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Endormoon
Mar 30, 2004
Out of all the sales I've ever had on nookpress, maybe ten of them were international. It's not a great loss.

On a different note, is Exitica worth publishing on? I just opened an account but this system looks worse than even ARE.

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psychopomp
Jan 28, 2011

Sundae posted:

Beautiful. Just what I wanted to see while going wide back to the only other even remotely viable platform.

I've been making more through iBooks for over a year. Honestly, my BN sales have been tanking since early 2013.

Roar
Jul 7, 2007

I got 30 points!

I GOT 30 POINTS!
Hey boyos,

I'm looking into getting back into writing more consistently and am in need of a new portable writing device. I literally only need two things: a word processor of some sort and internet connection. Does anyone have a suggestion for something I can use at the coffee shop or work or where ever?

I saw a Chromebook for $170 on Amazon, it seems pretty good imo but I wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VQP3DNY/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_nytOvbYSVS6Y6

Fate Accomplice
Nov 30, 2006




Roar posted:

Hey boyos,

I'm looking into getting back into writing more consistently and am in need of a new portable writing device. I literally only need two things: a word processor of some sort and internet connection. Does anyone have a suggestion for something I can use at the coffee shop or work or where ever?

I saw a Chromebook for $170 on Amazon, it seems pretty good imo but I wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VQP3DNY/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_nytOvbYSVS6Y6

I'm guessing you're aware of this, but just in case: chromebooks can't install software unless you monkey around in developer mode, so you're limited to using apps you can access through a web browser. Likely that means google docs. That's cool for some, but not for everyone.

Roar
Jul 7, 2007

I got 30 points!

I GOT 30 POINTS!
I figured. I haven't had a lot of experience with google docs but I could get used to it.

Unbelievably Fat Man
Jun 1, 2000

Innocent people. I could never hurt innocent people.


I've used a cheaper Chromebook than that as my main writing rig for a while. It's OK, not great. My one suggestion of to write in smaller segments because Google Docs on cheapo Chromebooks will choke on novel sized files. So long as you do your prepress/covers on a more powerful computer you'll be fine (and how could you create covers on one of them anyway?)

psychopomp
Jan 28, 2011
I'm looking for a good portable with similar requirements. Additionally, I'd like it to run Scrivener.

Bobby Deluxe
May 9, 2004

I just want something light that doesn't overheat to poo poo when I have more than 2 tabs open.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
https://twitter.com/ChuckTingle/status/619739706297704448

Bobby Deluxe
May 9, 2004

You have to admire any author who's reviews begin with "I'm not sure what I did in a past life to deserve a book like this..."

angel opportunity
Sep 7, 2004

Total Eclipse of the Heart
Is ANYONE still making money off erotica shorts? I just made less money this weekend than last weekend even though I had three new books out vs. only two new books last weekend.

Pinky Artichoke
Apr 10, 2011

Dinner has blossomed.

I should probably buy some of his books just to thank him for the joy he brings to the world with his titles/covers. I can't imagine reading the insides, though.

Sundae
Dec 1, 2005
How is this not our thread icon?

I'm ashamed of myself. :ohdear:

Trustworthy
Dec 28, 2004

with catte-like thread
upon our prey we steal

angel opportunity posted:

Is ANYONE still making money off erotica shorts? I just made less money this weekend than last weekend even though I had three new books out vs. only two new books last weekend.

Well all KDP/KU drama aside, it is also halfway through loving July. Ain't nobody settin' no smut sales records in the dog days.

Sundae
Dec 1, 2005
Yeah, don't expect to set any sales records for anything in the middle of the summer.

Mr. Pumroy
May 20, 2001

Unbelievably Fat Man posted:

I've used a cheaper Chromebook than that as my main writing rig for a while. It's OK, not great. My one suggestion of to write in smaller segments because Google Docs on cheapo Chromebooks will choke on novel sized files. So long as you do your prepress/covers on a more powerful computer you'll be fine (and how could you create covers on one of them anyway?)

Yeah googledocs will slow to an agonizing crawl if you're doing anything novel length. I'd estimate that around 30k words and it will become actively unpleasant to write in.

I have a cheapo laptop with OpenOffice installed. It's not as cheap as a Chromebook but it is much more responsive given the length i write in. Googledocs is neat (never having to worry about backups is great. You should still do it every now and then just in case but a crash won't ruin your life) but I don't like having to skip between multiple files of the book

Popular Human
Jul 17, 2005

and if it's a lie, terrorists made me say it
Depending on your Chromebook, you can mod it to run Linux and use OpenOffice. I have one of those cheapo Samsung ones, and it lets me switch between Chrome OS and some stripped-down Linux distro with a keypress. It's pretty cool.


I still do 99% of my writing on an Alphasmart Neo, though. So much convenience, so few distractions.

Mortley
Jan 18, 2005

aux tep unt rep uni ovi
^^ I was wondering how people dealt with Franzen's idea that no one writes good fiction if they have a Internet connection and our brave new world with ubiquitous wifi.

edit: vv dude these gadgets are $40.

