We had a few teasers of warm spring like weather but it snowed last night and a cold stinging north easterly makes it difficult to get any work done on “Fleetwood”. I have used the time inside to finish the updates on “SoloMan”. By accident I discovered a way to resolve the recurring lay out problems and moving pictures in the Kindle books. I can now recommend the revised electronic versions with complete confidence. The paperback versions of both the Dutch and English color and black and white books have also been updated. If you have wanted to read the color versions you have until the end of this month before I will raise the price again, when the temporary higher royalty runs out. See details on the previous blog.
The way Amazon calculates their royalties is a very confusing act of smoke and mirrors. Before they took over the function of their subsidiary printing company, Create Space, the royalty was 80% and now will be 60%. This sounds like a really good deal still, until I ran the numbers. The royalty is not calculated on the Sales Price but on the sales price, less production cost ( on which Amazon has a mark up) and the shipping costs and taxes. As an example on my black and white SoloMan print book, with an Amazon sales price of $19.50 I end up with $ 7.19 or 35% under their 60% royalty. So, read the small print…….before you sell your soul to the Amazon store.
Here is a good excuse for you to come visit me and discover this wonderful corner of the world. I have come to feel very much at home here and it will be difficult to depart from here.
Come join the Friends of Cape Charles Memorial Library for lunch at the Cape Charles Civic Center on Saturday, April 28, at noon, and learn about Dutch-American author Jack van Ommen’s journeys around the world. Jack was eight when the war ended, and when he was nineteen he immigrated to the United States. In 2005 he left California on a solo sailing voyage on his 30-foot sloop “Fleetwood”. He has crossed every ocean, visited sixty countries and six continents, so far. His articles appear regularly in U.S. and Dutch papers and magazines. Enjoy lunch as he describes his experiences, shows slides of his journey, and tells you how he landed in Cape Charles.
$10 cost includes the presentation, and a lunch, including of your choice of sandwich, chips, fruit, cookie, and water.
Call 757-695-4192 for reservations and to make your sandwich choice, or book online at foccml-aloneatsea.Eventbrite.com
DATE AND TIME
Sat, April 28, 2018
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM EDT
LOCATION
Cape Charles Civic Center
500 Tazewell Avenue
Cape Charles, VA 23310