Category Archives: Writing

eBook

Scribd cuts off romance and erotica

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Scribd, the subscription-based content platform has apparently alerted its publishing partners that it will be dropping a number of romance and erotica titles from its ebook catalog.  Smashwords CEO Mark Coker announced the news on the Smashwords website yesterday, along with the estimate that Scribd will drop 80-90% of the Smashwords romance and erotica titles.  Mark is a strong proponent of indie publishing, and has been critical about the viability of a subscription model for ebooks (Amazon has updated its author compensation model for their Kindle Unlimited subscription platform starting July 1, 2015; authors now get paid “per page” read).

From Mark Coker’s post:

Scribd, the fast-growing ebook subscription service, today announced dramatic cuts to their catalog of romance and erotica titles.

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eBook, Writer Reference

The Case of the Complaining Author

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

There are many reasons that authors fail.  The most glaringly obvious one is that they don’t treat their writing as a business.

Scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, I came across a post that seemed to indicate that an eBook listed on Amazon was showing the wrong content when a potential buyer clicked on the “look inside” feature.  The poster was “damning” the Look Inside feature.

So I asked a simple question: Did the original poster call and ask why the wrong content was showing?

The response showed that they had not done so.

Here’s the thing: YOU are the author. YOU are your business. YOUR BOOK is your product.  Take some damned responsibility for it! Act like a professional!

Further examination showed that the eBook in question – which I looked up, accessed the “look inside” feature and downloaded the sample for – had been first published on December 19, 2013.  By using the post date of the FB complaint, the date the interior file was updated can be extrapolated to March 27, 2015.

The eBook has no reviews.

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Questions and Answers, Success Stories

Miscellaneous Questions: How did you become a screenplay writer?

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

I took a single screenwriting class. It was relatively easy – if you watch movies and understand that every story is the Monomyth. It’s all about structure, showing not telling, and fitting your story into 90-120 pages.

Screenwriting was exactly what I expected it would be.

It wasn’t difficult, and – within three months of the class – I was already selling work and ghosting.

The only thing you have to remember is that this is a business; you’re just the writer. Finish your work, get your check, move on to the next project. If you get so attached to the story or the characters that you have to direct or want to act or believe that you’re going to have ANY input on the film at all, you will fail. Period.