FLASH SALE - Free on Kindle today: Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree

For the first time! Download for free and save $3.99; this weekend only. ENDED MAY 13. Check out other promos on my website.

Book #5 of the Sultana series. 

In fifteenth-century Moorish Spain, Aisha, the descendant of the Sultans of Granada endures a life imperiled by dynastic warfare, loss, and cruel fate. Enemies descend on the kingdom from all sides and threaten to tear it apart. 

To preserve a fragile peace, Aisha suffers a sham marriage to a cruel tyrant, forever divided from the love that once ruled her heart. Years later, when a trusted confidante becomes a powerful rival, Aisha must fight for the future of the next generation or witness the destruction of her family and the last vestiges of Moorish rule in Spain.

Excerpt

“...I spoke so you would never forget who you are again. You have a proud heritage and Nasrid pride, the pride of lions who lived and ruled for centuries before your existence, and the Sultanas who would not let fate or circumstance bend or break them. Their blood flows in your veins! Saad and his son have taken from you. Show them that you are as fierce as Jazirah, Butayna, Fatima, and even Maryam the viper. As strong as the lioness upon the plains. A lioness of Gharnatah. You have not forgotten. You do not forgive. You shall have recompense for the lives they have ruined and the blood they have shed.”

FLASH SALE - Free on Kindle today: Sultana: Two Sisters and Sultana: The Bride Price

Today, books #3 and #4 of the Sultana series are FREE to download on Kindle. Save $3.99. ENDED MAY 4. Check out other promos on my website.

Book #3 of the Sultana series

In fourteenth-century Spain, former friends vie for a man's heart and the future of his kingdom. Both women are captives sold into the harem of Sultan Yusuf I of Moorish Granada. A young girl with a hidden heritage, Esperanza Peralta, forges a new identity as Butayna and becomes the mother of Yusuf's firstborn son.The Jewess Miriam Alubel takes the name Maryam and also bears Yusuf's children, including two sons. The clash between former friends is inevitable, as each finds diverging paths in a dizzying rise to power beside their husband. Both remain aware of the struggle ahead, for only one heir may inherit Yusuf's throne and only one woman can claim the revered title, Mother of the Sultan.

Excerpt

"...Two heirs to sit upon the throne when there can be just one Sultan to succeed his father. Some would say Yusuf is fortunate to have two sons. Others would think him cursed. Regardless, I do not doubt the news will please him, given your recent tragedy."

Butayna's nails raked the doorpost. Her other hand went to her empty stomach, where six weeks ago her second child had thrived for five months until failure shattered her hopes. The court astrologer had predicted another boy.

Maryam added, "If you believe this is the last time I shall bear Yusuf a son, you are mistaken. I will not fade away, while you keep Yusuf at your side. He does not love me, not yet, but I will bind his heart with our children. If you think Muhammad shall inherit the throne just because he is the eldest, you are wrong."

A shudder coursed through Butayna. She fisted her hands at her sides before she turned to Maryam. "If you ever strike at Muhammad, no one, not even Yusuf shall save you from my wrath! I will choke the life from you with my bare hands. Do not mistake the measure of my love for my son."

Over her shoulder, Maryam said, "Do not underestimate my ambitions for mine."

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Book #4 of the Sultana series. 

In fourteenth-century Moorish Spain, a marriage of convenience for the sake of peace leads to disaster in the medieval kingdom of Granada. The young queen Jazirah, caught up in a dynastic struggle between warring brothers, fights for her survival. Wed to a husband who looks at her with more suspicion than lust in his eyes, she must escape reminders of a brutal past in a quest to find forgiveness, hope, and love. 

Her husband Muhammad faces greater peril than union with a wife he cannot trust. Surrounded by enemies within his family who seek the throne and undermined by ministers who would alter the course of his country's future, he intends to rule the land of his ancestors alone. How can he endure against his most bitter opponents, not least among them, the woman whom he has chosen for a bride? 

Excerpt

"...Why do you speak of me as if I am not here?" Jazirah demanded. Despite the collective gasps from everyone in attendance, she continued, "We may address each other as equals for we are both the grandchildren of a Sultan of Gharnatah." 

