So here it is February of 2012 already! Wow, does time fly. This is a short post, mostly to let everyone know that my novel is in the final stages. Beta readers finishing up their stuff (thank you!), then I'll have my crack at one more redo, then it's out the door. No need to keep hanging onto it and trying to make it perfect - it is what it is, and my writing will continue to get better over the years. I'm hoping to have it out in the next 2 or 3 weeks, and when I do I'll give it a big announcement.
In the meantime, I've started on my next short story, tentatively titled "The Ritual". I'm excited about this story, it's one that I've sat on for a while, and I think it will really give people something to think about. No ETA on this one, but stay tuned. Later!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
January 2012
Here I sit, broken hearted...
Not really, actually. I'm quite heartened, as a matter of fact. And you should be too, for a variety of reasons. But, since this is my blog, we'll just talk about me. Yay!
First, I like new years. They are a chance to wipe the slate clean and start over. Forget all of oopsies, scatter-brained moments, brain farts, etc. This year is no exception. I'm trying to incorporate new habits into my life, including setting up a new yearly word writing goal. So here it is, for all the world to mock. My goal for this year is to write 100,000 words. That might or might not sound ambitious, but it's my goal and I'm the only one that has to care. Of course, if you'd like to inquire about how I'm doing on my goal, you can. I might even do an update post to let you all know how it's going. But, so far so good. At least until this week, that is. Which leads me into my next point.
Probably my biggest accomplishment since I've started writing happened this past Sunday. I finally finished the first draft of my debut novel! Thank you, thank you. But now I'm into the editing phase, which is taking longer than I anticipated. But then again, writing the dang thing took me longer than anticipated too, so what do I know? But, because of the editing thing, I'm not writing as much, or at all, for the time being. But that's okay, because I'm making progress on my ultimate goal which is to have my novel released to the world soon. My target month right now is February, and since we're nearly to the middle of the month of January already, I better get my butt in gear!
What else is new? Well, I'm starting to get a just a trickle of sales of my short story, "Pins and Dolls" (available everywhere - go a buy a copy now! The links are over there, on your right!). A couple of people that bought it are friends of mine (thank you!), but a couple of people I have no clue as to who they are, which is a complete rush! (and thank you as well!) It's really fun to see things start to happen, especially when I haven't put any serious effort to "spread the word" about it. Which leads into my next point (gosh I'm good at segues, aren't I?).
Last month I posted that I was against the KDP Select program from Amazon. And I still think my reasons are sound - for those with already published works that have solid sales figures on multiple ebook platforms. However, I think I need to modify my thinking a bit. With my new novel, which isn't for sale anywhere currently, I would be remiss if I didn't explore options for promotion that didn't really hurt the sales overall, and didn't tax me with stealing my writing time or my money. Because the KDP Select program offers me the option to offer my works for free for 5 days during a 90-day period, AND the fact that any borrows by Amazon Prime members will also net me at least a little additional funds, I'm seriously tempted to put my novel up on Amazon only and enter it immediately in the KDP Select program to help bring some additional exposure to it quickly. This would fulfill the above mentioned requirements that I'm looking for in promotions, and I've now gotten a little bit of first-hand feedback on the program from a fellow writer (thank you, Donna!) that is encouraging. Still thinking about it, but if any readers have some opinions, please spell those out in the comments section - I do read them all!
Lastly, for those that made it this far, and if you haven't already noticed, I figured that I would post the cover of my debut novel. It's over on the right hand side near the top. I'm super-thrilled with the cover, and the lady who did it is just amazing. She has amazing prices as well, so if you're in the market for a book cover design, ebook or print book, give her a shout, and let her know that I sent you. Her name is Lindsay Breen, and you can find her here:
http://lindsaybreencovers.com/
So, make 2012 a great year for yourself! Do the things you've always wanted to do, and stop making excuses. I should know how that goes, I have the crown to the kingdom of procrastination!
