Tag: Kobo

Dropping Kobo support

Published on by Jaye2 Comments
Kobo eReader
Kobo eReader (Photo credit: ndh)

I like supporting various e-readers and their associated services.  It’s, frankly, not usually very difficult.

Sadly, Kobo has decided to make it so.  For no reason I can fathom they do not accept ePub files that even the most exacting alternatives accept without question and that work on their App (I don’t have one of their devices so have no idea), won’t accept a MOBI file that Amazon took no issue with, and does very strange things when fed a raw .doc/.docx file.  Therefore, while Love or Lust will continue to be sold there for the foreseeable future, Ready or Not will not be carried there nor will any future books.

I’m sorry.

If you’re a Kobo user you can get ePub copies from Apple, DriveThru Fiction, and Smashwords.  Nook is also an ePub version, but it can be awkward to get at the file, though not impossible — so Barnes & Noble is another source of the file.  I do not use DRM so the file you get from any of those sources will play happily with your device so long as Kobo continues to support standard ePub format.  My personal recommendation is not-Smashwords as the formatting gets a little weird after the trip through their “meat grinder” which is as horrible as it sounds.

I am actually very sad to be leaving Kobo, and I may return some day if their service to the publisher/author improves.  They are almost as respectful to their content providers as Apple and offer many of the same services.  Only DriveThru Fiction can remotely say the same.  Still I have no intention to spend hours or even days pulling my hair out trying to track down its various imagined code errors.

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Ready or Not pre-orders

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Ready or Not (concept only)Well, it’s finally done with my editor.  A quick proofread by me and some arguing with the various retailers, then the book will be available.

Smashwords and iBooks allow pre-orders, though it is not yet listed with Apple.  Smashwords is another story.

I’ll have the first two chapters up for samples sometime in the next couple of days.

The release is scheduled for 26 July.  Even if Apple doesn’t get the pre-order set up before then, the book ought to be available for purchase and download by then.

The other retailers: Kobo, DriveThru Fiction, All Romance eBooks, Kindle, and Nook will start showing up on that date as they each complete their own listing processing.

There, of course, will also be a print edition; and most likely a Goodreads give-away for an autographed copy or two.

Love or Lust will be reduced to us$2.99, Ready or Not will be us$3.99 their print editions will remain us$17.99.

Hope you will enjoy it as much as you did book 1.  It was certainly a lot of fun to write if not nearly so much fun to edit.  Book 3 still has no title, but one will be announced by the end of the year.

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The end is in sight!

Published on by JayeLeave a comment

Ready or Not (concept only)First off, my editor should be done with Ready or Not in the next 3 – 5 days.  As soon as I get it I’ll be setting up pre-order on iBooks and Smashwords (the only outlets that allow it) for about 1 – 2 weeks later (it takes a bit of time for Apple to process the upload, they run pretty thorough quality checks on the file to make sure it won’t make your iPad spontaneously combust or something) during which time I’ll give it one more read through and buff.

I’m truly sorry this has taken so long.  Sadly for various personal reasons (see spending a week in hospital and a month on narcotics, thereby unable to interact with my editor), various reasons related to my editor having this unfailing talent for getting terribly ill with a flu during the summer (normally, however, it’s closer to August so wasn’t strictly planned on), and the simply embarrassing number of errors in this book which slowed down the process (seriously, for Love or Lust she was able to get through nearly 2x as many pages in any given hour) it has just taken forever to edit.

This, like its predecessor, will be available in ebook and print from all the same retailers for us$3.99 for ebook and us$17.99 for print (various international pricing available proportioned based on the retail outlet in question).

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Sale extention

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Image representing Amazon Kindle as depicted i...
Image via CrunchBase

Due to all the grief and nightmare getting the book to discount for all of you who prefer Kindle meaning nearly half (or more) of the sale was over before it could be taken advantage of, I’ve decided to bump it another week.

So, until the 9th of March you’ll be able to get Love or Lust for 75% off in ebook.

I’m extending the sale across the board, not just for Kindle.  So iBooks, Kobo, Nook, DriveThru Fiction, All Romance eBooks, Smashwords … whatever you like, you’ve got an extra week to get the book for only us$1!

Tell your friends, you enemies, your local radio station, the pope, Ben & Jerry (please inform them, in fact, that — should they wish — I’ll negotiate copies of the book for a pint of ice cream), extraterrestrial abductors, random strangers, and the Easter Bunny about this!  Get creative.

Hell … that’s a fun idea!  Anyone who actually takes my shameless pleading to heart, and can show me proof of your elabourate and creative endeavour to spread the word … I’ll give you a free copy of the ebook, and one first place winner gets a signed paperback (free ebooks for creative shameless plugging till the end of the month, on 1 April I’ll announce the paperback winner … if anyone decides to play along, that is).

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Pre-ordery goodnes!!

Published on by JayeLeave a comment

So I was poking around on Smashwords today and discovered something wonderful!  They offer pre-order!

This is outrageously awesome.

Now, a few things to bear in mind:  I do not distribute through Smashword’s Premium Catalogue.  I go to each marketplace myself.  Apple, Kobo (if I recall correctly), and (now) Smashwords allows this.  Amazon does not, DriveThru Fiction … I don’t think so, and neither does Nook (unless they’ve changed something, too).  All Romance eBooks, I’m still getting the hang of, they may offer pre-order and I’ve bungled right past it so I won’t hazard a guess either way.

Still — for everywhere I can — I will be putting Ready or Not up for pre-order just as soon as I have a date I’m comfortable it’ll be ready for release on.

