In reply to David.

Got a response from them and all is well now for me to review..which I will do. They said a glitch didn’t update my purchase date. It has been 2 years since I bought from them (textbooks for the daughter yikes! That was some sticker shock) So all is good in my cyber world. This evening I will be reading Pagan Sex. Don’t know if it’s legal for me to have this much fun in one week! Hope the writing is going well and take care of yourself.

In reply to Shelley Bricker.

Very odd. It’s either something new from Amazon, or…was Shiver the first thing you bought from them? I guess it could be a technical issue of some sort.

I know they’re trying to cut down on fake reviews, but I’m not sure how a 48-hour delay would stop anybody. Just a weird thing all around, especially since it had been more than 48 hours.

Maybe they’re just goofy.

Shiver me timbers but I’m a tad bit upset. I just finished reading Shiver On The Sky. Yes, it’s 1:32 am and I couldn’t be happier (except for that tad part I will get to in a sec) ! David, I enjoyed the story so much! Your characters were easy to keep track of, the story line flowed so well, and the surprises were awesome. Now for Tad: I went to Amazon where I purchased the story and I wanted to write a review. My purchase showed up however, when I hit write a review it said I had to wait 48 hours from time of purchase which is showing as August 19th. I believe my math skills are adequate enough to figure out I am outside the 48 hour window. I will keep trying to write the review because I feel you deserve 5 stars and damnit I want to make my voice heard! NO customer satisfaction here for Amazon. Thank you again for a wonderful story. The joy of reading it will take me to slumber land instead of my frustration.

Still!

In reply to Heather Lovatt.

Just a guest blog post. He has no idea who I am outside a donation I made to a charity, and there’s no reason he should. But the post does talk about KDP Select–just not this specific issue. More about the ways Amazon has made itself less important to indie authors & some things we might try to improve matters. Nothing earthshaking, and not really a conversation–though there may be some in the comments afterward.

I’m SO glad you’re going to talk to Konrath soon. Should be an interesting moment.

Heather
wordwan

In reply to David.

And have you done ‘KDP’ freebies for any other stuff you had on Amazon in the past?

I TRULY believe what I responded in email. Someone looked at your comments for posting weekly freebies and went no further than that. And now they’re making you nervous. I know that feeling TOO well. I’ve encountered too many people, lately, in my life, who are being PUT in that position.

And from what I’ve gleaned? Amazon is horrible at getting back to you in any way that matter.

Dark lord, indeed.

In reply to Heather Lovatt.

Well, KDP Select is exclusive for 90 days at a time. Got a reply from Amazon–they were talking about my own blog post where the story first appeared. The one where I took it down 15 days before their warning letter. The one that always said I would take it down, and gave the day it would happen. The one I’ve talked about in blog posts since I took it down, in which I said that due to reader pushback on exclusivity I wouldn’t be going that route again.

This one: https://dhyoung.net/2013/07/31/wacky-wednesday-10/

To me? This means that by signing up for KDP Select I am taking the chance that Amazon will close my account within 5 days of any arbitrary moment, because I’ll never be able to predict this stuff. I won’t put myself in that situation. So unless there are major changes re: exclusivity AND corporate business behavior, I won’t have anything to do with KDP Select again.

The thick plottens, eh? I’m gonna go ‘google’ “You Sleigh me” and see what turns up.

If Amazon thinks that people are gonna EXCLUSIVELY write and publish with them–meaning the story NEVER, NEVER, NEVER appears anywhere else, not on Wattpad, not on Tumblr, not on I don’t know what…

they may as well be a Big Six publisher. They may as well SAY: stories submitted to Amazon must NEVER appear anywhere else.

And that’d be impossible with midlist writers of the sixties, now, wouldn’t it? Writers who are bringing their stories out of mothballs.

MY take? Someone is being lazy.

Off to google “You Sleigh me.”

Heather
wordwan

In reply to Shelley Bricker.

Thanks! Lessee…questions…I’ll try for answers.

(1) Yes, with–you guessed it–caveats. Each book or story gets a page with that info. Right now things are in a bit of a mess, so Pagan Sex for instance is only available at Amazon & the short stories are generally at only Amazon & Smashwords. PS is waiting on a new cover, which I need to do pretty soon. The stories just got to Smashwords yesterday & they take a few days–or weeks–to get out to other retailers. However! At Smashwords both Shiver on the Sky and the Weekly Challenge stories are free. Shiver will start being free in more places in the next week or two, and I’ll have to monitor the various retailers. I try to keep this site up to date with retailer/book availability, but I’m not always successful. And FWIW it’s looking like I’ll have print versions available everywhere around 12/1. But don’t hold me to that; it’s just a plan. AKA a list of things that don’t happen. {8’>

(2) At Amazon, it depends. If I price an ebook between $2.99 and $9.99 they give me 70% for most sales–depending on the country. Otherwise I get 35%. A lot better than deals from “traditional” publishers, but they’re taking a pretty big bite in this Internet age. Or that’s how it looks to me, anyway!

And I will!