The Daily Journal, Wednesday, June 5

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* Thanks
* Topic: A Review of PublishDrive…
* Daily diary
* Of Interest
* The numbers

Quotes of the Day

“The breath of disappointment is drawn from the air of expectation.” Michael Grant in The Black Book Investigation Series by Robert J. Sadler

“Sometimes things just don’t line up right. That’s why they make tomorrows.” Wes Crowley in the Wes Crowley saga
***

Thanks to those of you who have downloaded the 10-novel Wes Crowley saga from Smashwords. If you haven’t jumped aboard yet, there’s still time.

Visit https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/599718 and during checkout apply coupon code PT88Q (not case-sensitive). You’ll get the entire saga in one book for half-price. The coupon expires on July 1.

OR you can email me at harvestanbrough@gmail.com and let me know you want it. I’ll send you the book in Kindle, Nook/Apple or PDF format for the same price. (You can pay me via PayPal at the same email address or by mailing a check to PO Box 604, St. David AZ 85630-0604.)

Topic: A Review of PublishDrive and a Comparison of Ebook Distributors

I spent a few minutes looking over PublishDrive (https://www.publishdrive.com/) this morning. In that time I

* read the FAQs,

* looked over the list of markets to whom they distribute, and

* read their notes about the submission process.

As a result, I can’t personally recommend using PublishDrive.

PublishDrive Compared to Other Distributors

All three distributors below distribute to the same major markets: Amazon (but I do that myself), Rakuten Kobo, Kobo Plus, Barnes&Noble, and various subscriber services (like Scribd).

Draft2Digital (https://draft2digital.com) is my personal favorite. I strongly recommend using them (and another distributor).

D2D takes its fees in a royalty share. They get “about 10%” of every sale. (The percentage varies depending on the specific market. I understand the different markets, so I’m okay with that.)

The D2D interface is intuitive and user-friendly. Although D2D doesn’t currently offer as many markets as PublishDrive offers, the ease of use of their interface is a definite plus.

I can upload a new title (in Microsoft Word) to D2D and download the finished .mobi and .epub versions in 2 to 5 minutes. Time and ease of use is important to me.

Smashwords (https://smashwords.com)

Smashwords also takes its fees in a royalty share. They also get “about 10%” of every sale, though you do earn a significantly higher royalty on sales made through the Smashwords store, a fact that speaks to their honesty.

Smashwords has a somewhat clunky but user-friendly interface, offers distribution to most of the same stores as PublishDrive (and D2D), and as an added plus, also has their own store. Smashwords also offers user-generated coupons. And I’m used to Smashwords.

I can upload a new title (in Microsoft Word) and download the finished .mobi and .epub versions in 10 to 15 minutes. Smashwords also offers a free ISBN for those markets that require it.

PublishDrive (https://publishdrive.com)

Notably, only PublishDrive offers distribution to two apparently major China markets: Dangdang and CNPeReading. (Somehow, CNPeReading allegedly offers a 300% royalty (!), which I found suspicious and off-putting.) They also offer distribution to a few tiny, nation-specific European markets and a few others.

With PublishDrive you also have either the free option of either a royalty split (10% of every sale to PublishDrive) or a subscription (but you keep 100% of royalties) for $100.00 per month.

PublishDrive prefers users upload an .epub document, though they do accept Microsoft Word. If I used them I would upload the .epub that I download from D2D, so….

If I used PublishDrive at all I would distribute my books through them only to the two China markets and the handful of other small markets not offered by D2D or Smashwords.

So the Upshot

Between the ease of using D2D’s interface, the markets offered by D2D and Smashwords, and the convenience of the Smashwords online store, the time it would take me personally to learn a new interface isn’t worth the few extra markets I would gain by using PublishDrive. Again, time is important to me.

However, if you’re new to epublishing, I do recommend you check out all three (and any others you come across) and do your own comparison.