Her father admonished, "Jazirah, you are not the equal of a man, least of all the Sultan! You will apologize and beg his forgiveness. Now!" 

Muhammad raised a hand. While Ismail fell silent and glared at Jazirah, she returned his narrowed stare with intense regard. 

The Sultan said, "Let her keep false words behind her teeth. I would not believe them. What else could I expect, but this behavior from the daughter of a traitor to his people and my father?"

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Sultana: free for 3 days on Kindle

Sultana: A Novel of Moorish Spain (Sultana: Book 1) is free on Kindle April 17 - 19. Get caught up on the series before the fourth book, Sultana: The Bride Price, makes its debut in May. http://authl.it/16r.

In thirteenth-century Moorish Spain, the realm of Granada is in crisis. The union of Fatima, granddaughter of the Sultan of Granada, with the Sultan’s nephew Faraj has fractured the nation. A bitter civil war escalates and endangers both Fatima and Faraj’s lives.

All her life, Fatima has sheltered in lavish palaces where danger has never intruded, until now. A precocious child and the unwitting pawn of her family, she soon learns how her marriage may determine her future and the fate of Granada. Her husband Faraj has his own qualms about their union. At a young age, he witnessed the deaths of his parents and discovered how affluence and power offers little protection against indomitable enemies. Guilt and fears plague him. Determined to carve his own destiny, Faraj struggles to regain his lost inheritance and avenge his murdered family.

Throughout the rugged frontiers of southern Spain, the burgeoning Christian kingdoms in the north and the desert states of North Africa, Fatima and Faraj survive ruthless murderers and intrigues. They unite against common enemies bent on destroying the last Moorish dynasty. While Fatima and Faraj establish a powerful bond, the atmosphere of deceit creates opportunities for mistrust and tests their love.

Snippet:

Aisha smiled again, but it seemed sad. “Hush now, child, listen well. Understanding shall come. Even when you must do what others command, never forget the power of your own reasoning. One day, your husband may rule your body, he may even come to rule your heart, but your mind is and always must be your own, where none but you may rule. Promise me that you shall never forget these words.”

Fatima swayed slightly. Her throat hurt, but she whispered, “I promise.”

She returned Aisha’s intent stare, for the first time, unafraid. Aisha’s eyes glistened like gems in the lamplight.

“This is the only measure of advice I can give you, Fatima. You must learn the ways of men, as I have. Do not trust in men alone. Love, be dutiful and respectful, but trust yourself and your instincts first. They shall always guide you rightly.”

Guest Post: Love Request by Tara Chevrestt

Today, I’m so delighted to welcome a guest post from author Tara Chevrestt.

Book Release, Kindle Freebie, & Grand Giveaway!

Love Request /Tara Chevrestt

I’m pleased to share with you my latest release, Love Request. This one is special to me because it’s not only the first romance I penned, but it features a “hearing-impaired” heroine, like myself.

I say “hearing –impaired” because really, there’s nothing wrong with Ciara. She’s not damaged or in need of repair. She just can’t hear as well as others.

As a reader, I grew tired of all the women in romance novels being perfect. In real life, many of us have disabilities—and they are disabilities others can’t see. And worse, they are disabilities others can’t understand, and a lot of times what people don’t understand becomes something they fear…and belittle.

This is where the bullying comes in. You see, this is more than just a romance novel. Open its pages, hit that Kindle “next page” button, and find out for yourself. Learn. Be enlightened. Relate.

Want to sample it first? No problem. Available on Kindle and FREE for the next five days, is a humorous Valentine short story, Mating Instinct.

You’ll find the first chapter of Love Request at the end.

Thank you, readers, for celebrating this special time with me. Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of you, I’m giving away a print copy of Love Request, a plush dog, a lipstick for that special date, and 5 pheromone-soaked chocolate incense sticks! WARNING: Be careful if dogs are in the vicinity.

Blurb:

When Ciara Littleton finally joins Facebook to socialize without the limits her hearing impairment gives her, she looks up a childhood friend on a whim. In sending him that first message, she ignites the memories of a crush from twenty years ago. Can a simple friend request fix all that stands between them and maybe even lead to something more?

