Slippery slopes

It may not look slippery but we walked cautiously up this bridle track by the house on Christmas Day.  Another kind of slippery slope faces me as an epublisher.  How can I maintain high standards while keeping fees, costs and prices low?  I need submissions of quality as well as a large quantity of submissions.  I've written about the copy-editing dilemma on my notepad on the site.  Have a look.

Is competition good or bad?

In the Middle East, so I've heard, shoe shops gather like flocks of starlings. You get a whole street of shops only selling shoes. The storekeepers work on the principle that competition pays. Someone wanting shoes makes for that street; one shop, which might not have got that custom if its location was elsewhere, will benefit.

So what's the case in the virtual world? Does the same principle apply?

I'm thinking about this today because yesterday, while trawling about on a Google Alert, I came across the news that a site that sounds very like mine is about to be launched. I immediately wailed aloud, so to speak, on my ePublisher's notepad on site. The pre-launch page of the competitor's site gave an excellent impression. It is clearly backed by highly professional and well-funded people. A Goliath to my David.

But now, this morning, I have come to the conclusion that I must have a shoeshop-street attitude. The more epublishing ebookstores there are for original work not previously published, we will all benefit. There is a (virtual) question mark at the end of this paragraph.

In any case, I shall think of WritersReadersDirect as the small and select epublishing ebookstore site where I can keep up the standard of the work I publish and maintain a personal touch with writers and readers.

I may be whistling in the dark ......

Seniors appreciate eReaders

I came across a blog today which talked of research carried out by the Kansas City Star Tribune. Apparently, the Kindle is an 'astounding success with seniors ... (because of its) ..portability, accessibility, affordability, readability and availability'.
I like this! It augurs well for publishers of original ebooks. I think Americans (as always) are further ahead in adopting new ways of reading than we are in the UK. Since setting up my digital publishing business, lots of people, not just those designated seniors, have told me firmly that they would never read a novel on screen. Yet if only they were to give it a go, they would discover what a pleasant - and different - experience it is to reading a print book. Both print and digital have their place.

World Books day?

On the Culture Show last night there was a piece about something called World Books Day which will happen in the spring. I listened with puzzlement. What on earth has been dreamt up here? Who by? Twenty five extremely well known books and authors are going to get huge promotion. What's the point of that? If it's the print publishers' wheeze to get new readers, why are they funding an enterprise that doesn't extend the range of available reading material? Let's get new readers by offering entirely new fiction - that is, all the quality fiction that traditional publishers say they cannot afford to take on. Brand new ebooks are the answer!

eBook typos

eBooks can be criticised for the prevalence of typos, and often are. Poorly edited work spoils my enjoyment as a reader. In fact, it can make me throw aside a book in disgust and anger. However, as an ebook publisher it's a different matter. To produce very reasonably priced ebooks from original work fast, I cannot spend time toothcombing each submission. The onus must be on the writer to submit polished work. This is something of a dilemma for me. I want to keep up standards but I also need to generate activity on WritersReadersDirect.

Handmade Books

On Monday afternoons this term - I still think in terms - I've joined a group of really talented women making one-off books. This is in direct contrast to my present day job: digital publishing. What could be more of a contrast? I've set up a business to bring writers and readers into direct touch but that touch exists only in the virtual world. The ecommerce aspect of the website has taken ages to grasp that ebooks don't exist in physical form. It wanted to charge an American customer £25 for delivery. In fact, downloads cost just £3! That blip was easily corrected. There was also trouble in France when we first went live. All well now but I can tell you that Monday afternoons are bliss. Working with the right side of the brain is a holiday. (Not sure at all whether this old chestnut is actually scientifically proven). Today a fellow Monday afternoon-er has put the group onto a blogger called Margaret Cooter. Wonderful descriptions of what she's doing to make beautiful books, with images of the process too. Like it!

Talking about ...

I'm fascinated by the idea that Thoth, the god of writing, has the job of weighing the heart of the deceased. I like to interpret this on these lines: writing should have a good heart-head balance. The Book of the Dead was a series of spells on papyrus and linen to help the deceased pass through the dangerous afterlife to reach eternity.
Will digital books last?

solitary study or social meeting?

I reckon writers need to alternate between going out and staying in. We go out to sniff the air, hear conversations, meet people, and experience real life. Then we need to retreat and let the experience transmute into fiction. I don't mean this on a daily basis; more likely, the pattern is timed in years. I know I have alternated between being out there in the world discovering things, and then holing up to write.
In January there's the opportunity for any holed-up writers living within easy reach of Plymouth to get together for a day of interest and exchange. It's called South West Authors Cafe. I may have added an enclosure link for this. I'm a learner at this blogging business. So here goes with this experiment - I hold my breath, click on publish post, light blue touch paper and retire.

Brain overload

WritersReadersDirect.com is now live.

TSP: Tiphanie Yanique: "A Reader Is Always a Child"

TSP: Tiphanie Yanique: "A Reader Is Always a Child": "In the 32nd in a series of posts on 2010 short story collections entered for The Story Prize, Tiphanie Yanique, author of How to Escape from..."

Book Notes: Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens

Book Notes: Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens
There's so much interesting READING to read. What a universe out there.

Soliloquy

I wonder if this is a total waste of time. It's like muttering in a corner. If I knew that there might eventually be a discussion, I'd mutter about something of interest to people who write and read fiction. How on earth does a blog earn an audience. Coo-eee?

Is fiction writing like cycling?

People say that you never forget how to ride a bike. If you haven't written fiction for a while, do you remember clearly how to do it? Do you wobble? Fall off? Or wobble, find your balance, and speed away?

And what about blogging and tweeting? I wonder if that too is like learning how to ride a bike. I'm beginning to see how to go about this.

brainstorms

I'm blundering about in the dark here.

first time blogger

As a first time blogger I feel half- curious,half-apprehensive. Probably it will all just go down a big black hole in the universe without even a fading eeeeee to be heard back on earth. So ----?