Trade to Indie – Indie to Trade

The publishing industry has just gotten twice as interesting.

New York Times Best Seller Barry Eilser turned down a $500k deal with one publishing company to Indie publish his work.

MEANWHILE:

Indie publisher Amanda Hocking accepts a $2mil deal with trade publishing company.

Clarification – Amanda's link goes to her blog, while Barry's goes to Dean Wesley Smith's blog. The reason for this is a long, rambling, (possibly drunken) blog-post that has a number of links out, one of which is pretty damn offensive.*

Romance author jumps ship.

Now this – Connie Brockway, seasoned and often published romance author has also decided to e-publish books her trade publishing company has rejected. Here is her reasoning, quoted from All About Romance:

"Oh, there's reasons a-plenty. First off, the contract I was offered was not good either monetarily and elsewise, the elsewise being in terms of eBooks. It doesn't take too much business acumen to look at recent eBook sales history and project that eBook readers aren't going to pony up the same amount for an eBook, that exists only as a virtual entity, as a paper book which costs substantially more to produce  (printing, shipping, warehousing, distribution, covers etc.) Or if they do, they aren't going to do it often. And if the publishers set the price too high, it's the authors that lose the most. I hate losing.

Of course, this was more than a business decision. Strictly as a writer, I'm squealing with joy at the notion of being completely free to write the stories I most want to read. And, I sincerely believe, that my readers most want to read."

She's not the first. If you really want to know who has jumped ship – Kindle Boards has an Indie Romance Author thread.

Note the last paragraph – "I'm squealing with joy at the notion of being completely free to write the stories I most want to read."

Well, I guess that she's kept her agent – and her options – open because she mentions Avon imprint, although she doesn't talk about her project with them.

These are signs the Great Publishing Divide between Trade and Indie market systems is being bridged, in both directions. Is this good news? Well, it depends on if you look at it as a reader or as a writer.

The Good News:

This is great news for readers. High quality stories from authors who know their job. They offer quality entertainment for – well, not cheap – but less than the price of a paperback book, available in the e-book format.

The Bad News:

Professional writers, who know the ins and outs of the business, are bringing their platforms – skill sets, contacts, readers and fans into the small pool of e-books.

This is going to blow the top off the cottage industry of e-pulp fiction. As more pros take the plunge, the quality of the books (and the higher prices) they bring to the table are going to force Indies to keep prices down.

The $.99 ghetto is just what I've been saying all along – e-pulp fiction and dime/dollar novels. Poor writing is going to sink those who can't keep it up. The book hoarding readers aren't going to review the books they never read. Word will never spread – unless the writing is top-notch.

Well – there you have it. A market update – pros and cons on both sides of the Great Publishing Divide.

Stay tuned. Heaven only knows what's going to happen next week.



*Unless you want to see a monkey sexually abuse a frog.

E-Book Pricing - Part IV

The writer-blogs continue to buzz like stirred-up bees over e-book pricing. Kindle Boards, Authonomy, Nook Boards, Newbies' Guide to Publishing, Business Rusch, and Write 2 Publish - everyone has taken on the topic in an effort to figure it out. I've posted about it several times.

The last time I posted about pricing was to cave in to the pressure to sell "Let's Do Lunch" for $.99 in the hope the drop would bring on sales. My goal was to get 100 copies of my novel onto e-readers in 2011. Instead, sales on Amazon came to a screeching halt.

That goals was reached this week when I had Smashwords put LDL into it's promotion catalog for free. Readers (or book collectors) downloaded 72 copies. Adding that to the 30 copies already sold - I'm over 100 copies in less than 3 months for the year.

Reaching a goal requires re-evaluation.

*** UPDATE ***
Taking all sorts of things into consideration - including the cost of advertising, covers and editing for the new book - I raised the price of 'Let's Do Lunch.'

Writing is a business - the cost of doing business is pretty high these days. Just printing a single copy costs $20 with ink and paper. Internet, where I spend the bulk of my time, is $60 a month. As every adult knows, that's the tip of the iceberg.

Now I'm back to work on the next book.

More posts on e-book pricing:

e-Book Pricing I

e-Book Pricing Part II

e-Book Pricing Part III

e-Book Pricing Part V (coming soon)

Read an e-Book Week

I've put "Let's Do Lunch" in the Smashwords promotion that ends today.

All I can say is Holy Sh!t. As of 3:30 pm there have been 50 books 'sold' to customers. These people are NOT sampling - they are taking the book!

I've broken the 100 copy barrier! YAHOO!!!!!!!!

Even if the majority of these people are collectors, not readers - this has been the biggest week of 'sales' yet!

About the 100 copy barrier - the common wisdom is that a self-published book will never sell more than 100 copies. However this is backed by Nielson Book scan claiming the 'average' trade published book only sells 18 copies.

So with 115 or so books sold - I've broken that barrier and I'm SO happy about it. The day isn't over yet, I think the sale runs until midnight EDT.

Get your copy of "Let's Do Lunch" while it is still free.

Another Cover for 'Lets Do Lunch'

This is a cute little cover that Bradley Wind did for LDL that I have never used.

I thought I should post this and see what people think.

I think my name is too small, but I like the rest of it.

 I think it captures the theme of the book very well.

A Vastly Amusing Look Back at April 2009

It seems like a million years ago that Mary W. Walters wrote her "Talent Killers" post for The Militant Writer. Two years and 420 comments later - she's still getting hits and comments. I know because I get the RSS feed.

I'm absolutely positive that she didn't realize that we were on the cusp of the e-book revolution. Naturally she (and thousands of writers like her) were frustrated, in stead of a clear path to the Big Six of publishing - there was a locked gate. No one had a clue at the time but the publishing industry 'gate-keeping' system was about to be blown out of the water.

Ta! Da! 

Look where we are today. Times have changed to the point where a well-known mid-list writer with a sweet deal on the table will look at 25% of e-book sales as a deal breaker. Instead of leaping on the deal, the writer said to his agent 'Are you kidding? I can publish this myself and do better.'

Exit writer, door closed.

Publisher is out 75% of potential sales and agent out 20% of writer's cut in commission.

There are still authors who will go to any lengths to get rejected by an agent. There are still agents who will MAKE writers jump through hoops and go to all kinds of contortions to get rejected. Occasionally there will be hook-ups, contracts and even sales.

However, most of the writers I know have decided they are better off with DIY publishing.

I don't know if the rise of e-pulp fiction has impacted the bottom line of agents or publishers. I don't know if the slush pile has been affected - there may be no difference. I'm not even sure that it matters in the long run - except to the writers who have turned rejection into cash.

Readers seem to be happy - they have access to cheap books in hard times. E-readers are a great investment. I love mine.

I'm reading more than ever, cheap books, free books - first run books that I could never afford in hard-cover. Books by friends in the UK and Australia that I never would have seen otherwise.

The fact that I got a couple of bucks from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble didn't hurt either.

PS - this is a link to the Smashwords blog. Mark is all fired up about the 'Publishing Revolution.' I think you will enjoy it.

A Word About Sales and Other Stuff

Okay, I admit, more than one word.

Let's start with the good news - we've had the first Amazon UK sale of "Let's Do Lunch" in February. Smashwords sampling is over 80 - I expect it to be more than 100 by the end of the quarter. Total sales for January = 16, February = 14.

Barnes and Noble is my best market. I sell twice as many books there. Okay, so that means merely 8 or 9 sales per month. That triples my sales per month. The bottom line is that we've sold more copies of LDL in two months than in 6 months of 2010.

Ya, can't beat that with a stick - but who'd want to?

I replaced the Amazon cover of "Let's Do Lunch" to my 'way-back-when' cover. It's been 13 days since my last sale, it seems a change is in order.

Alas, I don't see myself putting - ahem - beefcake* on the cover. That's not the point of the story.(I am assured that covers including nude male torso shots sell vastly more copies than scenery covers. See the note at the bottom for the 'industry' term for such covers.)

I'm working on the cover I want - a photo of the building. Cropping the photo proved to be a challenge - the work-around frustrated me so, I had to set it aside for a few days.


Changes in the industry

Another mid-list writer has taken his work off the market - take a look at this post on Publisher's Weekly. The post in a nutshell: Mid-list writer had deal on the table, he asked about e-rights and was told the split would be 75% to 25% of net. He then asked if he was getting the 75% - however the answer was 'no.' He declined the offer, deciding to self-publish instead of taking a bad deal on his e-rights.

