Then you might be interested in the offerings of Yvonne Herzberger. For the next two days (including today), the two ebooks in her Earth’s Pendulum series—Back From Chaos and Through Kestrel’s Eyes—are free on Amazon.com.

Author Biography (snipped from Amazon, along with book covers)

Yvonne Hertzberger is a native of the Netherlands who immigrated to Canada in 1950. She is married with two grown children, (one married) and resides quietly in Stratford, Ontario with her spouse, Mark in a 130-year-old, tiny, brick cottage, where she plans to live out her retirement. She calls herself a jill-of-all-trades and a late bloomer. Her many past paid jobs included banking, day care, residential care for challenged children, hairdressing (her favourite) retail, and customer service. She enjoys gardening, singing, the theatre, decorating and socializing with friends and family.

Hertzberger is an alumna of The University of Waterloo, first with a B.A. in psychology, then and Hon. B.A. Sociology and stopped ½ a thesis short of an M.A. in Sociology. She has always been an avid student of human behaviour. This is what gives her the insights she uses to develop the characters in her writing.

Hertzberger came to writing late in life, hence the label ‘late bloomer’. Her first Fantasy novel “Back From Chaos: Book One of Earth’s Pendulum” was published in 2009. The second volume in the planned trilogy “Through Kestrel’s Eyes” is available currently and the third book in the trilogy “The Dreamt Child” is pending.

Check out Yvonne’s author page at Amazon.com to purchase these books.

If you take advantage of these deals, please, repay Yvonne by writing a review and posting it to Amazon and Goodreads. Every review helps a writer promote their book.

If you don’t have time to read them right away, but would like to read them, buy them now. Every sale helps a writer, too.

If the above link doesn’t work, try this one: http://www.amazon.com/Yvonne-Hertzberger/e/B006X3DEOC

NOTE: A chance to win a free ebook copy of Shadows in the Stone ends tomorrow. Read more about it and enter the giveway here. Also, I’m looking for one more person to review the fantasy novel. You can learn about this on the same page.

1) Answer questions posed by the tagger:

Do you use a bookmark or will any old bit of paper do?

Yes…both.

What new books are you most excited to read this year?

Nothing exciting, but I will read a few and then I’ll see if they are exciting or not.

Favourite season?

All. Mostly those which occur in the Maritimes of Canada.

If money were not an issue, what present would you give yourself?

A six-month stay in Scotland.

Do you buy second-hand books, new books or both?

Yes…both.

Early bird or night owl?

Early bird.

Do you like to read a specific genre? If so, what genre is it?

No. I read what I hope to be good stories regardless of genre.

Who is your favourite literary character of all time?

Spiderman because he taught me that “with great power comes great responsibility”. And because he’s funny. [I’m referring to the original series, the 12-minute cartoon that first graced the television screen, not today’s cartoons.]

Physical books, E-books or audio books?

Physical books.

If your life was made into a movie, who would you like to play you?

Karen Allen, the woman who played Marion in the Indiana Jones movies.

Cat person or dog person?

Sheep person.

2) The next rule in the Tag Game is to post the rules:

1. You must post the rules!

2. Answer the questions and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.

3. Tag seven people and link to them.

4. Let them know you’ve tagged them.

My eleven questions to those tagged (some are repeated from above because they were great questions):

a) What was the last book you read?

b) Physical books, ebooks or audio books?

c) If your life was made into a movie, who would you like to play you?

d) Who is your favourite fictional character—book, comic or movie—of all time?

e) If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

f) Blueberries, Raspberries or Strawberries?

g) Have you written a story which included an animal? What was the animal?

h) Typewriter, computer or looseleaf for drafts?

i) What is the name of your favourite character in one of your stories?

h) Do you like to write in a particular genre? If so, which one?

j) Pool, lake or ocean for swimming?

Tagging seven people:

Let Them Grumble

Lynn A. Davidson
Bonnie Mae Chapman

Christi Corbett

Fabulous Realm

Thea Atkinson ~ GonzoInk: fiction to the left of Mainstream

Zen and the art of tightrope walking

NOTE: A chance to win a free ebook copy of Shadows in the Stone ends in three days. Read more about it and enter the giveway here. Also, I’m looking for one more person to review the fantasy novel. You can learn about this on the same page.

