Taxes in Texas
Those of you in Texas will have to start paying sales tax on Amazon purchases July 1. The state had been in a dispute with Amazon for over a year regarding sales taxes.
As part of the deal, Amazon will also create 2,500 new jobs in Texas over the next four years and the state will drop its efforts to collect back taxes. Amazon currently collects sales tax in Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota and Washington and is in a dispute over the issue with the state of Arizon.
Considering the condition of state budgets, the sales tax issue will continue to bubble up around the country.
Taxes, the Agency Model and Amazon
When the agency model was implemented, many of you began paying taxes on e-books you purchased from publishers who had a presence in your state, such as a printing plant, a distribution warehouse, or corporate offices. With the announcement of the Department of Justice settlement and the anticipated end of the agency model, the tax collection by Amazon will probably end. You may still be responsible for remitting taxes to your state for purchases made on the internet. Some states, such as California, exempt e-books from sales tax.
Back in November, Amazon officials appeared before Congress to support The Marketplace Fairness Act, legislation that would provide a way for states to require online sellers to collect state and local sales tax in some cases. This article has much more information concerning the legislation.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, issued their opinion of the legislation on April 12. You can read here why this group opposed the tax. Marketplacefairness.org supports the tax and states their reasons for the bill being enacted.
Govtrack.us, a federal bill tracking website, states that the bill has a 1% chance of being enacted. You can read the full bill here.
Cheap Reads for Young Adults and Young-at-heart Adults
Many young adult books are being offered at great prices now and we are posting the cheap reads daily on the jr. edition. Encourage the young adults in your life to read this summer by gifting a few of ebooks.
For a limited time, Hereafter, the first book in Tara Hudson’s haunting trilogy, is available as a special promo ebook, available to pre-order for only 99 cents. Delivery is May 22. The ebook includes an excerpt from the captivating sequel, Arise ($9.99 pre-order), along with an exclusive “love letter” from Tara to the city of New Orleans, where the trilogy takes place.
Can there truly be love after death?
Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she’s dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she’s trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.
Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.
Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, Hereafter is a sensation you won’t want to miss. Pre-order for only 99 cents today.
Click here to purchase Hereafter with Bonus Material
These three books are selling for $1.99, $2.99 and $2.99 each:
Free now: Twenty additional textbooks from CK – 12
Always confirm price before purchase. Many free and reduced books are offered for a limited time only and only in some geographical regions.
CK – 12 has added twenty volumes to the free textbooks available for the Kindle. Subjects include mathematical sciences, chemistry, history and more. The files are quite large and will take significant time to download. Follow the link to the CK – 12 textbooks.
These three might be of interest to you:
Free now: The Book of the King - The Wormling Series for young adults – from Tyndale House, a faith-based publisher
Always confirm price before purchase. Many free and reduced books are offered for a limited time only and only in some geographical regions.
“Nothing special” is the best way to describe Owen Reeder—at least that’s what he’s been told all his life. When a stranger visits his father’s bookstore, Owen’s ordinary life spirals out of control and right into a world he didn’t even know existed. Owen believes the only gift he possesses is his ability to devour books, but he is about to be forced into a battle that will affect two worlds: his and the unknown world of the Lowlands. Perfect for readers ages 10 to 14 who enjoy a fast-paced story packed with action, fantasy, and humor.
Click here to purchase The Book of the King
This is late getting price updated, but you can buy this classic Mary Poppins book for the Kindle for only $1.99 today – and probably today only. This is a price match to Barnes & Noble. If you have a child who might enjoy this or one that might be delighted to receive it as a gift book, don’t let this price get away.
Mary Poppins is like no other nanny the four Banks children have ever seen. She whirls into their home and “spit-spot”, she works her inimitable brand of magic to make even the bland seem extraordinary. An endless source of fascinating adventure, she slides up the banister, produces an endless array of tricks from her empty carpetbag, and ensures their lives will never be the same.
Written for ages 9 – 12, this classic is selling for $1.99, probably today only – May 2.
Click here to purchase Mary Poppins
For a limited time, Starcrossed, the first book in Josephine Angelini’s breathtaking trilogy, is available as a special promo ebook. You can pre-order this young adult fantasy today for only 99 cents and receive the book on May 15.
The ebook includes an excerpt from the sequel, Dreamless, ($9.99 pre-order) along with an exclusive personal essay from Josephine.
How do you defy destiny?
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it’s getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she’s haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they’re destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart. Pre-order for only 99 cents today.
Click here to purchase Starcrossed with Bonus Material
If a violent battle destroyed the only world you’ve ever known, would you be brave enough to save who was left? Would love be strong enough to survive the fight? Either way, there’s no turning back.