Not really, actually. I'm quite heartened, as a matter of fact. And you should be too, for a variety of reasons. But, since this is my blog, we'll just talk about me. Yay!
First, I like new years. They are a chance to wipe the slate clean and start over. Forget all of oopsies, scatter-brained moments, brain farts, etc. This year is no exception. I'm trying to incorporate new habits into my life, including setting up a new yearly word writing goal. So here it is, for all the world to mock. My goal for this year is to write 100,000 words. That might or might not sound ambitious, but it's my goal and I'm the only one that has to care. Of course, if you'd like to inquire about how I'm doing on my goal, you can. I might even do an update post to let you all know how it's going. But, so far so good. At least until this week, that is. Which leads me into my next point.
Probably my biggest accomplishment since I've started writing happened this past Sunday. I finally finished the first draft of my debut novel! Thank you, thank you. But now I'm into the editing phase, which is taking longer than I anticipated. But then again, writing the dang thing took me longer than anticipated too, so what do I know? But, because of the editing thing, I'm not writing as much, or at all, for the time being. But that's okay, because I'm making progress on my ultimate goal which is to have my novel released to the world soon. My target month right now is February, and since we're nearly to the middle of the month of January already, I better get my butt in gear!
What else is new? Well, I'm starting to get a just a trickle of sales of my short story, "Pins and Dolls" (available everywhere - go a buy a copy now! The links are over there, on your right!). A couple of people that bought it are friends of mine (thank you!), but a couple of people I have no clue as to who they are, which is a complete rush! (and thank you as well!) It's really fun to see things start to happen, especially when I haven't put any serious effort to "spread the word" about it. Which leads into my next point (gosh I'm good at segues, aren't I?).
Last month I posted that I was against the KDP Select program from Amazon. And I still think my reasons are sound - for those with already published works that have solid sales figures on multiple ebook platforms. However, I think I need to modify my thinking a bit. With my new novel, which isn't for sale anywhere currently, I would be remiss if I didn't explore options for promotion that didn't really hurt the sales overall, and didn't tax me with stealing my writing time or my money. Because the KDP Select program offers me the option to offer my works for free for 5 days during a 90-day period, AND the fact that any borrows by Amazon Prime members will also net me at least a little additional funds, I'm seriously tempted to put my novel up on Amazon only and enter it immediately in the KDP Select program to help bring some additional exposure to it quickly. This would fulfill the above mentioned requirements that I'm looking for in promotions, and I've now gotten a little bit of first-hand feedback on the program from a fellow writer (thank you, Donna!) that is encouraging. Still thinking about it, but if any readers have some opinions, please spell those out in the comments section - I do read them all!
Lastly, for those that made it this far, and if you haven't already noticed, I figured that I would post the cover of my debut novel. It's over on the right hand side near the top. I'm super-thrilled with the cover, and the lady who did it is just amazing. She has amazing prices as well, so if you're in the market for a book cover design, ebook or print book, give her a shout, and let her know that I sent you. Her name is Lindsay Breen, and you can find her here:
http://lindsaybreencovers.com/
So, make 2012 a great year for yourself! Do the things you've always wanted to do, and stop making excuses. I should know how that goes, I have the crown to the kingdom of procrastination!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
December Odds and Ends
So, December is shaping up to be an interesting month for a variety of reasons. Let's get to it!
First, as many of you know, I had published my first short story a couple of months ago. I did this for a number of reasons, not the least of which was so that I could get the epublishing details worked out ahead of when my first novel would be done. I chose to go direct with Amazon via their KDP platform, PubIt platform for Barnes & Noble.com, and Smashwords for everything else (Diesel, Apple, Kobo, etc.). So, between this and what I do for my day job, I got a good education on how to do it.