The first step after receiving this award is to thank the person who presented it and link to their blog.

Thank you, Christi. Check out Christi’s blog to read her thoughts on writing and things that catches her interest. Don’t forget to watch the wonderful book trailer found under Site Pages.

The second step after receiving the Versatile Blogger Award is to tell seven things about yourself.

1) My favourite breakfast is Speerville Steel Cut Scottish Oatmeal with blueberries and raspberries. I eat it at least six mornings a week. Not only is it good for me, it’s organic, contains no preservatives and is produced right here in Atlantic Canada—Speerville, New Brunswick to be exact—so it doesn’t travel thousands of miles to get to my table. Speerville Flour Mill produces a wide array of products.

2) Although I’m not a big Facebook user—and the account I have is reserved for family and friend I’ve known forever—comments from a few writer friends suggested I should have a page for fans to visit and join. Not that I believe I have a huge number of fans, but the few who come looking might want to LIKE me. So I took some time last week and created a page to connect with readers. You can find it here. I also started a blog for my pen name, Diane Lynn McGyver. This one will be kept simple with only one post a week. Posts will not discuss how to write or the writing business, but will include nonfiction (such as explaining what a mortar and pestle is), fiction (short clips of stories), recipes (I love baking), essays (I do write one on occasion), news (launches, awards, signings, etc.) and fantastic creatures (some of my own making and others from centuries ago).

3) I’ve discovered from sleeping in the trailer in the backyard over the Victoria Day weekend that our barnyard is quite noisy at night. The horse neighs gently, the rooster has no idea people don’t want to get up at two in the morning, the train whistle blows long before it reaches the road-crossing, our Indian Runner duck, Jiggles, talks into the wee hours and I’m not sure, but I think our Toggenburg buck plays soccer in his stall at midnight.

4) Story ideas come to me at the strangest times. The most recent short story idea came to me while driving home from Middle Musquodoboit with nine bales of hay squished into the back of my Ford Focus wagon, my daughter sitting in the passenger seat and the radio playing country tunes. The Man Who Reads Obituaries is almost complete.

5) I don’t watch television. Occasionally I’ll stop and watch a good-news story on the evening news or get hooked into watching the rest of Corner Gas or Red Green Show if the television is already on. Otherwise, I watch movies on DVD so I see the full version—nothing cut out—and avoid commercials which I’ve come to realise after more than four decades are mostly lies and propaganda.

6) I only own seven pairs of footwear: going to town sneakers, barnyard sneakers, rubber boots, winter boots, riding boots, flippers and sandals.

7) I enjoy things made of wood. At the recent East Hants Fine Art Show, I met up with Marty Manuel, a man I had met before because of his unusual art form: shaped wood. Below is a picture of a mushroom he created. More on Marty in a future blog.

The third and final step to receiving this award is to nominate and link to five blogs I enjoy.

1) Art Burton (aka Latties Brook Writer), author of Hobos I Have Known

2) Mindy Lee George, author of Catching Rainbows—Poems from the Heart

3) Gene Lempp at Designing from Bones with his fabulous Blog Treasures

4) Yolanda Presant at A Land of Promise ~ The Lives of My British and French Ancestors

5) Libby at Let Them Grumble

NOTE: An opportunity to win a free ebook copy of Shadows in the Stone ends in ten days. Read more about it and enter the giveway here. Also, I’m looking for two more people to review the fantasy novel.

That means Shadows in the Stone, the first book in The Castle Keepers series, has passed inspection and is now available for purchase through Smashwords’ website.

Smashwords offers several ebook formats of the fantasy novel, so you’re bound to find the format most comfortable for you. They include formats for Nook, Apple iPad/iBooks, Sony Reader, Kobo, home computers and a few others.

If your favourite reading device is Kindle, visit Amazon.com to purchase Shadows in the Stone.

Within two weeks, the book will appear in catalogues specific to these devices (Apple, Barnes & Noble, etc).

And now for the giveaways.

If you’d like to win an ebook copy of Shadows in the Stone without any obligations, make a comment below or hit the LIKE button. Unfortunately, I can only provide a free copy through Smashwords. If you don’t download from this website for whatever reason, I can offer the book in PDF and email it directly to your inbox.

