Kindle Unlimited Running Over Self-published Authors?

Kindle Unlimited is Amazon’s subscription service where readers pay $10 per month to have unlimited reading privileges on books that are in the Kindle Select program. Amazon created the service to compete against ebook subscription services such as Scribd ($9/mo.) and Oyster ($10/mo.).

'Ello!

I  just joined onto the new Ello social network site.

My particular feed can be found here:

https://ello.co/w_d_richards

My Thoughts on John Sargent's Letter

Today, John Sargent of Macmillan Publishers issued a message to the authors, illustrators, and agents who do business with Macmillan Publishers addressing the expiration of their settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. One particular portion of the letter struck me as disingenuous:

SFWA and Self-published Writers, Revisited

The title is "Nobody" for a reason…

Well, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has spoken and the answer is (for now):“Self-published writers need not apply.”

An Overdue Update

I’ve been so focused on writing for the past few weeks, I have pretty much ignored my contact with the outside world. So, I figured time had come to take a break from writing and do some, uh… well– writing.

Nem Aster–The Character Review Blog Tour

I find myself participating in another blog tour, this focusing on characters from each author’s work. I found this to be an interesting exercise as it gave me the opportunity to look at my characters from another angle. It helps keep the story and characters fresh while I pound out the prose of the book.

The Ten Most Influential Books in My Life

A friend recently hit me with the “10-Book Challenge” on Facebook to identify ten books that had influence on my life. Definitely not a trivial task for me. It took days of pondering to figure out what titles really had enough of an impact on me to say that they influenced me in some manner or another.

I chose not to waste this response on Facebook, where it would have been lost in all the noise. Instead, I decided to place it in my own blog where it can have better access for the curious and gain broader appeal.

The books I chose are those that stick in my mind for one reason or another. Only one book in particular can be credited with altering the course of my life. It isn’t so much what the book was about so much as what it did for me. (You can read about that book below.)

Reflecting on 9/11

I was sitting in the computer lab in a quiet, infrequently used part of the building.

When Things Go Wrong

Invariably, things go wrong in life.

That’s not a pessimistic statement, merely an observation of reality. There are good things that happen and there are bad things that happen. You cannot undo anything that has happened. All you can do is deal with the consequences.

In my case, I got hit with bad things overload. Where too many bad things went wrong in quick succession.

Caveman TV

The katydids just started their song a minute ago. The crickets, perhaps 15–20 minutes before that.

Sometimes, you have to step away from the technology to reset the stories in your head. The caveman TV does that work just nicely. I always imagined sitting around the fire was the birthplace of human storytelling.

Now, I will let my mind drift as I'm serenaded by the evening chorus.

The only thing missing? A glass of Oban ready for sipping. It'll be a long while before I can afford a bottle.

S'mores, anyone?