The Empyrean is the only home 15-year-old Waverly has ever known. Part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space, she and her boyfriend Kieran will be pioneers of New Earth. Waverly knows she must marry young in order to have children who can carry on the mission, and Kieran, the handsome captain-to-be, has everything Waverly could want in a husband. Everyone is sure 
he’s the best choice. Still, there’s a part of Waverly that wants more from life than marriage, and she is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.
Suddenly, Waverly’s dreams are interrupted by the inconceivable – a violent betrayal by the Empyrean’s sister ship, the New Horizon. The New Horizon’s leaders are desperate to populate the new planet first, and will do anything to get what they need: young girls. In one pivotal moment, Waverly and Kieran are separated, and find themselves at the helm of dangerous missions, where every move has potentially devastating consequences, and decisions of the heart may lead to disaster.
Pulse-pounding and addictive, GLOW begins the most riveting series since The Hunger Games. The book is selling for only $2.99.
UPDATE: ONLY THE DIANA PALMER BOOKS ARE STILL PRICED CHEAP AT 6:20PM CENTRAL US TIME.
OR, this may be a case of you need to check again tomorrow morning. Prices fluctuate down overnight and then up in the late afternoon.
UPDATE: As of 4:25am Central US time on Friday, all of the books below are back at the cheap prices. It pays to shop in the mornings on Amazon.
On the road with Kindles
This last week was just a bit busier than normal as Tiger and I traveled to the Southeast United States to attend his class reunion. What did we see when we traveled? Kindles! At the airport, on the airplane, in the hotel lobby, at a restaurant, just about everywhere.
Three years ago when Kindles were just getting a good start the expression was that a Kindle had been spotted “in the wild.” Today they are the norm for the traveling public.
What’s in a name?
I browse through the books in the Kindle Store every day and have noticed something that just doesn’t sit right. Some independent publishers are being a bit misleading. In the cooking section of the Kindle Store, you can find books that are written by authors whose names are very, very similar to celebrity chefs from television networks. A reader who doesn’t notice the variation in spelling might buy the book, thinking they had gotten a great price on a book by this chef that would normally cost $9.99 or more.
Inspirational books are being authored by people with names so similar to well-known spiritual leaders you would have to look two or three times to realize the difference.
No doubt these publishers are making similar changes to book titles, hoping for sales from unsuspecting readers who don’t realize that they are being duped.
I’m not going to provide the names of the authors because I don’t want to give them any attention or business. That’s how strongly I feel about their behavior.
If my name honestly is Agatha Christy and I write mysteries, shouldn’t I be able to use my real name? (The famous writer is Agatha Christie.)
Do you see this practice as misleading or inappropriate? What about unethical? Should Amazon try to control this near-spelling or is it caveat emptor and the reader should be more careful? Tell us what you think about these near names and if you have been duped by one of these books or authors.
Some very cheap reads
Every book below is selling for less than $1.00 - as cheap as 57 cents and 95 cents on the high end.
Diana Palmer fans, the book below is a two-book bundle selling for only 63 cents. For those of you who can’t stand Diana Palmer, it’s still too much to pay, isn’t it?
Violet Willoughby doesn’t believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. After spending years participating in her mother’s elaborate ruse as a fraudulent medium, Violet is about as skeptical as they come in all matters supernatural. Now that she is being visited by a very persistent ghost, one who suffered a violent death, Violet
can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly because the killer is still on the loose.
Afraid of ruining her chance to escape her mother’s scheming through an advantageous marriage, Violet must keep her ability secret. The only person who can help her is Colin, a friend she’s known since childhood, and whom she has grown to love. He understands the true Violet, but helping her on this path means they might never be together. Can Violet find a way to help this ghost without ruining her own chance at a future free of lies?
Written for young adults and those who enjoy young adult fiction, Haunting Violet is selling for only $1.99 today.
Free now: Young adult fantasy novella and a classic novel – All God’s Creatures
Always confirm price before purchase. Many free and reduced books are offered for a limited time only and only in some geographical regions.
For a limited time, Sabriel by New York Times bestselling author Garth Nix is available with a special sneak peek of the highly anticipated A Confusion of Princes ($9.99 pre-order).
Since childhood, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the power of Free Magic and away from the Dead who refuse to stay dead. But now her father, the Mage Abhorson, is missing, and Sabriel must cross into that world to find him. With Mogget, whose feline form hides a powerful, perhaps malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage, Sabriel travels deep into the Old Kingdom. There she confronts an evil that threatens much more than her life and comes face to face with her own hidden destiny.
Garth Nix’s first young adult novel, Sabriel was recently nominated for the Aurealis Award for Excellence in Science Fiction in Australia. Pre-order this book for $1.99 today and receive the download on May 1.