I’ll drop all names into a hat and draw the winner on May 31st.

If you’d like to receive a free Shadows in the Stone ebook to review, send me an email (tibert@ns.sympatico.ca). The first five people who offer to review the fantasy novel will receive a free copy through Smashwords (or PDF).

Readers can post reviews either to their website or blog, to Goodreads, or I can post it here. I’ll provide a link from my blog to wherever the review is posted.

NOTE: As of Friday May 18, 2012, 10:00 pm, I have only two remaining spots left open for reviewers. Thank you to those who offered to read and review Shadows in the Stone.

Keywords for search engines include: fantasy, adventure, romance, sword, sorcery, magic

The back cover blurb of Shadows in the Stone: Things aren’t always what they seem to be in a small town in the Land of Ath-o’Lea. Magic creeps in the shadows, waiting to pounce…

Corporal Bronwyn Darrow vows he’ll never fall victim to love again after the woman he adored betrays him. He directs his energies to rising in the ranks of Aruam Castle, aspiring to one day command as captain of the guards. Although he treasures his home and family, he is blinded both by his desire to succeed and a mysterious magic lurking in the shadows of the ancient castle.

Alaura of Niamh, a half-breed enchantress with a deadly past, takes refuge in Bronwyn’s hometown. When the two meet, the spell which binds them is stronger than their fears of falling in love. As Alaura’s secrets threaten to separate them forever, outside forces attempt to shatter the security of Aruam Castle and eliminate Bronwyn. When an orphan weaves their lives together, they embark on a journey destined to either destroy or deliver them to the passion burning in their hearts.

After much thought, frustration and drafts, I came up with something like this: Diane Lynn Tibert is a freelance writer living in central Nova Scotia.

I know…pretty boring. I honestly didn’t know how to write a byline or create a biography. From the examples I seen in current newspapers (this was 1998), most of them were this simple. Being new to publishing, I was a little weary of being too different from the rest.

After having a few articles published, I added another line: Her work has appeared in Saltscapes, Canadian Gardening and East Coast Gardener.

Still…pretty boring.

I didn’t loosen my stance on bylines until I entered a children’s book in the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia writing competition. For some reason, the personal restrictions for writing bylines were lifted, and I felt free to be more of myself…after all, I was using a pen name (which was necessary for judging purposes). No one would tie the silly stuff I wrote back to me.

I continued with this philosophy for my first book. I wanted something playful because it was a kid’s novel. Listing where I had been published didn’t pertain to the subject, so I left it out. Here’s what I wrote instead:

Candy McMudd has been telling stories since she tamed a wild dog named Sam and raced through the forest searching for hauflins. Not content to sit and listen, she spent her childhood exploring the Secret Pond and climbing forbidden trees.

Candy was born into a large family and spent the first 29 years of her life in Cole Harbour, Halifax County, Nova Scotia. She currently lives in Milford Station. Although she loves walking along the beach collecting rocks and shells, searching for ship wrecks and sneaking up on fairies, her passion is writing.

Around this time I read that biographies should reflect and be in the same tone as the novel. The Candy McMudd bio fit well with Mystery Light in Cranberry Cove.

When I wrote the biography for Shadows in the Stone, a fantasy novel, I stuck with this theme and added a plug for the future books in this series.

Here is the first paragraph:

Diane Lynn McGyver was born in Cole Harbour, NS, and spent her summers running barefoot along the shores of Liscomb Harbour and rowing her small boat across its still waters. She remembers her first trout caught in the river by the same name and the feel of the soft black mud as it curled around her toes. Back at home, she found solace in the trees and travelling the footpaths to the Secret Pond, The Falls and The Rocks. At every corner, beneath every branch and on every ripple, the spirits watched her and sometimes shared their stories.

Recently, a member of our East Hants Writing Group spoke about the trouble she was having writing her first biography. Jayne Peters recently signed on with Bryler Publications to publish a children’s book, Messy Jessy.

Here’s Jayne’s first biography. It’s has a professional tone and lists her credentials:

Jayne Peters is an elementary school educator who has been teaching in Nova Scotia for the past twenty years and in 2012 was presented with two Teaching in Excellence awards.