I’m almost ill with excitement and nervousness.  I do so sincerely hope you’ll all enjoy it as much or more than Love or Lust!  I’ll warn those who have very strict notions of what a plot is:  this is very much more slice of life; it’s better seen as several little plots carrying the thread of a central theme … and I’ve exhausted everything I remember from literature classes (I loved my high school lit teachers, but loathed the subject … in college I loathed both the professor and subject).  I’ll ask my editor to give me the literary way of saying what it is sometime later today and tell you more tonight or tomorrow.  I’m better at saying what things are about, myself.

P.S. for my fellow WordPressers who still want those neat Zemanta services for related articles, suggested links, suggested tags, etc.  There’s a browser plugin for that!  Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer (oh God, I nearly typed ‘Exploder’ … I’d rather take a lit class than use IE).  Opera is, however, not supported; all other browsers I can think of (Tor, Flock, etc) are modified Firefox, so should be fine to use the one for it.

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Getting fed up with Amazon

Published on by Jaye6 Comments

Warning:  I’m highly annoyed, in a foul mood, and not much inclined to be remotely charitable to a certain major corporation just now.

Well, my 75% off sale is up and going. … except Amazon.

They were one of the first places I set the sale, but they haven’t seen fit to post the new price.

I contacted their support and, after an unprofessionally long wait (most others respond within hours if not minutes, Amazon typically is best measured in days) they replied … the price change page hadn’t loaded properly so a key step was missed. Lovely of then to finally say so this morning. Got it sorted, and it’s been almost 12hrs … still no change. Should I mention that the price hasn’t even dropped through automatic price matching yet?!

This is not my first issue with Amazon, and I imagine it will not be my last. Simply put, they can be decently professional to their consumers, to judge by anecdotes at work, if people need to return or exchange something, but in their inter-professional dealings they are, frankly, insulting. So much so that if they were not currently such a major bookseller that I sell more copies per month there than I do in all other estores combined in a quarter, I’d drop them.

They have the slowest response time when contacted for issues and their responses are less attentive to what was said. Their terms are among the worst in the industry. Their format is obtuse and needlessly complex; not to mention stiflingly proprietary. Their KDP site, while not horrible, is not so intuitive as others. Finally there is the treatment: you are a charity and potential customer, not a serious business interaction – you are inundated with offers for premium services you can buy and denied options afforded to larger publishing houses (pre-orders and certain options that Tor has without exclusivity that little ol’ me mayn’t have).

Why say all of this? Information is a powerful tool. Most people perceive Amazon and Kindle in a very positive light. Certainly they are not Satan manifest, but neither are they the greatest company on Earth.

For those who prefer companies that treat everyone interacting with them with equal respect and professionalism I recommend Apple, Kobo, and the group behind All Romance eBooks (all of whom carry my book).

I’m not saying to cease using Amazon nor to trash your Kindle … but if you are already feeling a bit dissatisfied, perhaps this is one more reason to look at that iPad or similar you’ve been eyeing.

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Love or Lust (ebook) now on sale!

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Love or Lust coverUntil 2 March 2014 you can get Love or Lust in ebook for 75% off!

I wanted to celebrate how very close I am to having Ready or Not on shelves and this seemed a good way to do it.

I desperately wish I could cut my print price too — but that option still is simply not possible.

Follow the links to the book’s page, from there it can take you to your favourite ebookstore.

If your favourite still shows the normal price — give it a couple hours to a day.  I just launched the sale, and some stores don’t update in real time (Nook, Kobo, and Kindle I know don’t).

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Trick-or-Treat: Free books!

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Well, book.

Love or Lust coverLove or Lust is free tomorrow through 4 November.

Now, there’re catches:

  1. I can’t make the print book free.  Seriously, I don’t have that kind of control over the pricing.  There’s a minimum, and the price is already not much above that.
  2. I can’t set it free in all eBook retailers.  Sad, but true.  Some will set themselves.  Amazon, for example.  I have no control of WHEN they’ll do so nor when they’ll set the price back.  Weird, but true.  As I recall Nook and Amazon were the only places, though.  Or was that Kobo and Amazon?  Oh well, if it’s 31 October and the price isn’t changed … that’s why.

That’s it.  It’s the same thing you’d pay us$3.99 (or various other prices around the world — I’m in 51 countries, give me a break here) for, just free for the Halloween weekend.  A gift to celebrate Samhain and wish everyone a fun fall, a happy (early or belated depending where you’re standing) Thanksgiving, and so on.

I hope you’ll take advantage of it.  Tell your friends.  Etc.

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Finally on Kobo

Published on by JayeLeave a comment

150x40_koboAny Kobo users out there?

Love or Lust can now be found there!

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I’m so sorry!

Published on by Jaye2 Comments

Image representing Smashwords as depicted in C...

God, I’m sorry folks, I got distracted and completely forgot to schedule a post announcing a sale!

Luckily it is for the entire month of July, and if you shop on Smashwords already then it would have kindly told you to use code SW50 to get Love or Lust half off.

Lots and lots of books 25%, 50%, 75%, even 100% off today. A lot of authors presenting their hard work at discount for us. So today I’m posting my link to the promotion. Err … There’s a lot of erotica on Smashwords. They kindly turn on an Adult Content filter by default, but be forewarned – or, if that’s your thing, I suppose you could call it rather a plus … just remember to turn the filter off (I work in Tech Support, if you don’t think people have to be told this kind of thing – I’m terribly sorry, but I must excuse myself to laugh until I hyperventilate).

Smashwords’ Summer Sale

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