Ellen Fisher's Journal

The Nerd Prince

2012-02-10T20:58:00.000-08:00

I got my rights back from Samhain today as scheduled, and now I'm working on formatting The Nerd Prince. I should be able to post it to Amazon by Sunday. I'll release I'll Be There For You in March, and The Shadows of Night in April. Meanwhile I'm working on new stuff, too, so it should be a busy spring!

New covers

2012-02-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to unveil two new covers by T.M. Roy of TERyvisions:
Readers may remember these titles, which were previously available through Samhain. Samhain should be reverting the rights this month, and if all goes as scheduled, The Nerd Prince will be released in February and I'll Be There For You in March.

My iPhone

2012-02-08T15:28:00.000-08:00

I finally joined the 21st century and got an iPhone. I love the thing. I use it in my car to replace the iPod, I am reading on the Kindle and iBooks apps (and without TOO much eyestrain-- I wouldn't give up my Kindle, but when I'm caught somewhere without it, the iPhone is an adequate substitute), and it even has a handy "Notes" app. However, as I said on Twitter, the autocorrect is really, really annoying. I went to Target to jot down some notes about what my son wanted for his birthday, and somehow "Darth Vader transformer" was translated into "Dearth Badger transformer." Um.... nope, that's not what I wrote. Not even close!

Of birthdays and anniversaries

2012-02-07T03:52:00.000-08:00

I realized today that I just passed my second anniversary as an indie author. I put up my first book on Amazon on February 3, 2010. Since then I've sold 100,000 books (admittedly most of those were in 2011!). Not bad for a start, and I'm looking forward to seeing where we go from here.

Also, today is my youngest's seventh birthday. Even my youngest is growing up! *sobs*

Rearranging my office a bit

2012-01-28T06:18:00.000-08:00

I was inspired by some pictures on a Kindleboards thread to rearrange my office a bit. I've decided to move the doggy crate out into a quiet corner of the living room, instead of my office, where it's been since we moved. I don't know if Impy will accept this-- he only goes in the crate at night, but he's slept in the office for as long as he can remember. But if he accepts it (and he's generally more flexible than Hero is), I'll move an armchair into that corner of my office. It's irritating to me that I have no place to sit and relax in there-- sometimes I edit by reading my books on Kindle, or sort through my mail, and a nice chair in my office would be welcome. So we'll give it a try, anyway!

Hugs you all

2012-01-26T03:58:00.001-08:00

I still have two books in the top ten contemporary romances on iTunes! I can't believe it!

The last few days have been ridiculously busy, as my kids have half days at school much of this week, but I am striving to get All the Way up before my other books are returned to me. It's short, so I'm contemplating adding a bonus short story, the way I did with Home for the Holidays. Considering the month in which it'll be released, I'm thinking about adding a little Valentine story I wrote once upon a time...

Woot!

2012-01-24T17:41:00.001-08:00

Right now, I have not one, but TWO books (Isn't It Romantic? and Unwrapped) in the top ten contemporary romances on iTunes! Not sure why I'm selling so well over there, but thanks very much to my readers!

Hallo there!

2012-01-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

Been a while since I posted. I guess I needed a little blog vacation:-). Currently I'm working on wrapping up my short story, All the Way, and figuring out what needs to be done to fix up I'll Be There For You and The Nerd Prince, both of which I should get back from Samhain next month. I think they're both pretty clean from a writing perspective, but I did notice I'll Be There For You makes mention of arena football, as well as out-of-date cars and popular songs. That one will need a bit of editing, clearly, so I'll probably release The Nerd Prince first. Once again the brilliant T.M. Roy is doing my covers... I can't wait to see them!

I finally contacted Smashwords, because my two Christmas books never went up on iTunes, and Smashwords quite promptly fixed the issue. It's a little late for Christmas books, obviously, but I'm nevertheless pleased by how well they're doing. Unwrapped is at #13 on the contemporary romance list over there right now, which is great, and Home for the Holidays is at #32 on the same list. At one point today I had five romances in the top 100 contemporary romances on iTunes. My deepest thanks to all my lovely readers!

The tale of the tire

2012-01-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

My kids talked me into going to see the Holiday Lights display on the boardwalk at Virginia Beach. It's about a forty-minute trip over there, and I whined and complained, but eventually agreed. Since it was the last night, there weren't very many cars lined up, and I congratulated myself on an easy, relatively uneventful trip. But as we pulled off the boardwalk onto the road, I heard a distinctive and unpleasant thump-thump-thump sound. I pulled over and checked, and sure enough, my right rear tire looked like this:Pacific Avenue in Virginia Beach is not the greatest area to be stuck in, but fortunately we were in a well-lighted location. We called AAA, and when the guy got there (quite quickly, too), he discovered this lovely big nail in my tire:I obviously wasn't going to find someone to patch my tire at ten p.m., and my van has a compact spare. So I had to drive home (all on interstates) at fifty miles an hour. Fortunately, it was late and there wasn't a lot of traffic. And we made it home with no problems, for which I was quite grateful.

Glad I have AAA. I couldn't have changed that tire on my own. I couldn't even FIND the tire on my own-- it's hidden under the van on the right side, which I never would have figured out in a million years. AAA is totally worth it.

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-01T05:48:00.001-08:00

I wish you all an awesome 2012!

Seeing Spots, again

2011-12-31T14:37:00.001-08:00

Seeing Spots has made it into the top 10 of the Fantasy, Futuristic & Ghost Free Books list on iTunes (and there's some tough competition in that particular subgenre!). It's currently #9. Yay!

Seeing Spots...

2011-12-30T15:50:00.000-08:00

... is free on Smashwords and iTunes. Already #32 on the free Fantasy, Futuristic & Ghost list on iTunes, yay!

Year end totals

2011-12-29T08:19:00.000-08:00

I've sold slightly over 81,000 books this year (not including the tens of thousands of free downloads I've had in the past two months). That's via Barnes & Noble and Amazon, for two different pen names. Here's how it breaks down: 39,402 books sold through B&N, 41,990 sold through Amazon. (Almost all these sales were of 99-cent books.) I've sold quite a few through Apple, but Smash's reports are so horrifically complex that I wouldn't want to speculate on exactly how many. I think it's less than a thousand, in any event, though I haven't gotten my last report from Apple for the year. iTunes is growing rapidly, but for me, it's not up there with B&N and Amazon yet.

Thoughts. First of all, it's important to note that my B&N numbers were very, very high at the beginning of the year, before they readjusted their system to kick all the erotic romance out of the top sales lists. I had 11,500 sales through B&N in February alone, so you can see that badly distorts the picture of what I'm currently earning through them. My sales on B&N are way, way down now, while my sales on Amazon have remained fairly steady.