The joys of reading and writing are a daily part of Jayne’s life both in her classroom and at home. When she isn’t teaching, reading or writing she enjoys practicing yoga and spending quality time with her family.

While watching her youngest daughter, Jessica, go about her daily activities Jayne was inspired to capture Jessy’s zest for life in her first children’s picture book, Messy Jessy. 

Through Messy Jessy it is Jayne’s hope that readers are able to witness the virtue of joyfulness, as well as the importance of being in the moment and living life to the fullest. Jayne hopes that Messy Jessy will be a book enjoyed by both parents and children and that it will help foster a love of reading. This book allowed Jayne to combine her joy of writing with her affection for children. She encourages everyone to explore “What if…?” 

Jayne is a member of the Nova Scotia Writer’s Federation and resides in Lantz, Nova Scotia, with her husband and their three children: Emma, Nathan and Jessica.

Here’s is Jayne’s second biography, whimsical and playful:

Jayne Peters understands that getting “messy” is part of having fun. As a child she loved sneaking up on tadpoles, walking in the rain, and covering herself in mud when the tide went out. She currently lives in a house full of red heads, loves molasses on “Grampy’s” homemade bread, enjoys puffy blankets but wants the covers to stay neatly tucked in at night. Her cold feet love to snuggle into colorful fuzzy socks but Jayne gets tired of trying to find the pairs (of socks) and is forever wondering where those naughty fairies put them. While watching her youngest daughter, Jessica, go about her daily activities Jayne was inspired to capture Jessy’s zest for life in her first children’s picture book, Messy Jessy.

What do you think?

As an adult buying a book of fiction for a child, which of the two author biographies—the professional or whimsical—would entice you to buy? These biographies are the ones which appear within the book or on the back cover, not a publisher’s website.

Would you feel differently if it was nonfiction, say a book about animals or the planets?

Do you judge a book by the author blurb on the cover? Or do you not even read the biography before buying a book?

The front matter of a book is the material on the pages between the front cover and the first word of the novel. It contains the title page, the table of contents (if there is one), the copyright and publishing information and the dedication.

The title page contains (The minimum a title page should contain is the title of the book and name of author):

…Book Title

…Book Subtitle (if there is one)

…Name of Author

…Publisher

…Place/Year published

The legal matter can be contained on either one or two pages, but should include material such as:

…Name and Address of Publishing Company, including website address

…ISBN

…Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication (CIP)

…Copyright (such as: Text and illustrations copyright ©2012 by Diane Lynn Tibert)

…All rights reserved (name of publisher).

…Publishing Date

…Where printed (such as in Canada)

…Something to protect your rights, such as: No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. Any requests for photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this boo shall be directed to Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, One Young Street, Suite 800, Toronto, Ontario  M5E 1E5. This applies to classroom use as well.

…Cover Design: (state the name of the person or company who created the cover)

…Edited by (state name, address/web address, company: whatever you and your editor agree upon.)

…Notes:

Please note

All places and characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to real people and places is coincidental.

This book was written using Canadian spell

The Dedication can be as simple as a single name (John) or as complicated as several names with explanations behind each.

What I’m working on:

Although many hands helped bring this book to publication, my journey to Ath-o’Lea would not have begun without the wisdom, dedication and humour of one man: Peter Mortimer.

Those few precious years between being a kid and becoming an adult are volatile. During this time, I was fortunate enough to discover the world of fantasy through the portal in which the greatest dungeon master I knew led me.

He’s the one who introduced me to Dungeons & Dragons, to Argon (who eventually became Bronwyn) and encouraged me to explore the land of fairies. He’s the best dungeon master I’ve ever known, and he’s impacted my life in ways I can’t even explain.

I met him first as a dungeon master that warm summer day running through the Boys & Girls Club lounge and later learnt he was our new club director. He stayed for about five years and created the club I’m glad I didn’t have to live without. They were the most important (and volatile) years of my life (13 to 18).

Back Matter

The back matter of a book is the material on the pages between the last word of the novel and the back cover. This includes other books by the author, About the Author, glossary, index and resources (if need).

