(This was posted back in March, but I’m reposting because this week only there’s $0.99  sale at Amazon. And for those of you who prefer to spend your money elsewhere, it’s also available on Kobo, B&N and I-Books.)

Big Announcement!

No, I didn’t sell my very minor cult classic to Hollywood (yet), but there is news.  We (this is a team effort) are giving Loisaida a facelift. Changes are slightly more than cosmetic. There is a new cover on the electronic and will be one soon for the print version, and mo’ betta formatting on both. This time we hired a pro.  A few proofreading errors that had been long corrected on the ebook will finally  be fixed on the paperback, and a few more very newly discovered typos will be fixed on all versions. Additionally, for a long while the ebook was only available on Amazon, but starting NOW the new edition is on sale in other venues as well. If anyone is interested in the why: The paperback was printed through Lightning Source. Lightning Source charges fees to make changes; plus there’s an annual “set up” fee. Proof copies are very expensive.  Only a few paperbacks are sold a year, so with the fee it’s always a loss. Most of my paperback sales are through Amazon and since CS is an Amazon company they pay a much higher royalty for “in-house” sales. That’s reality. Not necessarily an endorsement. You will still be able to order a print copy of Loisaida from your favorite bookstore, but you’ll probably be able to get it at a discount (with the same payment to me) if you go directly to Amazon. We (again TEAM) originally used Lightning Source to print and distribute Loisaida through our own Caradeloca imprint. We thought maybe we were starting a publishing empire. Also at the time, LS books seemed to look a little more like books than Createspace titles. Distribution seemed to be better to the UK and other places. This was important as I was connected to Year Zero, which had a mostly UK following I also thought, naively, that if I set up as Caradeloca, bought into the Ingram catalogue, and did everything else right I’d get my book into stores. The reality then and now is that most bookstores aren’t interested in PODs and will only carry the book if a customer requests it or if they have website that customers can order through. Createspace now prints in the UK, so that’s another problem solved. It may be a bit harder to get the paperback in Australia and Canada, but honestly, I think I’ve sold ONE paperback through Lightning Source Australia — if that even still exists. What does this mean for you the reader?

It means if you were thinking of buying the print edition of Loisaida, it will have the fancy new cover featured at the beginning of this post and snazzy professional looking formatting. HOWEVER, if you are interested in picking up a “1st edition” paperback, signed by the author and shipped anywhere in the US, I have a few lying around. (Another rookie mistake. NEVER buy more copies of your own book than you are prepared to give away.)  There will be a $3.99 shipping & handling charge and that’s it. Again, these are the old copies, old cover, DIY formatting, and more than a dozen typos, but who knows?  Maybe you’ll get lucky and sell it for a fortune on e-bay once it becomes a “collector’s item.” Write me if you’re interested. Also, by the way, if you write book reviews — for a blog, for a ‘zine or just for anyone interested on Amazon, I’d happily send you either an electronic copy OR consider paying the shipping on a one of the “1st edition” paperbacks. Just email through the above link.

(Update: Due to technical difficulties, bookstores and online bookstores other than Amazon are still showing the old cover, sometimes with a message that it’s not available. This may still take some time to sort itself out. Meantime, Amazon offers the lowest price on the updated version. In the unlikely event that you represent a bookstore and are having trouble ordering, just write me.)