Secret Santa Ebook Exchange!

Hello, friends! I have an idea that I think all you writers out there will enjoy. I propose a Secret Santa Ebook Exchange! Yes, the exclamation point is necessary when talking about the Secret Santa Ebook Exchange!

Here's the idea. In exchange for sending your ebook out to a randomly chosen individual, you'll receive an ebook from someone else. This is a great way for you to a. introduce your writing to a potential new fan and b. have a good read of a book you might otherwise never have known about. Win-win!

So, between now and December 20, send me the following information (to email address myriad_spheres@yahoo.com with "Secret Santa Ebook Exchange!" in the subject line) and you'll automatically be entered:

1. Your name
2. Your email address. This will only be sent to the person who will send you their ebook. It will not be used for any other purposes.
3. The name of the ebook you'd like to exchange (a link would be helpful, too!)
4. Ebook format you would like to receive (mobi or epub). Note: if your ebook is not available in one of these formats, let me know so I can find an appropriate recipient for you.
5. Whether or not you'd like your name and book link to be on the master list which will be shared with all entrants - if yes, this'll be a good way for everyone who takes part to see your name and book title and, if it interests them, they can click the link. (Note: if you don't provide a link in step 3, I'll use the Amazon US page for your ebook. So, if you'd like something different be sure to include it.)

Easy, right? Then, on Dec. 21-24, you'll receive an email from me with the name, email address and preferred format of someone else. Send them a copy of your ebook (at least 99 cents in value, please, don't "gift" someone a free ebook) and eagerly await your own gift!

I want to keep this fun and friendly so other than the above there are no "rules." Any ebook priced 99 cents or more at Amazon/B&N/etc. is eligible. Also, if you neglect to send your ebook to your recipient Santa will drink himself to death on eggnog. You don't want that on your head, do you?

Granted, the "secret" part of the Secret Santa Ebook Exchange! will be blown once you send out your ebook, but let's not quibble over details. I look forward to receiving your emails!

Best,
Michael

Thoughts on Ebook Pricing

   Since I've started uploading my fiction to Amazon and Barnes & Noble I've been thinking a lot about pricing. There are some that say "offer it free to get exposure." Others say "no more than 99 cents." Still others say "Don't charge 99 cents or give it away free. Readers will devalue your work in their minds."

   Well, I kind of agree with that last point. Free is a good option to get your work downloaded, yes. But are all those downloaders actually reading your book? Also, will they then go on the buy other books you have for sale? However, I don't agree that 99 cents is a price point that "cheapens" readers' opinion of your work. It is a great price for some works.

   So here is a pricing model that I have developed. Since I mainly write science fiction I have based the different categories on the Nebula awards categories:

Short story (up to 7,500 words) - .99

Novelette (7,500-17,500) - 1.49

Novella (17,500-40,000) - 1.99

Novel (40,000+ words) - 2.99

   Based on that model my current releases Sleep (2,500 words) and Inner Lives (12,000 words) are priced at .99 and 1.49, respectively. I'm still toying with the idea of starting books at a lower price upon release, then upping the price to fit the model.

   What do you all think of this pricing model? Would you buy (or have you bought) a short story for .99? Does anyone else have a model that they use? Feel free to comment below!

Review: "Tomorrow's Dawn" by Milo James Fowler

     I really must say that I am in awe of the stories coming out of Daily Science Fiction.  They've done it again with "Tomorrow's Dawn," by Milo James Fowler.  Read it here.

     SPOILERS FOLLOW, read the story first!

     To me, this story feels like a Golden-Age science fiction tale, '50s or '60s era, but with a definite modern twist.  It has that cold-war era sensibility but the alien is not cast as a Soviet spy, as it would have been at that time, but as a potential suicide bomber.  If you've read any number of my other blog posts you know that this is exactly the type of story I love: one in which a failure of one group to treat another group with dignity and respect results in death and misery.  Retaliations are made and the animosity escalates until one group can only see the other cast in that negative light.