Why is this important? E-books don't 'go out of print' therefore he had signed away his e-rights FOREVER. While a single e-book title grossing $1,000 a month would be a pittance for the publishing company. For the writer this would be a substantial slice of month income.

I don't know of many people who would sneeze at an extra grand a month. Do you?


If you haven't discovered the Business Rusch by Kristine Katherine Rusch at least take a look at this one. At the risk of sounding hopelessly sexist - she has a woman's eye for navigating the turbulent waters of this changing industry. She doesn't browbeat the reader, she presents information and opinions in a common sense fashion while keeping her options open. (I say that's female because it seems much more sensible to keep your options open, instead of burning bridges. Burning bridges is a guy thing - like bungee-jumping.)

Or maybe it's the fact that I agree with her - Big Publishing is hardly dead. They are in a position to talk terms with the e-vendors and take advantage of e-books - with access to one hell of a back-list. After all, 1 book selling 500 copies a month times 100,000 (or more) books is NOT a pittance.

Last but not least

* I find the term 'man-tittie' offensive. Puleeezz ladies - some class!

What is the Purpose of Authonomy?

There is some confusion about the purpose of Authonomy. Someone has mistaken it for a mere hang-out for wannbe writers. That is SO not the case.

First, human nature is that people stick with people they like. It is called support - which carries the connotation of "carry."

I was in ABNA when I came to Authonomy - I saw a book that I felt in LOVE with - 'Catch a Falling Star.' I joined Authonomy to back that book, and left it on my shelf until it hit the ED. HC panned the book. It was painful to watch. But the author did not let that stop her. When the book hit the Kindle Store, people went nuts over it. (As soon as I have time to read it again, I'll buy it.)

Isn't that what Authonomy is about? You read something, you love it, you support it there with a shelving and a comment. Then when it hits the Market place, you support it, buy it and maybe even review it?

I've had many people there (first time around) say they would buy my book, if they could. I'm back to launch a second book - there, then in the market place.

It is the logical progression of this site - we come in, edit our books with the support of other writers and either hit the ED, get picked up by an agent, get signed with a publisher or self-publish it as pulp fiction.

What that poor young man doesn't understand is the purpose of Authonomy - TO LAUNCH BOOKS. Once HC gets an idea of what the market REALLY wants (by watching books succeed in the market) then they shift their direction to signing books that SELL.

Isn't that what we are really there for? To find the cream of the crop and help it rise as high as it can???

Why the f@#k go there if not for that?

The only thing this poor young person has discovered is that Authonomy WORKS.

Silly child, wake up and smell the coffee.

Writing is an art - (rolling eyes) but publishing is a business.

Wisconsin - WTF?

I'm utterly disgusted with the idiot Governor from Wisconsin.

I'm starting to believe there IS  a vast Right-Wing conspiracy. I don't think that it is the Trilateral Commission. But there's a dead fish in the pantry - we all smell it.

What has happened to this country? When has there been open warfare on the middle class? This turkey has cut taxes for the rich, so now he's going to mess with TEACHERS?

When the biggest problem in the US is LACK of education - why cut the teachers? Why is it in the best interest of the Republican Party to stop education? Because they can afford private schools, so now public schools aren't needed? 

I'm so glad I didn't have kids - this country is FUBARed.

"Dark Harbor" – Paranormal Pulp Fiction

As Launch Day gets closer and closer – I can't help but think about the reaction to my paranormal pulp fiction "Swallow the Moon" once word reaches 'back home' about the book. This is a case where Face Book is not my friend. I'm hooked into a discussion group with people from 'Bula, some of whom may be offended with my description of the city.

The "Dark Harbor" paranormal series takes place in a very real, very dysfunctional Rust Belt city, my birthplace, Ashtabula, Ohio. I call it a "God-forsaken place" – it is a place where the fabric between the Earth and Hell has become tattered and 'things' are breaking through.

I suppose that's enough to piss some people off right there.

Of course, if the series catches on, there are going to be even more people laughing their asses off. Some people in the Harbor are going to love it, others – well a sense of humor is a rare thing in parts of 'Bula.

I would like to be a fly on the wall when some innocent tourist walks into the Iroquois Club and asks the bartender if s/he ever heard of a book called "Swallow the Moon" and are there really rooms for rent upstairs? (evil cackles)

You know, this is the kind of thing where I'm going to have to take the book to Create Space just so I can go down to Bridge Street and have a book signing in the metaphysical shop. I'll hope that the ghosts of Harborites past will join me.

I know they will appreciate it.

Pulp Fiction - a Bit of Brainstorming

Will the "Pulp Fiction" moniker replace "Indie Author" in the minds of - er - well - Indie writers?

I've always been taught that you can't DO a negative. If I say to someone "I'm NOT a trade published writer....blah, blah, blah." They will reply with "Then who ARE you?" I'm stuck looking stupid "the hell if I know."

Andre Jute - this is all your fault. If you hadn't started that post on Kindle Boards Cream rising I wouldn't have started brainstorming all this stuff about awards which led me to branding (whatcacallit is a lousy name for a genre) - which led me to getting my back up about the "Death of Culture" crack that....nevermind.


This isn't so much for my own work as it is for Mother's stories. There are so many that nothing really ties them together - except there is a general style to them. Mom loves it. "I write pulp fiction," she said at the dentist office yesterday. The girl got it.

I posted a cleaned up version of the first post to Nookboards (crickets!) then Kindleboard where it got a number of responses. I wasn't the first to use it, but I am the first to suggest wholesale adoption of it.

Let's make it OUR label. That way I can say "I wrote a dime novel called "Let's Do Lunch" that sells for $.99 on Kindle and Nook." It sounds catchy. Descriptive, positive, and vaguely qualifying.

More on this subject:

The New Age of Pulp Fiction?

Pulp Fiction II: The Rise of the Penny Dreadful

Pulp Fiction II – the Rise of the Penny Dreadful

For my next trick – I say that because we are merely playing with words – trying to put the Indie e-publishing craze and the rollercoaster ride that is pricing into some kind of historical context.

First a short history lesson, for that we shall go back to our friend Wikipedia for a definition of the "Penny Dreadful."

"A penny dreadful (also called penny horrible, penny awful,^[1]
penny number and penny blood) was a type of British
fiction publication in the 19th century that usually featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part costing a penny. The term, however, soon came to encompass a variety of publications that featured cheap sensational fiction, such as story papers and booklet "libraries." The penny dreadfuls were printed on cheap pulp paper and were aimed primarily at working class adolescents.^[2]
For the sake of this argument, I'm going to say that the 21^st century 'Penny Dreadful' is a full-length novel that sells for $.99 to $1.99.

That doesn't mean the writer can't make money. Sell them puppies as long as they're hot. After all, if the author is making a couple grand a month – cry all the way to the bank.

Because that's not saying the next book won't sell at a higher price. We aren't making judgment calls about the writers – just the books. If common wisdom is correct, the 'average author' will turn out five or more books (or a million words) before they 'break out' and their work takes a quantum leap forward.

The writer can always move to the next level, – a 'dime novel' sells higher – $2.99 or a bit more. This may sell more copies of the first book. The point is that sales and income will rise at the higher price. I see authors all over Kindle boards planning how to make the transition to 'dime novels.'

'Slicks' are the next step up, Mid-list writers will most likely find a home somewhere around the $2.99 to $3.99 level. They are recycling previously published work, already have fans and readers – so they may start at $3.99 where the 'average jane' author will need to 'break out' to sell well at $3.99.

Then there are the 'super-slicks' who have their own pricing structures. Some can sell short fiction at $2.99 for 10k words. Why not? They have the advertising budgets and turn out a professional product. They probably know who their readers are and have no problem targeting them in the most efficient manner.

Remember, too, there are e-publishing companies who have a pricing structure by length that has worked for them for 10 years or more. There is no reason that they can't carry on. They have a professional products and hot markets like romantica/erotica.

So we have a series of terms to describe this mushrooming e-market, nicknames that look back fondly to the glorious Golden Age of Pulp Fiction.

Pulp fiction – Short stories & novellas that sell for $.99. Also a blanket term for any work self-published to an e-book vendor.

Penny Dreadfuls – Pulp Fiction novels that sell like crazy for $.99 to $1.99.

Dime Novels – Pulp Fiction novels priced from $2.99 to $3.99, written by Indie authors.