Despite that, I believe the Amazon Select program would be a very bad move for me. Not only have I made a lot of money through B&N this year, but I'm doing increasingly well over on iTunes, too. I put a couple of my very worst sellers into the Select program, but I certainly wouldn't do it across the board. My advice is to look at your numbers carefully before leaping into it.

Also, my numbers for Amazon have been up quite a bit this month thanks to having had a successful freebie (In the Mood). Free books do seem to do quite a bit to improve your exposure.

And finally, I'm almost up to 100,000 sold since I began indie publishing! One more month, and I might just accomplish it.

Thanks to everyone who bought my books this year. You're all awesome. And good luck to all my writer friends-- I hope you all sell a million books in 2012!

And more In the Mood...

2011-12-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

Still selling, now at #163 in the Kindle store. I am amazed, astounded and astonished. And very, very grateful!

Update on In the Mood...

2011-12-08T19:41:00.000-08:00

... it's now at #206 in the Kindle store. If I could kiss you all, I would. I'd probably cry on your shoulders, too. Be glad you're elsewhere:-).

In the Mood is moving along...

2011-12-08T03:56:00.001-08:00

Check it out!#1 in Movers and Shakers and #256 in the entire Kindle store! How awesome are my readers??? Thank you!!

In the Mood...

2011-12-03T20:07:00.000-08:00

...is now back to 99 cents on Apple, and doing very well. They kindly have it featured prominently as a "romance under $5," which is no doubt helping sales. It's #31 on the paid contemporary list right now (ETA: it's now down to #23, just ahead of Isn't It Romantic?).

Home for the Holidays is up!

2011-12-02T05:21:00.000-08:00

Well, on Amazon, anyway. I'm going to get it up on B&N today, and Smashwords tomorrow. In the meantime, if you have a Kindle, you can read it (click on the cover for the Amazon link):Many thanks to Jody Wallace for reading it and improving it, and to T.M. Roy for the awesome cover!

Finished!

2011-11-29T08:17:00.001-08:00

I finished up Home for the Holidays today and sent it to my beta reader. It's one long story (7000 words) and two short-shorts, totalling about 10,500 words. I hope to have it up on Amazon within a few days.

Go buy this book

2011-11-29T04:08:00.001-08:00

My friend Ellie Marvel's latest, Claustrophobic Christmas, is now available:

In the Mood...

2011-11-23T03:48:00.000-08:00

is finally free on Amazon.

A Wintertide Spell

2011-11-17T11:49:00.001-08:00

My friend Jody Wallace has a fun new short story out:

You can find it on Amazon.

Warning: Dangerous agent contracts ahead

2011-11-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

There's an excellent blog post here about an agent who's been seeking out indie authors to represent. Read the details of any contract you're sent, and be very, very careful what you sign.

What going free can do

2011-11-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

People are still posting links to stories about the author who "lost" royalties on 6000 copies of his book when Amazon incorrectly made the book free. A lot of the comments on these articles make it clear that people have no idea how much the difference in sales can be between offering a book for a price, and for free.

Case in point: my book In the Mood. Last month in the UK, I sold 16 copies (at 99 cents-- the book in the above-mentioned case is priced at $5.99, which is a lot for an indie). This month it went free, and within a week I've given away 4277 copies. And that's just the UK. Successful freebies on Amazon.com can move a lot more copies than that.

I'm not saying Amazon didn't make a mistake here. I'm just saying the people commenting who react as if the author would have earned thousands of dollars in any event don't know much about how sales and freebies work on Amazon.

The cat update

2011-11-05T14:07:00.001-07:00

A while back, I posted about a hungry, scrawny little cat and kitten we rescued from beneath a neighbor's house. The kitten stayed with us, of course, and is growing into a rather pretty, sleek young lady who gleefully pounces on and destroys unsuspecting curtains. The cat went to live with my dad. We visited today, and I observed that she's changed from a pitifully friendly little wisp of a cat with scruffy fur into a well-fed, beautifully long-coated, aloof house cat who stares balefully at visitors. The fact that I took her in, gave her vet care, and fed her for weeks is of no importance to her, and she feels no need to show me any affection, though she will occasionally unbend enough to grant me the courtesy of a brief brush against my hand. She is the queen of her domain, as a house kitty should be. It's nice to see:-).

Getting exposure

2011-11-04T16:52:00.001-07:00

In the Mood continues to be the number one free contemporary romance on iTunes, and is still #5 on the free romance list and #31 on the free book list. I've also been featured by iTunes again, this time under "What's Hot" for All I Ever Wanted, which is nice:

Meanwhile, I've given away over 900 copies on Amazon UK, and am #18 in free books there. I wish I could get Amazon.com to make my book free, too. Seems like it might really get me some exposure. But I'll just have to be patient, and happy with what I've gotten so far:-).

Thank you, iTunes

2011-11-03T14:42:00.001-07:00

I think iTunes featuring me this morning has helped my sales quite a bit. Seeing Spots is #42 in its iTunes category (which is about as high as it's gotten so far), and Isn't It Romantic? and All I Ever Wanted have climbed back up the contemporary charts and are at #23 and #35, respectively. I can't wait for Unwrapped to clear the Smashwords premium process and become available over there!

Meanwhile, In the Mood has gone free on Amazon UK (and is already #132 on their free list-- ETA: now it's at #112, yay), but not on Amazon.com... yet.

In the Mood...

2011-11-03T04:15:00.000-07:00

...is now free on B&N.

Also, it was displayed at the very top of the contemporary romance category on iTunes this morning, at least for me:

Amazon in error

2011-11-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

Here's an article in which the author claims that Amazon lowered his price to free incorrectly (price-matching sample chapters rather than a full book), and now they won't pay him for the 5104 copies he "sold" while the book was free. Well... regardless of whether Amazon made an error or not, there's no way in the world he would have sold those 5104 copies at $5.99. Any observer of Amazon knows that when a book goes free, it can go from selling no copies to thousands of copies in a heartbeat. (Now that the book's back to paid status, it's only ranked at 71,662, which means the author is selling at most a couple copies a day.) Therefore, I don't think the author "lost" the royalties; he just gained some exposure.

Last month's results

2011-11-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

I sold at least 4000 copies (over 19 different titles) last month. I've lost track of the exact amount because one book was a freebie on Amazon UK part of the month, and I'm honestly not sure how many copies I sold and how many I gave away. I have also sold an unspecified (but probably reasonably substantial) number of books on iTunes in the past month. I'm waiting eagerly for Smashwords to update to find out how many I sold there!

Overall, sales were down on Amazon and B&N, but I did have one hot romance that sold over 500 copies, which helped my sales numbers.

