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MatchBook?

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This week I want to ask you all if you’ve been to Amazon to take a look at the debut of Matchbook. In case you don’t know, Matchbook is the Amazon program that works like this:

1. At some time in the past, you bought a print book from Amazon.

2. At some point between then and now, the publisher/rights owner of that book put out a digital edition.

3. The publisher/rights owner has enrolled the book you bought in MatchBook and set a discounted price for the digital book. The discount can be Free!

Result: you are entitled to buy the digital edition at the discounted price.

If you go to Amazon and click on the MatchBook link, you will be presented with a list of digital books you can get at the discounted price.

I looked at my list and here’s what I thought.

Near Real Time Carolyn Reaction Blog

I remember that book! Free? Click. Click Click Click

Judith Ivory’s Black Silk? $2.99? Hell yeah. I refused to buy that in digital because, as I recall, it was priced HIGHER than the print version. Click.

Oh, hey! I LOST the print version of that. Or maybe I threw it away because space is dear around here. $2.99? You betcha! Click.

Oohh. There are some of my Dorchester Books, where YES, I bought the print version way back. (No, I did not click because I MADE the eBook version, and so don’t need it again.)

There’s that diet book I was totally going to use, only the cat chewed on it and now it’s somewhere under my bed. I think. Maybe. $2.99. Click.

Why aren’t there MORE books? I’m confident my print purchases from Amazon number in the hundreds.

Why are there so many missing?

WHY ARE PUBLISHERS SO AFRAID of me re-buying books I already bought from them?

Additional Thoughts

If more of my print purchases had been there, I would have bought a lot more. I would totally re-buy books I remember fondly and either no longer have, or have in paperback but they’re fragile now. I’m actually worried about re-reading Loving Julia, for example, because the pages are yellowing and starting to feel a little brittle. What’s that old saw about the permanence of paper? B-effin-S. (Beffins. It’s a word now. Deal with it.)

I did not click on every book that was there. Some of them I hadn’t enjoyed enough to want in digital. Some of them I hated, but not enough for a hate re-read. And at one point, I thought, I can’t just keep clicking on everything! I’ll run out of money for food!

The oldest of the purchases on my list was from 2000. I was buying a lot of historical romance. (click click click) Avon, you have your head on straight!

No surprise, technical publishers were heavily represented in my list. I think that’s because O’Reilly has had these sorts of discounts in place for years, so all the other tech-publishers do the same. But it was nice to pick up an eBook for some of my recent tech book purchases. They were all free, by the way.

Polls!

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So, what do you think?

Let me know in the comments.

Posted in Former Riskies, Reading | Tagged , , | 9 Replies

What to Give an Earl?

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Yesterday Amanda stole Gerard Butler from me, to use as the model for Conlan, her hero in Duchess of Sin. Today I’m taking him back!!

Take a look at this soon-to-be commercial.

http://www.theexfoliator.com/2010/11/nuff-said.html

Only a manly man can hawk moisturizer!!!

Will you put L’Oreal’s Men Expert, new Hydra-Energetic, Anti-Fatigue Moisturiser on your shopping list for the man in your life?

If this were Regency England, what might you purchase for that special Earl in your life?

Would you go to Floris at 89 Jermyn Street in Mayfair and ask them to create a special scent for your man?

The Floris Shop was founded in 1730 by Juan Famenias Floris. England from his native island of Menorca to seek fortune. Shortly after his arrival in England from his native Menorca he secured premises in Jermyn Street, where the shop still uses the mahogany counter that was purchased directly from the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park in 1851. Beau Brummel used to discuss scents with Floris. Mary Shelley sent an order to Floris to send her two brushes and a toothbrush during her time abroad when she wrote Frankenstein.

Perhaps your dear Earl is a studious sort of man. He might prefer a book from Hatchards, the oldest surviving bookshop in London. Hatchards, on Piccadilly since 1797, has served such famous historical figures as Wellington, Byron, Queen Charlotte.

What book would you buy him? Endymion: A Poetic Romance By John Keats, perhaps? Or something educational, like The History of England: From The Earliest Times To The Death of George II by Oliver Goldsmith.

Maybe you cannot give your dear Earl such a personal gift such as scent or a book of poetry. You can always fall back on the holiday standby. Food. He might delight in some tea or spices or preserves from Fortnum and Mason, right next door to Hatchards.

Fortnum and Mason have been selling quality foods since the 1700s, started by a footman to Queen Anne, who enterprisingly remelted and sold the candle stubs, supplementing his income.

I can hardly believe we have to start thinking of holiday gifts! I don’t know about you, but I wish I could be doing my Christmas shopping in Mayfair.

Where in the world would you like to shop?

Come to Diane’s Blog on Wednesday, not Thursday, this week to learn about the exciting Harlequin Historical Holiday Giveaway, with 22 days of prizes and a Grand Prize of a Kindle, complete with several Harlequin Historicals to start your ereading!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 22 Replies

What happens when you search Ebay

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…using Regency as a search term.

First, not so much of the real stuff as you’d expect. Quite a few books and some furniture. But also some strange things. Did you know there was a design style called Hollywood Regency? There seems to be a lot of it up for sale, and no wonder.

You are bidding on a Mid Century Hollywood Regency Serving Bar Cart by Aldo Tura in Lacquered Goat Skin! This piece is HOTT! Art Deco influence and STUNNING Hollywood Regency styling! Goat skin finish has a beautiful golden blond color and wonderful grain!

Goat skin finish? Why would you want a goat skin finish on an item used to serve drinks?

This one is even more bizarre.

DOG FOOTSTOOL or OTTOMAN. Just found stored away at a Ca. estate. Not sure what kind of dog he is supposed to be.. possibly a Bulldog? Very nice and clean. Looks like he spent most of the time stored away

Frankly if I owned this I’d keep it stored safely away too.

How about this little monstrosity?

Vintage Mother of Pearl Regency Glam Poodle Pin Brooch. This little guy has got the look! He is studded by nine high sheen thick cicular Mother of Pearl disks. On his head and tail he has a brushed pink enameling with black tips on his paws. The puppy has a single green glass faceted eye with a cute as can be pose.

I’m not convinced it’s a poodle. Those are hooves. And it’s one-eyed. I think it’s a cyclops.

This too is a Hollywood Regency piece that would give me the creeps if I owned it.

This is a hand cast piece…..pottery/plaster over resin……….and each and every finger/thumb look very realistic! This is new, never used, no damage anywhere….there is felt on the bottom to protect your furniture. A truly magnificent piece……sure to please! Don’t miss out…….you won’t see another one soon!

Just to cleanse the aesthetic palate, however, here’s a pic of the rug I’ve just bought on eBay for my office. Isn’t it pretty? Ridiculously cheap, too.

Have you had any good eBay experiences recently?

Or eBay disasters?

Or found any inappropriately named Regency items?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 12 Replies