• Publishing plans for 2020

    From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to All on Sat Nov 7 06:12:55 2020
    Hi there!

    I was bored in my store today since I have received no customer whatsoever. Therefore, I have
    deceided to publish a post in [my site](http://www.richardfalken.com) regarding my plans with the
    Necromancer stories.

    To begin with, in case you have not read it yet, I have decided to call the series *The Worth of
    Immortality*, after discussing it with my fans.

    I have prety much ditched the subscription model (for reasons explained in the post). I plan to
    build up an online store and put the stories up there alonside some other works I have published
    elsewhere already.

    If you haven't done so, you can check the cover art I have made for the first short story I intend
    to publish.

    Don't fiorget to check my gophersite. I added a lot of perl cruft to it, so articles are more easy
    to read and there is less formatting in the way. Perl cruft is the best cruft, and let nobody tell
    you otherwise.

    Cheers!
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From HusTler@VERT/HAVENS to Arelor on Sun Nov 8 08:20:46 2020
    Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Arelor to All on Sat Nov 07 2020 06:12 am

    I was bored in my store today since I have received no customer whatsoever.

    You have a brick and mortar store? What do you sell at the store?

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ Havens BBS havens.synchro.net
  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to HusTler on Sun Nov 8 13:45:17 2020
    Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: HusTler to Arelor on Sun Nov 08 2020 08:20 am

    Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Arelor to All on Sat Nov 07 2020 06:12 am

    I was bored in my store today since I have received no customer whatsoeve

    You have a brick and mortar store? What do you sell at the store?


    Yes, in addition to the sysadmining job I have a brick¨ and mortar place + an online store.

    It is a parapharmacy, but I focus on the stuff the doctors in the clinic I work in recommends to patients. So essentially, the doctors can tell the people to go to my store since I guarantee I'll have the items they want the patients to use.

    The business came up because doctors would prescribe certain specific formulations (say, Zinc Gluconate 70), patients would go to a pharmacy, and the clerk there would sell them whatever the most similar product they had instead of the prescribed one (say, Protectium or whatever thing that happened to have some Zinc in it).

    Mostly I have Colagen formulations, vitamins, minerals and such. Also a big section for personal hygiene - since dermathologists want to recommend some specific products for skin care too.

    Business is not doing great because people is going broke :-( but so far it covers expenses and gives some extra income to me. It would not make a living for me on its own though.
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Ogg@VERT/TRMB to Arelor on Sun Nov 8 19:25:42 2020
    To begin with, in case you have not read it yet, I have decided to call the series *The Worth of
    Immortality*, after discussing it with my fans.

    Was this part of the short stories that you had me review?

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada
  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to Ogg on Mon Nov 9 09:56:48 2020
    Re: Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Sun Nov 08 2020 07:25 pm

    To begin with, in case you have not read it yet, I have decided to call t series *The Worth of
    Immortality*, after discussing it with my fans.

    Was this part of the short stories that you had me review?


    Yeah, pretty much :-P
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Ogg@VERT/TRMB to Arelor on Tue Nov 10 07:45:32 2020
    call t series *The Worth of
    Immortality*, after discussing it with my fans.

    Was this part of the short stories that you had me review?


    Yeah, pretty much :-P
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken


    BTW.. I just noticed, that I am using the OverbiteWX extension in Firefox for Gopher.

    This is how I see your page:

    http://pics.rsh.ru/img/gopherrf_mw77h6gx.jpg

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada
  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to Ogg on Tue Nov 10 18:02:30 2020
    Re: Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Tue Nov 10 2020 07:45 am

    call t series *The Worth of
    Immortality*, after discussing it with my fans.

    Was this part of the short stories that you had me review?


    Yeah, pretty much :-P
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken


    BTW.. I just noticed, that I am using the OverbiteWX extension in Firefox for Gopher.

    This is how I see your page:

    http://pics.rsh.ru/img/gopherrf_mw77h6gx.jpg


    Thanks for the pic.

    That is certainly how it is intended to be :-)
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to All on Wed Nov 11 15:04:48 2020
    Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Arelor to All on Sat Nov 07 2020 06:12 am


    Hi there once again!

    I did a lot of work on Richard Falken's Bookstore today. I think most of the code is ready! I have to test the site before putting it to production, though. I am going to have gift voucher functions , discount coupons and everything built in. Most important, it is going to have tales about zombies with blasters, curators that fiddle with terrorism, and horse headed war machines.

    I am so excited. I am aiming at having something functional online by this weekend. I guess I will populate the site with some preorders, since getting the stories ready for sale is going to take time. I am very methodical and always check the epub's code manually...

    Stay tuned!
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to All on Fri Nov 13 03:36:43 2020
    Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Arelor to All on Sat Nov 07 2020 06:12 am


    Oh yeah, the store for my short stories and novels is nearly there.

    Early tests look promising. I have uploaded some ebooks full of horse pictures for testing and so far it works great.

    Gift cards also work. Maybe I can make it into Christmass campaign even.