Unfortunately, I also learned that I had chosen a completely worthless title for this first short story - I titled it "The Collection". At the time, I really liked it as a title and thought it was intriguing. After a while, I discovered that when one does a search for the word "collection", one will get ACTUAL collections of things: collections of short stories, collections of books, collections of DVDs, etc., but no short story with that title would ever come up anywhere near the top of the list. So rather than continue to beat my proverbial head against the wall, I chose to rename my short story, give it a new cover, and revise the interior of the book with a black and white image of the book cover (like the big boys do!) and add a section at the end about me, the author.
Overall, I like all of these changes, and I'm hopeful that this will make an impact on sales and just plain having people find the darn thing! Oh, and along with all of these changes, I also dropped the price back down to $.99. At one point about a month ago I had thought I perhaps had priced it too low, and raised the price to $2.99. That didn't help a bit, most likely because of the above reasons that I have now addressed. Plus, it seemed like too high of a price for a short story, so I'm much happier back at the lower price. What's the new title for the short story? Glad you asked! "Pins And Dolls".
Okay, on to more news. I'm fortunate to work at a company that has many people who are used to using a lot of technology, both for work and personally. As such, I was able to get a look at a new Kindle Fire that a co-worker had just gotten. I must say, it's impressive for such a compact device! It's definitely a slick gadget, and would be great for many applications. However, I don't think it will become the big-time ereader like the regular Kindles have become because of the backlit screen that it uses. I'm sure in a few years we'll be inundated with ereaders that have color E-ink screens, but until then this is a good competitor to the Nook Color and the iPad. Keep in mind that the iPad has a screen that's about twice as big as the Fire or Nook Color.
Also, Black Friday. From the anecdotal reports that I've heard, Amazon sold "millions" of Kindles over the Thanksgiving weekend. This is on top of the 5 million plus Fires that were pre-sold and shipped earlier in the Fall. These items plus the fact that more people will probably purchase new Kindles, Nooks, and other ereaders in the new year with their holiday cash mean a whole slew of new potential readers for indie authors to take advantage of. I need to get my butt in gear, but my above changes to my short story are the beginning of me doing just that.
Finally, Amazon announced this morning the new feature for people publishing on the KDP platform: the Kindle Lending Library. Previously, this had gotten publicity due to the fact that they included many large publishers in the program, some against their desires even though Amazon promised to pay them for each ebook loaned.
Now, though, it's possible to add your ebook to the Lending Library program - IF you agree to publish EXCLUSIVELY with Amazon. That's right, you will need to not have your ebook available anywhere else in the world, including your own website/blogsite (at least, that's the scuttlebutt). In return, there is a pool of a HALF-MILLION DOLLARS that will be divided up amongst all Lending Library participants for the month of December. Wow, what a deal, right?
Well, not so fast. Let's think about this for a moment. Is this really a good deal? Perhaps it is, if you only publish on Amazon and/or the majority of your sales come from Amazon. But for others who sell a significant portion through other retailers, or those that wish to, it's not a good deal even with the limited 90-day agreement. Why? Well, have you been paying attention to what's been going on globally with ebooks? If not, you best start paying attention, because while Amazon will try to make inroads (i.e., Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy, etc.), the fact is that there are plenty of other ebook competitors that are better positioned and funded to reach the European markets and beyond. Kobo, specifically, has made a series of moves over the past 6-8 months that will help it to become the go-to ereader and ebook store in Europe when things explode there in the next couple of years. Why would you want to limit yourself just to Amazon when you could become a best-seller in France or other countries?
The basic tenet of "Buyer Beware" holds true here. Read up on the positives and negatives of the Lending Library before you agree to anything. Know what you have to do to comply with their terms and conditions. And think long-term, not just for the next 90 days or so. Amazon is big now, but Barnes & Noble or another ebook retailer could make the right moves and really attract a following that would give Amazon a run for their money. Do you want to be locked in to that and not be able to take advantage of things when they shift? Not me, I want to keep playing things fast and loose!
First, as many of you know, I had published my first short story a couple of months ago. I did this for a number of reasons, not the least of which was so that I could get the epublishing details worked out ahead of when my first novel would be done. I chose to go direct with Amazon via their KDP platform, PubIt platform for Barnes & Noble.com, and Smashwords for everything else (Diesel, Apple, Kobo, etc.). So, between this and what I do for my day job, I got a good education on how to do it.
