Arrrrrrrrgh!!!!

[Phil]

Not the Happy Dance. Not the Happy Dance at all.

I got a public request in at 10 am this morning. I finished the article I was working on and started the work for the new one. I finished that and went to submit it. Eventually, from lots of exploratory clicking, discovered the request had already closed. Boy am I frustrated. I didn't see anything that said it sold. So I submitted the article without the request feature on. Hopefully the customer comes back with a new product review request.

[Debbi]

Yeah, that happens from time to time. Sometimes the customer pulls the request for any number of reasons. Sometimes the email comes so late that the request has been filled by someone who was checking the Requested Content obsessively (like me) instead of relying on the email notification. But all is not lost. That customer may reopen their request, see your article and want it too, or some other client will come along who wants it. Even if no one buys it, just having it in your portfolio helps you becuase I think sometimes buyers look at an author's profile and sees that they've built up a list of CC-approved articles and buy something from them instead of someone with just a couple. Also, it reinforces your CC-formatting and submitting skills and gets your idea juices flowing. So many reasons to be happy!

Probably the most frustrating part of it is that it puts your article review on the back burner. Ed is super-quick about getting those public and private-request articles reviewed, but the "on spec" submissions get shuffled to the bottom. So missing the public request window is a drag. I have had about seven public request articles written long after my last "on spec" article that leapfrogged over it in the queue. Thank goodness because they sold right away (thank you, Top 10 list client!). My "on spec" article is still in review after a week.

Debbi

[Phil]

Oh I figgered that it'd happen from time to time. I'z jest a bit annoyed that the article is obviously product related and now there is no product review request. I don't want to chance running afoul of the "promotional" portion of the guide. I don't think it's overly promotional, even if it is a positive review. But beauty is in the eye yadablahetc. Thanks for letting me vent.

[Celeste Stewart]

If it's the Amazon Kindle review, that article may be picked up by someone else promoting the Kindle on their website. It might also appeal to bloggers that blog about technology as well as to book-oriented websites. I bet it'll get snapped up by someone.

[Lysis]

Just to echo Celeste - don't worry. I think a Kindle article is a hot commodity right now. Sony just came out with a reader, so there's a lot of chatter about "Kindle vs. Sony"

[Debbi]

So why do people want to read books on a screen instead of a nice paper book? Is it for the ability to have a zillion books on the thing at once? Is it lighter in weight than a book? I have a Victor Reader Stream that I play my Talking Books and Audible Books on and I love it to death. (Of course reading off a paper book isn't the thing for me either, but I don't know why people want to stare at screens any more than they have to.) Does the Kindle or Sony read the books to you?

I have one of my picture books "The Pinecone Problem" for sale on Kindle but haven't sold a one in the last year. The first Kindle was just black and white, which isn't very exciting for a picture book. Is the new one in color?

Obviously I know nothing about it! Seems so expensive too....

Debbi

[Celeste Stewart]

I used to use my Palm III to read eBooks. That was years ago and it sucked. I didn't do it for long. Stephen King released a free eBook as part of an experiment but I couldn't get into it on a tiny screen. I like real pages. The Kindle though, it's kinda cool. You can wirelessly download books from Amazon (of course) and store a ton of them. The Sony doesn't have wireless capabilities yet and I think that was a big oversight on their part. We're all so used to wireless now that the thought of hooking up a device with a cable just seems like too much work Plus, if you find yourself with time on your hands, like at a doctor's office, you won't necessarily be able to connect to your computer to download a book. With the Kindle, I believe that you can go online and get a fresh one. I hear the screen technology is much easier on the eyes than my old Palm III was.

I suppose if you could get newspaper content delivered to the Kindle, I might go for one. But right now, I don't have much interest. Plus, I wonder if you can see the screen outdoors? And how sand-friendly are they?

[Phil]

Well obvously my topic was transparent.

I read ebooks all the time. And at one time or another I have managed to play with the major ebook readers that hit the market. All of that is why I knocked out (I think) a good review on the Kindle. It was tailor made for me and now the request is gone.

I have read ebooks on my Palm M500 and loved it. Yeah the screen is small, but you can adjust to that. Problem is that in off-light conditions you have to angle it to get a good read. Kindle and Sony don't have that problem. They use e-ink technology to fix it. And it works.

Since Kindle is wireless, you can download content. You do not need a pc or mac at all. And, you can subscribe to magazines, newspapers, blogs, etc. I'm not sure what the exact list is, but it is growing.

Physically it's about the size of a sheet of copy paper and is a third of an inch thick. So, it "fits" with what most people are accustomed to reading. And, yes Debbi, it holds a gazillion books with 3 Gigs of storage. Graphics can be resized, rotated, and you can annotate on it.

The price is steep, which is why I own and read from my trusty old palm. I got it on ebay for twenty bux. But, like all things tech, the price will drop, features will go up, or both.

Ok, I'm done whining now.

Heh, - phil

[Lysis]

I'm too old fashion and love to get under the covers with fluffy pillows, a glass of wine, and the latest George Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series...that is if he'd finish the next book already! Jeeeeez

I really get into books that way. I remember reading Steven King that way and really getting scared. LOL

[Debbi]

heh, Lysis,

I live less than 90 miles from good old George R.R. My daughter and I have read that series and she is constantly checking in on his blog to see if he has finished the next one. When she came out to visit, we joked about dirving over to his house and standing over him until he finished it! It's been so long now that we started reading the whole series over. Great books. However, my favorite fantasy books are Robin Hobb's Farseer, Fool, and Live Ship series. I love the way she writes and I got so attached to the Brighteyes wolf character. I even wrote a song about it. I wish she would write more books in that series.

Debbi

[Lysis]

hmmm, maybe I'll give her a try. I have been trying to find another author since waiting for George Martin is taking forever. I just hate wasting money on new books I never read, and I haven't been able to find anyone like him.

[Phil]

Fluffy Covers, the wine, and the whole series on one Kindle. Then you could power read..... heh.
I'm a Harry Turtledove and David Weber kind of guy. Both write massive anthologies and neither writes fast enough.

I'm too old fashion and love to get under the covers with fluffy pillows, a glass of wine, and the latest George Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series...that is if he'd finish the next book already! Jeeeeez

I really get into books that way. I remember reading Steven King that way and really getting scared. LOL

[Debbi]

Lysis,

If you do try Robin Hobb, start with the first Farseer book, Assassin's Apprentice and then read the other Farseer books, then the Live Ship series and then the Fool (Tawny Man) series. That will make the most sense. And don't get discouraged by the first few pages of Assassin's Appretice; they are kind of dry exposition but you'll see why after you into it a bit. I know you'll fall for Brighteyes like I did.

If I had them in paperback, I'd send them to you, but all of mine are Talking Books, sorry

Oh, I also just read the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. He also has a next book I am hanging on waiting for!

Debbi