Amazon buys Goodreads

Here is the announcement.

Don't like it.

Why?

I've read an article about a women who's account was deleted (with all e-books she bought!) because Amazon found out she is a friend of a guy who was pirating Amazon's e-books. Also, my experience with publishing on Amazon is not satisfying. First, when I uploaded my short story, they send me an e-mail where they informed me that the same content I'm trying to publish on Amazon is also available somewhere on the web (on my blog and on my Smashword page, thank you) and that I need to explain them why and where that content is. And secondly, I priced my short story 0,99 and when I went to Amazon, I saw it was 2,99. When I asked why is that, Amazon replied:

The price is high in your place because of the extra taxes and operating costs implied by the government.

When I asked why Kobo and Smashwords didn't put higher prices, they replied:

I'm sorry; we are unable to assist you, regarding, your inquiry about the application of taxes on Smashwords and Kobo, you'll have to contact them for better assistance.

Then I asked if my royalties will be higher because the higher price, they replied:

Your royalties will be paid based on the price you've selected for your book and not what the customers have paid.

Very interesting.

It seems that big corporation like Amazon can do whatever it wants with his customers, no law protects you. Their way or the highway. And now they bought Goodreads, a social network that was proud of incorruptible and true reviews of books made by their members. Amazon who reluctantly did something to prevent false and malicious reviews on their own pages (here for more details).

That's why I don't like it. Too much power concentrated in one place and main motivation is to make more money. Hope that Jeff Bezos will soon discover that people who use Amazon for buying and selling e-books are not there because they want Amazon to make more and more money but to make this planet better place for people who want to read and for those who want to write.

Interview with Smashwords founder Mark Coker

Since I'm using Smashwords platform for publishing I said to myself:

"All right, who the hell that Mark Coker guy is?" 

So I went on You Tube and search for him. I want to see him and hear him. And I did. What I saw is a guy who has a vision, courage and faith. Check for yourself:

I do not fear death

If that so, why are we paralysed with fear when we think about our death?

It seems like we are going to lose something.

What?

Life?

Chance?

Chance for what?

It's been said that people much more regret for things they didn't do then for things they did.

Are we, actually, afraid of life? Of living?

And what really means to live?

Aren't we doing that all the time?

To write or not to write?

Photo taken from Huffpost.

Amanda Patterson at Writers Write has written an excellent post The Myth of Writer's Block. She says:

The most common excuses for not writing are:
Family: I have children. I’m the family taxi. I have to be there for my husband/wife.
Work: I work long hours. I’m too tired after a day at the office. I have to work overtime so that we can afford a new car / bigger house.
Time: I’m too busy. I’ll do it tomorrow / next month / next year. I can’t write late at night / early in the morning.
General: I’m not inspired. I’m too old/young. I’m too tired/depressed/sick.
Our Favourite: It’s not what you know but who you know in publishing. (I thought this one works only in the Balkans. :-))

And poses a question:

If you were told you were going to die tomorrow, would you regret not having written?

Searching for a good photo for this post, I found Rick Smith's article What Would You Do if You Were Going to Die Tomorrow? Or Not.

Fits well, doesn't it?

And don't forget to read Amanda's post. :-)

Writing by Chackras

Combining ancient wisdom and creative writing.

Why not?

Source: Writers Write!

Young@heart

Two things amaze me: the human spirit and the human will.

In this post, I was thinking to write about how changing context transforms content into something else but we all know that very well. We do that all the time when we twist and deform truth to fit in our narrow point of view only to preserve this unbearable way we live. We do that every day failing ourselves and those around us who we so eagerly and desperately try to love. But we fail. We cannot succeed only by wishing and hoping. And the others do the same to us and we are all stuck in that unspoken and invisible conspiracy of turning a blind eye to who we truly are and to what we really should be doing.

But, every now and then, something rises in our lives that we cannot ignore. Sometimes it scares us, sometimes inspires us (and it's the same thing - just interpreted in a way how do we feel: attracted or repulsed). To me, it's the spirit and will in action. The spirit as the ground to be human being and the will as the way to be human being - to live our short lives the best way we can for ourselves and for all those that we love.

This people inspired me today. Thank you unknown fellow humans. May the light shines on all your paths still to walk.


Fix You - Young@Heart from Enzo Gianvittorio on Vimeo.

If you want to write

Done for today!