Do you have a new blog post?

[Margo]

It's late. I'm tired. Poor impulse control. Those are my excuses...

http://urbanpsychopomp.blogspot.com/201 ... -love.html

[Moni12]

Imagery in lyrics, link below.

[trixie]

I'm a pre-race emo mess. So I blogged about it...

A letter to myself: Happy HM Eve!

[dgaughran]

When you read a good book – and I mean a really good book – sometimes you are a little sad at the end. You have become close to the characters and you feel like you are losing a friend. You have walked many miles in their shoes, faced their challenges with them, until they triumphed against the odds, got the girl, or died a noble death.

Don’t you wish sometimes that you could step back into that world again?

Today I want to talk about Book Extras, whether readers enjoy them, if it’s worth an indie writer’s time to produce them, and what I’m going to do with my as-yet-unpublished historical novel A Storm Hits Valparaíso.

Book Extras - Are They Worth The Trouble? - http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2011 ... e-trouble/

[hektorkarl]

School Sucked, but Learning Ain't So Bad:

Recommendations for those who want to keep learning. An open invitation to assign me homework.

http://www.hektorkarl.com/2011/05/schoo ... o-bad.html

[longknife]

Check out An Army Ocean Cruise http://lvcabbie.blogspot.com. It's a true story that took place in the late 50s.

[dgaughran]

A Bad Week For Agents

Today, I review what has been an awful week for agents. Between some turning publisher and others calling them to be thrown out of their associations to accusations of scams, conflicts of interest, and advice how to sue them, they have never been fair from the headlines. UK author Stephen Leather capped the week off by calling US agents a bunch of salty names on Joe Konrath's blog.

All this and lots more here: http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2011 ... or-agents/

[sierramcconnell]

Remembering to be Patient.

http://sierramcconnell.blogspot.com/201 ... ience.html

With a funny video. :3

[Claudie]

Finished reading Water for Elephants last week! http://claudiea.blogspot.com/2011/05/wa ... hants.html

[Moni12]

Part 6 of Garlic and Puppy Love, link below.

[Sommer Leigh]

Today on Wicked & Tricksy: Why speculative fiction? I'll tell you why http://www.wickedtricksy.com/?p=411

Today on Tell Great Stories: School's Out 4EVER Blogfest! (No Seriousness Allowed!) http://sommerleigh.com/archives/3328

[dgaughran]

Are Amazon Ripping Off International Readers?

I have been alerted to some inconsistent and unfair e-book pricing policies by Amazon in certain countries.

If you read e-books, and live outside the US, this information could drastically affect how much you pay. If you are a writer, and are selling internationally (and you should be, this is a global $80bn business), this is harming your sales right now.

When you go to Amazon.com and search for my e-book, you will see a price of $0.99, $1.16 or $3.44, depending on which country you live in. Whichever price you pay, I still get $0.35. Aside from 15 percent in sales taxes, Amazon keep the rest.

Read why here: http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2011 ... customers/

[Guardian]

Whichever price you pay, I still get $0.35. Aside from 15 percent in sales taxes, Amazon keep the rest.

I already wanted to ask this from you... how is this working exactly? Because, at least if I understand correctly, you get 35-70% (Depends on your price). 70 is also available only if you sale for readers in the following countries; Austria, Canada, Great Britain, Guernsey, Germany, Isle of Man, Jersey, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland, United States. But they have some sort of tax withholding what I don't really understand. Could you explain how does that thing is working?

"For sales made on Amazon.com, royalties paid to a foreign entity or person are subject to tax withholding in the U.S. A foreign entity or person is someone who is not a resident or citizen of the U.S. or a green card holder. The general rate of tax withholding is set by U.S. tax rules and regulations and is currently 30 percent of royalties paid. This withholding tax rate can be reduced if the recipient (you) is a resident in a jurisdiction that has a valid income tax treaty with the U.S. This reduced rate is only available if we receive the appropriate documentation from you. Without this documentation, the 30 percent withholding tax rate will apply. "

Now as I checked the papers, basically I'm exempt from U.S. taxes as my country has a valid tax treaty or what (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p901.pdf). Do you have any advice and could you tell me what is the procedure for this?

[Fenris]

Today we discuss inspiration. What inspires you, and why? Read more at http://harbingercodex.blogspot.com/2011 ... iters.html

[maybegenius]

Here's a post about using named characters well & making sure they're memorable! http://maybegenius.blogspot.com/2011/05 ... -well.html