Archive for January, 2009
Work in Progress – Cat Tales
Posted by: Michael R. Hicks in Siberian Cats on January 25th, 2009
As I mentioned on my bio page, we have two Siberian cats. While I was raised with dogs – literally (a story I’ll save for another post!) – and never particularly cared for cats, Siberians are a breed apart. While the reasons we wound up with cats are best saved for yet another post, when I looked into the breed’s history I found some rather intriguing intersections with human history.
In particular, cats that are generally considered to be the root stock of the modern Siberian cat breed played a vital role in bringing under control the raging rat population in Leningrad after the city’s long seige by Nazi forces during the Second World War. They were captured in the general region of Tomsk, Siberia, and taken by the thousands to Leningrad and released to fight the rats.
This got me to thinking, what if the cats played more of a role in the war than what people saw on the surface?
That’s the premise behind this tale-in-progress, which I’ve given the working title of Cat Tales. I’ve only got the first two chapters here in rough form, but I’d appreciate any comments you might have on it, especially (assuming you like it!) what genre it would fit into. I’m thinking young adult fiction, but I’ve never written for that particular market and don’t know if this would fit. So, any opinions would be welcome!
Cat Tales – Chapters 1 and 2 in PDF format.
Print On Demand Options, Part 3: CreateSpace
Posted by: Michael R. Hicks in About Publishing on January 24th, 2009
At first glance, CreateSpace has a lot of similarities to Lulu: it’s pretty user friendly, the author uploads his/her own files, and so on. They don’t offer extra services like Lulu does, however: if you need those (file formatting, etc.) they direct you to Amazon’s BookSurge. Why? Because CreateSpace is an Amazon company, as well! In fact, they share the same printer facilities.
So, what does CreateSpace do for you? In short, if you go through them you can – theoretically – get your book onto Amazon at a lower price point than you probably could otherwise. Let’s take a look:
CreateSpace has two plans, basic (no up front fee) and Pro, which is currently $39. If you’re at all serious about marketing your book, for heaven’s sake pay the fee and go Pro! For one thing, if you’re being smart about your publishing efforts you’re doing it as a business entity so you can write the costs off on your taxes. For another, you don’t have to sell tons of copies to recoup that cost. But the difference it makes in the royalty you earn is huge. Read the rest of this entry »
In Her Name – Reading Schedule for the KindleBoards Book Club
Posted by: Michael R. Hicks in Book News on January 23rd, 2009
Only eight days left until the start of the KindleBoards book club for In Her Name!
I posted the reading schedule on the board, but thought I’d go ahead and post it here, too:
| Date | Chapter |
| 1 February | 1 – 5 |
| 8 February | 6 – 10 |
| 15 February | 11 – 16 |
| 22 February | 17 – 23 |
| 1 February | 1 – 5 |
| 1 March | 24 – 29 |
| 8 March | 30 – 39 |
| 15 March | 40 – 48 |
| 22 March | 49 – End |
So, if you weren’t considering already, come join us!
The Amazon Kindle – Cool!
Posted by: Michael R. Hicks in Reviews on January 22nd, 2009
In all the fuss and flurry of trying to promote In Her Name, it suddenly occurred to me that I haven’t really mentioned too much about the device that finally motivated me to get the book published: the Amazon Kindle.
I’m not going to go through all the pros and cons of the device, as you can get that yourself over at Amazon. But what I will tell you from personal experience (my wife and I both own Kindles) is this: it makes the reading experience a lot more pleasant. Let me tell you why.
First and foremost, the electronic ink screen and easily adjustable font size are a lot easier on my eyes than most “dead tree” books. If my eyes are tired (which they frequently are after a day at the office, staring at multiple computer screens), I just bump up the font size a bit. If I need to do something with my hands, like pet one of our rambunctious Siberian cats, I can set the font size larger and then prop the Kindle up on a table with the cover I use. I can still read, and the cat gets some attention and doesn’t chew off my ankle. Read the rest of this entry »
Print On Demand Options, Part 2: Lulu
Posted by: Michael R. Hicks in About Publishing on January 22nd, 2009
Lulu is an independent POD that – technically – costs you nothing to get your book into print: you get your book formatted (you can even upload your MS Word file), upload it to the site, and – voila! – people can buy it from the Lulu marketplace. You don’t even need to have a cover beforehand if you’re not inclined to break out Photoshop: there’s even a rudimentary cover design feature. Overall, particularly for someone who doesn’t want to muck with the nuts and bolts of formatting, it’s pretty slick.
However, if you want to get your book distributed to Amazon and Barnes & Noble (as opposed to just the Lulu marketplace), you’ll need an ISBN (which they offer for $99, which isn’t unreasonable, or you can buy direct from Bowker, where a single ISBN is $125). There are also marketing packages, etc. that you can check out to see if that’s the sort of thing you need.
If I just wanted to sell on the Lulu marketplace, the cost isn’t too bad for large tomes like In Her Name: the Lulu basic cost calculator says that the manufacturing cost is $18.09, and if I add a royalty for myself of $3.00 (plus a $0.77 fee to Lulu), the total is $21.95. That’s still pretty steep, and I doubt many people really shop on Lulu’s marketplace, but there’s a chance someone will buy it (and you could get your book to their marketplace for free – you wouldn’t even need an ISBN). Read the rest of this entry »
Welcoming a New Era
Posted by: Michael R. Hicks in Reviews on January 20th, 2009
I’m sure that there will be one topic dominating posts in the blogosphere today: Obama’s inauguration.
I don’t claim to have anything pithy to say about it, but I did want to add my virtual voice just to say that for the first time in quite a while I have hope. There are times in history when the situation calls for a unique leader to come forth, and I think we’re at one such juncture in our history. And I believe that Obama is the right man for the job.
Our country is seeing some rough times, and we’ve likely got more difficulties to face in the near future. Moving forward is going to be tough, and there are times when it’s going to be painful for a lot of folks.
I hope and believe that Obama will help us get to the next step of where our country needs to go. But he can’t do it himself – he needs our help, and we need to help and support each other.
So, enjoy this historic day, and let’s all help hammer on the challenges our country faces. Together.
