WordPlay

Ready for some Wednesday Goodies?

Here’s a goodie to start with…for those of you who read Monday’s Barking Dog Blog (which was written late Sunday)…Monday was the first real test of the Barking Dog Response…that is, would Neighbor listen to the request in the note I wrote?

Monday, I am pleased to say, was quiet.

Tuesday, I am pleased to say, it rained most of the day–so basically, who knows if it would have been quiet or not.  But the rain was a major boon (and it came without the massive hailstorm that ripped apart this area last year at just this time), so either way…definite Goody.

Why, I might even risk riding Duncan on our north flat today!  (But, hmm…I think I’ll have earplugs, just in case.)

Otherwise, on the Goody front?  I got another short story out in the backlist offerings!

$.99
First Published: 2004, DAW: ReVisions
BACKLIST EBOOKS: ALL FORMATS

In Neil’s world, there are miniature seeing-eye horses, service pigs, stock-guarding llamas, and bred-up Siamese guard cats—because in Neil’s world, dogs were never domesticated, and never will be. But it seems no one’s asked the dogs what they think…

Originally published in the DAW anthology, ReVisions—an anthology of alternate history stories that consider what would have happened if scientific and technological breakthroughs–and challenges–occurred long before they did in real history.

[included in THE HEART OF DOG]

Definite GoodieFest day.  Got any to share?

A year ago–which is approximately 3.72 centuries in digital revolution time–I was just putting up the first of my backlist.

I’d meant to have them all up by now, but that was before I expanded my own personal revolution into the Backlist eBooks project with partner Pat Ryan, and that’s required a massive amount of time, so…I’m about halfway through my various backlist books/stories.

When I started with the backlist, my focus was on creating a cover “look.”  You know…glance at the cover and instantly recognize it as mine.  I had a strategy and everything!

Well…the learning curve, it be steep.  It wasn’t too long before I realized my strategy was too restrictive, and shed it for new ideas.  Now my new covers have a new approach, and most of my old covers have been replaced–some by the aforementioned Pat Ryan (she of many talents), and some by my own self.  The change hasn’t propagated through all of the retail venues, but this is their doing, not mine.  *annoyed sniff*

When I put Fountane Of up for sale, I didn’t actually put it up for sale–I gave it away as a teaser, and didn’t worry too much about the cover.  Well, that all evolved, too, and currently Fountane Of is 99c like the rest of my short stories.  And LO.  It finally became time for a new cover, and that’s what fun I had this past weekend, in between the plumbing excitement moments.

Fountane Of

(That link?  It’s a peek at the new Backlist eBooks web site, and what all the book pages will look like when we’re done!  At the moment, we’re only just getting started)

I’m thinking Touched by Magic is the next project–I’m about halfway through it, and skipped over to get the non-series books done first.  Well, after I turn in the next Sentinels book, put the polishing touches on the new Nose for Trouble edition, launch the September Nocturne Demon Blade Bite, and get the Nocturne Sentinels Bite through production…

*runs away*

It may have come to your attention (somehow, though certainly I never talk about it ahem) that I’m working on a project called Backlist eBooks with my partner-in-crime, Patricia Ryan.  You know, that big collection of well-published authors and their self-published versions of their backlist books?

Our plan all along has been to launch a rather stupendous web site from which readers have details on each book, easy purchase options, and super-easy window shopping.  We had something very specific in mind, chose our designer…got on the schedule.

The schedule, as it turns out, involved a significant wait.  So we’ve filled that time by gathering authors, setting up an interim site and a FaceBook page, pulling together sales events, and creating a solid little community behind the scenes.  We even applied for a trademark (just call us Backlist eBooks(TM)).  We’ve learned a lot in the past almost-year, and we’re all raring and ready for what we call the new uber-site.

*does the little dance of glee because…*

The first draft of the site is on the test server! 

I’ve spent the last couple of days learning it inside out, discussing with Pat the things we’d like to refine and making sure we’ve anticipated the best possible interface for both our authors and their readers–as well as making sure we’ve got a good plan for making it all work.  We’ll get the site finalized as soon as we can, and then our authors will commence to add their books and it will be so COOL WE CAN HARDLY STAND IT!

But it sure is hard to get any work done with all this dancing going on…

Yup, it’s the last week of the sale.  So it’s one more chance to click through to the comments, where some of the members of Backlist eBooks have provided links to their sale books.  Because, yeah…the sale is over in five…four…three…
=================
(here’s the original post!)

Oh, it’s true.  I get a little incoherent about this sort of thing. Just too enthusiastic (and sadly lacking dignity).

Well, Smashwords is having its big summer sale, and so many of us in Backlist eBooks are participating…we loves us a sale, and Smashwords makes it so easy.  How can we not?  From 25% to 100% off (with some books sitting at 99c), a site-wide promotion.  Everyone wins!

Of course, we also want to make it easy for readers, and getting the word out on the short available notice is a trickier thing.  So here we are!  My sale books (and links) are listed in this post; in the comments, you’ll find a collection of Backlist eBooks authors with their own linked titles and genres.  Go ye hence and feed that Kindle/Nook/Sony/e-reading device of choice!

My Smashwords Author Page
Books on Sale:
The Heart of Dog (dog stories, specfic)
Seer’s Blood (fantasy)
A Feral Darkness (fantasy)
Making the Rules (Action-Romance)
Hidden Steel/Making the Rules boxed set (Action-Romance)
Hidden Steel (free!) (Action-Romance)
And one free story for treasure hunters…

I done did it.  I got HIDDEN STEEL listed for free at Amazon, as well as Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and Sony whenever it catches up.

(Why not Nook, especially given that I’m a Nook owner my ownself?  ‘Cause I can’t find a way to work the system to get it done.  Nooksters can get an EPUB on Smashwords, though…and the book is marked down to 99c on B&N.)