Slicks – Novels or backlist by Midlist authors self-published in the $3.99 range.

Super Slicks – Work by e-publishing companies that have their own price structure. Short stories can start as high as $2.99, for 10k words.

More on this subject:

The New Age of Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction: A Bit of Brainstorming

The New Age of Pulp Fiction?

Welcome to the New Age of Pulp Fiction – courtesy of e-reader technology and digital self-publishing.

How many people remember the "Golden Age" of Pulp Fiction? Okay, maybe no one remembers 20^th century history. I wasn't born yet, but at least I had heard of it. Just so you don't have to google it – I'll post the Wikipedia definition of Pulp Fiction:

Pulp magazines (often referred to as "the pulps"), also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long. Pulps were printed on cheap paper with ragged, untrimmed edges.
The name pulp comes from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. Magazines printed on better paper were called "glossies" or "slicks." In their first decades, they were most often priced at ten cents per magazine, while competing slicks were 25 cents apiece. Pulps were the successor to the penny dreadfuls, dime novels, and short fiction magazines of the 19th century. Although many respected writers wrote for pulps, the magazines are best remembered for their lurid and exploitative stories and sensational cover art. Modern superhero
comic books are sometimes considered descendants of "hero pulps"; pulp magazines often featured illustrated novel-length stories of heroic characters, such as The Shadow, Doc Savage, and The Phantom Detective.
Cheap stories – often lurid and poorly edited – easy to get, easy to discard; what does that sound like? The modern Indie e-book has been touted as the 'slush pile come to life' by the 'trade' publishing establishment.

I say the Indie Publishing masses could do much worse than embracing the label of 'Modern Pulp Fiction.'

Why not?

"At their peak of popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, the most successful pulps could sell up to one million copies per issue."
Fiction novels for $.99 from Indie authors are very much like the 10-cent magazines. Your mileage – or quality – will vary greatly from author to author and book to book. Already there are lines drawn – certain authors continue to sell books at a higher price. While others have their sales stall at the $2.99 break point.

Whether or not people actually read $.99 books is a good question. However, they do buy these books – often thousands a month. In that case – why should the author care if the book is read or not? Cry all the way to the bank. Of course, some people don't feel that way.

"Literature and culture per se would die if every writer wrote only to satisfy a market bowing to instant monetary gratification."- Authonomy Author

Well, that tidbit of British snobbery came from an Authonomy wannabe who couldn't be bothered with something as – common? – tedious? – as marketing their work.

If only I could have stopped myself from replying:

That sounds very British.

Culture doesn't pay the rent - but if you are independently wealthy you can be as literary and cultured as you like.

Me, I have bills to pay and elderly parents to take care of.
No wonder the Brits hate the Irish. We insist on being – practical – even when it comes to 'Literature and Culture per se' by bringing filthy money into it. How ghastly and common of me.

Is there a puking smiley?

How does this tie into pulp fiction? The distinction between 'literature' the art and 'story-telling' entertainment is the difference between a 'trade' published, $12.99 e-book and a KDP, $.99 pulp fiction e-book.

This is a wild and wonderful free for all – that may kill off 'Literature and Culture per se' but WFT – it's about time that mid-list and Indie writers had some fun and made some money.

The point is that pulp fiction gave a lot of writers their start. They made their living pounding on typewriters – entertained thousands, or even millions, of people. They put smiles on people's faces, and became a beloved part of pop(ular) culture long after the books themselves were forgotten.

Mom just recalled a box of pulp westerns in her attic that they read as kids. My aunts Joyce and Elizabeth read these pulps and played "Cowboys and Indians" so many times that they ended up with life-long nicknames. Joyce became "Steve" and Elizabeth became my beloved Aunt 'Dillon.' I was a teenager before I discovered that Aunt Dillon had another name.

That's not art, that's family history.

Guess which one is more important to me.

Got that in one, didn't ya?

Pulp Fiction II: The Rise of the Penny Dreadful

Pulp Fiction a Bit of Brainstorming

Recap of 2010 - Setting Goals for 2011

As the month comes to a close - I have to draw a sigh of relief. Real Life has settled down - for the moment. My project for the month - that had nothing to do with writing - was to get my antique Western Union clock running on time. I've had it running a few times, but always loosing time. This time I used 2 sets of 2 D cells - and he's running like a champ!

Mom and I are working on getting her stories sorted and ready to publish. I transferred  her index to a spreadsheet - I have the title, word count, page count, and a brief(!) subject. I also copied that index, tweaked it and added some vendor columns so I can track the date published to each vendor.

It appears that sales of "Let's Do Lunch" will end up at 12. Most of them sold at $3.25. Since I dropped the price to $.99. I will not change prices again. No matter what sales of "Let's Do Lunch" do - the price is the price until August 2011.

I also have a title for the second book in the 'Dark Harbor' series. So Book #4 is simmering in the background. The theme has changed a bit - 'the sins of the mother' has replaced 'he wants to be a rock star.' Quite an improvement.

Editing has stalled for "Swallow the Moon" I'm now wigging out over the book cover and the number of comma errors in the first chapter. The cover needs COLOR I'm worried that it won't stand out.


Also of concern are covers for the Ice Road Anthology stories. There is no way we can afford to hire out 220-odd covers. There are a dozen volumes to the anthology. What a project! I'm not sure how to tackle something this large. Plus it's not like Mom can work 8 or 12 hour days until we get this done. Not an option - though we will give it a couple hours a day.

Finally, I'm avoiding Authonomy for a few days. There are still some interesting looking books, but I need to get "Swallow the Moon" published before I do any more reading.

Nasty, Ugly, Tempting

I'm only human after all, nor am I particularly ethical.

But when these ugly thoughts nest in my head - I'm better off to write them out - then get over it. I'm still whining (whinging for my British friends) about sales, or the lack of sales, in the UK especially.

Could I be so crude as to offer to take bribes for space on my book shelf. To sell my vote for a mere $.35 each? Would anyone be desperate enough to spend a buck, or a quid or something?

There is a very nasty little troll on my shoulder who is chortling wickedly, licking her lips and rubbing her hands together with glee. "So what if you get caught?" she says. "Laugh it off. Look at the 'slut backings,' the two for one backings. You didn't invent that crap, nor did you take advantage of it. Wimps never win you know. Cheaters win. They win all the time."

"TRY IT!" She jumps up and down like an excited Min-pin dog.

I flick her off my shoulder like a booger.

"I'll be back!"

I'm not that pathetic.

Really.

Kitty Caves In - "Let's Do Lunch" Now $0.99

After reading everything on the e-book price debate on the blogs of 'e-book' and 'Indie Publishing' community, I have caved to the pressure to sell my book for the bare-assed minimum price.

DAMMIT!

My BFF and I went to eat Chinese while I sniveled about it for an hour. Bless her heart, she agreed, this is a big bummer. That's the beauty of having a BFF.


Pricing by length is common sense. Pricing a 75k novel the same as a short story is just crazy. Whatever, its done, it's over and anyone who wants to buy it cheap can from here on out. I'm not going to change prices again.

Now I'm going to get over it.

Cool New Widgets - Sales Rank and Badge

I've added two new widgets to this site.

The first is the Kindle Sales Rank widget. It will show the ranking of "Let's Do Lunch" for the Kindle. Eventually, I think I can compare the sales of "Let's Do Lunch" and "Swallow the Moon" when it comes out this spring.

Since I just added the widget, it will show zero sales. However, should the book start selling, the sales rank will be recorded. Now, if I can just figure out the right marketing technique to get the ball rolling.

The second is a badge for Barnes & Noble. If only the sales reports for B&N's Pubit worked - I would have good news to share. Alas, the glitch goes on.

As far as I know, the sales for B&N and Kindle are tied at - 1 sale each.

Home Sweet Home

News from my home town.

I suppose that having the home town make headlines this way should make me embarrassed.

But frankly, this is why seems fitting to write a paranormal romance set in Ashtabula.

The Agent Debate - Continues

Dean Wesley Smith is one of my heroes. He 'tells it like it is' to newbie writers like me. What I find most interesting is that I agree with more than 80% of what he says, just from a couple of years of lurking around the publishing e-world. When his latest post hit my email this morning, it was the first thing I read.