    I know I am only gonna sell three stories or so, but this is so much fun :-P
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to All on Sat Nov 14 05:27:57 2020
    Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Arelor to All on Sat Nov 07 2020 06:12 am

    Hey there!

    I have just put the store online. Fucking awesome!

    The official announcement is here: http://www.richardfalken.com/2020/11/The-Store-is-Online.html

    I have placed some items as pre-orders over there. I have a lot of stuff in my portfolio, but getting it edited and formated takes time and I am really pushed against it right now.

    The site should work fine, but since it is very new I am taking any feedback I can get.

    Happy reading!
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Gamgee@VERT/PALANT to Arelor on Sat Nov 14 08:59:00 2020
    Arelor wrote to All <=-

    Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Arelor to All on Sat Nov 07 2020 06:12 am

    Hey there!

    I have just put the store online. Fucking awesome!

    The official announcement is here: http://www.richardfalken.com/2020/11/The-Store-is-Online.html

    I have placed some items as pre-orders over there. I have a lot
    of stuff in my portfolio, but getting it edited and formated
    takes time and I am really pushed against it right now.

    The site should work fine, but since it is very new I am taking
    any feedback I can get.

    Congrats, looks good!



    ... She sells unix shells by the sea shore.
    --- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to Gamgee on Sat Nov 14 11:42:49 2020
    Re: Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Gamgee to Arelor on Sat Nov 14 2020 08:59 am

    The official announcement is here: http://www.richardfalken.com/2020/11/The-Store-is-Online.html


    Congrats, looks good!

    Thanks, man!

    You know, setting the site up was supposed so be climatic, but my family managed to ruin the moment for me :-(

    Still I am happy with the end result. I am formatting High Tech Necromancy for publication right now. Let's see how the showdown between the mechanical assasin squad and Earth's commander-in-chief goes, shall we?
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Ogg@VERT/EOTLBBS to All on Thu Nov 19 08:24:00 2020
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Saturday 14.11.20 - 06:27, arelor wrote to All:

    I have just put the store online. Fucking awesome!

    The official announcement is here: http://www.richardfalken.com/2020/11/The-Store-is-Online.html


    That's the idea. Good to see you announcing, informing, and
    offering an option to purchase/download immediatley.

    Wanna do that for my 15,000 qty inventory of books? I need it
    done before yesterday. LOL




    --
    ../|ug

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
  • From Ogg@VERT/EOTLBBS to All on Thu Nov 19 08:25:00 2020
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Saturday 14.11.20 - 12:42, arelor wrote to Gamgee:

    Congrats, looks good!

    Thanks, man!

    You know, setting the site up was supposed so be climatic, but my family managed to ruin the moment for me :-(

    Family can be cruel and go "Meh!".

    --
    ../|ug

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to Ogg on Thu Nov 19 11:03:09 2020
    Re: Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Ogg to All on Thu Nov 19 2020 08:24 am

    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Saturday 14.11.20 - 06:27, arelor wrote to All:

    I have just put the store online. Fucking awesome!

    The official announcement is here: http://www.richardfalken.com/2020/11/The-Store-is-Online.html


    That's the idea. Good to see you announcing, informing, and
    offering an option to purchase/download immediatley.

    Wanna do that for my 15,000 qty inventory of books? I need it
    done before yesterday. LOL




    --
    ../|ug


    It sounds like fun to me.

    I am not a selfish person. I want you to have all that fun.
    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Ogg@VERT/EOTLBBS to Arelor on Thu Nov 19 20:55:00 2020
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Thursday 19.11.20 - 12:03, arelor wrote to Ogg:

    Wanna do that for my 15,000 qty inventory of books? I need it
    done before yesterday. LOL

    It sounds like fun to me.

    I am not a selfish person. I want you to have all that fun.

    I am willing to share the fun, and watch the progress of your
    mastery of code.

    --
    ../|ug

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
  • From Ogg@VERT/CAPCITY2 to Arelor on Wed Jan 6 16:58:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Thursday 19.11.20 - 11:03, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    I have just put the store online. Fucking awesome!

    The official announcement is here:
    http://www.richardfalken.com/2020/11/The-Store-is-Online.html

    Are you getting pretty good activity since last time?


    Wanna do that for my 15,000 qty inventory of books? I need it
    done before yesterday. LOL

    It sounds like fun to me.

    I am not a selfish person. I want you to have all that fun.

    There was a rather large used-books shop several years ago, that
    made a rather big splash cataloguing their entire inventory on
    Abebooks, nearly 500,000 titles.. and then within three years of
    that, shut down. That seemed unusual and sad. I rather enjoyed
    scoping out (ie, spying) their content, and even place a few
    orders every once in a while. So, the online presence did not
    bring them enough biz to justify the ongoing Abebooks fees.

    Myself included.. I had a modicum of titles listed on Abebooks..
    and over time, the frequency of sales from that channel declined.

    But there are about two other alternative places, including eBay,
    that could work for me.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.48
    * Origin: Ogg's Dovenet Point (723:320/1.9)
    ■ Synchronet ■ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP
  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to Ogg on Thu Jan 7 02:51:00 2021
    Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Wed Jan 06 2021 04:58 pm

    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Thursday 19.11.20 - 11:03, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    I have just put the store online. Fucking awesome!

