Free and bargain romance ebooks + Discussion December 2013

[koland]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I did a review for this and I think it's a good beginning to a series. It's free at Kobo but author has ask for you price report it to Amazon. She doesn't know how to make it free.

First Ink by Laura Wright

It's quite simple.

She just doesn't want to follow the procedures necessary to do so at Amazon (which includes removing it from others stores and allowing it in the lending library for the quarter).

Some authors want more than the alloted 5 days of free, too, so use the "report my lower price" scheme to get punitive free status at Amazon.

[library addict]

Originally Posted by laurla

Library Addict - I've been thinking about doing this for the new year...My biggest concern is understanding css/stylesheets (not even sure I'm using the right terminology). I know I can manually tweak away at the books to my hearts content but I'm thinking there is a better way. Ideas for a partial tech dummy? I'd appreciate any tips you might have

I'm doing each book individually. Some require next to no work and others are a total mess.

I explode the ePub, remove unwanted front and back matter (excerpts, praise, TOC as a page, etc). Mostly I leave in the list of the author's other books, but if it's both the front and back of the book, I remove one. Stuff like that.

I usually only edit the stylesheet if needed to correct spacing I can't do with the actual conversion process. (I like my paragraphs single spaced with no gaps between them). I haven't been changing the level of indent unless it's way too little or too much (I had one book where the first line of each paragraph was like 80% indented ). Some books need a lot of work if the formatting wasn't well done to begin with. Sometimes I edit the individual chapters using SeaMonkey (free HTML editor). But those books are more the exception than the norm.

If it's a more simply formatted book (or conversely one with really messy css) I just check the box on the Look & Feel page in Calibre conversion to remove spacing between paragraphs. Usually I leave the indent size as no changes, but will use 1.5em if needed. If needed, I can add in more space in section breaks on the Search & Replace screen at the same time.

I also use Search & Replace quite a bit to make corrections to the text or add a bit more space to signify section breaks. I also take out *** or other symbols if it's only on a few section breaks. I get that publishers are just copying the print format (and use *** to indicate section break that appears at the end of a page). But I like either all of the section breaks to have *** or symbols or none of them.

Sometimes I have to add 2 <br/> to get the spacing to match sometimes 1 or 3, so I may have to convert the book multiple times until I am happy with the results.

The Table of Contents page and Structure Detection (especially the block where you can force page breaks) are well-used options, too. Particularly with older digital books or ones from mobi or LIT format.

I don't know how to do everything with regular expressions. So if I need a more "custom" result, that's when I edit the stylesheet directly. I do know a bit of HTML so that helps. But the really complex stuff is over my head.

The Polish TOC feature is my favorite because I can add, remove, and rename items with such ease.

So it's really just a mixture of techniques I've learned over the years.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by koland

It's quite simple.

She just doesn't want to follow the procedures necessary to do so at Amazon (which includes removing it from others stores and allowing it in the lending library for the quarter).

Some authors want more than the alloted 5 days of free, too, so use the "report my lower price" scheme to get punitive free status at Amazon.

So the only way to make a book free at the Kindle store is to join Kindle Select? That is soo not cool. An author should have more control than that on how to price their book.

[KyBunnies]

Originally Posted by Blossom

So the only way to make a book free at the Kindle store is to join Kindle Select? That is soo not cool. An author should have more control than that on how to price their book.

An author can set the price at zero without being in the Kindle Select program. The Kindle select just allows authors to have 5 days every 3 months to promote there book free and it also allows there book to be lend-able thru Prime. Every time a book is borrow thru prime authors get a some money.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by KyBunnies

An author can set the price at zero without being in the Kindle Select program.

Not unless something has recently changed. The minimum price for KDP is $0.99 and there are two ways to make a book free, join KDP Select (up to 5 days free per 90 days of exclusivity) or make it free elsewhere and count on Amazon matching that price (through their bots or it being reported).

[pisceschick]

Originally Posted by apesmom

I had a better reading week.

Rock Chick Revenge (#5) - Kristen Ashley - 4
A Knight's Enchantment - Lindsay Townsend - 2
Running Wild (Battle Creek #1) - Linda Howard & Linda Jones - 4
Ripped - Sarah Morgan - 4

I read that Lindsay Townsend last week, too, but I loved it! Funny.