Unfortunately, I also learned that I had chosen a completely worthless title for this first short story - I titled it "The Collection". At the time, I really liked it as a title and thought it was intriguing. After a while, I discovered that when one does a search for the word "collection", one will get ACTUAL collections of things: collections of short stories, collections of books, collections of DVDs, etc., but no short story with that title would ever come up anywhere near the top of the list. So rather than continue to beat my proverbial head against the wall, I chose to rename my short story, give it a new cover, and revise the interior of the book with a black and white image of the book cover (like the big boys do!) and add a section at the end about me, the author.
Overall, I like all of these changes, and I'm hopeful that this will make an impact on sales and just plain having people find the darn thing! Oh, and along with all of these changes, I also dropped the price back down to $.99. At one point about a month ago I had thought I perhaps had priced it too low, and raised the price to $2.99. That didn't help a bit, most likely because of the above reasons that I have now addressed. Plus, it seemed like too high of a price for a short story, so I'm much happier back at the lower price. What's the new title for the short story? Glad you asked! "Pins And Dolls".
Okay, on to more news. I'm fortunate to work at a company that has many people who are used to using a lot of technology, both for work and personally. As such, I was able to get a look at a new Kindle Fire that a co-worker had just gotten. I must say, it's impressive for such a compact device! It's definitely a slick gadget, and would be great for many applications. However, I don't think it will become the big-time ereader like the regular Kindles have become because of the backlit screen that it uses. I'm sure in a few years we'll be inundated with ereaders that have color E-ink screens, but until then this is a good competitor to the Nook Color and the iPad. Keep in mind that the iPad has a screen that's about twice as big as the Fire or Nook Color.
Also, Black Friday. From the anecdotal reports that I've heard, Amazon sold "millions" of Kindles over the Thanksgiving weekend. This is on top of the 5 million plus Fires that were pre-sold and shipped earlier in the Fall. These items plus the fact that more people will probably purchase new Kindles, Nooks, and other ereaders in the new year with their holiday cash mean a whole slew of new potential readers for indie authors to take advantage of. I need to get my butt in gear, but my above changes to my short story are the beginning of me doing just that.
Finally, Amazon announced this morning the new feature for people publishing on the KDP platform: the Kindle Lending Library. Previously, this had gotten publicity due to the fact that they included many large publishers in the program, some against their desires even though Amazon promised to pay them for each ebook loaned.
Now, though, it's possible to add your ebook to the Lending Library program - IF you agree to publish EXCLUSIVELY with Amazon. That's right, you will need to not have your ebook available anywhere else in the world, including your own website/blogsite (at least, that's the scuttlebutt). In return, there is a pool of a HALF-MILLION DOLLARS that will be divided up amongst all Lending Library participants for the month of December. Wow, what a deal, right?
Well, not so fast. Let's think about this for a moment. Is this really a good deal? Perhaps it is, if you only publish on Amazon and/or the majority of your sales come from Amazon. But for others who sell a significant portion through other retailers, or those that wish to, it's not a good deal even with the limited 90-day agreement. Why? Well, have you been paying attention to what's been going on globally with ebooks? If not, you best start paying attention, because while Amazon will try to make inroads (i.e., Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy, etc.), the fact is that there are plenty of other ebook competitors that are better positioned and funded to reach the European markets and beyond. Kobo, specifically, has made a series of moves over the past 6-8 months that will help it to become the go-to ereader and ebook store in Europe when things explode there in the next couple of years. Why would you want to limit yourself just to Amazon when you could become a best-seller in France or other countries?
