Nicole MacDonald Author

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iTunes – the ‘grown-up’ book store?

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I listened to my very first podcast last
week. A fascinating interview by Joanna Penn, interviewing Liliana Hart about not going exclusive. I thoroughly enjoyed listening away to two top sellers
discussing the various pros and cons of it all, but one thing caught my
attention. The comment was made in passing but it made me pause.
Is iTunes a more grown-up ebook store?
Stepping back from a writer’s POV whereby I
always make more sales in Amazon, and instead, looking at iTunes from a reading
POV revealed some interesting points.
iTunes keeps it clean.
When you pop on to look at books, you only
see books, even if you’ve been shopping for music minutes prior. There is no
spamming of any sort (sorry Amazon, but that’s what it feels like most of the
time!). You aren’t cluttered with multiple suggestions, just a few titles – and
they are only driven by what previous customers bought. Unlike in Amazon, the top 100 is the
genuine, what readers bought and loved, top 100.
That’s pretty rare nowadays.
The other really noticeable thing is the
reviews. While my number of book reviews is about on par with iTunes vs Amazon,
you aren’t bombarded with pages of other peoples opinions. Just a star rating
and three short snippets of reviews. There isn’t an option to vote on them or
comment on them. This is something I love. When there are SO many sites that you can
join if you want to discuss the books you love/don’t love, I don’t see the need
in clogging book sale sites with reviews. A simple star ranking is all I need
if I really want to see them.
In a time where websites are trying to
combine everything to cover any and every potential whim of the customer,
iTunes feels like that favourite old bookstore.
A
place of simplicity and most importantly, Books.
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Amazon Pay-Per-Page. The first month’s results are in!

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The basics – in my opinion
Is it worth having a novel in KDP Unlimited                                           Yes
Would you put ALL your works in                                                          No
Do you recommend KDP Unlimited for authors                                    Yes and no ;p
On the weekend I finally got to see the
first month’s results of the new, pay-per-page system. In short, I’m sold.
Previously when my Trilogy e-set was read
on Kindle Unlimited it made $1.35 (give or take, depending on the fund for the
month and number of books read).
Now let’s be clear, that’s someone reading the
entire trilogy and earning me just $1.35.
$1.35 for reading The Arrival, Awakening, and, Feel the Burn in one neat package
The same amount that all those ten page
erotic shorts earned that someone could read dozens of in a week/day.
So Kindle Unlimited has never been a viable
earner to me, just a “bonus”. The only real reason I put the Trilogy e-set into
Kindle Unlimited is because I couldn’t face the thought of formatting the
varying contents pages for Smashwords Meatgrinder system *blush* sad but true.
I’m okay at formatting, but that system just makes me want to SCREAM!
Anyway, back to topic.
For the last month when my book was fully read
(it comes to 1827 normalized KDP pages – about double what the print is) I
earned $10.50 a copy. This is at the July rate of 0.00575 per page.
Yes, that’s right TEN DOLLARS AND FIFTY
CENTS!
Even though my read numbers were no higher
than the month previous, the earnings were ten times better! It has
convinced me to keep the Trilogy e-set in Kindle Unlimited.
All that said, for any authors considering
the shift I would urge you to consider only putting in ebook sets. You’ve more
of a chance of them being fully read (many people determinedly finish stories)
and that way you aren’t cutting off all the other ebook stores. I personally
will continue to keep my individual books on all platforms.
How did you fare for the new system? What
would you do differently?
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Amazon returns – a thought to ponder

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Any author who has e-books in Amazon will
have experienced it at least once. A returned e-book. I don’t have a major
gripe with this as I expect there will be those occasions someone hits the
wrong button (the one click buy is very simple after all) and buys a book they
didn’t mean to. What I do have a problem with is the people clearly using the
system. The ones that buy a book in a series, read it, return it then proceed
to do the same for the next book. They’re fairly easy to spot if you check your
sales daily, there’s a day or two in between and suddenly a return and it
continues that way till they’ve finished the series.
I don’t like that. Amazon might as well be
supporting pirating of e-books with that sort of reader. I mean, I can’t buy a
new book from my local book store, read it then march back and return it for
the next in the series. That’s what libraries are for (and yes, my e-books are
available in libraries via Smashwords distribution).
However, it has occurred to me since
observing the pages-read numbers of my trilogy for the last month, that Amazon
could monitor this.
For any book purchased you can’t return it
once you hit the 10% mark. Really, that’s what the sample is for but many
people don’t make the effort to read the sample. I think that should be
encouraged just a tad more.
Seems pretty simple to me, and with
Amazon’s new page monitoring system I don’t see how this couldn’t be possible.
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My dream café

