THE TIME-CONSUMING, ALL-CONSUMING MAKEOVER
If this blog seems a bit sporadic at the moment, the reason is in the picture above.
Yes, that is our house.
Normal service will be resumed in due course...
...as they say.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
The Digital Middle
How low should you go when pricing an eBook?
Digital Book World reckons the money is in the middle.
Draw a horizontal line and write “Free” on the left side and the number “$9.99” on the right side:
Free represents content that readers can get at no charge, such as book samples, blog posts, free resources, etc. The number $9.99 represents the typical price used to sell digital e-books. To date, most publishers and authors concentrate their efforts on either end of the line. They give away free content to promote their titles and entice readers. Then, they charge consumers around $9.99 or more to purchase a digital e-book.
Notice the wide gap between free and $9.99. I call it the “Digital Middle,” and I believe there are millions of dollars to be made in this middle space. However, this money can’t be realized until publishers and authors stop fixating on long-form content on the left side of the line. The 250-page trade book (and e-book) can still remain the basis for publishing fiction stories and non-fiction ideas. But, the growth opportunity is in the digital middle using shorter-form content at various price points.
Someone is already making millions in this middle space…guess who?
Amazon is known as a company that rarely turns a profit. Yet, they’ve found profit in the digital middle with their Kindle Singles division. They don’t sell $9.99 e-books. Instead, they sell original short-form content at prices ranging from $.99 to $4.99. Content length is between 5,000 – 30,000 words and the topics include interviews, short stories, memoirs, humor, essays, etc. According to the New York Times, the Kindle Singles division has sold over five million units and made over ten million dollars in less than three years – and they did it profitably!
Shorter pieces? That's an idea. I notice bestselling authors like Michael Connolly and Lee Child are doing it, while others club together to put out cheapish collections.
Hit the link at the top to read more of the interesting argument.
What interests me still more, though, is why the commentators concentrate on fiction in their analyses. How is nonfiction doing, I wonder?
Digital Book World reckons the money is in the middle.
Draw a horizontal line and write “Free” on the left side and the number “$9.99” on the right side:
Free represents content that readers can get at no charge, such as book samples, blog posts, free resources, etc. The number $9.99 represents the typical price used to sell digital e-books. To date, most publishers and authors concentrate their efforts on either end of the line. They give away free content to promote their titles and entice readers. Then, they charge consumers around $9.99 or more to purchase a digital e-book.
Notice the wide gap between free and $9.99. I call it the “Digital Middle,” and I believe there are millions of dollars to be made in this middle space. However, this money can’t be realized until publishers and authors stop fixating on long-form content on the left side of the line. The 250-page trade book (and e-book) can still remain the basis for publishing fiction stories and non-fiction ideas. But, the growth opportunity is in the digital middle using shorter-form content at various price points.
Someone is already making millions in this middle space…guess who?
Amazon is known as a company that rarely turns a profit. Yet, they’ve found profit in the digital middle with their Kindle Singles division. They don’t sell $9.99 e-books. Instead, they sell original short-form content at prices ranging from $.99 to $4.99. Content length is between 5,000 – 30,000 words and the topics include interviews, short stories, memoirs, humor, essays, etc. According to the New York Times, the Kindle Singles division has sold over five million units and made over ten million dollars in less than three years – and they did it profitably!
Shorter pieces? That's an idea. I notice bestselling authors like Michael Connolly and Lee Child are doing it, while others club together to put out cheapish collections.
Hit the link at the top to read more of the interesting argument.
What interests me still more, though, is why the commentators concentrate on fiction in their analyses. How is nonfiction doing, I wonder?
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Win a signed copy of an award-winning mystery
Want a treasure in your bookshelf?
Entering is simple. To win a signed copy of a winning novel, all you have to do is 'like' the Ngaio Marsh Award Facebook page. Nothing else. Easy as. The more entries there are (ie likes on the page), the more personally autographed copies of the book will be given away.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Saturday quote
Jogging is very beneficial. It's good for your legs and your feet. It's also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed
-- Charles M. Schulz
Friday, November 22, 2013
Friday Quote
I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made sound never equalled the purity of sound made by the pig
-- Alfred Hitchcock
Cellphones on planes
NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!
The Washington Post has just zapped the news to me that it is being considered that cellphones should be used on planes.
On planes while they are up in the air with a lot of helpless passengers on board.
Right now, I respect people who turn off their phones when they sit down at a restaurant table, and do the same when invited to dinner at my house. They have probably formed the suspicion that they won't be sitting at a table with me again if they don't.
But now it looks as if flying in the US is going to be a journey into hell.
The nation’s top telecom regulator will propose allowing passengers to make cell phone calls and use their data plans while on an airplane, officials said Thursday.
The proposed rule change by the Federal Communications Commission would allow phone use once a plane reaches 10,000 feet. Restrictions would still be in place during takeoffs and landings.
The agency’s commission is set to discuss the proposal in their upcoming December meeting. The new rule has the backing of Tom Wheeler, the FCC’s new chairman, who was sworn in just weeks ago.
