Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Tuesday Tip: October 30th

The Tipping Point
The focus of the weekly blog article may be shifting. Reading through past articles may answer most of your questions, or it may not. Feel free to ask questions, suggest topics, etc. The postings will continue, but may be different; interviews with other local authors or people in the industry.
For this week, I have a question for you. What do you expect from a Writer’s Group?
Some of the members that are talking about joining the group here in the Payette/Malheur county area are unsure what activities/benefits a group would entail/confer. One thing that has been mentioned is reading material aloud for proofreading. Others (me) find this somewhat uncomfortable, and posit that the reason they took up writing was to avoid talking. Willing to give it a shot though.
Suggestions/questions are encouraged, and the search for other local authors to interview is underway!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Tuesday Tip: October 23rd

What’s the Deal?
Messages have been slowly filtering in, asking why Apprentice Swordceror is doing so well. Is there some secret? Some behind the scenes marketing juggernaut pushing sales of a fairly short, reasonably expensive E-book? Not that I’m in charge of, or even aware of. After some introspective pondering, here are some theories. They might be right, they might be wrong, but they’re all there is.
Social Media:
Facebook. 147 friends. Not a huge deal. Some are leftovers from my App gaming days, but plenty are actual friends. We may not get together as much as we’d like, but we pay attention to what’s going on in each other’s lives.
LinkedIn. 9 connections? Even less of a big deal. The best part about LinkedIn is the discussion groups. Arguably not the best use of time, but a way to engage with others in talking about your craft.
Blogger. Only 4 followers, one of which is my wife (Thank you, dear). Pageviews have increased incredibly since the Tuesday Tips segment has begun.
One possibility is that they have been all linked together. Blog posts shared on Facebook. Blog address posted on LinkedIn, and in the Author Info page at the end of Apprentice Swordceror.
Another guess is the focusing of these channels to more specific uses. LinkedIn for writing discussion and professional reviews only. The Blogsite for the weekly article, and select announcements only. (Thanks Jeremy). Facebook for sharing and the other social side of the equation. Everything in its place.

Book Rankings:
There was a post on a discussion group on LinkedIn about what constitutes Epic Fantasy versus generic Fantasy. Scope, character development, etc. The way the series is planned, it felt like it was going to be Epic. It also felt Action/Adventurey. Those were the two categories assigned to it during the publishing process. Turns out there were not a ton of fast moving titles in that category, except the one that will not, evidently, budge from first place(Still geeking out about playing leapfrog with the Wheel of Time books though). The initial buying surge from friends and family, along with a few positive reviews, must have pushed it up enough to get noticed, and the whole thing snowballed.

Price Point:
This has been a battle. Friends and family have advised that the book not be undervalued. $2.99 was the bare minimum for the highest royalty from Amazon. Without the cover art, that was the highest price I was willing to charge. When the cover art finally came through, the price went up a dollar. Sales increased, due to higher visibility. Some reviewers have complained about the price, but maybe a higher price helps. How many $.99 books do you read? Do you feel you’ve read a $.99 book? Someone proud enough to charge more than the absolute minimum may be worth a try.

Editing:
This is still a struggle. There are new fixes noticed every day, and there will be versions uploaded addressing these for the foreseeable future. The book was a bit rushed. However, one of the things that may have contributed to the feel of the book is the lack of experience editing Fantasy by Ken Rodgers. Ken’s preferred genre is Military/Historical. His writing is rough, raw, and emotional. He was chosen, not because of his experience in the genre, but by several connections, friends of friends of co-workers, and his reasonable rates. The unfamiliarity of style, I believe, lends a different flavor to the novel(la). Plus, he’s a great guy, with many, many stories of his own.

Approach:
This is likely the glue that keeps the synergy of this whole thing together. Take it easy. Don’t oversell. Engage your audience, and have your work ready and accessible, if they decide they want it. Be nice, and try to make sure all of your promotional material is about your audience and your work, not yourself. Nothing turns off a prospective buyer faster than an article with 17 “I”s and 9 “me”s. Focus on your work, your fans, your friends, your family. Not in that order. That gets you in trouble. A little humor helps sometimes, too.

