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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2020 4:16:21 GMT
One problem I am facing right now, which does not help my enthusiasm or imagination, is while writing what will soon be a series of seven books, I kept a file of notes to refresh my memory (which gets worse each year!) I still have that file, but strangely it stops at part five, when I know full well it went to part six and started a section for part seven, ending the file in 2018 when I last worked on part seven. The file date actually says that! Bizarre! so what I am now forced to do is use Find (word or phrase) on each part's individual file. But it's never easy to know what to search for, being as I am doing it for reminders. Say I have forgotten a person's eye colour, I search for eyes and wade through all the mentions of it. Same for inn to find and inn's name, and so on. Kevin, that.s why I wrote down my notes for my series of "Stolen." I would get confused if they were on the computer. I also write out several chapters of my book then go to my computer and use "dragon" so I don't have to type them into the comp. So for all my books, short stories and poems, I have written copies. Double work some might say, but it works for me!
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Post by hulsey on Aug 21, 2020 7:00:31 GMT
For several years I kept to a routine. Publish my book and within days start another project. With this Lulu update fiasco, I hate to admit I've lost all motivation. My last book was published in April and no matter that I've contacted Lulu numerous times stressing the book is not yet on Kindle, no joy. It is their ignorance that irks me. I admit I'm bored without my usual daily writing, but have much to consider before a final decision.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2020 13:26:11 GMT
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Aug 21, 2020 23:01:17 GMT
One problem I am facing right now, which does not help my enthusiasm or imagination, is while writing what will soon be a series of seven books, I kept a file of notes to refresh my memory (which gets worse each year!) I still have that file, but strangely it stops at part five, when I know full well it went to part six and started a section for part seven, ending the file in 2018 when I last worked on part seven. The file date actually says that! Bizarre! so what I am now forced to do is use Find (word or phrase) on each part's individual file. But it's never easy to know what to search for, being as I am doing it for reminders. Say I have forgotten a person's eye colour, I search for eyes and wade through all the mentions of it. Same for inn to find and inn's name, and so on. Kevin, that.s why I wrote down my notes for my series of "Stolen." I would get confused if they were on the computer. I also write out several chapters of my book then go to my computer and use "dragon" so I don't have to type them into the comp. So for all my books, short stories and poems, I have written copies. Double work some might say, but it works for me! Imagine that with around 2,500 total pages.
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Aug 21, 2020 23:03:03 GMT
For several years I kept to a routine. Publish my book and within days start another project. With this Lulu update fiasco, I hate to admit I've lost all motivation. My last book was published in April and no matter that I've contacted Lulu numerous times stressing the book is not yet on Kindle, no joy. It is their ignorance that irks me. I admit I'm bored without my usual daily writing, but have much to consider before a final decision. The thing is, if you have a story inside you that you think you need to get down, you will return to writing, regardless of large gaps.
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Post by BlueAndGold on Aug 21, 2020 23:21:00 GMT
There have been times that I get an inspiration for a poem or other project and I can't sleep or even function properly until I start rattling the keys. It can be the middle of the night or when working other jobs. When that hits, you'll know what to do!
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tasmanianartistNotLoggedIn
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Post by tasmanianartistNotLoggedIn on Aug 22, 2020 5:56:28 GMT
Let's look at the bright side ... we haven't hit the bottom of the post-virus economic slump yet that will see a lot of bubbles burst - again. What I'm saying is - don't put all of your eggs in one basket, 'stay calm and carry on', brace yourselves and all that jazz. I'm only making photo albums for me now (which Lulu so kindly ditched and tossed my 13 out), the end of my writing had other reasons, but I'm glad I did it when I did it, cos with this bitch of a virus, I would not want to embark upon a long-term project now. But do yourself a favour and carry on with what you love doing, if only to keep sane - I have a garden to keep me occupied, and when it rains or is too cold, I work on my photo albums - it keeps my mind off the 'real' world. This thread is an indication of what's to come, emotionally and psychologically, in the wider population - keep yourself occupied, but don't bank on any one particular online player to deliver what they 'promise'. (I know I sound like a broken record but ... ISBNs deliver your work into the hands of all the many middlemen, to be at their mercy ... an ISBN does not mean any one distribution channel 'must' sell it - they decide whether they sell it or not - and they also decide how much of the cream they skim before they hand the author the crumbs - yes, made me sick to the stomach, too, when I realized that in 2005 - haven't used an ISBN since, settled down to making few sales [cos I didn't have to], but also saved my nerves.)
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Aug 23, 2020 0:26:52 GMT
"we haven't hit the bottom of the post-virus"
We have not even hit the bottom of the virus yet. The WHO believe it may not end for at least two years. And Possibly longer if people keep flouting the advice and even laws to protect us and even themselves.