Hunter's plate is full. A recent divorce, a pregnant sister, and now, he realizes he's in love with a woman who lives states away. Can he overcome the boundaries of Internet romance to make this desire turn into something real, or will adversity and distance be their undoing?

This book was formerly titled A Facebook Affair and has been revised with a new ending.

Love Request has been named a LASR Best Book and is now up for vote on Best Book of 2012 Poll. You can cast a vote here. I’m so excited and so grateful!

Blurb for Mating Instinct:

This is exactly what you need!

It’s Valentine’s Day and when Ariel receives a package of incense in the mail from her Pagan friend and mentor, she isn’t sure what to make of the enclosed note. Sure, she has some issues, but who doesn’t?

When the smoke releases its magic, Ariel gets an evening of surprise humor and romance, and it is indeed exactly what she needs.

Links:

Love Request on Amazon

Mating Instinct FREE

Tara Chevrestt is a deaf woman, former aviation mechanic, writer, and an editor. She is most passionate about planes, motorcycles, dogs, and above all, reading. That led to her love of writing. Between her writing and her editing, which allows her to be home with her little canine kids, she believes she has the greatest job in the world. She is very happily married.

Her theme is Strong is Sexy. She shares a website with her naughty pen name: http://tarachevrestt.weebly.com/index.html and they have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Chevrestt-Sonia-Hightower/218383211513877.

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FREE isn't what it used to be

Found this out as I'm offering Sultana for free in January, through Smashwords' distributors, and two days ago on Amazon US only (not through KDP Select, but the old-fashioned way). Hard to believe but next month marks one year that the book has been available. The feedback from readers has been positive and heart-warming, especially when I consider my earlier struggles to find representation and then get a publisher to take on the story. In case you're wondering why I would cannibalize sales of the one book among my four that's a consistent money-maker, there's the sequel Sultana's Legacy, which could use a boost in sales and ranking. If you want to find out what makes thirteenth-century Spain so fascinating, pick up your free copy of the book here, here and here by January 31.

What makes offering an e-book for free different this time around? Did I mention KDP Select? Everyone's book is free every other day now, or at least it seems that way. For authors trying to build any momentum, there's a crowded room effect - harder to get your free book noticed when everyone else's own is competing by the same terms. By comparison, the freebie of On Falcon's Wings generated over 10,000 downloads last June on the first day, whereas the latest one managed 4,000 downloads in the same time period. The glut of free has definitely changed things, which tells me marketing had better become more innovative to attract interest. Secondly, this time around I have a sequel to offer, which picks up fifteen years after the events in the freebie end. I'm hoping readers will like the first book enough to buy the second one. So far? Five sales of the sequel the day after the freebie appeared. So, as for whether the free offering will have an impact on sales of the sequel,  it's too early to tell  after two days. I've done all I can to generate interest with complex characters and a layered plot. The rest is up to readers.      

Would You Give Amazon Exclusivity Over Your EBooks?

That's the proposition Amazon is offering thousands of self-published authors who distribute ebooks via its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) arm. Details regarding KDP Select can be found here. I found out out about the offer as I logged into KDP this morning to, um, you know, eh, check out the KDP Community and what's happening with them! Yeah, that's the ticket.

Basic terms of KDP Select: if you're a self-published Kindle author or publisher, for a period of at least 90 days, you vow to sell your soul to the Devil can enroll as many ebook titles as you choose. To participate, you just have to promise that your ebook(s) will not be sold online anywhere during the term. Not online through Smashwords or its distribution partners, Kobo, Deisel, Apple, Barnes & Noble or Sony. Not Xin Xii, OmniLit or Pubit (owned by B&N). Not even through your website or blog.  Your paperbacks are unaffected.  During the proscribed period, you have the option of making the book free for up to five days. Your enrolled titles are also made available for borrowing through Amazon's Kindle Lending Library, which is also available EXCLUSIVELY to Amazon's Prime members (of which I am a card-carrying member - I buy enough from Amazon to justify the $79 fee). You can learn how many people borrowed the books, something which isn't available to authors automatically enrolled in Kindle lending based on their enrollment in the 70% royalty scheme. Non-Prime customers can still buy your ebooks and you earn the same royalties. There's also some slightly muddied language about additional royalties, but I don't feel like sorting out legalease this morning.


