Work continues on April 13, and a stand alone ‘Invasion’ book. I have not started on Family Law 7 but have some ideas. I’m itching to describe Central’s explorations and planets.
I tried having third parties format my books for paper at great expense and little satisfaction. I’ve now learned enough that I reformatted “April” with the latest file that has many fewer errors and typos. I did not list it as a second edition because the story line is unchanged. I sold very few paper copies so it isn’t a money maker. It’s more a service for collectors and those who have trouble reading off a screen. I also increased the price a couple of dollars to $18.99 because it was a LOT of work and the product is better and worth more now. I was only making about $2 off a print “April” and am still making about the same as a kindle sales now.
About readability… I’m experimenting with producing a LARGE PRINT edition of April. It’s such a large book that in a 6″ x 9″ book it would go over 1,000 pages. That’s not exactly the sort of book you can hold in your lap and read comfortably. I may go big – 8.5 x 11 or even split it into two books and sell them as a set.
Now that I have the (mostly mental) tools to publish paper I expect to have paperbacks of all my books. I also expect to have hardback books, but not the fabric covered publishing house versions with dust jackets. They will be the hard cover with the cover design printed directly on the end boards.
I don’t intend to stop writing to do the formatting. I will switch back and forth to make the work load easier. The same way as I work on two or more books so I can get a mental break by switching.
I also have a wife and a life I am not willing to ignore. My wife is taking Fridays off all summer and yesterday we used the first of these to take a long ride out i the country. We saw sandhill cranes, wild turkey, and a black bear. I’ll be 74 next month and intend to do this as long as I can.
Audio-book please
I’ll offer them.
Good to hear you are trying to keep a work life balance, its been a crazy year, and always good to see nature! I look forward to reading any of your stories.
Mac, I am really looking forward to reading your next (several) books. I’m completely addicted to April & her associates.I only hope I have time remaining to read them. Nine years ago I found out I have leukemia (CML) and have been taking daily oral chemo for the past 9 years. So nine years is a good run with any kind of cancer. Three month ago I was diagnosed with something called myelodysplastic syndrome which is a lethal complication of leukemia. I’ve been told that the overall prognosis is grim.
So if I’m going to be able to read the next several April & Family Law books, please write faster. Thanks. Richard
Thanks for the update! I think most of us are looking to get out more this year. Keep enjoying life and I’ll keep reading your books as long as you’re writing!
Thank you for the update! Look forward to the stand alone.
I really enjoy all the books. I buy the Kindle version of each one and have the audio versions that are available as well. I like both. I always read first then listen. Glad to see from above that there may be more audio versions available. I sent printed copies to a couple of people as gifts because your books are worth sharing. Thanks for letting us all enjoy your stories.
Thanks for the update. I’m currently re-reading the FL series, and eagerly anticipate anything you choose to write
Live long and prosper, Mac! Good to hear you’re taking time to smell the roses. I was out with my wife this morning, looking at birds, with cedar waxwings and chickadees and even a deer and a mink joining the party. Keep writing, though, I’m jonesing bad for the next April installment.
Mack–
just ordered your hardbound version of April and would be glad to pick up the rest as they become available. Thank you
Ugh, Just found the .docx to .pdf conversion dropped a couple of paragraphs. Have I mentioned I hate all things Adobe? If I didn’t catch it before it went to press let me know and I’ll send you one.
I had some issues with the hardcover that are now corrected. Let me know and I’ll send you a corrected copy once I see my own and know it is fixed.
I look forward to buying all your “old-school” paper books. Bought April pretty much the day it became available what, a year or two ago now?
I have a love/mild distrust relationship with my e-readers, so I don’t mind buying both versions from authors I particularly admire.
I was almost an adolescent back in ‘83 when my Dad (an electrical engineer) brought home the family’s first “PC,” the venerable Commodore 64. We spent the rest of the ‘80s acquiring hundreds of games on the old 5.25 floppies and writing programs … the Model T version of programming! Without the old tech to run them on – which I still have – those disks would be good for nothing but landfill fodder.
Dad often told stories about how fast tech became obsolete. He said the bleeding-edge communication/crypto technology he worked on in the Navy during ‘Nam would be classified until the end of time … but by the mid-80’s he could build it all from his Ham Radio gear, garage-sale computers and a trip to Radio Shack.
I always wonder how long the current ebook formats will last … and before any of you say forever, who remembers 8-tracks? Who grew up like me in the age of cassettes and VHS, spent thousands of dollars on music and movies, only to have CDs, MP3s, DVDs and Ultra 4K Blue Ray bump them all out of the market. As I understand it, there’s not a single company left making new VCRs. iTunes lasted what, 20 years?
So thanks for the dead-tree format, Mac. I own dozens of book printed as far back as the early 1600s and can still read each one. I absolutely guarantee that 400 years from now the same will not be said of current (or any) ebook formats.
Sadly, paper books take up a lot of room. After 50 years of collecting, I had 1200 of them, mostly paperbacks, and then I emigrated from the UK to Malta, so I gave them all away. I sympathise about the lost investment, I must have spent upwards of $10K on paper books.
I already had a Kindle in preparation for the move, which can hold about 1800 books, and the Calibre library on my PC has even more.
If I have to use a new format, I will convert as necessary, but as I’m 69, I expect the Kindle format will outlive me.
Kevin, I doubt that the Kindle format will outlive you. The kindle format has already undergone several changes from the first version. Calibre and conversion to ePub or other formats is the best routes, as it guarantees that you will continue to be able to read whatever you purchase. I was an early adopter and got caught out when I could no longer access my DRM-protected Mobi books. I should add that those unable to wait for audiobooks can use a reader like Moon Reader + to have converted ePub books read to them. Okay, it is a machine generated voice, and can give you a laugh sometimes when Dr. Watson is read as Drive Watson, but it is much cheaper than books read by actors, and takes up a lot less room on your mobile devices memory.
That’s interesting. I’m profoundly hard of hearing – effectively deaf for speech. The inaccuracies of the text to speech programs mirror the speech to text programs. I’m still very attached to my Pixel phone that allows me to transcribe live speech. People accept it better than writing notes to me.
See what I said to Matthew….
Old tech.
Anyone remember record players in taxis? They were quite the thing when I lived in Teheran in 1970, a little box slung under the dashboard and playing as you were driven down the avenue. by a year or two later cassettes had replaced them.
Never saw one. I can’t imagine how they would deal with a pot hole in the road. They have record players that read the groove with a laser now but not back then I am sure.
I’m rereading fair trade, and enjoying it, are you going to expand on this story?
I’ve a few thousand words into the sequel. I think I’ll have an April book first though. I like to work on more than one at a time.
looking forward to it