Take a look, the New World of Publishing for today is about the role of agents in the wide-open frontier of e-publishing and Indie Publishing. The first thing is a reference to this page by Mary Kole of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Mary talks about the New Agent's role, I quote:

Whether we're presenting a book to editors or an app proposal to a digital publisher, we will have had a more active hand in its reaching "market ready" status.

Read more at DigitalBookWorld.com: The Agent's Role in Today's Digital Book World | Digital Book World
http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2011/the-agents-role-in-todays-digital-book-world/#ixzz1BDJFDi5W

This article gave DeanWS the screaming shudders, because this "role" would also give the agent a larger (50%) share of a work. It would also perpetuate the myth that 'Writers Need to be Taken Care of" because we are unworldly (and stupid) enough to take the bait.

What gave ME the screaming shudders was her reference to Four Fathom Five – John Frey's you-write-it-for-$250-and-I'll-take-the-rest scheme. Now, Mary Kole is in the world of children's books and apps, far from my corner of the market. Still the idea will spread – the author is the goose of content, and everybody wants the golden eggs.

I mean I get it, agents have very, very little to offer a tech-savvy writer. THE Rock Star of Agents got a Real Job. The writing is on the wall, there will be VERY few agents needed in the future. A handful will have best-selling clients, the rest, who knows?

Not all writers are silly geese who don't know which end of a USB cable is up.

DIY is where the Mid-list will live from here forward. Readers (a lot of them women) are STARVING for good Stories. They adopted e-readers like MAD this Christmas. Barnes & Noble website is still staggering under the load. B&N did 1.1 billion dollars in sales in December. Writers are screaming because the sales data isn't updating fast enough to be accurate. My report shows only my first sale, but my book has jumped 300k in sales rank. (Batch file processing in the 21^st Century? What Cobol programmer designed their software? GAG me!)

It is a fact the generations coming up ARE computer savvy. Now the Baby Boomers who refused to learn more than word processing and email will be suckers for these "Let Me Help You" schemes. Still, it is something that anyone with a pair of ovaries can learn. (Tee hee, I made a sexist joke!) Sorry guys, any woman who has worked as a secretary in the last 30 years can figure this out.

I spent years working my way into, then out of, the Secretarial Pits only to end up in Call Center Hell. Now those years are going to pay off, because I have formatting and design skills as well as hardware and networking.

So, I've done my bit by passing this on. I have chapters of "Swallow the Moon" to work on. In spite of Real Life throwing curves at me, I'm back to work. It's a new year and I'm determined to make the most of it.

Just be aware that any writer who doesn't pay attention is going the way of the Goose that laid the golden eggs.

"A Snake in Paradise" by Brenda Sedore

A Snake in Paradise by Brenda Sedore

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a cold snowy weekend.


So a light romance about sunny Italy, and hot Italian men, was the perfect escape. Brenda Sedore has a good touch with characters, and a great feel for the setting.


I'm looking forward to reading more by this author. 





View all my reviews

I Can't Believe I'm Saying This

I've been working my butt off today.

I created a PubIt! account - uploaded "Let's Do Lunch" tweaked the formatting until I couldn't look at it again. Kicked around the Nookboards, Kindleboards and - gasp - Authonomy.

I've had a bee in my bonnet all week about my sluggish e-book sales. I re-joined Authonomy because I feel that I lost a lot of visibility when I left. At the time, I couldn't stand the bullshit. I lurked from time to time, checked out the new system, and wondered if going back would reconnect me to potential readers.

I just posted this little gem on the forums, I'm posting it here because I think I should look at it from time to time, and recall why burning bridges sucks. The idea behind Authonomy was golden. The original algorithm sucked. I still don't give a damn about the Editor's Desk. But the community is priceless.

I don't see the big publishing companies going anywhere. They will lumber around and eventually figure out a way to keep going just fine. Best sellers will still hit their stride and leave the rest of us envious. Celeb's will still give us the shudders.
Amanda Hocking and Zoe Winters sell oodles of paranormals and are banner examples of 'Yes, it can be done.' I admire the heck out of those gals. I don't know Amanda, but I've 'talked' to Zoe. She's an astute business woman as well as a good writer. She's gonna break out all over the place, because she's a hard worker. I'll bet Amanda is equally as hard working - but not as colorful - as Zoe.

There are still going to be plenty of writers taking the tradtional path of agents, editors, publishers and so forth. This economy has slowed the industry down a lot. Indie writers are coming out of the woodwork because the new technology has allowed them to take their best shot. Eventually this will all shake out.

I don't agree with those who yell that 'Publishing is Dead!' I think that fiction has taken a big step forward in a market that adores $0.99 e-books 'cause everybody is broke and the books are cheap. I think this is a great time for mid-list writers to upload their backlist. I think it is a tremendous time for those who can afford it to take the plunge. (The cost is time, IMO, which is more dear than money.)

But I very much doubt that everybody here is going to jump on the $.99 novel bandwagon. Heck, I don't want to jump on that bandwagon. But guess what - I may end up there.

What is going to hurt everyone - Best Sellers, Mid-listers, back-listers, new Indies and all - is if people who don't have a top-notch manuscript self-publish. The Kindle store is NOT the place to send your rough draft! You are going to get slammed on Amazon Forums as a poster-child for self-published fungus-eating morons. The trolls will leave only scraps, like teeth and toe-nails.

Which is what makes Authonomy a great proving ground. I was able to do a lot of work on my second manuscript because of the people who reviewed it - (t)here. Now, everyone may want to take a turn on the ED. They can spam for backings all they like, because the important thing is getting the help revising the manuscript so you can decide what to do with it from there.

I think I'll get off my soap box now.

I know that I've got a good story in 'Swallow the Moon' - as the time comes for me to 'pull the trigger' on it (love that term!) I'm getting antsy.

Getting Ready for the Book Launch

There is a very interesting conversation on Kindle Boards with Joe Konrath and the other Kindle authors on the subject of pricing. There is also a very interesting conversation on Goodreads about pre-publication publicity.

As I'm getting ready for a spring launch for "Swallow the Moon" I need to figure out what to do to generate some 'buzz' for the new book. To that end I have done a few things that I thought I would not do otherwise.

• I re-joined Authonomy, posting "Let's Do Lunch" and creating a presence in the forums. The reason that I took this (drastic!) step was to promote my books. The changes to the rules appear to be working, so I will give them a chance.
• I dropped the Amazon price of "Let's Do Lunch" to $1.99. This price change is in support of the Authonomy posting. We'll see if it does any good.
• I've dug out and dusted off a couple short stories that I can turn into novelettes. These will go on sale for $.99 each.
• I have actively started looking for opportunities to promote my books and my blog. This means dusting off an interview with Zoe Winters and being interviewed by others.
• All of these action items are contingent on family matters remaining constant, at the very least, but I pray that the worst is over. Last year was 'interesting' in the worst possible sense of the word. It could have been a lot worse. Still my parents' illness, my husband's bike wreck and multiple hospitalizations sucked pretty damn bad. 

I've got my goals and my action plan. Stay tuned.

Mini Ice Age?

It all depends on who you talk to, or read. Some people claim that the current cold snap is 'proof' that there is no such thing as 'Global Warming.' Others insist that 'Cimate Change' has come and we, as a species, are endangering ourselves.

All I know is that its cold outside today, and it was dry, dry, dry this summer. Saying "it is" is a foolish as saying "it ain't" at this point. For one thing, we had a couple of volcanic eruptions in the past two years. For another, there was a heck of a fire in Russia this summer. You can't tell me that all that smoke and dust is NOT going to mess up the atmosphere. If there is already something going on - which there is - then it's going to make the weather worse - which it has.

Some darn fool - I erased the link after I read the post - thinks that we are going to have the coldest winter in 100 years. He sites sun-spots, El Nino~ the volcanos and climate change as coming together in the worst possible way. Yippy, skippy!

I've also noticed that gasoline is creeping back to $3 a gallon, while hay is scarce.

Fortunately, we replaced the windows in the house, put up fences and put on the back porch while the weather was good. All three are paying off. The porches have cut the sun, the windows block the wind and the fences won't blow down in this rotten weather.

We are as snug as we are going to be for the next week or two. I've got three dogs and an electric blanket to keep me from freezing tonight. I also know from the Ice Storm just how cold  and miserable it can be to try to heat this place with a fireplace. I have a propane heater just for such an occasion. Between the fireplace and the heater we should be okay. There is wood, hay and grain for the critters.

