Yesterday we had our last 'hurrah'! Which is why this post is late because I'm actually writing it at 6:15-7:15 on New Year's Eve morning! Thursday was supposed to be one of the nicest days this week-overcast with temps in the 60's. The hubster was planning on taking down the outside Christmas lights, except he had already done that on Monday.
So we decided to take a short day trip to Silver Dollar City. Short is a relative term. It's about a 3-3-5 hour drive.
I packed up a ditty-bag with the scarf I'm crocheting for the kidlet and my Kindle. The kidlet packed her Nintendo DS, a couple of books (and regaled us with information about Chupacabras and Leucrotta's--yes, I had to look THAT one up on wikipedia!) a pillow and blanket. The hubster ALWAYS drives . . . for a couple of reasons:
1) I HATE DRIVING
2) I used to offer to drive, but when he wanted to change drivers we would be in a place (Denver, snow, mountain driving) that I had pre-negotiated my refusal to drive.
We stopped to eat lunch at Zio's in Springfield and continued on our way. We knew it would be crowded because this was the last day SDC would be open until mid-March--but WOWZERS! We opted for the paid parking that is available for season pass holders. We'd have to walk to and from our parking space but it sure beats waiting for a tram along with a gazillion other people to take you to the North 40 parking area!
As I mentioned, we go to SDC for the rides. Oh, sure, they have shows and craft demos, etc, etc, but why waste time watching a show if you can ride a rollercoaster???? The lines were hideous because some genius in SDC's management decided to have the mechanics start breaking down the cars on ALL the rides, leaving only one car per ride. NOT SMART, PEOPLE! (yes, I'm going to send them a letter. And yes, I realize the didn't expect the last day to generate that many people. And yes, I realize they hadn't calculated the temperatures would be in the 60's--but this isn't the first time someone messed up). If you are scheduled to be open, then you need to anticipate a crowd. We waited an hour for Wildfire. PowderKeg was better since they had two sets of cars running.
While we waited in line for Wildfire, it got dark and SDC became a magical fairyland with lights. The lights made up for my earlier crankiness.
We left around 7:30 for the drive home. It was too dark to crochet, so I pulled out my Kindle (with its handy dandy little light) and started to read Treasure Island. I have NEVER read TI, so I thought it would be a good idea to get used to the Kindle by reading a 'freebie'. I'm about 1/4 of the way finished.
And if they didn't provide the little line at the bottom of the page, I would never have figured it out! There are a couple of love/hate things I've discovered while using an ereader.
--I enjoy reading on the Kindle. Even though I needed a little light to read it at night, it was not distracting to the driver. If you angled it right, it didn't glare on the screen.
--I HATE that I can't 'cheat' and read the ending. Oh, I know things will work out, but I still like to check it out.
--I don't like the way the formatted the ebook. I don't know if they screwed up because it is a freebie, but sometimes the paragraphs were indented and sometimes they weren't.
--I didn't like that I had no idea where the chapter breaks were. True, skipping ahead I might figure it out, but they run the chapters together with the text--THERE IS NO EASILY SPOTTED BREAKING POINT.
--My eyes got tired quicker than I expected. I don't know if it was because we had a long day, or if it was because of the ereader, or if it was the light. I'll have to test a couple of theories.
--And I won't go into it here, but I STILL THINK IT'S A TOTAL RIP-OFF BY PUBLISHING HOUSES TO CHARGE THE SAME PRICE AS THEY WOULD A PRINT BOOK. Talk about a 90+% profit margin!
Well, that's it for today. I need to round up last year's goals and set some new ones for this year. I tried to read 50 books this year and I'm on book #48--I should finish it today--so I think that is a good goal to keep for next year.
If the weather cooperates, we'll be hanging by the outdoor fireplace tonight before we transfer to the hot tub. Hubster and I will have some bubbly and the kidlet will have sparkling grape juice. . . at least with a drink in her hand, she'll refrain from 'swimming' in the hot tub.--NOT RELAXING! O' child who sprung from my loins!
See you all in the New Year!
It seems like many more people got the Kindle this year. I'm still sticking with regular books. So far.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure publishing houses can't take that much off because they still have to print books and just to have that set up is the majority of the cost. It will take awhile before all of this fluctuation settles.
You already know my (long) (wordy) defense of publishers and their e-book prices, so I won't go into that. (grinning evilly here)
ReplyDeleteOn free books on the Kindle, especially the classics: the setup on a lot of the books in the public domain is done by volunteers. I'm assuming they scan the book, then undo all the glitches that can worm their way into scans. Some volunteers, I've found, are way better proofers than others. I've read some of the free K. classics that look like my dogs formatted them, and some that are almost perfect.