The About the Author section I’m working on:

Diane Lynn McGyver was born in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, and spent her summers running barefoot along the shores of Liscomb Harbour and rowing her small boat across its still waters. She remembers her first trout caught in the river by the same name and the feel of the soft black mud as it curled around her toes. Back at home, she found solace in the trees and travelling the footpaths to the Secret Pond, The Falls and The Rocks. At every corner, beneath every branch and on every ripple, the spirits watched her and sometimes shared their stories.

Over the past dozen years, Diane has appeared in several magazines, including Saltscapes Magazine, Canadian Gardening and Horse & Pony. She currently writes a genealogy column, Roots to the Past, using her birth surname, Tibert. The column appears in seven newspapers in Atlantic Canada.

Shadows in the Stone is her first fantasy novel. Long before she placed the last period, Diane knew three books would follow. Scattered Stones, Healing Stones and Gathered Stones will round out The Castle Keepers series.

For more information on the making of this book and the editing used, visit Diane’s website: http://dianetibert.com

Front and back matter may seem trivial—stuff that has nothing to do with the story—but it’s important for many reasons. If you have to create these parts by yourself, go to already published books for inspiration and structure. You’ll find many examples. Choose one or a little from several and add it to both your print and ebooks.

Certain information is not necessary for ebooks, such as printed in, because ebooks are not printed.

Also, you’ll note that I used my pen name in many places (about the author, book by…), but when it comes to copyright, put your real name; it’s the best way to ensure you retain copyright in the event someone with your pen name tries to wrestle rights away from you.

This year was different. I not only entered, I submitted three pieces to be judged. Now, don’t get excited. I knew I wouldn’t place, wouldn’t even get an honourable mention. There are simply too many great artists who participate in the yearly event.

So last night I came home from the awards show with no ribbons, but did return with the satisfaction of knowing I had entered an art show…and three children who are now all award-winning artists.

The next thought the kids and I have are: where and when is the next art show in Nova Scotia (within an hour of home)? Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found a website that lists all the shows around the province…mmm, perhaps I’ll make one on this site as I discover them. At least then I’d know where we could enter and others artists would have an easier time finding them.

Below are snaps I took last night of art with ribbons attached. Red is first, blue is second, white is third and green is honourable mention.

The larger green ribbons with the white circle top is for high point. This is awarded to an artist who has received the greatest number of points by placing first, second or third.

For example, a first place might get you 3 points, second might get you 2 while third might get you 1. If an artist got 2 first, 1 second and 2 third place ribbons, they’d earn 10 points. Artists are permitted to enter six pieces, so the more entered, the better chance a person has to win high point. My daughter received one—it’s tagged on her kitten painting.

These are some of the entries by my kids. Below them are examples of other art work from the show.

Here are my entries:

Here is my favourite piece of artwork in the show…

Below is the growing competition, the age group 10 to 12…

I was surprised to find this picture in the show. I had seen it hanging at the barn for the past few months. This is Maggie, the barn dog which passed away last year.

Many of the younger artists also showed off their skills. This is by a boy under the age of nine.

Lovely examples of adult art work…

The East Hants Fine Art Show is open to the public between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday May 5th and 6th. It takes place at the Milford Recreation Centre, Milford Station, Hants County, NS. This facility is located on the Number 2 Highway which runs from Elmsdale to Shubenacadie. Exit 9 off the 102 Highway is the easiest route. Yes, there are signs. The large blue building (not completely seen from the road) is behind the Fire Hall. Admission $2.

If you love to paint or draw, inquire about joining the East Hants Fine Art Association, and perhaps, you’ll have an entry for next May’s show.

Now with several years of ebooks behind us, a general pricing by publishers is taking shape. It’s aided by the facts more readers have devices to read ebooks and ebooks are becoming more popular. Have you looked at the price of the ebook version of the recent paperback you just bought? I did. The paper copy cost about $15.00 whereas the ebook cost $10.99.

Browsing Chapters online, I found many ebooks selling for more than ten dollars, some more than $30. Wow. I never thought electronic books would sell for so much, but then, this is a whole new world for books, authors and publishers. They—we—are learning as we go.

When I published my first ebook, Mystery Light in Cranberry Cove, in 2010, I believed $2.99 was a fair price. I still think it is because it’s a youth (8-12) novel containing about 30,000 words.

