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Post by carlos on Sept 24, 2019 12:38:45 GMT -5
I've started deleting my erotic romance ebooks from all retailers. I had pulled one pen name a couple of months ago, then changed my mind and stuck the stories back everywhere. Then I changed my mind again. I'm just waiting for this particular pen name to finish out its 3-month stint in Kobo Plus, then it's gone for good. I already pulled another pen name from everywhere already. I have to tell you, it was such a relief. I'm not writing erotic anymore, after going back and forth for months. While I'm still doing some sex scenes for some romances, my preference is sweet. Plus, I'm working in other genres right now. As I told my best friend yesterday, I've moved on. Also, I'm waiting to be a grandma for the first time next month. I want to be a good one, but I'm both nervous and excited. I have been through this cycle once or twice. I thought the pen name 'Desiree Cayenne' would almost automatically sell thousands of erotic comedies. However, she didn't sell a single book. What a disappointment she was. I gave up writing, and not just erotica. As for being a grandparent: nothing is easier, although I believe something more is expected of grandmothers than of the more favored gender, who need only hold the bundle for awhile (until it starts crying) while the more active grandparent is doing the wash, or preparing breakfast, etc. etc. It will be fun. |
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Post by quinning on Sept 26, 2019 10:39:15 GMT -5
Congrats on becoming a grandma, Kate. :-) Last week I removed all my books from Amazon and am in the process of removing any remaining links on my publisher site or writer blogs. All because Amz would not admit they had received a print copy of my W8-BEN form, and then when they did admit they received it, they said I had to submit it again via the computer. Of course, their 2 step verification wanted my phone number. That was not going to happen! I thought about purchasing another AU$200.00 plus mobile, and the cheapest AU$390.00 with data, or AU$130.00 without data, and give that number to Amazon. Then decided it was not worth it as I only average AU$130.00 a year in earnings from Amazon. They threatened taking 30% instead of 5% tax if I did not give them my phone number even though they finally admitted they did have my W8-BEN form. So, I removed my books. Ordered them to pay what they owe, including pesos, and close my account. I am waiting to see if that happens. :-) Now, I am waiting for D2D to finish testing their new print process (hopefully the same as Createspace before Amz bought it) to get print going again. And, trying to calm down enough so that I can do a blog telling my experience of the 15 step Two Step verification without swearing. :-) I need to channel my anger into the next scene in my current story. All fun and games. What the what?!? Is this because you live in Australia?? Keep us updated! Also, congrats Kate, both on your career decision and becoming a Grandma. You’ll be great! Me? I am in full on editing mode. I have 8 pages of notes to apply to the current WIP before heading into line edits. The rest of life is moving along, though I do wish it felt more like fall outside and less like ... July. |
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Post by djmills on Sept 26, 2019 16:02:08 GMT -5
What the what?!? Is this because you live in Australia?? Keep us updated! No, not exactly because I live in Australia. Every country outside US has to provide Tax Information for the IRS. The IRS gave me a W8-BEN number, and I give that form to everyone in US I sell via, so that they take out 5% sales tax instead of 30% sales tax (which is standard US sales tax for non-US citizens). Some countries have an agreement for 0% sales tax, other countries other amounts. It was time to send an updated W8-BEN form to US companies, so I did. Smashwords letter returned undelivered, so I got on their site and updated online. Amazon letter did not return to me. :-) I knew Amazon had the form. They send an email saying I had to update my tax info online but programmed in a "Two Step Verification" (TSV) field set to ENABLE in my account (and everyone else's account, I assume) to updating online, to stop anyone getting into any account without verification code sent via a mobile phone. :-) They wanted my personal phone number. Not happening! They said it would go to 30% sales tax. I don't take kindly to blackmail or bullying of any kind. I read up on what TSV was and told them that they had my permission to get into my account and set the TSV to DISABLE. They said the help desk staff could not do that. That admits there is a field that can be set to DISABLE to stop TSV. Ha! Amazon does not trust their own help desk staff. I said they were incompetent because they lost my W8-BEN form. Then they admitted they found the form I posted, but wanted me to do it again online. Full-Circle-Stupidity! The rest is history. I said No. I deleted all my books. I ordered them to pay all monies owing and close my account. :-) Yesterday the email notices started arriving that money is going into my bank account from different EU countries. :-) Still waiting for my pesos. :-) Oh, more FCS. Each payment notice email tells me to click on my account link to check the details for each payment. They closed my account, at my request, so I can not click the link to check the details for each payment. Incompetent! There. I don't think I used one swear word explaining that. :-) |
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Post by Miss Terri Novelle on Sept 30, 2019 6:34:28 GMT -5
My dad is still waiting for a bed in Boston. We have no idea how long that will take but it could be awhile.
Meanwhile, I managed to stay for all of NINC and get to Universal to visit Hogwarts.
2 days of driving left to go if we make then long ones.
It's been over hell of a ride so far.
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Post by quinning on Sept 30, 2019 13:37:53 GMT -5
My dad is still waiting for a bed in Boston. We have no idea how long that will take but it could be awhile. Meanwhile, I managed to stay for all of NINC and get to Universal to visit Hogwarts. 2 days of driving left to go if we make then long ones. It's been over hell of a ride so far. Drive safe! Still sending positive vibes for your Dad. |
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Post by Miss Terri Novelle on Sept 30, 2019 14:48:20 GMT -5
Thanks.
