The Journal, Thursday, 1/5

Hey Folks,

Well, I have to go get labs done this morning (fasting) so that will interrupt the day some. That plus I got up late this morning after staying up too late last night.

But it’s already been a good morning.

Probably I should mention some of the entries in this Journal will get a little light as I spend more time on the novel. I’ll still try to give you something worth reading, and I’ll add a topic when one occurs to me, but the joy of the novel has to come first.

Topic: Amazon and Exclusivity

Yesterday, I finally read the Smashwords blog I mentioned here a few days ago. It’s well worth the read, especially if you’re a proponent of or participant in Amazon’s exclusive KDP Select program (or their exclusive print program).

Please don’t fall for their nonsense, folks. If you do, you WILL harm your bottom line (royalties) in the long term, and you will harm all other authors’ sales in the near term. In case you missed the link, I’ve added it again in “Of Interest” below.

Admittedly, the Amazon store is the biggest gorilla in the room when it comes to sales venues for ebooks. But it’s still only one venue. If you go exclusive with Amazon, you’re cutting away literally dozens of other sales venues and the readers who prefer them. That alone is reason enough not to go exclusive with them.

If that doesn’t do it for you, consider this: If something happens to cause Amazon to close its doors (it happens) or to lose its monopoly (more likely) you won’t have a base built up at Kobo, B&N, Apple et al to build on. You’ll be starting from scratch.

Now, none of this is to say you shouldn’t place your books with Amazon through Kindle Digital Publishing (KDP). Just don’t go with KDP SELECT, which is their exclusive program.

Put your eggs in several baskets. In the long term, you’ll be very glad you did.

Of Interest

Check out the Smashwords blog: 2017 Book Industry Predictions: Intrigue and Angst amid Boundless Opportunity (http://blog.smashwords.com/).

Over at Dean’s place, in 1/4/17 Daily (http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/1417-daily/) he talks briefly about a new challenge he’s starting. Also a couple of other interesting nuggets.

My latest Free Story of the Week will post tomorrow morning at http://harveystanbrough.com/category/free-short-story-of-the-week/.

Today, and Writing

Rolled out at 3:30 this morning. But I spent only about a half-hour on email etc. before turning to the novel. I added close to a thousand words in my first session.

Then I took care of some other things, including writing the stuff above this and grabbing my camera to get some pics of the sunrise in the east and its reflection in the west. After that I took a break to read a couple of newsletters. Pics at https://www.facebook.com/harvey.stanbrough (and scroll down just a bit).

I left about 8 to get my labs done, and I was headed home afterward for breakfast. Then I thought of a local place called The Horseshoe Cafe and the thick slabs of bacon they serve there. Well, there y’go. I finally got home around 9:40.

Put on a load of laundry. I was going back to the novel but other things came up. Finally back to the novel at 11.

Another good day of writing, though not a great day. I expect tomorrow and succeeding days to be even better.

Back tomorrow.

Fiction Words: 3632
Nonfiction Words: 570 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 570

Writing of The Claim (novel, working title)

Day 1…… 4391 words. Total words to date…… 4391
Day 2…… 3632 words. Total words to date…… 8023

Total fiction words for the month……… 9651
Total fiction words for the year………… 9651
Total nonfiction words for the month… 3640
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 3640

Total words for the year (fiction and nonfiction)…… 13291