Excellent advice. My only disagreement would be with "...you need an honest, objective answer to this critical question: Is this a book and are you a writer?" I would say you need an objective answer to "Is this a polished, professional book?" If you write, you are a writer. And if you write a book, it's a book. Neither one means you or the book is automatically good. :D
I like the idea of multimedia in ebooks but I don't know how much I'd actually use. It might be great for the second time through a book. I can see a lot of great uses though, such as hyperlinks to character profiles or separate short stories and much more.
I forgot to add that I don't think there's any excuse for piracy. Ever. If a book is unreasonably priced, don't buy it. Check it out of the library or borrow it. At the same time, I'm not sure piracy has to be approached with a scorched earth type response...that didn't work so well with the Napster thing. Probably the folks who pirate weren't going to buy the book anyway. Piracy does suck but an author or publisher who keeps producing quality books at reasonable prices will win out in the end...I hope.
To me, $9.99 is on the high end of what I'd pay for an ebook. That doesn't mean I wouldn't buy an ebook for that but it would have to be pretty compelling. I'm much more comfortable between $4.99-7.99. Ebooks do have limited functionality and I don't think they should be the same price as a paperback. They can't be easily shared, given away or resold. I love that I can carry hundreds of books on my phone or reader and that I can download books instantly. So there is the convenience factor to consider in favor of ebooks.
On the low price end, I'm more hesitant of free and $0.99 books than I was when the trend first started. I don't want to hoard a bunch of books I probably won't read. If a book is good, I'm happy to get it at any reasonable price. I'd be delighted to get it for free or $1 (though I also like to support indie authors and would not want to try and get all books for that).
I never thought about that! It's an unpleasant thought though.
Agree! Some negative reviews aren't terribly helpful to either the reader or the writer. Those are the ones that just sling insults at the writer or complain about small stuff or even stuff that's just a matter of taste. Helpful reviews tell us where a story went wrong in terms of pacing, plot, character, etc. Of course, some of the personal taste stuff is helpful too when it fits with another reader's personal taste.
Excellent points. I think the first draft has to be written like you don't care what will happen to it. If we think too much about the finished product at that point in the game, it can really get us stuck.
Awwwww! Well done but gosh! :D
:D Sometimes it's easier to figure out that first line once the whole story's written.
Great points. I'll admit to some performance anxiety when it comes to thinking up a first line. Fortunately, I can always leave it to the end. :D
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Sonia G Medeiros 
Ruckus