Jamie’s Comments (group member since Mar 24, 2014)

Jamie’s comments from the Sci-Fi, fantasy and speculative Indie Authors Review group.

You can now pick up this short 2500 word short story that sets up my Arts Reborn series at Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, B&N, Scribd and more. Find the links to your site of choice here:

http://www.jamiemaltman.com/book/elys...

Nothing excites young Elysia as much as sculpture; to reveal what lies inside a piece of wood or stone. But as a baker’s daughter, chores and drudgery fill her days. Worse yet, her mother frowns on her frivolous hobby, pushing her to focus on the more mundane skills she’ll need to be a good wife someday.

But after she sees marble statues at the temple for the first time, she knows this is a passion that cannot be denied, no matter the cost.

This 2500 word short story is set in the city-state of Attarsus, a place much like ancient Athens, but with magic returning to the world. It explores the early years of Elysia, a major character in the Arts Reborn series.

The story takes place before Book I: Brush With Darkness. It can be read before or after.

Update: my short story is now free on the Amazon sites. I reported all the FREE prices elsewhere, and got some friends/readers to do the same, and then sent the list of all the Amazon pages and corresponding FREE sites by country to Amazon through the Help/Support link inside KDP, and got an e-mail back later yesterday saying they control pricing, but would take it into consideration, and today they're all free.

Here's the link by the way so you can pick it up from your site of choice. :)
http://www.jamiemaltman.com/book/elys...

Owen wrote: "Jamie wrote: "Christina wrote: "As far as how to negotiate without going through the steps above? That's easy! Be a bestseller."

I don't think that's actually the case. What happens is that their ..."

I never actually took note of free books from big5 publishers before. They're not using KDP, so it's a completely different ballgame anyway. Nor would Amazon imprint authors. But for indies with high sales, they get matched to free very quickly anyway.

Owen wrote: "Jamie wrote: "For Americans, yes. I'm Canadian, so use Draft2Digital (for B&N, Scribd and others, while going direct to KDP, Kobo and Apple)..."

Do you like Draft2Digital?"

They're really easy to work with. I set them up way back when I first published, but just used them to go wide again this past weekend.

Christina wrote: "As far as how to negotiate without going through the steps above? That's easy! Be a bestseller."

I don't think that's actually the case. What happens is that their books have higher volume, so the Amazon price-matching bots pick up the free prices elsewhere faster so it can be almost instantaneous.

Owen wrote: "Jamie wrote: "I'm in the process of getting a feeder short story permafree right now. Waiting for it to go live @ free on the other distributors (apparently Amazon prioritizes it as: Apple > B&N > ..."

For Americans, yes. I'm Canadian, so use Draft2Digital (for B&N, Scribd and others, while going direct to KDP, Kobo and Apple)

I'm in the process of getting a feeder short story permafree right now. Waiting for it to go live @ free on the other distributors (apparently Amazon prioritizes it as: Apple > B&N > Kobo > Smashwords > everything else)

It also helps if you've had some sales at 0.99 before you make it permafree.

And asking friends (like us) to help report the price as free for the various Amazon sites for your to-be-free book helps too. Sometimes that will help it happen automatically (at some point) without having to contact support. But apparently that speeds it up.

Too many fonts on the Given Names, and I think that's what breaks the connection to the other End Trails. It also looks so washed out with the monochromatic palette.

Individually I like what you've done with both Dark Matters, a lot. If you made the blood a little brighter it might be easier to read the fonts, but the effect is very cool. Those two do seem more different than the first two, so the completely different tone shouldn't be an issue.

Julia, the first paragraph works. so does some variation of the first sentence of the second, then you go into way too much plot/spoilers. Just hook it with what changes and the stakes and the reader should be good to go.

I liked what R Scott Bakker did in his Prince of Nothing (trad pub) series. He had a section at the beginning of the 2nd/3rd book for "The Story So Far". It's a really epic fantasy, so he gives you that refresher/catchup, but you really should read the previous book first.

Of course I didn't do that in my book. And I strongly dislike much rehash myself.

I absolutely recommend the short e-book Gotta Read It, on writing your book descriptions, by Indie Historical Fiction & Paranormal author Libbie Hawker (+ pen names). It's only $1 or so, and invaluable.

Forgot to add to the list that I read the book and sent my notes over to K. As I told her, I'm holding off posting the (positive) review until she does some of the revisions she has in process, because they're already in process. (And I think the book will be better as a result, but I'd rather a new reader see it when it's further polished).

Welcome Kay! Canadian fantasists are especially welcome. :)

Jeff wrote: "Hi everyone

I'm Jeff. I'm writing the first book of a fantasy trilogy, aiming to have it out in the summer; may occasionally dabble in other genres.

Fantasy is what I love to read; discovering..."

Welcome Jeff! What kind/style of fantasy?

I'm not speaking on behalf of everyone in the mod team, but if you're asking about the 5 reviews until it's considered a completed round so you can submit your next book, then I'd say yes.

If you're talking about 5 reviews to be considered fully approved for our master list of BetterReads fully approved books... then I'm not sure.

Also, technically according to Goodreads recommendations (somewhere) a 2 star review = OK. (vs Amazon where that's more of a 3.) But there are all sorts of different interpretations people have of star ratings in all settings.

Welcome Caitria and Kim!

Now back to writing. :)

I price my CS books to give a $2 extended distribution royalty. ($16.99 book 1, 19.99 book 2-35% longer) Sets a nice high price anchor for in person sales at a discount and ebook by comparison.

Owen wrote: "Jamie wrote: "Actually the Createspace one is (yet another) Canada issue. We have to wait for $100/(or pounds or Euros, all tracked separately) to accrue to get paid by cheque (with no cost for the..."

Createspace only offers direct deposit for a list of about 5 or 6 countries. Amazon does it. Hopefully someday they have the same payment policies. Otherwise it's a long time before I'll be paid for selling one copy of Amazon.co.uk

Actually the Createspace one is (yet another) Canada issue. We have to wait for $100/(or pounds or Euros, all tracked separately) to accrue to get paid by cheque (with no cost for the cheque to us).

:(

Draft2Digital:
we'll hold your royalties until they add up to a minimum threshold ($25 for checks, $10 for digital payments)

Kobo:
Authors are paid 45 days after the end of each monthly period provided you have met a minimum threshold of $100.
- if your content has not generated the minimum threshold listed above, we will provide you with payment every 6 months

Apparently iBooks (direct) threshold is only $5 per currency, with some exceptions, and Nook direct is $10/pounds/euros per currency.

Micah wrote: "Ken wrote: "Speaking of markets, I'm rethinking my idea of submitting to Kobo directly. They pay only when you reach $100, or every six months, whichever comes first. At my level of sales on Kobo..."

Most of the retailers have these kind of thresholds--Amazon just has the smallest. Some do it by currency too (Createspace included), and others pay at different #s depending on whether you want a cheque, PayPal, direct deposit, etc. When you consider the cost of intercountry money transfers/accounting processes/etc, I'd have minimums too if I were them.