Newsletter for Winter 2011

of Award-Winning Authors J. Robert Whittle and Joyce Sandilands

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OUR TOP NEWS!!

Our new website is up … eBooks are catching on … a reality check!

November 7, 2011

Hello Everyone and welcome to our Fall/Winter Edition,

The big news this month is our New Website … although it’s still being primped and prettied, links being corrected and text made larger (the small type comes from our old setup that often doesn’t cut/paste very well). Thanks for bearing with us.

We no longer have a ‘Specials’ Page … you’ll find the Set of Lizzie Series and Victoria Chronicles Hardcovers (individual + Set) at a permanently reduced price as we attempt to reduce our excess stock. Both are on sale at our market/show stands where you naturally have no shipping costs. If anyone knows of Libraries – both school and public – that would want to negotiate a special order with us please pass the word on and have them contact us. At present we offer a 15% discount to schools/libraries but for these Sets we would make an exception.

We’ve been talking eBooks for awhile now … they seem to be catching on at a HUGE rate and as we lose sales of paper books by telling people at the markets/shows that we’re on ebooks, so we hope our ebooks sales will continue to increase proportionately. I am thrilled but Robert is not so sure about it yet. He’s not so trusting of modern technology. He likes the cash in his own hand! Still the old-fashioned entrepreneur. I’m happy that word is spreading as we must think of the future when we are no longer able to sell at the markets.

I have owned my own KOBO ebook Reader (Canada – Chapters) since March and I now have the new Kobo Touch so I can speak from experience on this subject. I simply love my Kobo Touch and have now finished my fifth novel. It’s a lot easier to read in bed now (no heavy books) and so easy to turn the page (you touch it very lightly). I read 10-30 minutes before sleep, few mins. in the bathroom, few mins. after dinner and it all adds up. I even have several books on the go at the same time for the first time in my life. An eReader is sooo much fun!!

A month ago I also gave in to temptation just at the time this fabulous new cellphone came out. My new Android cellphone (Samsung Galazy S2) is not only a marvel, it also has a larger screen and I can read ebooks on it just fine. I wish I had more time to play with all the other features!

Some of the benefits of eBooks are:

* The price is cheaper. You can now afford to purchase more books without piles of books in bookcases … our ebooks are priced from $3-8 and sometimes we offer specials through Smashwords and our Facebook FanClub Page. So unless you want to miss these Hot eBook Specials, you should join the Fan Club.

* Text can easily be made larger so no more problems looking for LARGE-PRINT BOOKS!! IF someone you know is having trouble reading too-small print in books … an eBook Reader is the solution as you can adjust to LARGE and LARGER PRINT. So much easier to hold instead of a heavy book, too.

* It’s easy to put an eReader in your purse/bag.

* You can easily read more than one book at a time, they reader bookmarks your pages. etc. etc.

You can help us by telling your friends … you never know who has a Kindle, a Kobo, a Sony, an iPod or iPad etc., these days. And those amazing Smartphones have wonderful little ‘Apps’. I have a Kobo Touch (Canadian Chapters-Indigo brand) and it’s wonderful persuading me to read in short spurts that I never would have bothered with before. It saves my place (bookmark) and turns on really fast. I’ve read 5 novels in 7 months (and various parts of others) and am amazed with myself. These are novels I didn’t know I had time to read. They’re light, fun and hold so many books you are never without a good one.

You don’t have to own an eBook Reader … there are many FREE programs and Apps. available for computer, Smart Phones and iPods etc. One I recently discovered is Bookworm for all ePUB formats (not for Kindle). Kindle has their own FREE eReader. Adobe Digital Additions is great and free for ePub versions as well. I recently found out about the iPod Kindle App.

Leprechaun Magic has been reprinted with a new updated and cute NEW COVER thanks to Simone Padur who also illustrated 3 On A Moonbeam (Book 2 in this series). Happily, sales have improved.

The two books of the Moonbeam Series have been put on eBooks but we are having some issues with them and the pictures aren’t showing up. It’s still a work-in-progress.

Reality Check … Don’t put off purchasing our books indefinitely if you want them. We continually hear people say, “I know where to find you when I’m ready to buy it!” Well, here’s the scoop … In case you haven’t noticed, Robert is now 78 and I’m 67 and neither of us are in A-1 health! We won’t be doing this forever, trust me! If you are holding back on purchasing our books and want them signed … please be realistic. Very soon we will also stop ordering books so paper copies could disappear.

For Vancouver Island, BC local readers … we have many ‘Damaged Books’ available (various prices depending on how damaged (rain, sun fading etc) the books are (read on). We appreciate the hard times … the economic situation is impacting all of us, both personally and through our businesses. We must spend wisely and WE need to continue finding ways to sell our books. Call me (Joyce 250-477-0192) to discuss our damaged books.

An alternative to purchasing books is to ask your school or public library to order our family-style books. If their budget allows, they are usually quite eager to purchase our books due to their unusual wholesome content which makes them suitable for a larger audience. They don’t know if you don’t tell them and we give schools and libraries a 15% discount if they contact us directly. Some libraries take donations of gently used books. We also earn royalties from the Canadian Public Library System. Thanks for your consideration.