Not an excuse -- if you're going to do a job, whether paid or not, you should do your best -- but an explanation, at least.
Wow. That's all I've got to say. I could no sooner handle crowds like that than sprout wings and fly to the moon.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to read your comments on the kindle. Although I do my work using a computer, I hate most forms of technology and resist upgrading until it's absolutely impossible to function otherwise.
However, seeing as I am a writer that doesn't read, the kindle thing isn't likely to become an issue!
I feel the same way about publishing houses charging the same as for print. I think they're losing sales because of it. I know I'm refusing to pay, unless it's a book by a good friend.
ReplyDeleteYes, the format is bad sometimes. It's really not hard to format, either, though it does take a bit of time. Doing anything good takes time.
I'm going to have to disagree with you about your comment that '...publishing houses can't take that much off because they still have to print books..."
ReplyDeleteThat is BS and if you think about it logically, you'll realize it.
What publishing houses are doing is forcing the ebook reader to subsidize their stinker contracts that BOMBED. They fork over millions of $$$ for some celebrity's book only to lose major money on it. Or they think they have the next best literary novel and they can only sell 10K of the 100K books printed, IN HARDBACK. Hardback? Are you serious?
Konrath said it far more amusingly than I could in his blog, but here's the bottom line. Ebooks and print books DO have a few areas in which they overlap: covers, editorial (sometimes this is even questionable), promotion {(or lack of in some cases) and even this area is shadowy because how much does it cost them to send an ebook to a reviewer?? NADA}
Print books use ink, paper, physically spend money to be printed, glued, boxed, shipped AND housed in some warehouse. PLUS they have a stupid policy in place that an unsatified reader can 'return' the books, which is where the publisher witholds money to the author until 'returns against receipt' is satisfied in the contract--which can be YEARS.
Ebooks will need someone to format the books (which I have a problem with their lousy formatting--I could do better . . . and that isn't saying much!), and maybe a programmer who will highlight words to link to a dictionary definition--already on the Kindle. Aaannnddd . . .that's it. No ink, no paper, no printing, no shipping, no warehouse, no returns.
And this isn't even the crux of the matter. Many authors signed contracts that screw them out of $$$, due to the low royalty rate for digital monies.
I don't have a problem with publishers making money. But I do have a problem with them screwing the consumer and the author because of their greed.
I'm going to use THE HOBBIT as an example. I've had my copy of THE HOBBIT for almost 40 years (my bro gave it to me). It's yellow, smelly and hard to read, so I'm thinking of getting it on the Kindle.
Guess how much it costs on Kindle? $9.99. AND TOLKIEN IS DEAD! He's not even seeing the profit. His grandkids might be getting something, but how much? A miniscule percentage.
Mass market price $6.10.
Methinks something stinks in the publishing industry.
Mass Market $6.10
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ReplyDeleteI think we'll agree to disagree about ebook prices, Marilyn.
ReplyDeleteHere's a question: Since you publish in category, does this mean your books are always available?? I never thought about how ebooks would effect category authors until now.
I don't like crowds, Jody. I tolerate them. Usually I get cranky when it's hot and crowded. The hubs knows to keep me well-hydrated during those times!
ReplyDeleteWe expected the crowds, but not the lack of foresight with SDC and only running one car on most of the rides. That's not cool. Yes, I emailed them about my disappointment--is that PC enough??
I haven't spent any 'real' money on a Kindle book yet, but when I do, I expect it to be formatted better than Treasure Island is. I'm with Marilyn, if you're going to do the job, do it well regardless of payment.
ReplyDeleteWow, Margaret!
ReplyDeleteAwesome on going to SDC! Crowds or not. You're right about the lack of foresight.
As for the Kindle, I don't have one, but on my netbook I want to start reading. (Doing for formatting for my own book--it takes dedication to make sure it is done right.)
When we were walking up the hill behind large groups of large people and I keep having visions of a James Harriet story when a farmer went to the 'big' city, and he had to take, "big steps an' little uns". I got irked and put my short stature to use by shooting the gaps.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, friend!!!
ReplyDeleteSDC - we go for the shows!! Don't remember doing any of the rides as hubs won't do roller coaster. But there is no way I would stand in line for an hour for a ride but then, I'm not hauling a kiddo along with me.
Did you make the hot tub and bubbly?
HAPPY NEW YEAR, CYNDI!
ReplyDeleteI started doing rollercoasters when the kidlet wanted to ride POWDERKEG. Two years later, the hubster rides with us. :-) And in my rollercoaster experiences, POWDERKEG is still one the scariest. I think it's the take-off.
Our purpose at SDC is the rides. I can't remember the last time we did a show. And I'm sure you've stood in line for an hour to see some of the shows . . . different strokes.