I know that I'm not prepared for the worst, but we'll be fine for a few days.

Curious Things About Chickens

I think I've posted a few of my more spectacular chicken failures this year. The worst was the purchase of two batches of EXPENSIVE day-old Dominique chicks, only to loose them to predators.

I also lost my best hen, a Dominique named "Smudge" who was the first and only hen to successfully raise 2 batches of babies. The first batch was 3 chicks, (Sony the current rooster is the only survivor) the second was 4 and the last was 19, which was 4 of her own and 15 purchased. However, she and all the babies but 2 were killed by my own dog. Minnie and Mickie survived. Mickie is now my back-up rooster and Minnie is a very large hen.

The second big loss was "Seven" and 1 of her own, 15 purchased chicks and 4 duck-hatched babies. She was killed by either a fox or a hawk. Only 3 of the duck-hatched babies remain. They are small, but hardy, and appear to be under the protection of Minnie.


The odd thing is this - the first flock was 7 hens. The longest lived was the mother of the current rooster and all the second generation hens. The second flock was 12 Barred Rocks - an offshoot of the Dominique. I've spent all last year trying to raise a second generation of those, but only Seven and a duck managed to hatch any. Not one of 4 incubator loads had survived. 

Weird chicken fact #1, the drive to set on a nest of eggs and the ability to raise chicks has been bred out of the modern chicken. There are occasional broody hens, like Smudge, but she was too old to lay more than an egg or two. Seven was also an exception. But she's also gone to her reward.

I attempted to teach a chicken to 'go broody' during last winter when I put a half dozen chicks with a pullet. Three of those turned out to be roosters, so I gave them away, two died. One hen survived, but I've lost track of her. (Leg bands only work when you record where each hen came from.

This year, I'm going to start hatching eggs earlier. This January I'll take up a batch of eggs. Should I get a hatching, I'll put them in the tack room where there is heat. Then I'll put the youngest pullets in with these babies to get them started. The young pullets will love the food and the heat lamp. If I'm lucky they will let the little ones snuggled under their feathers.

I'm taking an odd stance between 'Nature' and 'Nurture' with a big bite of 'Natural Selection' thrown in for a good measure. If there is a way to train a hen to 'mother' it would be for her to be raised by a hen, then to have her assist in raising a brood of babies. The instinct would be reinforced.

Since the only young chickens surviving to this point are the ones hatched here, and they are all a cross between a Dominique and a Barred Rock, I'm going to suppose that hybred vigor is playing a part. I'm very sad that the Dominique (the oldest American breed) is not a hardy enough chicken to survive here. Maybe that's why it's nearly extinct - they no longer have what it takes to survive a 'free range' life.

Sony the rooster is purebred. But he's the last. There are no more Dominique hens. Only Smudge survived four years. Sampson, the original purebred rooster, died two years ago. Mickey is a hybred, but he doesn't get any hens for himself. He sneaks a breeding here and there, but Sony beats him up every chance he gets. So Mickey lives outside of chicken world, and sleeps by himself in the rafters.

It will take all winter and spring for me to test my theory. But I'm going to bet that a combination of selection and nurture is going to be the only way I increase my flock of laying hens. 'Imported' chicks don't survive long enough to lay.

I will have to rely on the faithful flock to reproduce itself. Which is going to kill my egg sales.

Grand Old Mare

This month, as hectic as it has been, has had three bright spots.

A friend and her daughter were walking around the pasture. The old mare ambled up, sniffed us and stayed for pats. She was in such a calm mood that I sent daughter for a halter and lead rope. We boosted her onto the old mare's back - then we walked around the pasture talking.

While we walked the old gelding fell into step. The young mare got a bit huffy, I chased her off until she lost the attitude. Eventually, she fell into step with us. The parade went up and down the pasture before we ended up in the round pen. The old gelding came in, I chased the young mare out.

We gave daughter a second lead rope, she 'rode' the old mare around and had a great time.

It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. They've been back, we put daughter in a saddle this time. The old mare was simply wonderful.

This is the same horse who, at three, was a notorious bucker. She came to me because nobody wanted her. She's still tricky and has made me eat my share of dirt - but she loves kids, and always has. It always amuses me to see her be a perfect horse.

Today we tossed a young boy (maybe 8 years old) on her back and did pretty much the same thing. Amazing to see her play nanny, no saddle, only a halter and lead ropes. She puts her head down and steps carefully, walking gently so he can stay on. He wanted to make her run, I told him he'd have to take lessons first.

When it was over, he led her into the barn, she literally kept an eye on him. I remember the spirited young mare who threw everyone who rode her and give her a big hug.

The mare is 5 foot at the shoulder, weighs 1100 lbs, the kid weighs maybe 40 lbs and barely reaches her chest. The look of wonder on his face was priceless. I know how he feels, to have an animal so large and strong obey you makes you feel strong and powerful. 

He is fearless, so when he let the horses out, he walked along with them. My herd is well-mannered, his grandmother and my sister were worried about the horses hurting him. I knew they wouldn't. 


The young mare hasn't been ridden in a long time - but she's seen her mother with the kids. She's jealous of the attention. She let herself be caught the other day (they couldn't tell her from her mother) so she could get brushed and petted. They say horses learn from example. I think I'll use this to my advantage.

Interesting Times

In case you are wondering why this blog hasn't been updated in a while - life has gotten 'interesting' so a lot of the things I was planning to post this month have been put on hold.

As soon as life is properly 'boring' again, I will return.

Hopefully with a launch date for "Swallow the Moon" (but don't hold your breath.)

I AM editing "Swallow the Moon" during these interesting times.

If you want to help out while I put 'real life' first, here is a link to the first chapter of "Swallow the Moon" posted on Goodreads.com. You can read the chapter and comment or 'like' it.

E-Book Pricing - Part III

Sometimes you have to strike out and blaze trails. The rest of the time it is much better to get advice from someone more knowledgeable. 

I'm pleased to share this link and these quotes concerning e-book pricing from Dean Wesley Smith's blog:

"Short stories. 99 cents. Author gets about 35 cents per sale."

"Short novels and short collections (Anything from 15,000 words to 45,000 words)$2.99.
Author gets around 65% or about $1.95 per sale."


"Novels or long collections (45,000 words and up) $4.99-$5.99


Author gets around 65% or about $3.25-$4.50 per sale."

His prices are only a little different than the ones below.

$0.99 Short Shorts: Under 3K
$1.99 Shorts: 3-7K
$2.99 Stories: 7-15K
$3.99 Novelettes: 15-35K
$4.99 Novellas: 35-50K
$5.99 Novels 50-70K
$6.99 Super Novels: 70-140K
$7.99 Super XL Novels: 140-250K
$8.99 Super XXL Novels: 250K +


For more on this topic:

E-Book Pricing - Part IV

E-Book Pricing - Part II

Amazon knew what they were doing when they made the 70% royalty capped on both ends. They have effectively thumped writers on the head telling them – ‘get with the program.’

Most Indie writers have heard the call and upped their prices. Backlash comes from people who don’t want to pay for novels. (Well, neither do publishers for that matter, royalty percentages are chump change.)

If we look at the cliché ‘the cream rises to the top’ then we have a better idea of the pricing structure as a “system” of the market.

For instance, Fan Fiction is free. The best FF authors can hope for is eyeballs. Not many people are willing to pay even a penny to read the stuff. There is a lot of free crap out there – thank God most of it won’t see paper, ever.

In fact, Smashwords is so full of freebies that’s it’s hard to make any money there. As a distributor, they give great access – sales are iffy at best.

The Kindle Store was the home of the $.99 Newbie Indie because Amazon wisely won’t let Indies give their work away. Those rock bottom prices won’t go on forever. The $.99 novel needs to go the way of the $.99 gallon of gasoline.

At $.35 a copy, it will take months to pay for the ISBN I bought from Smashwords. It is not going to pay my car payment, or buy hay for my horses.

The latest game-changing group to hit the e-book market are the mid-listers, salvaging their careers by publishing their backlist. These books were published – they are not going to be priced for $.99.
They have no reason not to charge ‘pro’ prices.

If the “average book sells 18 copies” never earning out it’s advance, only staying on the shelves a few weeks, going Indie makes a lot of cents. (pun intended)

Like it or not – writing is a craft, but publishing is a business. Responsible publishing means responsible pricing. In order to stay in business writers HAVE write a book that proves they are pros, and charge accordingly.

