George and Mildred

Mildred, the church gossip and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business.

Several members did not approve of her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence. She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new church member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She emphatically told George (and several others) that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.

George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and then just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend , or deny... He said nothing.

Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house...



LOL! You gotta love it when a "morally superior" person has the tables turned...

Amazon's Strong Arm

Amazon recently announced to its small press clients that they must start to use Amazon's POD (print-on-demand) publisher Booksurge to print the books they want to sell using Amazon's retail arm. Publishers like Lulu (which allows authors to self-publish) immediately caved. (And let me say here that, as a consumer, I love Amazon. I have spent a LOT of money there.)

But here's the thing. Whatever kind of "discounts" Amazon demands, whatever fees Booksurge charges, will hurt only one group of people. The authors. Just about all the writers I know aren't in this as a hobby--and I know I sure as hell am not. This is a career for me as it is most of my writer friends.

Amazon is pitching the move as a consumer-friendly change that will improve the speed of shipping books and other products (because Booksurge is on-site and can print and ship books within 24 hours of the order being placed. However, Lightening Source, the current POD printer, can also do--and historically has done--the same thing...)

The Author's Guild spoke up in a recent Publisher's Weekly article. In part, they question Amazon's motivation, saying the move has more to do with profit margin than customer service:

If Amazon is successful in wresting a large chunk of pod business away from current leader Lightning Source (which the Guild says does a good job), they will have taken a huge step in controlling publishing’s supply change and thus control much of the industry’s long tail business, the Guild said. “Once Amazon owns the supply chain, it has effective control of much of the "long tail" of publishing,” the statement reads. “Since Amazon has a firm grip on the retailing of these books (it's uneconomic for physical book stores to stock many of these titles), owning the supply chain would allow it to easily increase its profit margins on these books: it need only insist on buying at a deeper discount -- or it can choose to charge more for its printing of the books -- to increase its profits. Most publishers could do little but grumble and comply.”

Maya Reynolds has had some good posts about this (she's much more articulate about this than I am) here, here and here.

If you're a writer, this could very well affect you--if not today, then down the road if Amazon is allowed to continue this. And even if it doesn't ever affect you, what about your fellow authors? Give your support by signing the iPetition here.

Man Meat Monday

Just take a few minutes and look at that bicep...and those pecs...

Rowwwwwwwr!

Espresso Book Machine

It was reported a while ago about the Espresso Book Machine--a machine where the consumer could print the book of their choosing. The machine would print and bind the book within about 15 minutes. No more "The book I want isn't on the shelf, can I special order it?" kind of thing. If the book's not on the shelf, you can print it using the Espresso.

This week, Publisher's Weekly reported the following:

On Demand Books Signs Agreement with Lightning Source

“It’s always been the holy grail of the book business to walk into a store and get any book,” said Kirby Best, president and CEO of Lightning Source. With the signing of today’s strategic agreement with On Demand Books, proprietor of the Espresso Book Machine, Best sees that goal coming a little bit closer.

“When we first got into this, we thought our technology would be ahead of the content. Now we have to catch up,” said Dane Neller, cofounder and CEO of On Demand Books.

The partnership with Lightning Source gives On Demand access to its scanning facilities, but it also gives the company access to copyrighted material through an opt in/opt out clause that Lightning Source will add to its publisher contracts. At present, the titles available through Espresso fall mainly in the public domain.


The publishing industry, she is a-changing...

Friday Funny

I get some of the funniest things in my email from my sister. She sent this to me a few days ago:

WHY YOU NEVER QUESTION A DRUNK

I was shopping at the local supermarket where I selected a half-gallon of 2% milk, a carton of eggs, a quart of orange juice, a head of romaine lettuce, a 2 lb. can of coffee, and a 1 lb. package of bacon. As I was unloading my items on the conveyor belt to check out, a drunk standing behind me watched as I placed the items in front of the cashier.

While the cashier was ringing up the purchases, the drunk calmly stated, "You must be single."

I was a bit startled by this proclamation, but I was intrigued by the derelict's intuition, since I was indeed single. I looked at the six items on the belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about my selection s that could have tipped off the drunk to my marital status.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I said: "Well, you know what, you're absolutely right. But how on earth did you know that?"

The drunk replied, "'Cause you're ugly."


LOLLOL!!

Have a great Friday!

My Addiction

I don't know if it's unhealthy or even unholy, but I am totally addicted to Stargate Atlantis, and it's all because of this guy:



That's Joe Flanigan, who plays Lt. Col. John Sheppard. Admittedly, David Hewlett, who plays Dr. Rodney McKay, comes in a close second on the list of my favorite characters. But I don't have the lust-fest going on for him that I do for Joe. He's just so damned cute, I can't help myself.

I think I'm going to have to use him as inspiration for one of my heroes...

Anyone else out there with this same, um, problem?

Another Review for JEWEL OF APTHGAR

5 Angels

"Sherrill Quinn will thrill you with this explosive romance story. Amethyst – Jewel of Apthgar will throw the readers for a loop with the passion and action of the characters in this wonderful story... This short story is the perfect book for the romance reader that wants a spicy story and doesn't have a lot of time to read. I cannot wait to see what Ms. Quinn will come up with next."

You can read the full review at Fallen Angel Reviews.


JEWEL OF APTHGAR, available now at Ellora's Cave!