Before unrolling this offer to all, Amazon previously invited certain high profile indies to try KDP Select for six months. Several of them said no and I would have too. Six months AND I have to rely on Amazon for revenue exclusively? Oh, and Prime members get to borrow, not buy the book? As the one book per month that they can borrow through the Kindle Library? So they have the choice of Stephen King's Dome for $19.99 or mine for $2.99, and will somehow choose the cheaper one as the freebie? As Whitney once said:  

HELL TO THE NO!

Except - you knew this was coming - if you're like me, a self-published author whose revenue is generated mainly from Amazon and more directly, through sales on Kindle. If you are, then certain parts of this deal start to look attractive. For instance, if you have a title that you already have made available only through Amazon, you don't have the hassle of making the title unavailable anywhere else. If your revenue as a self-published author comes mainly or only through KDP, what have you got to lose?


Before you think I'm suckling at the teat of Amazon or afraid of biting the hand that feeds me every month, allow me to assure you: Amazon fucks up sometimes. Like this bonehead move announced on December 6 right here: Amazon Will Pay Shoppers $5 to Walk Out of Stores Empty-Handed. Really, Amazon? How about that $2 surcharge on delivery of Kindle in certain geographic areas, which was mentioned in a recent post? Whether or not Kindle authors choose to participate in this power play (and believe me, they're discussing the pros and cons at Kindleboards), this is another blatant attempt to create a monopoly over ebooks and tether authors to the existing system, even if it's for a mere 90 days.

So why has Amazon made this move now? Will it increase their bottom line by enlarging the offerings that make Prime membership so good? Does creating goodwill with self-published authors by inviting them to the grownups' table make Amazon the go-to guy for future authors? The reasons are less important than the fact that Amazon can do these things. Do you see any of its competitors thinking in similar terms? Part of why Amazon can make this offer as attractive to self-published authors is because ITS RIVALS DON'T DO DIDDLY SQUAT TO COMPETE. Forgive the shouting, but all of those sites, like Smashwords, like Pubit, that also offer the opportunity to self-publish do next to NOTHING to promote their authors or self-published works. If Amazon recognizes yet another area they can exploit and make some Kindle authors happy in the process, more power to them. Perhaps this move may shake up the competition. Lord knows they need it.


EDIT: Since folks on Twitter and Kindleboards are asking, I'm enrolling the omnibus edition of the Sultana books, raising the price to $6.49 and doing a freebie December 24-29. I'll post about the results of my experiment with KDP Select in the spring KDP answered my inquiry about enrolling books in a series, I won't be testing Select.      


What do you think of this latest move by Amazon? If you're an author publishing through KDP, will you consider enrolling in KDP Select?
   

Kindle's Expansion In Euro Markets: Why You Should Care

Guess who was doing the happy dance this morning, as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) unveiled amazon.es and amazon.it? This person! But, it's not for the reason you may expect - no, I don't enjoy obsessively tracking my sales in each market. Well, not as much.

The new Spanish and Italian sites for Amazon customers allow residents of those countries to buy the thing nearest and dearest to my little author heart: books on Kindle! Since Amazon went live with the German and French sites, there was speculation that Italy would be the next foreign market made accessible to publishers and self-published authors. For reasons which should be very obvious to anyone who knows me, I was rooting for Spain. For now, I earn 85% of my sales on paperbacks and ebooks through Amazon alone. In fact, 90% of my sales come from Kindle ebooks. To say I'm heavily invested in Amazon's every move concerning ebooks would be an understatement. So far, I've had less than ten sales in Germany and nothing in France. Why am I possibly more hopeful with the inclusion of these two new markets? Allow me to explain.

