Disqus - Latest Comments for ChrisBates

Re: Closed face fishing reels- can’t get any easier

Chris — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:20:04 -0000

Nice info, Wayne.

I guess this is Ebay fishing!

Re: Cape York Fishing Adventure – Part 2

Chris — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 00:46:59 -0000

Pony tail?!

I thought that thing hanging of the back of his head was a dead ferret.

I've actually seen that ferret work like a fly lure in the wild... attracts ladies like you wouldn't believe...

See the proof here: http://a.yfrog.com/img94/507/kd8.jpgj/

Re: Cape York Fishing Adventure – Part 2

Chris — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 07:23:57 -0000

I hear them hillbillies playing banjo at the start of this video and see them big ole canoes and it gets me thinking about that movie Deliverance ... er, you blokes didn't get nude together on this good ol' boys trip did ya, Ant?!!! :)

Re: Crocs rule!!

Chris — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 06:40:52 -0000

One day someone will cross breed that fella (not the bloke... the croc!) with a gecko and you'll have a unique Cape York reptile clambering up ya walls at night.

Re: Mission accomplished!

Chris — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 06:38:07 -0000

My next door neighbour in Weipa (Dave) used to nail half a dozen barra every day near the shiploader... during winter!

Just goes to show that some of the best fish can still be found in some of the easiest to fish places.

The Mission bridge is just another prime example.

Doesn't matter if it's barra or a nice feed of grunter... easy locations. Cooktown wharf is another example. It's been fished to death ... and still punters catch barra off it!

Re: Fishing Test Post

Chris — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:59:50 -0000

test reply number two

Re: Fishing Test Post

Chris — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:59:37 -0000

test reply

Re: Fishing Test Post

Chris — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:59:07 -0000

test comment

Re: Losing the secondary business can kill you

Chris — Tue, 25 May 2010 00:20:40 -0000

Alan, I'd be interested to know who printed your book in China.

I love a good self-pub tale. Feel free to email me if you want another quote on a reprint or new title. I can introduce you to my Chinese supplier but I won't act as your buyer agent because I'm in Australia. Therefore you will need to handle the import yourself or find a broker.

Hit my profile if you want to email me.

Re: What I Would Have Said in London, Part 4

Chris — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:06:32 -0000

No, you're right, the self-publisher is very much a bit-player tertiary character in the tale of publishing. Of course, in my story he's very much the protagonist, although possibly not a very well-developed one!

Re: Gary Vaynerchuk on: Marketing Short Stories - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

Chris — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:06:10 -0000

Hell, go 16 ... and reward yourself with a glass of wine every hour!

At the very least, it should result in some interesting forum posts by the end of each day.

Can you test this out on WLTV, Gary? Maybe go with a "WineLibrary's Monday Merlot Marathon Show" angle!!

I'll ante up and start a Sunday Short Story and Scotch Session Show. :)

Re: Is Staggering Hardcover/E-book Pub Dates a Long-Term Solution?

Chris — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:58:58 -0000

Agree.

The consumer world has changed ... but will the sellers listen?

Re: Publishers Weekly Have You Lost Your Mind?

Chris — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:47:34 -0000

Man, I must be way outta tune with what's PC.

I think this is a great image, Calvin. I'll take that 'one chuckle', thanks.

Plus I like exclamation marks!! ;)

Re: A context in which to evaluate ebook strategies

Chris — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:51:59 -0000

Thanks Lynne, I love reading this kind of info from authors.

Much appreciated.

Re: A context in which to evaluate ebook strategies

Chris — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:48:15 -0000

Yeah, seems valid.

Magazines and publishers used to do it all the time in the traditional print media - using the platform to generate extra sales via an order form in the title that is being read.

Any high traffic website or blog could easily utilise this. And yes, I believe you are right - ebooks will be able to allow these sites gain more revenue than any affiliate commission. A 4% Amazon affiliate could be bettered by promoting an author's title direct.

I think I recall Joe Wikert mentioning something along the lines of this with sports magazine publishing. Allow the reader to create a book (ebook or POD) from the site's archival info.

Re: A context in which to evaluate ebook strategies

Chris — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:13:03 -0000

Aaron, I guess Mike could be alluding to a funnel effect created via blogs and social media.

