The Curse of the Kindle

There are so many things that are awesome about the Kindle, and, to be honest, this "curse" I'm thinking of isn't actually a bad thing...

Here it is: It is so easy to buy ebooks that you will keep accumulating more and more, faster than the rate at which you can read, and you'll never get through your "to be read" list!

Yeah, okay, things could be worse. But it just bugs me that there are all these awesome stories waiting there for me and I haven't yet got to reading them!


Currently, this is the list of ebooks chilling on my Kindle that I've either started and not yet finished, or haven't even started yet:

Blood Faerie ~ India Drummond
Crime Stories ~ J.A. Konrath
Descended by Blood ~ Angeline Kace
Destined ~ Jessie Harrell
Hollowland ~ Amanda Hocking
Little Wild Flower ~ Samantha Jillian Bayarr
Megan's Way ~ Melissa Foster
Origin ~ J.A. Konrath
Ravenmarked ~ Amy Rose Davis
Saving Elizabeth ~ Amy Machelle
Shapeshifters Anonymous ~ J.A. Konrath
The Arrival ~ Nicola MacDonald
The Hating Game ~ Talli Roland

Okay, so the list doesn't look that long now that I write it out, but I do NOT read that fast, and I only get to read at the end of the day just before I fall asleep, and I WANT TO READ THEM ALL NOW!

Do you have this problem? Is your "to be read" list of ebooks on your Kindle/ereader like ten times longer than this and you're laughing at me right now?

~ ~ ~

P.S. Come back on Monday to see the cover reveal for GUARDIAN, the first book in the Creepy Hollow series!

And here's the book trailer if you haven't seen that yet.

Amazon eBook Prices: What Do You See?

Image source

*Skip to the end of the post to see the answer that has since been found.*

It has come to my attention that the prices of self-published ebooks on Amazon are not the same outside the US as they are inside the US.

I used to look at authors' ebooks on Smashwords and Amazon and I'd think to myself, why are they pricing their books higher on Amazon than they are on Smashwords? Is it because more work goes into formatting for Amazon? Surely anyone with half a brain cell will choose to buy from the cheaper site then?

BUT after a conversation with a friend recently, and having looked at a few more author websites and then at their books on Amazon, I suddenly twigged: the authors are NOT pricing their books differently on different platforms, it's Amazon that keeps showing me a price that's $2 higher than the price the author set.

What??

I contacted Amazon to ask them why this happens and they couldn't answer my question. They told me that they're unable to offer a price match with a different online retailer. Okay, I get that, but that isn't what I asked! I asked ONLY about Amazon: if I click on the exact same link that my friend in the US does, why do I (in South Africa) see a price that is $2 higher than the price she sees?

No response.

So, if you're not currently in the US (or even if you are, just so we can make sure about this), I'd like to ask you a question. When you click on the following Amazon links, what price do you see?

Book	The author says	I see
Remy Broussard’s Christmas	$3.99	$5.99
Open Minds	$2.99	$4.99
In The Mirror	$3.99	$5.99
Campaigner Challenges 2011	$2.99	$4.99

And another important question for authors: if you've priced your book at $0.99, but I pay $2.99, do you still only get 35% royalites (and not 70%, as you should on a $2.99 book)? Does Amazon take the rest even though someone has paid more for your book?

~ ~ ~

UPDATE (22 Nov 2011)
The answer can be found on the KDP Sales and Royalites FAQ page:

1-6. Why is the price of my book higher in other countries than in my own?
There are a number of reasons why prices for Kindle titles may vary from region to region, including taxes, delivery costs, and other operating costs. We understand your concern about prices and we share that concern - we will continue our efforts to reduce costs and offer the best possible prices to customers in every region.


I guess I should have searched harder for the answer before posting about this, but I'm still glad I posted, as it seems that many people are unaware of the price difference.

Formatting your eBook for Kindle

I've recently been helping a friend out with formatting her manuscript for conversion to Kindle ebook form. I was very excited to do this, as I've been curious for a while as to how the process works, and from everything I'd read it honestly didn't look too difficult.

I have to admit, though, that it was a little more of a mission than I anticipated. NOT because it is difficult in any way, but because I am finicky about tiny details, and every time I'd done the conversion process and put the file onto my Kindle to check, I'd think something like... actually, that heading right there would look better in caps, or that word between the title name and author name might look more attractive in italics.

So I lost count of the number of times I did the whole save as html / import into Mobipocket Creator / add cover / click Build / plug in Kindle / copy file onto Kindle / open and check ebook process. It was all good though, because I could do it in my sleep now :-) (though why I'd ever need to do that, I can't imagine...)

Formatting a document for Kindle is not that difficult.

The instructions provided on KDP's Simplified Formatting Guide page are pretty easy to follow:
(specific for MS Word 2007)

• DON'T manually indent the first line of each paragraph, but rather use the Home > Paragraph > Indentation > First Line function, so that it's automatic.
• DON'T manually insert page breaks but using multiple returns (the Enter key), but rather use the Insert > Page Break function at the end of each chapter, before you begin a new chapter.
• DON'T copy and paste images into your document, but rather use the Insert > Picture function.
• Save your Word document as a .htm file.
• Open Mobipocket Creator (the software is available for download. Follow the link on the Simplified Formatting Guide page) and follow the last few instructions on the Simplified Formatting Guide page.

There was only one thing I found frustrating: Whenever I had blank lines between lines of writing, for example:

CHAPTER ONE

My First Chapter's Name

My first chapter begins with these lovely words: We all went out for a blah, blah, blah. It was delicious. But just as we were leaving, a great, big blah, blah, blah appeared and we were all, like, terrified!

Those blank lines DID show up when I put the file onto my Kindle device to check it, but they DIDN'T show up on the Kindle Previewer software or the Kindle for PC software. Freakin' annoying! But I eventually figured out the following solution:

• Put the cursor in front of My in My First Chapter's Name and go to Page Layout > Breaks > Section Breaks > Continuous. Do the same in front of the My in My first chapter begins with... And, of course, anywhere else you'd like there to be a blank line.

So. Anyone else done any formatting for ebooks lately? Have you formatted for different platforms? Are some of them more complicated than others? (For example, are Smashwords guidelines more complicated than KDP guidelines?)

My New Kindle (and Other Distractions)

So... I haven't been posting much lately, and I can't even blame it on school work this time!

This time my non-writing, non-blogging activity has been due to the fact that my sister is home and we were organising her High Tea 21st Party...

... and the fact that I have a brand new Kindle to play on (I love it!) ... and I also accidently found a picture of marbled nails last night, googled a tutorial and then decided to try it out myself. I'm sure my students will think it's an excellent use of my time!

Amazon's New Kindle Devices

I've been absent from the blogosphere for the past few days - it's EXAM WEEK at school! Yippee! (Note sarcasm.) I may have missed a few things (like the 162 entries that have so far been written for the 2nd Campaigner Challenge) but I did NOT miss the fact that Amazon released several new devices yesterday!

Kindle

Kindle Touch

Kindle Fire

I was pretty excited about the Kindle Fire. I mean, I've always liked the iPad, but it's a little pricey. The Kindle Fire is more affordable. Yay!

BUT

Does Amazon ship the Kindle Fire to South Africa? No. Does it ship to anywhere other than the US? No. I take back the "yay". And it appears that the Kindle Touch doesn't ship outside of the US either. Anyway, at the end of the day all I actually want to do is read books, so a basic Kindle would be fine for me.

So I bought one! Yay!

(To all of you who already own a Kindle, now would be a good time to tell me how fabulous you think it is so that I know I've made a good decision!)