For one, penetration of English language books into any foreign market is great for authors and English-speaking residents of those countries. It introduces readers to books that  may not have been translated into the language of their particular country. It gains more exposure for smaller publishers and self-published authors, like me, who might have been weighing the heavy costs of translation fees against a strong desire for access to European markets.  In addition, Kindle sales in these new countries qualify for the 70% royalty on ebooks priced within the equivalent of 2.99 and 9.99 US dollars - before, the maximum royalty earned was 35%. Double the royalties and more English language books available? Sounds good to me.

Speaking of sales, did you know your Kindle book used to cost an additional $2 or more to readers in the aforementioned European countries? Money that you never saw? Thanks to David Gaughran, who first exposed that nasty little detail on his blog, it became clear why getting sales in certain European markets were that much tougher - why would anyone choose to pay such a high surcharge on an ebook? With each European expansion, Amazon has now removed this surcharge in that particular country. I'm all for making ebooks more affordable across the globe. So Sultana on Kindle, which retails for $3.99 is now available for the equivalent price of 3.22 Euros, without an additional fee imposed. Only two things might make European buyers even happier - learning if or when the new Kindle Fire will be launched in their respective countries, or having all the newly available Kindle books free for download.

Lastly, as a writer of historical fiction, which remains more popular in Europe than it does in the US, and the author of two books set in Spain, subtitled "A Novel of Moorish Spain", Amazon's entry into that particular market couldn't come soon enough for me. Now that it's here, I'm already looking at how I can enhance my author page on amazon.es. Also, I'm betting as the holiday sales of Kindles rise, the Italians may be saying 'Buon Natale' and the Spanish 'Feliz Navidad' with Kindle books. Let's hope some of that holiday cheer finds its way into the pockets of Kindle authors. What am I betting on next? Do I hear whispers of Amazon India? 

Be sure to check out David Gaughran's blog today too; he has a much more in-depth analysis of what this new move from Amazon may mean for us all. If you're not following his blog, you should be!

The Mammoth Summer of Reading

Now that I have some free time on my hands, guess what I'll be doing for the rest of the summer? Actually, you don't have to guess; I told you in my last post. Those are just the print copies. Highlights include:

• Ruth Downie's Caveat Emptor & Medicus
• The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick
• C.C. Humphrey's Vlad: The Last Confession
• Conn Iggulden's Khan: Empire of Silver
• George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (I'll wait for A Dance With Dragons when HBO's Game of Thrones season 2 is done next year)
• The Borgia Betrayal by Sara Poole
• A book by one of my absolute favorites, the woman who inspired my love of historical fiction, Persia Woolley in a re-release of Queen of the Summer Stars.

A summer of books

There are prime choices that I'm looking forward to on Kindle as well, including:

• Cinders by Michelle Davidson Argyle
• Elizabeth Chadwick's For the King's Favor
• Mel Comley's Impending Justice
• Blockbuster by Sven Michael Davison
• Alison DeLuca's The Night Watchman Express
• In Her Name: Empire, by Micheal Hicks
• The Vampire Relationship Guide, Volume 1: Meeting and Mating by Evelyn LaFont
• Cartier's Ring by Pearson Moore
• Cate Rowan's Kismet's Kiss
• The Black God's War by Moses Siregar III
• Lindsay Townsend's To Touch the Knight & A Knight's Vow
• Mike Wells' Wild Child
• The House of Women by Anne Whitfield
• Sarah Woodbury's The Last Pendragon    

That's about a tenth of what's on my Kindle right now. All of them will be read and reviewed this summer, either for the HNR blog or any place I like to mouth off about books, like Amazon. You might be wondering, is she really going to through all those books? Um, yeah. If an author really hooks me, I'll read a book a day, with a rare break to eat and pee. Since I'm a semi-insomniac, sleep is also a possibility. But why sleep, when you can read?

What are your summer reading plans? What are you looking forward to the most?  

“Amazon is full of crap!”

The following post is likely going to piss off several people. Oh, well. I’ve pissed off people before. I don’t see any reason to stop now. It will also shock others. “Two blog posts in one day? Has Lisa gone mad?” No, but I am annoyed and confused.