The basic tenet of "Buyer Beware" holds true here. Read up on the positives and negatives of the Lending Library before you agree to anything. Know what you have to do to comply with their terms and conditions. And think long-term, not just for the next 90 days or so. Amazon is big now, but Barnes & Noble or another ebook retailer could make the right moves and really attract a following that would give Amazon a run for their money. Do you want to be locked in to that and not be able to take advantage of things when they shift? Not me, I want to keep playing things fast and loose!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Spain and Italy!
I'm sure that many of you know this, but some may not: Amazon has opened Kindle stores in Spain and Italy! This is just the latest in a string of Kindle ebook stores that Amazon has launched this year alone.
I believe that by my count there are now 6 specific Kindle stores for countries around the world: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. This should be huge and welcome news for indie published authors, as this allows our ebooks to be purchased in those countries own stores.
Now, granted, these are still in English (assuming you published them that way in the first place), but there are still plenty of people who would be willing to purchase an English-written novel. But, this also expands the opportunities that we have to translate our works and have it sold in the native countries of these translations. Very exciting indeed!
With all of these developments this year alone, plus the fact that Kindles are now cheaper than they've ever been, AND that millions more Kindles have gotten or will get into the hands of more people this holiday season...well, it's high time to finish up that novel, clean it up and get it out there. You never know just how many people will like it until you get it out there. And you're waiting around why, again?
I believe that by my count there are now 6 specific Kindle stores for countries around the world: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. This should be huge and welcome news for indie published authors, as this allows our ebooks to be purchased in those countries own stores.
Now, granted, these are still in English (assuming you published them that way in the first place), but there are still plenty of people who would be willing to purchase an English-written novel. But, this also expands the opportunities that we have to translate our works and have it sold in the native countries of these translations. Very exciting indeed!
With all of these developments this year alone, plus the fact that Kindles are now cheaper than they've ever been, AND that millions more Kindles have gotten or will get into the hands of more people this holiday season...well, it's high time to finish up that novel, clean it up and get it out there. You never know just how many people will like it until you get it out there. And you're waiting around why, again?
Thursday, November 24, 2011
How's The Speed of Your Writing?
How many words to you routinely bang out when you're writing? 2,000 words? 4,000? Over how many hours does this happen? Ever wanted to be able to produce more, and better, results?
I just was turned onto a great blog post about this very thing. This author has increased her productivity to routinely to 10,000 words PER DAY! She averages 1,500 words per hour, sometimes hitting 2,000 per hour when things are really flowing.
I've read through the post, and she's got good, solid ideas. I urge you to read it and then implement her ideas. I'm planning to so that I understand better just how I write. If we can do more in the same amount of time, we can write more and put out more, meaning we make more money. All great things. Enjoy the reading!
http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-day.html
I just was turned onto a great blog post about this very thing. This author has increased her productivity to routinely to 10,000 words PER DAY! She averages 1,500 words per hour, sometimes hitting 2,000 per hour when things are really flowing.
I've read through the post, and she's got good, solid ideas. I urge you to read it and then implement her ideas. I'm planning to so that I understand better just how I write. If we can do more in the same amount of time, we can write more and put out more, meaning we make more money. All great things. Enjoy the reading!
http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-day.html
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Speaking Of QRs...
This isn't QR codes, but rather Q.R. Markham, aka Quentin Rowan. This guy gives a bad name to the profession of "novelist". I don't have to say any more, just read for yourself. This story is out there in the States and the U.K., but here is a link that provides solid evidence of the plagiarism he's perpetrated, evidently for years:
http://www.edrants.com/q-r-markham-plagiarist/
http://www.edrants.com/q-r-markham-plagiarist/
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
QR Codes For Indie Authors
QR codes are one of those things that we've all seen, but nobody knows what they are called. They are becoming ubiquitous in our society, and have already become so in Japan where they first gained prominence. They are in magazines, on billboards, at conferences or other events, printed on mailers, and countless other media that cross our paths on a daily and weekly basis. So, what do these things look like?
