Category: Publishing

Derelict now available for preorder

Derelict, edited by David B. Coe and Joshua Palmatier is now available for preorder from the Kindle store.  All stories are original to this anthology.

Here’s the Table of Contents:
“Symbiote” by Kristine Smith
“The Wreck of the Sarah Mohr” by D.B. Jackson
“The Tempest in Space” by Griffin Ayaz Tyree
“Playing Possum” by Andrija Popovic
“Standing Orders” by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
“Time, Yet” by Gerald Brandt
“Flight Plans Through the Dust of Dreams” by Kit Harding
“Saving Sallie Ruth” by Gini Koch writing as Anita Ensal
“Methuselah” by Jacey Bedford
“Celestial Object 143205” by Mark D. Jacobsen
“Mercy for the Lost” by Jana Paniccia
“When the Star Fell and the Levee Broke” by Alex Bledsoe
“Derelict of Duty” by Chaz Brenchley
“Two Ruins Make a Beginning” by R.Z. Held
“Orpheus” by Jack Campbell
“Decay in Five Stages” by Julie E. Czerneda

Here’s the blurb:  No one can resist the mystery of the abandoned ship–whether it’s the ghost ship found afloat at sea in the Bermuda Triangle or the spaceship drifting in the depths of space a la the movie Alien. What happened to the crew? What horror forced them to abandon their vessel and flee…or are they still on board, trapped or even all dead? In this anthology, we want authors to explore all of the possibilities when one runs across…a DERELICT.

And here’s your link.

NOTE:  Derelict was funded through Kickstarter.  Please check your status as a supporter before preodering.  Thank you.

We started out for paradise

So, there’s been an inquiry — what the heck are we doing, anyway?

I’m pleased that people care enough to wonder after us, and I do understand that the terms of my profession include the tacit understanding that I will be Endlessly Entertaining on the Internets.

However.

The truth is that I’m not especially entertaining, all by myself — rather boring, really — nor are these entertaining times.  My household is doing what many other households are doing — getting by, working quietly at our various tasks, communing with the cats, and just trying to stay strong.  Yes, I’m reading a lot.  I like to read; reading is what got me into the Author Biz in the first place.

As reported just a few days ago, we’re working on the next Jethri book, and that goes like this:  Steve is lead on the story.  When he finishes a section, by which we mean, he feels it’s correct and will require no more adjustments or updates, he passes it on to me for editing, adding clarifying bits, and occasional bridge work.  All very so-so, but it gets the job done.

We have two stories under contract, one for an upcoming anthology, Girls in Tank Tops, edited by Jason Cordova; the other for Baen.com, to be published in mid-November.  Both of those are specifically Liaden stories.  On the side, because there’s nothing like the thrill of writing a side story when you have work under contract, I’m writing a short set in Low Port, working title “Our Lady of Benevolence.”

I believe I mentioned, though I repeat it now for the people in the back, that there will be no new Liaden novel published in 2021.  Steve and I are very sorry about that; it’s completely our fault.  The mass market edition of Trader’s Leap will be available in September, and a new paperback edition of Local Custom, in November.  We have also signed a contract for the fifth Liaden Universe® Constellation, to be published sometime in 2022.  I’ll get the TOC up as I can.

For those who may have missed the announcement, the audiobook edition of Trader’s Leap, narrated by Eileen Stevens, is now available from Audible.

We do still have Liaden books under contract, those would be two Jethri books (Steve is lead on both, and is writing the first one now, see above), and two to be named later.  Right now, I’m inclining toward the doings at Tinsori Light for the first of those, though that’s not set in anything even resembling stone.

Regarding conventions, Steve and I will be Guests of Honor at AlbaCon (the one in Albany, New York).  This is a virtual con, and here’s your link. Yes, it says “2020;” it’s this year’s information, trust me.

Steve and I are also looking at DisCon 3, that’s the upcoming WorldCon, in December.  We’re still talking about whether that will be a virtual attendance, or if we’ll be physically taking the train down to DC and actually attend a convention for the first time since Forever.  Here’s your link to DisCon.

Other than the above, yes, I have taken up embroidery again, which is not a bad thing; it is not “taking me away” from writing any more than reading “takes me away” from writing.  Woman cannot Just Do One Thing every waking hour.  Well, OK.  Some women doubtless can, but not this one.

Today’s blog post title comes from “Start the Car,” Jude Cole.  Here’s your link.

 

Writers have hobbies, too

Back in The Day, I used to do needlework.   Then, my hands went bad, and I stopped for awhile, by which I mean 30 years.

Much more recently, I had been prescribed drugs that did really nasty things to my joints and muscles, especially my hands, and in desperation, I took up needle-and-thread again, hoping to restore some kind of flexibility to my fingers, because you’d be amazed how often you need your fingers in this life.

