If you follow me on Facebook, you may have noticed my announcement last week that I appear to have run out of storage on my primary Kindle. Of course, all of my books and samples are stored in the cloud, so I can download them and delete them at will. The problem is that when I first started my Kindle library, I was able to sort my items into collections by genre and read/unread status. I probably have thousands of items now, which makes it impractical to keep my collection sorted. (I discovered recently that you can put items into collections through the Amazon website, which is easier to use than the Kindle. However, since you still have to assign items to collections individually, and the status isn't immediately apparent, it's tedious work.) So I keep unread items on my Kindle and delete them as I read them. However, I still add items to my library faster than even I can read them, so at some point, I may have to delete unread items from the Kindle, which means I'll forget about them.
Any recommendations on how to better organize my collection? If so, feel free to share them in the comments.
Showing posts with label kindle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kindle. Show all posts
Monday, May 21, 2018
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
A Lifetime of Books
Mental Floss posted an article on Monday predicting how many books a person can read in a lifetime. It's actually a series of tables taking into account a person's gender, age, and reading habits. An average person reads twelve books a year, while a super reader tops out the Mental Floss scale at 80 books per year. That level sounds low to me these days. Since eBooks are so much more accessible and portable than paper books, I've been able to squeeze in more reading time since getting my first Kindle in 2010 or so. I joined Goodreads in 2012 or so and started tracking my books then. Since 2013, I've averaged about 200 books a year, as you can see if you check out my annual reading challenges on Goodreads. (My official goal is lower this year, but I'm currently on pace to reach 200 books again.)
I'm not sure how many books I read every year prior to joining Goodreads. There were times in my life where I had a lot of time to read (one college break, I read four books in a twelve-hour marathon), and times where I was busier with other things. To be conservative, let's say I averaged about 50 books a year prior to Goodreads. I started reading at age three, so I read about 1,900 books before joining Goodreads. In less than six years, I've read 1,067 books, which is more than half of what I read in the previous 38 years! Talk about a change in reading habits! If I continue to read 200 books a year for the next 40 years, I'll add another 8,000 to that. Ten thousand books in a lifetime sounds pretty good to me.
The point of the Mental Floss article was to say reading time is short, so you should only read books you enjoy. While that's good advice, I also think you should read a variety of books to make the most of your reading experience. (While my fiction reading is mostly SF/fantasy these days, I read more widely when I was younger.) Measure your life by books instead of years, and you'll experience more lives than you can live on your own.
I'm not sure how many books I read every year prior to joining Goodreads. There were times in my life where I had a lot of time to read (one college break, I read four books in a twelve-hour marathon), and times where I was busier with other things. To be conservative, let's say I averaged about 50 books a year prior to Goodreads. I started reading at age three, so I read about 1,900 books before joining Goodreads. In less than six years, I've read 1,067 books, which is more than half of what I read in the previous 38 years! Talk about a change in reading habits! If I continue to read 200 books a year for the next 40 years, I'll add another 8,000 to that. Ten thousand books in a lifetime sounds pretty good to me.
The point of the Mental Floss article was to say reading time is short, so you should only read books you enjoy. While that's good advice, I also think you should read a variety of books to make the most of your reading experience. (While my fiction reading is mostly SF/fantasy these days, I read more widely when I was younger.) Measure your life by books instead of years, and you'll experience more lives than you can live on your own.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Multibooking
Before I bought my first Kindle, I normally read one book at a time. These days, however, I typically read multiple books in multiple formats, depending on what's available. At home, I may focus on paper books (since I seldom take them anywhere to read). If I have library books checked out, they get first priority since I only have them for a few weeks. However, I may also have another paper book of my own in progress. (I admit they tend to be last in priority these days, which explains why I never make progress on my paper TBR pile.) Of course, I'll have another book in progress on my Kindle, which I'll read when my husband is driving us somewhere, at night in a darkened room, or wherever I may have a few minutes. I also have a Kindle app on my smartphone. While I can sync between the phone and my Kindle, I don't always have an Internet connection to do that. So there may be times when I have another e-book in progress on my phone. I even listen to audiobooks while I'm driving or doing chores. This means I could have four or five books in progress simultaneously! Multibooking (as I like to call it) may seem crazy, but somehow I manage to make it work.
Do you read multiple books at once? If so, do you read in different formats or all one format? Feel free to answer in the comments.
Do you read multiple books at once? If so, do you read in different formats or all one format? Feel free to answer in the comments.
Monday, January 04, 2016
2015: My Year in Books
Happy 2016 to everyone! I hope you enjoyed the last couple of weeks. I had vacation from work, so it's going to be tough going back today.
Last year, I challenged myself to read 200 books. I ended up reading 208, very close to what I managed in 2014 (209 books). You can see the full list on Goodreads. Here's the breakdown by genre:
Science Fiction: 53
Fantasy: 92
Non-Fiction: 53
Other Fiction: 9
I seem to have dropped a book from the total. Chances are it's probably a fantasy book, since that continues to be my favorite genre, nearly half of my total reading (44%). Science fiction and non-fiction are tied at around 25% of the total, while the Other Fiction category remains the smallest at about 4%. (Due to rounding, the total doesn't add up to 100%.)
The vast majority of my reading (72%) was done on my Kindle. Of the 58 books (28%) I read in paper, 47 books came from the library. Many of them I checked out to avoid paying big publisher prices for e-books.
