Miss Writerly Crankypants: The Facebook Walk of Shame

I am so bad!

Oh, no! Panzer's friend Miss Crankypants is in trouble with the Facebook police!

Some days Panzer feels just like she does.

To see why, tootle over to Miss Writerly Crankypants: The Facebook Walk of Shame: The other day, Miss Crankypants got her hand slapped by the Facebook police . Now this wasn't the first time. Miss CP has a nose for ...

Amazon Gobbled Up Goodreads!

The world is not going to end!

Panzer came home with cotton stuffed in his ears today. The Catosphere is filled with yowling yet again. Just look at my poor bad boy. His black fur is starting to turn white from all that noise!

Oh no! The world as we know it is coming to an end! Amazon bought Goodreads!

I'll admit I don't use Goodreads. I know a lot of authors do, but I just don't have the time to do all the marketing at all the places everybody says we authors should. So it's just not going to make that much difference to me. But according to the yowling in the Catosphere, Amazon must be stopped! "Stopped!" the Amazon haters yell.

Panzer went out hunting the Catosphere looking for an explanation of what's behind this anti-Goodreads sale uprising. He finally found a quiet place of respite at novelist Chuck Wendig's blog, Terrible Minds.

While Chuck does admit to having a working relationship with Amazon, Panzer thinks he presents a cogent explanation for why the world is not coming to an end for today's authors.

If you're interested in reading Chuck's take on the sale of Goodreads to Amazon, tootle on over to Terrible Minds

Massachusetts to Launch State-Wide Digital Library

They get it!

Panzer was cruising the Catosphere and found the state of Massachusetts is about to join the digital revolution. There are 1,700 libraries in the state library system.They want to implement their plan in June of this year.

Panzer says, "Soon you'll be able to check Cats and Crime out at the library in Massachusetts."

Read all about it at The Digital Reader  Massachusetts to Launch State-Wide Digital Library

Yet Another Panzerism

Sadness. What's a cat to do?

Panzer on sadness:

Sadness is those dark horrible times when a cat can see his own reflection at the bottom of his cat food dish.

Smashwords: How Libraries Can Launch Community Publishing Init...

At the library?

Panzer stopped in at the Smashword's blog  to read Mark Coker's newest post.

Mark gave a presentation at the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services symposium and embedded the presentation at the blog.

This is a very l-o-n-g presentation, but my bad boy says this is well-worth your time to watch the presentation and read the post, too.

To learn how libraries can get involved in the ebook revolution, tootle on over to Smashwords: How Libraries Can Launch Community Publishing Init...: Libraries have long provided an essential community service by making books and other information products freely available and accessible ...

Guardian Interviews Sue Grafton

Panzer found an interview with one of his favorite mystery authors, Sue Grafton, at The Guardian website.

After reading the excerpt from Grafton's new book, Kinsey and Me, about Grafton's childhood, Panzer vowed he'll never howl about his terrible kittenhood again. Being raised by two alcoholic parents Grafton's childhood was unbelievably horrible.

Panzer says, if you like delving into writers personal lives, tootle over to Guardian Interviews Sue Grafton

Ten Free Software Products for Writers

Free! Free!

Panzer was out trawling the Catosphere for FREE stuff today and he found it!

At her Paperback Writer blog Lynn Viehl offers FREE writers' software sources. Lynn has software listed for photo manipulation, journal writing, story construction and more.

For this FREE stuff, Panzer says tootle on over to Paperback Writer.

Patrick Wensink's Amazon Bestseller

Say it isn't so!!!

Panzer was cruising around the Catosphere looking for Amazon bestseller stories. He hasn't made it yet, but he's still trying. He wants to know how others have done it so he can learn their tricks.

My bad boy found a really enlightening story over at Salon.  And let me tell you, there's nothing worse than seeing a big bad black cat cry! If this story about bestsellerdom wasn't so sad, it would be laughable.

When Patrick Wensink hit the Amazon bestseller list, everybody expected him to become a gazillionaire. Not so he says in his post at Salon. He explains in detail what happened and why.

If you want to know why being an Amazon bestseller does not mean becoming rich (Panzer says bring a box of tissues with you), tootle over to Where's My Money?

The Vincent Zandri Vox: Should You Go to Writing School?

Oh, no! He said a bad word!

Panzer was out in the Catosphere today and he stopped in at Vincent Zandri's blog. Panzer hasn't been there for a long time and wanted to find out what Vincent is doing.

 Vincent's most recent post answers readers' questions about the importance of writers going to writing school and getting an MFA. He admits he did go to school and get the MFA, but for reasons other than being a writer. He wanted to be a college professor and, therefore, needed an MFA. But, his thesis became his first novel sale and success.

So ... is it important to get an MFA? You'll have to read his post to find out all of his advice, but be warned the post is not G rated.

