Tag Archives: Kindle Unlimited

Episode #78: Authors Behaving Badly

We’re back. Miss us?

00:00 —  Introduction

  • Sorry for the break, everybody.
  • Anyone else stoked for The Defenders?
  • What are we up to?
    • How about that Motor City Steam Con?

    • So nice to get some time in with Chris Lester.
    • Talking a lot about the shenanigans in Detroit! What a great event!
    • Finishing up Podcasting for Dummies…finally.
    • Tucking in with Operation: Endgame…finally.
  • Pip’s been having a long week along with Jessica Jones.
    • Also working on Operation: Endgame
    • Also working on Immortal Sisters
    • AND ALSO…working on a BRAND NEW novel!

06:57 —  Episode #78: Authors Behaving Badly

  • If you have seen authors really hopping off the rails, share your stories with us at…
    • 703-791-1701
    • tee@teemorris.com or pip@pjballantine.com
  • First up: When Storytelling Goes Awry
    • We’re not naming names.
    • The problem isn’t the writing. It was the storytelling.
    • When the books ends abruptly — is that good storytelling?
    • How we stuck with a good story while keeping another story ongoing — yes, it can be done.
    • When you sudden;y discover YOUR CHARACTER IS ACTUALLY BOSS-POWERED!!! Wait, what? 
    • When a twist goes bad for Tee…and never gets better even with three books.
    • Is this a legitimate style, or is this just bad storytelling?
    • Oh…look….the gifted orphans.
  • Next on Our List: Authors Investing into Click-Farms
    • Yeah, you want to make an impact in the publishing industry, but come on…
    • Authors are no longer playing the game so much as authors are playing the system in the worst way possible.
    • Welcome to the wonderful world of Click Farms for Amazon KU. Ugh!
    • This was Tee’s biggest hangup with the KU Program from Day One.
    • These services are cheap. Are they ethical? OH HELL NO.
    • Where are these smart devices coming from, you think?
    • No, KU is a crappy system. Period.
  • Last Item: The Importance of a Workflow
    • Less about writers, more about the support staff you are working with.
    • New technology is cool, but you really should know about a new gadget before incorporating it into a project’s workflow.
    • Even Tee has new tech toys he wants t learn, but he understands limitations and learning curves.
    • Paper trails matter!
    • File Management matters, too! 
  • Pip is Tee’s Landshark of Love.

30:00 —  The Loot Crate Lookie-Loo!

  • This Loot Crate has been gathering dust…
  • July’s Theme: ANIMATION
    • Rick & Morty: A “Rick” statue that carries explicit content
    • Bob’s Burgers Recipe Collection (Very cool, LootCrate!)
    • Tee-shirt: Classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    • A “SLURM” koozie from the world of Futurama
    • Nice Loot Crate pin, also from Bob’s Burgers
  • Tee grabs for the booklet as there really isn’t anything from our fandoms. We need help trying to figure out what this Bob’s Burgers item is all about…
  • This Loot Crate is a first for us, and that will make attendees of our panels VERY happy!

35:08 — The Wrap-Up

  • The things they say in New Zealand…
  • Oooooh, Coconut!
  • Where are we going to be?
    • Starting 1 August, The Dog Days of Podcasting is happening here! HAPPENING NOW!  (And here’s why Tee’s doing this here!)
    • 19 August, Murder As You Like It in Mechanicsburg, PA
    • 1-4 September, Escape Velocity in Washington, D.C.
    • October, The Maryland Renaissance Festival is
    • 28 October, Tee will be alongside Chuck Tomasi, hosting the P.I.Y. Workshop, a launch event for Podcasting for Dummies, 3rd Edition
    • If you have an event and want The Shared Desk to appear there, here’s where to find us…
      • 703.791.1701
      • pip@pjballantine.com
      • tee@teemorris.com
      • …and social media, of course.
  • And with all this, we want Operation: Endgame to happen by Halloween
  • And did you know that Pip has a Patreon? SHE DOES, YOU KNOW!!!
  • We got lots to do, so see you in two weeks!

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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or questions for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.
We’ll talk about it!
And remember, you can find the show on iTunes or Stitcher!
Subscribe, listen, and review.

Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

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Episode #37: Kindle Unlimited — Whether You Like It or Not

 

TSD-crackup

Amazon, man. Amazon.