Thanks again to Phillip McCollum for pointing out PublishDrive in the first place.
***

Rolled out at 2 this morning, but it was a slow start. I didn’t get to the Hovel until around 2:20, when I began looking over PublishDrive and wrote the topic above. That took until almost 4 a.m.

To the house at 4:30 for a break. Spent some quality time with my little girl cat in the cool earliest light of the pre-dawn.

If you need to talk to God, either to petition or just to say thanks, I’ve always found that calm pre-dawn light is the best time for such communication. I learned that from Wes Crowley. I try to catch Him while He’s just waking up and maybe a little unaware of how insignificant I am in all of His creation.

Coyotes yelping and yowling in the distance interrupted my time with my little girl when she ran back into the house. (Not that she’s scared, she would tell you, but she knows how important she is to me.) But the song dogs soon faded into the distance and she came back outside.

Back at 5:30 to feed the horses, then back to the house to change clothes.

To the Hovel where I wrote more of the above and spent some time in thought. Finally to the novel at 7.

A long break at 7:30, then back to the novel at 8:30. A little spot research, some cycling and some new writing for around 1100 words before another break at 9:30.

Mostly I spent that time with the baby too, who showed off how fast she could run, etc. She never fails to put a smile on my face. Back to the novel at 10. Wrote about another 1000 words, then shifted gears and did some work on the Journal website.

Well, I was GOING TO add all the posts about the Critical Voice book into a new category and then add it to the menu. (I actually did that originally.)

Then I realized that wouldn’t be efficient for anyone who wanted to view the rough chapters of the book in order.

So I created a new page instead titled Quieting the Critical Voice. It took some time, but the chapters are listed there from the Intro through Chapter 14 (yeah, 14), and the links lead you to the post in which that topic resides.

I recommend after you click a link, search for “Topic” (or scroll down laboriously). Hardly ideal, but hey, you have to do SOME work, right? (grin) By the way, I’m still open to input for the Critical Voice book. You’re all first readers. If I missed something or you need more elaborattion, etc. email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. Or leave a comment on the site.

That took a lot more time than I expected (about an hour), and now it’s a little after noon. Taking a break.

I was ready to say it looks like I should’a set my daily goal at 3000 words instead of 4000.  (Joking. A goal is a goal.) Then I took a short break, came back and wrote a little more.

Pretty good day for a change. BUT the goal resets to zero in the morning. (grin) Talk with you again tomorrow.

Of Interest

See “Had Fun Today” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/had-fun-today/.

See “Let’s Argue!” at https://killzoneblog.com/2019/06/lets-argue.html.

See “A Worthy Guide to the Publishing Industry” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/a-worthy-guide-to-the-publishing-industry/. To TPG’s take I would add only that going wide is better than going exclusive with Amazon.

See “Write What You Know – Good Advice or Not?” at https://terryodell.com/write-what-you-know-good-advice-or-not/.

See Alison Holt’s “Changing Flavors Midstream” at http://prowriterswriting.com/changing-flavors-midstream/.

See “Quieting the Critical Voice” at https://hestanbrough.com/quieting-the-critical-voice/.

Fiction Words: 4327
Nonfiction Words: 1250 (Journal)
Total words for the day: 5577

Writing of In the Cantina at Noon (novel)

Day 20… 1890 words. Total words to date…… 36451
Day 21… 2961 words. Total words to date…… 39412
Day 22… 1192 words. Total words to date…… 40604
Day 23… 1718 words. Total words to date…… 42322
Day 24… 2313 words. Total words to date…… 44635
Day 25… 1017 words. Total words to date…… 45652
Day 26… 3328 words. Total words to date…… 48980
Day 27… 1538 words. Total words to date…… 50518
Day 28… 4327 words. Total words to date…… 54845

Total fiction words for the month……… 10210
Total fiction words for the year………… 316315
Total nonfiction words for the month… 7700
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 163260
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 479575

Calendar Year 2019 Novels to Date…………………… 6
Calendar Year 2019 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2019 Short Stories to Date… 1
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 43
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 194
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31