In the Mood is doing great on Apple

2011-10-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

Right now, In the Mood is #1 in free contemporary romance, #7 in free romance, and #41 in the whole Apple freebie bookstore. I hope the exposure will help sell my other books, most specifically Seeing Spots.

More Apple

2011-10-28T03:47:00.001-07:00

In the Mood and Seeing Spots are now up on Apple. In the Mood is free.

More adventures of Grievous

2011-10-22T15:39:00.001-07:00

Quite a while back, I posted my youngest's earliest Star Wars writings. He's still writing Star Wars books, and here is an excerpt from his latest, The Revenge of Grievous:

A long time ago in a galaxy far away there was a cyoborg who ruled an army of millions of thasands of droids.

He was evil and his name is Grievous! He was ploting to dortroy a army called the Rebel Alliance and they were good! He was a comander.

Obi-one Kenobi a Rebel was trying to kill him! But a wepon called a Lightsaber, well Obi-one only had one and Grievous had foar! Obi-One had no cance of wining the Battle!!!!!!!!

My favorite part is the eight exclamation points at the end. I just find that totally adorable for some reason.

The handyman can

2011-10-19T13:54:00.001-07:00

I suck at around-the-house stuff, and now that I no longer have VH, some things don't get done unless I hire someone to do them. Today the handyman came and did all sorts of useful stuff, from getting the garage door opener and a toilet to work again, to putting up new curtains in the library (the old ones were there when we moved in, and I've hated them for two years, but never got around to taking them down because they had wooden valances that had to be removed from the wall). He also put together two new kitchen chairs, turned on my gas fireplace, and hung up some pictures. My long list of chores has been done, and I'm a happy girl.

A pleasant Saturday

2011-10-15T17:01:00.001-07:00

I had a nice day today. We cleaned house in the morning-- I enjoy having a cleaner downstairs, but I particularly love it when my office and the library are neat, since these are two places where I spend a lot of time. So everything was cleaned, and I was a much happier person.

Then I picked up the two cousins, who live nearby, and brought them over for the afternoon. You'd think that would complicate the day, but they actually keep the boys busily occupied with Legos and running around, so this makes my weekend easier. I worked on editing All the Way (an upcoming short story) for quite a while. Meanwhile, the dogs were in heaven-- they believe children are sheep, so they stationed themselves outside to watch the four boys and keep them safe from any wolves that might wander into the yard, as sheepdogs are meant to do. The more children we have in the house, the better they like it!

New covers!

2011-10-15T09:21:00.001-07:00

For my upcoming Christmas novellas (hopefully to be out by November!), by T.M. Roy of TERyvisions:And for the sequel to Seeing Spots, hopefully out in early 2012, by Tara Shuler:

Some new pictures

2011-10-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

...of Impulse and his owner, my oldest:

"Yes, I do know how to wave. Now hand over the treat, kid."

"Why is this kid always hugging me? Is it just because I'm fluffy and totally huggable?"

"Again with the hugging! Sheesh!"

"'Elp! 'Elp! I'm bein' repressed!"

Seeing Spots...

2011-10-12T12:47:00.001-07:00

is now available on Smashwords for 99 cents. Hopefully it will make its way to Apple and other platforms soon!

In the Mood- free!

2011-10-11T19:01:00.001-07:00

In the Mood is now available on Smashwords for free. Hopefully it'll wind up free on Amazon as well, eventually...

Apple store, yet again

2011-10-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

Finally found the top 100 chart on iTunes-- they don't show a book's ranking on its page, the way Amazon and B&N do, which makes it hard to figure out how your book is ranked unless it's in the top 100 in some category. Today I found the romance chart, and found that Isn't It Romantic? is currently ranked #30. Thank you, lovely readers!

Apple again

2011-10-10T15:48:00.001-07:00

Isn't It Romantic? seems to be doing very well in the Apple store now that it's been raised to 99 cents. It's on the front page under "romances under $5," which no doubt helps its ranking immeasurably. All I Ever Wanted comes up on the front page of "hot romances," too, so it's probably still selling nicely as well.

I need to get more books up on Apple ASAP!

Yay for Apple sales

2011-10-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

Smashwords just updated sales for its affiliates through July 30. Between July 22 (the date it received premium status) and July 30, All I Ever Wanted managed to sell 500 copies via Apple, in five different countries (the largest amount of sales was in the US, followed by Great Britain). Why on earth didn't I get on Smashwords before??? Obviously it's time to get in gear and get the rest of my books up!

#1? Really?

2011-10-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

So according to this site, All I Ever Wanted was #1 on some iBookstore romance chart at some point. Hard to believe, since that book has earned a big $2.54 on Smashwords so far, and isn't my biggest seller anywhere else, either. I'll be curious to get my statement (far in the future!) and see what exactly happened there.

Still, it makes me eager to get some other books up on Smashwords. More platforms mean more sales!

Wow

2011-10-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

I finally realized I could look at my books on Apple's bookstore by checking iTunes. (I only have two up so far.) I was pleased to see that Isn't It Romantic? has 743 ratings, but since it's free, I wasn't terribly shocked. I was startled, however, to see that All I Ever Wanted has 50 ratings. On B&N, one doesn't get a lot of ratings compared to sales. It makes me wonder if AIEW is selling like gangbusters over there, or if iBooks just get a lot more ratings for some reason.

In any event, I need to get the rest of my books up over there, as they are clearly selling to some degree, at least!

Different strokes for different folks

2011-09-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

I have one hotter romance title that has sold a big five copies on Amazon this month. But when I totalled it up on B&N, I saw it had sold 45 copies. Still not a huge seller, obviously, but I see steady sales of all my hot stuff on B&N. When you have enough titles, even smallish daily sales begin to add up.

Conversely, one of my hotter romances has somehow gotten rolling on Amazon, and has sold over 300 copies there this month. It hasn't sold nearly as well on B&N. I don't know how to explain what does and doesn't sell, but clearly having a lot of titles helps, as does having them available on different platforms.

How this month has gone, and future plans

2011-09-29T04:56:00.001-07:00

It's been an interesting month, saleswise. Sales were about the same as August, which were not great by any means. But they're remaining level, which I suppose is something. Despite being reviewed on two rather big romance blogs, Seeing Spots sold about what it did last month. But indie books often take a while to get rolling, so I'm not stressing yet. I did buy several paid ads for it, and as far as I can tell none of them have had the slightest effect. This confirms for me that paid ads are generally pretty worthless (and for those few sites where they have a big impact, they're usually booked far, far in advance). I thought it was worth the experiment, but I don't think I'll bother with paid ads again.