As for favorite reads, I'd have to list the entire Vorkosigan Saga; the Her Instruments trilogy; The Mermaid's Sister; Sword of Shadows; Parasite Rex; Seeds; "We the People of the Clouds"; Black Dragon, Black Cat; A Rational Arrangement; The Three Jaguars; Heart and Brain; Life on the Edge; The Martian; and Sapiens.
My paper To Be Read list continues to grow, and I still haven't transferred all the items I have on my Kindle Paperwhite to the Voyager. Even if I do read another 200+ books this year (I've already finished two), I'm sure my total TBR List will grow even faster. I guess that's a good problem for a bookworm like me.
What were your favorite reads from 2015? Please share them in the comments.
Last year, I challenged myself to read 200 books. I ended up reading 208, very close to what I managed in 2014 (209 books). You can see the full list on Goodreads. Here's the breakdown by genre:
Science Fiction: 53
Fantasy: 92
Non-Fiction: 53
Other Fiction: 9
I seem to have dropped a book from the total. Chances are it's probably a fantasy book, since that continues to be my favorite genre, nearly half of my total reading (44%). Science fiction and non-fiction are tied at around 25% of the total, while the Other Fiction category remains the smallest at about 4%. (Due to rounding, the total doesn't add up to 100%.)
The vast majority of my reading (72%) was done on my Kindle. Of the 58 books (28%) I read in paper, 47 books came from the library. Many of them I checked out to avoid paying big publisher prices for e-books.
As for favorite reads, I'd have to list the entire Vorkosigan Saga; the Her Instruments trilogy; The Mermaid's Sister; Sword of Shadows; Parasite Rex; Seeds; "We the People of the Clouds"; Black Dragon, Black Cat; A Rational Arrangement; The Three Jaguars; Heart and Brain; Life on the Edge; The Martian; and Sapiens.
My paper To Be Read list continues to grow, and I still haven't transferred all the items I have on my Kindle Paperwhite to the Voyager. Even if I do read another 200+ books this year (I've already finished two), I'm sure my total TBR List will grow even faster. I guess that's a good problem for a bookworm like me.
What were your favorite reads from 2015? Please share them in the comments.
Monday, September 14, 2015
A New Kindle and Kindle Organization
I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was busy. My husband took my son to a chess tournament on Saturday, and Alex came in second for his grade level. His school also took second place. I attended a shower for a friend on Saturday and spent so much time catching up with them that we all went out for dinner together. (My family came to the shower after the tournament and joined us for dinner too.) Yesterday we took our annual trip to a nearby apple orchard. There are a lot of other activities for kids there, so we stayed for a few hours after we were done. I didn't get as much writing done as I wanted to (of course, I never do), but I sure got some quality time in.
Anyway, for my anniversary present, my husband gave me a Kindle Voyager. My Paperwhite was out of memory and not acting properly, so it was time for an upgrade. Here's what they look like side by side (old one on the left, new on the right):
The new Kindle feels very light, but of course I'm used to using my Kindle in a cover. The cover I ordered for this model will fold from the top so I can read with it free-standing. Until it comes, I'm reluctant to take the Kindle anywhere. It does look very nice, with crisp fonts and controls on the sides to turn the pages. When I open a book, I see information such as the beginning of the blurb, number of pages, estimated time to read, number of highlighted texts, and so on. I can delete a sample not just from my device but from the cloud as well. Maybe that will help me bring my books back under control.
As for dealing with my multitude of titles, I'm trying a trick I read about on Kindleboards (I think it was there.) I'm using my computer Kindle app to sort everything into collections, then I'll download the collections to my Kindle. It will take a few days to get that done.
Once I get the new Kindle sorted to my satisfaction, I'll deregister my Paperwhite and figure out where to donate it.
If you have a Kindle, which model do you have? Do you read your e-books on a dedicated reader, or do you read them on a tablet or smartphone?
Anyway, for my anniversary present, my husband gave me a Kindle Voyager. My Paperwhite was out of memory and not acting properly, so it was time for an upgrade. Here's what they look like side by side (old one on the left, new on the right):
As for dealing with my multitude of titles, I'm trying a trick I read about on Kindleboards (I think it was there.) I'm using my computer Kindle app to sort everything into collections, then I'll download the collections to my Kindle. It will take a few days to get that done.
Once I get the new Kindle sorted to my satisfaction, I'll deregister my Paperwhite and figure out where to donate it.
If you have a Kindle, which model do you have? Do you read your e-books on a dedicated reader, or do you read them on a tablet or smartphone?
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Kindle Editing
I've decided it's time to start editing Chaos Season, the next book in the Season Avatars series. The first step I take in editing is rereading the entire work. These days, I like to do that on my Kindle. By sending it to my Kindle, I can read it in a different format so I can read it with a fresh eye. I can also check formatting at the same time. Whenever I see something I want to add, change, or delete, I highlight it and type a note. It works well for line-item edits but not so well for larger edits, which is what I should really be working on at this stage. However, I can at least take mental notes of sections I want to change. Even though I need to revise the opening chapter (it currently starts right at the end of Scattered Seasons; I need to move the action forward a bit to skip some of the less interesting bits), I still wound up making a lot of line comments on lines that will probably be deleted. It may not be the most efficient way to edit, but I may be better at seeing smaller issues than larger ones. I may need to outline the current draft to check for other plot problems before I revise.