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tasmanianartistNotLoggedIn
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Post by tasmanianartistNotLoggedIn on Aug 28, 2020 7:18:07 GMT
Is it me or does anyone else consider this: the solution to the 'inconvenient truth' might very well be a 'convenient virus' - keeping everyone coralled, unable to travel, preventing 'greenshouse emissions' etc etc ... returning the Earth to the paradisiacal status it once held ... ah - probably just a 'speculative fiction' plot ... virus vs global warming ...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2020 8:29:26 GMT
Is it me or does anyone else consider this: the solution to the 'inconvenient truth' might very well be a 'convenient virus' - keeping everyone coralled, unable to travel, preventing 'greenshouse emissions' etc etc ... returning the Earth to the paradisiacal status it once held ... ah - probably just a 'speculative fiction' plot ... virus vs global warming ... I have a friend who believes in "Mother Earth." She thinks Mother Earth is in great peril maintaining that many people view the natural world as something to be exploited and conquered. They believe humans are the masters and nature is subordinate. However she holds that with the corona virus, Mother Earth is protecting herself and preventing humans from destroying her world.
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Post by benziger on Aug 28, 2020 22:07:39 GMT
Even if it looks not a lot, if you earn 0.50 per book, that is not to bad.
There are two ways to earn more per book: Increase the book price - but then sales will probably fall. Or sell directly, i.e. bypass the book trade (e.g. Amazon) - but then the marketing effort increases.
| Gross price (incl. VAT)
| Net price
| Royalty %
| Royalty $
| Comment
| Pocket book
| 9.99 | 9.33 | 5%
| 0.46 |
| Hardcover | 38.90
| 36.17
| 8-10% | 2.89 | not a lot of readers will pay as much for a book
| Non-fiction book
| 22.90 | 21.29
| 7-9% | 1.49
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| Children book
| 20.90
| 19.43
| 5% | 0.96
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| E-book
| 3.99
| 3.71
| 15-25%
| 0.55
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The calculation of a small Swiss publisher from Basle: Production | 20%
| Advertising | 4%
| Administration | 15%
| Book trade | 15-45%
| Author | 6%, 8%, 10%
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The calculation of a small German publisher: Gross retail price | 14.90 | 100% + VAT
| Net retail price | 13.93 | 100%
| Book trade discount and distribution costs | - 8.36 | 60%
| Author's fee | - 1.25
| 8.9%
| Editing and proofreading | - 0.24
| 1.7%
| Cover design and typesetting
| - 0.31
| 2.2%
| Letterpress printing and CD production
| - 1.98
| 14.2%
| advertising
| - 0.20
| 1.4%
| Balance
| 1.59 | 11.4%
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This balance is used by the publisher to pay the following items: staff, rent, book fairs, etc., as well as the publisher's profit. According to Mario Andreotti, only around 2% of all authors in Germany can make a living from selling their books (Mario Andreotti: Die Struktur der modernen Literatur. 5th edition, UTB 2014, p. 115). Similar figures are read or heard in other places, sometimes it should be 1%, sometimes 3%, but in the end it remains the same: only very few can make a living from writing. Most authors whose books are published earn their living with another job.
Even very well-known and successful authors earn their money only partly by selling their books. Often there are also readings, foreign licenses, film rights and/or merchandising products. This is the only way to make enough money at the end of the day that they can live on writing.
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Aug 29, 2020 0:23:55 GMT
Is it me or does anyone else consider this: the solution to the 'inconvenient truth' might very well be a 'convenient virus' - keeping everyone coralled, unable to travel, preventing 'greenshouse emissions' etc etc ... returning the Earth to the paradisiacal status it once held ... ah - probably just a 'speculative fiction' plot ... virus vs global warming ... I have a friend who believes in "Mother Earth." She thinks Mother Earth is in great peril maintaining that many people view the natural world as something to be exploited and conquered. They believe humans are the masters and nature is subordinate. However she holds that with the corona virus, Mother Earth is protecting herself and preventing humans from destroying her world. Her belief seems contradictory. But not just that, how exactly subordinate is an earthquake or volcanic eruption? But in one way, if is was not for natural disasters, pandemics, wars, famine, etc etc., the earth would be knee deep in people. But also, unbalance the system we rely on to live in, and we will no longer be able to live in it. Earth will survive though.
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Post by markcbrown on Sept 9, 2020 0:33:47 GMT
You will all be pleased to know that I have finished chapter 7. On to ch 8
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Sept 9, 2020 23:15:12 GMT
Just keep going. But is it finished? Personally that's not really the way I write. I often start off by 'flash' writing. Getting an idea or two down. Then after a few pages, or a complete chapter I will go over it again. Sometimes I will go right back to the start. Fine tuning. Adding stuff I have later thought of that may enhance the story. Even messing with punctuation. I do that quite often. I do not consider my stuff to be finished until I can read through from start to finish, a few times, without being tempted to change or add anything. Frankly the latter process can get a bit too familiar and boring. But at times writing often can be.
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Post by cadbob on Sept 18, 2020 20:42:05 GMT
markcbrown, as a new member here, I'm sorry to hear you've given up and become disillusioned with writing. I understand, and I sometimes go through the same thing myself. But as someone posted earlier on in this thread, I totally agree with the sentiment that if "it stops being fun, then it's time to stop". What I've found is that if I start feeling a little disheartened is to just take a break - I just don't write. If I don't feel like writing, or having a bad day, or having writer's block, I personally don't force it. After a while I end up writing again - something inspires me, or gives me an idea; or I read a friends writing and it sparks something in me. I like to write and I primarily do it for myself.
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