January News from Eric G
Celebrating a quiet New Year while sharing my new paperback and audiobooks of H.G. Wells!
Happy New Year!
My holiday season went exactly the way I like it: quietly at home. We entertained friends a few days before Christmas, and then our son and his wife came over for a Christmas Eve dinner and to exchange gifts. New Year’s Eve, not a big deal for my wife or me, came and went quietly.
Pretty much perfect.
How did yours go?
Clouds in the Future Paperbacks!
Paperback copies of Clouds in the Future are available on my website and Amazon. Hopefully, they’ll start showing up at other online bookstores soon.
Selling an ebook couldn’t be much easier for an independent author. You upload your manuscript, fill out a few forms, and it’s available for sale in hours (if not minutes).
Physical books are a different story. First, there’s the obvious difference between electronic and tangible goods. Someone has to print the book, which involves not just the actual work but the finances, too. Someone has to risk paying to print books before they’re sold. (That would be me.)
But then there’s distribution. While an ebook listing shows up at online sellers like Apple and Barnes and Noble within twenty-four hours, the lead time for paperbacks is measured in weeks.
Why? No idea.
As far as getting it on shelves goes, see above about who pays for the printing. I have to agree to accept returns for unsold books. Of course, that includes paying for the shipping to get them to me. So agreeing to accept returns actually means, “Go ahead and shred them. I won’t get mad.”
I used a different printer for Clouds. They (allegedly) have better, albeit slower, distribution. They also print better-looking books. I’m switching to them for Shadows, and then I’ll try a few strategies for getting them on shelves at indie bookstores.
H.G. Wells Audiobooks!
Stuart Gauffi, the narrator for the Shadows of the Past audiobook, just released a new audiobook version of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds! I’ve already told you how happy I am with how the audio version of Shadows came out. That has a lot to do with Stuart’s approach to the story. His performance on WOTW is fantastic.
This is the fourth entry in Stuart’s chronological reading of Wells’ novels. Check out the rest here.
Short and sweet this month! See you in February!
Refer a subscriber to my list from this link, to get a free ebook copy of Shadows of the Past!
Eric Goebelbecker
Trick of the Tale LLC
25 Veterans Plaza #5276
Bergenfield, NJ 07621-9998