    The official announcement is here:
    http://www.richardfalken.com/2020/11/The-Store-is-Online.html

    Are you getting pretty good activity since last time?


    Wanna do that for my 15,000 qty inventory of books? I need it
    done before yesterday. LOL

    It sounds like fun to me.

    I am not a selfish person. I want you to have all that fun.

    There was a rather large used-books shop several years ago, that
    made a rather big splash cataloguing their entire inventory on
    Abebooks, nearly 500,000 titles.. and then within three years of
    that, shut down. That seemed unusual and sad. I rather enjoyed
    scoping out (ie, spying) their content, and even place a few
    orders every once in a while. So, the online presence did not
    bring them enough biz to justify the ongoing Abebooks fees.

    Myself included.. I had a modicum of titles listed on Abebooks..
    and over time, the frequency of sales from that channel declined.

    But there are about two other alternative places, including eBay,
    that could work for me.

    Well, I wrote The Revenge of the Electronic Kid, which is still pending revision (and hence not mentioned online). I haven't managed to do a lot with The Flaming Wrath of  relor since the the beginning of the year, but I am
    still ahead of schedule. I have been too busy fulfilling a Linux News Media assignment which I just got finished yesterday.

    I plan on retaking The Flaming Wrath of  relor this afternoon.

    I used to be a BIG Abebooks customer. However, they seem not to be as great as they used to be. Being purchased by Amazon didn't do them well.

    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Ogg@VERT/TRMB to Arelor on Thu Jan 7 11:56:37 2021
    But there are about two other alternative places, including eBay,
    that could work for me.

    I used to be a BIG Abebooks customer. However, they seem not to be as great as they used to be. Being purchased by Amazon didn't do them well.

    There still seems to be quite a few bookstores represented by Abe. The defiant holdouts? There seems to be 459 sellers in Spain. Many are probably on-line only.

    For me $25USD/mo just to be listed, was not worth it at one point. I don't like the shAmazon affiliation, so I am not going back.

    I like the ethic of libro.fm. Although they are just audio books, they provide a website presence for me, as well as this thing:

    https://bookstorelink.com/

    It's a great way for people to find an independent bookshop that is local to them, and the purchase supports that shop! USA & Canada only at this time.

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada
  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to Ogg on Thu Jan 7 15:58:33 2021
    Re: Re: Publishing plans for 2020
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Thu Jan 07 2021 11:56 am

    I used to be a BIG Abebooks customer. However, they seem not to be as gre as they used to be. Being purchased by Amazon didn't do them well.

    There still seems to be quite a few bookstores represented by Abe. The defia holdouts? There seems to be 459 sellers in Spain. Many are probably on-lin only.

    For me $25USD/mo just to be listed, was not worth it at one point. I don't l the shAmazon affiliation, so I am not going back.

    I don t say they are doing worse as a business, but they provide less of a serice than they used to.

    Back in the day you could buy 10 books from a single seller and you paid for the delivery once. Now they bill you as if each book was shipped in a separate package.

    It is still cost efficient if the cost of the book is very low. Say, if each book is worth 5 cents and you are paying 5 bucks delivery, you are getting the book for 5,05 bucks which is not that bad. The problem is, the bookseller is making crap out of that deal.

    If you complain about their 25USD/month, you weren't there when it was 40-something.

    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

    ---
    ■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Ogg@VERT/CAPCITY2 to Arelor on Thu Jan 7 22:02:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Thursday 07.01.21 - 15:58, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    For me $25USD/mo just to be listed, was not worth it at one point. I don't
    l the shAmazon affiliation, so I am not going back.

    I don t say they are doing worse as a business, but they provide less of a serice than they used to.

    Back in the day you could buy 10 books from a single seller and you paid for the delivery once. Now they bill you as if each book was shipped in a separate package.

    Many sellers still have that. When you select "Destination,
    rates & speeds", the pop-up window has the price for the "First
    book: C$ x.xx, and then, "Additional books from same seller: C$
    x.xx"

    The rate for addtional items are often a bit lower, but not THAT
    much lower. :( But, the feature is still there to the seller if
    they want to configure it. It's not Abe's doing if the lower rate
    is not there.


    It is still cost efficient if the cost of the book is very low. Say, if each book is worth 5 cents and you are paying 5 bucks delivery, you are getting the book for 5,05 bucks which is not that bad. The problem is, the bookseller is making crap out of that deal.

    That's the way I look at it. When I find books for people, my
    cost price obviously includes the shipping. I simply add a small
    percentage for the task of research, handling and payment
    processing.


    If you complain about their 25USD/month, you weren't there when it was 40-something.

    It's a tiered payment stucture. The lowest tier is $25USD/mo for
    up to 500 titles. The most I ever listed was about 400. Looking
    at the subscription fees, no wonder the seller that posted in the
    150,001 - 500,000 range could probably not sustain the $400/mo
    for too long.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.48
    * Origin: Ogg's Dovenet Point (723:320/1.9)
    ■ Synchronet ■ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP