ceies - Tumblr blog

[ceies]

If you want books to exist, stop pirating them.

This sounds like drama, but it's not.

Not only is it well documented that pirating contributes to publishers not buying more manuscripts from an author (Maggie Stiefvater's experiment being the most famous), now we have evidence that Amazon's Kindle Unlimited algorithm is registering pirated copies of books online as the book being "offered" somewhere else, and punishing the authors for it.

And I don't know how much you know about Kindle Unlimited, but the thing is, if your book is in KU, you have to check a little box that says you're not offering the book anywhere else for sale. At all. So when the algorithm is finding the pirated copies, it's pinging it as, Oh! The author lied! The author misrepresented their sales strategy! ACCOUNT DELETION FOR AUTHOR. NO ROYALTIES FOR ONE THOUSAND YEARS.

Miette jokes aside, that's actually what's happening to very popular self-pub authors. Ruby Dixon just had her account deleted, her 15+ volume popular KU series taken down, and Amazon fighting her over the KU Pages royalties she'd already earned on those books. Now, Ruby's got her account back because she's popular enough that people shouted at Kindle executives very, very loudly, but what about other authors? This could ruin someone's career.

Well, why not publish wide, I hear you saying. Why stick to Kindle Unlimited? After all, Amazon sucks.

Here's the thing. Whether we like it or not, Amazon has a massive corner market on books, and for authors who are self-publishing, it is by far the most accessible and cost-effective method, PLUS, it's a great way to be discovered by new readers.

Because readers don't have to pay for individual titles under KU (they pay for a subscription, and then Amazon pays out authors based on how many pages of the book someone read), they can give new authors a try. They can take a chance on a book they're not sure they'll like. And Amazon tends to promote KU titles more aggressively because it's good for their business.

My little $0.99 short story, Swelter, is on Kindle Unlimited, and I can tell you that a good 85% of my royalties from it come from KU pages, not from people buying it. And that's for a story that costs less than a dollar and is not a big investment and has pretty good word-of-mouth in the f/f reading community.

Self-publishing is expensive, and time consuming. I'm getting away with it pretty cheaply right now because I am also a professional editor, and I have friends in the business who are willing to trade in kind rather than be paid. I have a really wonderful friend who is doing my ebook formatting for free because I beta read and do proofing for her. But if I were paying for all the services that I'm trading for, as most authors have to do? I'd be well over $1500 sunk into this little ebook coming out in a week that is going to cost $3.99 and be free to read on Kindle Unlimited. And that's not counting marketing. Because yeah, you have to pay for marketing. Hell, I had to pay $35 upfront to a popular site to be considered for their marketing campaign, and would've paid another $65 if they'd accepted me. (They did not, so I'm out that $35 without even a marketing campaign to show for it.)

And the thing is, I'm currently gainfully employed. I'm salaried. My spouse is also salaried, so I have enough disposable income to spend what I've spent on this ebook (which is still about $600, even with all the things I'm trading for). Most authors? Especially most self-publishing authors? Don't have that.

So Kindle Unlimited, for all its flaws, is a way to get more diverse voices in the business because you don't even have to buy an ISBN. Amazon assigns you an Amazon Sales Index Number (ASIN) and you're good to go, as long as you're not listing it on any other sites. Hell, they even have tools for you to make your own cover art if you don't want to pay someone to make it for you. They do a lot of their own internal promotion on Kindle. Readers can try you out for little-to-no personal investment on their part and maybe discover that they love your writing, and you've gained a whole audience. It's a great return-on-investment for self-published authors.

So that's why a lot of self-pub authors choose Kindle Unlimited. And a lot of authors will do a limited run on KU in order to get some early word-of-mouth and discovery readers, and then publish wide later. (That's my current strategy with Welcome to the Show, if it does well. If it's not doing well, I probably won't sink the money and time into expanding its availability.) But if this happens, if Amazon shuts down their account over "KU membership misrepresentation," then even if the book has been published wide and is available on other platforms by then, Amazon is going to dispute their KU Pages royalties and try to take them back.

So by pirating books, not only are authors losing "potential" sales (I know, there's a whole argument there), they could be losing real, actual sales that they've already sold.

In conclusion:

1. Don't pirate books.

2. If you see someone requesting where they can read a book "for free", speak up.

3. If you see someone providing links where people can read a book "for free" (if it is not provided by the author for free), speak up.

Thanks, and have a good day.

[ceies]

Horikoshi just did us Endeavor lovers a favor! Look at those hands! That chest! The smolder 😳

[ceies]

the expanse is good because it has all of my favorite character types:

- a never ending series of female girlboss war criminals who we stan regardless of what war crimes and murders they may or may not have committed

- a pure hearted pastor who is a lesbian with a wife and kid who is the only non-war criminal woman in the series somehow

- Amos Burton

[ceies]

tumblr allowing titties again is cool and all but are they gonna do anything to un-blur all the accounts that have been blurred for things like titties.