Isn't It Romantic? went free on Amazon.UK (with 7000 downloads), but something is snagging in Amazon.com's system-- not only is the book not going free there, but its ranking has disappeared, and despite repeated queries on my part, Amazon can't seem to figure out why. It seems like something is wrong with the book's listing somehow. After a month of frustration, I've decided to put Isn't It Romantic? back to 99 cents on Smash, and to upload In the Mood and make that one free instead. Hopefully its path to freeness (freedom?) will go more smoothly. We'll see.

Oddly enough, though, Isn't It Romantic? has been my big seller on Amazon this month. Maybe being free on Smash has created some word of mouth for it (though why people aren't just downloading it free on Smash I couldn't tell you-- convenience?). In the Mood, usually my bestseller, slacked off quite a bit, and several of my other Ellen Fisher books slumped as well. Fortunately my pen name is picking up steam on Amazon, and several of her books sold better there than usual.

I am feeling much better, thanks to the magic of Remicade, so I have several projects in mind: a new paranormal under my pen name, a short story (All the Way) for Ellen, and a Christmas novella for Ellen. We'll see if I can find time to get all that done. The top priority is the Christmas novella-- Unwrapped sold really well last year, and I think writing a new Christmas story can often get you some visibility in December. I have a cute plot in mind... just need to find time to write it!

I am also planning out Spotless, the sequel to Seeing Spots, but that probably won't be finished till next spring. I do hope to get the cover soon, though. I'll also be getting back the rights to I'll Be There for You and The Nerd Prince in February, so I need to get those covers done, too.

Big news from Amazon

2011-09-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

According to this, the new Kindle Fire (the tablet) will be $199. There will be a basic Kindle at $79, a Kindle Touch at $99, and a Touch with 3G at $149. Surprisingly low prices!

Remicade works wonders

2011-09-27T09:47:00.001-07:00

The Remicade is already doing great things for me. Today I walked around Wal-Mart. Just... walked around Wal-Mart. All the way. Without having to stay near the bathroom. Without having to buy something quickly and rush out again. I just ambled around and looked at stuff.

It's like being born again, I'm tellin' ya.

"E-book operations"

2011-09-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

Link from Karen Newton. According to this article, Trident Media Services is launching "e-book operations":

The new division will “create, manage and implement innovative e-book strategies including the distribution of a variety of e-books directly to a large number of e-tailers in North America and internationally.” In addition, they will consult with authors about everything from digital design to social media to exploring new relationships with “traditional and non-traditional publishers.”

This seems to be clearly aimed at their already-existing clients. But as always, look carefully at something like this before you give up a percentage of your profits, and make sure what they're offering is really worth it.

Yay, a Mrs. Giggles review!

2011-09-23T11:20:00.001-07:00

Mrs. Giggles gives Seeing Spots a kind review (a rating of 80) here. She says, "This is a really cute story. I know, the word 'cute' has icky connotations that are usually dangerous to people with low tolerance for schmaltz, but Seeing Spots is fluffy, comical, and adorable." Well, cool... that's exactly what I was going for!

Things I'd like to do

2011-09-21T16:22:00.001-07:00

I got my first dose of Remicade today. The Benedryl they gave me with it made me snoozy, so I lay back in my recliner and dozed through most of it. Then I went home and slept on the couch for a couple hours. So no real complaints!

I have a lot of Crohn's-related damage, so I don't expect the first dose to do a lot, but I have the second dose in only two weeks. Hopefully things will start improving after that. I was thinking wistfully today about the things I'd like to do again. Little, ordinary things. Severe Crohn's isolates a person more than you might imagine. I miss basic stuff, like being able to walk my dog around the neighborhood (due to an unfortunate lack of public restrooms), or being able to do substantial grocery shopping without having to worry about being caught on the side of the store opposite the bathroom. (I wind up shopping once a day, so I don't have to buy much at once, and sometimes my girls have to do it for me.) I'd like to be able to walk my boys to the bus stop without having to run back to the house before the bus gets there. Little stuff like that, things that most of you probably take for granted. I'd also like to get my anemia under control, so I have some energy and can get back to writing on a serious, daily basis.

I hope the Remicade will fix things. It works for a lot of people. So here's hoping!

Sniffle, sniffle, sneeze

2011-09-20T06:43:00.001-07:00

I've had a cold for a couple of days (thanks to one of the kids, who brought home a nice fresh virus from school). As a result, I haven't been able to go see my dad. He's whining about it, but there is no way I'm exposing a 94-year-old to germs unnecessarily. He'll live without company a few days.

The downside is that I haven't felt like getting much else done, either. Annoying. But tomorrow I'm going to get my first dose of Remicade for my Crohn's. It's an infusion, so I'll sit there for three or four hours with my Kindle in the relative peace and quiet of the infusion center. Sounds almost like a holiday, doesn't it? And with any luck, it will improve my overall health pretty soon.

The Lion King 3D

2011-09-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went to see The Lion King in 3D (I was the one who most wanted to see it, hee). We lost our DVD somehow when we moved, so we haven't seen it in a couple of years, and the youngest doesn't remember it at all. It was very enjoyable. Still a great movie!

The 3D did have a somewhat spotty feel-- the pretty watercolor backgrounds had no real feeling of depth, and some scenes seemed more 3D than others. ("I Just Can't Wait to Be King" was one of the best parts, because its fairly simple, cartoony animation translated well into 3D.) Also, some of the faces and bodies were slightly distorted by the 3D effect. In particular, Mufasa's face looked oddly bloated. Most bright red (the sunsets, the fire) had a peculiar retina-burning effect that didn't look quite right. And finally, I thought the rain at the climax of the movie was too in-your-face-3D and obscured what was happening, but the kids liked it and thought it was well done.

Overall, though, it was a terrific experience.

B&N contest

2011-09-18T09:37:00.001-07:00

B&N has a contest going here. They're giving away a "FREE professionally designed eBook cover" to "one lucky author."

Amazon seems to be testing changes

2011-09-17T05:34:00.000-07:00

A couple of Amazon changes have been noticed by Kindleboard posters that may have an adverse effect on indie sales if they're implemented permanently. First of all, on Amazon UK, they seem to be trying out paid advertising. If you go to one of my books, or many other romance books, you'll get the usual page, but with a prominently located ad just below the buying information: Tempted to try a new author of romantic fiction? Why not check out the paperback edition of Cecelia Ahern's debut novel, Where Rainbows End, for just £1.99? Learn more. There's a link, and a thumbnail of the cover. Unlike the "also boughts," this feels like an effort to divert traffic to specific, targeted books (especially considering its prominent placement on the page). So far, it hasn't shown up on Amazon.com, but if it becomes a regular thing there, it may affect sales.

