ANNOUNCEMENTS-Roger W. Kramer
6 Oct 2005-
Hard to believe that I haven't updated this in awhile. Sorry. Been busy writing, taking care of kids, writing and then working. Great news for you who like to have a solid book in your hand. Both books the Battle for and the Siege of Ka'an are available at Lulu.com in paperback form. It is a dream come true. I look forward to hearing your comments and I will try to keep this more up to date.
29 Dec 2004-
Well, a great deal has happened in the past few months. While working on and finishing my second book, the Siege of Ka'an: Book Two in the New Roman Empire Series, my mother was in the Hospital and unfortunately went into renal failure and passed away on the 12th of Dec. Mom was instrumental in getting me to keep on writing and getting my books published. I had the second one ready for her to read, but Mom was unable to hold on to anything long enough to read it, even though she had read through the notebooks of the story.
The Siege of Ka'an is at the editor's and I don't have a set date when it will be out. Keep checking back for further updates.
21 October, 2004
We had a great time at the Clark County Library last night talking about e books. Overall, the speech was well accepted and there were many favorable comments about e books in general.
As a very special friend and mentor has requested the speech be posted, (she and her husband were unable to stay for the speech), here it is, but she was the young lady who was helpful in pushing me to keep writing. Here is the speech, Mrs. B!!!
Speech to Friends of the Library-
Good Evening,
My name is Roger Kramer. I am the author of the E book, The Battle for Ka’an: Book One in the New Roman Empire Series.
First of all, I want to thank Mr. Szczesny, for the invitation to come and speak to you. I realize that you were expecting Stephen King, but he has a problem with vampire bats in his attic.
Second of all, I want to tell you that I am a big, big contributor to the Library, but through overdue fines.
I was given several objectives tonight:
Talk about e books and the process of getting published.
Give you some facts and figures on the booming popularity of e books.
I will go over the facts of how libraries are starting to lend out e books and how they are attempting to work with this type of distribution.
If we have time, I will try to get some information about my book and the characters and hopefully we can answer some questions at the end of the presentation.
I was told to keep this presentation short, so I should have you out of here by about midnight.
To tell you a little about myself. I was born in Springfield, Ohio and grew up on a farm in Pitchin, Ohio. I graduated from Catholic Central High School and then enlisted in the United States Coast Guard, serving in Alaska, Seattle Wa- making a six month trip to Antartica, stopping in Peru, Chile and Australia. Worked on a river tender in Memphis Tenn. The sailing ship, Eagle and the last duty station was in Toledo Ohio where I was in charge of a 41’ and 22’ search and rescue boat. After five years, he was honorably discharged and joined the Reserves. On Thanksgiving day of 1990, BM3 Kramer arrived in Manama, Bahrain to help support Desert Shield/Storm/Sword. I am a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Currently, I work as a Coordinator for a small auto manufacturer in Marysville, Ohio.
What is an e book? Electronic book.
Any book or document can be put into an e book format. Many programs, such as Documents to Go are as easy as, opening the program and drag and drop the file you want to convert into an e book and your done. It is in PDF format or Palm Document Files.
The way to read the books are the common Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, Palm Document Files, Microreader to name a few. E books can be bought off a variety of websites- Amazon, Ereader, Fictionwise or Double Dragon E books.
Once downloaded to your computer, you can read it on your screen or to a handheld device like the one I am using to give this presentation.
As early as 2000 on the website Geek.com, the experts there were already tolling the death knoll for the E book.
Now is Confession time, I never thought E books had a chance of making it. Most people I talk too, even my own son, comment that they like the feel of the book in their hands, the tactile sensation of holding it seems to reach a primordial depth within all of us. I felt the same way. Then I received my first hand held for Father’s Day. I downloaded my first e book and I found I could store hundreds of my favorite books on one little disk and read them wherever I wanted.
I have had people ask me why I like to have the books around and read them over and over again. Very few times, do you buy a cd and only listen to it one time. You listen to it over and over again. Well, books are like music to me, but to my mind. Each writer has their own way of expressing how they feel and their own style. I can read a book over and over again and see the story in my head. I know, strange huh.
