Book View Cafe Writer's Cooperative

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

In the meantime I put Moon & Sun up in several formats at my website, www.vondanmcintyre.com

I'd be glad of feedback -- this is a new endeavor for me -- and of suggestions for other formats.

Vonda, I downloaded Moon & Sun in the .prc format to convert it to the Sony .lrf format so I could read it but it appears that it won't convert. Does it have DRM? Anyway, I'd suggest adding either the Sony .lrf format or the ePub format to the options. When you do, I'll try again. Thanks.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

I'm testing the hypothesis that making a book available in electronic format helps the sales of the print edition. Since pretty much all the mint copies of Moon & Sun that remain (not defaced with remainder marks) are in my hands, I'm in a pretty good position to test it.

This is a difficult test because sales may not appear for months. For example, had I been able to successfully convert Moon & Sun, it would have been added to my to read list, which currently has a huge backlog. I might not have gotten to it for 6 months or more.

Several authors have tried to see how a free ebook would stimulate sales and have been disappointed (a) because there was not an immediate sale made and (b) because no sale was made. What Baen has recognized is that if someone downloads, e.g., a John Ringo book who has never before read Ringo, they may not buy a copy of the downloaded book but may buy future/other books by Ringo. I know that is true in my case.

My suggestion is not to put too much hope or expectation into seeing sales of Moon & Sun as a result of giving the book away as a free ebook. Look to build a following for your writing instead.

[starrigger]

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

What formats do folks want? I have room for some others on my website. I have the Epub converter as well as the Mobipocket one. But I've been spending most of my time making the texts at BVC presentable.

I'm testing the hypothesis that making a book available in electronic format helps the sales of the print edition. Since pretty much all the mint copies of Moon & Sun that remain (not defaced with remainder marks) are in my hands, I'm in a pretty good position to test it.

Vonda

My own download logs suggest that after PDF, Mobi (prc) is the most popular, followed by RTF and eReader (pdb), then Sony (lrf), then Microsoft (lit) and epub. People seem to think that epub will be increasing, though, as more devices recognize it. In fact, since the Sony Reader now accepts epub, Tor has stopped doing lrf for their free downloads and is supplying epub in its place.

Re your test, since I'm doing the same test , let me poke a little at your methodology. If you start getting orders privately, that's great. But a lot of people might not want to do that, for one reason or another, and might seek copies elsewhere (including used copies). So a negative result on private orders wouldn't necessarily mean you aren't succeeding. And of course some of the benefit could be long term--drawing people to your work generally, so they'll be future buyers.

I'm presently doing the "new book" test, with free PDF, so that will test a somewhat different scenario. But as we all know, it could be a long time before any meaningful sales information comes to light. (Plus, of course, there's the economy to factor in...)

[vondanmcintyre]

Hi Richard --

I actually sort of have a following. I've been around so long everybody thinks I'm a hundred and two. Mine isn't a huge following but the folks (much appreciated) who like my books like them pretty much.

I haven't had a novel out in a while (life is complex) and publishing is changing faster than anybody can keep up with it. This is an attempt if not to stay ahead of the curve, at least not to be overrun by it.

Best,

Vonda

Originally Posted by rhadin

This is a difficult test because sales may not appear for months. For example, had I been able to successfully convert Moon & Sun, it would have been added to my to read list, which currently has a huge backlog. I might not have gotten to it for 6 months or more.

Several authors have tried to see how a free ebook would stimulate sales and have been disappointed (a) because there was not an immediate sale made and (b) because no sale was made. What Baen has recognized is that if someone downloads, e.g., a John Ringo book who has never before read Ringo, they may not buy a copy of the downloaded book but may buy future/other books by Ringo. I know that is true in my case.

My suggestion is not to put too much hope or expectation into seeing sales of Moon & Sun as a result of giving the book away as a free ebook. Look to build a following for your writing instead.

[vondanmcintyre]

Hi Richard,

No DRM! That would sort of defeat the whole idea, yes? I might have hit the wrong button, of course. Would you mind trying one of the smaller files in the same format to see if you can convert those?

I hear you about the sales lag. And the used books and backlist. I have a link to Powell's Books on my website, so that may give me a bit more information.

Thanks for the feedback, and please let me know if you have the same problem with another of the .prcs -- if you do, then I know I have a general problem; if you don't, then I'll convert Moon & Sun again and see if it's more amenable to your system this time.

At the moment I'm up to my alligators in Book View Cafe so I'm going to have to hold off on doing another file type, but I'll put it on the to-do list, and I very much appreciate the information.

