Viva Gumroad

So far my little Gumroad shop only has one item for sale: the ebook From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion, what I call a "nonfiction novela about a fairytale" -- a visit to the Emperor of Mexico's castle in Italy. (Have a look here-- and if you buy it, you'll see what a lickety-split easy process Gumroad makes that.)

Most of my several books are available on amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, and a few items are also on iTunes (visit my main shop here), but I see Gumroad as a very promising venue for many more of my ebooks, forthcoming audio books, and possibly some videos as well.

Gumroad doesn't do marketing, but fellow writers take note: the power is the elegant simplicity and ease of its customer interface. On that note, via publishing guru Jane Friedman's blog, here's a post by Jeremiah Shoaf on why, after several years, he switched from E-Junkie to Gumroad.

More Gumroaderie:
> In Wired
> In the New York Times (in the context of building your own website)
> On GIGAOM

P.S. I'm a huge fan of www.instacart.com for the same reason: the interface. Instacart's puts most grocery store on-line ordering sites in the Neanderthal pee-wee league. I'm in Mexico City mainly these days, where don't yet have Instacart but I used it to order bottled water, kibble and canned dog food when I was traveling with my dog in California. Superb. Apart from saving time, since I couldn't leave my dog in the car (too hot) or take him into the store, delivery was a most welcome convenience.

COMMENTS always welcome

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SURF ON

Madam Mayo:
> Traditional + Indie = Hybrid Publishing: Three Authors Dish at Jane Friedman's Blog
> Cyberflanerie: Instacart Mexico City & etc.
> M.M. McAllen's new Book, Maximilian and Carlota: Europe's Last Empire in Mexico

And over on the homepage, www.cmmayo.com
> About the book, Podcasting for Writers & Other Creative Entrepreneurs
> Answers to the Three Questions I am Most Often Asked About the Writing Business
> Upcoming one day only Literary Travel Writing workshop at the Writer's Center, Bethesda, MD, Saturday October 11th.

My Little Gumroad Shop Now Featuring "From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion"

It's been a most eye-crossing, shoulder-clenching, but fab-a-roni experience learning how to make ebooks. So far: a batch of Kindles, a few iBooks, two free PDFs, and now a fully-formatted PDF available on ...drum roll… Gumroad. Oh, I luuuuv Gumroad-- mainly because it is so supersonically easy peasy! Really! Well, check out my ebook, a novela-length nonfiction essay, From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion, here (Gumroad) and here (my webpage).

Cover for the Gumroad ebook edition features
the painting "Cazador de Nubes"
by Edgar Soberón
www.edgarsoberon.com

A nonfiction novela about a fairytale: a visit to the Italian castle of Maximilian von Habsburg, Emperor of Mexico. Originally published in The Massachusetts Review (winner, Washington Prize for Best Personal Essay). By the author of the novel based on the true story, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. 

Now you might be wondering, dear reader, why, as a writer, would I dedicate so much time and effort to making ebooks? Isn't that something one's publisher can do? Or, if not, then can't one outsource it to one of those newfangled freelancers or companies, such as CreateSpace or Smashwords? A two part answer: First, though I'll admit the learning curve has been steep (and rocky and muddy and slippery) at times, making an ebook is not rocket science, and I relish both learning and designing. Second, the economist in me sees the long tail, that is, a modest but steady number of sales spread out over many years. In other words, once an ebook is up, it is like a variable interest rate annuity-- which I prefer to keep, thank you very much. In my view, when it comes to ebooks, publishers are taking way too big a bite.

Back to the new Gumroad edition of From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion: It has a different design from the Kindle  (Kindle is plain, no color, generic fonts) and iBook (fully designed and full-color, made with the iBook Author app): it's a PDF download (I recommend opening it in iBooks, if you have an iPad), for a landscape orientation (I mean, turn the screen on its side). And yes, because it's a PDF, I had some fun playing with the fonts and colors. (I suppose Kindle will improve its design options, but I am not holding my breath.) As for that gorgeous cover, which is on all the ebook editions, as well as the CDBaby double audio CD,  check out more of Edgar Soberón's beautiful still lifes here.

P.S. In-progress, coming very soon: podcasts with Rose Mary Salum and the Apaches for Marfa Mondays. Stay tuned.


Your comments are always welcome.

Cyberflanerie: Instacart Mexico City, Anti-Surveillance Mask, Lil Crabe the Flying Pretzel Man & etc

Not. I mean, it's not here in Mexico City yet. So my registering and trying out Instacart for a California zipcode was sort of totally pointless except for the fact that, wow, what a user interface!! Years ago I tried a couple of on-line grocery services, they both were bigger headaches than, oh hell, just getting in the car and going over there myself. Seriously, have a look at Instacart's super elegant & easy user interface. 

Also very interesting (this is the economist in me): the implications of such services for the labor market. Seems to me an enterprising student/housewife / retiree could put together a tidy little income from working Instacart, Taskrabbit, etsy and Craig's List, with a much better fit for one's schedule. Downside, of course, is no benefits.

Another amazing user interface is www.gumroad.com -- which I'll be using shortly for some of my ebooks. Meanwhile, you can get my ebooks on amazon and a few on iTunes-- plus, there's one that is a free PDF download. Check 'em all out here.

>See NYT article on Instacart (via Tyler Cowan's Marginal Revolution).

More totally random cyberflanerie:

Antisurveillance mask

Lil Crabe the flying pretzel man

The Case for Fewer Clothes

Voodoo Doughnut

Mr Heisenbug: Respect the Microbiota (not the voodoo doughnut, I guess).

COMMENTS always welcome.