
Archive for the ‘MySpace’ category

Books 1.0: Where The Money Goes

September 7, 2008

The divided book

I’ve wanted for some time to create a simple infographic of where a book’s cover price goes, and the Observer published a nice one in their Book of Books a few months ago. The figures made sense, so I’ve created a similar one here, in colour.

Guess who gets basically a tithe?

I think this illustration serves a number of purposes, not least to illustrate the mark-up taken by the retailers. There’s some justification for this by bricks-and-mortar stores, with huge overheads, but I’m yet to hear a decent one for internet retailers, who don’t have shop rents to pay – their motivation, of course, is simply to undercut the high street. Publishers are giving away huge sums in their failure to compete on direct sales – and they’re going to struggle to justify high ebook prices too.

Go see the illustration. Great work.

Now what dinosaur print publishers better consider: What if Apple comes along and applies their App Store revenue model to eBooks? Suddenly authors can get seventy-percent of the sale price.

So dinosaur print publishers: Why the fuck will writers need or even want you?

Previously-published authors understand the need for editing. We can get that without you.

And promotion? Don’t make us laugh. This is now The Internet Age. Nearly everyone has a blog or website. And for those writers who don’t do it themselves, there’s always a likely fan to come along to do even a MySpace page.

Hey, print publishers! What’s that underneath your feet? Quicksand, baby.

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Look! It’s The Heckle Signal!

August 22, 2008

Oh yeah. I admit that I’ve savaged her in a post here. Really savaged. Really really really savaged.

But it’s kneejerk for me, see? Point me at something with the label “Publisher” on it and my rabid gene kicks in and it’s on!

However, yes, she is a small publisher — there’s that word again! — and I really wish the advice I napalmed had come from one of those hive-mind NYC houses.

No, this is not an apology. Publisher = attack attack attack.

Unlike someone yesterday who couldn’t take a hint, I had one waved in my face like a red blanket in front of a snarling bull:

Oh, I saw she was doing that this morning. I noted it in my Twittersnipes post.

So, anyway, the challenge — not specifically addressed at me, but I’m sure it was! — was issued.

So I went.

Here comes the heckling:

I am certain everyone expected me to say that I want to see a great book. That is important too, but no matter how great your book is, no one will ever know if they are put off by you. “But they won’t all see me.” you say. It’s not all about looks, don’t be a dork on the Internet. Don’t swear in public venues. Don’t mouth off about your political and religious views in the public forums. Keep a clear head, and remember, you are trying to impress people, not irritate them. So you have a strong personality, great, but don’t be a bully.

Yes, well, I covered that bit already. So off I went via Google instead.

She has a MySpace page. Where this was revealed:

In a former life, when she owned an Independent bookstore in Grand Prairie, Texas, where she was nominated for the Publishers Weekly 2000 Bookseller of the Year.

Karen has had eight full-length romance novels published, is a featured author in three anthologies and has five more books scheduled for release at some point before she…well, eventually. Her stories run from straight contemporary to paranormal/ghost/time travels. Her latest title, Dark Shines My Love was featured in the Mr. Romance Cover Model Pageant at the RT Booklover’s Convention in Kansas City, MO in October 2003.

She has served as an Educational Workshop Coordinator for the Romantic Times National Convention, founded a Romance Writers of America Chapter, and spent fifteen years molding the minds of the future (read: preschool teacher.) In addition to everything else, Karen was the founding Director of the IP Directive (Independent Publishers Directive), a promising organization committed to increasing the success and productivity of independent publishers worldwide, and the chairperson for the EPIC (Electronically Published Internet Connection) Publishers Coalition. She is a member of the Thriller Writers International, Mystery Writers of America and to date, a displaced member of Sisters in Crime. Many years ago she founded and presided over the Fort Worth Romance Authors (RWA).

OK, right. Romance writing. I once read a paragraph in a romance book back in my Cubicle Days, took it from a co-worker to check out. Dear god! I didn’t think anyone could read words like that. I can see why it’s called “purple prose” — you turn that color trying to make sense of it!