How do you edit your work? Do you use a Kindle or some other way to view it differently?
How do you edit your work? Do you use a Kindle or some other way to view it differently?
Sunday, March 22, 2015
eBook Prices
Last week, a book from one of the authors I follow on Goodreads came out.
The announcement said the eBook was available for a “special introductory
price,” so I checked it out on Amazon. Do you think the price was 99 cents?
$4.99? No, it was $9.99. I closed the tab without even downloading the sample
and headed over to my library’s website to put the book on hold.
Everyone has different price ranges they’re comfortable
with. For me, I have no problem with prices of $4.99 and below for fiction and
nonfiction, though I generally read the sample first before deciding to buy. (I
may buy the book outright if it’s a nonfiction book on sale or if I’m familiar
with the author’s work.) If I’d read the author before and consider myself a
fan, I’m willing to go a little higher, maybe up to $7.99.
Any price that’s higher than a paperback for a novel,
however, is more than I’m willing to pay. At the speed I read (more than 200
books a year), I can’t afford to read $9.99 eBooks. They’re not a good value
for me, especially if I’m going to read the book once and remove it from my
Kindle to conserve space. Even $7.99 may be daunting if the book is part of a
long series and I would have to pay over $100 to read the entire series. At
that point, I will borrow the book from the library if possible, look for cheap
secondhand paperbacks if the book has been out for a while, or simply skip the
book and quietly rejoice at being able to shrink my immense TBR list.
I’m willing to spend over $10 on non-fiction eBooks,
particularly if I think it will be useful for writing. Since non-fiction is
only about 20-25% of my reading, and not all my non-fiction costs that much, I
can manage the occasional splurge.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Kindle Maintenance
I had a mini-crisis last week when my Kindle officially reached overload. My son had eye surgery last Thursday to correct his exotropia. (He seems to be recovering well, but we'll have a better sense of how successful the surgery was at his follow-up appointment.) During post-op recovery, I needed to read his favorite book (Jedi Academy: Return of the Padawan) out loud to distract him, but I'd forgotten to bring the paper version along and had to buy the eBook on the spot. However, it got stuck downloading onto my Kindle. Luckily, I was able to download it through the Kindle app on my smartphone, and I ended up reading the entire book to Alex that afternoon/evening. Tonight, after deleting several books off of my Kindle, I finally managed to get the book downloaded onto my Kindle, well after I'd downloaded other books. This particular book is graphic-heavy, so that's not surprising it would be so difficult to download.
Anyway, I had over 1600 items crammed onto my Kindle at one point, but by deleting many of the books I've already read, I'm down to 1340. It feels a little strange deleting them, but most of them are backed up to the Cloud anyway, so I can download them again if necessary. Hopefully reducing the load will make my Kindle more responsive as well. (It can "hang" while I'm trying to access or leave collections.)
The most difficult part of Kindle maintenance is sorting unread samples and books into the appropriate To Read collections. (I have four of these collections broken down by genre.) The current software on my Paperwhite doesn't allow me to see collections and unsorted items simultaneously. (I was able to do that until an upgrade last May, and I'm still annoyed at losing that feature.) I would really love a feature that would allow you to send a sample or book directly to a specific collection, not just a particular device.
As I was going through my collections, I came across several authors I had read but forgotten about. I know it's possible to sign up for notices from Amazon when favorite authors release new books, but it would be helpful to make this process easier, as it doesn't always seem to work.
If you use a eReader, what features do you wish it had? Are there any quirks about it that you think could be improved?
Anyway, I had over 1600 items crammed onto my Kindle at one point, but by deleting many of the books I've already read, I'm down to 1340. It feels a little strange deleting them, but most of them are backed up to the Cloud anyway, so I can download them again if necessary. Hopefully reducing the load will make my Kindle more responsive as well. (It can "hang" while I'm trying to access or leave collections.)
The most difficult part of Kindle maintenance is sorting unread samples and books into the appropriate To Read collections. (I have four of these collections broken down by genre.) The current software on my Paperwhite doesn't allow me to see collections and unsorted items simultaneously. (I was able to do that until an upgrade last May, and I'm still annoyed at losing that feature.) I would really love a feature that would allow you to send a sample or book directly to a specific collection, not just a particular device.
As I was going through my collections, I came across several authors I had read but forgotten about. I know it's possible to sign up for notices from Amazon when favorite authors release new books, but it would be helpful to make this process easier, as it doesn't always seem to work.
If you use a eReader, what features do you wish it had? Are there any quirks about it that you think could be improved?
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Reading Report for 2014
I may wind up finishing one more book before the year is over, but I figure I can go ahead with my year-end reading report anyway.
My Goodreads challenge for this year was 200 books, same as last year. This year I read only 209 books instead of the 230 I managed in 2013. Yeah, I know, I'm slacking off. Some of my reading time went into writing or playing on my phone, and two of those books were three-in-one omnibus editions. You can find my complete list of books here. Below is the breakdown by genre:
Fantasy: 96
Science Fiction: 30
Non-Fiction: 55
Other: 28
There's a very slight increase in fantasy over last year, a bigger increase in other (due to a mystery series I read for research), and decreases in science fiction and non-fiction.
I actually read 40 books in paper format this year. Most of these were library books. I have borrowed eBooks from the library before, but it's more complicated than simply buying the books myself.