[ceies]

Makes sense, lmao. I should've just checked the Danish version. For whatever reason I had it in my head to look for the romanization of the name in the japanese Manga rather than just the Danish name.

We have the name Björn here, but since Bjørn is Danish, obviously.. I should've just realized that myself. Thank you!

And I absolutely agree on your thoughts. He really grows on you in a way you don't expect.

Askeladd and Björn

I love Björn, I liked his final moment and this beautiful somewhat murderous friendship between him and Askeladd. When I first met him, I thought he was a brute and I wouldn’t particularly like or care for him. But over time, although just as brute-ish and brutal as I had expected, he reall grew on me. Last episode when Askeladd mentioned that he wouldn’t make it, I was really sad. Now, well… I guess, that’s it. I really liked how he went out. He wanted to die with his sword in his hand. He also chose his last moments to … essentially tell the most important person in his life, that he just wanted to be friends, no matter how much Askeladd hated him.

Saying that Askeladd probably even hates himself seems very true. I mean this man always has to introduce himself as ‘My name is Askeladd’ (which I found out just yesterday wasn’t even a real name) ‘Son of … my mother’s slaver’… Argh that has to hurt. And he hates the Danes, but is one himself…

Björn really understood him, and I love it that in his final moments Askeladd admitted that after everything he in fact was his best and only friend. But it is very sad.

Up until then this episode went amazing for Askeladd. His schemes are paying off, he gains more and more influence, his plans seem to have plans of their own and everything works out. This - losing his friend - wasn’t much of a surprise to anybody, but still it might be a sign that his luck is turning. The only people around him now either don’t care about him, only use him for political schemes or just outright hate him. … Looking at you Thorfinn. (Though I think Knut might still hate him too, he just doesn’t show it)

So Thorfinn finally gets his… I assume final match against Askeladd. With all the build up to it, I think this has to be it. I’m still somewhat in denial… Like… tbh. after everything they went through together, I know Thorfinn hates him, has every reason to hate him and Askeladd didn’t try very hard… if at all to, you know, try and placate him - which probably wouldn’t have worked anyway… but after everything I don’t want Thorfinn to kill him.

I somewhat expect Askeladd to lose this fight. He is injured, he is getting old, meanwhile Thorfinn - while injured - seems to be stronger than ever having just defeated Thorkell (if only with a bit of conniving Askeladd as support)… It looks bad. It also looks like it’s gonna be the final fight… and I still don’t want him to die that way.

I don’t really expect him to survive this season, because he just collects too many powerful enemies with too few friends (basically none at this point - Björn!) and too much going right for him at the moment. We had talks about ‘his luck turning’ like five episodes ago… and so far it didn’t. There were a lot of death flags throughout the show… So I’m just waiting for it to happen. But I still DON’T WANT HIM TO BE KILLED BY THORFINN!! Screw you, Thorfinn! It just seems unfair for him to die before the big finale… I mean just in general, after all the teasing of Thorfinn being the only one allowed to kill Askeladd, wouldn’t it be way better if he didn’t ultimately? (That’s me just being hopeful.)

Anyway talking about Thorfinn… Before the thing with Björn happened, I thought him meeting Leif was my highlight of the episode. I really like Leif. He’s such a nice guy trying so hard to find Thorfinn. I felt really happy for him when he saw Thorfinn. And then really sad that he had to see Thorfinn like that. Not even asking for his mother and sister. They finally meet after 11 years… And I think Leif has imagined and expected the worst. He was constantly looking for slaves that look like Thorfinn. He might have been very happy at first, not just that he had found him, but that he seems free and strong and doing his own shit - even if that shit is ‘killing people’… but then I think seeing Thorfinn in such a dark state of mind in a way might have been worse than finding out he had died… I’m not sure… but I think it’s a very conflicting and dificult situation for Leif.

So … that was Episode 21. I will watch 22 right now… also… realized I really like this new intro. At first I really liked the visuals not so much the song… Now, I love this song. Normally, I skip intros after hearing them once or twice, this one I just enjoy.

Also … just realized that I don’t really know… is it Björn or Bjorn? I’m watching german subs, so he’s called Björn there. But the hashtag says bjorn… so which is it? Just checked with the Vinland Saga Wikia and they don’t seem to be sure either.

[ceies]

Ahh this is so cute! Look at them! How wholesome they are.

[ceies]

Time to bully winter fans

[ceies]

Stephen Sondheim, one of Broadway history’s songwriting titans, whose music and lyrics raised and reset the artistic standard for the American stage musical, died early Friday at his home in Roxbury, Conn. He was 91.

His lawyer and friend, F. Richard Pappas, announced the death, which he described as sudden. The day before, Mr. Sondheim had celebrated Thanksgiving with a dinner with friends in Roxbury, Mr. Pappas said.

An intellectually rigorous artist who perpetually sought new creative paths, Mr. Sondheim was the theater’s most revered and influential composer-lyricist of the last half of the 20th century, if not its most popular.