The last two weeks have been saturated with news of how much PLR content, aka spam, dreck and hackneyed crap is now available for download through Amazon’s Kindle. Detractors of self-publishing LOVE this one. “See,” they say, “not only do readers have to sift through those poorly written / formatted shits masquerading as books. Now, they can’t even be sure that what they’re downloading is a book, and not some pirated novel, articles cobbled together or a phrase repeated 700 times.” This is prima facie evidence, some say, for why Amazon should charge self-publishing authors to upload their books. Cause, you know, it’s not like spammers who make millions of dollars can afford the $20 or $50 it might take to upload crap.  

Well, in what I’m sure will come as groundbreaking news, Amazon has several ways to address this issue of crap on Kindle. I’ll start with the simple, if not obvious one. It’s called a sample. That’s right, ladies and gents, Amazon will let us try, or rather read, before we buy. Say I’m not sure if that ebook on managing or selling my timeshare will really give me some good information. I could download a sample. A-MAZING! I don’t know about anyone else, but if I download a sample that purports to be one topic, but clearly is another from the first or by the tenth page, I really don’t buy the whole book just to be certain.

But, if I buy an ebook on Amazon, there is a period in which I can request – wait for it, here it comes – a refund! Isn’t that just A-MAZING? If, for some asinine reason, I read the sample of that book on timeshares, found out it was about working as a maid in a timeshare instead and bought it anyway, I can ask for my money back. But there’s another argument often trotted at this point. It sounds a little something like, “Most of these crap books are 99 cents impulse buys! No one reads this stuff within a certain period and by the time they get to it, it’s too late for a refund!” I’m not going to quibble about 99 cents or 99 dollars. Dammit, if it’s my hard-earned money spent on crap, I want a refund! Here’s where I have to ask, though, who made me buy that book? Why did I get it without checking it out via a sample? Why was this festering turd on my Kindle for a year before I got to it? Um, no one is responsible for that except me. It sure as hell wasn’t Amazon’s fault.

Dear Reader, this is the part where I’m really going to fuck with people’s heads. Ready for it? Here I go: TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY WHEN YOU SPEND YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY. Whether you’re plunking down 99 cents or dollars, don’t buy fucked up shit on Kindle and complain, when you could have avoided it by sampling. By reading reviews. By asking other readers, “Do you know if that book on timeshares is really what it says it is?” We solicit the views and read the reviews of major appliances before we buy them, right? Why does a 99 cent price point absolve us of checking something out?

Lastly, I’m sorry, but I just don’t get some of the analogies that refer to this Kindle stuff as spam. Here’s my definition of spam – it comes into my inbox, telling me how I can enlarge my penis (because I must be a freaking hermaphrodite or something) and forces me to give it some attention. Either, I have to manually delete or provide examples to my lovely (!) SpamBayes program on how to recognize junk for the junk folder. If you have a Kindle that actually shows you the crap on Amazon AND makes you delete the view from your device, can you tell me which model you have, so I don’t get that one for my nephew as a graduation present? Seriously, have they invented a Kindle that shows you crap you don’t want to buy? So loved the old method of going online and searching for what I wanted, sampling it and buying. I wish they had just stuck with that.

Here’s where the other argument comes in about wading through crap. Again, ever seen the Search and Filter by Relevance features on Amazon? STUPENDOUS! (Figured you were probably tired of A-MAZING). You can search for the type of book you want and filter the results by their relevance. Don’t know if the books you find will be any good? Re-read that paragraph above about sampling.   

They say don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Since Amazon helps me earn snack money every day, I suppose that should apply to me. But, as I’ve already pissed off some, let me just add that I don’t think everything Amazon does is right either. Great, now I’ve pissed off Amazon too. Where there is outright piracy and fraud, yes, they should move much faster to prevent it. Ever heard of software that detects plagiarism? It exists. However, in this instance, please do not try to convince me that this is Amazon’s fault for not policing their site. I refuse as a reader and book buyer to put all the responsibility on Amazon to make sure that I spend my hard-earned money wisely. I have a brain and use it to make intelligent decisions on what I buy. Amazon certainly isn't shoving crap books on to my Kindle and stealing my hard-earned money.

