Count Down Continues

We are in the process of tweaking our new site at iAudioBookStore.com. Based on some comments from customers we are planning on adding a page or download that lists all of the authors on the site. We currently have that capability at AudioMysteries.com. We have added a new thriller category: Horror. In the past I have stayed away from that genre but I was able to buy quite a few titles so we shall see how it goes.

Our google advertising seems to be working although it's rather early to tell. We got one very large order for us, some 15 different titles. It makes me wonder if our prices are too low!

I'm beginning to investigate downloads of digital (MP3) versions of our audio books. If you have any suggestions for title that you would like to purchase, these cannot be returned, please contact me at info@audiomysteries.com.

Our plan is to "turn off" AudioMysteries.com sometime over the last weekend of this month.

Google Ads Running

After a long pause, we started advertising with Google again. Hopefully this will bring some new customers to iAudioBookStore.com. We are also planning on changing our newsletter to a new email provider, so you will see a new format for our newsletter starting in May. Our first shipments of used audio book sold to us by customers have just arrived and should be up on the site sometime in the next week or so. We have some non-fiction! I'm looking for much more, particularly biographies.

One More Month

We plan to close down AudioMysteries.com on April 30, 2009. At that time you will automatically be redirected to our new home iAudioBookStore.com. Our new site is up and running and prices are lower on our new site, so be sure to visit there and see what's going. on.

We are beginning to get inquiries about selling unwanted audio books to us. Good news, we will have over 30 new titles that we purchased from customers available sometime in the month of April. We hope that many more people will discover our new business model:

incredibly low prices, low shipping charges, no due dates, no clubs to join!

Let us know what you think.

New 877 number

In preparation for the change over to our new domain name and website, we have changed our customer service number to 877-251-6582, the same customer service number that is used at www.iAudioBookStore.com

For those of you who have wish lists at AudioMysteries.com, we can provide you a print out of your items so that you can check our new site for availability. Also if you would like a list of all the audio books you have rented at AudioMysteries.com please contact us. The new site will maintain a history of your orders.

Credit cards are being processed

Since last week we are again precessing credit cards. We have a new gateway and all seems well. There is no change from the customer side, the site works exactly as it has in the past.

We are putting the finishing touches on our new site, iAudioBookStore.com which should be up and running by the end of March.

Up and Running - I think

It was only one digit. The difference between 001 and 002. However that one small error created several problems that stopped all credit card processing on the site. As of this afternoon we are back up and running. Credit cards are being processed. The one thing I don't know is where the money went. When I go to the merchant bank to make the deposit there's nothing to deposit.

Well I suppose half a loaf is better than no loaf.

AudioMysteries.com - No Credit Card!

Well the worst happened, as I suspected. The new gateway to handle credit card processing doesn't work with my merchant bank processor. Now the site cannot accept credit cards. This is the direct fault of Storefront.net the hosting company that provides the shopping cart software for the site. It is incredible that they decided to make this change over a weekend when no one is available for support.

I will try tomorrow to get the problem solved, but I am not optimistic about my chances for success. If nothing can be done, the site will have to be shut down and moved to the new platform. More tomorrow.

Credit Card Issues - Old Technology Bites Back

The shopping cart software that I use on AudioMysteries.com is now over 5 years old. When I decided to start the site it made sense to buy this particular product which I had customized to work for audio book rentals. Five years later this decision has come back to bite me big time.

A couple of months ago I got an email from the president of my software supplier talking about the great future of the company. I did a quick check and realized that they had gone belly-up and had been acquired by another company. I went shopping for a new ecommerce platform. I was able to pick something very good, much better than what I currently have and totally hosted in one location. So far so good.

I tested the new platform, got a new domain name that will be used when I make the transition, and loaded some inventory. Now I would be faced with moving my entire inventory to the new site - over 800 products as well as building a new business model. That's daunting. But I devised a plan to do it over the next five weeks.

All of this was fine - except my existing software provider threw another wrench in the process. Late this week I got another email - never a good sign - from the new company letting me know that they would be unable to process credit cards for my site starting March 1, 2009. A scant 72 hours from when the email was sent. This meant 1) finding a new credit card processor and 2) integrating their service into an existing site 5 years old.

Old technology definitely bites back. After a frantic 48 hours I found a processor, applied, was accepted and some changes were made. However I have no idea if this is going to work. So tomorrow I might be "out of business".

I think I will have to have a conversation with my new ecommerce provider very soon.

Major Changes for AudioMysteries

With the launch of our used audio book site, UsedAudioBookStore.com, I will be making some significant changes in our rental site, AudioMysteries.com. In the next two to three months the site will be moving to a new eCommerce platform that will provide many customer benefits including:

• Improved menu navigation


• MyAccount customer page


• One screen checkout


• Email notification when an out of stock item is back in stock

To prepare for the change over, we will be removing some of the "dead wood" from our inventory. Most of the sale items currently on AudioMysteries.com will move to UsedAudioBookStore.com. We will also move any items that have not rented in the last two years to the other site. All of these items will be available for sale. You can keep the books or return them at anytime for a 50% in-store credit.

By trimming our inventory we can add more titles for rent as we sell off older, less popular titles.

Audio Book Reviews

One of the changes since we last talked is the launch of our review site. AudioMysteries.net has a variety of audio book reviews of current favorites as well as some titles that have been on AudioMysteries.com for quite awhile. AudioMysteries.net has over 50 reviews including books by James Patterson, Rober B. Parker, Rex Stout, Sue Grafton and J.A. Jance.

If you are interested in writing audio book reviews for the site, please contact me.

New Website

After a long vacation, I'm back with new information about the future of AudioMysteries.com. We are launching a brand new site that will buy and sell used audio books. This site will buy your audio books for cash! www.UsedAudioBookStore.com sells audio books at up to 66% off of the new retail price. You can get an even bigger value break by returning the books for an in-store credit of 50% of your purchase price.