Here are a few recommended reads:
William Shakespeare's Star Wars Trilogy
The 7 Secrets of the Prolific
Mindtouch, Mindline, and Family
The Future of the Mind
Quantum Zoo
Wonders of the Invisible World
Ghost Hand, Ghost Hold, and Ghost Heart
Meatonomics
Sky Dance
Lies My Teacher Told Me
(I'm going to skip hyperlinking since it's late, but you can find all of these books on my Goodreads list.)
Kindle software updates have made it more difficult to put my books and samples in collections, so I don't know how many Kindle items I have to read (or at least look at before rejecting them). However, my Kindle now holds over 1600 items. I'd say over half of those I still have to read. At some point I will need to upgrade to the latest generation Kindle, since it has a bigger capacity than the Paperwhite. As for my paper to-read collection, this is what it looks like:
That's 42 books, in case you were wondering. Hum, 42 is the answer, so what's the question? I guess I need to keep reading to find out.
What was your reading like this year?
Edited to Add: I did finish my current book, bringing my total to 210 books for the year and 97 fantasy.
My Goodreads challenge for this year was 200 books, same as last year. This year I read only 209 books instead of the 230 I managed in 2013. Yeah, I know, I'm slacking off. Some of my reading time went into writing or playing on my phone, and two of those books were three-in-one omnibus editions. You can find my complete list of books here. Below is the breakdown by genre:
Fantasy: 96
Science Fiction: 30
Non-Fiction: 55
Other: 28
There's a very slight increase in fantasy over last year, a bigger increase in other (due to a mystery series I read for research), and decreases in science fiction and non-fiction.
I actually read 40 books in paper format this year. Most of these were library books. I have borrowed eBooks from the library before, but it's more complicated than simply buying the books myself.
Here are a few recommended reads:
William Shakespeare's Star Wars Trilogy
The 7 Secrets of the Prolific
Mindtouch, Mindline, and Family
The Future of the Mind
Quantum Zoo
Wonders of the Invisible World
Ghost Hand, Ghost Hold, and Ghost Heart
Meatonomics
Sky Dance
Lies My Teacher Told Me
(I'm going to skip hyperlinking since it's late, but you can find all of these books on my Goodreads list.)
Kindle software updates have made it more difficult to put my books and samples in collections, so I don't know how many Kindle items I have to read (or at least look at before rejecting them). However, my Kindle now holds over 1600 items. I'd say over half of those I still have to read. At some point I will need to upgrade to the latest generation Kindle, since it has a bigger capacity than the Paperwhite. As for my paper to-read collection, this is what it looks like:
That's 42 books, in case you were wondering. Hum, 42 is the answer, so what's the question? I guess I need to keep reading to find out.
What was your reading like this year?
Edited to Add: I did finish my current book, bringing my total to 210 books for the year and 97 fantasy.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Life at Seventeen Syllables a Day Now Available!
I recently finished a year-long, self-imposed challenge to write a haiku every day for a year. I planned all along to publish the collection when it was done, and it's finally ready. It's called Life at Seventeen Syllables a Day: A Journal in Haiku. You can find the paper version at Createspace or Amazon; an eBook version is available here for $0.99. Please check it out, and if you enjoy it, I'd appreciate a review. Thanks!Wednesday, January 01, 2014
Reading Report for 2013 and Goals for 2014
Happy New Year! I wish all of you the best for 2014.
As has become tradition on this blog, I start the new year by looking back at my reading. I track my books through Goodreads; you can find the list of books I read here. My original goal was to read 175 books, since I read 174 books in 2012. (I track everything from short stories to omnibus editions; if it's listed on Goodreads, I track it.) I then increased my goal to 200. How many did I wind up reading? 230. Yeah, that's a lot, but keep in mind books are my main source of entertainment. (I don't watch TV.) Once again, I have to thank my Kindle for making all that reading possible. I know at least ten of these books were in paper, but I'm not sure if any others were paper. Obviously, the vast majority of my reading is on the Kindle now; I prefer it to paper, even when I'm at home and have lots of paper books to read.
I simplified my genre breakdown this year to four categories:
Fantasy: 95
Science Fiction: 52
Non-Fiction: 67
Other Fiction (everything else besides SF/fantasy): 16
Every category except Other Fiction is up from 2012.
Recommended Reads:
Fantasy: Brood of Bones and the sequels, The Curse of Chalion, All the Paths of Shadow, Vessel, Books I and II
Science Fiction: Khe
Other Fiction: Just Exactly How Life Looks
Non-Fiction: A People's History of the World
I had to break up my "To Read" Collection on my Kindle because it was so big I couldn't find specific books. Now I have four to-read collections:
Fantasy: 227
Science Fiction: 198
Non-Fiction: 197
Other Fiction: 45
That's not including the nearly fifty paper books I have to read. The stack (see picture) is taller than my son. (Note: son not shown.)
Even though I don't read every sample I download or finish every free book, it's obvious I'm never going to conquer my To-Read pile. I'm downloading more books every day. Ah well, I wonder if I'll catch up when I retire.
As for goals for this year, I'll finish up a year-long poetry project in March, so it will be available (if I don't lose my courage) by April. I also want to publish Season's Beginning, the first book in my fantasy Season Avatars series, by May and the next installment of the Catalyst Chronicles by the end of year. Since these stories are still in draft form, there's a lot of work ahead of me. I'm going to try tracking my writing/editing for a while to see if that helps me be more productive.