As for how PLR content is any reason why self-publishing needs to go away, I'm still scratching my damn head about the logic. Sorry folks, but the self-pubbers, like me, are here and we’re here to stay. Get used to us.  

Promoting Kindle novels

 Unless you've been living under a rock or don't shop online, you must know that Amazon is one of the biggest online books retailers. That claim has been bolstered by sales of Kindle eBooks. Amazon offers traditional publishers the means to promote their books to the wide-ranging community of readers, by allowing them the ability to set the price to $0.00. I've seen several popular authors do this and it's led to a boost in their ranking and sales of their backlists. I love it as an reader, because it's allowed me to download eBooks from some of my favorite authors and avoid paying the high prices their publishers normally charge, typically $9.99 and above. I've done the Kindle eBook upload myself and firmly believe there is no reason an eBook should cost that much. Yes, I have refused to buy eBooks that are that expensive and will continue to do so until cheaper becomes the standard.

Sadly, this great promotion opportunity doesn't apply to self-published authors like me. Did you know that self-pubbed authors have a minimum price of $0.99 set for their Kindle versions? I learned this yesterday and JA Konrath has also confirmed via his blog. If you know me, you must already be guessing at what I think of this policy from a company that allows self-publishers to get their work out there, but won't allow them to compete and promote along the same terms that the "big boys" do. You're probably waiting for some angry post about how unfair this is. Wait for it....

Ha-ha, fooled you! There are days I get up on my soapbox about the injustices of the publishing world. This isn't one of them. ‘Nuff said.

In other promotional news, I'm giving away FIVE FREE Kindle copies of On Falcon's Wings at LibraryThing, now through March 17. If you're interested, you need to be: a LibraryThing user and have a Kindle device OR any of the applications that allow you to read Kindle books.

DIY with Kindle in 10 Steps

Amazon has a free Kindle download for anyone looking to self publish, Publish on Amazon Kindle with the Digital Text Platform. If you’re an Amazon user, it’s easy to set up your account, complete your author information and upload your JPEG-formatted cover. Remember, you don't need a Kindle to sell your books on Kindle. Amazon has several Kindle applications for various platforms, listed here.

It took me several tries, but I also found steps to ensure a successful upload of my novel on Kindle. Here's how I did it:

1) Open up your manuscript in Word and save it preferably under another name, differentiating it from the original document.

2) Format your new document to standard one inch margins, with single spaced lines. You may have to try several times with the indents; 0.4 - 0.5 inches were best preserved.

3) Remove and/or replace any fancy symbols you’ve used in the document for section breaks. I replaced mine with a simple diamond shape from the Wingdings font.

4) Remove the page numbers, which will not be preserved on a Kindle.

5) Turn on the formatting to view your paragraph marks. It will help you find any errors in the document; weird spacing, blank pages, etc.

6) Now, save the Word document as type: Web Page, filtered (*.htm, *.html).

7) You will receive a popup, “Saving in this format will remove Office specific tags...” Click Yes to save.

8) All formatting, including page breaks, will be invisible because Word displays the new HTML document in Web layout. Go to View, and then click Print Layout to ensure the page breaks are preserved.

9) Sign into Amazon DTP. Follow the steps to enter the product details, confirm rights etc. if you haven’t already completed this process.

10) At the Upload & Preview Book webpage, upload your HTML document. Don't forget to preview online.

That's it! Good luck with your Kindle publishing.  

Amazon's New Kindle Lending Policy

My dear friend, Michelle at Beautiful Chaos blogspot emailed today to discuss Amazon's new Kindle lending policy. Little did she know it would lead to talk of devil-worshipping and selling one's soul. See the trouble you started, Michelle?

Full details are available from the Amazon website, but if I've got the gist of this: in the US only (for now), Kindle books can be loaned once for a period of 14 days, free to read on a Kindle device or any of the reading applications for Kindle. The lender has no access to the book again until the end of the 14 day period.While publishers and rights holder can determine which titles are eligible for lending, all titles made available through Amazon DTP have been automatically enrolled, which includes On Falcon's Wings and Michelle's Eldala. Great, right?