And speaking of "also boughts," some people on KB are reporting that rather than the "also bought" list on a book's listing (which often includes indies, or other books by the same author), they're seeing a list of the top 100 books in the same category. This is not being seen by everyone, so it's presumably a test, rather than a permanent change. It may make perfect sense for Amazon to try to send readers to their more popular books, but if they implement this change, it will almost certainly have a powerfully adverse effect on indies. Lots of our sales come from the "also bought" lists-- it's one of the best ways for readers to find us. If they change this permanently, it will likely be tougher for readers to find us.

Self-publishing 101

2011-09-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

Some guy just randomly promoted his first book on the Amazon romance threads, even though it isn't a romance. When I went to look it up, I saw that it was only available in a CreateSpace paperback edition-- no Kindle edition. Therefore I couldn't check the quality of the writing, and would have had to pay $14 to find out if the author could write. Unsurprisingly, I chose not to do that.

Note to all indies: Put out a reasonably priced Kindle edition. I don't care if you've always dreamed of seeing your book in print, or if you think this whole silly e-publishing thing is just a fad, or you just know your work is so awesome it's worth fourteen dollars, or whatever. An electronic version is absolutely necessary. It 1. enables readers to sample your writing and find out if you can actually write (which, despite your assurances, is not a given, believe me) and 2. enables you to provide a reasonably-priced edition that will encourage readers to take a chance on you.

Trust me on this: No one is going to pony up fourteen bucks on an unknown writer whose work they haven't sampled. No one.

Indie successes

2011-09-13T04:35:00.000-07:00

There's a great post on Joe Konrath's blog about Bella Andre/Lucy Kevin, and her amazing successes as an indie.

Where I was

2011-09-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

My 9/11 story isn't particularly interesting or unique-- pretty much like everyone else's who didn't live in DC or NYC, I imagine. I was driving back from dropping off kid #2 at preschool with a very young baby in the backseat when I heard on the radio that a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center buildings. The news announcer seemed to think it was probably a private plane that had made a navigational error. But a couple of moments later, they announced a second plane had hit, and at that point it was horribly clear that it was no accident. I drove home, turned on the TV, and sat riveted in horror.

At one point I noticed my neighbor out in her backyard, and went out to tell her the news in case she hadn't heard. She hadn't. I remember she asked, "But the buildings are still standing, right?" and I answered, "Well, of course they're still standing. It's not like planes could knock them over-- could they?" I honestly couldn't conceive of something as huge as the World Trade Center towers falling or collapsing. It just didn't seem possible when they did in fact collapse.

A morning with Dad

2011-09-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

I took Dad out today, and we did breakfast rather than lunch (I'm having to go over there early now because I have to pick the oldest up from school rather early every day). We drove into Norfolk and observed "the Tide," i.e., the light rail, which is now running:
Dad is old enough to remember the streetcars that used to run around Norfolk, of course, so he's thrilled to see something like them once again. One of these days, when we have enough time, we'll park at the big Newtown Road parking lot and ride it, since it's supposed to be very handicapped accessible. Should be fun!

Free update

2011-09-08T07:58:00.001-07:00

Isn't It Romantic? has been downloaded for free over 1150 times in the UK and is now #16 on the free list there. This doesn't seem to be moving a lot of my other books, sadly. All I Ever Wanted has sold a few copies, but when I looked at it I realized it had been discounted to .49 (from .86) thanks to iTunes discounting it and Amazon price matching. As if the regular price isn't low enough! This seems to be a recurring problem with using Smashwords as a distributor, unfortunately. I haven't seen any new sales on In the Mood or Seeing Spots over there, alas. But who knows? Maybe the exposure will benefit me eventually.

Free in the UK

2011-09-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

Isn't It Romantic? has gone free in the UK, and has already "sold" 476 copies, putting it at #37 on their free list (and #1 on their Humour list). It'd be nice if this gave me more exposure over there, since I still am not selling a load of books in the UK. I also hope it means Amazon.com will soon switch it to free on this side of the pond, too. Here's hopin'!

That Dear Author review for SEEING SPOTS...

2011-09-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

...has some of the nicest comments on it. One person says, "...I do remember this author for having a nice writing style." The reviewer responds, "She does have a really nice writing style – very pleasant and funny. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the story, and it was a great little read. My biggest problem was that it wasn’t all that memorable for me, so it wasn’t catapulted into a higher grade range. That’s all. Her heroes are very sweet and beta, which was a nice change of pace." Other comments: "That’s my favorite thing about the one story of hers I’ve read: a likable, believable beta hero." "I really enjoy Ellen’s stories precisely because they are uncomplicated and humorous with adorable beta heroes."

Awwww. It's lovely to be appreciated:-). I do think it's interesting, though, that readers mostly seem to remember my humor (such as it is, heh) and my beta heroes. It seems that my historicals and Never Love a Stranger (all of which are fairly heavy, angsty reading) haven't made as much of an impression as my lightweight, fluffy contemporaries.

RT me!

2011-09-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

I participated in #SampleSunday today for the first time. Since I was actually paying attention, I noticed a bunch of retweets going past. I looked, and sure enough, on Kindleboards there's a thread for people to RT each other. I had thought the #SampleSunday thread on KB would simply be a place to post your link so people could find it, but no, it's explicitly set up to encourage people to RT each other.

I really do wonder if this helps. If people RT a whole lot of stuff like this (even if they try to schedule it out so it's not so spammy), do readers really pay attention? Don't readers get sick of seeing all those RTed samples? I would think they would, after a while...

If it does work, though, I suppose I'm at a disadvantage, publicity-wise, since my sample is only tweeted once, and some samples are being tweeted dozens of times.

Excerpt from Seeing Spots for #SampleSunday

2011-09-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

"Call me Kathy," she said, staring at him. "After everything we did together this morning, I think you should call me Kathy."

"And I think you should call me Dare. But only if you’re not going to dump me."

Her hand squeezed harder. He winced.

"I don’t think I can dump you if we’re not dating," she said softly.

"Don’t you think that after everything that's happened, we can reasonably say that we’re dating?"

"Well, maybe…"

"And yet you’re still trying to blow me off."

"I'm not trying to blow you off." She drew herself up with an air of calm dignity that was belied by the nervously fluttering fingers. "I'm just trying to make sure we're both on the same page."

"Kathy..." He sighed. "We were on the same page this morning."

"Maybe. Not really. I mean, you just kind of got carried away. It was the underwear, not me."

"Sure, Kathy. I always sleep with women because I like their bras."

She looked annoyed by his snark. "You've never looked at me like that before," she said irritably. "But the minute you caught a glimpse of my underwear, you were all over me like..."

"Spots on a leopard?"

"Something like that, yeah. And before that, you couldn’t stop staring at my spotted t-shirt. Obviously you have a spot fetish."