Material:
This is for Bernadette: I read once that nobody wants an autobiography from someone who isn’t already famous. Your work should probably not be billed/framed as an autobiography. From what is known about your life and/or mistakes, a humorous self-help/philosophical hybrid, if done properly, could do VERY well. You’ll probably have to go pretty heavy on the humor. Best of luck to you.
Hopefully this answers some of the questions you have, and if it raises more, you know where to find me. Thanks again for your interest and now, your interaction!

Monday, October 22, 2012

The Magic of Reading

One official cuts spending in the name of austerity. Another raises taxes for a bloated, innefective spending program.
The funny part is: We don't need them.
We are the most giving people on the face of the planet, all we need is the opportunity to give.
In years past, a certain candidate jokingly admitted that he had once 'shared his peanut butter sandwich'. My response was that was perfectly fine, as long as he didn't take mine away to give to someone else.

The past few weeks have been amazing. Apprentice Swordceror is flying off the virtual shelves, and there is a rather large peanut butter sandwich on the horizon. It's time to share.

School libraries have always been important to my family. I read a book a day out of my High School Library. Carrie spent much of last year, and some of this year volunteering and substituting in our local Elementary School Library. That is where we have chosen to focus our giving first.

As of 9:30 pm last night, proceeds from all U.S. sales of Apprentice Swordceror until roughly 4:30 am Friday morning will be donated to the Fruitland Elementary School Library. This coincides with the Book Fair, which started this morning, and runs through Thursday, also quite worth checking out.

Middle of the week sales are usually 20-30 units per day, averaging 20 U.S. sales, for a rough estimate of a $220 donation at the end of this campaign. We can do better than that.

Amazon sales are tracked constantly, sales ranking lists are updated hourly. Sudden shifts in movement are noticed, and promoted. If there happened to be a large upswing in sales of Apprentice Swordceror on Wednesday evening, around 7:30 pm, the momentum could result in more sales around the country that evening, the whole next day, and into Friday morning. Your $3.99 purchase would see $2.75 go directly to the school, and possibly influence many more sales, leveraging our efforts to support our students.

We ask that you consider this, and help us send the message that no matter who is 'in power', or what laws are passed or passed over, WE will all try and do what's best for our childern, our community, our country.

Thank you.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Tuesday Tip: October 16th

More than a Hobby? How can you tell?
So you’ve written your novel. Or perfected your Chicken Cordon Bleu. Or invented the better mousetrap. Is your work worth anything? When does a passion become a profession?
Like many of life’s questions, the answer varies from person to person. A friend once told me when it comes to jobs, there is a quick rule of thumb: Legal, Profitable, Fun. Pick two. I would challenge people to find ways to get a decent amount of all three qualities in their working life. And it begins where you are at now. Hopefully if you are only getting two out of three, one of them is legal. So you need to work on having fun, getting more money, or both.
Have fun. I know it sounds simple, but make your mind up to enjoy what you are doing, who you are with. If you are employed full time in a normal job, you spend more time with the people you work with than you do your own family. That’s a lot of time to be miserable, and often it’s self-inflicted.
Give yourself a raise. If possible, take on extra duties. This will not assure you of extra money, but making yourself more useful, especially in a down economy, a tight job market, will translate into a higher level of job security, which has monetary value. Coupled with a better attitude, raises and bonuses will generally follow.
With lowered stress from financial burdens, and positivity, it is usually easier for you to express yourself creatively. This should improve the quality of your work, bringing us back to: How can you tell?
Ask friends and family for feedback, at first. Improve your work until you are happy with it, then go over it again. You will reach the point that you will not be able to find any faults with it. When this happens, find an impartial professional. This must be someone you do not already know, someone who will require payment. Existing friends will either go too easy on you, or the relationship could become strained if the difference in opinion of the work is too great. You must be prepared to invest in yourself, within reason. Get the professional feedback, then pay attention to it. Do not follow it blindly, or ignore it out of hand. Some changes you will want to go along with, others would damage your style and voice so as to make your work bland and unrecognizable. At this point, you may begin having serious second thoughts about your chosen hobby. Conversely, your work may be validated beyond your expectations. Rework it, keeping the professional critique in mind, re-polish it, and have it reviewed again. At this point, get more friendly reviewers to go through your work, and if they, and you, believe you are ready, start researching what it will take to market and promote your work.
The educated, validated opinion that your work is marketable is a very real first step in distinguishing amateurish floundering from profitable ventures. Where you choose to take it from there is up to you.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Tuesday Tip: October 9th