For the past six months, I wondered what I should price my upcoming fantasy novel, Shadows in the Stone. It’s just over 127,000 words. It’s not something I whipped up in a few months; it took a few years of writing, rewriting, editing, applying the ideas and corrections of other writers, more revising and eventually the services of a professional editor to arrive at the end. It went through the same stages as the average novel selling at a book store.

Coming this May in ebook format: $6.99

And I believe Shadows in the Stone is a great story with memorable characters. That’s important for me, as an author, to believe in my story. And I do.

The question I’m left with is: What would a traditional publisher charge for an ebook of this quality, size and genre? From what I’ve seen $10.99.

But I’m not a traditional publisher; I’m a freelance novelist. I don’t have the overhead costs associated with big companies, so I don’t have to charge as much. Still, I have the cost of editing services and a program I purchased to make formatting into Kindle a breeze. I’ll need to sell almost 100 ebooks (at the price I’ve chosen minus fees from the retailer) to cover these costs before I even see a hint of payment for my time, paper, ink and various other items used to create this book. But I’m thinking long term…eventually I’ll see some sort of profit in the years to come.

I believe the free to 99 cent market for good, solid fiction and nonfiction books is over. There are two main reasons for this. The first is that a writer can’t make a living writing books for that price. The second is that readers have come to think the bargain bin—free to 99 cents—contains poor quality books. If you want to be taken seriously as a writer and not thought of as bargain garbage, don’t price your full-length books—the ones you slaved over for months, perhaps years—at or below a dollar. (Short stories can still be sold at 99 cents.)

From what I’ve read and experienced, there are three reasons why someone would price a full-length novel (or nonfiction book) for 99 cents or free:

1) the writing is poor, and the author knows this

2) the book is the first in a series or writer’s career, and it’s placed at a low price to attract readers to their other books (more about this below; 99 cents is still too low as far as I’m concerned)

3) the author lacks self-confidence in their book and doesn’t realise the true value of it.

The fourth reason doesn’t count for authors who take their writing seriously and want to someday make a living at writing: I just want my book to be downloaded by as many people as possible, so free is great!

So what will I price my ebook? $6.99

I came to this amount from reading several articles on the Internet regarding ebook pricing and by looking at the ebooks available online which seemed similar to mine. Of course, they were priced higher, but as I mentioned, I don’t have the expenses of a large company.

A website which provides a lot of information on self-publishing is Dean Wesley Smith’s (http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/). There, you’ll learn the average ebook price is set at $8.60.

So don’t be concerned with pricing a full-length novel (50,000 words and up) between $5.99 and $7.99…people are already doing it…and readers are buying them.

Perhaps you won’t sell a hundred books your first week or your first month, but remember, you’re in this for the long haul. Look two years in the future, not two months.

Pricing books fairly in the beginning gives the freelance novelist room to move. If they want to put their book on sale, they can drop it by $2 and still make a wee bit of money. The only type of sale you can have on a book priced at 99 cents is FREE! And free books have nowhere to go.

When the second book in The Castle Keepers series is released later this year, one of my promotions will be to offer the first book at a discounted price for a short time. This will provide readers with the ability to snatch the first book for a great price (probably half price).

Marketing like this allows the publisher to gain an audience who are more likely to purchase the second book in a series at the regular price after reading the first book.

Don’t believe the author gets all this money. They don’t. Every time a book sells on Chapters, the company (Chapters) gets 40% of the listed price, leaving the author with 60%. Whether I publish with Smashwords, Kindle or other ebook store, I lose a percentage off the cover price. That’s business.

I’m often told this ration doesn’t sound fair. All Chapters does is post your book information and they get 40%. Well, yes, but not exactly. Chapters-Indigo lists the book, is the store front for your product and handles all the money exchange. You simply get paid for the sales.

If another alternative is considered—the traditional publishing path—you, the author, gets a maximum of 10% (probably more like 8%, less for ebooks) per sale. This means, the author of a $16.99 paperback gets $1.70 per sale. Compare that with the $4.19 generated from a $6.99 ebook published by a freelance novelist.

Gee, $1.70 or $4.19…I wonder.

Which do you think is the better deal for the author?

It might not be fair that Chapters gets $2.80 for every sale of a $6.99 book, but as I tell my kids…life isn’t fair. Get used to it.

