You don't have to have an e-reader to read e-books...

It is true, you do not have to own a kindle or a nook or other e-readers to read e-books. Many of you who have Android phones or iPhones and iPads may already know this, since ebooks are available through apps to these devices, but did you know you can also download an app to your personal computer(PC) or laptop?

E-books are available in a variety of file types that allow you to read them on almost any device. Nook and kindle give you the option to download an application to your computer and it stores all your e-books there. There is a site called smashwords.com that offers e-books in the following file types:

.mobi for kindle
Epub for Apple, Nook, Sony, Kobo, Stanza, Aldiko, and Adobe Digital Editions
PDF for personal computers and you can print!
RTF most word processors
LRF for older Sony readers that do not support Epub
Palm Doc
Plain Text for computers and to read online

PDF is a good file to select for your PC, but you can also select RTF (rich text file) or Plain Text.

Goodreads.com is another site that allows you to purchase printed books or e-books online and has a commuinty for readers to interact with each other and their favorite authors.

The point is that you do not need to be left out of the e-book era simply because you cannot afford an e-reader. Bonus: a lot of these places offer some awesome e-books for FREE! So check them out, pick your device and happy reading!

Cover design in Indie publishing- stick to your guns

I am not sure who the people who created my cover design thought they were dealing with, but it has caused me to want to instruct first time indie publishers to stick to their guns. You have a cover design in mind. This is your books brand. It will be the first thing people see about your book. It has to be good. So imagine my shock when after being instructed to find covers in the book store that I liked and explaining my vision: a weathered house on the beach, girl running out front door while being grabbed by multiple ghost hands, ghosts in all the windows of house, I got photo one- a flat photo of a house. Say what?

I had to fight to get the cover you see on my book today and that was just stupid in my opinion. I guess it is true you get what you pay for, but if you are unable to deliver the goods, don't take the money.

Even though I have a cover for my book, I will continue to search for the artist that can give me what I want for a cover. My wish for new indie writers is that they too keep their vision in mind and do what they can to get th

e cover they want.

The second photo is the rejected cover. Fans will recognize the actual cover. Not happy with either of them. Perhaps my standards are too high to be an indie publisher.

Social Networks

According to Wikipedia there are almost 200 social network sites to subscribe to. Granted they probably do not all apply to you but I am willing to bet some of you will follow the link and see which network you missed. I am have to wonder how many social networks do we need and how "in touch"are we really staying with each other if we spend all of our time updating the networks we have subscribed to? And with all the networks available, how come I can't find one that does it all (if you have, please let me know!).

What would a network be that does it all? For me that network would have to allow me to access everything from one place. So I need a place that allows me to have my e-mail, facebook, blog and more all accessible from one location. Google+ is almost there. I need to have my blog tabbed across the top and that might make me happy, for now.

If I had all of this in one place could I give up all the other sites? Would others follow suit or would I be hung out there by myself...alone in one site land? Would my facebook friends come check me out or forget about me because they couldn't reach me on their wall with their limited amount of time? Would it be social suicide to have only one location for people to find you? Am I the only one that desires the simplicity of one stop shopping in my social life?

You know you want to look, you just have to...just remember to leave some time in your life for yourself!

Beginnings

This is the start of House On Butcher Harbor blog site. Hope that it will grow as people decide to read my book. It is an unpublished work, so the entire book will only be available once published. I may allow people to read the entire book as long as they agree to post comments here to help promote the book.