"Kathy..." He cocked his head. "Do you really find it that hard to believe that I find you sexy?"

She was silent a long moment, while her fingers fluttered frantically.

"Yes," she said at last, very softly. "I do."

He frowned at her, narrowing his eyes. "You do realize I came over here tonight to have sex with you, right?"

"Oh. Well. I understand that you probably feel sort of obligated now..."

"Obligated!" He rose to his feet with a sudden surge of indignation. "Obligated!? Are you kidding me?"

"Okay, maybe obligated wasn't quite the right word..."

"It was totally the wrong word." He grabbed her by the arms and hauled her up against him, glaring down into her eyes. "Kathy, I came over here to make love to you because I find you attractive. And sexy. And hot as hell."

"Oh," she said in a small voice. "Well... if you're sure..."

"I'm sure. Believe me, I'm sure. I'm so sure I went out shopping after work, and bought you a little something."

She tilted her head, curiosity lighting the golden depths of her eyes. "What?"

He lowered his head and whispered into her ear.

"Take off my jeans and find out."

Yay!

2011-09-03T17:44:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Week in Rewind for featuring Seeing Spots!

Hero meets the neighbors

2011-09-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

New neighbors moved in today-- a nice family with three kids. I've talked to them a couple of times, but today they were relaxing on their deck (after a hard day spent unpacking a huge truck), and the dogs went over to that end of the yard and woofed: You are strangers, we don't like strangers! Alert! Alert!

I went out and told them to calm down, and the husband (a big guy who must stand six foot three) came over, a little hesitantly. I assured him the dogs were harmless, and he came into the yard. Hero immediately jumped up and gently put his feet on the guy's chest, waggling like mad, and Impulse followed (because although he knows better, he will do what Hero does).

I yelled, "OFF!", but the guy said, "Oh, that's okay, don't worry about it," and put his arms around Hero, patting him. Of course, that was a cue to Hero to adore the new neighbor forever and ever. (Like the dog in Up: "I just met you, but I LOVE YOU!!!") He started bouncing higher and higher-- in front of the guy, because he knows he's not supposed to actually jump ON people very hard-- and the guy bent over and got smacked squarely in the mouth by Hero's happily bounding head. Hero didn't notice, but the neighbor definitely did.

Fortunately, there was no serious damage done. But let this be a lesson to you-- don't encourage idiotic, large, bounding masses of fur to jump on you. You might regret it.

Sales for August

2011-09-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a great month for sales in August (lots of others said sales were generally slow, too). I sold about 4400 books-- just a touch less than last month. I hope that Seeing Spots will pick up steam this month, and that Isn't It Romantic? will finally go free. Both those things would likely help sales.

Yay, my first review!

2011-09-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Author gives Seeing Spots a C+. Nice review that is entirely accurate-- there's not a lot of conflict in this story, and it's mostly just for fun. If that's what you're looking for, it's the book for you, but don't read it expecting a lot of angst or depth:-). "Overall a cute read, and you have an easy voice that is a pleasure to read."

Seeing Spots hits 100

2011-08-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

Seeing Spots hit its 100th copy sold tonight, so I (barely) made that milestone before the end of the month. That's a pretty good start for me-- my books typically start out kind of slow and pick up steam as they go. I'm pleased to have sold so many already. Interestingly, I've sold about twice as many on B&N as on Amazon. I hope it'll start selling better on Amazon in the months ahead!

Interesting

2011-08-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

I was just poking around my Amazon numbers, and noticed that while In the Mood continues to be far and away my bestselling Ellen Fisher title in the U.S., I've sold exactly zero copies of it in the UK this month. In fact, none of my contemporaries sell more than a couple a month over there. Love Remembered, my historical, is my bestselling EF book there, with 36 copies sold there this month, and 50 last month. Interesting, and a bit perplexing. I wonder why my contemps don't seem to sell over there...

A fan, cool!

2011-08-29T06:43:00.001-07:00

I called my insurance company because of extremely minor wind damage to my house (we lost two shingles). When I told the woman who picked up the phone my name, she said, "You're the author, right?"

I admitted I was. It turns out she knows my father-in-law, and that he'd mentioned my books to her because she's a romance lover. She's bought all four available on Nook, and read two so far, and told me that she really loved them. She even wants a sequel to All I Ever Wanted. So that was a really nice start to my day!

Featured on Two Ends of the Pen!

2011-08-26T05:11:00.001-07:00

My latest is featured here. Here's hoping it does great things for sales!

Hurricane stuff

2011-08-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

I stocked up on water and bread today, and will stock up on pet food later. I'm still trying to convince Dad he needs to come over and stay in a nearby hotel. He lives in an old house surrounded by a lot of big, ancient trees, and he's only about seven miles from the oceanfront. I want to get him tomorrow, because if they call for a full evacuation of Virginia Beach, the governor can reverse the interstate, so that all the roads are running west. In that event, it will be extremely difficult for me to get over to pick him up. I really don't dare wait till Saturday!

Dad, Dad, Dad

2011-08-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

My father is driving me crazy, yet again. He's stressing about the hurricane. He wants to come to my house. I agreed that he might need to evacuate, but reminded him that I have no downstairs beds, and no handicapped-accessible bathrooms, and suggested the hotel around the corner instead. But he doesn't really want to stay in a hotel. He wants to stay here, despite the clear impossibility of it (I may have him move in at some point, but I'll have to rip out a wall first). He's calling me twice a day and whining pitifully about how a hotel just won't be good enough.

Meanwhile, his third new television in a few months is "malfunctioning." Despite the clear evidence that he keeps pushing buttons on the remote and screwing the settings up, he blames the TV, every last time. He had to get his handyman over today because he was seeing a blue screen, and assures me that his handyman told him the TV is a lemon and that he MUST buy a new one. No amount of argument or persuasion on my part can convince him that he's doing something to mess up the settings-- he is certain the culprit is the TV. Apparently they just don't make TVs like they used to.

Sigh. This is starting to get extremely wearing. I really don't know what to do with him. He seems too coherent and mentally together to go into a nursing home, and he doesn't want to move in here (except when a hurricane is looming), but he can't keep on buying TVs every two weeks, either. And I can't stop him-- last time I took his TV to Best Buy and got it fixed, and he simply went out with someone else behind my back and bought a new one anyway. Ridiculous, and aggravating.

Earthquake!

2011-08-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

I was in my Dad's bathroom when the earthquake hit. For a second, I thought the house was rattling because a jet plane was going overhead (he's right under the flight path of Oceana, and jets roar overhead all day long), but then felt the floor moving and realized it was an earthquake. I sat there, wondering what would happen to his fifty-year-old house if it was a really bad one. I imagined the house tumbling down around my ears, and contemplated the probable inscription on my tombstone: She died on the toilet.

