ann-charles/1144069589;jsessionid=86662E518E7F9580825DEF9FE617A023.prodny_store01-atgap10?ean=2940185891469

Rakuten/Kobo Link: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/timereaping-in-deadwood

Google Play Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ann_Charles_TimeReaping_in_Deadwood?id=8-LWEAAAQBAJ

Apple Books Link: https://books.apple.com/us/book/timereaping-in-deadwood/id6466372410

*Also available in audio & print*

[ignitiveifynovelcafe]

Brimstone Heat is a Paranormal Demons & Devils Romance by author Rayne Rachels filled with heroes and heroines you want to get to know! This series is fun, SEXY and will keep you coming back for more!

Lucifer, Brimstone Heat, Book 1:

Kicked out of the underworld, the sons of Hades can return when they find their mates in the human world.

While keeping his true identity hidden from everyone, Sheriff Lucifer Fitch protects the shifters and humans of Briary Creek from criminals and dark entities. Lucifer enjoys the life he has created, but one person is missing—his mate. A break-in at the library brings Lucifer face-to-face with Angie Gunner, his mate.

Librarian Angie Gunner fights her attraction to Sheriff Lucifer Fitch because she vowed to never date or become involved with anyone associated with law enforcement.

Will Angie keep her promise or will she look past the badge and accept the male she’s fated to love for eternity?

Will Lucifer claim and protect his curvy mate from the ghosts merging to destroy them?

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Lucifer-Brimstone.../dp/B01K6JC0D4

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucifer-Brimstone.../dp/B01K6JC0D4

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Lucifer-Brimstone.../dp/B01K6JC0D4

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../lucifer.../1124317343

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/lucifer-28

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/lucifer/id1142442811

****************************************

Phoenix, Brimstone Heat Book 2:

Curvy Savanna Chambers is living her dreams. She owns and runs a bakery selling many sweet treats, including her signature cakes. She is raising her daughter and has a friend who also is her employee.

The only thing missing in her life is the love of a wonderful male, but she doesn’t think it’s something she needs until she meets Phoenix Fitch.

Phoenix has spent years looking for his mate. But since his brother, Lucifer, found his mate, Phoenix is feeling the loneliness more than ever, until a false fire alarm brings his mate to him. Sparks fly between them until she runs away and hides in her bakery.

As Phoenix works to convince Savanna they are fated mates, he must protect her from the forces determine to keep them apart by any means possible, including death.

Will Savanna fall in love with Phoenix?

Will Phoenix protect Savanna and her daughter?

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Brimstone.../dp/B0BKR92MFH

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phoenix-Brimstone.../dp/B0BKR92MFH

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Phoenix-Brimstone.../dp/B0BKR92MFH

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../phoenix.../1142732706

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/phoenix-161

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/phoenix/id6444662186