Usually, I would curl up at night with my wife and read a book before going to sleep. After I was done, I would have to reach and turn out the light and this usually disturbed my lovely wife. With an e book, I could read it in the dark and turn it off when I was ready to sleep.
More often than not, I would find it lying on my chest or beside me, which is fine because after five minutes, it shuts off automatically.
Libraries getting e-books
The website, Columbus Business First, reported on May 24, 2004 that the State Library of Ohio’s Southeastern Ohio Automation Consortium has contracted with OverDrive Inc. of Cleveland to provide electronic books to 67 rural libraries.
Patrons are now able to download books in Adobe PDF and Mobipocket formats using their library cards. The books automatically return to the library when their checkout period ends. So, for people like me, that means no more overdue fines. Sorry, Springfield, Library.
In the Library Journal, Michael Rogers quotes Open eBook Forum president, Steve Potash declared that “the e-book market is “set to explode.” Just a few years ago, there was no copyrighted e-book material, Potash noted; currently one million e-books have already been copyrighted.
Quote from Marilynn Byerly, author of E-books and Libraries: The beginning or the End?, states that “the last figure I saw was over 16,000 libraries in the US have ebooks in some form…Countries like Australia also are heavily into ebooks.”
I thought it would be interesting, if the Libraries could negotiate with the publishers to allow them a percentage of the sale if the person decided to buy the e book after they had borrowed it from the library. This could be a possible source of income for the libraries, but would have to be negotiated first.
The Springfield Public Libraries support of Dear Reader.com, where you receive Chapters of books in your email is an excellent way to introduce the public to ebooks in general. If the reader likes the book, they have the option of buying it. Consequently, I signed up for Dear Reader.com through the Springfield Library on your web site.
Problems faced by e book authors.
Fictionwise just announced that in addition to taking 50% of the profit from the sale of an ebook, they will also charge $15.00 to translate the book into Adobe, Palm or Mobipocket formats. The average profit for the author at most sites is 10%, at Double Dragon the author makes 30%.
A book at $5.99, Fictionwise gets $2.99. The publisher gets $2.99 cents of which the author gets, 30% or 90 cents per book sold.
When the book is sold at Double Dragon Ebooks, the publisher gets the full cost of the book and he in turn gives the author 30% or $1.80 per book, so we tend to try and push the books toward the main publisher, which is Double Dragon E books.
History of Double Dragon E books-
Double Dragon Publishing is a medium size publisher with an expansive catalogue of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Titles. Many of the authors are award winners with “Best Seller” track records that extend over a number of years. You can purchase from our website, or from extended retail network which includes Fictionwise, Palm Digital Media, Amazon or Barnes and Noble to name only a few. Double Dragon eBooks was founded in 2001, by Deron Douglas and is a division of Double Dragon Publishing Inc.
How are e books doing right now.
A quote from Publishersweekly.com states. “E-book retailers report that overall sales continued to rise moderately in the second quarter of 2004, with a 5% increase in units sold and a 23% increase in revenues over the same period in 2003, according to the Open ebook forum’s quarterly report.”
Sales are on the increase, but there are several problems to be faced by the ebook manufacturers. Most of the people surveyed about buying a device to use their ebooks, also wanted to use it as an address book, memo pad etc. Several of the ebook devices, well over $200.00 don’t have this feature.
The Palm and Clie’ models have the address book, etc, but the Sony Clie’ is now off the market and the lowest palm I found was a reworked model for about $57.00. I have examples of ebay sales for $31. to 162. dollars. Well above what the average consumer wants to pay to read a book.
When and if a manufacturer can make a low cost reader that handles a wide variety of programs and comes with the first book, I think that e books usage will skyrocket. But,
there are problems with readers as well. I use my palm for work and reading. In 3 years I have gone through 5 palm pilots. This includes batteries not working to screens and power buttons broken. Fortunately, the devices have always been replaced under warranty, but the reliability needs to be increased. So, I feel, the e book industry has a few hurdles yet to overcome in the next few years.