Mortley fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Jul 16, 2015

Jalumibnkrayal
Apr 16, 2008

Ramrod XTreme
KU rate for June is $1.35.

Sulla Faex
May 14, 2010

No man ever did me so much good, or enemy so much harm, but I repaid him with ENDLESS SHITPOSTING

Jalumibnkrayal posted:

KU rate for June is $1.35.

Here lieth the last such post where the point be but one digit from the dollar sign

Sundae
Dec 1, 2005

Mortley posted:

^^ I was wondering how people dealt with Franzen's idea that no one writes good fiction if they have a Internet connection and our brave new world with ubiquitous wifi.

I actually have a serious problem writing if I have internet connectivity. It's awful.

My best writing productivity is at a B&B out in Pennsyltucky with no access to the modern world. I go from struggling to write a chapter to slamming out half a book over a weekend. It's ridiculous.

Jalumibnkrayal
Apr 16, 2008

Ramrod XTreme

Sulla-Marius 88 posted:

Here lieth the last such post where the point be but one digit from the dollar sign

It was interesting to see that after announcing an $11M pot in advance, they boosted it by $300K. Before they'd announce a $3M pot and then triple it. Now they're bumping it by 3%.

Mmmm...3% bump on $0.0057 per page.

ArchangeI
Jul 15, 2010

Sundae posted:

I actually have a serious problem writing if I have internet connectivity. It's awful.

It used to be that the only way I could write was on my notebook in the bed room, with the ethernet cable removed. Then I got an Ipad and a wireless router, so now that is gone, too. Productivity has not recovered.

Sulla Faex
May 14, 2010

No man ever did me so much good, or enemy so much harm, but I repaid him with ENDLESS SHITPOSTING
Check out http://freedom.to

I have a lovely old laptop that I swap to when I want to be productive. If you only have one computer you could set up two user accounts, one for loving around and maybe editing/research, the other for just work with freedom.to installed.

Sulla Faex
May 14, 2010

No man ever did me so much good, or enemy so much harm, but I repaid him with ENDLESS SHITPOSTING
Are there any non-US people who have signed up to both Amazon and other distribution platforms? Amazon reckons they can't give me my IRS number until the end of the year and I've earned enough, which won't happen til 2016 (2014 I hadn't received my first payout yet). I.e. they don't have it, only the IRS has it and will provide it with the first tax receipt or some such reason.

How did you handle D2D when it asks you for your tax number? Did you have to get in touch with the IRS directly and ask for the file on you, or what?

ravenkult
Feb 3, 2011


I called the IRS and got an EIN.

Aaronicon
Oct 2, 2010

A BLOO BLOO ANYONE I DISAGREE WITH IS A "BAD PERSON" WHO DESERVES TO DIE PLEEEASE DONT FALL ALL OVER YOURSELF WHITEWASHING THEM A BLOO BLOO

Sulla-Marius 88 posted:

Are there any non-US people who have signed up to both Amazon and other distribution platforms? Amazon reckons they can't give me my IRS number until the end of the year and I've earned enough, which won't happen til 2016 (2014 I hadn't received my first payout yet). I.e. they don't have it, only the IRS has it and will provide it with the first tax receipt or some such reason.

How did you handle D2D when it asks you for your tax number? Did you have to get in touch with the IRS directly and ask for the file on you, or what?

You shouldn't need an EIN if you're a non-US resident. You can use your local tax identification number. I actually emailed D2D about something very similar - about whether or not I could use a PDF of the tax interview form to supply them with that info - and this is the response they sent me.

quote:

We cannot accept the form Amazon generates, nor can we accept digital signatures.

We are required to have a W8-BEN or a W8-BEN-E tax form on file for all users claiming tax treaty benefits with the US.

If supplying an SSN, an ITIN, or a Foreign Tax ID Number (the number assigned to you by your own government for tax reporting purposes), then you would use the W8-BEN form.

If supplying an EIN number, then you will need to use the W8-BEN-E tax form.

I will attach the W8-BEN form to this email. Please let me know if you require a W8-BEN-E instead.

Please note, this form must be signed and dated and I cannot accept digital or typed signatures. You can print, sign and date your form, and then scan and email it, fax it, or send it via mail to me. Please ensure you've entered your complete address, including city, state, and postal code. Incomplete forms cannot be accepted. On our site, please double check that you've set-up a payment method, as I tie your tax form to the payment method. To do this, click on My Books ---> My Account ---> Manage Payment Options.

As far as I can tell, the form I've already got is filled out correctly, they just want a scan of a handwritten one for their records.

