Writers' Forum_Re: Amazon changing your pricing to free issues

Re: Amazon changing your pricing to free issues

I don't have pricing problems with them; I do have censor challenges with them cockblocking random storylines.

My bi/gay academy novella about powerful, rich, and randy North Coast student Tad his twink and his teacher and my compilation of other previous short story volumes of North Coast fellow students was also blocked--both without explanation, just a we've cold cocked it--while the individual stories that were compiled are still available on Amazon/Kindle. But not on their Mobipocket which they're now fully consolidating within Kindle.

Tad was my first gay story, so that seemed suspicious.

The rest are highly incestuous and say so in titles but not blocked until consolidated.

Ama. does monkey with prices, I normally sell free material for that .99 USD; but, I also, add additional material, put that notice in the marketing and sell for a bit more.

Do look into going full publisher through www.lightningsource.com of Ingrams they are the largest PRINTER AND DISTRIBUTOR to ALL BOOKSELLERS on the planet, or in the US, or something. They serve random house and ME!!!!

Free uploads of ebooks, set your own prices, and the POD service has gone to eproofing instead of mandatory print copies for POD, making that free, as well, or nearly free.

LS handles the heavy printing, distribution, and paying me monthly, plus easily connect me with Bowker ISBN's include a fifty percent discount I spent my movie extra earnings on of 100 isbns for half price.

I just have to add my marketing and, most important, WRITE my stories and tool my files (or hire someone else to do full formats, been talking to http://www.epubconversion.com/ recently because I'm pretty much thinking the brain cells I'm burning to figure out epub, despite being able to pdf / mobi - kindle / ms reader which is dead now is a waste of my skils).

Anyway, you upload to their higher standards than Amazon's (I've seen some unreadable things there with all smart punctuation codes broken into code not symbols). LS reaches world wide with print groups in US, UK, and Australia, shipping worldwide, plus airport kiosks that print as your wait and cool cutting edge.

Also, I've been looking into EbookMall http://www.ebookmall.com/author/neale-sourna They pull my books from LS, just like Lulu, BN, and everyone else for ebook or print book.

Neale

www.neale-sourna.com
www.pie-percept.com
www.writing-naked.com

An Answer to the Frustration of REAL Publishing at LinkedIn.com

Perhaps the real questions are do you want to wait a year or two to find an agent, and another yr or 2 to get an editor, and then a publisher?

Oh. Your editor just quit and you're agent's a dink. And you have to start over. How many years of your life will that take?

Or.

You get all your ducks in order and get that brass ring REAL publisher, that drops your book off market and makes it nearly impossible for anyone to buy--the very same year it's published!

These things are what I saw in my research before publishing, and also that many of the "self-publishing houses" had/have atrociously bad contracts. They are my books not theirs, if they wish to lease fine, if not, then a quick release of a few weeks should be doable.

You will be doing a lot of your marketing no matter who publishes it, but if you want to be certain it's out there long enough [takes about 5 yrs? for a Christmas Box or Joy of Sex] to become the next author-published goody that hits HUGE,.

So, you may consider joining we the author-published [also known as self-published and POD]. But, author publisher is cleaner, truer, and hasn't the baggage.

Check out the great contract at www.InfinityPublishing.com and call [I think it's still 877-BUY BOOK] and ask for their SAMPLE BOOK which is a perfect bound sample of the actual POD/print as they're purchased that they'll print for you with all the info to your questions. Their contract--if a huge house pick you up--can be released without any fuss, and within a few weeks. Not years.

And/Or invest in your own isbn's [www.isbn.org / www.bowkerlink.com] and upload to Ingram's www.LightningSource.com which prints and/or distributes pretty much all the big REAL publisher books and ebooks, as well as mine, to most booksellers online and brick and mortar.

And they don't stiff you with a ton of books to get waterdamaged in the garage or basement. You can order at cost and they'll ship for you to whoever needs to see your book, when you're marketing.

But they fulfill all bookseller [Amazon, BN, etc] orders without you, if you like. I like. I love.

All this requires learning more entrepreneurship skills and coordinating or doing your own editing, layout, and packaging.

All of my releases are still growing, and I'm set up now that if I want to write story or text, do layout, cover, and upload to them and have it go on sale within the same week. No. No bull....

Do look check them out, because putting your energy into--as the man said above--a dying system may not make you any happier.

Do you want to publish? Believe me the validation is there when you see your properties on sale across the net worldwide, and when you get your royalties, monthly, if you make sales.

Instead of 2-4 times a year from the majors, I believe it is.

This way is much work but there is much satisfaction and peace of mind, as well. And the years you spent chasing NYers or whomever, who by the way have been putting out badly edited and researched books, too, for a decade or more, have NOTHING to say about author publishing. Highly frustrating.

They are the big marketers nothing more.

So, you could use those years to learn epublishing and get your publishing company or a consortium group together and work on your books as a group.

Neale Sourna

www.PIE-Percept.com [publishing]
www.Neale-Sourna.com [author site]
www.Writing-Naked.com

www.LightningSource.com [national and worldwide print and distribution--ebooks (Adobe PDF/EPUB, MS, Palm), print books of all binding, interior color, and distributes to the new airport POD book kiosks]

Publishing an ebook which is better Lulu or Amazon?

Question:

Publishing an ebook which is better Lulu or Amazon?

Answer:

Look at Ingram's www.LightningSource.com for both ebook [adobe, ms, palm] and print books [most bindings and interior color now, colour in UK :)] and they can link you into national and international distribution online and brick/mortars, and airport book kiosks; bring your own ISBNs [www.Bowkerlink.com].

Amazon, I believe, only takes MobiPocket [for Kindle] ebooks, which you can download, set up and upload yourself from MS Word or Adobe Acrobat file.

Your $% cut can be large or small at Ingram's--you control it. Amazon Mobi is 50/50, It think.

It is feasible, once you're in Lightning Source , that you can write, edit, and publish and have on sale within a couple of weeks--all uploaded from your own computer.

You can do all this yourself, I do--with some hysterical hair-pulling, every now and then; but, I can, publish weekly or whatever and it'll be available nationally and internationally.

Or, you can have a layout editor at Elance.com or Guru.com help you (at a price), then upload the files yourself. Price your books above the print rate for print [it's pretty much ALL yours in ebooks] with a % for all the bookstores to share, and the payments (minus the printing rate) come in monthly straight to you--if you have sales.

All this costs a lot less than having a rather printer print and stack books to get damaged in your basement.

Also, Infinity Publishing / BuyBooksOnTheWeb has good low rates to typeset your files, design a cover, and distribute for you. Call [1-877-BUY-BOOK] them for a sample book, which will have all their info for setting up with them, and latest prices.

Neale Sourna

Links:

* http://www.LightningSource.com
* http://www.InfinityPublishing.com
* http://www.Bowkerlink.com