Self-Publishing Cost Savers: Are they worth it?
When publishing your first work, the ability to get things accomplished without slapping down a pile of cash is probably a huge advantage. After all, until you get your first royalty check, face it… Writing is your hobby. Some people have extra money to allocate to hobbies; others have hobbies to help them forget they have no extra money.
Editing, Artwork, and Promotion are your main concerns where cost comes into play.
You can, and should, have other people read your work to help out with your editing. However, unless your friends are all English Professors, published authors, or just incredibly insightful, you’ll probably want to budget a little for at least some light editing.
Artwork is a tricky subject. It also seeps into the realm of Promotion, because regardless of the old axiom, people do still judge books by their covers. I discovered recently that even without a cover, a book of sufficient quality will do reasonably well, if promoted properly. I believe it would have done better with an actual cover, but that remains to be seen. How much do you spend on your artwork? Are you going to see a higher return than your investment? Be honest with yourself. If your book is of high enough quality, and you have a reasonable price point with a decent royalty, spend some money. You have people who will buy the book because you wrote it. There are others who will buy it because of your advertising, and those that will like the shiny cover. If all three of these facets work together correctly, the synergy could ramp your sales incredibly.
If you are not eating, drinking, and breathing Promotion after your first work is on the market, you are losing out. At least have someone else doing it for you while you continue to create. Expand your market. Get your product viewed in different circles. If you don’t, you’re leaving money on the table. But how much do you spend getting the money off that table? My gut instinct is to invest small at first in advertising that is paid up front. I’m going to try putting together local fundraising drives that are either revenue neutral, or positive on my end, in exchange for increasing connections, and building a market for future works.
We’ll see how it works out.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Tuesday Tip: October 2nd

Worldbuilding and Continuity. Is your story set in an existing world, or a one completely of your own imagining?
If you are writing something you plan on sharing with the world, and it is in an existing construct, you had better know how things work. Not only the way things work, but what you, as a writer, are allowed to do. Some series that allow or encourage writers to submit new material for their collections have very strict rules. These may include not introducing characters that last beyond your contribution, such as love interests to high profile characters.
If you are building your own Fantasy universe, you have some work ahead of you. I would first suggest reading ‘The Rivan Codex’ by David Eddings. It has step by step instructions that might be overlooked if you are not careful. Plus, I’ve heard he is an OK author.
Make your world worth exploring. Have layers of strangeness that can drive your story, or at least amuse your readers in the breaths between your plot advances. In my current series, the strangeness that drives part of the plot is the way that magic works normally, and the exception that the main character discovers. It becomes familiar to him, and it winds up taking a back seat to other things that are happening in his life. But it is still there, and returns to upend his life once more in the second book.
Keep an open mind. Sometimes the rules need to change to make things work right. Write the rules down. Double, triple check everything that the changes could affect. ‘Apprentice Swordceror’ began as an experiment with rune-based magic, the plan was to have an elder Mage who had been searching for a legendary artifact that granted invulnerability and immortality find new information and lead an apprentice on the quest to recover it. Toward the end of the planned short story, my intent was to have the Elder find the weapon he sought, and discover that it was enchanted with a spell that turned flesh to stone, making the target somewhat invulnerable, and somewhat immortal. Of course, it would have already started, and would be too late. After happening to see a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits with pretty much the same ending, that got scrapped. Once I was about ten or twelve chapters in, a friend who was reading it pointed out a good place for a dream scene. It was just a kind of random comment, but I ran with it. In working up the dream sequence, I wound up foreshadowing the rest of the series, and adding depth to the underlying world mechanics I had only just started mapping out. Luckily, the other notes were all organized, and there were no conflicts that could not be worked out with the new direction.
Finally, immerse yourself in your world. Imagine how the different rules would affect even the most mundane events or people. For example, a society that has magic might stagnate technologically, even though it has thousands of years of history behind it. Why invent a machine if a Mage can cast a spell? Maybe Mages keep the inventors down because they want to keep the power for themselves. Perhaps there is an underground subculture that is advanced, in opposition to the magic users. That simple logical progression could be the basis for a Fantasy world, and provide more than sufficient drive for several plots. It just needs fleshed out and polished.
I should write that down.