Authors still giving back!

The smashwords Authors Give Back Sale is on until the end of May, currently set to wind down at midnight on the 31st.

Don't rule out the possibility that they end date may be rolled out again, a lot of us will be adjusting our plans for a while to come yet. The restrictions are easing, the mental strain isn't. and will linger long after the socially visible aspects of this situation,

I revisited the smashwords blog where the authors give back sale was first announced and carried on reading to the bottom of the page and on into the previous post and found a delicious story about bakers and cookies, analogous to the predicament of the independant writer, or any writer. 

We're getting a glimpse of what happens when the little guy who makes the superb  goodies is taken out of the equation. No one expected it to happen this way. 

Mark Coker, posts the story from Nicky Charles in the Smashwords blog post  post of the 5th March, The Baker and the Pot of Gold. The piece is a response to Mark Coker's review 2020 Publishing Predictions, Hose of Indie on Fire. A yearly reflection on the state of Independant publishing. To use his own words from the review,  a 'State of the Indie Nation' piece. 

A bite for all appetites. the lighter side in Nicky's cookie tale, and Mark's more serious offering, and not stodgy.

Enjoy

Martyn

Area 51?

Area 51 - that got your attention; no, not the place that officially unofficially exists or doesn't somewhere in Nevada, although Google Earth seems convinced it knows where it is, but the 51st area for Apple's iBookstore - Japan. Now open for business

I admit there are certain oriental mysteries about the culture and people of the Japanese islands that have always intrigued me, and a favourite James Bond novel, You Only Live Twice, is set there. The book has a much more exotic element regarding poisons and volcanic vents than the film, but it catches something of the strangeness of the culture.

The news yesterday morning carried a link to the press release announcing the opening and tucked away inside it was a fascinating factoid, a conversational elephant stopper, 130 million iBook apps have been downloaded to iPads, iPhones etc.; now wind it back and run it again. That is a staggering figure, and imagine all that space waiting to be filled with books, 130 million iBook apps, we're already half way through Read an Ebook Week and time to go bobbing in Apple's barrel.

If you haven't had your fill yet, help yourself, my two books Iceline and Control Escape are part of the action this week and the notification emails have never been busier. The discount code until Saturday is RW100, don't keep it to yourself.
A week is said to be a long time in politics, not so when your working through the pages of a book, a week may put ten or fifteen thousand words on the story, more if you're working at it full time - a delightful luxury I'm not in a position to enjoy at the moment, but hey, I can dream.

Be part of it, spread the word.

130 million opportunities for an Indie Author like myself to connect with the reading public: you,  to entertain you, to share the adventures of my characters and hang in there with them through thrills, mystery and danger until  way off in the distance there is a hint of a large lady singing.

Whatever and wherever you're reading, enjoy.