The post title had me imagining a display screen like you might see in a hospital, connected by those little ekg pads to a bunch of bananas, displaying some fruity equivalent to various human physiological measurements. Then when you look really close you realize they are not fleshy living bananas but very artistic crystal replicas. Sadly my image search turned up nothing of the sort and I was reduced to using a picture of a perfectly ordinary bunch of bananas.
I am quite certain that at some point during the years I worked at the library I read and reviewed an excellent non-fiction book about bananas. I remember reading about all the different varieties that grow in different places, about the work of the plant breeders who did a great deal of experimental cross breeding on the road to creating the pictured Cavendish banana which has become a standard supermarket staple. However searching and searching my book review blog I can’t seem to find the post, leaving me to wonder if perhaps I read the book but for some reason didn’t blog about it. I have to say it is rather disconcerting not to be able to find a post I feel certain I did write. Though I fear this will sound to my non-blogger friends a great deal like ‘the dog ate my homework’.
I have this month treated myself to not one but two new 99 cent books. On my friend Holly’s recommendation, I downloaded and read The Corner Cafe:A Tasty Collection of Short Stories. The stories varied a good deal both in length and quality, although several of them were well written and mostly I did enjoy this volume. Unfortunately the BBT Cafe authors have not made this title available on Smashwords. Since Amazon does not pay any commissions on eBook sales, and the title is not offered through Smashwords I can not possibly make even a tiny ten percent commission off the book, so I am not reviewing it or selling it. (And am making the umpteenth mental reminder note to check and see if a title is available on Smashwords before spending 99 cents and reading it.) The other book I just bought is Ann Charles’ Nearly Departed In Deadwood. This is one in a series of books, and I got a later title in this series free, and enjoyed it enough that I was willing to fork over the dollar and eight cents (here in WA state, Amazon does charge sales tax). I will have to see if it is available through Smashwords and possibly review it.
Libdrone's Thoughts and Musings 
THE CORNER CAFE will be available through Smashwords later this summer. The BBTCafe folks put it together partly as a learning experience, and part of that was to enroll it in Amazon’s KDP Select for 90 days. When that time is up, we’ll put it up on Smashwords.
Thanks so much for responding, Marian. I know that some #indie authors and publishers have had great success with Amazon’s 90 day exclusive program But consider….you managed to get publicity for this title NOW. It got my attention now. I read the book and liked it enough to want to publish a review and try to sell it. But I’ll have to wait three months or so because you’re selling it EXCLUSIVELY through a retailer that does not pay commissions. Three months from now, when your Amazon exclusive deal has ended, I will probably have long since forgotten about this book, and even if you are on the ball enough to bring it to my attention, when your book is more widely distributed and #indie book sellers can promote it, it’s entirely possible that I may have moved on, be reading and ready to write about other titles.
I am quite certain that allowing Amazon to be and become the de facto exclusive eBook seller for pretty much the whole wide world, would make the days when would be authors spent tons of postage sending manuscripts and query letters to New York and could only hope and pray for the coincidence of talent and luck in the slush pile selection that was often a precursor to any publication seem very much like The Good Old Days. I’m VERY excited about #indie publishing and promoting #indie writers. And it pains and worries me to see so many books go into the 90 day exclusive, fracturing and minimizing their title’s launch.
Excellent feedback — THANK YOU! I’ve passed it on to the other Cafe members. I’ve tried the 90-day exclusive thing with my latest collection, and haven’t seen the kind of explosive success others have. On the other hand, I have more buyers on my other titles through Amazon than through Smashwords and its distribution. On the OTHER hand (I do write science fiction and fantasy), I won’t go with the exclusive again.
The Corner Cafe is free on Amazon right now, and nearly all of the Deadwood Mystery Series is 0.99 with Prime borrow-for-free. Great time for your recommendations!
Any book about bananas is worth reading. Whether it’s about the fruit, the economics of banana republics and their politics, or the business of bananas from growing to customer, they are fascinating.
I didn’t read a book about bananas but recall a program on the Discovery Channel. I will check out the Corner Cafe.
I really miss the Dole bananas I used to buy in Chicago. Thai bananas are a bit sour and very small about 3 inches long. I try to get up early in the morning (while it’s still dark) and then reach over the wall/fence and grab a bunch from my neighbor’s tree. 🙂
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