Fleeting Fame

Only two days? What happened?

Panzer is not happy today!

Cats and Crime is out of the top 100. That sure didn't last long.

Oh well.

Panzer's in the Top 100

MeWow! Panzer is doing the happy cat dance! Cats and Crime made it into the top 100 for Mystery Anthologies and Mystery Short Story Collections at Amazon!

How To Find Beta Readers for Your Work - GalleyCat

Mom, I'm a beta reader.

Panzer found a post at GalleyCAT we can all use about finding beta readers. Over the last few months Panzer and I have spent a lot of time looking for beta readers for our writing projects. Beta readers are important to find those holes in the plot we're all blind to. They also find the inconsistent character actions that slip right past us. We need them!

In the post author Aubrey Rose shares that using our family members as beta readers is totally useless. So where can we go to find those readers?

To find out tootle on over to How To Find Beta Readers for Your Work - GalleyCat

New Ebook is out on Amazon!

Fiona L. Webber's new romantic novella Love's Decisions is now available at Amazon for the amazingly low price of $ .99.

Hugh Howey

Traditional? What's that?

Panzer found an interview by Porter Anderson at Publishing Perspectives with Hugh Howey.

Yes, that would be Hugh Howey of indie published Wool fame.  If you don't know who Hugh Howey is, where have you been? He is the new Amanda Hocking of indie publishing.

In the interview Howey discusses self publishing versus traditional publishing. I think you'll find it's an interesting interview.

Be warned. It's very, very long. So make a huge cup of tea before you tootle over to Hugh Howey on self-publishing vs. traditional publishing

It's Pirate Day!

Me-AARGH-ow!

In case you haven't heard, Panzer wants you to know today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

AARGH!

He says, "It should be a holiday!"

The Most Popular Books on Oyster - GalleyCat

Oyster?

Now that Smashwords is working with Oyster, Panzer did a little investigating to see what's popular with the readers there. It turns out GalleyCAT was wondering the same thing.

There's no surprises on the list. The top five are:

1. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
2. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
3. Serena by Ron Rash
4. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
5. Outward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz

If you want to know the top ten, tootle on over to The Most Popular Books on Oyster - GalleyCat

Kindle Direct Publishing Keyword & Category Tools - GalleyCat

From my friends at GalleyCAT.

Panzer found a new post at GalleyCAT about Amazon's keywords and categories. We've been researching Amazon's keywords and categories for the last couple of days. We were interested in seeing if others have had sales increases by changing the keywords they've been using.

The GalleyCAT post includes several links to help pick the appropriate keywords and there's a link to Donna Fasano's post about her experience with Amazon.

If you're looking for information on picking keywords for your new ebook, tootle on over to Kindle Direct Publishing Keyword & Category Tools - GalleyCat

Judge Orders Remedy for Apple in eBook Case - GalleyCat

They have to do what?

Panzer stopped in at GalleyCAT today to read about Apple's punishment in the ebook price fixing case.

Basically, the judge's order says, "Don't do it again and to make sure you don't, hire somebody to teach you how not to do it again." (He's paraphrasing here.)

If you want to download a PDF of the complete judgment, tootle over to Judge Orders Remedy for Apple in eBook Case - GalleyCat

Smashwords: Smashwords Signs Distribution Agreement with Oyste...

MeWow!

Panzer discovered Smashwords has signed another distribution agreement. This one with an ebook subscription company called Oyster.  According to Mark Coker at Smashwords, Oyster is similar to Amazon's Prime membership.

To read all the details, tootle over to Smashwords: Smashwords Signs Distribution Agreement with Oyste...: Smashwords today announced a distribution agreement with Oyster, a new and innovative ebook subscription service.  Oyster offers consumers...

The Business Rusch: A Career Versus Publication

Career or published?

Panzer went over to Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog today and boy is he glad he did!

Kristine has an excellent post about the difference between viewing your writing as merely getting published or as a career. The question is are you satisfied just to call yourself a writer or do you want a writing career? Is seeing your name in print enough or do you want to earn your living from your writing?

Be advised this is a v-e-r-y l-o-n-g post so get a -v-e-r-y b-i-g cup of tea before you sit down to read it.

To find out how to tell what kind of writer you are, tootle on over to The Business Rusch: A Career Versus Publication

A New Panzerism

That stinks! What did I step in?

Panzer on yard art:

What the neighbor's dog does on our lawn is NOT yard art!