Sulla Faex
May 14, 2010

No man ever did me so much good, or enemy so much harm, but I repaid him with ENDLESS SHITPOSTING
Ah, thank you! I didn't realise that there was no issue filling out multiple forms there the first year. Okay, I will do that asap. Thanks again

vez veces
Dec 15, 2006

The engineer blew the whistle,
and the fireman rung the bell.
I picked up one of those Alphasmart Neos after reading about it a few posts up and it is so much easier to write on than my pc. I just can't handle distractions, and I can't stop editing as I write. The Neo solves both my problems. Just a recommendation for anybody in the same boat.

brotherly
Aug 20, 2014

DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO BLOODSHED

Empire State posted:

I picked up one of those Alphasmart Neos after reading about it a few posts up and it is so much easier to write on than my pc. I just can't handle distractions, and I can't stop editing as I write. The Neo solves both my problems. Just a recommendation for anybody in the same boat.

Yeah I grabbed one recently too, wrote my latest book on it.

Gotta agree 100%, it's very limited but it's an awesome distraction-free tool. Not expensive at all. I'd recommend it for anyone on the fence. They do one thing and they do it really well. I was hesitant about only getting 4 or 5 lines at a time on the screen but that's definitely more than enough.

Toaster Beef
Jan 23, 2007

that's not nature's way
I've been on the fence about getting one of those for a long time now ... guess I'll take the (cheap, really) leap.

CommissarMega
Nov 18, 2008

THUNDERDOME LOSER
Bit of a dumb question here: is it possible for a non-American author to get their book published in the States (or the West in general, at least), as the last few pages seem to be painting a bit of a grim picture. If so, what do you guys think of the PubYourself site mentioned in the OP?

Sulla Faex
May 14, 2010

No man ever did me so much good, or enemy so much harm, but I repaid him with ENDLESS SHITPOSTING

CommissarMega posted:

Bit of a dumb question here: is it possible for a non-American author to get their book published in the States (or the West in general, at least), as the last few pages seem to be painting a bit of a grim picture. If so, what do you guys think of the PubYourself site mentioned in the OP?

Of course it's possible. The only issue there is tax stuff, you need to jump through one extra hoop (and then get the money back to you somehow - I use Payoneer) but that's it.

I don't know anything about that site in the op but for Amazon the process is super easy. Even for D2D which I'm doing now (waiting for them to get back to me with confirmation of form submission) all I had to do was print out a W-8BEN form, fill it out, sign, scan and email. Plus of course Payoneer for getting paid in $USD and then bringing it back into a more relevant currency / country.

Mortley
Jan 18, 2005

aux tep unt rep uni ovi

the brotherly phl posted:

...I was hesitant about only getting 4 or 5 lines at a time on the screen but that's definitely more than enough.

Yeah, I think in your head you write "a page at a time" just because that's what word processors normally display, but if you think it through, that's probably not cognitively possible, your working memory isn't large enough to contain sequences of words that long.

brotherly
Aug 20, 2014

DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO BLOODSHED

Mortley posted:

Yeah, I think in your head you write "a page at a time" just because that's what word processors normally display, but if you think it through, that's probably not cognitively possible, your working memory isn't large enough to contain sequences of words that long.

Also forces you not to revise. Navigating the text is super slow, doable, but a pain in the rear end. So I find myself really producing a lot, and editing it all later. Works for people that want to generate a bunch of text without worrying about making it perfect, but maybe not so much for people that work a sentence at a time.

grenada
Apr 20, 2013
Relax.
A Bluetooth keyboard synced to a phone/tablet with google docs also works well.

Sulla Faex
May 14, 2010

No man ever did me so much good, or enemy so much harm, but I repaid him with ENDLESS SHITPOSTING
How many search terms does D2D allow? Or rather what is the maximum number allowed by the distribution platform with the smallest allotment? I read on some guide that D2D allows 15 terms max but that didn't seem to be the case and I can't find any other mention of the limited number of search terms.

angel opportunity
Sep 7, 2004

Total Eclipse of the Heart
I don't know about anyone else, but going wide isn't worth it to me.

I've made $6 on D2D and $18 on ARe. It seems these other sites have no algorithms or ways to gain visibility.

Popular Human
Jul 17, 2005

and if it's a lie, terrorists made me say it
Yeah, I've been wondering if I should suck up my pride and go back to KU. I've made about $15 this month from Nook Press and Smashwords - even at a half cent per page, I was making ~$5-7 per day from KU. The one thing that keeps me from doing it is that my actual sales have jumped up a bit since I took everything off KU and haven't come back down yet - I'm worried I might be undercutting those by going back to borrows.

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Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Empire State posted:

I picked up one of those Alphasmart Neos after reading about it a few posts up and it is so much easier to write on than my pc. I just can't handle distractions, and I can't stop editing as I write. The Neo solves both my problems. Just a recommendation for anybody in the same boat.

The storage system kind of sucks, though... the Neo stores your text internally, right? And then when you plug it into a computer, it acts like a keyboard and dumps everything into a text editor?

I'm thinking a simple microcontroller (AVR, perhaps) that runs a basic editor, something that immediately writes every keystroke to an SD card, reading in a KB or two into RAM so it can display whatever's near the cursor position. Simple text displays are cheap, couple that with a decent keyboard and you're good to go.

Sorry for the derail but my engineer sperg wanted to say stuff.

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