Is it just me or does anyone else see a wide range in the current prices for ebooks?  I can't say what goes through the minds of authors and/or publishers when they decide to add that price tag.  I for one, make my decision based on what I would be willing to pay.  No, I'm not paying $2.99 or more for something that has less than 10,000 words.  It's just not happening.   That little bit of entertainment is simply not worth that much to me.   Will I pay $.99 for it?   Yes, I will and I have.  I might even pay $1.99 for it but that would be my upper limit.  I'll pay a great deal more for a full length novel.  I read a hell of alot of books and I can honestly say, very little pisses me off more than to pay $3.0o for a short piece of garbage.   And yes, I've done it.  Unintentionally of course.  I've found that it is sometimes very difficult to judge how long a book is when you're looking at it online.  Not everyone includes a word count.  So, I made an executive decision (I can do that since I get to make all of the decisions about my stories.  It's the nice thing about being an independent author/publisher) and that decision was to start including the word count in the description.   Do I think my stories are worth the prices I set?  Yes, I do.  In fact, the prices of the novellas will likely increase to $2.99 in the near future since that was the initial price I had in mind.  Are they worth more than that?  Nope, not at this time.  Will you know how many words are in the story you're buying?  Yes.  If for some reason, the word count doesn't show up in the listing you're looking at, email me.  I'll tell you what it is before you buy it.  I really don't want unhappy customers.   That's the same reason I try not to publish garbage.  I'm sure not everyone will enjoy my stories no matter how much I'd like for them to.   But, I always try to make certain they're well written.  You won't find the five pages of fluff in between each event and hopefully, I won't butcher the English language.  I absolutely will not put something out there that I haven't proofed.    I guess that's my rant for the day.  If you have an opinion one way or the other, feel free to share.  If you prefer to keep your comments hidden, you can always send me an email.  I will respond.  

And by the way, Tamed:  A Tale of Indulgence is still coming soon.  I got stumped for a little while so I switched projects.  I usually have four or five going at once.  (I have a short attention span,)  I think I have the problem worked out and will have it available as soon as I can.  Remember, even once it's finished, I will still proof it repeatedly.  I'll let you know how it goes.

 
I wish I'd known how hard it would be to actually market my own books.  I've spent more time trying to figure out how to connect, register, network, etc.  Today I finally figured out how to get the damn like button on my page.  I know it's not perfect but it's what I've got.  I also know it would help if I wasn't stuck in the stone age.  Well, I'm probably not quite that bad but definitely close.  I've never cared for the whole social network thing.  My cell phone is still a cell phone.  I don't text and I don't surf the web from my phone (partly because I can't see it when it's that small).  But, I'm slowly figuring it out.  And on my own.  Aren't you impressed?  I'm not.  It's not that I can't figure it out, it has a lot more to do with the number of hours in a day.  There aren't enough and I've already devoted 18 or 19 out of each day to my family, job, pets, riding, reading and writing.  If I cut out any more sleep, I'll be running on caffeine alone.  I'm already pretty close as it is.  I've finished my first pot before anyone else in my house is even awake.  Well, I said all of that to say this... marketing is hard work especially when I don't have a reputation yet.   So if you feel like it and if you have a minute,
I would really, really, appreciate it if you could leave a review or click on the damn like button (I'm never going to actually like the button, it was way too time consuming and it made me feel extremely stupid).  Just saying... Thanks.

Casey
 
Christmas is over but my house looks like a war zone.  I think I need to hire help.  In a perfect world, I'd have a full time maid (my kids seem to think we already have one) and a full time drill sergeant to hound the children until every toy, every book, and every freaking lego piece was where it belonged instead of under my feet.  But, it's not a perfect world.  That's why I don't have perfect children or a perfect home.  Our home is what you might call "lived in" and it looks it.  Things are rarely where they should be but hey, I guess I should be used to it by now.  For a day or two, I'm going to let chaos reign.  I'm going to (maybe) finish writing and start editing "Tamed".  I haven't done anything in two days now and I miss it.  Not to mention that I have the most time on my days off from my real job.  Tomorrow, I'll return to said job and will have little free time.  Maybe one of these days I can let that real job go. We'll see how it goes.  

Hey, just curious, but am I the only one that needs a map and a compass to navigate my living room after Christmas?

Casey
 
Smashwords seems to be down temporarily.  Maybe there are so many people downloading my newest novella that it was more than their server could handle!  Yeah, right.  Seriously, there have been quite a few downloads in the last two days and I'm pleased.   Thanks.
 
Merry Christmas!   It took most of the night but presents were wrapped and within 30 minutes this morning, they were scattered across the living room. I guess I have the rest of the day to myself since my little electronic geniuses have taken their hard earned loot (they were good for part of the year) and disappeared to their rooms.

Our family tradition is to lay low on Christmas.  The kids get the entire day to enjoy their presents and I've always refused to drag them around to their relatives' houses.  The rest of my family is not thrilled with me but I've always maintained that Christmas is for the kids.  They'll just have to get over it.  I spent the greater part of my childhood Christmas days in a car and I'm not doing that to my kids.

Now, if it the weather was slightly better (it's cold and raining), I'd go for a ride but it's not happening today.  Guess I'll work on Tamed - the third Tale of Indulgence. 
 
Have you ever tried to write and wrap Christmas presents at the same time?  I've yet to wrap the first present so even though I normally spend a little time writing each day, it's going to have to wait a day or two.  
 
Yes, it took a little longer than I thought.  Who'd have ever believed that editing takes more time than writing?  I've found that getting the words out is the easy part.  Unfortunately, it takes forty forevers to cut out the majority of the crap that invades that first draft.  Seriously, I probably cut out two-thirds of the original story before it's ever published.  Maybe it's just me but I find myself wishing that other authors would do the same thing.  
I have a short attention span and by the time I finish five pages of fluff, I'm bored.  Hopefully, I left the best parts.  As far as pricing goes, I decided to  offer this one free for a short while.  Personal experience has shown me that free books are frequently worth what I paid for them.  I do however, run across one every now and then that I enjoy.  Maybe someone will enjoy this one.  I know people visit the site but I'd love to hear from you.  You don't have to leave your email or your real name.  After all, you don't know mine.  

Let me know what you think.

Casey
 
Hopefully, I'll have Unbound published to Smashwords today or tomorrow.  I hate editing.  Every time a read the story, it seems something could always be better.  I've been making changes for two weeks now so I'm going to stop.  I'll check again for errors but hope to finish that tonight or tomorrow.  Kid duty will keep me busy for much of the night.  I have a Christmas concert to attend for one child and a separate event for another.  We'll see.  Just so you know, I plan to list it for free for a limited time on Smashwords.  It probably won't appear on Amazon until after the first of January since Amazon won't let you choose to list a book for free and you can't have a listed sales price higher than that of another distributer.  We'll see how it goes.  By the way, if you have a Kindle, you can still download from Smashwords.
 
Feel free to leave a note.  Let me know what you think or just tell me about yourself.  I'll do my best to add my own two cents as often as possible.

Casey