Samuel, Seer

Since October, I've been busy revising and republishing books. So far, we've re-published Scott's Tanella's Flight, Natalie's A Gigolo for Christmas, and The Mom's Place, and my Clues to Food. We've also republished our anthology, Bits and Bites.

Additionally, as an Editor with the Electric Scroll, I've been working with four other authors, and their books are in various stages of publication.

Today, I want to talk about the newest book out, Samuel, Seer. It's the fictionalized autobiography of the Old Testament prophet, Samuel, and it's...hmm...what's a better word than Awesome? Well, it's better than Awesome!

Also, today, and until the 9th, the Kindle ebook version is free! (Get it here.)

A M Jenner

E-books Part Two

I wrote last week about how I disagreed with one of the statements in an article written by Don Sakers in the April edition of Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine.

This week, I’d like to present something more from his article.

“First, here’s the simple matter of availability. In the past, most books had a short shelf life. An average SF book would be on sale at general bookstores for a few months, a year at most, before it went out of print. If you’d just discovered an author and wanted to read all of their previous books, you’d be haunting used book stores.

“E-books, however, never go out of print. Only discover an author after her twelfth book? No problem – just go online and buy the previous eleven.”

As a reader who still haunts used books stores trying to fill in gaps in my collection, I heartily agree with Mr. Sakers. This is one of the best things about ebooks. Because they do not take up valuable storage space in a warehouse while the paper gets damp and decays, they have a much longer shelf life. They can be stored indefinitely in a computer, and can stay in print as long as the publisher – or the author – choose to have them remain available. It becomes very easy to catch up with the older books you want to read.

Keeping in mind that what Mr. Sakers says about SF books applies to all genres, he goes on to proclaim, “Nearly ninety years worth of SF books have been published; authors and their agents are working furiously to put much of that into e-book format.” I’d like to add my thanks to the families and estates of deceased authors who are allowing those works to be published in electronic formats.

E-books are very convenient, as long as you keep them charged. You can carry a whole library around in your fingertips. They weigh very little. As the arthritis advances into my hands and wrists, I can no longer read any book that weighs more than a standard paperback while lying in bed at night. If I want to read a large paperback, or a hard cover book, I have to be sitting at a desk or table, and have the book on the table. I simply can’t hold that much weight in my hands.

Yet, I’ve been reading huge collections on my Nook. The Mark Twain collection is over 6,000 pages, and the H. G. Wells collection is slightly thicker. I can read books only a few decades old, as well – because adding Diane Duane’s entire Young Wizards collection added no weight to my Nook.

Overhead is significantly decreased on e-books as well, a point that Mr. Sakers does not address in his article. Although the author, editors, publishers, cover artists, and agent still must be paid, there are no storage fees. Amazon charges a shipping fee of around two cents per book to help cover bandwidth charges, and the book is delivered more or less instantly. That’s much less than the $6 super saver shipping that takes a week, on average, before the book is in your hands to read. Because of these factors, e-books are usually less expensive than the print version of the same content.

Don’t get me wrong. I love turning pages, and smelling the paper and glue scent of new books. I have more than 5,000 print books in my home and have no intention of stopping buying print books. But I also love holding my Nook in one hand while I read, and turning the page with a touch of my thumb. I love the ability to purchase eight to twelve e-books for the same $25 gift card that will get one or two print books. I love discovering new authors and catching up with old ones. And as an author, I love the ability to get my books into the hands of people who will love my characters as much as I do.

Correcting a Fallacy

Today I’d like to talk about ebooks, and specifically their impact on the publishing world. I was just reading my (electronic!) copy of Analog, which is a contradiction in terms in and of itself, if you think about it. There is an article by Don Sakers which begins on page 102, where he writes some about ebooks, then gives reviews of several books which are available in both print and e-formats. Although his article is specifically about SF, it applies to all genres of writing. Mr. Sakers says, “Another consequence of e-books is removing traditional publishers as gatekeepers of content. This has both good and bad implications for SF. On the positive side, much more good SF will be published. The age of the mass market is fading; in a sense, we’re entering the age of the niche. To be sure, some niches are larger than others. There will always be big-name authors – but now, we’ll also have medium-size names, small names, tiny names, microscopic and nano-scale names all equally available to readers.

“The bad news is that the same expansion will result in enormously more bad SF. No one reader has the time to wade through thousands of unsuitable books in search of the one or two that are suitable.”