And why do it at all?

The same reason anyone puts a loss-leader out there…for the exposure.  The word of mouth.  The alluring introduction to moi as an author.  *eyelash flutter*  And also because I can look at the rising download numbers and pretend it means that people are interested in the book as opposed to, “It’s FREE!  Grab it, quick!”

But hey, guess what.

IT’S FREE! GRAB IT, QUICK!

“Mow your lawn, finish doing the wash, and walk your dog BEFORE starting this book!” — B&N Reader

Smashwords
Kindle
B&N (99c)
Apple
Kobo

Sixteen stories, award-winning authors, and help for a sick dog…

[wp_cart:The Heart of Dog:price:3.99:end]
Nook, Kindle, PDF, EPUB
after payment, click on “return to ferragus@gmail.com” to complete the process/get your file

Award-winning author Doranna Durgin has over 30 published novels and another 19 short pieces. Now her dog-themed stories are collected in THE HEART OF DOG, along with those by other award-winning authors: Jeffrey Carver, Julie Czerneda, Tanya Huff, John Mierau, Fiona Patton, Jennifer Roberson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, & John Zakour.

“If you’ve ever loved a dog, you will love this book…” 
~The Book Faerie

[show_wp_shopping_cart]

Hey, I’m all about making things easy.

I’m also totally excited by the thought of regaining more control over my work–not to mention the potential to sell some of  my garage-stored out-of-print titles currently looking for signed dedications and new homes.  The stumbling block for that has always been the logistics/convenience factor.

Oh yeah, convenience is a good word, too.

So it turns out there’s a WordPress plug-in that will let me do just that, by hooking me up with a shopping cart system via PayPal.  For the ebooks, there’ll be an instant download opportunity.  For the hardcopy books…well, I have to learn a little more about that.  There’s the whole shipping thing, and the potential for taxes within NM, too.  (taxes = *sad*)

Since I’ve always found PayPal to be a little more than impenetrable behind the scenes (it takes approaching a question from five different  directions to find clarity, plus a phone call or two), I don’t expect to sort things out overnight.

But the first thing I can and will do is make it as easy as possibly possible to click the button on THE HEART OF DOG, because I am totally going for it–I want that CT scan for Connery in August.

YES I DO.

If I’ve done it right, the post above this one is a sticky  post, and  right up there is where it’s going to stay.

(If I haven’t done it right, I suspect this will be a very interesting day–as in, “May you be infested with the fleas of a thousand camels, and by the way, have an interesting day.”)

The Freakishly Cool things of the day:

I found Jim Croce on iTunes. I am replete.

DuncanHorse is strong enough after his illness, the ground firm enough, and the weather nice enough so we went arroyo-hopping this weekend.

The Backlist eBooks sale has been blogged by Smashwords, picked up by eBookNewser, and tickled interest from [BIG IMPRESSIVE BLACKOUT MARK]. With over 80 authors on board and hundreds of books between us…yeah.  We’re reaching a great momentum!

AND.

There’s THIS. Just something to sneak into the market for now while the dust settles from the above sale, but I absolutely can’t wait to share this boxed set graphic.  I mean, WUH!  This is Pat Ryan Graphics, and is she AMAZING or what?

We have been breached!

You know that wall? The Fourth Wall? Blooey! Gone!

That’s the wall that stands between the characters on a page and their readers–and the wall that every now and then, we peek through. Rarely in the actual book, but sometimes on the side. Sometimes we’re just having fun…sometimes we’re trying to offer a peak into our characters and our worlds.

As a reader, there are ways this works for me and ways it doesn’t. Character interviews, yes. Characters on FaceBook, a resounding no.

Letters from characters? Hmm. It depends! And it depends on whether it really feels true to character voice, or if it just sounds like the author doing a book pitch through the character. Maybe it’s not easy to do, at that.

Anyway, if you hate them, stop reading! Quick! Run away! Because here is is, Mickey Finn’s letter as presented by Eye on Romance. I have to admit, it tickles the muse quite mightily. But what I want to know, really, is how about you? Does breaching the wall work for you in any way? Yes, no, run away? And if it does, what do you like about it?

HIDDEN STEEL
Smashwords: http://tinyurl.com/3c4lncf
Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/3fhkdxm
B&N: http://tinyurl.com/3gs5dru

First of all, I would like to make note that just because I blogged about the nice weather on Monday, it is NOT MY FAULT we got sloppy snow on Tuesday.  That is all.

Anyway.  It’s Read an eBook Week. See?  I have a banner right here that says so.  And there’s this great sale at Smashwords!  I’m in it!  Lots of the Backlist eBooks authors are in it!  DRM-free, all the major formats!

But.  As a reader, I’ve been frustrated. Seriously.  Because finding out who’s on sale and how to get there is no swift task.  I need an EASY.

And why, cry the masses, didn’t Backlist eBooks set up a special page for this sale?

Ans: Because we had 24 hours’ notice, starting late Friday night.

Oops.

So we’re all doing what we can to make it easy. For here and now, that means you’ll find Backlist eBooks authors in the comments to this post, listing book titles and links to make it…

EASY.

Here, I’ll kick it off!

(It’s entirely selfish, you know.  My Nook is hungry.)

My whole ebook line-up is here: MeMEME!

Regularly priced at 2.99
MAKING THE RULES (romantic suspense) is 50% off
HIDDEN STEEL (romantic suspense) is 25% off
A FERAL DARKNESS (contemp. fantasy) is 25% off

Regularly $1.49
DEEP RIVER RECKONING (paranormal romance from The Reckoners series) is 25% off

Two free fantasy stories: A Bitch in Time and The Scoria

And now for the rest of us!  Backlist eBooks authors, charge forth!  Give us good reading!