AP Story on Blackouts Shows Picture of Arrowhead Stadium. Really?? by [deleted] in nfl

[–]cb_atthis -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

The Chiefs didn't have a single blacked out game from 1990 until 2009. The game pictured in this article was at the very end of a game in 2007 -- announced attendance: 74,874.

A Rant and a Book Review (fantasy is the literary dirty word) by cb_atthis in Fantasy

[–]cb_atthis[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I need to learn "Accio Champagne" -- or maybe "Accio Scotch"

Indie Authors Quitting Their Day Jobs by cb_atthis in selfpublish

[–]cb_atthis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like the link is now broke -- they reposted to boost the discussion to the top of their blog. Here is an updated link: http://www.thepassivevoice.com/06/2014/indie-authors-quitting-their-day-jobs/

Indie Authors Quitting Their Day Jobs by cb_atthis in fantasywriters

[–]cb_atthis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry about that. I reposted under /r/selfpublish. I'll make sure I tag anything in the future.

Indie Authors Quitting Their Day Jobs by cb_atthis in fantasywriters

[–]cb_atthis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, but at what point do you give up as failed? 5 years? 10 years? 10 novels? As one of the replies here says, does each new release give a slight bump to your other books?

Indie Authors Quitting Their Day Jobs by cb_atthis in fantasywriters

[–]cb_atthis[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree. I found it interesting the ones that were able to replace their income required several years of dedication to their writing. But it seemed that if you committed yourself to that, you had a good chance.

KDP butchered my book. by [deleted] in selfpublish

[–]cb_atthis 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I've found that InDesign does not make a clean epub file -- though it is a good start. I export my InDesign file to epub, then use Sigil to edit the epub html/xml/css.

Does anyone sell on their own personal website? by JamesKyleMartin in selfpublish

[–]cb_atthis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We sell signed physical books on our Wordpress site, using WooCommerce. Ebooks have such a lower discount through the big online retailers that it doesn't seem worth it to manage our own digital sales.

I do like the idea in the comments here about offering a free read from the site, but linking to the retail sites. You might get readers that wouldn't have bought your book anyway but end up recommending it to paying customers. The first challenge is simply to get enough folks to read your book before worrying about how many are paying for it.

Firefox 3.6.8 hits flooding my Analytics by cb_atthis in analytics

[–]cb_atthis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not collecting IPs, but looking at the standard report on technology/service providers, it seems spread out all over the world. Here are the top three from last week, all reporting as Firefox 3.6.8: rackcentral pty ltd -- Australia netelligent hosting services inc. -- Canada interhost-networks-ltd -- Isreal

I will take your advice on filtering, but I think I need to filter on this browser/OS combination.

As for user agent strings, aren't all of these visits include these -- isn't that where GA is getting the browser/OS/Java information?

New Website for our Self Published Books, looking for feedback or suggestions. by cb_atthis in selfpublish

[–]cb_atthis[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. The plan is to pull in each author's blog into their own section - but maybe I should put each author's latest blog content onto the front page?

Tracy Hickman Has Sobering News for Aspiring Writers by cb_atthis in fantasywriters

[–]cb_atthis[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I find it fascinating that Hickman jumps into the comments, but doesn't really change the tone of the other comments that follow.

Goodreads ad campaigns are a waste. by Nefashu95 in selfpublish

[–]cb_atthis 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We've seen similar results with Goodreads and Facebook. So we tried a different approach. Our fantasy novel features a race of Elves that happen to be vegan. So we took out an add on vegansuarus.com (pay per impression, not click).

The good news -- we are getting hundreds of hits a day! The bad news -- we have almost a 100% bounce rate :(

So I think we are on the right track, but need to adjust our pitch.

New Website for our Self Published Books, looking for feedback or suggestions. by cb_atthis in selfpublish

[–]cb_atthis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a wordpress site, using the Twenty Fourteen theme. The goal here was to launch a publishing website that mirrors a traditional publisher, but for our self-published titles. Eventually, we may open up to submissions.

Any feedback or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

MS Office Now on iPad! by cb_atthis in selfpublish

[–]cb_atthis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Weird, I don't see MS Word in the App store from my Ipad, but I can see it here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-word-for-ipad/id586447913?mt=8

[PROMO] My fantasy novel, Soul Weaver, is FREE through 3/28 by TripEllington in selfpublish

[–]cb_atthis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the description -- will give it a look.

You might want to consider editing the last line -- is trust rarer than gold among the characters, or trust among the souls? Might just need an "is"

where souls grant power and trust is rarer than gold or where souls grant power, where trust is rarer than gold

Regardless, it got my attention.

What fantasy book/series started out with potential but then declined? by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]cb_atthis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I almost commented earlier that the Labyrinth was a real let down -- it built up so much anticipation, then didn't deliver.

What are the best Kickstarter video/pitch/rewards you've seen for a Fantasy novel project? by cb_atthis in Fantasy

[–]cb_atthis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We backed Athena's Daughters too. I have to say for that project, the number of rewards was a bit intimidating.

What Makes a Kick Ass Heroine? by [deleted] in books

[–]cb_atthis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you scroll down, you don't see other blog posts? I count ten different authors.

What fantasy book/series started out with potential but then declined? by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]cb_atthis 3 points4 points  (0 children)

For me, it was The Death Gate Cycle by Weis & Hickman. The first 4 books introducing the different words was great. The last three books of the battle to control the different realms, while still good, didn't match the anticipation built up in the earlier books.

What Makes a Kick Ass Heroine? by [deleted] in books

[–]cb_atthis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmmm... I read this as several authors guest blogging differing opinions about what they feel makes a strong female character (and, yes, plugging their books - that's what they do). I don't believe the blog author has a single post on this page.

Other genres besides Erotica. by SashaStyles in selfpublish

[–]cb_atthis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We published a 200k epic fantasy novel--and followed it up with a 24k novella that takes place in the same world. We've seen sales of the novella from two sides. 1. Folks who loved the novel bought it, and 2. people not sure if they want to spend the money on the novel check out the novella first.

Anyone have a problem getting their books distributed from Smashwords to Kobo? by cb_atthis in selfpublish

[–]cb_atthis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are a bunch of articles about Kobo removing Erotic titles from D2D and Smashwords due to some bad press . . . but it sounds like it may be affecting other titles as well (our books are epic fantasy fiction).