His work melded words and music in a way that enhanced them both. From his earliest successes in the late 1950s, when he wrote the lyrics for “West Side Story” and “Gypsy,” through the 1990s, when he wrote the music and lyrics for two audacious musicals, “Assassins,” giving voice to the men and women who killed or tried to kill American presidents, and “Passion,” an operatic probe into the nature of true love, he was a relentlessly innovative theatrical force.

The first Broadway show for which Mr. Sondheim wrote both the words and music, the farcical 1962 comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” won a Tony Award for best musical and went on to run for more than two years.

In the 1970s and 1980s, his most productive period, he turned out a series of strikingly original and varied works, including “Company” (1970), “Follies” (1971), “A Little Night Music” (1973), “Pacific Overtures” (1976), “Sweeney Todd” (1979), “Merrily We Roll Along” (1981), “Sunday in the Park With George” (1984) and “Into the Woods” (1987).

In the history of the theater, only a handful could call Mr. Sondheim peer. The list of major theater composers who wrote words to accompany their own scores (and vice versa) is a short one — it includes Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Frank Loesser, Jerry Herman and Noël Coward.

Though Mr. Sondheim spent long hours in solitary labor, usually late at night, when he was composing or writing, he often spoke lovingly of the collaborative nature of the theater. After the first decade of his career, he was never again a writer for hire, and his contribution to a show was always integral to its conception and execution. He chose collaborators — notably the producer and director Hal Prince, the orchestrator Jonathan Tunick and later the writer and director James Lapine — who shared his ambition to stretch the musical form beyond the bounds of only entertainment.

Mr. Sondheim’s music was always recognizable as his own, and yet he was dazzlingly versatile. His melodies could be deceptively, disarmingly simple — like the title song of the unsuccessful 1964 musical “Anyone Can Whistle,” “Our Time,” from “Merrily,” and the most famous of his individual songs, “Send In the Clowns,” from “Night Music” — or jaunty and whimsical, like “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid,” from “Forum.”

They could also be brassy and bitter, like “The Ladies Who Lunch,” from “Company,” or sweeping, like the grandly macabre waltz “A Little Priest,” from “Sweeney Todd.” And they could be exotic, like “Someone in a Tree” and “Pretty Lady,” both from “Pacific Overtures,” or desperately yearning, like the plaintive “I Read,” from “Passion.”

[ceies]

If I may once again dip my toe into the discourse surrounding Greek Mythology, a lot of people like to rewrite or reframe the story of Medusa, and that’s great! Highly encourage it. But, DON’T YOU DARE GO AND DEMONIZE MY BOY PERSEUS!

Perseus isn’t some vile misogynist who hunts down and murders Medusa for the hell of it. He’s a scared kid who’s trying to save his mom from a forced marriage (whom herself has been a victim of terrible abuse from her father) to a creepy evil king and gets duped by the Gods into cleaning up their mess for them. He’s not the villain, he’s just another pawn. So if I see one more motherfucker trying to make him out to be the “real monster” I will throw hands.

You know what would be way more interesting?! Medusa sees Perseus rolling up to her crib and freaks out cause ‘holy shit this is a fucking kid. a fucking toddler with a sword and shield.’ and they hash it out and then TEAM UP to kill the evil kind trying to force marry Perseus’ mother! Think of the dynamics that you could write! The interactions that could occur. I mean, one of ‘em is gonna have to wear a blindfold but hey, minor problems.

What I’m saying is, gimme a buddy cop movie where Perseus and Medusa team up to fight evil in Ancient Greece.

[ceies]

These 4 short comics are all free/pay what you want over on my gumroad. I’ve had them at conventions over the past years and if you’ve bought them from me in the past I appreciate it so much. 

https://sambeck.gumroad.com

[ceies]

running out of time

[ceies]

are you all right?? you suddenly vanished

Hey anon,

Thanks for your concern, that's very sweet of you. I'm perfectly fine, just at the moment not very active on Tumblr as it seems. Overall, I have a bit less time on my hands these days, which means I have both less time on social media and less time to write. But I am not gone, you won't get rid of me so easily. Ha...

[ceies]

I love your writing style and your ideas, Never would have thought of a Naruto x HP crossover yet you make them mix so well. (Especially one with Kakashi as a protagonist, there's never enough of him crossing dimensions.) Thank you for Padfoot And Hound! :D

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it. There's never enough of Kakashi.

[ceies]

hello? how are you? can I ask about Padfoot and Hound? :D

Hi, yeah sorry I haveb't been on Tumblr that much lately.

[ceies]

A Procreate Anne Bonny using the rusty nibs brushes pack…

[ceies]

A Procreate Anne Bonny using the rusty nibs brushes pack…

[ceies]

This month I’ve decided to participate in an event called “October,” where for every day in October I’m going to experience a day in October.

Here’s the prompt list I’m using in case anyone wants to join me in this challenge:

Next month I’m thinking of trying out the “No November November” challenge, where I’ll refrain from experiencing November for the whole month of November.