Big Android update when l while I was gone. Autocorrect even more determined to make me look like an idiot.
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Post by Suzy on Oct 3, 2019 6:01:17 GMT -5
I haven't been able to get into the pub all morning!  I get an error message that says my region hs been blocked from proboards, as if I live in some kind of warzone. I live in Ireland!!!  Could be classified as a warzone if you're the sensitive type with all the shouting about Brexit and the Brits, but that's just normal politics. |
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Post by Miss Terri Novelle on Oct 3, 2019 20:05:19 GMT -5
Proboards can be buggy.
So now we've had another medical flip flop. My dad's not having the bypass. He's having angioplasty and stents.
I believe they've decided the bypass was too risky due to other factors, and this is the second best they can do for him. It's exhausting keeping up with the changes.
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Post by djmills on Oct 4, 2019 4:20:02 GMT -5
Good luck with your father's stents and angioplasty op. I have a elderly aunt who had that. Now doing well, but on something to thin her blood.
Hope you had fun at Hogworts and took lots of photos. :-)
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Post by Miss Terri Novelle on Oct 4, 2019 16:50:52 GMT -5
I took lots of photos, but there were so many people...
Now I'm home, my dad's finally getting out of the hospital tomorrow, and I'm getting back to work on the end of this book. So I'll be buried in that for the next week.
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Post by ameliasmith on Oct 10, 2019 13:00:58 GMT -5
Hello everyone! I haven't been here in months, but I wanted to check in. I'm still not writing, not fiction, anyway, but I also find that I'm not getting much else done so I'm starting to think that maybe I should get back to writing. Without clear work goals, I don't seem to get very far.
Instead, I've been wrapped up in the usual household stuff, kids, bits of work here and there, and an insane dive into researching general health-related stuff which started in March with a desire to lose a couple of pounds. It may turn out to be a big writing project. I have many, many pages of notes and am starting to sift them into blog-post-sized ideas. I don't know if it's going to be a book or a blog series or both yet, but it's certainly more than the single blog post I had in mind when I started out... if it's going to be anything at all. I can't help but hesitate because I'm an un-credentialed person and there are hundreds of licensed medical professionals writing about all this stuff. So I don't really know what I'm doing with it, but writing-wise I seem to be leaning toward non-fiction.
I'm also checking in because every few weeks I take a look at my Amazon sales to see if anything has happened. I'm always shocked when I've had a sale. Anyway, I logged on this morning only to find that I'd sold FOUR BOOKS ON A SINGLE DAY. Apparently someone had read my Book 1 freebie then actually gone through to buy the rest of the series in one fell swoop.
Not only was this a surprise for me, it took me ages to figure out where they'd sold: in France. The least Amazon-friendly country in the EU. So go figure.
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Post by Pru Freda on Oct 11, 2019 11:09:04 GMT -5
Lovely to see you back, ameliasmith, and congrats on the sales. |
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Post by Miss Terri Novelle on Oct 11, 2019 13:45:49 GMT -5
Yes, it's good to see you back!
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Post by djmills on Oct 11, 2019 15:55:40 GMT -5
Hi Amelia. Glad you are well and still writing.
10 years ago I wrote a non fiction book about saving money with grocery shopping, and food prep, etc. Never did anything with it because one person said I had to have really good pictures of each recipe once made, etc, and I only have a small digital camera or the mobile camera. So I left it in a filing cabinet. Now thinking I may use your idea of blog posts for my shopping tips, recipes, etc. :-)
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Post by ameliasmith on Oct 12, 2019 16:16:38 GMT -5
Hi Amelia. Glad you are well and still writing. 10 years ago I wrote a non fiction book about saving money with grocery shopping, and food prep, etc. Never did anything with it because one person said I had to have really good pictures of each recipe once made, etc, and I only have a small digital camera or the mobile camera. So I left it in a filing cabinet. Now thinking I may use your idea of blog posts for my shopping tips, recipes, etc. :-) Thanks for the welcome back! I'm not sure how much I'm actually writing, but the project keeps going. You should totally try to do something with your old book draft. I think that maybe blog posts are a better venue for a lot of non-fiction writing, but I'm not sure. |
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Post by kateelizabeth on Oct 24, 2019 13:24:43 GMT -5
I meant to write sooner, but, you know, life happened. My daughter gave birth October 1st without pain meds, epidural, etc. I thought that she was crazy, but 7 pushes, my granddaughter was born. She is a darling baby, of course, and my husband and I are madly in love with her.
Other life stuff not so good has been happening, and my husband asked me to hold off on writing for a while because of the stress. So, as difficult as it has been, I've taken another break. Lots of reading, just for fun instead of also research.
Oh, and Kobo released my erotic books from Kobo Plus early when I contacted them to find out when the 3 months would be up. I explained that I was removing them permanently from all of the retailers. They told me that I could go ahead and delete them. I wish that I sold more there. The staff are lovely to work with. However, I'm probably going to just use aggregators when I finish this final $50.00 threshold. I write mainly short stories, and it takes forever to hit the $50.00 mark, even with my bundles.
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I get an error message that says my region hs been blocked from proboards, as if I live in some kind of warzone. I live in Ireland!!! 
Could be classified as a warzone if you're the sensitive type with all the shouting about Brexit and the Brits, but that's just normal politics.