I’ve seen this argument repeated too often to count. Go back and read that last sentence again. When he’s talking about ebooks removing traditional publishers as gatekeepers, what he actually means is self-publishing of ebooks. Mr. Sakers seems to be discounting the thousands of traditionally published ebooks that are available to the reading public. The debate here is not electronic vs. print books, but traditional vs. self-publishing. His opinion is clear: self-publishing will force readers to wade through thousands of horribly written manuscripts in order to discover the one or two gems that have been written by good (i.e. traditionally published) authors.

No matter who states it, the argument is always drawn on the same lines, there will be thousands of horrible things to wade through in order to find the rare gems. I take exception to the math used by people who parrot this argument.

First, it’s very difficult to tell, before purchase, whether a book is self or traditionally published.

Second, there are many authors who have been traditionally published for many years, who are now self-publishing alongside their traditionally published works. Does the fact they are now self-pubbing suddenly make their work inferior? Of course not.

It is very true that many authors, myself included, would not be published at all if not for the financially feasible options of print-on-demand and e-books. However, it is absolutely not true that there are thousands of bad self-published books to every two or three gems.

I read constantly. I cannot get to sleep at night without reading. I read self-published books. I read traditionally published books. I read long out-of-print books that have been restored and made available as e-books. In 2012 I read 410 works containing well over 45,000 pages. That’s pleasure reading, not the reading I do for school classes, or for other informational purposes. It’s also books, not counting magazines, blogs, and my morning cereal box.

Every once in a while I find a book that’s so badly written, or so badly edited, that I can’t bear to finish it. More often I find a book that has outrageously stupid mistakes in the writing or editing – things that should have been caught by either the writer or one of the many editors. I find this sort of mistake in both traditionally published and self-published books.

By and large, most of the things I read are good enough to finish the book. Many of them are good enough to re-read. Unless I have an atypical experience as a reader, I would say that the ratios presented in Mr. Sakers' article are exactly reversed. Readers of traditional and self-published books have the privilege of enjoying thousands of well-written, well-edited stories, while knowing that they will definitely come across the few horrible pieces, which are both self- and traditionally published.

A Glitch in the System

I posted yesterday that my sweet Christmas romance, A Gigolo for Christmas,  was free at Amazon, because I had scheduled it for a free promotion day for Valentine's Day. When I checked at the end of the day to see how many copies had been given away, I was amazed that no one seemed to want it. (I can't see who, just how many.) I looked at the book's Amazon page, and it was listed at the regular price of $3.99. Hmmm. I then looked in the area where I manage the free days, and the Valentine's Day freebie day wasn't even listed. I don't know how it disappeared between scheduling it last month and today, but somehow it did. So I did the only sensible thing...I made it free for today.

Sorry for the miscommunication yesterday. It's free today. Really. I promise. (If it isn't, let me know, and I'll have some serious words with the Amazon people.) You can get it here.

~Marie

P. S. If you don't have a Kindle, you can get a free kindle reading app for your computer so you can read this fabulous romantic novella.

Have a little free romance in your life today!

Here I am, halfway through my workday, when I suddenly realize I haven't let anyone know my sweet romantic (Christmas) story is free today in honor of that overly-commercialized holiday when everyone is supposed to love each other. Show yourself a little love and grab this book while the grabbing's free! All right, it's a Christmas romance, but this being February doesn't take any of the romance out of the book.

 

Did I mention it's free today? You can get it here.

 

~Marie

 

P. S. If you don't have a Kindle, you can get a free kindle reading app for your computer so you can read this fabulous romantic novella.

My Gift to You

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to give my loyal readers a gift this year, and it didn't take much thinking to figure out what to give. From now until midnight pacific time on December 26th, you may follow this link which will take you to Amazon, where A Gigolo for Christmas is free.

What? You don't have a Kindle? Not a problem! Go to Amazon and download a free kindle app for your computer, or they also have apps for phones. The reader app is free, and right now, the book is free. How much better can it get?

I hope you enjoy your gift!

~Marie

Happy Christmas to All!

As a gift to all my readers, I would like to present you with a copy of my newest book, free. Monday December 24th, Tuesday December 25th, and Wednesday December 26th my book A Gigolo for Christmas will be available free to everyone. You can get it at Amazon.

