Eagles Over the Kennebec

Steve and I are often asked which bookstore sales give us the most royalties on our books.  The answer to that is:  We get the same percentage of cover, no matter where the book is sold; our piece of the action is set in our contract with our publisher.  So, please, buy our books at your favorite bookstore, but -- do buy :)

Today brings an inquiry regarding which ebook store we prefer our novels to be downloaded from.

That's both an easier and a more complicated answer.

The only source for Lee-and-Miller, and Lee, eNovels (saving The Tomorrow Log, Barnburner, and Gunshy, about which more in a moment) is Baen Ebooks.  Here's your link.

The source for Lee-and-Miller, and Lee, eChapbooks, and! novels The Tomorrow Log, Barnburner, and Gunshy) is Pinbeam Books, which is owned and operated by Lee and Miller.  Here's your link.

To reiterate, the only source for Lee-and-Miller, and Lee, eNovels is Baen Ebooks.

Now!  You may download books from Baen in all the popular formats, DRM-Free (that means you can put your books on multiple devices and aren't locked into one bookstore, like, say, Amazon, or BN):

• Mobi/Kindle/Palm
• EPUB/Nook/Stanza
• Sony LRF
• Rocketbook
• RTF
• MS Reader
• HTML/Online

And there are instructions for putting your books on your iThing, Kindle, and Nook.

I have heard from more than one person that even with the instructions, it's hard to get the books onto Nooks and/or Kindles.  If you've found that to be so, then the very best thing you can do, for yourself, for Baen, for your favorite authors, and for other ebook readers, is to write to Baen eBook Support and calmly detail the difficulties you're having.  We all want your books to work.  Here's the email address (you will need to put an @ in the correct place and remove the AT):  baensupportATprincipledtechnologies.com.

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Regarding eReaders. . .Let me share my experience.

My Android phone actually convinced me  that I liked reading eBooks, and led directly to my purchase of my very first eReader -- the basic black-and-white Nook.  I was very happy with it, but BN stopped supporting it after awhile, and the reader itself started to act wonky, and so I looked around for another eReader to replace it.

I quickly became convinced that buying a subpar tablet tied specifically to a store that imposed DRM on my purchases was not in my own best interest.  So, I started shopping Real Tablets.  I shopped HARD, found a sale, and have been for a while the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy 7.0 Plus, which does email, plays music, streams videos, and a dozen other things that I'll never use (just like the Kindle Fire and the Nook), but! it also allows me access to  multiple eReaders.

I have a Nook reader, a Kindle reader, and Aldiko Premium on my tablet, so I'm not tied to one platform, and I'm not tied to one vendor.

If I had it to do over again, I'd probably buy a Google Nexus Tablet -- Steve has one, and it's a lot easier to use than the Galaxy (plus Samsung does some annoying things about trying to lock users into their protocols, which, had I known, I might've waited a little longer for the Google Tab, myself) -- and costs no more than the new Kindles and Nooks.

So, that's my story, and I hope it's useful.

Lest I forget, the Locus Poll for best Everything SFnal of 2011 is now online here.

You do not have to be a Locus subscriber to take part in this poll. You do not have to vote for one of the suggested works or persons.  There are plenty of write-in spaces provided.

Yes, we have cats in this race, too.

Short Stories:
“Guaranteed Delivery,” published at Splinter Universe on September 12, 2011 (Now available in eChapbook  Courier Run, available from the Kindle Store, the Nook Store and from Smashwords)

“Russians in My Head,” by Steve Miller. Published at Splinter Universe on October 31, 2011; available to be read for free

Novelettes:
“Kin Ties,” published at Splinter Universe, August 12, 2011 (Now available in eChapbook  Courier Run, available from the Kindle Store, the Nook Store and from Smashwords)

“The Space at Tinsori Light,” published at Splinter Universe on November 10, 2011.  Collected in Legacy Systems: Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 19 and available at the Nook and Kindle stores.

“Intelligent Design,” published on the Baen Website in July 2011. Compilation of all the free Baen stories here (free download).  Also collected in Legacy Systems: Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 19 and available at the Nook and Kindle stores.

Novella:
“Skyblaze,” published by SRM Publisher, Ltd., February 2011  (Now available in eChapbook  Skyblaze, available from the Kindle Store, the Nook Store and from Smashwords)

Novel:
Ghost Ship, Baen Books, August 2011.

Please vote responsibly, and only once.  Mr. Kelly abhors ballot-box stuffing, as he should.  Please be truthful about your gender.

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IN OTHER NEWS, I broke down and ordered in a micro-sd card for the new Galaxy Tab, which now rejoices in a name!

Cygnus.

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I’m about a third of the way through the line edit of the first 70,000-odd words of Necessity’s Child.  Because of the long time that I’ve been away from the story, due to finishing Dragon Ship and then haring off to Chattanooga, I have declared that same 70,000-odd A Draft.  It’s a little shorter than I’d've liked for a draft, and I didn’t get all the way to the end, but I am within shouting distance of the end, and I might as well true up everything in the first seven-tenths before I go running downhill with my arms windmilling, and screaming at the top of my lungs.

I’ve done a teensy structural change, the result of which pleases me inordinately, and makes the story feel much stronger.  Funny how sometimes it’s just one little thing…

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

That?  Was a staggeringly unpleasant week.  Let us speak of it no more.

Instead, let us speak of what Steve and I will be doing tomorrow, which is driving out to Bridgton to record an interview on “What Are You Reading?”, which airs on Lake District Cable. Bridgton’s a pretty place, a couple hours away from the location of the Cat Farm, and we anticipate a pleasant, relaxing drive and a good time at the interview itself.

In other news, the taxes have been dropped off with the accountant, so Sunday I’ll start revising “Intelligent Design.” That done, I’ll be clear to reread and get back with George, which still hasn’t forked over with a Title. Though, yanno, if there can be a movie called Harvey why not a book called George?

A question for all you ebook readers out there. I’ve actually been enjoying reading with the Nook app on my Android, which I never thought I’d say. But I really like that I can make the text bigger and read without my glasses, and I like how crisp the resolution is, and the page-turn — which was slllloooooowwwwwww in the One Real Nook I’ve ever held in my hands — is snappy. So, I’m thinking…maybe an ebook reader. But! There’s the brand-new iteration of the Kindle, of which I’ve heard lovely things, including the fact that they’ve got the hand-feel down to mass market weight, and, well — weight counts. I could never hold one of your whomping great Ipads and read on a book on it.

So, those of you with ‘em — how’s the refresh rate on the actual Nook and Kindle? Comparable weights? Glad you have one? Wish you hadn’t bothered? What do I need to know? What should I think about before I plunge my next bit of crazy money into one of these things? Tell all.

In the meantime, I’m going to go vacuum the house and terrify the cats. Double the fun!