Recently, there was a kerfuffle about Amazon, when the way they allowed people to download ebooks was altered just slightly. (You can no longer download and transfer books via USB.) This led to an Amazon boycott by some, which came on top of a couple other boycotts of Amazon for various reasons.
(And candidly, those boycotts hurt small sellers on Amazon a whole lot more than they do Amazon itself. But I don’t want to get depressing here, so I’ll leave it at that for now.)
Today, I’m sharing both a way to help support me and my work, and a way to get copies of my ebooks to keep — and transfer to other devices via USB if you so choose. 🙂
There are actually two ways to get my books in such a fashion, but I’m starting with how to download them from Patreon if you’re a paid member.
I use Bookfunnel to distribute advance reader copies of books, too, so this how-to would be the same for those.
Sometimes, you sit down to write a newsletter, and it flows so well. Things just fall into place. And then, other times, it’s like walking through mud trying to even begin. Today, as I sit down to update you on all the things, I’m finding myself in the muddy scenario. I’m tired. And tired brains do not fire as quickly or easily as well-rested ones.
I feel like that kind of describes the season right now, too, to some degree. Like this meme says, “Spring is just around the corner.” Winter is almost over. And I tend to feel a bit tired at the end of winter. There’s definitely a “I’m ready for a change” feeling in the air.
I hope your final days of winter (if you live where it is winter) are going well, and that spring weather will settle in for you soon.
I’ve been busy. Though at times it feels like I’m moving forward three steps only to slide backwards two. Progress is a struggle. But progress has been made. So, let’s get on with the updates and then get to the book deals and finally another installment in Harriet and the Colonel’s story.
Sorry this one is getting posted a bit late today (in the afternoon rather than the morning for me). I managed to pick up a head cold somewhere and so took a couple of sick days. I’m still sick, but I can think a bit better today and my eyes aren’t watering too badly so I can wear my glasses and see. 🙂 And that meant I could get this video sorted out and posted so I could share it here. (Thankfully, I had recorded this before I got sick!)
Here’s what it’s about:
In this What’s Up Wednesday installment, I’m showing you the process I use to upload a book to the Collections section of my Patreon page.
AND…
In the process of getting this video ready to share, I learned a new editing skill. (yay!) You’ll hear me apologize for background sounds that I knew my mic was going to pick up in the background. And did it ever pick them up. (I need a better mic)
I thought that this video was going to be a lost cause. That I was going to have to just scrap it and start over. But then, I searched YouTube for how to remove background noises in videos, and while I did not find one that told me to use the software I had, the steps were the same. Here’s what I did:
I opened the video in Clipchamp and detached the audio.
I downloaded the audio from there and then, uploaded it to the voice isolator on Elevenlabs (that’s the software I use to create my audiobooks).
I clicked the isolate button. Waited. And then downloaded the new file.
Then, I just uploaded the new audio file to Clipchamp and replaced the old audio with one that didn’t have the annoying humming and all that in the background.
This is an exciting new skill for me since I don’t have a door on my “office” and my mic is not super great, so there are frequent sounds going on around me and being picked up by the mic. So, this is one step towards better videos (or so I hope.) 🙂
Anyway… I hope you enjoy this look behind the scenes at one task from my author life.
Enjoy!
Leenie
This video is long — just over 27 minutes! There are links to various portions (chapters) of the video in the description on YouTube if you want timestamps to jump between.