If The Great Publishing Company can sell an e-book for $12.99 the same book is a bargain at $6.99. No agent to take ‘charge’ of the money, then ‘forget’ to send the royalties to the writer. (Yes, it happens.)

The ‘carrot’ approach to raising prices should have worked like a charm. Instead it has run smack into the writer’s paradox – inferiority from years of abuse from agents and the snobbery from rest of the publishing establishment.

A starving artist should shut the hell up and starve. The literary status quo must be maintained.

And those two guys behind the curtain – you know – Joe Konrath and Dean Wesley Smith – they are lying!

Everything they say about the changes in publishing is a damn lie.

Right – and I’ve got this big bridge that I’ll sell you cheap….

For more on this topic:

E-Book Pricing - Part I

E-Book Pricing - Part III
E-Book Pricing - Part IV

Blood Price by Tanya Huff

Blood Price by Tanya Huff

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As the opening book in a series from 1991 - I enjoyed reading "Blood Price." Like many other reviewers I found out about the books from the TV series.

Huff does a good job of pulling the reader into the story. I liked her 'regular' characters enough to keep reading the rest of the series. While Norman came off as uninteresting, she makes up for it with her later villains. 

Looking only at the first book, after having devoured the series, it is difficult to keep from writing spoilers. Henry is my favorite vampire character - bumping the Vampire Kitty-Cat Patch off his throne. Vickie holds up well, now and in the rest of the series.

Finding the entire series was difficult. I had to buy the books used. I was disappointed that Huff has not released the series as e-books. I would liked to have bought them for my Nook, instead of paper copies that I don't have room to keep.

View all my reviews

Dry, Dry, Dry

There has been no significant rain since August.

The lawn died months ago. Only a strip fed by condensation from the roof lives.

The pastures are beyond dead grass dry.

They are barren.

The chickens hunt grasshoppers, like Jurassic Park raptors, they move with amazing speed over the barren ground. Few bugs survive the predation of the flock.

The weeds have withered, the horses move restlessly over the pastures, seeking out the few blades surviving in the low places. They drink deeply in the mornings, sucking the 100 gallon trough dry.

Blue skies are relentless. Even the deeply cloudy days cheerlessly refusing to part with any moisture.

Even now, as the sky is blurring over with high clouds, mocking the color of the sky, the ground has little hope. The wind does not bring the sharp scent of rain. The clouds merely curtain away the sun for a day.

The grass is dead, the trees suffer in silence. Birds, fox and coyote prowl, endlessly searching for water.

J.R. Ward at 'The Bookstore'

J.R. Ward came into our local bookstore for a signing, yesterday evening to support the release of "Crave" the second book in her "Fallen Angels" series. Her hot selling series "The Black Dagger Brotherhood"  are vampire paranormals.


I've heard a few rumors about Ward's relationship to her fans. I wanted to see who would turn up for the signing. Working weekends has always kept me from the fun stuff. I went yesterday to satisfy my curiousity, getting a signed copy was secondary.

I expected a crowd of tween-age Goths, instead there was a cross section of ages and styles of dress. People came from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Alabama. The little store was packed, I would guess 200 people - there may have been another hundred. Waiting in line was fun for me, hubby had his fill of estrogen and retreated to the car.


Ward appeared promptly at 6pm. J.R. is a dynamic woman who knows how to work a crowd. She's twig thin, ghost pale and very tall, she wore a black dress, pearls, 3 or 4 inch heels and dark sunglasses. Now I've seen her I understand why her heroes are giants at 6' 5" to 6' 7". It's all about those extra inches.

I've read "Covet" and enjoyed it. However, her fans were immersed in the "The Black Dagger Brotherhood." The questions were all about the Brothers. Ward knows exactly what her fans want, and is expert at keeping them entertained. The signing was part theater, part Q & A, and a great time.

What I learned from this - not being on the 'inside' with all the characters - is that marketing can mix with showmanship. As with Stephen King, J.R. Ward projects an image - she is, herself, a character.

The warm, gleeful relationship Ward has with her fans is just too cool.

E-Book Pricing - Part I

What price to charge for an e-book? This is the great debate amongst Indie writers.

Hanging out on a few independent writer sites, I've noticed this issue cropping up. It is the one foremost in my own mind. Joe Konrath made a good case on Kindle boards (sorry can't find the link) and has another blog post about pricing here. Zoe Winters has touched on the subject here and here. Joe and Zoe are only two people, but both are very visible.

Kindle and Smashwords are the two venues I'm the most familiar with, but there are more. Publishing through Smashwords opens up 4 other markets – Barnes & Noble, Apple, Sony and Kobo. (PubIt! just went live. As a reader, I'm excited. More books for my Nook!)

The Kindle store doesn't allow Indie writers to give their work away. In fact, Amazon may have raised the royalty rate to 70% to bring the price of e-books UP to $2.99 as well as down to $9.99. While Smashwords hasn't set a minimum price – they have "coupon codes" so a writer can price their book at a competitive level, yet still give away discounted or free copies as needed.

I want to point out is that many Indie authors are selling their books for $.99 or giving them away. Selling a book cheap (or free) was the way that Winters and Konrath got noticed. As the numbers of Indie authors have skyrocketed, cheap reads are very common. Perhaps too common, there is a lot of downward pressure on book prices.

There is a precedent for freebies on the 'trade' side, too. Ellora's Cave and Harlequin give e-books away. Barnes & Noble gives away a book a week to Nook owners.

I'm kicking myself for losing the link for this – but I picked up the price list below from somewhere. (I'm so sorry, whoever you are!) I found this place from a link of Zoe's, I've posted it here to give us a benchmark.

$0.99 Short Shorts: Under 3K
$1.99 Shorts: 3-7K
$2.99 Stories: 7-15K
$3.99 Novelettes: 15-35K
$4.99 Novellas: 35-50K
$5.99 Novels 50-70K
$6.99 Super Novels: 70-140K
$7.99 Super XL Novels: 140-250K
$8.99 Super XXL Novels: 250K +

*Edited 9/18/2011 - The source is Selena Kitt - from her romantica/erotica publishing company. So the prices are valid for the Romance genre.*


Pricing by length makes sense to me. This list is from an e-publisher. Some would say a 'professionally' published e-book rates more money than a lowly self-published book. Following this price schedule would be a huge step up – "Let's Do Lunch" would sell for $6.99 just by word count.

A second point is that e-book length, as well as pricing, appears to go in two different directions. The women's fiction/romance/erotica market is going shorter, while the fantasy side is getting longer. Hmmm…Does this reflect the free time available for each gender? I know that I don't read modern fantasy anymore, because the darn books are too long. I digress – back on track.

Is this a textbook case of 'the cream rises to the top?'

Joe and Zoe – who gained their popularity with $.99 books, are vocal about raising prices in a time when more people are saying 'Indie books are worthless crap.' Since they are the 'cream' of the Indie world, they may be on the right track for themselves, but not for everyone.

I killed my sales by upping the price of "Let's Do Lunch" to $2.99. There are a number of caveats to that statement. The book is available in more markets than just Kindle, thanks to Smashwords, it even has an ISBN number. Having the sales drop from 4 a week to 0 was a big 'oh shit.'

The reason that I'm 'coming out' on this issue is that I promised myself in the beginning that "Lunch" was an experiment. I could document the 'ups and downs' so other wannabe writers could check this blog for 'real time' results.

Back to pricing – Is $.99 the only answer?

Unknown, self-published authors may feel they don't have a choice. Is the market saying 'if it costs more than a buck, forget it.' to unknowns like myself?

Should we drop the Kindle price back to $.99 because we're desperate to see some sales? Or, raise the price to the charts 'market levels' to combat the pressure for cheap/free reads? Either way changes to Smashwords take weeks to trickle down, while the Kindle contract stipulates they will have the lowest price.

Splitting the price to the different markets could be a good way to test my pricing theory. I could drop my Kindle price to $.99 and leave the rest the same. This could also be an ugly can of worms that I don't want to freaking open! I can see an price war – of my own doing – that will take months to clear up.

*Edited 9/18/2011 - Dropping the price to $.99 didn't work for me. What it did was change the 'Also Bought' list to $.99 and free e-books. This in turn cause more problems as I tried to raise the price to $2.99.* 


*What did work for me was releasing a second e-book. This was 'Impressive Bravado' a 7k short story. The release of this e-book as a freebie in March on Smashwords.com produced sales through the summer of 2011. (You can get a free copy from Smashwords through 12/31/11 with this code: HT72M)*
Marketing is a pain in the tush – get on with it!