It's the perfect epitaph for a Crohn's sufferer, really. Still, it lacks a certain poetry:-). I'm glad the earthquake wasn't that severe, and that no one seems to have been seriously harmed by it!

My books are apparently a gateway drug

2011-08-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

I read this article on CNN about evangelical Christians trying to cure "porn addicts," and was struck by this line: "Christian media outlets like Today’s Christian Woman have recently run stories about women consuming porn, often theorizing that the habit starts with explicit romance novels."

Pain update

2011-08-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

As I posted previously, I couldn't get to see my surgeon till the end of the month, and when I called my gastrointestinal doctor on Friday for advice, the nurse told me I'd have to wait till Monday because he was out of the office. I went to Patient First today and managed to get a doctor to prescribe me some antibiotics. I really hope that's going to help!

Awwww, is this cute or what?

2011-08-20T12:53:00.001-07:00

My daughter's kitten Chell with her companion cube (which is amusing if you happen to play Portal):

Kittens are cute:-).

Pain, pain, go away

2011-08-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

Something is not right where I had surgery. It's gotten to the point where sitting very long is quite uncomfortable. Even worse, I can hardly bear to walk, and I'm having to make my girls do most of the shopping for me. I had a followup appointment with the surgeon on the 25th, but they called yesterday and left a message saying he had to reschedule. Today I called back and told them I had realized I needed to see him sooner, because I was in extreme discomfort. Alas, the soonest he can see me is the 31st.

Great. I'll just lie on the couch and watch TV till then. It's not like I need to write, or cook, or take care of kids and my father, or do back-to-school shopping. I'll just lie here! No freaking problem!

Tylenol helps, so I guess I'll be taking lots of that. Plus, I do believe I'll be b*tching. That helps too, oddly enough:-).

This and that

2011-08-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

Isn't It Romantic? is now free on B&N.

I got my first rating (not review) on B&N for Seeing Spots, and I'm happy to say the reader gave me four stars. It's nice to know that someone liked it!

Sweet Release

2011-08-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

Pamela Clare joins the ranks of indie authors with the reissue of Sweet Release, a colonial American historical. Go buy it. You'll love it!

Shocking moments in parenting

2011-08-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

My oldest remarked that she needed some clean shirts, and I said, "I'm doing some laundry tonight. I can toss some of yours in tonight, if you like."

"No, thanks," she answered. "I can do my own tomorrow."

Um...

Ummmm...

Did I really manage to raise a kid who can do her own laundry (and even prefers to do her own laundry) at sixteen? Seriously? Wow-- I guess I'm doing something right, after all!

Wow, that was prompt!

2011-08-10T11:21:00.001-07:00

Samhain (a wonderful company which I've greatly enjoyed working with) has kindly agreed to revert my rights on my three books with them, since my books are not great sellers for them. I won't get my rights back for six months, per contract, but they've already been removed from some vendors, including Amazon. So if you're looking for those books, you'll need to wait six months to get them:-). I'll try to get them off my sidebar and website sometime this week, so no one is needlessly confused.

Seeing Spots is out!

2011-08-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

Seeing Spots is now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Curiosity

2011-08-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed the first episode of Curiosity on Discovery Channel, but I had some issues with its logic. Not that I'm saying I'm smarter than Stephen Hawking or anything:-). However, the conclusion put forth at the end of the show was that there was no God, because time didn't exist before the Big Bang, since the universe at that point was a singularity just like the black holes that can be found in our own universe. Nothing could have created the universe, because no time existed prior to the Big Bang.

Okay, but black holes exist in our universe, and there is time going on around them, even if not inside them. Therefore someone (not necessarily God) could presumably create a singularity. Just because there isn't time inside the singularity doesn't mean there isn't time outside the singularity.

I'm guessing Hawking's point makes more sense when written out in big, complicated (and to me, incomprehensible) equations, but it seemed like a fairly gaping hole in the explanation the show was trying to provide.

Take a breath in there somewhere, kiddo

2011-08-07T06:33:00.000-07:00

My six-year-old, who has never learned to put a period in any of his sentences: "Last night I dreamed we were going to Busch Gardens, and when I got up I was like, yay, we're going to Busch Gardens, and I was really excited, and then I was like, waaaaaiiiiitttt, we aren't going to Busch Gardens today, we're going to church!"

Why exactly are you touching my toes?

2011-08-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hero has never liked having his nails clipped at PetSmart, but the last time I took him in he was handled by someone he didn't know, and apparently got very obnoxious about it, even to the point of showing his teeth. This is a bad thing, as his nails grow fast and require cutting every month or so. So we're working on desensitizing him to having his feet messed with. I say "paw," take his paw, and poke it for a moment, then tell him good dog! good paw! in an enthusiastic voice, give him a treat, and generally make over him as if it's an amazing accomplishment. He's improving already. This dog will do anything for a treat!

More on revisions

2011-08-05T19:54:00.001-07:00

I've gotten some more done on Seeing Spots-- some stuff that I noticed needed adding, some stuff that Jody suggested while kindly brainstorming with me. It's about 20,000 words long, and I think it's very near to being finished now. I'm really quite happy with it, and I hope my readers will enjoy it. I notice that my bestsellers on Amazon are my lightweight contemporary romantic comedies, and it's also obvious that there are a lot of fans of paranormal romance. So it seemed natural to write a "contemporary romantic comedy with a paranormal twist," which is the slightly cumbersome genre description I'm going with for this one.

Revision

2011-08-03T10:17:00.001-07:00

My friend Jody was nice enough to look over Seeing Spots and beta it for me. Following her advice, I added a new first chapter which has more dialogue and less introspective, internal monologue-y stuff-- more showing and less telling, in other words. I think it flows much better now. I've been playing around with it all day, and will probably take a break soon, and get back to it later. Still, I'm very happy with how much I've accomplished on it today.

Agents who "assist" in self-publishing

2011-08-02T06:21:00.001-07:00

There's a good post here by Laura Resnick about why agents who "assist" at self-publishing may have a conflict of interest. I totally understand why some people would be willing to give up 15% of their income to have someone handle stuff like covers, editing, and marketing-- some people just do not want to deal with all those details, and prefer to focus on writing. I'm not saying you should never, ever go into such an agreement with an agent, but I do think authors should approach such agreements with extreme caution.

Sales

2011-08-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

Once again, this was my poorest month since January. But a lot of other people reported the same problem, so I'm not too worried. I sold about 4500 books (my best seller is still In the Mood), plus I had over a thousand free downloads of Isn't It Romantic? on Smash. It hasn't gone free on Amazon yet, alas.

