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Ray’s signed up for Girls on the Run, a 5K race on May 21.  She ran a mock 5K yesterday. I went inside the school to find everyone; they were all bunched up around Ray’s classroom.  Her teacher is one of the leaders of the two groups of girls, 39 total (there were supposed to […]

Once in a generation, someone comes along who can made fun of you, totally skewer you, and make you enjoy it. If you’re a writer, Nick Mamatas is that guy.  In Starve Better, the former Clarkesworld editor’s new book out from Apex Book Company, he slams writers, both professional and otherwise, up one side and

Okay, let’s say you make cake for sale. No problem!  You start your own shop and sell cake or you sell cake to other shops or both.  Depends on which direction you want to go. Okay, let’s say you make stories for sale. Well, crap.  You used to have to sell your stories through an

I heard a negative comment about OverDrive yesterday that I won’t pass on because I can’t verify it, but it didn’t sound good.  Still waiting on more info from OverDrive. Lightning Source, to me, is most familiar as a Print on Demand (POD) printer.  I didn’t know until recently that they distribute ebooks, too. Lightning

Time to start working on how indy writers get into markets. Overdrive: This is the system that my library district (Pikes Peak Library District) uses to get books. They also feed into Ebook.com. It looks like Overdrive has two options: Content Reserve (which goes to libraries and other markets) and MIDAS, which allows you to

An awesome blog written by (among other things) a lawyer, “The Passive Voice.” Here’s his latest, on “Don’t Sign Dumb Contracts”: With both publishers and agents, PG recommends a “minimum wage for authors” – a dollar (or Euro, etc.) amount that the author receives every six months or year for a book. If the author

Go to WonderlandPress.com for a coupon for “Abominable” (horror, adult) from today – Sunday. I was going to just do one of these things a week, but 1) stuff changes too fast and 2) the more I dig, the more there is to know. Okay, via Dean, a list of major ebook markets: Amazon.com Barnes

Smashwords has just teamed up with ScrollMotion, a mobile application provider, to turn all Premium Catalog ebooks into apps (i.e., software designed to run on smart phones, PDAs, tablets, etc.). Smashwords books are coming to an app store near you. Today we announced an agreement with ScrollMotion that will transform over 33,000 Smashwords Premium Catalog ebooks into

I was making red curry last night.  I always make it too spicy.  But this time, I thought, this will be the time when I don’t make it too spicy.  I don’t get so excited about squishing the red Thai curry paste out of the bag that I have to go, “Oh, well, I’ll eat

I got a response back from ebooks.com: There are a number of distributors, or ‘aggregators’ who will work on your behalf to help market your books and reach a wider customer audience. Please note, however, that a number of these organizations actually charge authors for their services.  I have listed a couple of companies below,