If you don't happen to get a Kindle for Christmas, remember that you can get a free Kindle reading app for your computer, phone, or tablet, and you can still enjoy my book - free.

Much love to everyone, and have a safe and happy Christmas.

~Marie

Cyber Monday Free Book

I just wanted to remind everyone that my new book, A Gigolo for Christmas, will be free all day today, Monday, November 26, in celebration of Cyber Monday. While you're online doing your Christmas shopping, drop by and pick up this free Kindle book for yourself! You can get it here.

~Marie

Free Gigolo, One Day Only!

I just wanted to let everyone know that my new book, A Gigolo for Christmas, will be free all day Monday, November 26, in celebration of Cyber Monday. While you're online doing your Christmas shopping, drop by and pick up this free Kindle book for yourself! You can get it here.

~Marie

A Gigolo for Christmas

Surprise! I bet you didn't expect another new book so soon after The Siege of Kwennjurat was released. I'll bet a lot of my friends are also very surprised that I would release a book with the word "Gigolo" in the title, too.

I've been working quietly yet frantically on this in the background, hoping to have it ready before Thanksgiving, because it would be pretty stupid to publish a Christmas story at any other time of the year. If I hadn't made the deadline, the poor thing would have had to wait a whole year to be published, and I didn't want that to  happen. This is a lot of why I've spent most of November being very, very behind on my NaNoWriMo word count.

A Gigolo for Christmas is a very sweet little romance novella being offered, at least for now, as a Kindle-only ebook. Here's what the back cover would say, if ebooks had back covers:

Shelia Everett couldn’t have imagined a worse company Christmas party. By the end of the evening she was unemployed and homeless. Fortunately her boss’ date, Anders Adamson was willing to help her repair the damage. He even offered to help her get a job at his escort service.

 

What’s a good girl to do when she discovers she’s fallen in love with a gigolo?

 

I'm posting this on my blog on the day before Thanksgiving, so that you know about it, but aren't bothered by it while you're spending time with your family tomorrow. Or maybe you want to download it today, and read it on that long car drive home from Grandma's place after Thanksgiving dinner.

You can buy A Gigolo for Christmas here, or borrow it if you're an Amazon Select member.

~Marie

P. S. Amazon seems to be having a problem getting the cover image up on their site, but be patient and don't let the apparent lack of cover deter you from purchasing - I'm working on the problem as we speak.  ~AMJ

P.P.S. Amazon got whatever the problem was taken care of, and the cover is up now. Hooray!  ~AMJ

Stop Five: An Unexpected Day at Home

Something must have gone wrong today. I have no idea what or why or how. Although I do know who, I have no way to get hold of the lady who had agreed to be my blog tour host other than the internet; and she doesn't seem to be able to get online today.

 

I was supposed to have been in Indiana today, but since it seems that this is not going to happen, I'll run with plan B. Yes, I have a plan B. I (almost) always have a plan B. In this case, plan B is that I will host myself for this installment of my blog tour. Mostly because I really want this post to be seen.

 

 

How Ebooks Have Changed Writing

 

I've had a lot of people ask me what I think about this recent craze over ebooks. They want to know how ebooks have changed the face of writing. I tell them writing has not changed. Publishing has changed a lot, and so has technology, but the art of crafting a story and presenting it in a permanent form has not changed in several hundred years.

No matter what the genre is, or the length of the story, all fiction writing has a few things in common. There must be a hero. The hero must have a goal. There must be obstacles between the hero and the goal. Some people may be surprised I don’t specify there must be a villain. There are many types of conflict and obstacles, not all of which absolutely require a villain; however, most heroes do have a flesh and blood nemesis throwing obstacles in their path.

Now, a little about publishing.

Some 700 years ago, Johannes Gutenberg put together several new technologies to create a new type of type of printing press. Before this time, all books were either written by hand or printed after a piece of wood had been carved for each page.

Somewhere around 150 years ago, Samuel Clemens is credited with being the first author to turn a manuscript in to his editor which had been written on a typewriter. Before that, all manuscripts were written out by hand. In fact, the very word manuscript means hand-written.

Some five years ago, ebooks became very popular with the invention of the Kindle. Ebooks had been around before that, but people like to carry their books around with them, and not have to sit at their desk to read them. The Kindle made the carrying-around part easy. Suddenly readers had the ability to go on vacation and take all of their favorite books with them. They would never run out of things to read.

