Acknowledgement

Octavia Butler, a pioneer in speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, horror) died Saturday. Her write up in the LA TIMES made me think. A family friend died a few days earlier, and we shut down our offices at DPP to attend the service this morning. These events congealed in my diseased brain (having a cold that I am convinced is bird flu) into the following idea:

Pick your favorite author, and write their eulogy. Say the things that sound so fanatical, so gushing, that we would usually await their passing to put pen to page or fingers to keyboard to acknowledge them. Then rewrite and send a good old fashioned fan letter.

The authors I have loved have impacted my life, my very thinking, in ways that make them seem most intimate to me. Yet I have never acknowledged their contribution. Our friend who passed away was beloved to us, and I know we told her early and often. Yet Ms. Butler will never know what a "Kindred" spirit she truly was. A little too late, I tell you Ms. Butler, your voice will be missed.

Sell Your eBooks at DPPstore!

Cowboys & Indians read eBooks too... It's lonley out on the range
Invitation from DPPpress –
Mossyin’ along, lookin for a horse to ride…
I discovered your site…a real eBook Stud Farm!
I loved it! Your eBooks are exactly what my customers are looking for.
I have a new eBookstore and I want to sell your eBooks.

If you’re lonely out on the range:
Cowboy Up at DPPstore.com










Dr. Spock & Captain Kirk sell eBooks
Invitation from DPPpress –
“Deep Space…the final frontier”? - No way! The vastness of the internet is the new frontier!
I discovered your site…the planet of the eBook!
I loved it! Your eBooks are exactly what my customers are looking for.
I have a new eBookstore and I want to sell your eBooks.
Don’t be a lonely star, be a part of our galaxy!







King Arthur Sells eBooks

Invitation from DPPpress –
I am on a quest to find quality eBooks from independent presses that I can offer my customers at DPPstore.com.
I saw your site…The Holy Grayle!
I loved it! Your eBooks are exactly what my customers are looking for.
I have a new eBookstore and I want to sell your eBooks.

Join the Crusade!

"To The Pain," No Longer

William Goldman, known to my generation as author of the script of "The Princess Bride", says he will be best remembered for, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Which, I never before associated with him (oops...I will flog myself immeditately, then rent it tonight!)

Luckily, he understands the inherent burden of being human is that we are inexorably tied to our own perspective: "...I wish I liked my own writing more, but like all of us, I am trapped inside my own skin."

That's O.K., William. There are plenty of us out here to be an audience and to appreciate what you cannot. I love Goldman's writing - his sardonic humor mixed with a wistful, hopeful, even romantic ideal.

While playing "qutotable banter" with a friend - after I had rattled off a long streak of Eleanor Roosevelt one-liners, I came to the following quote from Goldman:

"One way an author dies a little each day is when his books go out of print."

The title of this post, "To the pain," is another Goldman quote, from “Princess Bride”. This is the punchline of a GREAT speech. The point is that the character threatens to fight, "to the pain," rather than to the death... dismembering his opponent, leaving him a hideous beast, with chunks sliced from his flesh, but leaving his ears to hear, "the cries of little children upon seeing his living remains,"... A most horrifying idea. I remember watching this as a child and being awed and fascinated by this description.

"One way an author dies a little each day is when his books go out of print." is from the same deep understanding as, "to the pain." The root idea of both is that there are fates worse than death.

With the technology of eBooks growing up and becoming daily reality, authors need suffer, "to the pain," no longer. eBooks need never "go out of print." We can maintain an infinite number of eBooks at the ready for book lovers, consumers and eBook aficionados to download 24/7/365. eBookstores never close. eBooks never go out of print. eBookshelves never need to be cleared to make room for new titles.

DPPstore is pleased to offer FREE conversion and listing services to any authors who hold copyright of their out of print work. Give new life to your backlist and leave "the pain" to the unimaginative, uninspired, technophobic few who refuse the new life and cleave desperately to "ink on dead trees".

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

We, at DPPstore, hope you have someone special this Valentine's Day. If you do, one very romantic activity is reading to the one you love... eBooks provide excellent mood lighting.

If you don't have a Valentine this year...there is no better way to pamper yourself than picking up something fun to read!

How about the book about the nurse who's personal life and professional life gets to be too much ... sending her on a "mercy" killing rampage? - Medicinal Remedies

Or maybe you're in the mood to read about a but kicking single mother who can do it all... even nail the bad-guys? - Crimson Ice

Or if you're in the mood to be touched - deeply. How about Patrick Stafford's collection of poetry about the Vietnam War - Asian Darkness

For whatever soothes your soul, DPPstore is here for you. We want to meet your needs and make you feel good.