Anyway, if the snow isn't too bad, we're off to the Field Museum today, so I'd better stop blogging and get some writing done. Enjoy the rest of your day, and remember, you don't have to accomplish all of your goals today; baby steps will get you there too.
As has become tradition on this blog, I start the new year by looking back at my reading. I track my books through Goodreads; you can find the list of books I read here. My original goal was to read 175 books, since I read 174 books in 2012. (I track everything from short stories to omnibus editions; if it's listed on Goodreads, I track it.) I then increased my goal to 200. How many did I wind up reading? 230. Yeah, that's a lot, but keep in mind books are my main source of entertainment. (I don't watch TV.) Once again, I have to thank my Kindle for making all that reading possible. I know at least ten of these books were in paper, but I'm not sure if any others were paper. Obviously, the vast majority of my reading is on the Kindle now; I prefer it to paper, even when I'm at home and have lots of paper books to read.
I simplified my genre breakdown this year to four categories:
Fantasy: 95
Science Fiction: 52
Non-Fiction: 67
Other Fiction (everything else besides SF/fantasy): 16
Every category except Other Fiction is up from 2012.
Recommended Reads:
Fantasy: Brood of Bones and the sequels, The Curse of Chalion, All the Paths of Shadow, Vessel, Books I and II
Science Fiction: Khe
Other Fiction: Just Exactly How Life Looks
Non-Fiction: A People's History of the World
I had to break up my "To Read" Collection on my Kindle because it was so big I couldn't find specific books. Now I have four to-read collections:
Fantasy: 227
Science Fiction: 198
Non-Fiction: 197
Other Fiction: 45
That's not including the nearly fifty paper books I have to read. The stack (see picture) is taller than my son. (Note: son not shown.) Even though I don't read every sample I download or finish every free book, it's obvious I'm never going to conquer my To-Read pile. I'm downloading more books every day. Ah well, I wonder if I'll catch up when I retire.
As for goals for this year, I'll finish up a year-long poetry project in March, so it will be available (if I don't lose my courage) by April. I also want to publish Season's Beginning, the first book in my fantasy Season Avatars series, by May and the next installment of the Catalyst Chronicles by the end of year. Since these stories are still in draft form, there's a lot of work ahead of me. I'm going to try tracking my writing/editing for a while to see if that helps me be more productive.
Anyway, if the snow isn't too bad, we're off to the Field Museum today, so I'd better stop blogging and get some writing done. Enjoy the rest of your day, and remember, you don't have to accomplish all of your goals today; baby steps will get you there too.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Matchbook and Oyster
Two new programs for readers debuted this week. Yesterday, Amazon's Matchbook program went live. If you've ever bought a paper book from Amazon, you may be able to purchase the eBook for a reduced price. The catch is that the publisher has to opt into the program. Out of all the books I've purchased from Amazon over the years, only two are in the Matchbook program, and both of those books were bought as gifts for others. I'm not sure how much I would use this program; it would depend on what books are available. I've bought at least three eBooks that I already own in paper, but those three are favorites of mine. I wouldn't necessarily want eBooks of all my paperbacks.
Smashwords recently partnered with Oyster, a company that allows you to read all the books you want for a flat fee of $9.95/month. As a voracious reader, I might be able to save money with a program like this, though I'm not sure how many books in my To Read collection would be part of this program. However, it's for iPads and iPhones. We do have a couple of iPads in our house, but I don't use them for reading.
As a shameless plug, I will say that Lyon's Legacy and Twinned Universes are both part of the Matchbook program, and all of my stories will be available through Oyster. (I'm not sure if they're on Oyster yet, since I don't see a search field where you can enter titles. Maybe you have to sign up first before you can do that.) As a writer, I want to disperse my books as widely as possible so readers can find them.
Has anyone tried either of these services as a reader? If so, what do you think of them? Indie writers, are you participating in Matchbook or Oyster? Why or why not? Please let me know in the comments.
Smashwords recently partnered with Oyster, a company that allows you to read all the books you want for a flat fee of $9.95/month. As a voracious reader, I might be able to save money with a program like this, though I'm not sure how many books in my To Read collection would be part of this program. However, it's for iPads and iPhones. We do have a couple of iPads in our house, but I don't use them for reading.
As a shameless plug, I will say that Lyon's Legacy and Twinned Universes are both part of the Matchbook program, and all of my stories will be available through Oyster. (I'm not sure if they're on Oyster yet, since I don't see a search field where you can enter titles. Maybe you have to sign up first before you can do that.) As a writer, I want to disperse my books as widely as possible so readers can find them.
Has anyone tried either of these services as a reader? If so, what do you think of them? Indie writers, are you participating in Matchbook or Oyster? Why or why not? Please let me know in the comments.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Lyon's Legacy--A Bestseller!
As I've mentioned before on this blog, Lyon's Legacy is on sale on Amazon for $0.99 this month. If you're going to have a sale, you need to promote it. I therefore bought a couple of ads in BookGorilla, Kindle Books and Tips, and Kindle Nation Daily. The ads aren't cheap, but as my dad pointed out, I can write them off on my taxes as business expenses. This isn't my first time running ads for my books, and while they do move books, so far I haven't made a profit from them. So I wasn't sure what to expect today. When I checked my sales at noon, I'd sold a few books, but my sales rank hadn't changed. However, later on, this is what I saw on Amazon:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,158 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#79 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,158 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#79 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel
As it was my first time in a paid best seller list, I was excited. "Letters to Psyche" did rank higher in its category (I think it had something to do with Myths and Legends), but that was when it was free through KDP Select.