However, because mainstream publishers were slow to make their books available in electronic format, readers became frustrated. At the same time, writers who for one reason or another were unable or unwilling to publish via mainstream companies were frustrated at the inability to get their books in front of willing readers. Self-publishing a book at that time cost a small fortune. By making ebook publishing affordable and available to all, readers and authors both found a cure for their frustration. Authors could afford to self-publish. Readers had more novels to choose from. Self-published ebooks made everyone happy except for the main-stream publishing companies who didn’t dare try the new technology.

Various inventions have changed the face of publishing over the years. The art and science of novel-writing has changed very little, however. An author still needs a hero, his goal, and a bunch of obstacles standing between the two. A good story is a good story, no matter how it’s produced, and it will continue to delight readers for many years to come. The method of its delivery to a reader’s eager eyes and hands is largely irrelevant to the writing process.

Instead of stories being written and revised and copied out by hand on voluminous amounts of paper, an ebook can be produced entirely with a computer and use no paper at all, yet still be totally engrossing to the reader. Thanks to my e-reader, I have just discovered a “new” favorite author...H. G. Wells.

Over the thirteen years I worked on Tanella’s Flight, I used a lot of paper. Many of the chapters were written in longhand, then typed into the computer. The manuscript was printed out, double spaced, at nearly a ream of paper per copy, for each revision. Ten copies were printed and sent to beta-readers. By contrast, The Siege of Kwennjurat was never on paper at all until the proof copy was printed. No paper! If you buy an e-copy, then between us we have used no trees in the production of an excellent novel. If you want a print copy, then the tree-consumption is still kept at a minimum, because only copies that are ordered get printed. There is no pile of paper books sitting in a warehouse someplace gathering dust.

The publishing process of both books was different, but the writing followed roughly the same path. I have a hero...and a goal...and a whole pile of obstacles standing in his path.

Update on Goals

My goals for this year began as: 

• Graduate from college. (Accomplished)
• Write a new manuscript, something I haven't had time to do since I started college.
• Take a vacation someplace out of Arizona. (Accomplished)
• Hug my daughter every day.
• Learn how to make book trailers and post them to YouTube. (Accomplished!)

As I continue through the year, my evolving list of goals reads:

• Write a new manuscript, something I haven't had time to so since I started college.
• Hug my daughter every day.
• Support my daughter as she takes her turn at college.
• Finish editing The Siege of Kwennjurat and get it published.

My new manuscript, Crown of Tears was finished on August 25, a personal speed-writing record for me.

Our hugs have increased to multiple hugs per day, and let me tell you, my daughter gives really good hugs. On the school front, I check with her every day about her homework, asking about her assignments and following up to make sure she is turning them in on time.

I've finished the major rewrites on The Siege of Kwennjurat, and it is now being copy edited. I'm pleased to announce that it will be released on October 24th.

I learned new things about ebook formatting from my friend Green Tortuga, and am now in the processing of reformatting my ebooks to make them look better. Now that I've learned how to put pictures into ebooks, expect to find maps in the fantasy books after the reformatting is complete.

I also learned something from my new friend Paul Carroll, author of Balor Reborn. He taught me how to make video trailers for my books, and I started in with a trailer for Tanella's Flight. Earlier this year I had decided I wasn't going to be able to get to that this year, but things worked out otherwise. This shows me that what "they" say about goals is true. If you write it down and read it often, a way will be opened up for it to become accomplished, even when you don't know how it is going to happen. The trailer for Tanella's Flight can be seen here. You cal also view it below.

I'm still 3/4 of the way through knitting the same pair of socks. I haven't knit more than a couple of rows all month. However, I did begin work on another project that got put off because of school. Some two years ago I was involved in a quilt block swap with 11 online friends. We each made twelve blocks, sent them to a central location to be sorted, and received back twelve unique blocks, one from each friend. During August I embroidered each friend's name on her quilt block, and over this weekend I designed a reversible quilt, cut and sewed the back of the quilt, and have machine-quilted half the blocks. I also sewed two pillow cases from extra material that matched the back of the quilt. I expect to finish up the project in the next two or three days, and I promise to post pictures when I'm done.

I've read 33 books containing 3340 pages for pleasure reading this month. No, I'm not just reading short, 100-word books; some of the Mark Twain "books" on my nook are only a very few pages, but since they have a separate title page and a separate entry in the table of contents, I count them as a "book", even though they are sometimes only two pages long. I've also been reading 300-400 page novels, in fact, I re-read The Hobbit and all three of The Lord of The Rings during August.

