This would have been the third year I’ve told you guys that all I wanted for my birthday was book royalties. We did it two years ago with Mannequin, then last year with King Trevor.

So what’s the holdup?

Me.

I dawdled. Dragged my feet. Debated hiring an e-book formatter (the awesome Deena at e-Book Builders. Tell her I sent you.), hesitated about asking the uber amazing Lakota Phillips if she’d step up for her boy and do the art again. Tried to do the formatting myself.

I suck at formatting.

So… the book’s not coming out today. This year, the birthday gift will be late. But it’ll be here, and you will NOT want to miss this one. Be sure to read the intro… it confirms what many of you have suspected. And that’s all I’ll say about this, so move along…

Save your pennies… the price will be the usual: $2.99 e-book and $9.99 trade paperback (I hope).

And yes! Because this will be the best-selling Demo Tapes anthology yet (no easy feat, since Demo Tapes 1 has been out since November 2008 and is still the top-selling anthology), I’ll be folding some of the royalties you guys generate into having Deena reformat Demo Tapes 1, 2, and 3. Lakota’s already on board to give 1 and 2 new covers, as well.

There just might be a special something for anyone who leaves a review of ANY of the Trevolution books (including Mannequin) anywhere online. Stay tuned for that…

Have I mentioned there WILL be a Demo Tapes 5?

There’s been a lot of huff and puff over the revelation that Amazon doesn’t pay out the full 70% royalty they promise on Kindle books. There’s been other talk, as well, about royalties. I know I’d prefer if you all bought my e-books via Smashwords because my royalties are higher.

I mean, I get it. We’ve got bills to pay. I’m not the only one in this boat; a well-known author friend has long talked about how her book sales fuel her mortgage payments. Now that I’m responsible for the mortgage around here — along with everything else — that has taken on a new resonance.

You can probably imagine my shock on Monday, when the Boy Band announced the reason we don’t use Spotify in the house is because a song has to be played on Spotify over 4.51 MILLION times for a major label artist to earn the equivalent of a month’s worth of minimum wage payments — that’s a bit under $1200 a month. (For the record, that’s not the reason I don’t use Spotify. I don’t use it because… well, no reason, actually. I just haven’t signed up.)

The Boy Band had other royalty numbers for one other music source — and iTunes. Since we became an iTunes family in 2009, I’ve wondered what the royalty rate is for a major label artist for a 99c download. It’s a fair comparison, no? I sometimes sell certain books for 99c, and my short stories are ALWAYS 99c.

So… the Boy Band, instead of showing off his math skills, Googled something or other and found this article. It’s not quite a year old, but the terms probably haven’t changed too much. The headline says it all: A Major Label Artist Makes 8 Cents On a 99-Cent iTunes Download…

It’s based on figures from Chuck D, who can’t be confused with an artist I listen to, but I doubt the numbers are much different for my beloved artists in the rock and roll world.

Eight cents.

Somehow, 35c on a 99c book seems better than it did before — and I was firmly in the camp that 35c was pretty darn good. (To be clear, that’s the percentage I get from Amazon’s Kindle platform. I get higher royalties from Smashwords and their affiliates, who I use rather than dealing directly with the various retailers, such as B&N. And yes, I’d get even more from those other retailers, but I’m willingly and knowingly giving up that higher royalty — and faster sales reporting — in exchange for the convenience of not stressing that I won’t get a payout from this retailer or that one or the other one. It’s cut down my stress level quite a bit, especially when I look at those mortgage coupons and my royalty statements and … ouch!)

I’m still not a fan of this new culture of the free book that Amazon’s been championing. Because when I look at it… even 8c is better than 0.

Like I said, I’ve got a mortgage to pay.

Since 2009, my first birthday after the publication of Demo Tapes: Year 1, I’ve been saying that all I want for my birthday is book royalties. Well, okay, I wanted iTunes gift cards as well.

It didn’t get off to a good start.

Then it dawned on me that I needed to make it easier. Give you an incentive. Last year, I released Mannequin. It’s still 99c, if you haven’t picked it up yet.

This year?

Well, I’ve been working hard on the follow-up to Trevor’s Song. So it made sense to, on my birthday, crown the king.

King Trevor. Available today at Smashwords, Kindle, CreateSpace, and Amazon. The other retailers, like B&N and Sony and Apple, are still pending.

And check out all the folk who are celebrating with me by posting about the release:
Mary at BookHounds
Me, over at the #Amwriting site
Nimrodiel at Confessions of a Literary Persuasion
JC Cassels is teasing everyone about my upcoming appearance.