I am very close to being done with Seeing Spots. I've been having some problems with my stomach that prevent me from working as hard as I would like to, but I hope it will be done and up very shortly. That will probably help sales.

The cake is not a lie

2011-07-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

The sixteen-year-old made her own cake this year. She specifically wanted a Portal cake, based on the video game, and alas for her, I don't care for baking, and believe cakes are all purchased at Wal-Mart. So she threw herself into the task of baking herself a real, honest-to-goodness Portal cake, and although she's never baked before, she produced a really nice cake-- see the picture. It is in fact (to make a Portal reference) delicious and moist. I'm impressed by her mad cooking skillz!

Sweet sixteen

2011-07-31T07:46:00.000-07:00

My oldest turned sixteen yesterday. She wanted to go to Busch Gardens and see the Miranda Cosgrove concert, so (after some whining from yours truly, who was having serious Crohn's issues and would have preferred just dropping her off instead) we all went in the afternoon. The concert was free, and they opened the gates at 4:00. We were there by 4:30, just in time to get a seat. Not long after that, the place was full up.

We sat in the blazing sun till six, when thirteen-year-old Greyson Chance performed (and the sun thankfully dropped behind the trees), and then Ms. Cosgrove came on stage from seven to eight. She was pretty good (I know some of her songs from stuff the daughter has loaded onto the iPod, so much of it was pretty familiar to me) with an enthusiastic, bouncy stage presence and a solid voice. The younger boy enjoyed the novelty of it all; the older boy read books the whole time. Both girls seemed to have fun.

After that, we walked across the park (with whining from Mom, but none from the kids:-) and watched the closing fireworks at 9:30, and then drove home. The traffic wasn't as bad as I feared, and we were home by 10:30 or so-- to the immense joy and relief of the dogs, who wondered where on earth we were all afternoon!

Bleah

2011-07-27T07:26:00.000-07:00

The full story of the author who was fooled by someone pretending to be a major agent is here at Writer Beware. My sympathies to the author, and kudos to her for providing the details so that others are warned. It's a good reminder that we need to be very cautious, and look before we leap. Yes, a few indies have been approached by major agents, but in general, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Twenty years later

2011-07-27T04:59:00.001-07:00

Wben VH and I got married twenty years ago, we bought a house. We didn't live there too long-- we moved when the oldest was a baby, because VH was sick of his consulting job, which required massive amounts of travel-- but it was a nice little house. It was in the middle of a field, as was the entire neighborhood. So we planted three maples (one in the front yard and two in the back), referred to as the Q-tip trees, because they looked like toothpicks with a tiny ball of leaves on top. We also planted two crepe myrtles in the front yard, and a ton of azaleas, which were only about a foot high when we moved out. I haven't seen the house in a long time, and last night I thought, "We ought to drive down and see what it looks like now."

Silly thought, as the house is six hours from here. But it occurred to me that I could look it up on Google Maps, so I did. The Q-tip trees are now massive. The backyard is all but covered by their canopies, and from the road you can only see the house's garage, because the rest is hidden by trees and shrubs. It's no longer a new house in a field, but a nice older house in an established and well-treed neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the child who was a baby when we moved out will turn sixteen in three days. Time marches on...

Work and not-work

2011-07-26T04:28:00.000-07:00

I've gotten lots done on Seeing Spots in the past few days. Unfortunately, today I have to go see Dad (and take his car in for inspection and maintenance), so I won't get any writing done today. I hope I'll get back to it tomorrow.

John Carter!

2011-07-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

I've been spreading this around Twitter, but if you happen to be an ERB fan, here's the first trailer for John Carter (formerly known as John Carter of Mars, based on the book A Princess of Mars). It will come out in March 2012, when A Princess of Mars will be a hundred years old:

Twitter

2011-07-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

I didn't like to do it, but I unfollowed someone on Twitter because they posted a whole bunch of political tweets in a row. I don't follow people in the publishing industry because I care about their political views, and that kind of thing just aggravates me. I don't know if it irritates others that much, but before you start making repeated, highly politicized entries on your Twitter feed or blog, I think it's good to remember that no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, you will probably piss off fifty percent of your readers if you get political:-).

Wow

2011-07-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

KND has a list of highly-rated humor books, and Isn't It Romantic? is listed. How exciting to have them spontaneously mention one of my books!

Sales...

2011-07-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

...seem to be spectacularly dead, not just for me but for a lot of other indies as well. Sales seem to have been dropping off all month (and are not being helped by Amazon's latest big sale). Many of those who were doing well on B&N are complaining about the same drop in sales, too. Hopefully this is just a seasonal variation, and no doubt there are exceptions to the rule, but right now a lot of indies are crying the blues.

Right now I'm giving books away pretty well (I've had Isn't It Romantic? downloaded over 830 times on Smashwords), but sadly, that's not spilling over to the other book I have available on Smash, which has made two sales:-P.

Ellen Fisher's Journal

The Nerd Prince

New covers

My iPhone

Of birthdays and anniversaries

Rearranging my office a bit

*Hugs you all*

Woot!

Hallo there!

The tale of the tire

Happy New Year!!!

Seeing Spots, again

Seeing Spots...

Year end totals

And more In the Mood...

Update on In the Mood...

In the Mood is moving along...

In the Mood...

Home for the Holidays is up!

Finished!

Go buy this book

In the Mood...

A Wintertide Spell

Warning: Dangerous agent contracts ahead

What going free can do

The cat update

Getting exposure

Thank you, iTunes

In the Mood...

Amazon in error

Last month's results

In the Mood is doing great on Apple

More Apple

More adventures of Grievous

The handyman can

A pleasant Saturday

New covers!

Some new pictures

Seeing Spots...

In the Mood- free!

Apple store, yet again

Apple again

Yay for Apple sales

#1? Really?

Wow

Different strokes for different folks

How this month has gone, and future plans

Big news from Amazon

Remicade works wonders

"E-book operations"

Yay, a Mrs. Giggles review!

Things I'd like to do

Sniffle, sniffle, sneeze

The Lion King 3D

B&N contest

Amazon seems to be testing changes

Self-publishing 101

Indie successes

Where I was

A morning with Dad

Free update

Free in the UK

That Dear Author review for SEEING SPOTS...

RT me!

Excerpt from Seeing Spots for #SampleSunday

Yay!

Hero meets the neighbors

Sales for August

Yay, my first review!

Seeing Spots hits 100

Interesting

A fan, cool!

Featured on Two Ends of the Pen!

Hurricane stuff

Dad, Dad, Dad

Earthquake!

My books are apparently a gateway drug

Pain update

Awwww, is this cute or what?

Pain, pain, go away

Hugs you all