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I often write in cafes. My writing time
during the working week is an hour at lunchtime and whatever I can cram into my
evenings. When my lunch break comes along I trundle off to one of my regular
haunts with my laptop jammed under an arm (already on, primed and ready to go)
then order a pot of tea and settle down to write. This can understandably make
me fairly unsociable at lunchtimes and unfortunately prevents my current
attendance at a jujitsu class I really enjoy. But with a normal 9-5 job this is
the reality of a moonlighting indie author. I don’t make enough off sales  to live, pay the mortgage, eat, etc. Not that
I mind in the least, but sometimes (school holidays..) I find myself
fantasising about THE perfect writers/readers café.
(This is of course the plan for when I win
lotto ;p)
It’s tucked down one of the narrow alley
ways and you know when you’re getting close because you can smell the jasmine
that grows around the wrought iron archway that decorates the entrance. There
are pretty arched windows on either side of the door, large windows with
latticework at the tops. Window seats are fitted in the windows, so from the
outside you can see a reader ensconced in the pages of a novel, a steaming cup
of something hot tucked into a neat alcove within the window seat (don’t want
wet pages!). When you enter there is gentle music playing, no words just
instrumental that varies from gentle pipes, to classical piano, to meandering
drums with the occasional metallic chime.
You can choose to order something from the
counter – an array of delicious but simple foods, all gluten free. Food like
slow cooked risotto with chicken and leek, or potato gratin layered with cheese
and egg. Light and fresh salads with tart pickles. Duck fat roasted potato
wedges that crunch into soft fluffy goodness when you bite down. Mouth
puckering lemon tarts with rich almond and macadamia bases, or delicate
macaroons with pistachio fillings.
Of course you can just pay for a pot of
tea. A simple price for one pot – or a slightly larger price for a bottomless
pot, with no requirement to buy food. Yes, you can sit there and write/read all
day long (if you have the time) while enjoying numerous pots of tea.
Coffee, well that’s a specialty here in NZ.
I’m sure we could figure out a basic price for, maybe six coffees in a day?
Yeah, we’re addicts here ;p
There are a couple of companionable long
farm style tables, with long slab seats for those that want a little company.
Then there are the numerous large comfy armchairs scattered about, in ways that
allow you to feel in your own complete space, with pretty little tables tucked
beside and footstools if your armchair isn’t a lazy boy. Nothing matches, every
piece just adds to the country, heirloom, eclectic hominess of the space. Lamps
are dotted around the deliberately dim space, the dimness adding to the
cosiness. Every chair has a good light source, but in a way that it only lights
what you need. If you stare off into space no one really notices. Of course the
walls are entirely fitted with bookcases, stuffed full of well read books
you’re encouraged to read. The wifi is free as long as you buy something (even
the bottomless tea) and there are handy plug points and usb points all over the
place.
Loud noise isn’t encouraged. This is one of
those spaces that attract those who just don’t really fit this reality
entirely, they’d rather live in the pages of a novel, or in creating new
worlds.
And best of all, there’s always a seat waiting, just for you.
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Wanting a new phone app addiction? Let me introduce you to Vocabulary

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I’m always interested in learning new words, and quite enjoy reading the dictionary, but I’m really bad at remembering them. Frustrated with this, I had a hunt around for a tool that might help. I discovered Vocabulary.

  Look up a word. Learn it forever.

Vocabulary.com is the quickest, easiest way to learn vocabulary. It combines the world’s smartest dictionary with an adaptive learning game that will have you mastering new words in no time.

It’s available on Android AND Apple, and via the google store cost me just $3.50 (nz). Holy heck this this application is addictive!
It works like a game, challenging you to match a word to a meaning, to slot a word into a sentence, occasionally it smacks you with a ‘SPELL IT’ challenge, and all the while your personal award count goes up. You get awards for getting so many in a row right, you get awards when you ‘master’ a word, AND, even when you have mastered a word, they’ll still sneak it in occasionally to make sure you actually remember.
I wish, so much, that I’d had this app at school!
If you’re looking to expand your vocabulary, test yourself, or if you suck at crosswords (*cough* me) and want something fun to do on the bus to and from work (when I’m not reading) this is it.

WARNING
You may find yourself tuning out all life around you as you attempt to navigate the next word. You may also find yourself screaming in fury at your phone when your stubby fingers accidentally hit the wrong answer. There are no do-overs in Vocabulary, just a cheerful ‘There you go, we knew you knew it!’ even while you swear and curse that you already knew it… *hee*

Writing woes

Not so much woes, just the realisation that in creating a story with many POV’s I have given myself the challenge of writing a book that is more like ten (or more – should count) stories entwined. This makes drafting a long process. I am wondering if I’ll have AfterBurn ready this year, and though the thought of not being able to really stresses me out, I want to get it right. So if it takes longer, it takes longer.
That said, occasionally I seem to stretch time and before I know it I have a draft. So who knows, only time will tell *grin* so far I’m at 80,000 words and counting. I think I’m about two thirds through the story, but with the varying lines I have to follow, I want to be careful not to miss anything. AfterBurn ties up everything so that I can proceed with the Voyager series without any lagging tales.

Kindle Unlimited

I’m watching the numbers on my stats page with curiosity. I believe, at this stage, that this new version of pay per page should be far more profitable for me than the previous version. But with that said, I won’t consider making anything other than the book ‘sets’ available on Unlimited, simply because although 85% of my readers are from Amazon, I still cherish that other 15%. Amazon really would solve some issues if they dropped that exclusivity cause.

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Pay by the page – exciting or scary?

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As usual Amazon is tinkering away with
their creations. Currently KDP Select. Initially you got paid each time someone
picked out your book – whether or not they read/finished it.
Now, from 1 July, your KDP earnings will be
based on how many pages a reader
completes. In theory this is to allow authors of full length novels to get an
appropriate payment when prior to this everyone got exactly the same, whether
you’d written a 10 page book or 1000.
BUT
If someone decides to grab your book and
only read a page then you will lose out where as prior you still would have
been paid the full amount.
Personally I think it’s a great idea,
however I do have to specify that I don’t rely on my writing income (still
moonlighting… *sigh* one day I’ll be fulltime!) so it isn’t going to majorly
effect me. It may not appeal to those writers who punch out a short story a
month just for KDP. Or it might, as long as they already have enough of a
catalogue.
I do think it will be great for authors
(like me) who have their box-sets in KDP. But I wonder if people who have
compilation sets will benefit from it. Simply because I as a reader often only
read a single story from a compilation then set it aside for later. But I guess
as you can’t re-read a book on KDP, you have to buy it the second time around,
it might prove profitable.
It’ll be very interesting to see how the
month of July goes for KDP writers! What are your thoughts?
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