The ugly truth is that marketing is now the 'make or break' for a writer. It doesn't matter if you are published by a 'trade' publisher, or if you self-published. New writers don't get any marketing help.

Short of hiring someone to market the book, how should a writer work out some kind of marketing strategy? There are plenty of review sites, more 'author interview' sites. Neither of these made any difference in my sales. (Not even Authors on Show, though they gave me a week of phenomenal hits.)

Creating a marketing co-op could be an answer, if I decided I didn't want to write and wanted only to market other writer's books. In my case, joining a co-op would be a better idea. Yet when I look at the one co-op I'm familiar with, it doesn't look so good.

Lebrary.com is the co-op I'm talking about – I see where they are trolling for authors – but not advertising their content. Book prices vary by length and the purchased package. Yet I don't see them taking advantage of their content by marketing the site to readers. They have no brand. This mistake may kill the site.


*Edited - 9/18/2011 - Looks like the site is dead. There are no blog posts and the newest content appears to be from 2010.*

Content is valuable – to simply charge authors for disk space is a waste of resources. Kindle is a brand. Barnes and Noble is a brand. Authors on Show has the right idea. (Go Team AoS!) Lebrary.com could learn a lot from AoS.

Even though my efforts at marketing (besides the $.99 price) have been futile, other writers are looking to me for advice, and/or help marketing their books.

Talk about the blind leading the blind.


*Edited 9/18/2011 - this is my most popular post, with the most hits, on this entire site. The chart has proven more useful to more people than I ever expected.*

For more on this topic:

E-Book Pricing Part II 
E-Book Pricing Part III
E-Book Pricing Part VI


Related links:
Authors on Show - Showcases Authors in UK
Impressive Bravado - Short Horse Story by K. A. Jordan
(You can get a free copy from Smashwords through 12/31/11 with this code: HT72M)
Let's Do Lunch - Women's Fiction by K. A. Jordan

Squick Time - Giant Spiders

This is just ghastly! I was mowing my lawn today and ran into a spider web. That made me hyper-sensitive to places where they hang out.

This is where it gets gross and squicky - I found a giant spider in the front. This is one of those yellow garden spiders. Only the body looked like it was the size of a very small pullet egg.

I nearly got sick looking at it. I'm terrified of these things.

There are so many here that I've started siccing the chickens on them, or spraying them if they get too close to the porch. (Anywhere I can see them is too damn close!)

I can't wait until the frost hits and these awful things are gone!

Marketing 'Let's Do Lunch'

This has been a very slow month as far as sales go. Since I added Smashwords to the mix, I've been trying to push some business that way, so I can track the number of hits.

I know that there have been 20 samples downloaded from Smashwords. So far there have not been any sales. I gave away 1 book, hoping to get a review later on down the road. I've also created a coupon to give a 50% discount for the book. This code has been posted to Authors on Show's 'Thank You' page.

I committed to giving away downloads of "Lunch" to the troops. Being so close to Fort Knox, and knowing so many young people in service, I feel strongly about showing support for them. Even if it is only giving them a copy of an e-book.

I can't help but thinking of the children of my friends - grown men and women now - who are 'over there.' (Better change the subject now before I start ranting.)

I posted a link to Joe Konrath's sales figures - and reminded myself just how important it is to have a body of work, not just a single book. Joe and the Indie writers whose names he posted, have worked very, very hard to write, edit and market their books.

My WIP has suffered from the summer long chaos. I can't concentrate long enough to finish the book. So I'm posting to this blog and messing around with a possible website. I have made some progress in other areas - bought the cover and posted Chapter One to Goodreads.

"Let's Do Lunch" now has an ISBN number - purchased from Smashwords. That will allow me to sell it on iBook, Sony and Barnes & Noble. I'm hearing from other writers that B&N is quickly becoming the second best selling market after Amazon. Must be all the Nooks they sold. So far I haven't found my own book on their site, but that takes WEEKS.

'Trivia Updated'

A number of annoying little inconsistencies have been plaguing me. Names that don't match - websites that need to be changed. I was able to get a big batch of that fixed today. I felt like I was drowning in minutia this afternoon, but now I'm happy because it is done.

I spent some time on the Kindle Boards today. The site has some confusing rules concerning what and when you can post. Yet it looks like I'm going to need to hang around and learn the ins and outs of the place. :-P

'Pet News'

The boys have had that wonderful surgery that keeps them from running off - looking for girl dogs. Hopefully this will also stop them from fighting. I've had to break up some snarl-fests that sounded murderous. Bites have been exchanged, but no blood has been drawn. This should keep them from an all out war. The last thing I need is a couple of Jack Russel terriorists going at it over the food dish.

The interesting thing is that everyone at the Clinic came out to tell me how wonderfully behaved my boys are. That may well be - a dog named 'Trouble' comes with a set of expectations. My old Jack had his teeth cleaned - no extractions this time. My boys were on a yogert diet for the first day. Even my hubby was envious.

Mommy Duck hatched out a red chick. I now have a Dominque crossed with a Rhode Island Red. She's a cutie, I put her in the iron tub for a few days with friends to teach her how to eat and drink.

That all the farm news.

Konrath Ebooks Sales Top 100k

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Konrath Ebooks Sales Top 100k

Yes, Joe has posted his numbers, and as usual they are mind-boggling.

Also worthy of a look-see is the list of new authors and pro-authors who are also riding the crest of the wave.

There is a lot to learn here.

Authors on Show - Features Yours Truly

I am fortunate enough to have be featured on the Authors on Show website. Lorraine has featured me on their "Thank You" page. This page is reserved for the site supporters, I'm proud to have been selected.

I am a cheerleader for Authors on Show because I believe in what they are doing. In the age of "Do It Yourself" marketing for new authors a showcase like this is critical. It can mean the difference between a author and their book making it or falling into obscurity.

 Thank you, Lorraine and AoS Team. I wish you all the best and will continue to send authors your way.

The Hawk on the Chicken Coop

I wish I had a picture of it. There was a big red-tailed hawk sitting on the wire roof of chicken world today. All my baby birds are in there. I've lost over $200 worth of purchased pullets and a hundred baby ducks this year.

So while Hungry Hawk was looking at the dinner out of reach. Hubby and I had a conference. The vote was two against one - the hawk had to go.

Hubby popped him with a bb gun. Non-lethal from that distance, but painful. The hawk dropped to the ground with a squawk. Then hopped back up to take one more look at my babies before he winged off.

Too bad he doesn't eat fox.

Coming Soon

One of the best arguments for pursuing publication through traditional sources is the assistance the author would get with marketing their book.

Yet, the rumors abound that a first book actually gets very little support.

I have a contact who did manage to get published via a well-known imprint. I'm looking forward to asking some questions and getting the feedback that we all desire.

How much help does a new author really get with their first book?

Stay tuned, I hope to present some very useful information in the near future.

The Cyber-Land of Confusion

As I continue to market 'Let's Do Lunch,' I am struck by the strangeness in the world of forums.

It is a hostile environment.

I suppose you can't blame each forum for creating rules based upon their experiences. Faceless spamming is annoying – slapping a book plug into random threads is enough to irritate anyone. I had enough bad experiences with flaming trolls and creepy sock-puppets on Autho' to empathize to a certain extent.

However, I'm convinced there has to be a better way.

I've already decided that LinkedIn has far too many people shilling services to all and sundry. However, I get many hits from the site. They are definitely a source of hits, if not a source of sales. I have decided to keep a presence in the discussion groups, but send people to the blog so I don't have to repeat myself.

British literary salon Litopia has arcane membership rules. Membership is based on the number of posts (either 50 or 250 I've see both mentioned) after that you have to submit a sample of your writing to some unknown entity (and pass a grammar test?) in order to become a full member. I don't have time to read and comment even 50 times. I doubt their market for women's fiction is large enough to justify my time and effort to obtain full membership.

Kindle boards has me thoroughly confused – I'm not going to remark further. Suffice to say that there are WAY too many people selling books. They have rules for everything. Blogspot tells me that I'm not getting many hits from that site.

Good old Face Book is a winner – their networked blogs function appears to be the source of most of my blog hits. Since joining networked blogs my hits per day have doubled. It may well be worth the investment of time and money to take out an ad through them.

