For all of your leftover time on the homestead, maybe you can take up writing

[BoatGuy]

Greenhorn's article on e-book pricing got me to thinking... If you have a talent for writing, or just have knowledge of a skill, that you want to sell to others, there are now ways to get your novel or DIY book out there at no cost to get started.

These are the guy's that will get you an ISBN number for your book or e-book (this is where you would have to pay a relatively small fee, but is necessary to get your book on some sites)
http://www.bowker.com/

This is Amazon.com's creation to get your work into hardcover form. (Royalty-based and no upfront investment)
https://www.createspace.com/

This is Amazon's Kindle self-publishing site for Kindle e-books (Royalty-based and no upfront investment)
https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin


And, this is Barnes and Noble's site for e-book publishing (Once again, royalty based and no upfront investment)
http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=pi_reg_home

Now, all you have to do, is to write something that others want to read... That's the hard part.

[Johnny-Max]

I have done lots of research into this, including the sites online that do print on demand.
I think the way to go is publish for the Kindle and the nook.
You basicly just format it into a webpage athe the free program converts it to Kindle or Nook format.

I have compiled many, many documents and information from the web into books for my kindle.
I just can't make the commitment to finish a book, I can start one at the drop of a hat.

[fritz_monroe]

I can start one at the drop of a hat.

Me too. 

Once upon a time...

See, that's the start of a best seller. 


BoatGuy, thanks for putting this stuff together.  I've been curious about this for a long time.

[BoatGuy]

I can start one at the drop of a hat.

Me too. 

Once upon a time...

See, that's the start of a best seller. 


BoatGuy, thanks for putting this stuff together.  I've been curious about this for a long time.

You're welcome. But, may I make a suggestion? "Once upon a time... " has been so overused, as to have become cliche'. Try starting with something like "There once was a man from Nantucket"... er, sorry... that is poetry. How about "Once upon a midnight dreary..."... er, sorry, that's been used... Well anyway, give it some thought. lol

Here's an article about success stories to get you going. The world needs a good book.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/story/2011-12-14/self-published-authors-ebooks/51851058/1

[BoatGuy]

I just can't make the commitment to finish a book, I can start one at the drop of a hat.

I know how you feel, Johnny. Whenever I get the urge to write an article, I start by creating an empty text document on my computer desktop, with a title. After a while, the urge to write about it goes away and I erase it, having never written a word.

A recent article came out about the bill that just passed, allowing Americans to be indefinitely detained. So, of course, there is an empty text file on my desktop that reads: "Take My Rights... Please!"

At least this time, I actually wrote the first sentences to the article... : "Attention ladies, gentlemen and future enemy combatants, we have reached the end of the slippery slope. You may exit now and as always, we hope you enjoyed your trip on the final voyage of the U.S. Constitution."

I thought it sounded good, and I have so many ideas for how to progress with it. But, I doubt that I will write another word.

But, for those that get further in their thinking, there is a program, originally produced for writers, that I have mentioned in another post on the forum. It is called Freemind...

http://freemind.sourceforge.net

It allows you to produce a freeform outline that you can link anyway you please... to graphics, to web pages, to... well, anything. Right now, I use it to keep track of projects and ideas for the ranch. As I said, it was originally made for writers. But, it can organize just about anything you can think of. It's a fantastic program, and it's free and that makes it worth every penny you spent on it!

Lest I forget, there is also an ebook management program out there (that Johnny Max himself has talked about in the podcast) called Calibre'. Among many other things, it allows you to convert various formats into other formats (like .pdf to Kindle and others).

http://calibre-ebook.com/

[cave dweller]

Good find. The Lord's put a few books in me, though when I look in the mirror I think it's more like a library.

[fritz_monroe]

I read a blog called The Walden Effect.  The lady that does most of the posts publishes a magazine for the Kindle every month.  Here's her post about the January Edition.  Although I haven't bought one yet, so it could be just a couple articles.

Anyway, she's recently been signed to publish all her Weekend Homesteader magazines into book form.  She posted blog post about How to get published in 5 easy steps.  It really isn't a how to, more of a what she went through during her life to finally be published.

[BoatGuy]

That's very interesting, Fritz. Thank you. We're going to d/l a copy of her magazine and have a look, later. She also had something on her page about a watering system that looked interesting (chicken waterers are a pet peeve of mine, since I haven't found a good and inexpensive way to do it the way we need to).

[fritz_monroe]

That chicken waterer is their bread and butter.  They earn a lot of their income from that little invention.

[BoatGuy]

That little invention of theirs is going to SAVE me a lot of money...lol

BTW, I've now downloaded all of her e-zines (there are 9 so far), and they are great. I especially like the way that she makes her topics timely for the month that she puts it out there.

If you don't have a Kindle to read them on (I don't, but I got Karnie one for Christmas and she loves it), there is also a PC/Mac application for your computer and it works much the same... for free.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311

There are tons of ebooks on Amazon that you can get for free, as well.

[fritz_monroe]

I usually get some cash at Christmas, I think I will be buying a kindle. 

I like her blog posts and style of writing, so I will be getting some of her published works.  I do plan on e-mailing her first to see if I like the published work.  And if I do, I'll buy them all.

[Hanzel]

hummm...

"IT WAS THE BEST of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

naaaaaa ... i would starve  ..  better stick with international male modeling   

[BoatGuy]

better stick with international male modeling   

Imagine the odds! I used to be an international male gigolo! I catered only to the richest and most intelligent, most beautiful women in the world!

I went broke at that, too... sigh...