To my surprise, working with a needle has helped return suppleness to my fingers, which had already been somewhat improved by bidding the meds good-bye.

So, now I have a hobby, which means y’all are going to be troubled from time to time with pictures of the Work in Process.

Here’s the current sampler, front on the left; back on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

In business news, Steve and I are still working on the next book (which is a Jethri book), and have a couple short stories under contract.  A new mass market paperback edition of Local Custom is scheduled for the fall.

We have both been vaccinated, and it’s getting hard to resist the lure of the sudden spring sunshine.  Two weeks ago, Maine was a grey and mud-brown mess.  Now, everything’s greening up, and pollen is in the air.

For those who have no interest in embroidery.  Here’s a picture of Sprite.

 

TOC Reveal!

Table of Contents for Derelict, coming in June from Zombies Need Brains

“Symbiote” by Kristine Smith
“The Wreck of the Sarah Mohr” by D.B. Jackson
“The Tempest in Space” by Griffin Ayaz Tyree
“Playing Possum” by Andrija Popovic
“Standing Orders” by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
“Time, Yet” by Gerald Brandt
“Flight Plans Through the Dust of Dreams” by Kit Harding
“Saving Sallie Ruth” by Gini Koch writing as Anita Ensal
“Methuselah” by Jacey Bedford
“Celestial Object 143205” by Mark D. Jacobsen
“Mercy for the Lost” by Jana Paniccia
“When the Star Fell and the Levee Broke” by Alex Bledsoe
“Derelict of Duty” by Chaz Brenchley
“Two Ruins Make a Beginning” by R.Z. Held
“Orpheus” by Jack Campbell
“Decay in Five Stages” by Julie E. Czerneda

DERELICT: A ship lost with all hands on icy Titan. A dying woman’s soul linked with the fate of an interstellar vessel. A wrecked oil tanker possessed by the ruin-demon who grounded her. A haunted space cruiser of legend again terrorizing those who travel among the stars. A pirate-ravaged frigate concealing magical secrets that can doom the wicked, or redeem the worthy. An inexplicably empty cruiser arriving at a space station amid the panic of a system-wide pandemic.

There is an allure to the ghost ship, the once-proud voyaging craft now abandoned to the void of space or the depths of the sea. In Derelict, speculative fiction authors Jacey Bedford, Alex Bledsoe, Gerald Brandt, Chaz Brenchley, Jack Campbell, Julie Czernada, Anita Ensal, Kit Harding, R. Z. Held, D.B. Jackson, Mark D. Jacobsen, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, Jana Paniccia, Andrija Popovic, Kristine Smith, and Griffin Ayaz Tyree offer their tales of the lost vessel. So climb aboard if you dare, and prepare for a reading adventure that will unnerve and inspire and transport you beyond distant horizons.

Preorder here.

 

 

 

The cost of doing business, Pinbeam Books edition

Mini-lecture, here. If you’re not interested in the intricacies of self-publishing, you can skip this bit.

So.

Asyouknowbob, Pinbeam Books — the self-publishing arm of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller — has been making paper editions of its Echapbooks available through Amazon. This is because Amazon makes it relatively easy to produce a paper book through their software — BN’s software long ago defeated me — and there is a portion of our readership who Really Really want paper, and this is how we oblige them, and thank them for sticking with us.

So. Amazon has recently refribbed the back room where indie folk get their books set up for sale. And as I was getting the paper edition of Change State ready to go, I encountered a checkbox that said, “Expanded Distribution.” Now, I’m none so sharp as I once was, and I figured that was the box I always clicked (when setting up an ebook), which allowed the book to be sold in the UK, Australia, Germany, &c. So I checked the box.

Turns out that, when you click that box for a paper book, you are allowing Amazon to serve as the distributor of the paper edition, to “other venues,” such as BN, and unnamed others, including “libraries.”

So, that’s a good thing, right? Expanded sales venues = expanded audiences, and all like that?

And that’s — yes. And no.

It will, I hope, come as no surprise to anyone here that Pinbeam Books is a for-profit enterprise. It’s one of several income streams, and how we keep the cats in litter and cat food, and ourselves in frivolous things like medicines and electricity.

Which brings us back to Amazon, believe it or don’t. Paper editions of Pinbeam Books’ chapbooks retail for $10. This is also what SRM Publisher — Pinbeam’s predecessor — retailed its paper chapbooks for. Before anyone says it — yeah, that’s kind of expensive. It’s always been kind of expensive, but there are reasons for that price-point, and here they are:

ONE: You have to pay the printer. Pro Tip: Always pay the printer.

TWO: When you’re publishing paper books, you want vendors who are not you to sell your book. Bookstores are *also* for-profit endeavors, so you can’t sell them a $10 retail book for $10. You sell them the $10 retail book for $6, and the bookstore makes $4 profit per sale, less their cost of doing business.