Best,

Vonda

Originally Posted by rhadin

Vonda, I downloaded Moon & Sun in the .prc format to convert it to the Sony .lrf format so I could read it but it appears that it won't convert. Does it have DRM? Anyway, I'd suggest adding either the Sony .lrf format or the ePub format to the options. When you do, I'll try again. Thanks.

[vondanmcintyre]

Thanks, Jeff -- I'll keep that in mind. I have most of the new mint copies of Moon & Sun so I'm in kind of a good position to test the hypothesis. We'll see!

It's surely true that some folks will buy the one-cent + overpriced postage copies available on eBay.

Best,

Vonda

Originally Posted by starrigger

Re your test, since I'm doing the same test , let me poke a little at your methodology. If you start getting orders privately, that's great. But a lot of people might not want to do that, for one reason or another, and might seek copies elsewhere (including used copies). So a negative result on private orders wouldn't necessarily mean you aren't succeeding. And of course some of the benefit could be long term--drawing people to your work generally, so they'll be future buyers.

[vondanmcintyre]

That would be great, Jon, thanks. What do we need to do?

Best,

Vonda

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why not ask for help? We had a good effort working on Jeffery's eBooks from people here on Mobileread.

I can take a look at it and see if it would be easy enough to do in LRF.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

No DRM! That would sort of defeat the whole idea, yes? I might have hit the wrong button, of course. Would you mind trying one of the smaller files in the same format to see if you can convert those?

Vonda, I'm kind of the wrong person to ask for conversion help -- my conversion skills are definitely way below par. The best bet is to have someone with those skills, like JSWolf, give you a hand.

[vondanmcintyre]

I've uploaded new copies of Moon & Sun (.prc and PDF) to my website, and I wonder if they might convert better than the last set.

I discovered that if "smart tags" are turned on in the Word doc, the weird code they create makes some converters barf. So I turned them off and deleted them, and that made a big difference.

Best,

Vonda

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

I've uploaded new copies of Moon & Sun (.prc and PDF) to my website, and I wonder if they might convert better than the last set.

Thanks, Vonda. I downloaded the .prc version again. This time it converted without a problem using Calibre. I have bookmarked your book so that as soon as I finish the series I am currently reading, I will give The Sun and the Moon a try.

[vondanmcintyre]

Hi Richard -- Glad to know it worked this time. Thanks for the feedback!

Vonda

Originally Posted by rhadin

Thanks, Vonda. I downloaded the .prc version again. This time it converted without a problem using Calibre. I have bookmarked your book so that as soon as I finish the series I am currently reading, I will give The Sun and the Moon a try.

[vondanmcintyre]

Hi folks,

Just wanted to check in with an update on Book View Cafe -- we have some new members and a lot of new fiction.

My current project is putting some comics by Ursula K. Le Guin on the site. Two are in the tradition of "Bunditsu: The Art of Cat Arranging," a chapbook by Ygor & Buntho Make Books Press that turns up at charity auctions occasionally and usually goes in the $200 range. Then there is the SUPERMOUSE series. Three are up and running and the rest are coming along one per week.

I've really been enjoying rereading them as I polished them up for the site.

We also have several new members, including Steven Harper Piziks and Judith Tarr, who debuts on the front page tomorrow (though if you go to her bookshelf you can get a sneak peek at her first two stories on the site).

I hope the world is treating everybody well.

Best,

Vonda

[vondanmcintyre]

Superluminal is up and running at Book View Cafe, both as a serial (Chapter 1 debuts today) and as an ebook in several formats, including PDF, prc, MOBI, and EPUB.

You can find it on my Novels bookshelf.

What's the difference between the .prc and the MOBI formats?

Thanks in advance,

Vonda

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

What's the difference between the .prc and the MOBI formats?

According to Mobi support "The prc and mobi files are both mobipocket file formats. There aren't any explicit difference."

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by vondanmcintyre

What's the difference between the .prc and the MOBI formats?

From Superluminal:

Formats: Palm (.prc), Mobipocket (MOBI), EPUB, PDF. Kindle users should find that the Palm/Mobipocket formats are compatible with their readers.

Most likely the .prc and .mobi versions are identical. If they are identical, I suggest only providing the .mobi file and calling it Mobipocket/Kindle.

The original MOBI format was always in .prc files, and it was an extension of the PalmDOC format. Baen provided one .prc file for PalmDOC/Mobipocket. Most recent MOBI ebooks are in a new format that isn't PalmDOC compatible, but its filename extension could still be .prc (or .mobi). Baen now uses the new format and distributes it with extension .mobi. It still advertises its MOBI ebooks as Palm/MOBI/Kindle, but I don't think the "Palm" is correct unless you use the Palm MobiPocket Reader.