~Marie

Ebooks vs. Print Books

In most respects, print books are equivalent to ebooks. Both copies usually have the same content. With ereader devices such as Kindle and Nook, both are equally easy to carry around. You can carry more ebooks with you in a smaller space than you can print books. Most ebooks are less expensive.

The one area where print books had complete superiority over ebooks was that they could be autographed. I mean, where are you going to sign an ebook? On the back of the Kindle? On the screen?

Yesterday I came across a service which I totally dismissed, because I was sure there was a catch. The idea wouldn’t let go of me. It kept me up all night. Early this morning, I checked it out. If there’s a catch, it’s so well buried this cynical author can’t find it. I signed up.

It’s called Kindlegraph. It’s a way to collect autographs for ebooks. It’s totally amazing, and now all of my books are able to be signed. My print books have hand-made bookplates which anyone can have for the asking. My ebooks can be signed through the Kindlegraph site.

Here are the facts. A Kindlegraph is a PDF file containing the book’s cover image, a personalized note from the author, and their signature. It can be stored on your computer, printed out, or kept in a folder on your ereader. Because it’s a PDF file, most ereaders will display it. You don’t have to own a Kindle. You could even get Kindlegraphs for your print books, print them out, and glue them in the front, if you’d like. You don’t have to own or buy the book to get a Kindlegraph, because no one checks up on you. The Kindlegraph is a separate document; it is not inserted into the book. The author can choose whether to actually sign their name with their mouse, or use a font script. I sign with the mouse, even though it’s a little sloppier than with a pen, because then it is a real autograph. If you tell me you need it signed to a certain person, or you want the inscription to read a certain way, I will personalize the inscription to be the way you want it, just as I would at a book signing. Finally, Kindlegraph and I don’t charge you anything for the service. It is totally free, unless you use Amazon’s Personal Document Service to email it to your Kindle…but that fee goes to Amazon.

Requesting a Kindlegraph is easy. Go to www.kindlegraph.com/authors/AM_Jenner, sign in with your twitter account, give them an email address where you want your document sent, locate the book you want signed, and click the request button under the book. I get a daily email informing me when I have requests. I write the personalization and sign it and send it back to you. That’s it! Easy as pie, and finally, a way to autograph an ebook!

Good Reviews, Bad Reviews and the Occasional Chocolate Chip Cookie

I have a special treat for you today. I’ve invited L. Carroll over to do a little writing at my place. I already had the chance to post my scribblings in her living room. Keep reading when she’s finished, and I’ll tell you a little about who she is, and what her books are about.

~Marie

I used to manage a retail home décor store in a shopping mall. While this fascinating bit of information is likely to captivate and enthrall audiences for years to come, it's a particular incident that took place while I was engaged in this profession that I'm compelled to share now.

One lovely afternoon, a customer stormed through the doors and demanded to speak to the manager. While the rest of my crew showed support for their leader from behind an armoire, I -- armed with a sympathetic expression -- approached the lady to ascertain the nature of her obvious agitation.

Fast forward eleven years to the present day. I don't remember what this customer was upset over; I don't remember how the issue was resolved. I only recall what happened afterward.

There was a larger piece of furniture involved that I was to take out the back door of the store and load into the lady's car, but she asked me to give her a few minutes before meeting her there, as she had one last quick stop to make in the mall. When she arrived to pick up her piece, she had with her a bag containing a warm, gooey, jumbo chocolate chip cookie that she had just purchased from the bakery in the mall. Smiling, she handed me the cookie and thanked me profusely for helping her that day. Her gesture overwhelmed me, and (apparently) made an indelible impression on my memory.

So, what does this story have to do with books and writing, you may ask. Well, allow me to explain. Coming from a non-literary background, I was quickly humbled by what it takes to write a book. I was further humbled by the emotionally fatiguing, and oft times downright depressing process of querying agents and publishers. And, as if that wasn't enough, my pride sustained further injury when I realized that eighty percent of my time as an author would not be spent writing, but would be spent marketing, networking, begging and pleading.

The point is that independent authors work hard! They work long! They dump all of their selves -- heart and soul -- into their books. They don't have teams of editors, marketers and PR people escorting them around. They do it all themselves.

