I'm working on a scifi story collection called There's a Sword for That (using a fantasy motif in a scifi context — just for the fun of it). The tales come out of a weapons shop on a space station, which you can see on the cover.
The collection won't be ready for a while, so I've released a couple of two-story bundles in the meantime, for your amusement.
Monsters, And More — A Science Fiction Story Bundle
Monsters – Xenoarchaeologist Vartan has promised his young daughter Liza one of the many enigmatic lamedh objects that litter the site of a vanished alien civilization.
No one can figure out what they're good for, but Liza finds a use for one.
Adaptability – The Webster Marble Deluxe Woodsman, Model 820-E, has been offline for quite some time. Quite some time indeed.
Good thing Webster has a manual to consult, and a great many special functions.
The Visitor, And More — A Science Fiction Story Bundle
The Visitor – Felockati is anchored to his permanent location underwater and misses the days of roaming his ocean world freely.
But something new drops out of the sky and widens his horizons — all the way to the stars.
Your Every Wish – Stealing the alien ambassador's dagger is a sure thing for Pete — just what he needs to pay off his debts.
Until he starts talking to it. There has to be a way to get something for himself out of the deal. Has to be.
The Visitor was previous published in Strange Horizons.
Karen–
I saw your blog from two years ago, and now I’m wondering what your advice is. I’m a small publisher, and I’ve been using both for myself and my authors. However, after one book received such great reviews, and a lot of bookstores stocked a copy or two from Lightning Source, I was socked with returns two months later, causing that book to plunge into the red.
At this point, I realize I can’t compete in bookstores. If a store orders copies, they are likely to be on a shelf spine out. Then when the store’s software shows it’s been there two months, the books are shipped back to Ingram for a return.
I’m now about to come out with a new novel, and I’m wondering do I even want to be at LSI anymore, even if I make the books nonreturnable? If they’re nonreturnable, no store will probably order the books. In short, I’m thinking of using just CreateSpace with their expanded offering, still using my own ISBNs to show it’s not from CreateSpace.
What are your thoughts these days?
–Christopher Meeks
Hi, Christopher,
Sorry for the delay in responding. I didn’t expect to see questions about POD at Ingram vs Createspace here. 🙂
I’ve copied your comment to the article so that others can benefit from the discussion. You’ll find it here: https://hollowlands.com/2015/04/using-createspace-vs-ingram-for-print-on-demand-pod-distribution/#comment-102101