With that warning in mind, tootle on over to The Vincent Zandri Vox: Should You Go to Writing School?

Book Review: The Ballad of Jack Canvas

Panzer picked out today's ebook The Ballad of Jack Canvas by Evangeline Auld. It turns out it's definitely not what he thought it was! The book is described as a children's book, but for cat lovers of all ages and the tag line says it's told in verse. Well, my bad boy was really excited when he found it in the Kindle Store.

This is the story of a cat named Jack Canvas. He is a big, bad, black cat. (Sound familiar?) He is the big, bad, black cat king of all he surveys. (Sound familiar again?) Well, all the animals in his kingdom get together to try to figure out what to do about this big, bad, black cat.

N-o-o-o-o!

In comes a ravishing beauty of a female cat who works for the F.C.I.A. (Fat Cats Investigation Agency). She says she'll solve all their problems. And she goes and does it! Right here is where poor Jack's life and his kingdom fell apart. And this is where Panzer got so scared he jumped off the back of the couch and ran away to hide!

I haven't seen Panzer for the last two hours so I don't know how many paws up he would give this ebook. But I give it four paws up just because now I have something to threaten him with when he takes the Panzermobile out without permission!

The Ballad of Jack Canvas is available at Amazon for the Kindle.

It's G rated (but not for big, bad, black cats!).

Amazon Sued Again

Not again!?!?

According to the Seattle Times newspaper Amazon is being sued in a class action suit by the small merchants who use the site. It seems Amazon keeps the payments due to some merchants longer than the 90 days specified in the online contract. It also appears the 90 days in the contract may be against the law in Washington state where Amazon is headquartered.

Panzer asks, "Can indie authors and publishers be far behind in filing suit too?"

At the Seattle Times website read Amazon Sellers Suit.

A Cat, Joe Lallo, and Book Promotion

Well, my bad boy is still patrolling the Catosphere looking for book marketing ideas.

Today Panzer stopped in at Lindsay Buroker's blog. He found a guest post there by indie fantasy author Joe Lallo. Joe's post is about book promotion and it's loaded with ideas. He's got ideas I've never heard of like getting your ebook "bundled" with others. He even includes sites for this service. He gives instructions for what should go in a media kit to send to reviewers. And more.

Panzer says, "This post is well worth your reading time!"

For your newest dose of marketing and book promotion, tootle on over to book promotion with Joe Lallo.

Cats and Marketing

Introvert? Not this cat!

Panzer was out in the Catosphere looking for some marketing tips. He happened to find an oldie but goodie from last year. Jane Friedman interviewed Bob Tarte about marketing. Bob is the author Kitty Cornered.

Turns out Bob is a huge introvert and does his marketing with Twitter, Facebook, and podcasting. Now, we all know that being an introvert is not a word anyone would use to describe my bad boy. But, we all need some online marketing advice now and then.

If you need a refresher course on using online sources for you ebook marketing, tootle on over to Introverts and Successful Marketing

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing

You made how much?

Panzer stopped in at Joe Konrath's blog today to see how his ebook sales are doing.  Joe has always been very open about his sales and income.

Joe explains how his backlist has added to his sales and his income. This is an informative post even for those who don't have a backlist to put up on Amazon. Joe includes how much his advances were for his traditionally published books and it's a real shocker how little it actually was. By comparing his sales and income from his traditionally publish books and his sales and income from his ebook publishing, you can see why he (and all of us) are much better served as our own indie publishers.

So, if you want to know how a big cat is doing, tootle over to A Newbie's Guide to Publishing

Free Fiction Monday: Little Miracles

Everybody knows that.

In his travels in the Catosphere today, Panzer found a free cat story, Little Miracles,  at Kristine Rusch's blog. You'll need to hurry over right away though! It's only there and free this week. (It's available at all the usual rEtailers too, but you'll have to pay.)

A homicide detective finds a poor, injured cat at a murder scene. He sends the cat to the local vet. It's lucky cats have nine lives! The detective discovers that nothing makes you feel better than a cat.

Panzer says, "Duh! Everybody knows that."

So hurry over to Free Fiction Monday: Little Miracles and see what a cat can do for you.

Do you truly own your e-books?

Will it never end?

Panzer found that the yowling about the DRM-free lawsuit by the independent booksellers continues in the Catosphere.

Today, he found an explanation for the booksellers' lawsuit by Laura Miller at Salon. As usual, Laura delves into the important part of the issue at hand instead of being waylaid by the minor issues. In her post she addresses why it might prove to be in the ereader owners best interests to support the lawsuit.

 For instance, she asks, "Do you own those ebooks on your ereader?"

The answer might surprise you.

If you haven't grown tired of this argument yet, tootle over to Do you truly own your e-books?