Day: October 8, 2013

Book Blogger Spotlight: Blue House Review

Meet Lauren Scharhag, the force behind Blue House Review. She is also the author of nine titles, runs a separate author blog, does marketing and PR at her day job, and freelance editing, proofreading, writing, and translating on the side. Whew. I get tired just writing down all the stuff she does.

Lauren says, “I’ve always been an avid reader of reviews—not just books, but films and TV as well. My first paid writing gig was reviewing back when I was in junior high—the Kansas City Star had a teen section and I did reviews on books, TV shows and films for several years there, as well as the occasional humor column. I have started reviewing again because, as an author, I understand how important reviews are. Besides my review blog, I’m a regular reviewer for Horror-Net and Urban Fantasy Land.” Continue reading “Book Blogger Spotlight: Blue House Review”

Indie News Beat: Lashings of Irony

Yesterday, the Evil Mastermind told me there was a problem with the reactor core in this Death Star of a blog. Yesterday, I went to have a look, armed with my trusty elastic bands and bits of dried chewing gum. But he didn’t tell me he keeps a very small (but quite friendly) black hole down there. I go down there for one night and return this morning to find months have gone by up here. Damn.

Time to catch up with what’s been going on, and irony has to be the theme of this month’s column. We begin with Phillip Pullman and his ill-advised rant against copyright pirates, whose activity he described as “moral squalor”. In a powerfully written, but ultimately misguided piece, Pullman says that, “The principle is simple, and unaltered by technology, science or magic: if we want to enjoy the work that someone does, we should pay for it.” Continue reading “Indie News Beat: Lashings of Irony”

Generating a Discount Coupon on CreateSpace

Well, I guess this week is Createspace week! Yesterday we have a post by our Dick Waters showing us how easy it is to create your own print title with CreateSpace. And, tomorrow, we’re having a CreateSpace like-fest!

Authors know that selling a book directly through CreateSpace (CS) yields a much higher royalty than selling through Amazon.com. So then, how do you entice readers to purchase your book through CreateSpace? Offer them a discount coupon. Maybe that sounds crazy, BUT, usually the difference in royalties is large enough that you have at least a couple dollars’ worth of room to move, so a discount code could help sell print books and make you a better profit! Continue reading “Generating a Discount Coupon on CreateSpace”