After a month of writing, blogging, event planning, and deering-do, Tee and Pip return to the mics (finally!) for a brand new Shared Desk…but wait, didn’t we talk about Amazon last time? Well, yeah, we did, and once again we return to the latest “sweet deal” for you. It’s a look at Kindle Unlimited, and a look back to Tee’s Past all caught on video in this latest podcast.

Have a listen, comment on the blog, and feel free to reach out to us at 703.791.1701 to share your thoughts with us!

 

00:00 — Introduction & Catching Up

  • Waxing nostalgic over Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant
  • July got by us. Let’s just say that.
  • Pip’s feeling the sting of hard-core audio editing.
  • Pip’s been spending a lot of time in Deadly Hollywood.
  • If anyone has zero room to talk about our edits as being “light tweaks”…
  • Tee and Pip are waiting to hear from ACX and Writers’ Digest…on separate subject matters.
  • We may not be at San Diego ComicCon, but our work is.
  • One degree closer to Del Toro!
  • Got to love that agent-of-awesome, Laurie McLean, and the way she’s working our works-in-progress…
  • Darkwater is going through the pitching phase again.
  • Tee’s still working on Wolf in the Fold.
  • Publication date for The Diamond Conspiracy: End of March 2015.
  • Sometimes Pip will let Tee in on what ideas she’s hatching…

AmazonHold

9:04 — Kindle Unlimited…and Bad Timing on Amazon’s Part

  • We’re not turning our Shared Desk into the “What the Hell is Amazon up to this show?” show…
  • Kindle Unlimited
    • Spotify for Books. (Don’t you call that a library?)
    • Another great idea for Amazon…until the details come to light.
    • How “deep” does this pool reach?
    • There’s a deal for Kindle Unlimited for the Big Six, for indie authors, and for indie authors of a certain caliber.
    • Hugh Howey got this “special” deal.
    • And we turned to Joe Konrath for an opinion….
  • Just so you know, it’s not just us who are stopping to wonder…
  • The feudal system of authors on Amazon
  • How Amazon surprised — or strong-armed — indie authors into this program…
  • It’s a great idea with terrible timing.
  • We’re trying this, but only with a couple of our titles.
  • Three months of exclusivity? In book terms, that’s an eternity.
  • Seriously, Jeff Bezos — between that letter to Hachette authors and now this little stunt, are you not thinking about how this looks?
  • And Tee, once again, turns to Joe for comment on this matter of KU.
  • If you think the comparison to Spotify is good, it’s not.
  • Pushback from Episode #36 
  • Kindle Unlimited is a nice idea, but we want to try it on our terms.
  • When it comes to Amazon and their services, know the terms.
  • Exclusivity is never a good thing!

25:27 — “Writers Off the Clock”

  • In this household, we support a swash and a buckle…
  • It was The Musketeers that motivated Tee to go through stacks and stacks AND STACKS of videotapes.
  • What have we discovered in this deep dive into Tee’s Past?
    • Tee in his long-haired-hippie days.
    • Tee taps!
    • Tee on stage with ComedySportz, JMU, and Vpstart Crow
  • My plan: Go through VHS footage, and then edit it all down to one “master” performance.
  • Still searching for an edited rehearsal and footage of The Three Musketeers, on stage with Vpstart Crow.
  • Why go through and edit all this? New ideas for #ThrowbackThursday.
  • Signing with Swords — coming soon!
  • Other great gems discovered…
    • Some footage of me and my father, spinning tunes for WXJM
    • Glyn JonesRed in the Morning, premiering at JMU
  • Tee discovers in this stumble down Memory Lane an interview in 1986…and I had the worst acne on my chin…

35:41 — The Wrap-Up

  • Tee puts up a case for hanging on to some of these VHS tapes.
  • The Curse of the Blair Witch Project…a better production than The Blair Witch Project.
  • Besides digitizing video, we are…
    • Having a sale on One-Stop Writer Shop. Check it out!
    • September 13 — S4, coming soon!
    • September 26-28 — Steampunk Unlimited in Strasburg, PA
    • October (possibly November) — a special event at Huzzah Hobbies in Ashburn, VA
    • October 25 — HallowRead (alongside Kate Smith and PJ Schnyder) in Ellicot City, MD
  • Tales from the Archives — yeah, we fell off the rails…but we’re getting back on track.
  • Anxiously waiting for word from The Parsec Awards
  • …and ACX on the audio edition of Ministry Protocol.
  • Onward, to the future…

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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or question for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.

Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

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