Have you bought an ebook lately? How much did you pay? Please, note the word count and genre (fiction, nonfiction; fantasy, romance, mystery) to give us a better perspective on what you received.

Reblogged from Thea Atkinson:

• 
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We have a winner!

Shadow K won the beautiful Kindle Fire GelaSkin with Water Witch art and the $25 Amazon Gift card. Congratulations to Shadow, as I know what I’d be doing with that moolah! Oh, the books the books I would buy.

I had so much fun with this small giveaway, that I’m going to do it again! Stay tuned for a bigger prize over a longer timeframe with more unique chances to win and enter.

Read more… 296 more words

Thea Atkinson launches Water Witch today. Check out her blog to learn about the novel, a free gift and a giveway.

When you’re a freelance novelist—one who self-publishes—you get to do all this yourself…for good or bad.

ISBN

The acronym stands for International Standard Book Number. This number is exclusive to a book and book format. You’ll find this in the front matter (the pages between the front cover and the first word of the text) of a book, fiction or nonfiction. It’s a 13-digit number which can often appear on the back cover of a book as well.

Here’s what mine looks like for Shadows in the Stone, Book One…The Castle Keepers (bold text added to emphasise point below)

978-0-9868089-7-5     Shadows in the Stone – Electronic Kindle

978-0-9868089-8-2     Shadows in the Stone – Electronic Smashwords

978-0-9868089-6-8     Shadows in the Stone – Book (soft cover)

978-0-9868089-9-9     Shadows in the Stone – Book (hard cover)

Anyone can get an ISBN for their book; you don’t have to be a publisher. You can get it for a printed copy, an audio book, an ebook on Kindle and electronic version on Smashwords. In fact, you’re encouraged to get one for each format in which you publish your book. That includes an exclusive number for Smashwords and one for Kindle.

Unlike other countries, getting an ISBN in Canada is free. I believe it costs around $50 in the United States (if anyone knows the actual price, please, post it in the comment section for others to see). I recall a comment made by an individual on a forum which stated in their country (forget which one), it costs $300. Wow!

I believe you can get a free ISBN—regardless of country—when placing ebooks on Smashwords, but since I always get my own, I never bothered to look into it.

When you first register and request an ISBN for a book, you’ll actually be requesting an ISBN Prefix. A block of numbers with the same first eleven digits (bolded in my numbers above and below) is placed on reserve for you. I received my first Prefix when I requested an ISBN for Mystery Light in Cranberry Cove. As you can see, the first eleven digits for both books are the same.

978-0-9868089-2-0     Mystery Light in Cranberry Cove       Electronic book text (Smashwords)

978-0-9868089-1-3     Mystery Light in Cranberry Cove       Book (hard cover)

978-0-9868089-0-6     Mystery Light in Cranberry Cove       Book (soft cover)

When I first requested a prefix, I choose a block of ten. They suggested you should request the number appropriate to the predicted number of publications. You can choose 10, 100, 1000 or more. If I published more often, I’d go for 100, which I might next year or the year after. If I were a publisher like Nimbus, I might go for 1,000.

When you request a prefix, you’ll receive an email message like this: (Quarter Castle Publishing) has requested a new ISBN prefix. Your request is currently being reviewed. Upon approval, a new ISBN block will be accessible on your CISS account.

Within a few minutes (at least the same day), you’ll receive a message which states the block has been granted.

To request an ISBN, only the basic information is required. You manage the information, so if you only know the title of the book (and few basics pieces of information), you can get the number and go back later to change or add information. It’s important for you, readers and the government that you keep this information up to date.

The information requested includes (as stated, all this doesn’t have to be entered immediately):

Product Form/Product From Details: ebook, trade, etc.

Title

Subtitle

Subject: I chose Fiction/General, but check the list to see if something else better applies to your project, such as nonfiction topics: pets, history, home, gardening.

Imprint: Which is the Publisher Name: if you are self-publishing, use your name unless you have an actual company (I use Quarter Castle Publishing)

Creator: For books, choose “By Author” and enter your name or pen name.

Address of publisher (again, this is you if you’re a self-publisher)

Dimensions: height, width and weight (I always enter a guess for weight until I get the printed book in hand, then I go back and correct this).