“Modern technologies can deliver mobile services in the air safely and reliably, and the time is right to review our outdated and restrictive rules,” he said in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with my colleagues, the FAA, and the airline industry on this review of new mobile opportunities for consumers.”
Wheeler, a Democrat, would need the support of the majority of the five-member commission, which has three Democrats and two Republicans.
The commission could vote on the matter after a public commenting period. The proposal does not need congressional approval.
The FCC made a similar proposal in 2004, but it was dropped three years later in the face of opposition from flight attendants and other groups worried about the distractions of constantly ringing phones and people talking on their devices while others are trying to sleep.
Judging by the stream of furious comments, the public still feels the same way. A sampling:
For the love of god, no. Just, no. Flying can be difficult enough without sitting next to someone for four hours while he yammers on: "So now we're over Idaho. . . . Yeah, it's cloudy. . . . Oh, there's a river!. . . . I guess we'll be on time. . . . More clouds. . . ."
Ugh. That annoying person yelling into his phone at the gate is about to be the annoying person yelling into his phone for 5 hours on the flight to LA.
U.S. should also give us a right "to punch someone annoying on the face" during flights if they bother us.
"opposition from flight attendants and other groups"
Yeah, other groups ... like passengers!!!
Terrible idea. Allowing broader use of electronic devices was great, but this has a real possibility of leading to confrontations in the cabin. Multiply the annoyance you feel at hearing that inane conversation on the bus for 15 minutes times the length of a cross country flight. Things will get ugly
There is an anecdote in Dostoevsky about a man and a woman riding in a 19th century coach. The man is smoking a cigar, and the woman has a lap-dog. The woman reaches over, grabs the cigar, and throws it out the window. So what does the gentleman do? You guessed it! As I said, this is from Dostoevsky, but it is truly worthy of W.C. Fields
NO PHONE CALLS! You want to see air rage on steroids? Bring it on!
The Washington Post has just zapped the news to me that it is being considered that cellphones should be used on planes.
On planes while they are up in the air with a lot of helpless passengers on board.
Right now, I respect people who turn off their phones when they sit down at a restaurant table, and do the same when invited to dinner at my house. They have probably formed the suspicion that they won't be sitting at a table with me again if they don't.
But now it looks as if flying in the US is going to be a journey into hell.
The nation’s top telecom regulator will propose allowing passengers to make cell phone calls and use their data plans while on an airplane, officials said Thursday.
The proposed rule change by the Federal Communications Commission would allow phone use once a plane reaches 10,000 feet. Restrictions would still be in place during takeoffs and landings.
The agency’s commission is set to discuss the proposal in their upcoming December meeting. The new rule has the backing of Tom Wheeler, the FCC’s new chairman, who was sworn in just weeks ago.
“Modern technologies can deliver mobile services in the air safely and reliably, and the time is right to review our outdated and restrictive rules,” he said in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with my colleagues, the FAA, and the airline industry on this review of new mobile opportunities for consumers.”
Wheeler, a Democrat, would need the support of the majority of the five-member commission, which has three Democrats and two Republicans.
The commission could vote on the matter after a public commenting period. The proposal does not need congressional approval.
The FCC made a similar proposal in 2004, but it was dropped three years later in the face of opposition from flight attendants and other groups worried about the distractions of constantly ringing phones and people talking on their devices while others are trying to sleep.
Judging by the stream of furious comments, the public still feels the same way. A sampling:
For the love of god, no. Just, no. Flying can be difficult enough without sitting next to someone for four hours while he yammers on: "So now we're over Idaho. . . . Yeah, it's cloudy. . . . Oh, there's a river!. . . . I guess we'll be on time. . . . More clouds. . . ."
Ugh. That annoying person yelling into his phone at the gate is about to be the annoying person yelling into his phone for 5 hours on the flight to LA.
U.S. should also give us a right "to punch someone annoying on the face" during flights if they bother us.
"opposition from flight attendants and other groups"
Yeah, other groups ... like passengers!!!
Terrible idea. Allowing broader use of electronic devices was great, but this has a real possibility of leading to confrontations in the cabin. Multiply the annoyance you feel at hearing that inane conversation on the bus for 15 minutes times the length of a cross country flight. Things will get ugly
There is an anecdote in Dostoevsky about a man and a woman riding in a 19th century coach. The man is smoking a cigar, and the woman has a lap-dog. The woman reaches over, grabs the cigar, and throws it out the window. So what does the gentleman do? You guessed it! As I said, this is from Dostoevsky, but it is truly worthy of W.C. Fields
NO PHONE CALLS! You want to see air rage on steroids? Bring it on!
Fourth marriage
The local TV station was interviewing an 80-year-old lady because she had just gotten married for the fourth time.
The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband's occupation.
"He's a funeral director," she answered.
"Interesting," the newsman thought, then asked her if she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her first three husbands and what they did for a living.
She paused for a few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years. After a short time, a smile came to her face and she revealed that she had first married a banker when she was in her 20's, a circus ringmaster when in her 40's, a preacher when in her 60's, and now - in her 80's - a funeral director.
The interviewer looked at her, quite astonished, and asked why she had married four men with such diverse careers.
Another pause, another smile.
The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband's occupation.
