Dear friends,
I hope everyone is doing OK despite this somewhat disconcerting situation with the new コロナウイルス. I know we’re all wishing the very best for those affected and for those who are providing care, protecting public health, and working towards a ワクチン (vaccine).
I write today to give you news of some Graded Reading Sets updates and a brief sale.
Leap Day Sale
Volume 4 (kanji 401-700) will be 30% off through Monday, March 2, 2020 Hawaii time. Happy Leap Day!
Book Updates
I would like to thank everyone who provided feedback on GRS volumes 1-5. I have uploaded new versions of these volumes to Kindle and iBooks to incorporate a number of edits, listed in the Revisions Log. The most significant change was to add background shading to the grammar gloss headings. This will make it easier to identify the glosses when an exercise has more than one.
To make sure you receive all the updates to any volumes you have already purchased, please see these instructions.
Kindle users, please note that it may take a week or two before Amazon pushes the updates to you. Each time I make updates, I have to go through a challenging application process with Amazon. The root cause of the problem is that Amazon has designed its ebook system in such a way that updates erase users’ annotations unless they have been backed up.
Hence, Kindle users please also note Amazon’s warning: “Before you enable the Automatic Book Update feature, make sure Annotations Backup is turned on for your Fire tablet, Kindle E-reader, or Kindle reading app to sync your notes, highlights, bookmarks, and furthest page read”.
If you downloaded Volume 1 as a free PDF, you can download the updated version here.
Paperback versions of the GRS series
In response to numerous requests from users, I have been working on a paperback version of the GRS series. Once I receive an author’s proof of Vol. 1 from Amazon, I will make final tweaks to the format and then start releasing volumes. I will notify this group as they become available, along with the usual Opening Day Sale. The discount might be small in the case of the paperbacks, because the regular price might already be close to the Amazon-imposed floor price.
The greatest challenge with the paperback version is the sheer quantity of exercises in each volume. I am doing my best to create a format that will minimize printing costs while remaining readable. To achieve this, I am putting less space between the exercises than I did in the ebook versions, and separating them with dotted lines. I am pleased with the result so far, and hope you will like it.
Needless to say, looking up unfamiliar words will be less convenient with a paperback than with ebook readers, which have one-tap dictionary lookup. But one may perhaps get the best of both worlds by using the ebook the first time through, and then using the printed version for offline review without lookups.
KLC Green Book
This humble little supplementary writing workbook for KLC has alas been in the doldrums (and in danger of being de-listed by Amazon) since a couple of strongly worded 1-star reviews by users who apparently understood it as being an independent kanji textbook unto itself. I made my best effort through this book’s title, subtitle, and product description (as well as within the book itself) to communicate that it was just a writing practice workbook for the main KLC textbook. But I suppose some misunderstandings are inevitable when a series has different interlocking pieces, and when Amazon’s robots sometimes serve up the Green Book as a product suggestion without the main textbook alongside. The unfortunate result is two reviews (one on Amazon.com and one on Amazon.in) conveying the impression that the KLC Green Book is a really bad attempt at a stand-alone kanji textbook. Judged by that standard, it would indeed be atrocious!
I made the Green Book because some users of the blue book had requested a writing practice workbook showing the kanji in the same order as the blue book. I tried to make it as cheap as possible so that it would hopefully cost less than buying genkôyôshi manuscript paper in similar quantity. I am sincerely hoping that it will recover and not get cut from Amazon’s inventory!
If anyone has used the Green Book and would like to share a quick review or one-click rating to help other learners make an informed choice about it, please visit its Amazon US page or your local Amazon site. Thank you!
Spreading the word that the KLC is back
Although the KLC has been back on sale for a couple of months now, it seems that most people are not aware of this. If you have a moment, I would be most grateful if you would share the news of the KLC’s return, and/or the Leap Day Sale on Vol. 4, with your friends and online communities.
Thank you very much for your kind support as always. Good luck with your studies, and may you be safe from Covid-19 and all the non-headline-grabbing perils out there.
Andrew Conning