Date Available: Enter something here, whether a projected date or a guess. Great plans can often change, so don’t fret over the date. When the book becomes available, go back and enter the correct date.

Once you hit SAVE, an ISBN will be assigned. Go to MANAGE LOG BOOK to view the number and the information. If you want to assign another ISBN to another title or another format of the same title, click ASSIGN NEW ISBN. You’ll go back to the form page again.

The most complicated part of getting an ISBN is choosing the product form. Wait. If you’ve never done this before, don’t assume you pick ‘book’ and go onto the next question. The government never allows things to be that easy. Instead you are faced with an array of choices: big book, book, large display book, novelty book, paperback, spiral bound, etc.

After reading the list twice, I decided to pick ‘book’ to keep things simple.

The next field asks for the product form details. Amongst the dozens of possibilities, you get to sift through A-format paperback, A5-Tankobon, A6-Bunko, B-format paperback, half bound, library binding, mass market (rack) paperback, picture book, Quarter bound, saddle-sewn (this is stapled books), trade paperback (both UK and US), with flaps and others.

After much consideration and a little frustration, I chose Trade Paperback US because the sizes are the same as in Canada.

I’m not completely sure if I chose correctly, but I can live with it. I wish they had a page to define all these formats, but they don’t…at least none I found.

To learn more about paper sizes (A5, B-format, etc.) check out this web page which fully describes the various world sizes. I found that my 5.5 x 8.5 inch novel is P5: 140 x 215 mm.

To start your journey with ISBN, visit the Library and Archives Canada website and join CISS. Once you agree to the terms and fill out the form, you’ll receive a Username and Password. Keep this in a safe place, and always keep your profile information up to date. Anyone, including you, can search the Canadian ISBN Publishers’ Directory. If your information is not up-to-date, you might miss an opportunity.

Although requests are granted almost immediately, you should request an ISBN a few weeks before you actually publish. This way, any problems can be solved well in advance of printing/epublishing.

CIP

From the Library and Archives website regarding CIP: “Cataloguing in Publication (CIP) is a free cooperative venture between publishers and libraries which enables books to be catalogued before they are published. This pre-publication cataloguing information is then distributed widely to booksellers and libraries, giving them advance information so that they can select, buy and process new books.

“The distinguishing feature of Cataloguing in Publication is that the catalogue record is created and disseminated prior to publication and is printed in the book itself.”

Two forms are available when requesting a CIP:

1) CIP for Trade Publishers (that’s us)

2) CIP for Government Publishers

Publishers outside of Canada cannot register for a CIP even if the author is a Canadian.

To be eligible for CIP, a publication must have a print run of more than 100 copies. There’s a little grey area here because the question posed on the form is: Will more than 100 copies of the publication be published?

It doesn’t ask: Will more than 100 copies of the publication be published in the first print run?

Because of this, if you publish through a printer such as Blurb and only order 40 books at a time, but eventually plan to print at least 100 books, you can get a CIP. The key is to be very certain you plan to do this. If you only order ten books and think you might order another dozen next year, don’t apply for a CIP. The chances of you printing 100 books are slim.

This is what I did. I only have four copies of Mystery Light in Cranberry Cove left unsold, so when I order my next batch of 40 books, I’ll be well over my 100 book mark. For Shadows in the Stone, the first run will be 200 books, so I didn’t think twice about getting a CIP; it was automatic.

If you are or do plan to have at least a hundred copies of your book printed, request the CIP at least two weeks in advance; earlier if possible. It takes ten days to receive it. To request it, you’ll need your ISBN, so this is another reason why you should request this number early, too.

I need an ISBN for epublishing, but I don’t need a CIP until the printed version comes out in a few months. However, I requested the CIP three days ago, so I’ll have it when I’m ready to go to the printer. The more that can be done now, the less I have to think about later.

Not all books qualify for a CIP. Websites, phone books, crossword books, calendars, trade catalogues, maps, etc. do not get this number. Novels, of course, do as long as they’re published by a Canadian publisher.

To request a CIP, you’ll need to have your title page finalized. You can create one in MS Word and then convert it to PDF. Attach this to the form where requested. If you have a table of contents, introduction and preface finalized, you can attach that, too, where requested.

Visit the website noted above for more detailed answers to CIP questions and to find the link to request one.