"He's a funeral director," she answered.
"Interesting," the newsman thought, then asked her if she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her first three husbands and what they did for a living.
She paused for a few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years. After a short time, a smile came to her face and she revealed that she had first married a banker when she was in her 20's, a circus ringmaster when in her 40's, a preacher when in her 60's, and now - in her 80's - a funeral director.
The interviewer looked at her, quite astonished, and asked why she had married four men with such diverse careers.
Another pause, another smile.
"One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go."
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Thursday quotes
Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things.
-- Ray Bradbury
My thought is me; that is why I cannot stop thinking. I exist because I think I cannot keep from thinking
-- Jean-Paul Sartre
Plans for defence of the Medway, 1596
Old words can be fascinating...
"Orders for safe-guarding of the Medway. A ketch is to ride without Sheerness, and on
sight of any enemy's vessel, to give notice to the Aid which rides within
Sheerness.
So, what is a sconce? Well, according to the OED, it is a small fort
"Orders for safe-guarding of the Medway. A ketch is to ride without Sheerness, and on
sight of any enemy's vessel, to give notice to the Aid which rides within
Sheerness.
"The Aid is then to prepare to
meet the enemy, and to fire three guns, whereupon a pinnace riding at Oakamness
is to speed up the river towards Chatham, giving alarm all the way up, to
Chatham, Upnor Castle, the beacons of
Chatham and Barrow Hill, and the four sconces and borders of the river on each
side.
"On this, the Bear, riding against
St. Mary's creek, is to shoot three pieces of ordnance to continue the alarm,
which the Mary Rose, riding against Rochester Bridge, is to take up, and shoot
three pieces of ordnance, on which all the country within hearing is to repair
to Chatham Church and Upnor Castle, on directions of the deputy lieutenants of
the shires.
"Those places that cannot be
warned by shots and beacons are to be warned by hoblers sent from Rochester by
the deputy lieutenants; the Mayor of Rochester is to send notice to Sir John
Leveson, Thos. Walsingham, Mr. Style, Mr. Matoir of Maidenstone, Mr. Lennard,
and Mr. Rivers, and each of these captains to give notice to the rest.
"With note on 12 Nov. that these five captains
with 1,080 men are to repair to Upnor Castle, and there be distributed in the
five ships next the chain; and that four others named are to [repair to Chatham
church, with 540 men more."
(p.305 - Com Eliz VOL CCLX. 1596 - Nov 10)
So, what is a sconce? Well, according to the OED, it is a small fort
A hobbler was not a higler, who was a seller of eggs. No, a hobbler was a man who looked after horses -- either military horses or horses that towed canal boats, according to that little god of the sky, google.
According to the Webster Unabridged Dictionary, a hobbler
(hobeler or hobelier) is "one who by his tenure was to maintain a horse
for military service; a kind of light horseman in the Middle Ages who was
mounted on a hobby" (hobby being a horse).
With thanks to Bud Warren
Chinese baby talk boosts Kiwi dollar
Good lord, who would have thought that babies that are not even born yet could have impact on anything as mundane as currency?
But the Wall Street Journal reports that the New Zealand dollar has risen on prospects of cradles filling up in China.
The New Zealand dollar, one of the globe's top-performing currencies this year amid a booming economy and high interest rates, is getting a baby bump.
The currency, known as the kiwi, is up 1.2% against the U.S. dollar since Thursday, before China's surprise announcement that it will loosen its policy of one child per family.
Some investors are betting that New Zealand, home to the world's biggest milk exporter, is well positioned to benefit from a baby boom in the world's most populous nation. More Chinese milk demand would translate into more demand for the kiwi from Chinese importers, which money managers anticipate will boost the currency's value.
"New Zealand exports milk products, which is what China needs and wants," said Anders Faergemann, who helps manage $69.1 billion at PineBridge Investments and is buying the New Zealand dollar. Mr. Faergemann said that it is likely that a relaxation of China's one-child policy will result in more demand for New Zealand's products over time.
"If you can export more to a growing country the size of China, your currency is in a good spot," he said.
The kiwi wasn't the only asset to benefit from the policy change: In China, shares of baby-formula producers, piano makers and tutoring companies jumped following the news.
Piano makers? Good lord, again.
But the Wall Street Journal reports that the New Zealand dollar has risen on prospects of cradles filling up in China.
The currency, known as the kiwi, is up 1.2% against the U.S. dollar since Thursday, before China's surprise announcement that it will loosen its policy of one child per family.
Some investors are betting that New Zealand, home to the world's biggest milk exporter, is well positioned to benefit from a baby boom in the world's most populous nation. More Chinese milk demand would translate into more demand for the kiwi from Chinese importers, which money managers anticipate will boost the currency's value.
"New Zealand exports milk products, which is what China needs and wants," said Anders Faergemann, who helps manage $69.1 billion at PineBridge Investments and is buying the New Zealand dollar. Mr. Faergemann said that it is likely that a relaxation of China's one-child policy will result in more demand for New Zealand's products over time.
"If you can export more to a growing country the size of China, your currency is in a good spot," he said.
Piano makers? Good lord, again.
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