This singular shouldering of responsibility makes feedback so much more impactful on the indie author. Negative reviews are devastating, positive ones, invigorating. Lack of reviews? Well, let's just say that it takes a while to recover from that accompanying spiral of self-doubt.

Am I saying that you should jump on to Amazon and write gushingly, glowing critiques of every self-published book you read? Absolutely not! I know from experience that there are a lot of sub-par books out there -- both indie and traditionally published. What I am saying is that if you read an indie book you really enjoy, make sure that you let the author and others know. Gush on Amazon; shout it out to your networking buds; buy copies of the book to give as gifts; OR, if you're so inclined, send the author a warm, gooey, jumbo chocolate chip cookie.

~L

About the Author:

L. Carroll is a wife and a mom of five who writes because she's found that if she pretends to travel to magical worlds, makes up wild tales, and carries on conversations with the voices in her head, it's considered mental illness; but if she pretends to travel to magical worlds, makes up wild tales, carries on conversations with the voices in her head and writes it all down; it's a perfectly normal "author" thing to do.

 About the Books:

Destruction from Twins

When an enchantress steals mystical powers from her twin sister, she sentences the world of Lor Mandela to an untimely death. Only one can save it; a Child of Balance named Audril Borloc. All hope seems lost when four-year-old Audril disappears.

Desperate to save their world, spies travel to Earth looking for the girl with black hair and bright blue eyes. Instead, they find sixteen-year-old Maggie Baker.

Maggie's existence is launched into a roller coaster ride of twists and turns as she bounces back and forth between her home in Glenhill, Iowa and the mysterious land of Lor Mandela. She must learn who to trust and who to fear. More importantly, she must find a way to convince the Lor Mandelans she is not their missing "Child of Balance", and her family and friends in Iowa that she's not going insane.

Could Maggie’s reality be the real fantasy, and does the fate of an entire world actually depend on her?

Destruction from Twins is available in print at CreateSpace, in ebook at Smashwords,  or your choice of format at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It’s free at Smashwords until the end of the month, so you only have two days to run over there and get it.

Four Hundred Days

When the heiress to the Lor Mandelan throne sneaks away to Earth to save one of her dearest friends, she finds that a power hungry tyrant from her own world has begun systematically obliterating towns and cities to get her to turn herself over to him.

On Earth, she meets a wildly eccentric old lady named Teedee Venilworth, whose imaginary butler/fiance supposedly holds the key to her success. But how can someone help if he doesn't exist? Could it be that creatures who dwell in shadow are not exclusive to Lor Mandela?

The second book in the Lor Mandela Series, "Four Hundred Days", is an action-packed whirlwind of intrigue and fantasy. Join the extraordinary characters from "Destruction from Twins" as they traverse the haunted corridors of Alcatraz Penitentiary; travel via portal to an ancient castle on the cliff shores of Ireland; and meet a race of mystic warriors known as the Solom.

Soar on the back of a large, horse-like creature to the Northern High Forests and discover that, on the picturesque world of Lor Mandela, your friends can become foes, your enemies your allies, and just because someone dies it doesn't always mean that they're dead.

Four Hundred Days is available in print at CreateSpace, in ebook at Smashwords, and in your choice of format from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Tanella's New Look

The book has been in print only two years, and just over a year for the ebook; why does it need a new cover? It's more than just a face lift.

My first covers were made using CreateSpace's wonderful cover creator tool, which made some really great covers for our books. They looked very nice, and I liked them a lot.

When I was ready to release the novels as ebooks, I discovered that because I had used their template and just plugged in my own information and photos, CreateSpace held the copyright on the cover, while I held the copyright on the interior only. In other words, I couldn't use the cover from my print book as the cover of the ebook. I quickly made some rather bad covers for my ebooks and released them, but I was never really happy with them.

A year later, I decided to do something about it. I bought a photo editing program that would do what I needed it to do, and spent time learning how to use it. I know I'll get better with more practice, but I already like my new covers better than the old ones. The best part is that because I am now making my covers from scratch, I own all the rights to them. My ebooks and print books can now have the same cover - which will help people who have seen one version find the other one at the store.

This also means everyone who bought Tanella's Flight in print now has a collector's item, an autographed first edition with the original cover, which is now out of print. The book is still in print, with the new cover, but the original black cover is no longer available, ever.