There could be a precedent of sorts with several ebook publisher start-ups. I'll cite Lynne's (commenter below) publisher, Elora's Cave. Baen could be another. Both niche to be sure, so they will never be the complete store that the ebay and the Amazon's are. However, they are hugely successful in their own market.

Re: A context in which to evaluate ebook strategies

Chris — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:05:39 -0000

Hi, Lynne, could you elaborate? I noticed that you have titles with Elora's Cave and I am assuming your ebook experience may offer some useful addenda to Mike's post.

Re: Digital Galley Copies Spotted on Pirate Sites - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

Chris — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:21:11 -0000

Welcome to the publishing revolution!

Re: Stephen King Talks About Amazon Kindle and The Police - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

Chris — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:12:05 -0000

I wonder if King knows that his complete works can be sourced in one single download via torrent...?

Source description claims it contains 64 Novels, 8 Story Collections and 104 Stories!!

Re: Digital Books for One Dollar - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

Chris — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:55:05 -0000

Piracy, piracy, piracy...

Ebooks will just make it harder to earn even a buck a book.

Personally I know very few people that purchase music or movies online anymore ... in fact, a recent article suggested that 3/4 of the internet traffic in and out of Australia is bandwidth chewed for piracy. Very scary when one thinks about the ease of peer-sharing once a book is digitised.

It's great for readers ... but gutting for authors who are simply trying to survive.

Also, what kind of insane royalty are these authors earning for their content? 10-20% on a dollar?

I wonder how many readers would pay for a Harry Potter ebook if it was already available on a torrent website?!

Re: The Lace Reader's Dirty Linen - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

Chris — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:16:09 -0000

I came across a mention of Kelly & Hall here:

http://www.iht.com/articles...

Date: Jan 24

"They set up a Web site and hired a copy editor, jacket designer, and book publicist, Kelley & Hall of Marblehead. They attended bookseller conventions, handing out advance copies and buttonholing booksellers. Kelley & Hall sent copies to book bloggers and trade magazines and promotional announcements to 700 independent bookstores.

Then last summer came two big breaks: First, Kelley & Hall helped to land a deal with a Tennessee distributor, Blu Sky Media Group; second, a rave review appeared in Publishers Weekly. "The Lace Reader" was hailed as "a captivating debut."

That's not too sloppy a mention.

Re: mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

Chris — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:29:39 -0000

Katrina, print costs for publishers aren't that exorbitant when you look at the unit cost.

A 10,000 copy print run for a 400pp hardcover novel can easily be as low as $3 (USD) if sourced offshore.

My understanding is that a book's sale price largely reflects retail mark-up, author royalties and distribution - for argument's sake; 40%, 10% and 20% respectively when books sell in bricks and mortar stores.

Amazon gets a larger discount - as high as 55%.

If a publisher sells an ebook to Amazon for $10, they will in effect be losing a little more than they would have in a traditional print edition deal. The sleight of hand the publishing world promotes to Joe Public is that 'books cost lots to print'. They do, but not as much as readers assume.

Of course, if ebooks maintained their $9.95 retail price the biggest loser will - as always - be the author who originally created the work.

Calls for higher author royalties on ebooks? I bet such talk isn't coming from retailers and publishers.

The fact that ebooks will be circulated freely through the digital medium even with Digital Rights Management (DRM) means authors will get shafted even more. Exactly the same as musicians ... only the digital rights issue will be compounded for authors, simply because they cannot make a buck out of touring their show on the road!!

Like you say, bookstores are nervous about the coming revolution ... and as I sit and punch out my 2000 word daily target, I'm feeling a tad anxious about it too.

Re: mediabistro.com: GalleyCat

Chris — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:33:23 -0000

Chuck me in with Judy Larson: 'No Faulkner? Steinbeck? No Huck Finn? No Charlotte's Web? I beg to differ.'

Hope we don't fall over, Judy ... we're definitely pitching left here.

I vote Heller's Catch 22 and Fitzgerald's Gatsby too.

That said, I'm the kind of literary genius who grew up on 'Choose Your Own Adventures'!!