I've read a few books lately on Indie publishing, and it seems the thing they stress the most is social networking - promo, promo, promo.
Being a naturally reclusive type, that is a bit hard for me. However, it did occur to me that while I might have a hard time self-promoting, I don't mind at all to promote other people's work when I like it. In fact, I started to wonder why I'd never invited any of the authors whose cover art I did to come by my blog and talk about their books. Seems a natural thing to do, right? And why haven't I done more book reviews? I've read tons of books this past year - many by my blogging pals. I could have been active in promoting them - I have no problem pumping up other writers on my blog, facebook, and twitter.
So, to those of you I've overlooked: My deepest apologies; I'll remedy that situation very soon.
To myself... maybe I need to create an alter ego to peddle my own stuff? lol
Meanwhile, I've got three - count 'em three - WIPS I want to finish this year, but I'm finding it hard to stay focused and motivated. However, I did narrow it down to two to focus on, but I still need to choose one to finish first, and decided to ask for you help in choosing by posting two excerpts to vote on. You can find the candidates in the header tabs above.
With that in mind, I also decided to take a page from the awesomely talented Avery DeBow and try a Mad Lib (or, as she called it, Bad Lib) approach to finish the chosen story. Avery had posted a bit of a story each week, and asked for people to supply words which she had to include in the next week's excerpt. Her end story was incredible, and while I don't have the same amount of talent as Avery, the utter horror and shame should I fail to produce something might just be motivation enough to keep me going.
Mind you, both of those ideas fill me with utter terror. You might not bother to show up. You might hate both excerpts and refuse to vote. You might hate the mad lib and not participate. You might hate me.
And worst of all, I might be incapable of producing anything usable in such a manner on a weekly basis.
Oh, well. All I can do is try. If you don't want to play along and torture me even more senseless than I already am, I suppose I could just randomly pick words out of the dictionary. It does lack that motivating, public humiliation factor, though.
UPDATE 6/30: By the way, if you participate, I'll promote your book across facebook, twitter, amazon, etc., and you'll be entered to win a free cover art package should you wish to receive one. Just let me know.
Showing posts with label avery debow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label avery debow. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Books by the Numbers
There is a persistent belief that if you go indie, you'll never sell much. They say people like Amanda Hocking, Zoe Winters, JA Konrath, Tina Folsom, etc. are just "lucky" and the fact that they are now making a living with their indie books is a fluke. Ok, yes, they've gotten lucky - the luck that comes with writing a great story, being enthusiastic, learning what you need to know, believing in yourself, and taking a chance. The luck that is defined as "preparation meets opportunity."
Someone else whose "luck" is increasing due to the same formula, is my blogosphere pal, Edie Ramer. She just sold 1000 books on Kindle this past month and I couldn't be happier for her. I fully expect that as more people read her books (which are fabulous, by the way - I LOVED "Dragon Blues") those figures will increase and she will soon be making a living wage at it herself.
My former critique partner, Amber Scott, is also doing amazingly well. Like Edie and Zoe, Amber's enthusiasm and passion for what she's doing is carrying her far. In fact, I recently told her she is my hero right now because I remember clearly the first time we met in Barnes & Noble. Neither of us had been published, both were very shy - she, exceedingly so - but were having fun trying to make something of what we had. Now that formerly shy young woman is burning up the internet with her podcasts, vblogs, interviews, presentations, panels, you name it, and her book "PlayFling" was in Smashwords top 20 for weeks. And I fully expect her next book, Fierce Dawn, to do really well. Go, Amber!
Now, as for me, I didn't really have very high expectations venturing into the Indie Arena. I had seen how badly things turned out for my grandfather when he self-published (in the days before Kindle), and I've read all the caveats (even by successful indie authors) that say don't get your hopes up too much in the beginning. And of course, there is still some stigma attached to it. But I was willing to try it, to see how it went.
Since "Unmasked" is a re-release of an older novella--as well as a bit niche in its audience*--I didn't do any promotion except to mention it a couple of times on my blog, Facebook and Twitter. I put it out there to see what would happen, and to test the waters of this Kindle publishing thing.
To my surprise, I've already sold more copies in the past month than I did the whole time it was with its original publisher, and I'm within 15 copies of matching my first month's sales of "Managing Maggie" at Cobblestone Press - and MM was their bestseller for that month. (At first, I thought I had surpassed the sales figure, but when I looked up my royalty statement from last year, saw that I'm almost there.) Fingers crossed that I can match it in the next three days, but even if I don't, I've still been pleasantly surprised.
"Unmasked" started out ranking at around #1 million something, then got to around #300,000 the first few days, peaking so far at around 20,000 in the US, but generally ranking between 25 and 40K. I was a bit discouraged by that number until I bought the most recent book by a well-known, traditionally pub'd author that I like a lot, and hers was ranked at #36,000+ that day. But about an hour ago, I just found out to my surprise that "Unmasked" was #36 on the Amazon UK's list for bisexual erotica - I broke into a top 100! Who knew?!
Now, in reality, the number of sales this month aren't going to pay my rent (especially with Unmasked now priced at 99cents), but even so - color me hooked! Being able to control whether and when my story gets put for sale was so liberating and empowering. Now I'm asking myself, "If my first niche novella that I've hardly promoted at all can do this, what might happen if I promoted a book that has a wider audience range -- one that I'm also very enthusiastic about?"
That will my next experiment. I'll let you know how it turns out. :)
Meanwhile, I know Charles Gramlich, Avery DeBow, Sidney Williams, Marcia Colette, and Steve Malley have all also tried the indie route recently - any of you want to share your experience so far? :)
-----------
*When I first wrote Unmasked back in 2006, it was in response to a call from a publisher looking to fill slots for an erotic anthology about a masquerade ball held by the gods. In researching the editor, I discovered she really liked male/female/female menages, so I wrote a story with that in mind and sent it to her. Two morals to that story: One, if you want to have someone else publish your books, research the editor; and two, even if your book has a limited audience, that doesn't mean it has NO audience, so don't give up!