     Fowler does a good job of making the situation presented in the story feel tense and immediate.  And he doesn't tip his hand one bit, making the ending a genuine surprise.  It is also a hopeful ending and it, along with Fowler's story of how the idea developed, keeps me hoping and believing that people, independent of societal, religious or ethnic pressures, would choose to live in harmony.  We have transcended our primitive, animalistic nature in so many other ways.  Why not in this way as well?

Classic Science Fiction 03: “Arena” by Fredric Brown

     We’ve all seen the episode: Kirk must use the tools provided to him by a super-intelligent alien to defeat the evil Gorn.  “Arena” is one of the most-recognized episodes of the original Star Trek series.  It was based on a story of the same name by science fiction writer Fredric Brown.  That story was first published in June of 1944 in Astounding magazine and has become a classic of the genre.

     The premise is this: a highly-advance alien entity observes humans and another species--called the Outsiders by the humans-- on the brink of a war that would devastate both civilizations.  The entity’s solution is to pit one human against one Outsider and whoever kills the other will ensure the safety of their own people and the complete annihilation of their foes.  Carson is the man who is chosen for this battle and he wakes up in a dome-shaped enclosure with a force field separating him from an Outsider.  He must find a way through that force field and kill his enemy before the Outsider finds a way to dispatch him.

     There are some flaws in the story.  For one, the entity doesn’t seem to have exhausted all options before deciding to kill off an entire species.  “It is in my power to stop the war, to send the Outsiders back to their galaxy,” it claims.  “But,” it continues, “they would return, or your race would sooner or later follow them there.  Only by remaining in this space and time to intervene constantly could I prevent them from destroying one another, and I cannot remain.”

     And is a to-the-death match between two randomly chosen individuals really fair?  Carter may be a fine pilot but his hand-to-hand training may be non-existent.  He could be abnormally weak--or strong--for a human.  The same goes for the Outsider.

     Another flaw is the mechanism by which Carson is able to pass through the force field.  It hardly seems logical or reasonable for the smarter of the combatants, the one who figured out how to get through, to have to brain himself with a rock and be exposed to attack in order to have a chance at winning.  One would think that the entity would reward the more intelligent/resourceful combatant by ensuring him victory rather than making it, in the end, a physical struggle between the two.

     But these are quibbles.  The main strength lies in the story-telling and the wonderful alienness of the Outsider.  This is no man-in-a-rubber-suit type of alien.  This is a spherical organism that utilizes rotating locomotion.  Carter calls it a “Roller.”

     Still, as much as I like this story, that issue of killing off an entire intelligent species keeps me from loving it.  For Carter, the choice is obvious: he wants to win and preserve his own species.  But suppose the entity decided to choose one to preserve and one to destroy based on criteria less arbitrary than a one-on-one cage match?  Do we humans really have much going for us, from a Universal perspective?  Are we any better or any worse than the other intelligent species that are out there?  We haven't encountered anyone else, so who knows?

     True, in Brown’s story the Outsiders are the aggressors and, based on Carter’s experience, we learn that they lack any recognizable form of compassion.  But we know from history that it doesn't take much for humans to take this same hateful, uncompassionate attitude.  So, would we be the best species to save?  Maybe we’d be better off letting a champion decide our fate after all.

Review: "Ten Speeds at the End of the World"by Guinevere Robin Rowell

     Daily Science Fiction continues to publish great writing (delivered free to your inbox! Go subscribe.). Most recently I have been taken with "Ten Speeds at the End of the World" by Guinevere Robin Rowell. This is a fairly short story that speaks for itself so I won't comment on it too much. I will just say the idea that it's never too late to do the right thing really grabbed me. And the world doesn't have to be ending for us to come to this realization. When you stop and think of how soon each of us might die--today, tomorrow, even fifty years from now will be too soon for a lot of people--is it really too much to ask that if we don't go out of our way to help others like the characters in this story, can't we at least go out of our way to try to not hurt each other? Every moment a person spends in pain or sorrow is a moment that is lost forever. Every second of life is precious, irreplaceable. If you want make your own life miserable, it is sad but it is your choice. But no one has the right to make that choice for anyone else.