Picked it up with a Kobo coupon.

[Carmelreader]

Is there a Calibre manual for dummies? I have about 2000 books in it, but really am at a loss how to work with it. I get tags, working with metadata etc. For instance I would like to gather up and put all the epubs in a separate folder or file, so I can export just those to say moon+ on kfhdx or marvin on iPad. Also I sure wish there was a back button!
P. S. I know about the forum for Calibre, but they tend to be deep in a subject or way over my head. I am on a mac by the way. If that makes any difference. Is there a back button?

I figured it was legitimate to ask here, being as this forum is responsible for more than half of those 2000 books!

Thanks

[Blossom]

Get a FREE Carina Press ebook!

Harlequin's Christmas Countdown is still going strong, and Day 9 brings you a FREE ebook download! For today only, you can get a free copy of Slow Ride Home by Leah Braemel using the LBSRH13 coupon code.

[library addict]

Originally Posted by Carmelreader

Is there a Calibre manual for dummies? I have about 2000 books in it, but really am at a loss how to work with it. I get tags, working with metadata etc. For instance I would like to gather up and put all the epubs in a separate folder or file, so I can export just those to say moon+ on kfhdx or marvin on iPad. Also I sure wish there was a back button!
P. S. I know about the forum for Calibre, but they tend to be deep in a subject or way over my head. I am on a mac by the way. If that makes any difference. Is there a back button?

I figured it was legitimate to ask here, being as this forum is responsible for more than half of those 2000 books!

Thanks

I know with my Sony and Kobo Calibre knows to send ePub. I would think there's a way in the device plugin to specify you only want ePubs sent. *

There is an FAQ List/instruction manual as well as video tutorial

I've also learned a lot by reading various threads in the Calibre forum. Yes some are way technical, but many are geared toward the less techy of us.

*To get to the device plugins, click on Preferences on the main Toolbar-->Plugins (Advanced/bottom row)-->Device Interface Plugins-->Highlight the type of device-->Click "Customize Plugin"-->Ensure only ePub (for example) is checked on the list of formats for device.

[library addict]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Get a FREE Carina Press ebook!

Harlequin's Christmas Countdown is still going strong, and Day 9 brings you a FREE ebook download! For today only, you can get a free copy of Slow Ride Home by Leah Braemel using the LBSRH13 coupon code.

Of course that's one I already purchased. Oh well.

[auntykatkat]

Sorry Duplicate post.

Merry Christmas
Auntykatkat

[copyrite]

Originally Posted by Carmelreader

Is there a back button?

Try the Walk Search History plug-in I use it all the time!

a freebie I bought this morning: Helly and Ron

[worktolive]

Furry United Coalition Bundle by Eve Langlais - $0.99.

These are cute, humorous, hot paranormal romances, kind of in the same vein as Dana Marie Bell's books. This bundle consists of the first three books in the series. The first was the best, but I've enjoyed all of them.

[apesmom]

Another Carina Press freebie available at other retailers.
I read this one when it came out and liked it. Geeky BDSMers.

The Theory of Attraction (Science of Temptation #1) - Delphine Dryden
Kindle | Kobo

Camilla can set her watch by her hunky rocket-scientist neighbor who jogs past her window each day. She relishes each glimpse of his shirtless abs, and is dying to see more. But it's hard to connect with a man who doesn't seem to know she exists...

Ivan feels at home in the lab, not in social situations. When he finally approaches his attractive neighbor, it's not for a date—he wants tutoring in how to behave at an important fundraiser. Ivan doesn't expect the chemistry between them to be quite so explosive, and is surprised when Cami actually accepts his proposal to embark on a series of "lessons."

Cami soon discovers Ivan's schedule isn't the only thing he likes to be strict about—he needs to be charge in the bedroom as well. She's shocked at how much she comes to enjoy her submissive side, but wonders if a real relationship is in the equation...

47,000 words

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by worktolive

Furry United Coalition Bundle by Eve Langlais - $0.99.

These are cute, humorous, hot paranormal romances, kind of in the same vein as Dana Marie Bell's books. This bundle consists of the first three books in the series. The first was the best, but I've enjoyed all of them.

I recommend it, I like the series and I purchase them as they appear.