I did enjoy the brief time I spent on the Authors on Show site. It has a good mix of US and UK readers and writers. Lorraine has been kind enough to link to Jordan's Croft – I really need to get over there and learn their site.

Oddly enough – I have not found a forum for Smashwords. I think I've missed it. I do enjoy their coupon function – I made one up the other day. (See the Books by K.A. Jordan page.) However, until I go over their marketing guide a couple more times I don't think I'll get the jist of it. It took me two weeks to understand Amazon DTP so I'm not going to sweat it. FWIW 'Lunch' was accepted by the premium catalog. I could go to iBook if I got an ISBN number.

The total waste of time this week was the Amazon Romance forum. I was taking part in two discussions – very lively and interesting. The first was deleted by Amazon, the second was taken over by a pro-erotica contingent.

The good news – 'Let's Do Lunch' continues to sell steadily. Since the price has increased to $2.99 I have made as much money in one week as I did the entire first month.

The bad news – 'Swallow the Moon' has fallen afoul of my chaotic life. The book hovers at just under 59.5k words. While I sit down to complete this pass every night – it seems there is always some crisis distracting me. If it's not the fox after my chickens in broad daylight, it's Trouble racing down the road.

Farm life has drawbacks.

'Let's Do Lunch' Discarded Scene

A dozen men and one woman sat in a circle, some in wheelchairs, some on crutches, several were amputees, all were soldiers in various stages of treatment. Some faced forward, making eye contact with each other. A few looked down; others looked away, refusing to make any kind of eye contact.

There was also a tall, thin man in his sixties sitting quietly. He had the dark skin of a man who worked outside. Across from him was the 'hard case' of the crew. Bearded and shaggy-haired Sergeant 'Tag' McTaggart wore old jeans and an Army t-shirt, what he lacked in grooming, he made up for in attitude.

McTaggart understood those reluctant to participate. He understood the despairing ones, too. Out on his own for six months he'd been back twice, once in a coma, once in a straight jacket. The condition for his release included that he come to this group without fail.

"What a crock of shit," the speaker was in a wheelchair. "I'm supposed to LIKE the fact that my career is dead and that the Army that I served life and limb thinks I'm a helpless cripple?"

"Acceptance doesn't mean that you like it." The councilor, a woman in her sixties was a civilian. "You just get on with your life."

"Bullshit," McTaggart said. "I'm going stir crazy. The days drag and the nights are… horrible."

"Then get a job." One of the other men in the circle, named Smith, said. "Stop sitting on your ass. Find something to do."

Smith was dressed in new jeans and a polo shirt. He had been "out in the world" for a year, and they all knew that he was playing stay-at-home Dad for his three pre-school kids. His jeans hid the fact that he was missing a leg.

"Right," McTaggart sneered. "I've spent the last ten years learning how to kill people. That would look great on a resume" He looked around at the group. "Anybody know a Mafia boss who wants a one-legged hit man?"

A couple of the guys snickered.

"You can come over and help me with the kids, anytime." Smith grinned. "You can chase the youngest. She hasn't learned to walk yet, but she can scoot."

"A female that can't outrun him," Rodriguez snickered.

"Smart ass, you find a job," McTaggart flipped him the bird.

The councilor held up her hand, stopping the others from commenting.

"It doesn't have to be a job as a hit man, or the president of some company. Just find something to do."

"How did you survive when you first got out?" McTaggart asked the tall thin man across the circle. "You had a long time in service. There was none of this bullshit back in your day, eh?"

The guys respected the Vietnam Veteran. He'd told his story – Green Beret, POW, married to the same woman since the 1970's, with two daughters. He had no treatment for his PTSD until a year ago. He'd nearly killed two men with his bare hands because of it.

"I did 30 years in the Army, so it was tough," retired Colonel Jim Bennett looked McTaggart straight in the eye. "It got worse after 9-11. I lost my son-in-law at the Pentagon then my retirement money when the market crashed. My pension isn't enough to cover the wife's maintenance." They laughed.

"So I got off my ass. You know, 'suck it up and drive on.'" Bennett showed his teeth in a smile. "Now I work with my daughter. I have a market garden, two acres that I work every day. I'm up before dawn and I work outside, sometimes until dark."

"Sounds like hard work," one of the men said.

"I can take my time," Bennett shrugged. "I tried an office job. I hated it."

"Maybe you can put McTaggart to work." Rodriguez was in a mood for trouble. "I don't think Smith should trust him with his daughter."

They all sat back, inhaling sharply at the insult.

McTaggart stared Rodriguez down, until the other man dropped his eyes, muttering under his breath.
"Hey, I was just messing around."

"How about it, McTaggart?" Bennett broke the silence. "I could use some help."

"Doing what?" McTaggart was curious. "What can I do?"

"Help me plant, help me harvest," Bennett grinned. "It's not rocket science, just gardening."

"What's the matter, afraid to get your hands dirty?"

"I used to work in my Uncle Ray's garden," a double amputee in a wheelchair who hadn't spoken in weeks looked at McTaggart. "I liked it."

Everyone in the group looked from him to McTaggart.

McTaggart took a deep breath then nodded.

"Okay. I'll think about it."

Rodriguez had to get the last word, but he said it under his breath so only McTaggart heard him.

"Lay a hand on one of Bennett's daughters and you'll take a long dirt nap."

McTaggart snorted - messing with women was the last thing on his mind.

Content Sites – the Future of Indie?

The more I read forums in places like LinkedIn, Kindle Boards, Amazon, Create Space and, of course, the Bitches - the more I understand the need for 'content sites' and themed writer co-ops. These sites keep the Indie writer from 'reinventing the wheel' of marketing.
The two I keep coming back to are "Authors On Show" and "Year Zero."

At Year Zero – things are hopping once again. Dan Halloway did a guest blog on Authonomy.blogspot.com entitled: eight cuts gallery – this is not a publishing house. I recommend Year Zero and eight cuts gallery of 'bleeding edge' literature for anyone willing to take a walk on the wild side. Here is a 'hat's off' salute!
Authors on Show – they are so supportive! I've recommended them on LinkedIn forums – simply because they are working the content end – not shilling a darn thing. I think this site is one of the best things to come out of Authonomy – for the mainstream writer.
I started writing this a week or so before I submitted to Authors on Show. They have replied and eventually I'll have a few inches of column space. That's not the point – the point is the site has done so much for so many authors that they deserve another shout out from me, first.

E-Reader Irritation

There are excellent reasons that I like my Nook. The access to cheap books is number one. Being able to carry my library and having fast access to the B&N catalog at home are two more.
My beef with all this quick access is having no way to tell what I'm getting. There is no search function for "Not Erotica" or even "PG 13" content.
In short, there is no way to filter out what I don't want to read. Most e-publishers are very good about giving their books a rating system.
What is wrong with B&N?
Lazy buggers.
At least put it in the tagging system…
Hey, that's an idea.

A New Look for Jordan's Croft

As much as I love the templates for "The cutest blog on the block" I'm going to give them up.

Jordan's Croft is going "Pro" with a new look. I used softer colors that are easier to read. You can expect to see more changes as time goes on. This is the beginning of the 'tweaking' process that will hopefully make this site even more of an success.

Speaking of success - the book continues to sell a copy here and a copy there. It appears to sell best going into the weekends - people want a good weekend read.

My goals are simple ones - ten books the first month then five additional books every month after that. I would like to have the second book up by the end of the year. My goal is producing 2 or 3 books a year.

"Let's Do Lunch" - Marketing Kickoff

I'm proud to announce the marketing kick off of "Let's Do Lunch" my contemporary romance novel set in Elizabethtown, Ketucky.

After a bit of tweaking and some false starts - the Amazon.com K.A. Jordan Author page, is up and functioning. The "Let's Do Lunch" purchase page for Amazon.com is up, with sample pages available.

In addition I have an interview with Kindle-Author blog posted. Be the first to comment.

The e-book has sold a few copies, possibly due to my dropping the price to $.99 and getting active on Kindle boards and Amazon's Romance board.

We had a nice thread going - a discussion concerning the amount of Romance in a novel. If you are interested you can find it here on Kindle Boards.

Finally, I found some really funny clips.  Who is Zoe Winters? The "Indie Stigma" issue is completely out of hand. But she has handled it with humor and taste - just excuse the WTF comment. I'm looking forward to the next installment.