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Authors, E-book sales, E-books, Self Publishing, Writing

E-Books and New Authors

Mona Alvarado Frazier

For the past couple of days I’ve been catching up with my dashboard blogs. One of them, Joe Konrath’s “Newbie Guide to Publishing,” has an ongoing dialogue about publishing your work on e-books versus the ‘legacy’ big 6 publishers or print publishing. There are several valid points to consider when deciding whether to go e-book self publishing or through the traditional method.  
Today the Wall St. Journal featured an article about the same subject, “Cheapest E-Books upend the charts.” The writer believes that 99 cent titles from unknown authors puts big pressure on the big publishers.”As digital sales surge, publishers are casting a worried eye towards the previously scorned self-published market.”
 The link to the entire article is at the bottom of this blog.


Digital sales are surging. Just look at the latest figures from booktrade.info: 
E-book sales growth showed no signs of letting up in February, increasing at an even faster rate than they did in January. According to AAP’s monthly sales estimates, e-book sales jumped 202.3% at the 16 publishers that reported results, hitting $90.3 million. The rest of the trade segments, however, all had declines in the month with adult hardcover sales plunging 43%, to $46.2 million at the 17 houses that reported figures, while mass market paperback sales tumbled 41.5%, to $29.3 million at the nine reporting houses.


Then we have the recent article that announced that owners of the Kindle e-Reader will be able to download products from their local libraries later this year. Humm, now libraries across the country will begin buying e-books.


To be fair, I need to let you know that the other blogger I follow, JM Tohline, has the opposite view. His post today reads, ” Hey look, I can avoid the fiery hoops of the Publishing World.” Some good points there too. 

IMHO, I think one has to make a personal ‘pro/con’ list of what publishing path to take. One size doesn’t fit all and all that. I do think that self publishing, with an Amazon platform, right price point and hard work can outweigh the traditional venue. This is particularly true for authors who have already published books in the traditional manner and/or have name recognition.


 Although I haven’t made a choice, the writing on the wall, for this newbie, has become more clear. 






Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703838004576274813963609784.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

Faith, Travel

Wishes in Budapest

Mona Alvarado Frazier

The third leg of my trip was to the cities of Buda and Pest. Both are enchanting by night, on a dinner cruise up and down the Danube. But instead of describing the sites, I’m going to tell you about one statue in the city park.

Up until now, I have been an ‘anonymous’ poster, meaning there is no ‘real’ photo of me on this site. Until now. And it’s all because of Mr. Anonymous, a real person, or statue, I met near the Vajdahunyad Castle. The castle is a copy of one in Transylvania, Romania. Why, I don’t know.

Mr. A. is kind of a spooky looking character, as portrayed by the artist, and it’s fitting that he sits near an equally spooky looking castle. Until this day we don’t have a confirmation of who this gentleman was but it has been narrowed down to an Italian or French immigrant who served in King Bela’s court, in the late 1100’s.  The inscription beneath the sculpture reads: “The Anonymous Notary of King Bela.” There were a couple of King Bela’s so that confuses the issue. This notary, or chancellor, wrote a historical manuscript of Hungary, full of early Hungarian history, legends, and politics of the day. Now we know why he chose to remain ‘anonymous.’

In the photo you will note that his pen is burnished to a bright golden color. Hungarian folklore says that if you touch the pen you will gain inspiration for your writing. I had used every opportunity to make wishes on the Charles Bridge in Prague, there were no opportunities in Vienna unless I count all the wishes I made when I entered the Swarvoski store, so I touched the pen.  Actually, I rubbed it before the photo was snapped.

Have I had inspiration to write? I’ve written a few pages and completed a couple of blog entries in the past 3 days, but that’s been the usual routine for the past four months.  And I did make a complete rewrite of my first chapter, trying out 1st person instead of 3rd person point of view.

But what I really wanted was a burst of inspiration that would push me through to a spectacular ending of my second manuscript. Why didn’t I think of those exact words when I was touching the pen? Probably because I was trying to stand up straight and keep my eyes open for the camera. Instead, here I am ‘outing’ myself in a tourist photo and becoming ‘un-anonymous,’ for the sake of this blog.