Google, aside from pulling up the MySpace page, pulled up the Alexis Hart (her nom de plume) site. Which was not at all promising to any manly-man to look through. But to succeed in my Heckle Mission, I set my testosterone to eleven.

So I saw a book cover for a book called — wait for it! — Moonlight for Maggie. Pink roses and a purple background.

Grrr…

And clicking on that cover brought up the first chapter as a sample.

I clicked.

I read.

The opening was masterful misdirection and double-entendre. It was good! Had me laughing.

The rest was not my cup of tea. It was not bad writing. In fact, the rat-a-tat-tat of it and the dialog reminded me of classic black-and-white movies from Warner Brothers and Columbia, so it had a charm to it.

Finally, I looked at the MySpace page again and I saw writer Barry Eisler as a Friend. WTF?!

I see here that I am in serious FAIL territory for this heckle.

So, flailing around, I find one: Why doesn’t she mention ebooks, dammit?

There, Mission Accomplished. (Hey, if Bush can claim it, why not me?)

Speakers UP!: Nobarbies

July 27, 2008

Five amazing Argentinian women doing pure punk rock!

Live!!!

Amor Enfermo – NOBARBIES

Nobarbies MySpace — where you can download for free three of their demo songs!

Previously here:

New MSI Wind Blog Has Theme Music?!!?
Nobarbies! En Vivo! Crank Those Speakers!
You Need To Hear Them

Women’s Rights To Rock: Go!

July 11, 2008

Girls Don’t Cry participated last year. When they were still a band. Oddly, the MySpace player hasn’t been updated and Girls Don’t Cry is still on it.

I also notice they’ve since pluralized the Right in the festival’s name.

Still, go.

Women’s Rights To Rock MySpace

Free MP3 From The Perfects!

June 21, 2008

It’s at The Perfects MySpace.

The track titled Shipwrecked, which is from their first CD.


Click there to grab it

Go now!

And while you’re there, be sure to listen to the other tracks that are up.

Previously here:

The Perfects: Re-Perfected

At the old blog:

Ominous Issuance From Band The Perfects
The Perfects: Live At The Annex, Saturday July 21, 2007

Creaky Boards Vs. That Other Band

June 19, 2008

The song they didn’t write? Coldplay are accused of plagiarism by American band

It was all going so predictably well. Coldplay’s new album went straight to No 1 on Sunday, selling 300,000 copies in three days; concerts sold out; that iTunes ad was everywhere. Even their notoriously sniffy critics in the music press seemed, with the odd exception, unusually muted.

Then, things took a sudden turn for the worse – with a plagiarism row. Yesterday, the band was forced to issue a categorical denial of allegations that they copied the title track to their new record, Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends from a little-known US group, Creaky Boards.

coldplay + itunes steals viva la vida from creaky boards!

I’m no musician, so I’m unqualified to judge this.

All I can say is that I damn well like Creaky Boards’s music over at their MySpace page.

The Songs I Didn’t Write is damned good.

And Brooklyn starts out with this great lyric:

I moved to New York so full of life and hunger
Fell in love with its enormity
Played a lot of pianos and taught computers
Trying to afford conformity.

If you’re on MySpace, go Add them. If you’re not on MySpace, go listen.

That other band? I don’t have any of their songs, probably don’t want any, either. And that YouTube video is the first time I’ve heard that song of theirs. I’m not impressed.

MySpace Redesigned

June 18, 2008

Not all of it.

But they did enough so now I can actually find the frikkin videos on it.

I think.

Anyway, I found something else too: free movie screenings!


Click = big

There is, of course, a catch to it. I’d have move out two of my four Top Friends to promote the sponsor and the movie. I don’t know for how long, though.

Plus, there’s no tickets. You show up and … um … hope.

This particular movie doesn’t really interest me.

And given the demographic MySpace serves, I doubt most of them will interest me.

However, there’s always a chance that The Dark Knight (which was the sign-in sponsor) might pop up for free!

Back, you freebie-sucking heathen dogs! I saw it first!
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