Someone else whose "luck" is increasing due to the same formula, is my blogosphere pal, Edie Ramer. She just sold 1000 books on Kindle this past month and I couldn't be happier for her. I fully expect that as more people read her books (which are fabulous, by the way - I LOVED "Dragon Blues") those figures will increase and she will soon be making a living wage at it herself.
My former critique partner, Amber Scott, is also doing amazingly well. Like Edie and Zoe, Amber's enthusiasm and passion for what she's doing is carrying her far. In fact, I recently told her she is my hero right now because I remember clearly the first time we met in Barnes & Noble. Neither of us had been published, both were very shy - she, exceedingly so - but were having fun trying to make something of what we had. Now that formerly shy young woman is burning up the internet with her podcasts, vblogs, interviews, presentations, panels, you name it, and her book "PlayFling" was in Smashwords top 20 for weeks. And I fully expect her next book, Fierce Dawn, to do really well. Go, Amber!
Now, as for me, I didn't really have very high expectations venturing into the Indie Arena. I had seen how badly things turned out for my grandfather when he self-published (in the days before Kindle), and I've read all the caveats (even by successful indie authors) that say don't get your hopes up too much in the beginning. And of course, there is still some stigma attached to it. But I was willing to try it, to see how it went.
Since "Unmasked" is a re-release of an older novella--as well as a bit niche in its audience*--I didn't do any promotion except to mention it a couple of times on my blog, Facebook and Twitter. I put it out there to see what would happen, and to test the waters of this Kindle publishing thing.
To my surprise, I've already sold more copies in the past month than I did the whole time it was with its original publisher, and I'm within 15 copies of matching my first month's sales of "Managing Maggie" at Cobblestone Press - and MM was their bestseller for that month. (At first, I thought I had surpassed the sales figure, but when I looked up my royalty statement from last year, saw that I'm almost there.) Fingers crossed that I can match it in the next three days, but even if I don't, I've still been pleasantly surprised.
"Unmasked" started out ranking at around #1 million something, then got to around #300,000 the first few days, peaking so far at around 20,000 in the US, but generally ranking between 25 and 40K. I was a bit discouraged by that number until I bought the most recent book by a well-known, traditionally pub'd author that I like a lot, and hers was ranked at #36,000+ that day. But about an hour ago, I just found out to my surprise that "Unmasked" was #36 on the Amazon UK's list for bisexual erotica - I broke into a top 100! Who knew?!
Now, in reality, the number of sales this month aren't going to pay my rent (especially with Unmasked now priced at 99cents), but even so - color me hooked! Being able to control whether and when my story gets put for sale was so liberating and empowering. Now I'm asking myself, "If my first niche novella that I've hardly promoted at all can do this, what might happen if I promoted a book that has a wider audience range -- one that I'm also very enthusiastic about?"
That will my next experiment. I'll let you know how it turns out. :)
Meanwhile, I know Charles Gramlich, Avery DeBow, Sidney Williams, Marcia Colette, and Steve Malley have all also tried the indie route recently - any of you want to share your experience so far? :)
-----------
*When I first wrote Unmasked back in 2006, it was in response to a call from a publisher looking to fill slots for an erotic anthology about a masquerade ball held by the gods. In researching the editor, I discovered she really liked male/female/female menages, so I wrote a story with that in mind and sent it to her. Two morals to that story: One, if you want to have someone else publish your books, research the editor; and two, even if your book has a limited audience, that doesn't mean it has NO audience, so don't give up!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Last Chance
Last call is almost up for Avery DeBow's Mad Lib "Junket City", as well as today is the last day you can get Amber Scott's "Play Fling" (currently in the top 25 best sellers on Smashwords) free with the promotional coupon.
Steve Malley has published his novel "Crossroad Blues" there as well, and I have "Unmasked" for free during the July promotion as well. Oh, and after you've checked out Steve's book page, you should really take a look at his tattoo art. Now I wish I were in New Zealand so I could get one. :)
Forgive me for not getting this up earlier. I've been busy, busy, busy with working the day job, gearing up to do my yearly Halloween art sale, creating cover art with Cobblestone Press, and just trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up.
Steve Malley has published his novel "Crossroad Blues" there as well, and I have "Unmasked" for free during the July promotion as well. Oh, and after you've checked out Steve's book page, you should really take a look at his tattoo art. Now I wish I were in New Zealand so I could get one. :)
Forgive me for not getting this up earlier. I've been busy, busy, busy with working the day job, gearing up to do my yearly Halloween art sale, creating cover art with Cobblestone Press, and just trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Fun & Games
Just thought I should post some sort of update here, but since the last of my brain cells have gone on strike, I figured I'd point you in the direction of something fun.
Over at Avery DeBow's blog, she's doing a "bad-lib, mad-lib" where every Friday she asks posters for nouns, verbs, names, etc. and then uses them in her work in progress. It's been very entertaining, and Avery's talent shines in the creative ways she's put the words to use.
(For instance, one suggestion for an occupation was "Dr. Ruth's Personal Dominatrix" and she managed to weave that into her story.)
Go on - play along! :)
Over at Avery DeBow's blog, she's doing a "bad-lib, mad-lib" where every Friday she asks posters for nouns, verbs, names, etc. and then uses them in her work in progress. It's been very entertaining, and Avery's talent shines in the creative ways she's put the words to use.
(For instance, one suggestion for an occupation was "Dr. Ruth's Personal Dominatrix" and she managed to weave that into her story.)
Go on - play along! :)
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