What an art day is like for me

Art?! No, this lap is made for Kitty.

First, one cat decides that my lap is not meant to be used for an art pad.

Can I eat these?

Then another cat debates eating my color pencils.

My turn in the art area.

Then a third cat decides that my lap and attention is better focused on a kitty.

At least, I am making some progress.

But despite it all, I swear that I am making some progress on some artwork.

Pricing ebooks

I have been thinking a lot lately about how ebooks are priced. Mainly because I just started to get back into the writing game after a brief absence.

(Not that it is a serious venture back into the field, more like a sticking my toe into a pool of slime and wondering why I did so. For those who are curious about how serious I am taking it, just slip over to Smashwords and take a gander at my little test project, Pizza Boxes on the Floor.)

Honestly, looking around the internet, it looks like the Wild West when it comes to determining ebook prices.

The traditional publishers are still secretly trying to charge the same amount for an ebook as they are for a physical copy. Actually, the other day, I saw a history book that actually cost more for the ebook copy than a physical copy. I am guessing that some publishers believe that people will be willing to pay for convenience.

In my case, I am not willing to pay for convenience. Or rather I am not willing to have to pay for a ebook and then have to pay again for a hard copy with actual page numbers that I can cite in a college paper.

On the other side of the scale, there are the pirates who believe that no one should make a penny from any ebook. I am sorry, my cats would like to eat; therefore, I need to get paid something. And yes, if I am going to be pirated, than one of the pirate is going to have to pay a copy first.

So the question will arise about why I choose a 99 cent price for a 8860 word ebook, especially one that a reader will some time can find almost the entirety of for free on the internet already.

Well,  I had three choices.

First option, the "reader names their own price"---there are two problems with this option. One, I know that a lot of readers would download the entire book and not read any more than the free preview that I am already offering; and two, there are outlets who would not carry the ebook if this option was choosen.

Second option, the "free ebook" option---I am sorry, my favorite charity is my cats, and they would like to eat. If I wanted to give stuff away, I would have choosen the first option; it would result in the same amount of income.

Third option, "pick a price that ends in 99 cents," better known as the iBookstore price force---iBookstore, if you are charging for a book, will automatically round the price to the nearest 99 cents. It is an iCommerce thing (I am sure that Apple is going to trademark that term soon enourgh).

So in the interests of greed, because we all know that occult writers only write books for the money, I went with the third option, and decided 99 cents was a good price for 8860 words.

Is 99 cents that much? Some people are going to say it is. But I do not think so. After all, that is how much a can of cat food is being sold for at Walgreens (and they label that a "great buy"). And my cats would like to occasionally eat.

What I have been up to lately

Halloween and kittens---what could be more fun?

My regular readers may or may not noticed that I have been ignoring this blog as well as my other blogs lately. The reason is that the semester is just kicking my a**. Remind me never to take four literature classes in the same semester ever again.

There is also the added bonus of monetary worries. Under normal conditions, I would attempt to make it up with quick and dirty writing...unfortunately, as I have already noted, this semester is a PITA.

I am no longer doing an astrology column for Campus Connection, the student newspaper of the Community College of Denver. I am not sure why I wasn't contacted for this semester; and after the difficulties of getting payment from them last semester, I am not sure that I even care. While it means that I have to make up for that bit of income loss, given the fact that this semester is a monster, it might have been a good thing in disguise.

Outside of the lack of money, time and energy, I am doing well. I may actually get a test-project up on Smashwords before the end of the year. I hope. Maybe not. Who knows? Time will tell.

Being honest, I will admit that the only thing I foresee accomplishing for sure is the 31 Days of Halloween Kitties that I am doing on my Golden Dawn blog. And that is just a bit of fun to lighten up the mood. Ironically, there may not be a single picture of any of my own cats in the set. You would think that given the number of cats I have that I would be able to get one of them to wear a hat; but no, I can't. They tell me that they are much better than the cats you see on the internet wearing silly hats. They may be right.

So anyways, if you don't see me updating this or the other blogs, presume that I am busy reading books and writing papers instead...because if I am not doing that, then I am busy trying to sell my blood for money.

Best photo of the week is the Catnip Twins

Instead of writing this summer, I have been spending a lot of time taking photos of jewelry (aka learning to take photos of jewelry) for Celtic Soul Jewelry and Pottery. But some of the best pictures that I have taken have nothing to do with jewelry, such as this one. The Catnip Twins (Georgie and Balteshazar) is the best picture that I have taken all week. It is the type of picture that I have seen at craft and art events, such as the Cherry Creek Art Walk, printed, framed and selling for big money. I am proud of it. I am also slightly amazed that the Catnip Twins cooperated with me; after all, they are cats who are constantly in motion. (For the curious, the plant you see at the bottom of the photo is a catnip plant.)



Cats and keyboards

One of the mysteries of life is why cats are drawn to lay on the keyboard as you are trying to write. As the day goes on, they take the keyboard over inch by inch. It is like the keyboard is a giant black hole attracting them with a massive energy field.

Don't believe me?

Then kindly explain how the sleeping cat on the back of the sofa suddenly rolls over and falls directly onto my keyboard.

Cats going to the vet today

Two cats are going to the vet today. One is getting fixed, and both are being tested for FL (hopefully they do not have it---if they do: they will have to be put to sleep). Both are sweet boys that were abandoned.