Of course, since then I've been constantly checking my stats. Although Lyon's Legacy fell off the overall Science Fiction list, it continued to rise on the Time Travel list, climbing to #44. Here's what I saw around 10:00 last night:
Here's a close-up:
This morning, I'm up to #10 in time travel. Who knows what will happen today with the Kindle Nation Daily ad?
Admittedly, it doesn't always take a lot of sales to make it to a best seller list, especially in a subcategory. I'm sure Lyon's Legacy will fall off the charts again when the promotions are over. But it's still exciting, and hopefully some of these readers will go on to read Twinned Universes and my other stories too.
Of course, this celebration calls for a Beatles video:
Enjoy your weekend, everyone, and see you Monday!
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,158 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#79 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,158 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#79 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel
As it was my first time in a paid best seller list, I was excited. "Letters to Psyche" did rank higher in its category (I think it had something to do with Myths and Legends), but that was when it was free through KDP Select.
Of course, since then I've been constantly checking my stats. Although Lyon's Legacy fell off the overall Science Fiction list, it continued to rise on the Time Travel list, climbing to #44. Here's what I saw around 10:00 last night:
Here's a close-up:
This morning, I'm up to #10 in time travel. Who knows what will happen today with the Kindle Nation Daily ad?
Admittedly, it doesn't always take a lot of sales to make it to a best seller list, especially in a subcategory. I'm sure Lyon's Legacy will fall off the charts again when the promotions are over. But it's still exciting, and hopefully some of these readers will go on to read Twinned Universes and my other stories too.
Of course, this celebration calls for a Beatles video:
Enjoy your weekend, everyone, and see you Monday!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Back on the Blog Chain: Trouble with Titles
Alyson's question for us this round is about more than just trouble with titles, but I couldn't resist the alliteration. After all, alliteration can give titles more of a punch. Here's her complete question:
How do you come up with titles for your work? Does it just come to you or do you spend hours stressing about it? Do you use silly working titles? What have you read recently with a great title? An awful title?
I usually look for titles within my stories, and the titles come to me in their time. I like to find an unusual phrase or something intriguing that's strongly relevant to the plot. I don't use a silly or placeholder title, but sometimes I wind up changing the title if I think it doesn't work or if it's too similar to another title. For example, the original title of Lyon's Legacy was Move Over Ms. L., the title of a John Lennon song, but I decided to change the title when I removed Lennon's lyrics. Twinned Universes was originally called Thine Own Self from Hamlet, then I changed it to Across Two Universes to better fit the genre. Then, when Beth Revis's Across the Universe came out, I changed the title of my book to Twinned Universes. (Ironically, her book is named after a Beatles song, but I guess there's less chance of confusion there.) However, one of my short stories, "The Book of Beasts," turns out to have a common title. I guess I need to search for a title on Amazon or Google to see if it's been used before settling on it. While titles can't be copyrighted, they should be unique enough to be searchable.
One thing I forgot to mention earlier--with series, sometimes it's nice to find a way to tie all the books in a series together. I don't do that with the Catalyst Chronicles series, but all the titles I have so far planned for the Season Avatars series will have the word "Season" in them.
As for good or bad titles, I've recently read stories such as There's Only One Quantum, "Corporate Zombie," and "2BR02B." Those are pretty memorable, but sometimes when I'm reading a book on my Kindle, I can't remember the title of the book because I don't see it. This happened to me with Ripped and Other Adventures. Actually, I did remember the first word in the title was "Ripped," but I had trouble finding the title on Goodreads when I searched for that word.
For more about titles, check out Kate's post and see what Christine will say tomorrow.
How do you come up with titles for your work? Does it just come to you or do you spend hours stressing about it? Do you use silly working titles? What have you read recently with a great title? An awful title?
I usually look for titles within my stories, and the titles come to me in their time. I like to find an unusual phrase or something intriguing that's strongly relevant to the plot. I don't use a silly or placeholder title, but sometimes I wind up changing the title if I think it doesn't work or if it's too similar to another title. For example, the original title of Lyon's Legacy was Move Over Ms. L., the title of a John Lennon song, but I decided to change the title when I removed Lennon's lyrics. Twinned Universes was originally called Thine Own Self from Hamlet, then I changed it to Across Two Universes to better fit the genre. Then, when Beth Revis's Across the Universe came out, I changed the title of my book to Twinned Universes. (Ironically, her book is named after a Beatles song, but I guess there's less chance of confusion there.) However, one of my short stories, "The Book of Beasts," turns out to have a common title. I guess I need to search for a title on Amazon or Google to see if it's been used before settling on it. While titles can't be copyrighted, they should be unique enough to be searchable.
One thing I forgot to mention earlier--with series, sometimes it's nice to find a way to tie all the books in a series together. I don't do that with the Catalyst Chronicles series, but all the titles I have so far planned for the Season Avatars series will have the word "Season" in them.
As for good or bad titles, I've recently read stories such as There's Only One Quantum, "Corporate Zombie," and "2BR02B." Those are pretty memorable, but sometimes when I'm reading a book on my Kindle, I can't remember the title of the book because I don't see it. This happened to me with Ripped and Other Adventures. Actually, I did remember the first word in the title was "Ripped," but I had trouble finding the title on Goodreads when I searched for that word.