Within the next month, I will be replacing the cover on Fabric of the World, so if you want to get the original cover before it's gone forever, I recommend you purchase it before August 1, when I plan to take it off the market to work on the new files.

~Marie

Wow! I feel Famous!

I was recently interviewed by David Wisehart about my book Deadly Gamble. David produces the Kindle Authors Newsletter on a daily basis to showcase new authors and their books. You can read my interview at the following link.

Kindle Author Newsletter Interview: A M Jenner

~Marie

I'd Like to Make an Announcement

One murder, followed by three attempted and two actual murders committed by way of "cleaning up the mess", too much gambling, cheap women, an Old Italian Family, police officers and detectives, a private security company, Indians, a little bit of light romance, one cool diner, and a hot frying pan to the head later, A M Jenner is proud to announce Deadly Gamble; a novel of suspense.

How do you get it?

For those with Kindles, you want to go here.

If you have a Nook, you want this link.

All e-reader formats are at Smashwords, and will be shipped (shortly, I hope) to Apple, Kobo, Sony, and other e-stores.

If you just can't live without the smell of a newly bound and printed on paper book, you're looking for this link. For those who purchase paper books, email me with your order number and address, and tell me who you want it inscribed to, and I will send you an autographed book plate to stick in the front of your book. If ebook owners want the bookplate, I'll send one to you too, but I'm not sure what you're going to stick it on.

The ebooks are $2.99; the print book is $14.99 because paper costs more than electrons.

There's some interesting photos and info about the writing of the book on its page at my website, and a hilarious but absolutely true story about creating the cover art in this blog post.

~Marie

Going Green

For centuries, books were paper of some sort. There was no other sort of book. The paper was made with pulp from some sort of plant. Before easily made movable type was available, books were copied out by hand, or each page was carved from wood and they were printed. In fact, the word manuscript literally means hand-written.

Even after printing became easier, books were still written by hand. Every revision and draft was re-written by hand. Can you imagine waiting for, say, the next book in the Harry Potter series if J K Rowling had to write every draft of every 500+ page book by hand? Those 500 printed pages are single-spaced. Most manuscripts are double-spaced, to give room between the lines for making corrections. One page of typed, double-spaced text is roughly equal to two pages of hand written, single-spaced text. Most of my manuscripts go through two major revisions and four to six minor ones.

Mark Twain was the first author to write a manuscript on a typewriter, for which his editor was probably very grateful. My grandmother was a writer, and typed her things with three sheets of paper and two of carbon paper in the machine. If she made a mistake even on the last line of the page, she had to re-type the entire page.

Writing always has taken a lot of paper to produce a book, but that is changing. I write with my computer. If I make a mistake, I back up and it automagically disappears. My computer keeps track of all the changes I make. It can put it back the way I had it in the first place if I decide I don't like it. I can carry a hundred manuscripts on a flash drive in the palm of my hand.

Working on Tanella's Flight, we printed out the manuscript at each stage, using about a ream of paper. We sent printed copies to no less than fifteen readers. We probably went through at least two cases of paper preparing one book for publication.

Fabric of the World was only printed once before publication. Your eyes and brain process information differently when you read on a backlit screen and when you read on paper. We had to print the manuscript once to read it on paper, and find the last million mistakes you never notice on a computer screen.

With Deadly Gamble, the book was written, revised, read, and checked without being printed out even once. We did the final "paper test" with an ebook reader. When you're reading on an e-ink device such as a Nook or Kindle, your brain processes it like paper. People who buy an ebook copy of Deadly Gamble will get a book that has never been printed on paper. We think that's pretty awesome.

We still offer print copies for people who don't have, don't want, or can't afford an ebook reader, and those who prefer paper books. It's certainly easier (at the moment) to get a paper book autographed. We are not against paper books; we have a huge library full of them. We still think it's absolutely cool to be able to produce an entire book without using a single piece of paper!

~Marie

You Just Made My Day!

Today is June 30. It is my self-imposed deadline for publishing Deadly Gamble. I get up at 4:00 in the morning and commence work. I have a lot of ebook formatting to complete to make my publishing deadline.

I uploaded the print files at CreateSpace on Monday, and watch the mailbox for my proof copy. After it gets here and I check it over, it's very likely there will be no changes necessary, and it can be published with the click of a mouse. There's only one detail I'm not certain is perfect.

