This should probably be separate blog entries, but who cares?
Basically, this means we now have more trust and relevance.Now, I have this love/hate relationship with google (I may talk about this in a future entry!), but it's nice to see a little recognition. I'd like to climb a little more too, before the next update around Jan-Feb 2010. Of course, getting more ranks is exponentially harder (even Facebook's home page is only PR 9), but I think 4 (or even 5) is manageable in the long run. You can help us by getting (honest) links to Miza from other (reputable) sites!
Second thing... NaNoWriMo is starting in a couple days, and I've done very little planning. I have a few tentative titles, basic character concepts - I'm thinking the plot will be heavily character-driven - and some scenes, but everything else is blurry. Still, I'm really excited about starting my novel and I thought I'd share something to motivate you guys, as well.
As mentioned, Amazon will be rewarding NaNoWriMo winners with a professionally-bound paperback proof of the novel through their CreateSpace self-publishing program. You even have a few months after NaNo's end to polish your novel and submit a better version for printing - you can design your own cover or choose a default one, you can include illustrations in your PDF file and other options to drool over. But there's more. As I said, CreateSpace is a self-publishing platform. You can sell your novel on it (unless you hope to have it published with a traditional house
)And selling doesn't cost you a cent. They print on demand and get their share of the profit, giving you the rest (you set the final price). Of course they have paid services too, but none you are forced to buy. With a few clicks, your book is a regular book with its own ISBN and can be for sale on Amazon and its affiliates like any other product, with reviews and all, and even the SearchInside function in google and Amazon. You can have your book available for download on their e-book reader, Kindle. That's something to think about - maybe not for the money, but for the sheer satisfaction of it.
I'm thinking of setting up a "Novels" section after NaNo ends, with the novels split into chapters... and a "buy this book on paperback" button for anyone who wishes to go that way. (and you may choose to put some added value/content in the physical book, too). The great bane of self-published books is lack of publicity... but you can get some publicity here.
What do you think?The third and last thing is more personal. As I approach the end of my PhD, I'm realizing how jaded I have become as a scientist. Having seen how the system works, I trust published science much much less than before. But I'm running out of time so this will be food for the next blog, something about me me me me - Goss-style.