I must say, I initially thought so when the notification from Amazon DTP popped up on my Blackberry this morning. Then I remembered that age-old adage, "Why buy the cow, when you can have the milk for free?" It's applied to premarital sex, but works here, too. Why would you buy a Kindle book, when someone can just loan you their copy for fourteen days for free?

There's a few things in the FAQ section for Kindle authors that left me...concerned at first. Like the following:

Q: Will I receive royalties when customers choose to lend my book?

A: Loans of digital books through the Kindle Book Lending program are not purchases and thus are not eligible to receive royalty payments.

Hmm, okay, that's perfectly understandable. It's a loan for 14 days, not a sale. I can't reasonably expect any money from that.

Q: Will I be notified when someone has loaned my book?

A: At this time, notifications are not sent when customers loan your book.

Well, I reasoned, that's sort of okay, too. I mean, I don't know exactly where I've earned sales on Kindle in the US. In addition to not knowing who bought the book, I won't know if they lent it to anyone. It's like that, I just won't get access to that information either. Not a problem, really.

Q: Can I opt my title out of Kindle Book Lending?

A: Titles in the 35% royalty option may choose to opt out of Kindle Book Lending by deselecting the checkbox under "Kindle Book Lending," in the "Rights and Pricing" section of the title upload/edit process. You may not choose to opt out a title if it is included in the lending program of another sales or distribution channel. Titles in the 70% royalty option must participate in Kindle Book Lending and may not opt out.

If you're wondering why I bolded that last part, it's not because it gives me the warm fuzzies all over.

Over the summer of 2010, Amazon DTP began offering 70% royalties on titles that met certain criteria. Authors like myself cried, "Huzzah!" Score one for the author trying to earn a little more from his or her hard work. For me, that amounted to a net of $2.04 from each $2.99 sale, versus $1.05 at the 35% royalty option. Don't look down your nose at me. Yes, 99 cents does make a difference to a fledgling author. I still feel you doing it, by the way.

Why can't I just be as pleased as punch about the mandatory participation in this lending program for authors earning 70% royalties? It's not because I like to chafe at any mandatory restrictions on what I can or can't do, like some recalcitrant child. As I told Michelle, while I'm reserving full judgment on this new policy for now...the no opt out for those of us in the 70% royalty scheme bugs me. I can't describe it any better than that - it bugs me. The inability to opt out seems a bit like Jeff Bezos saying, "Hey author, you're already getting the better part of the deal anyway with your 70% and you should just be happy with that. No, you're not getting any royalties off the book loans and we won't tell you how many times your book's been loaned. Don't like that? Well, if you don't mind taking less of a percentage per future sale, feel free to opt out and go for the 35% royalty on your work. Happy New Year." Why does that feel akin to one of those offers from the Godfather, one you can't really refuse?

Let me be clear: I'm growing a career as a writer. Maybe JA Konrath and Seth Godin can afford it, but I really don't need readers lending my book to people who could otherwise be buying it. Same principle behind why I didn't give away a bunch of free paperback copies to friends and family. Yet here's Amazon telling me that because I'm enrolled at 70% royalty, I have no choice but to potentially give away free copies to others, who might have been paying customers. I've tried to look at this as a real benefit, but come away with only the potential for it, at best. Word of mouth is the most valuable tool an author has, and loaning the book has the same effect. But it seems only a potential for increased exposure, nothing more. If someone receives my book on loan, any guarantee he / she will read it in that 14-day window? Any guarantee of a recommendation to another person who will actually buy it? In the short term, I can't bank on possiblities.

As Kristie Cook, author of Promise and Purpose said in response to Michelle and me, "The more people who read your first book, despite how they get it, the more who will buy your second. And the more people who will be talking about it to others, who will buy it." Kristie, I sincerely hope you're right. For now, I'm eyeing this new Kindle policy and hoping for a positive impact, but also preparing for the probability that nothing may come of it that will benefit Kindle authors. In that, I'd love to be proven wrong.