The Green Frugal

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Photographic Evidence Proves Cash4Books Does Exist!

Cash4Books.net, the mythical company that loves to give away real money for books, has just been discovered on Flickr! Long thought to live only in the overpasses and tunnels of the Information Super Highway, this company now appears to exist in the physical world as well. Just look at these pictures!

Captured in the wild!

Cash4Books even appears to have a reception area for customers!

Cash4books even allows its employees to take breaks!

The employees are working too hard be photographed!

There are tons of pictures on Cash4Books’ Flickr page! Rumor has it that the account will be updated on a regular basis with brand new photos. So, check the Flickr page often–you can even add Cash4Books as a contact!–to see what’s happening the office and warehouse.

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Stephen King faced over two dozen rejections before he was able to sell his first novel, Carrie, to a publisher. Frank Herbert faced the same problem with Dune. But those were the ancient days of the 20^th century when using publishers was the easiest way to get you book in readers hands. There was self-publishing–Beatrice Potter self-published 250 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit—however, true success would only come through major publishing companies. Thankfully, self-publishing in the 21^st century is a little different.

Today, self publishing is ridiculously easy. Through the use of Print-on-Demand (POD) websites like Lulu.com and Createspace.com, anyone can self publish a book. The process is not limited to novels; you can use Blurb.com to create photography or picture books. If your interest is less stiff book and more floppy pamphlet, use Magcloud to create your own magazine.

The greatest feature that POD offers is affordability. These companies don’t charge money to upload or store the book’s files, they only ask from money when they print a book. The neat thing about that is that it’s possible to print one book at a time. This means a writer doesn’t have to print 1000 books at a time and store them until they’re sold. Each copy is printed when it’s bought.

And these services aren’t just for amateurs; established writers are also using them. Guys like Warren Ellis, Cory Doctorow and Wil Wheaton (yeah, the guy from Stand by Me and Star Trek: TNG) are dipping their toes into the POD pool to see what all the fuss is about.

These technological innovations make the gap between author and reader smaller and smaller. Keep in mind that it’s still a relatively new service, so all the bugs haven’t been worked out. And just selling a book on the sites won’t make you an overnight phenomenon. But if you just want a copy of your novel to go on your bookshelf, this is a great thing.

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So, you’ve screwed up Valentine’s Day. You just completely forgot about it. It does seem land on a different February 14 each year, and all the holiday signs and advertisements are easy to overlook. Whatever the reason, it’s important to admit that you fail at life and strive to overcome that failure next year. The best way to accomplish this is an Emergency Gift Stash.

The Emergency Gift Stash is a box filled with emergency gifts and cards for birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. When Valentine’s Day is over and done, rush to all available stores and buy lots of Valentine’s goodies at a discount price. Keep in mind that all the best gifts will be gone, so it’s important to spend a lot of time looking for good cards and gifts (plush animals are good; jewelry is good) Also, don’t buy candy; it won’t be as yummy if you wait a year to eat it. Don’t buy flowers either; they’ll be dead in a year.

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Regular readers of this blog may remember this post from a few months back–the one where we unleashed our first Decorate-A-Box Contest. Some of you may be curious to find out who won the contest. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a winner. Actually, we…um…didn’t have any entries.

Boy, were we embarrassed.

At first, we thought that no one knew what we were looking for, so I was asked to decorate some boxes. I think they turned out well.

In this example, I used sharpies and white-out to create an idyllic wintery scene.

Joan (who also blogs here) asked for a Christmas zombie box. Well, I couldn’t turn away from that challenge.

But my favorite is this festive Cthulhu dressed as Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. I think I’ve captured the Christmas Spirit very nicely.

It’s a shame that no one entered the contest. We were all very excited to see how creative people could be.

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Since it’s a new year, it’s time to create a new year’s resolution. This year, I plan on reading all the books I bought in 2010 before I start buying books in 2011. I’m a notoriously slow reader; before I’m even finished reading a book, I’ve bought a new one. And before I start reading that new book, I’ve bought two more. So, books tend to pile up in my house. Here’s just a few that I need to read:

• Boneshaker, Clementine and Dreadnought all by Cherie Priest. Cherie Priest writes faster than I can read. She wrote two sequels to Boneshaker before I finished it. And I bought it went it first came out. I imagine that she’ll have eight more books published by the time I finish Clementine.
• For the Win by Cory Doctorow. This is a book I purposely didn’t finish reading. Now that might make it seem like a bad book, but quite the contrary, it’s a fantastic book. The problem is it’s about a MMORPG similar to World of Warcraft, and reading about the game will make me want to play the game again. And I wouldn’t get anything else accomplished. Ever.
• Kill the Dead by Richard Kadrey. I read anything that Kadrey writes. I’d read cereal boxes if he wrote them. I’m actually reading this one now; I might finish it by the end of February.
• Lady of Mazes by Karl Schroeder. I don’t even know what this book is about; I just bought it because I love Schroeder’s Virga books.
• That doesn’t even include the piles of comics and manga.

I imagine I’ll finish at least two of these books before my resolution comes crashing down around me. I already know the next book I’ll buy: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes. It’s a South African book finally available in the US. I’m not completely sure what it’s about; I only know that whenever someone does a bad thing, an animal bonds with their soul and they get magical powers. I can’t wait to read it (slowly)!