I finally have SOME audiobooks. Prior to this it was WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. Now, Amazon/KDP is creating them for me for FREE. I am very grateful … but then again I am one of their more LOYAL & longtime clients. I have been with KDP for over a decade.
Very slick. Very easy. Some hitches.
KDP is looking into some of the issues.
I have listened to 3 of the titles.
They sound REAL, REAL good. Voices aren’t optimum, BUT 1,000% better than IF I tried to read them out aloud.
Some of my books are IDEALLY suited for AUDIO. So, I am THRILLED.
Particularly happy about the titles I HIGHLIGHTED.
I even got this last month SAYING that I would get ZERO, i.e., $0.00, royalty on some of my books. Yes, I had to increase the list price — as of last week. BUT, even with that. $0.96 on a $23 book — i.e., 4%.
Click to ENLARGE.
I am NOT complaining — not that complaining will get me anywhere.
I am VERY FORTUNATE that I don’t have to rely on any monies I make from my books — for anything. I survive trading options. {SMILE} It is hard life, but I have to make living.
But, I feed bad for those who want to make living as authors. IF you are mega-successful you are FINE. Very fine. If you sell 10,000 books, your .96 cents, will be $9,600. That is not bad.
Yes, royalties are better on eBook BUT I hate eBooks.
What cracks me up is that everyone makes MORE MONEY selling my books than I do!
That is kind of crazy. But, I am OK with that. I can ask for more money & insist that they make less. But, it is not in I to do that. Runs in the family.
I am, among my many faults, is NOT GREEDY when it comes to money (just food, wine & you know what {SMILE}). I am THANKFUL everyday that I am not greedy when it comes to money. From what I can see, those that are tend to be miserable, daily. That I am NOT. SMILE.
Click to ENLARGE.Click to ENLARGE. E-mail I got earlier today.
Yikes! NOT good news, certainly not for I.
To be honest I am not that bothered by a drop in my bookroyalties — mainly because I don’t make that much! SMILE. Kind of sour grapes.
But, NOT making anything from the sale of a paperback, i.e., ZERO ROYALTIES, just seems WRONG. Like a slap in the face. KDP, to its credit, did provide me, via a spreadsheet, a list of all my book that will fall into this dreaded ZERO ROYALTY category. I have no choice BUT to raise the prices. YIKES. And I am SORRY, very sorry.
This price increase, ALAS, also hits my ‘Bold Coast‘ books. Unlike my other books I do sell the ‘Bold Coast‘ books to outlets (i.e., gift shops & motels) so they can resell them. Now I will have to increase, ALBEIT NOT BY MUCH, what I charge them. They in turn will have to increase the prices they charge. Yes, overall, less books will be sold. DAMN! Not happy. Sad day. This did make me kind of sad.
20-days START-to-FINISH is pretty damn impressive — given that it was ALL done in the U.K.
Kudos to the HM Passport Office — & a HUGE Thank YOU.
The British Civil Service still rocks. I am glad & proud.
It could have been 18-days, rather than 20 IF NOT for 2 separate postal service related delays. One was yesterday. We were NOT at home & as such could not sign for delivery. Instead, had to pick it up, from the Post Office, this morning. That added a day. The other was at the very start. Also had to do with the Post Office. They were NOT able to handle the delivery of my old passport to the U.K.!I described it all here. I had to take it to a FedEx office the next day. So, lost another day there.
But, 20-days start-to-finish is impressive. I am happy. I am glad.
Using FedEx definitely helped. They got my old passport to the U.K. in less than 3-days. That expedited matters. Appears that they don’t start processing your application UNTIL they receive your old passport. That I managed to get it to them QUICKLY helped. [It wasn’t cheap at $92.03 BUT it was worth every penny. Thank YOU, FedEx.]
Once they got my old passport it was very quick. Took about 3 days for the old passport to get from the mailroom to whatever. Then it was BANG, BANG, BANG.
See the timetable at top. Impressive.
I think it took longer when the renewals were done in D.C. — & if I am NOT mistaken, cost more! So, this is great. NOT SURE why anyone would want to use a 3rd party passport application/renewal service. The ONLINE process was very smooth.
So, I am back to an Ol’ style Blue British Passport.
WOW. The about of anti-forgery ‘devices’ is mind-blowing. For a start there are 4 COPIES of your picture. It used to be just ONE. Now 4. But, it appears my passport is machine readable, i.e., I can go through automated passport controls. I never have. The main picture has some kind of polarizing (or holographic) overlay. A tiny copy of your picture, again under a plastic overlay, sits under your date-of-birth. It is a work of art.
Click to ENLARGE. Old passport — being returned from the U.K. & could take 3-weeks to get here.
