My short story, Love Magick, is in the anthology Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft and our publisher has been diligently updating us authors when the book is up and available at various e-retailers.  Although the majority of sales come from Amazon, it’s important to have wide availability, and this book (as well as my novel, A Demon Bound) is slated to be at Smashwords.com, B&N, Apple, Kobo, and more.  Good news for those who like to read on a Nook and other e-readers, their computer, or their iPhone.  On Monday we were alerted that there would be a delay in the book’s availability on Apple and B&N.  Because there is a little pissing contest going on between the major e-retailers.  A catfight of epic proportions.

Apple won’t allow any book to be loaded that includes the word “Amazon” in it.  Evidently B&N feels the same way and substitutes “Nook” for the word “Kindle” causing some interesting alterations to classical literature.  Okay.  I get the rivalry.  But all this makes it a little difficult if you’re novel is about starting fires in the wilderness, or a certain South American river.  What in the world should a writer replace these words with? Are we to descend to euphemisms, like we do for private body parts and sexual congress?  So, just like ‘hoohoo’ and ‘one-eyed-snake’, should we call the river ‘mighty brown-water of the south’, and kindling as ‘easily combustible wood pulp’?  It all sounds so naughty.  And it got me to thinking how this might play out if Amazon decided to retaliate. Continue reading →