However, the publisher, being for-profit, as it is, cannot lose money on the transaction — but they take a lesser profit per each, because typically bookstores buy in bulk.

THREE: If you place your books with a distributor, say Ingram, the distributor — being a for-profit enterprise — also takes a percentage of profits received. SRM Publisher did direct mail-order and was not in any way big enough to interest a distributor.

Everybody with me so far? Yeah, you in the back, I see your eyes drifting shut.  You don’t have to stick with this, honest.

All righty, then. Amazon. In this Brave New World, Amazon is printer, vendor, and distributor. Being a for-profit enterprise, as it oh-so-definitely is, Amazon takes a percentage of each sale — as printer, as vendor, and as distributor.

For ebooks, this means that Amazon “gives” Pinbeam Books 70% of cover for each sale. Sweet, right?

For paper books, Amazon “gives” Pinbeam Books 60% of cover, and, since Amazon is also the printer, it subtracts its printing costs from that 60%. Which leaves Pinbeam Books — a for-profit enterprise — with a profit per each that is comparable to the per-each profit on an Echapbook.

But wait, there’s more!

If you then click the Expand Distribution ticky-box, you make Amazon the distributor of your paper book — and we have already decided that Amazon, being a for-profit enterprise, will not do this for free. The price Amazon charges to get Pinbeam Books paper editions to “other” venues, drops Pinbeam Books’ profit per each to, a very low level. Speaking as a principle in a for-profit enterprise, I’d say, an unacceptably low level. Pinbeam Books would have to sell a Whole Freaking LOT of paper books to balance out the distributor’s fee, and return an acceptable profit.

So, what Pinbeam Books — aka Sharon Lee and Steve Miller — needs to figure out is if it’s ever again worth going for Amazon’s “Expanded Distribution.” This time was a mistake, and we’ll let it stand. And there are those people who refuse to buy from Amazon, who might pick up a paper copy through BN, only —

They’d still be giving Amazon money — even more money — by doing so.

And so.

End of lecture.

 

Updatery

Change State:  Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 32, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, including reprint short story “Command Decision,” and brand-new novella “Dead Men Dream” is now available for download from all the usual vendors.

Here’s a link to Change State on Baen

Here’s the link to the Amazon page, including both ebook and paper editions.

Here’s a so-called “Universal Link.”

Once you have read Change State, Steve and I would take it kindly if you would review it in the venue(s) of your choice.  Thank you.

In audiobook news, Steve and I have an appointment with Trade Secret’s narrator, Eileen Stevens, this Sunday evening.  So, yes, there will be an audiobook, and forward motion is, er, motioning.

In author health news, I had my first Covid shot — the Pfizer — yesterday, and in just a couple hours Steve will be getting his second shot of the Moderna.  So, yes, we are a two-vaccine household.

Everybody stay safe.

Neighborhood news

Yesterday, Steve and I broke loose and went down to Old Orchard Beach.  The sea was green and cream, and busy when we hit the beach at just a few minutes til high tide.  We walked the beach for half an hour, then took a small walking tour of the town before getting back in the car and taking the long way home.  The car, purchased in October, now has over 1,200 miles on it — a milestone!

I am scheduled for my first Covid shot on Wednesday; Steve is scheduled for his second shot on Thursday.  My second shot is scheduled for March 24.  So, that’s all in train.

The accountant has finished with the taxes, and it’s pleasant to find that we owe nothing, and in fact have tiny payment overages which have been set against this year’s quarterly payments.

Because of Circumstances, the pre-order period for Change State:  Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 32 has been cut from March 15 to March 4.  This means that your pre-ordered ebook will automagically appear in/on your Kindle/app on Thursday (that’s this week!).  Baen will publish the ebook on March 4, as well.

The paper edition of Change State is now available for order from Amazon only.  Here’s your link.

If you prefer to order ebooks from vendors other than Amazon or Baen, assume that the books are working through those various systems.

Steve and I will be panelists at the virtual MarsCon, March 12-14.  Here’s the schedule.  Hope to see you there!

It’s a grey and rainy day here in the center of Maine.  The coon cats are rising to the challenge.

Change State available for pre-order at Amazon

CHANGE STATE: ADVENTURES IN THE LIADEN UNIVERSE® NUMBER 32, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller includes two stories, reprint Command Decision and brand-new Dead Men Dream. This chapbook is published by Pinbeam Books, aka the Lee-and-Miller indie publishing arm.
Release date is March 15.
The files have been sent and should be available for preorder from all the Usual Suspects.  Amazon already has a page up.  Here’s that link.
Yes, you will be able to purchase this book from Baen.com, on the release date — March 15.
Yes, there will be a paper edition. I’ll try to hit as close to March 15 as I can, but that’s on the knees of Amazon.