What are the advantages of E books?
1. Your book will never go out of print. It will always be there for someone to read. Several of my favorite books by Heilein are impossible to find, but they are slowly making the transition to ebooks.
2. It saves the trees and reduces trash going into our landfills.
3. You can store hundreds of pounds of books on one disk and get rid of the book stands throughout the house, which will open up more decorating possibilities for your wife or husband.
4. Your book can get put up for sale faster, average turnaround time for paperback is two years. My ebook was ready in under six months.
5. There is less stigma to be considered in being an ebook only author. Even though there are still some authors who will not acknowledge you, unless there has been some hardcopy sales. Other e book authors have said that paperback only authors are usually hostile at conventions because they see e books as a threat to them, when actually, if they used both types of publishing media they could sell twice as many books.
How to get published?
I was going to bring the copy of my rejection letters, but the U-haul broke down on the way over here.
Be prepared for many, many rejection letters, and that is if they take the time to write back. Most publishers will not even look at your work unless you have an agent and most agents won’t take you on unless you know someone that can recommend you or you are a successful author. Many agents have started to charge a fee just to look at your book or to do editing. By luck of the draw, I found an agent, who was looking for new authors. After a year of a unsuccessful promotion on their part, I decided to give up on the whole book publishing ordeal as we had been turned down by every publishing house between here and Alfa centaury.
Then I saw a contest, called the Draco Award, at an e publisher called Double Dragon Ebook Publishing. The winner would receive a e book and paperback contract. I decided to try again to get my book published.
Shortly afterwards, I received a letter from the Owner of the Company saying he liked the book and would like to put it under contract to be published as an e book and if I won, then he would put it out in paperback. I didn’t win the Draco, but Peter Prelliwitz did and after reading his book and corresponding with him, I was a gracious loser. Okay, Truthfully, I cried for three days and had bad thoughts about the world around me. This Aug. my book was published and is now for sale.
To underscore the problem that e book author’s have with getting taken seriously. I contacted a local newspaper to talk about doing an interview and they felt that since the publisher hadn’t forwarded me money to publish It, that it wasn’t a “real” book.
How I came up with the idea for the book?
I started writing my book just after I found out that my son had Diabetes type 1. When I was on first shift, I would get up at 3 am to check his blood sugar. I didn’t leave for work until 4:30. It was a very stressful time for me and my wife and I needed some way to release the stress and the fear and I started to write. From five notebooks, I came up with the idea for the New Roman Empire Series.
About the book-Inside the flap statement.
“Trust no one”, the Immortal told Captain Dav Vad. Her ship and crew held hostage, the Dishonorably Discharged Ex United Universe pilot is marooned on the planet Chosen. With the help of her two Arti Intel German Shepherds, she is given a mission to find a King Attuicus that has mysteriously disappeared. On the trail of the King, she rescues a young Roman girl, meets a woman who can heal with a touch and a Prince and General on their way to defend the City of Ka’an from the Barbarians. But, one of them is a spy and son they will possess the knowledge of how to destroy the city and bring the downfall of the New Roman Empire.
In the end, Dav realizes she trusted the wrong person.
While reading the Springfield-News and Sun, I saw a quote in the trivia section on the comics page, about the Laws of the Twelve tablets. It talked about how a son was considered property until the father had died. I started doing some research, and sure enough, there was the Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets.
I fell in love with roman history and the Latin language in high school, during Sister Mary Patrice’s Latin class, as we translated Caesar’s conquest of Gaul.
One thing I found interesting is most slaves in ancient Rome where usually other Romans who had fallen on hard times and had to turn themselves over to others to pay a debt. Also, you could became a slave to learn a skill from a master and when the master died, the person was set free to pursue a business, or the slave could pay the debt and be freed.