My fingers dance over the keyboard and caress the mouse. The Kindle formatting is now complete and the files uploaded to Amazon. They have to be reviewed and approved before they will go live in the Kindle store. It may take 24 - 48 hours. I move on to the next stage.

More fast finger work readies my files for Barnes & Noble. A few clicks take me to the Barnes & Noble pubit site. There is a big colored banner across the top of my dashboard page asking why I haven't called them in reply to the email I didn't get from them. For unknown reasons, there's a hold on my account and I have to call them to get it straightened out before I can upload books. I called and left a voice mail.

I turn my attention to the formatting for Smashwords. I finish, and upload the files. They tell me the book is now available for sale at their site. I can't send it out to vendors like Apple and Sony until the files are approved and the book has an ISBN. Smashwords is out of ISBN's, but should have more soon.

It's noon, and there's only twelve hours left on my deadline. The book is going to be late. I'm falling asleep at the keyboard on two hours sleep. I'm feeling down, because I'm not going to meet the goal, due to those pesky "circumstances beyond my control". I still need to do the ebook formatting for the books I plan to give away for various reasons, but I will do that after a nap. I've now done everything I can, and make the two-foot commute from my office to my bed.

It's 4:00 in the afternoon. I am awakened by the third phone call in as many hours and decide I'd better get up and check on my books. Amazon is still waiting for review. Barnes & Noble still hasn't called.
I check my email before going to Smashwords to see if they have any ISBN's yet. Today's prize is sitting in my inbox. There's an email from Smashwords. Someone has already bought a copy of Deadly Gamble. My spirits soar. I'm not even finished publishing the book and some kind soul has bought a copy. I don't know who you are, but you just made my day. Thank you very much.

~Marie

P.S. Deadly Gamble is available at Smashwords here. Other announcements will be made as formats become available. There will always be links on the book's page on my website along with cool facts about the book.

It's complicated. Very Complicated.

All I really want to do is publish my books in print and ebook, and sell them online. You wouldn't think this would be such a difficult thing to accomplish, but it gets complicated. Very complicated.

To write a novel, I use Word. It's an excellent program for passing a document around to my partner and my readers and back again. I usually use Excel for my outline, and keeping track of where I am in the manuscript while I write. In the final editing stage, I have to convert the manuscript to an html file, which involves using Notepad. Then I use Calibre to format it as an EPUB file and load it onto my nook. The brain processes the words differently on "paper" than it does on a back lit screen. Using the nook means saving a whole ream of paper on this step, and catching a lot of typos. (That's four programs and two devices, are you keeping track?)

For print publishing, I use CreateSpace. I like the quality of their product and their customer service. Once my book is "finished" and "ready to publish", I us Word to do considerable formatting of page size, margins, fonts, making sure everything is on the correct side (left or right page) and that it all looks good. Then I save all that formatting as a PDF. I download a cover template that's based on the size of the book and the number of pages, and use Photoshop to create the cover. When I'm finished making the cover, Createspace wants me to smush it all down to one layer and save it as a PDF file. (Now I'm up to five programs).

For ebook publishing, I like Smashwords because they will market to a large variety of stores for me. I am not fond of the way their "meat grinder" (seriously, that's what they call their ebook converter) does to a book for Kindle formatting. Also, although their royalties aren't bad, I can get better at Amazon and Barnes & Noble if I upload directly to their sites, and let Smashwords handle the other ebook stores and formats. All three places have different submission requirements, which means I have to format the book one way for Smashwords, a second way for Amazon, and a third way for Barnes & Noble. I also have to make three different-sized cover photos (of the same cover), one for each vendor. And at Amazon, I have to use an extra program, Mobipocket Creator, to get it formatted right. (I'm up to six programs, two devices, and five separate formattings.)

Finally, I want to give ebooks to those readers who consistently do a good job of helping me make significant and helpful changes, which means I'm re-formatting the manuscript as an html file, and putting it into Calibre again, to end up with formats readable on Nook, Kindle, and computers.

I've just spent the last two weeks learning how to move around in Photoshop without blowing anything up, and figuring out the easiest ways to make manuscripts into html files for Calibre. I don't think the time was wasted. I was shocked though, when I went to upload all the very nice ebooks and discovered I still needed to do a lot of formatting. I now have an Excel file that outlines each step for me, so I don't forget anything.

I still wouldn't trade away the freedom of being a self-published independent author!

~Marie