For more about titles, check out Kate's post and see what Christine will say tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Recently Read and Other Reminders
It's a little early in the year for a reading recap, but I feel like doing one anyway. Here are some of the books that I really enjoyed reading so far:
Her Own Devices--Second in a series about a young female inventor who becomes the leaders of a gang of street urchins.
Khe--A science fiction novel about two alien races--no humans involved.
All the Paths of Shadow--A fantasy novel about a king's mage who has a talking plant as her familiar. Reminds me of Patricia McKillip's work.
The Chocolatier's Wife--Fantasy, chocolate, and a sweet romance--what more can you ask for?
A People's History of the World--A thought-provoking--and at times depressing--look at history. This is the longest book I've read this year.
The Curse of Chalion--I finally discovered Bujold.
The Uncertain Places--Few books can evoke a sense of wonder in me these days, but this one did.
For what it's worth, I've already read over 14,000 pages this year.
As part of my birthday giveaway this month, my fantasy short story "Letters to Psyche" will be free on Amazon Thursday and Friday. After this week, it will be out of the Select program and coming to Smashwords and B&N, so this is the best time to get it for Kindle. Also, don't forget Lyon's Legacy is only $0.99 at Amazon and B&N through April 30. Although you can read Twinned Universes without having read Lyon's Legacy first, Lyon's Legacy does provide more background.
Her Own Devices--Second in a series about a young female inventor who becomes the leaders of a gang of street urchins.
Khe--A science fiction novel about two alien races--no humans involved.
All the Paths of Shadow--A fantasy novel about a king's mage who has a talking plant as her familiar. Reminds me of Patricia McKillip's work.
The Chocolatier's Wife--Fantasy, chocolate, and a sweet romance--what more can you ask for?
A People's History of the World--A thought-provoking--and at times depressing--look at history. This is the longest book I've read this year.
The Curse of Chalion--I finally discovered Bujold.
The Uncertain Places--Few books can evoke a sense of wonder in me these days, but this one did.
For what it's worth, I've already read over 14,000 pages this year.
As part of my birthday giveaway this month, my fantasy short story "Letters to Psyche" will be free on Amazon Thursday and Friday. After this week, it will be out of the Select program and coming to Smashwords and B&N, so this is the best time to get it for Kindle. Also, don't forget Lyon's Legacy is only $0.99 at Amazon and B&N through April 30. Although you can read Twinned Universes without having read Lyon's Legacy first, Lyon's Legacy does provide more background.
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
April Sale on Lyon's Legacy
Sometimes being a geneticist isn’t enough to understand your family....
Joanna Lyon is the great-granddaughter of the legendary TwenCen musician Sean Lyon. Joanna may have inherited some of her ancestor's musical talent, but her parents' bitter divorce and her Uncle Jack's attempts to remake her into another Sean have left her hostile toward her family and music. Her passion is for science, but since she has no access to the family funds, she struggles to earn enough credits for graduate school. Then her uncle sets up a business deal with her employer to make Joanna go on a mission for him: travel via the spaceship Sagan to an alternate TwenCen universe where Sean is still alive. Joanna must collect a DNA sample from Sean so her uncle can create a clone of him. She refuses at first, but finally agrees to go. Secretly, however, Joanna believes her uncle will exploit the clone, and she plans to sabotage the project to stop him. But when she falls in love with one of the scientists in the Sagan's genetics lab, clashes with other time travelers who fear she'll change how history develops on the alternative TwenCen Earth, and receives devastating personal news, Joanna will find herself pushed to her limit even before she comes face-to-face with her hated ancestor. Their encounter will leave her changed forever. Will she still be able to thwart her uncle's plan, and what will she have to sacrifice to do so?
Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
#Shortstory #LetterstoPsyche #Free on #Kindle!
When the Greek god Cupid visits Verona, he foresees no problems uniting the Montague and Capulet families. But when Elisabeth Capulet and Giovanni Montague's love ends in tragedy, Elisabeth places a powerful curse not on just the families, but Cupid himself. Unable to visit his wife Psyche, he sends her letters detailing his efforts to undo the curse. Can the two of them save another generation of lovers, or will Cupid and Psyche be forever parted?
Please download it and help spread the word! Thanks!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Letters to Psyche Now Available for Kindle!
Cupid and Psyche and Romeo and Juliet. Sounds like quite a complicated love story, doesn't it? I don't remember what first inspired me to weave Cupid into the Montagues' and Capulets' family histories, since I wrote the first draft of this story about a decade ago. I submitted the story, then called "Antidote for a Family Feud," to a couple of publications. While I got some praise from the editors, they ultimately rejected it, and I set it aside and worked on other projects. Finally, last year, I figured out a fresh approach to the story: Cupid writing letters to his wife while he stays on Earth. Why doesn't he return home? Well, here's the blurb:
When the Greek god Cupid visits Verona, he foresees no problems uniting the Montague and Capulet families. But when Elisabeth Capulet and Giovanni Montague's love ends in tragedy, Elisabeth places a powerful curse not on just the families, but Cupid himself. Unable to visit his wife Psyche, he sends her letters detailing his efforts to undo the curse. Can the two of them save another generation of lovers, or will Cupid and Psyche be forever parted?
Currently "Letters to Psyche" is only available on Amazon, though I do plan to remove it from the Select program after three months. In the meantime, hmmm, isn't there a love-themed holiday coming up in the near future?
