nook

atthequillsmercy

Oh dear… My Nook has a problem, too.

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Geez, I have a serious book problem…

So ‘Operation Free Booga’ is also extended to freeing my nook; the poor dear. I did email B&N support to ask them if I could add my books to my SD card to free up some space but I’ve yet to hear back from them.

Even so, I shouldn’t be buying any more books. Has that stopped me? Of course not. These free deals don’t last forever and heck, even the books I purchase that aren’t free sometimes disappear if I add them to my wish list to get later.

I have been reading fast and I have a bunch of reviews to post so stay tuned!

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atthequillsmercy

Reading Test – One Librarian’s Tech Comparison

With the holiday season barreling down upon us (QUICK EVERYONE! BUY STUFF!) and my library launching a tablet lending program, I have had the unique opportunity to read at length on several devices over just the last week.

My overall impression is that reading on a tablet is a pain in the wrist. The kind my library is circulating is the Nexus 7; which is comparable in weight to my Kindle Fire. The book I was reading on the Nexus was Dr. Sleep. That is a LOT of pages to hold that heavy tablet… If I had a choice, I would have much rather have had it on my regular Kindle or better yet my Nook, which is lighter than the lot of them.

Not only that, my eyes did NOT enjoy the backlit screen. I don’t read novels on the Kindle Fire. I use that for non-fiction books that require pictures (like cookbooks) and my daughter’s books (because kid’s books are no fun on an e-ink screen with no color). And some of those kids books are interactive. In other words, books I won’t spend an hour or more staring at. Not to mention that it’s no fun having Facebook notifications and emails popping up while you read (I could disconnect them but… Who disconnects at all these days?).

I used to have a problem with dedicated devices (i.e.: Tech that does only ONE thing like an eReader) but now I see the point much clearer than I did before. I mean, it’s cool and all to be able to Facebook, Tweet, email, play Candy Crush, AND read on the same device. Books with links embedded in them are much better on a tablet than a regular eReader but for me the point of reading is to be lost in the book. And it’s hard to do that if my wrist aches, my eyes burn, and people keep sending me effing Candy Crush requests.

To sum up, I prefer my Nook Simple Touch out of these 4 devices. I look for Nook versions of books whenever I can (and let me tell you, people: COMPARISON SHOP. There are tons of books on Amazon AND Barnes and Noble and sometimes one will be cheaper than the other). But it is very awesome that you can check out tablets from your local library. Ours come preloaded with some best sellers and I’m sure most libraries are doing the same with their tablets and eReaders. In my opinion, I would borrow the Nook. It’s kinder to your hands and your eyes.

atthequillsmercy

My Mini Rant on KDP and Free EBooks

I recently made a post on facebook about how I have over 3000 books between my Kindle and my Nook and how I’ve paid for about 4 of them. Less if you count my Swagbucks giftcards that I’ve used on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Between Librivox, One Hundred Free Books, Hundred Zeros, EBook Spice,  and Book Bub, I can get 20 or so books in one day and not lay out a dime for any of them. I have discovered so many cool authors and series I’ve gotten into because of these promotions and I would LOVE to do the same for my books.

However (isn’t there always a ‘however?’) the only easy way to get your book free on Amazon is the KDP select program, which offers the book free to Prime members ONLY and ONLY if you stop selling the book anywhere but Amazon. A decent enough promotion I suppose but what about people who can’t afford to or won’t sign up for Amazon Prime? The books I’m getting from the above sites are regular, plain ole free to download and KEEP. When I looked into making that happen for my books, the only way to go about that seems to be:

  • Publish on Smashwords (or another site) for free
  • Notify Amazon and B&N of a lower price so they’re forced to price match
  • Wait till they do so
  • Wait till they change it back when you’re done with the promotion which could take forever

Not to sound lazy but that is way to freaking convoluted to me. I think both Amazon and B&N should make it so you can price your book at any level so you can do a promotion like “in celebration of book 2, here’s book 1 free for a week” or something like that. It gives authors a chance at major exposure because it’s on multiple platforms for free; and people LOVE free.

I know people have fabulous success with KDP Select but there has to be an easier way than to cut off other sales channels or try and game the system. I can understand the sites wanting to make their money but I don’t see Amazon exactly hurting for profits and ya know what? I’d like to make some money, too. As giant book selling sites, they could easily say “There’s a 2 week limit if you set your price at $0.00.” I couldn’t blame them. But at least give us a shot. I would like to do a decent promotion without risking having my account suspended at either site for ‘cheating.’

So, give it a shot, Amazon and B&N! It certainly wouldn’t cost you money since people are setting their prices at free anyway.

atthequillsmercy

Happy Friday!

Since I was editing instead of working on Winter Boot, I come with a peace offering:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2

Here are the first two illustrated chapters of my novel; First Brood: Dreamhunter. These are only $.99 each and if you can’t wait for more, the link to the full novel on Amazon is right there (also available from Createspace and Nook). Illustrations are by the fabulous Melody Herbert over at Ragdoll Comics. 🙂

I am also proud to announce that Gods in the Grey City has a fancy new cover! 😀

Cool, huh? Also by Melody, as she’s pretty much my go to art person. ^_^

Hopefully, Winter Boot will be back next week. I seem to have a short story groove going on but in the meantime, enjoy! 😀

atthequillsmercy

Free Kindle? Damn right.

You may have noticed in my Twitter feed popping up with notices of me winning a certain amount of swagbucks via searching. Most probably dismissed it as spam or some sort of phishing scam due to someone hacking my Twitter account. But this is not the case.

Check it:

Yes, that my friends is a Kindle paid for via an Amazon gift card I earned with Swagbucks. That means free. For 6 months, I painstakingly earned and saved swagbucks all on my own because every single person I tried to refer didn’t believe I would actually get anything. But I was patient, took surveys, watched the videos and after all this time I have a free Kindle. Why go through all that trouble? I have major beef with the fact you can’t read other formats on a Kindle AND that they would DARE place ads on a device you’re shelling out 100 bucks for. Unfortunately, there are authors I want to read in e-book format and they are Kindle exclusive. Otherwise, I would have just bought them for my Nook.

Want in on this? Here is my referral link. Don’t wanna be referred by me? Here’s the direct link to the site. Even as I speak, I’m earning my way to another gift card for more free swag. Because there is nothing better than coming home to a pile of books that are not only free but you get to keep them. 🙂