Isin't that a good thing to hear on Valentine's?

Reinventing Reading - Devices and More Devices

eBook efficianados have bountiful choices in devices for eBook reading:

The best known: The Sony eBook Reader will be coming out this spring. Utilizing E-Ink or Electronic-Ink display technology, the product allows the reader to read in direct sunlight (unlike traditional led displays).



Not as well publicized, is the IRex Iliad, also using E-Ink technology. This is set to become available directly to consumers in April, 2006.






Just as the consumer products using E-Ink are coming to the fore-front, the geek realm is previewing the next new thing in electronic viewing. OLED (look for an clear explanation at Wikipedia.com) This incredibly light, thin, clear display can be viewed equally well in sunlight or in the dark, and can even project videos.







Weather you do you eReading on the newest gadget, or the Comadore 64 you've had since before your voice changed: DPPstore has eBooks for you. As hardware comes and goes, we keep eBooks available in all of the most popular formats to meet your ereading wants and needs.


DPPstore provides quality eBooks by independent authors and presses for independent readers and thinkers... and you can read them however you want! We support all of the most popular formats for all of the funky devices out there.

More New Ebooks!

"Tracy Falbe? You have both of her books from the Rys Chronicles available at the DPPstore! Right On!"

Yep, and he's not the only one who's excited. We have "Union of Renegades," "The Goddess Queen," and Tracy's non-fiction title, "Get Dicey: Play Craps and Have Fun." The two fiction titles are currently being offered at 20% off the cover price (already, only $5.95).

As we fill our shelves one eBook at a time, our readers have opportunity to expand their eBook collections. Don't forget to visit us for access to our FREE titles...soon to be expanding daily.

eLiterate?

Not Reading eBooks Yet?
As I entered the world of eBook publishing, I got feedback from many of my friends doubting the joys of reading digitally.

"I like the way a book feels and looks, even the way it smells. I like turning pages and bending back the cover on a paper back novel," protested one friend.

Technophobia is becoming less pervasive as more and more people enter the digital domain. Even my 10 year old had to save up money to buy an Ipod. But still, some people can't imagine snuggling down to read in their favorite cozy chair with an eBook. It is difficult to grasp how easy it can really be, or the added features that eReading has to offer.

eBooks let you search text... This is not just cool with text books. Imagine your surprise when the heroine Julia finds herself wrapped in Enrique's embrace and you say, "Who's Enrique? I thought she was having an affair with Fabio!" You can search for the first occurrence of Enrique in the text... Where you will discover the author made a brief mention of Fabio's identical twin, Enrique!

eBooks are incredibly compact... You can travel with ALL the books you can possibly read on your trip. No more deciding what to throw in the suitcase, bring all of them, even "War and Peace."

My mom has become a total eBook convert. The backlit design is fabulous for reading in bed. She no longer wakes up in the middle of the night and ambles across the room to turn off the light after falling asleep reading. Her eBook reader turns itself off.

DPPstore offers free eBooks. So, if you are a first time eReader, you have nothing to lose! Try eReading today!

What's Next in eBook Publishing?

You may ask yourself.... How Can eBooks become even easier? O.K., sure, now you can store dozens of eBooks on a little san-disk card and stick it in your PDA or even your cell phone and read to your heart's content ANYWHERE you go. But, that's just not good enough!

We, at DPP, are always trying to think about the next step to make it even easier for our readers to enjoy eBooks.

Timed to coincide with the release of the Sony eBook Reader this spring... DPP will begin offering, for the low price of $9,999.00, a microchip implant surgery. Enabling you to READ YOUR OWN MIND!

Got eBooks on the brain? Now you can!

(Thanks to Nicole Pitman for her comment about chips in the head and reading your own mind! It made me laugh so hard my sides hurt, so I thought I'd put it in my blog and pass along the giggle.)

Stress of Marketing and Selling Your eBook Too Much?

DPPstore is a one stop ecommerce shop. We handle sales, marketing, ecommerce, credit card clearing...The whole enchilada!

We are non-exclusive and our service is FREE to you!

If you have eBooks, we have an eBook store and eBook readers waiting for you. Just send us your eBook to have a free listing in our store and receive commission every quarter!

O.k., so I know my blog is not for marketing purposes...Not really anyhow. But it's kind fun to show off my slap happy stuff that never otherwise sees the light of day. Enjoy. Again, I blame the caffeine.