When the Greek god Cupid visits Verona, he foresees no problems uniting the Montague and Capulet families. But when Elisabeth Capulet and Giovanni Montague's love ends in tragedy, Elisabeth places a powerful curse not on just the families, but Cupid himself. Unable to visit his wife Psyche, he sends her letters detailing his efforts to undo the curse. Can the two of them save another generation of lovers, or will Cupid and Psyche be forever parted?
Currently "Letters to Psyche" is only available on Amazon, though I do plan to remove it from the Select program after three months. In the meantime, hmmm, isn't there a love-themed holiday coming up in the near future?
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Can This To-Read Collection be Conquered?
As a reader, I'm spoiled by the sheer range of books available to me, especially in e-book form. My To-Read collection on my Kindle is almost at 400 items. Most of these are samples, but I do have several books in there that I haven't had a chance to read yet. This doesn't include items in my Cloud, either. As for physical books, I probably have over forty I haven't read yet. The stack is most likely taller than my child. I'm planning on posting a picture at the beginning of 2013 as part of wrapping up my reading in 2012, but I doubt I'll make much progress in a couple of weeks.
I consider myself a fast reader; even with a full-time job and a young child, I can still read two or three average-length novels a week. (Non-fiction may take longer, and of course there are door-stopper novels out there too.) I've read 160 books in 2012. Even so, at this rate, it'll take me over two years to clear my To Read items, and that's only if I don't add more books in the meantime. Rest assured I will.
Do I have any hope of making progress with my piles, or will I have to take my Kindle with me when I go? I hate to say it, but in order to make any progress, I have to be very picky about the books I read--and read through to the end. That's why the vast majority of my To Read items are samples; I don't feel guilty about rejecting them if they don't appeal to me. If I've downloaded a free book and realize partway through it doesn't appeal to me, then I'll abandon it and send it to my Limbo collection. I may even have to do this with physical books; I'm planning to drop an out-of-print science fiction series mid-way through, even though I have the next book in the series, because I'm tired of the plotholes and don't care enough about the characters.
How about you? Is your To-Read pile as big as mine--or bigger? Do you have any secrets for dealing with it? Or are you savvy enough to keep your piles of books small?
I consider myself a fast reader; even with a full-time job and a young child, I can still read two or three average-length novels a week. (Non-fiction may take longer, and of course there are door-stopper novels out there too.) I've read 160 books in 2012. Even so, at this rate, it'll take me over two years to clear my To Read items, and that's only if I don't add more books in the meantime. Rest assured I will.
Do I have any hope of making progress with my piles, or will I have to take my Kindle with me when I go? I hate to say it, but in order to make any progress, I have to be very picky about the books I read--and read through to the end. That's why the vast majority of my To Read items are samples; I don't feel guilty about rejecting them if they don't appeal to me. If I've downloaded a free book and realize partway through it doesn't appeal to me, then I'll abandon it and send it to my Limbo collection. I may even have to do this with physical books; I'm planning to drop an out-of-print science fiction series mid-way through, even though I have the next book in the series, because I'm tired of the plotholes and don't care enough about the characters.
How about you? Is your To-Read pile as big as mine--or bigger? Do you have any secrets for dealing with it? Or are you savvy enough to keep your piles of books small?
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Halloween Videos and Kindle Update
To celebrate the holiday, here are a couple of seasonal videos. My son was fascinated with Casper the Friendly Ghost for a while; this was one of his favorite episodes (I think he liked the chewing gum part):
And here's the opening to one of my favorite childhood shows:
Last Wednesday, I briefly discussed my new Kindle Paperwhite. Since then, I've had a chance to read on it. Here are my thoughts:
The Good--Adjustable brightness of the background, uniform brightness of background, crisp text, suggesting words to speed up searches in my collections, smaller size is even easier to carry.
The Not-So-Good--For some of my books, I get an error message saying they're registered to another user. I have to delete them and download them from the cloud to regain access. Learning how to navigate via touchy is tricky; sometimes when I want to highlight text, I turn the page or make something else happen. If the text I want to highlight is at the top of the screen, then I end up accessing the main menu instead.
Overall, though, I'd say the Kindle Paperwhite is more treat than trick. Now I just have to figure out what to do with my Kindle Keyboard. Should I sell it or raffle it off when I publish Twinned Universes?
Happy Halloween, everyone, and best of luck to everyone attempting NaNoWriMo tomorrow!
And here's the opening to one of my favorite childhood shows:
Last Wednesday, I briefly discussed my new Kindle Paperwhite. Since then, I've had a chance to read on it. Here are my thoughts:
The Good--Adjustable brightness of the background, uniform brightness of background, crisp text, suggesting words to speed up searches in my collections, smaller size is even easier to carry.
The Not-So-Good--For some of my books, I get an error message saying they're registered to another user. I have to delete them and download them from the cloud to regain access. Learning how to navigate via touchy is tricky; sometimes when I want to highlight text, I turn the page or make something else happen. If the text I want to highlight is at the top of the screen, then I end up accessing the main menu instead.
Overall, though, I'd say the Kindle Paperwhite is more treat than trick. Now I just have to figure out what to do with my Kindle Keyboard. Should I sell it or raffle it off when I publish Twinned Universes?
Happy Halloween, everyone, and best of luck to everyone attempting NaNoWriMo tomorrow!
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