Month: December 2021

Merry Christmas

It is okay to say merry Christmas still because Christmas is twelve days, not one.

The blog has fallen into neglect (again) since I’ve spent so much of my time on the publication and promotion of Rags and Muffin, a novel I strongly recommend you consider purchasing for your post-Christmas relaxation reading. But I’m now looking to get back into my regular projects since the promotion is, for good or ill, now largely on autopilot. I am working on a planetary romance, but I think I may be able to crank out a collection of Rags and Muffin short stories before I’m done with that one. Stay tuned.

Christmas was a good time for our family. The magical girls and I traveled up to visit my parents, so the little magical girl had four grandparents to dote on her. She also got to meet her cousins for the first time. She’s a very little baby who recently started the stranger-anxiety phase, so I was worried about how that would go, but she warmed up to them with surprising ease. She adored her older cousin, who’s five, though she merely tolerated the younger one, who is about her age, and she occasionally cried when he touched her. She doesn’t like being touched by other babies.

My wife is currently planning the baby’s first birthday party with a Filipino enthusiasm for social gatherings. I worry that the baby is going to cry the whole time with so many strange people visiting our house. Although she was unusually calm for the first several months of her life, she’s reached the point where every little thing that happens to her is high drama. So the birthday is coming at an innoportune time in her emotional development. But so it goes, I guess.

Amazon KDP vs. IngramSpark Hardcovers

Depicted at the top of this post is the author copy of the hardcover edition of Rags and Muffin, which I received from Amazon KDP before the book went live (hence the “Not for Resale” stripe across the middle). My initial thought was that it looked really good, very professional and well put-together. The cover art is printed directly onto the case, and it came out crisp.

Recently, my wife, unaware that I could order additional copies at cost, ordered a few of these from Amazon in order to give them as Christmas gifts. When her copies arrived, I immediately noticed that they looked markedly different from what I had originally received from Amazon. Here is a side-by-side comparison:

Amazon and IngramSpark hardcovers.
The two hardcovers, compared.

My author copy is a thicker book, and a little better looking. You can also see that, in the copies my wife ordered, the title is not quite centered but shifted to the right. Even more baffling, if you look closely, you can see that my name overlaps Rags’s sneaker in the author copy but not in the ordered copy. I at first had no idea how that was even possible since I uploaded the cover as a single PDF file.

My first thought was that I had inadvertently uploaded the wrong cover image to Amazon KDP at some point. I have been shuffling a lot of files around to get this book published, so that would be likely—except the book should have failed to publish if that were the case, since Amazon has exact specifications for covers and will automatically reject anything that doesn’t fit.

After hunting through my files, I finally found the answer: The cover art on my wife’s copies is the cover for IngramSpark, the print-on-demand service that more or less holds a monopoly on distribution to libraries and brick-and-mortar stores.

Since Amazon KDP has only just recently begun offering hardcovers as an option, this may be a new discovery: Apparently, Amazon shipped IngramSpark hardcovers to my wife instead of its own hardcovers. That may indicate that Amazon outsources printing whenever possible. I have not tested if this is also true of paperbacks.

I’m not entirely happy with this. Amazon appears to be turning out a better product, as their version of the hardcover looks better in every significant way, including the binding (both are glued, but Amazon’s at least has a cloth backing). Not only that, but I can correct the contents of the Amazon version instantly and for free if necessary, whereas the contents of the IngramSpark printing are locked in by IngramSpark’s prohibitive pricing.

This has got me to thinking—is IngramSpark actually worth it? Their distribution is better, but since I’m small fry, my chance of being picked up by booksellers is remote anyway, especially since I can’t afford to buy back unsold copies. Almost all of my sales are certain to come from Amazon anyway, and if Amazon is willing to sell an inferior product in lieu of its own better product … maybe I should just kill the IngramSpark version and sell exclusively on Amazon. For this reason, I am already enrolled in Kindle Unlimited: It forces me to offer eBook versions on Amazon exclusively, but I know from indie authors with much greater reach than I have that eBook sales on other platforms are negligible.

Last Chance to Get ‘Jake and the Dynamo’ for Free

We are right down to the wire on the free book promotion for Jake and the Dynamo. You will never have a better opportunity to get yourself a copy, and there is literally nothing to lose.

Also, we are coming to the end of the 99-cent offer on Rags and Muffin. A richer and darker story but still loaded with action, it will give you a different experience from Jake while keeping within the theme of child heroes.

If you read either book, consider taking the time to leave a brief review. It is enormously helpful to an indie author.

‘Rags and Muffin’ Is Here!

The time has come! Today is the release day of Rags and Muffin! This is, I am sure, my best works so far. I don’t mind saying I am proud of this novel. If you like cute girls and gruesome violence, this is the book for you.

To celebrate the release, I have two sales to offer you: First, Rags and Muffin will be available for only 99 cents. If the price hasn’t shifted by the time you read this post, check back later in the day.

Second, Jake and the Dynamo is available for free during the five days of our release party. You heard that right: Free. If you’ve been wondering whether to check out some madcap horror-humor magical-girl action, now is the time. The book will never be cheaper.

Both novels are available as eBooks, in print, and on Kindle Unlimited. The eBook versions are DRM-free with lending enabled because I believe you should own what you buy.

Get them here:

Rags and Muffin

Jake and the Dynamo

The First Review of ‘Rags and Muffin’

We are just days away from the December 10th release of Rags and Muffin, and the first review has just arrived.

Over at Scripts and Reviews, I have given an author interview, and they have had the following things to say about the book:

I have to say, this is the best book I’ve read in a while. Usually, depending on the book, I fly through them. This book was so richly worded and heavy in world-building and creativity it took me a little longer to get through but was totally worth it.

Rags and Muffin is filled with epic fights and detailed landscapes. The ragtag group of heroes is each unique with their lifestyles and struggles. Seeing glimpses into their past and their lives tugs at your heart, but then other scenes are riddled with comic relief. So while you’re reading, you get a full range of emotions that keep you hooked and turning pages until the very end.

This story was incredible to read, filled with Gods and intrigue. This is a book you won’t want to put down. This book is easily one of the top 5 books I’ve read all year!

Subscribe for a Free Short Story

I realize I’ve disappeared for a while, but that’s because I’ve spent every spare moment on last-minute promotions, ads, and edits for Rags and Muffin,* which releases on December 10. That’s just six days from this time of writing!

As I have mentioned previously, I have started a newsletter. This will be separate for the blog, designed purely for book and product promotions and sales, so you will get emails from me only when I have something to release or a discount to offer.

To sweeten the deal, subscribers will now get a free Rags and Muffin short story. This story fleshes out one of the minor characters in the upcoming book.

Sign up to our newsletter by clicking here.

* Affiliate link