Goodreads: Where readers and authors battle it out in an online “Lord of the Flies”

This is not what I wanted!

There's still a lot of yowling about Goodreads going on in the Catosphere. So, Panzer stopped in at Salon to check out the latest.

I want to admit Panzer and I are not on Goodreads. We'd heard that authors should open an account there and interact with readers. We were thinking about doing it, so we did some investigating. Then all this yowling and CATerwauling started. Authors arguing with reviewers. Reviewers arguing with reviewers. Tweets. Blogs. It just keeps getting bigger.

If you want to read about what's going on at Goodreads, tootle over to Goodreads: Where readers and authors battle it out in an online “Lord of the Flies”

Bowker Counted 391,000 Self-Published Books Last Year - GalleyCat

391,000 books?

Okay, Panzer admits it. He was out in the Catosphere trying to find out why he keeps bouncing in and out of the Amazon 100 for Mystery Short Story Collections.

Well, he found out what his competition is ... and that explains all the bouncing. His Cats and Crime was one of the 391,000 self (indie) -published books last year.

Whew! It's so good to know that's what it is and not that all of you are cat haters!

If you want to read about your competition, tootle on over to Bowker Counted 391,000 Self-Published Books Last Year - GalleyCat

Anne R. Allen's Blog: The Laws of the (Amazon) Jungle—Eight Rules Author...

I can take care of myself. Well ... maybe.

Panzer loves going to Anne R. Allen's blog! You should bookmark her site as her posts are always in depth looks at all subjects writing.

Ms. Allen's Sunday (October 6) post is a must read for any writer who has heard the hype about getting on all the social media sites to connect with their readers. Not all social media sites are created equal as she points out in the beginning of her post. In fact, some should be avoided all together.

In the second part of the post she gives specific rules you should follow when you visit Amazon. These are important rules you should read and follow.

So, if you're thinking about going out into the social media jungle, first you need to tootle on over to Anne R. Allen's Blog: The Laws of the (Amazon) Jungle—Eight Rules Author...: Everybody tells authors we must use social media to have successful careers in the E-age, but nobody talks much about the dangers that lurk...

New Panzerism

One heart beat away from the curb.

Panzer on keeping pets:

The three main reasons to keep pets

1) Teaches responsibility;
2) Teaches unselfishness;
3) Teaches cleanliness.

All true.

But mostly I just keep Mom around to feed me. Otherwise, I'd dump her in a heart beat.

Tina Gayle's Unique Flavors of Life: Do Author's Need A Website?

So much work to do!

Panzer and I headed out into the Catosphere today looking for some helpful ideas to freshen up the site here at Cats and Crime. We stopped in at Tina Gayle's "Enjoying the Unique Favors of Life" blog for a visit. Boy is Panzer glad we did!

Tina gives some excellent advice about constructing a website. She includes which pages to include with a description of each and some reasons for her choices. Panzer and I are going to add some of her suggestions to our pages here!

If you're looking for some help setting up your website or if like us you want to make some changes to your existing site, tootle on over to Tina Gayle's Unique Flavors of Life: Do Author's Need A Website?:  

Carmen DeSousa: Why would an author offer their best seller FREE?

It's FREE!

Panzer found that author Carmen Sousa has a FREE ebook for you! In her post at her blog Carmen Sousa she writes about why she's giving away copies of her bestselling ebook She Belongs to Me.

Panzer says, "Read the post. Download the ebook. Read it. Post a review." We did. We did. We are. We will.

To get your FREE ebook, tootle over to Carmen DeSousa: Why would an author offer their best seller FREE?: It may sound like a simple answer;  but in my case, it's because I want you to read it. In general, authors write because ...

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing

How much money total?

Panzer and I stopped in at Joe Konrath's blog A Newbies Guide to Publishing today and boy are we glad we did!

The post starts off with guest Tom Keller's experiences with indie publishing which are informative. The second half of the post is Joe's sales numbers for all his ebooks. Joe stresses his numbers aren't meant to be a competition. That's good because his sales are phenomenal.  I could never even hope to get numbers any where near his.

Joe has a l-o-t of ebooks, novellas and short stories so the list is long. You might just want to skip to the end and read the totals. Prepare to be surprised.

Tootle on over to A Newbie's Guide to Publishing.

Free Publisher's Weekly Webcast

It's Free!

Panzer found a great FREE webcast for you. It's called The Future of Epic Fantasy. It's sponsored by our good friends at Publisher's Weekly and will feature editors from Tor and Paizo publishing houses. It will be on October 16 at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Oh, and did we mention, it's FREE!

After you read about it, click the headline, The Future of Epic Fantasy and that will take you to the registration form.

If you're interested, tootle on over to The Future of Epic Fantasy

How to get Discovered by Readers

To market I go.

Panzer has been such a busy boy lately.

He's been doing some marketing research. His friend Fiona L. Webber heard his ebook Cats and Crime has been in and out and in and out of Amazon's Top 100 Mystery Short Story Collections. She asked him to help get her new ebook discovered so she can get in the Top 100 for romance.

So, my bad boy went out into the Catosphere and found a post by Penny C. Sanseviere at Huff Post Books that addresses how to get your ebook discovered. Ms. Sanseviere has a list of 10 ways to get the attention of those all important readers.

Be warned. This is a long post, but well worth your time to read it. So, if you're looking for help to get on the reader's radar, tootle over to How to get discovered.

What Writers Need To Know About the Affordable Care Act - GalleyCat

Insurance?

Do you live in the US? Are you a self-employed writer? Have individual insurance? Or no insurance? Been wondering about the Affordable Health Care Act and what it might mean for you?

Well, Panzer and I were. So, we went out in the Catosphere looking for some answers.

We found some at GalleyCAT.

To get help with your insurance questions, tootle on over to What Writers Need To Know About the Affordable Care Act - GalleyCat