Take a look to your left, and you'll see an example of a QR code. If you've got a smart phone (any kind, as long as it has a camera), all you need to do is to download a barcode scanning app (they should be free) that supports QR codes (not sure, but I'm betting most do), and then scan the code to the left. Yes, it's an active code that works - it will take you to the Amazon page for my short story titled "The Collection".
Sure, you're thinking, that's nice and all, but why should I care? What could this possibly have to do with me being an indie author? Answer: plenty!
First, grasp the concept that you can create these three-dimensional barcodes for FREE. That's right, there are plenty of websites out there that will create these for you for nothing. Plus, people can download the app for interpreting these barcodes for FREE. Being free makes it easy for people to spread these far and wide and come up with uses that no one has yet thought of.
The second thing that you need to realize is that you can create QR codes to go to virtually any website that you want. I made mine in less than a minute, and it goes to my short story on Amazon, but you can have yours go anywhere: to your blog site, to Amazon/Smashwords/Barnes & Noble/etc. where your books are sold, Goodreads, you name it. The sky is truly the limit on where you have these QR codes take someone.
Along with this is the fact that you MIGHT want to have one (or more) of these QR codes in your book or short story. Where would you have them take someone? Why to your author page on Facebook so that you can gain more fans? What about sending them to your other book that you wrote so that they can purchase that since they liked the book they have in their hands? What if you wanted to link to a book trailer on YouTube? Your website? Twitter page? Author central on Amazon? If you can dream it, you can send them there!
Now here's the really cool part, where things explode exponentially. QR codes can actually do so much more than just take people to a website. They could bring people to a Google map location. They can launch a user's email client and pre-load a "To" address and "Subject" line. They can even be used to place a call! Now what could you use them for? Suddenly, you could make a very interesting, very interactive experience for a reader of your plain ol' ebook or print book!
So start having a little fun with QR codes and your writing. Maybe you'll decide to exchange "QR Links" with fellow authors so that you are cross-promoting to gain new fans. Maybe you'll make the first interactive ebook that responds to a user's inputs. Who knows, but it sure is fun to dream, isn't it? I'm not sure if I'll use any of these ideas myself, but it would be awesome to see them implemented. How might YOU use your QR codes?
Sure, you're thinking, that's nice and all, but why should I care? What could this possibly have to do with me being an indie author? Answer: plenty!
First, grasp the concept that you can create these three-dimensional barcodes for FREE. That's right, there are plenty of websites out there that will create these for you for nothing. Plus, people can download the app for interpreting these barcodes for FREE. Being free makes it easy for people to spread these far and wide and come up with uses that no one has yet thought of.
The second thing that you need to realize is that you can create QR codes to go to virtually any website that you want. I made mine in less than a minute, and it goes to my short story on Amazon, but you can have yours go anywhere: to your blog site, to Amazon/Smashwords/Barnes & Noble/etc. where your books are sold, Goodreads, you name it. The sky is truly the limit on where you have these QR codes take someone.
Along with this is the fact that you MIGHT want to have one (or more) of these QR codes in your book or short story. Where would you have them take someone? Why to your author page on Facebook so that you can gain more fans? What about sending them to your other book that you wrote so that they can purchase that since they liked the book they have in their hands? What if you wanted to link to a book trailer on YouTube? Your website? Twitter page? Author central on Amazon? If you can dream it, you can send them there!
Now here's the really cool part, where things explode exponentially. QR codes can actually do so much more than just take people to a website. They could bring people to a Google map location. They can launch a user's email client and pre-load a "To" address and "Subject" line. They can even be used to place a call! Now what could you use them for? Suddenly, you could make a very interesting, very interactive experience for a reader of your plain ol' ebook or print book!
So start having a little fun with QR codes and your writing. Maybe you'll decide to exchange "QR Links" with fellow authors so that you are cross-promoting to gain new fans. Maybe you'll make the first interactive ebook that responds to a user's inputs. Who knows, but it sure is fun to dream, isn't it? I'm not sure if I'll use any of these ideas myself, but it would be awesome to see them implemented. How might YOU use your QR codes?
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