From bones that have been studied in Roman grave sites, the slaves bones are usually bent or twisted from carrying heavy loads for long periods of time. One slave had a shoulder that had separated from the socket and several broken bones that hadn’t been set. From the way the bones healed, it appeared the slave had been forced to keep working, so you can imagine the pain the man must have gone through.
About the book, The Battle for Ka’an-
The Author of Fire and Ice stated that The Battle for Ka’an, is the first he has seen where Space ships, Samurai swords, German shepherd dogs, Greek gods, Roman and Barbarian soldiers, Immortal beings and boogers have all been put into one book and actually makes sense. I thought it was a funny quote so I included it here for you.
My editor tells me that the strength of my book is in the Characters. She liked the strong roles that both women and men play in the book.
The book starts out with Granther, telling his grandson the creation story and how the Romans and barbarians were brought to the planet Chosen. He tells of how the sons of Rome, disenchanted with the Law of the Twelve Tablets, chose to leave and go into the wilderness.
Captain Dav Vad- Motto: Tall, dark hair that falls in ringlets down her back. Lead, Follow or Die. As a child, her family is killed in the Yang Zen Massacre. Very intelligent and strong person morally and dedicated to helping people who can’t help themselves. Master of the Art of Zenjitsu, or what we call Iado. The art of drawing the sword.
The Gentle One- As his name implies, this immortal finds human interesting and tries to help them in any way he can, but usually ends up making matters worse. If seen by someone, you would think they had seen an angel, such is the look of innocence on his face.
King Attuicus- he is a mystery to everyone. He has the power of the Ones, yet seems to take a hands off approach to most situations. Much like the Gentle One, he tends to make matters worse when he tries to help, because he doesn’t understand human nature. He is very old looking, with a long white beard. He is always ready to give you words of encouragement when you are down.
Prince Attalee- Kind of a book worm. He is just a young boy who thought he was being trained to take over the family estate. He is well educated in government, war tactics and weapons. His skin is pale and sickly looking as he spends most of his time indoors, reading of coarse.
General Cae- He would rather be farming than leading the Roman army, but he has a strong sense of Honor and Dedication to duty. He is tall and muscular, with long flowing red hair.
Caiisa- when she walks into a room, her beauty seems to make it ten times brighter. Helen of Troy looks like mud compared to her. She learns the ability to heal from the Goddess Athena.
Chenee- daughter to Chief Messa the Fifth of the Quranian Empire. While being born, a birth defect on the girls foot cuts her mother internally and she bleeds to death. The father blames the girl for the death and abuses her whenever possible in revenge for the death.. When the Quranians decide to march on Ka’an, he sends her to spy on the Romans, while secretly hoping they will kill her.
Chief Messa- in his grief, he becomes addicted to Ja, Ja root. This is a Narcotic type plant that grows from the Middle Sea. All he can think about is his wife’s death and destroying the New Roman Empire. With his Childhood friend, Battle Master Thom, he will march on the city of Ka’an and try to restore the supremacy of the one true people.
The second book, The Siege of Ka’an: Book Two in the New Roman Empire Series is almost complete and I hope to have it to an editor by the end of November. Book three will take a few more months. I have several other books in mind as well and hope to continue writing for years to come.
On a side note, 50% of my profits will be sent to help find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes. With the other 50%, I want to help people that can’t afford medical supplies or treatment.
In Conclusion, I hope that I have shed some in site on the world of E book publishing and how it will effect the library in the future.
Again, I want to thank you for the opportunity to talk with you this evening. I hope it was entertaining and informative. I have some hand outs if you are interested and it has my contact data on it.
May I take your questions now?
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October 20th, 2004- I will be talking to Friends of the Library Annual Meeting. Springfield Public Library about E books and E book publishing. It will be at 7:00 pm in the Gaier Room, Clark County Public Library, 201 S. Fountain Ave. Springfield, Ohio. 45506.
I will also be talking about my book and giving the members information of how libraries are getting e books and some of the challenges of getting a book published.
I hope to see you there at the Meeting!!!
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