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Siv Maria wrote a great comment that I thought deserved a post all its own:
Siv Maria:
Interesting post.
I have trouble understanding all of these facts. I don't understand why writing a book and publishing it should be so complicated.
Roland:
The Publishing Industry is in flux. Agents are loathe to take on anyone who is not a "sure thing" (translation: writing a book similar to a bestseller : HUNGER GAMES, TWILIGHT, HARRY POTTER, ANITA BLAKE, 50 SHADES OF GREY.)
Same reluctance goes for Publishers.
Writers sometimes spend years vainly knocking on the door of agents and publishers to get their books into the mainstream.
Siv Maria:
My book is almost finished and I have no idea what to do with it once it is done.
Roland:
ePulishing may be a good route for you to follow. But as with any endeavor, you must do it as best you can. How?
Joe Konath (a successful eAuthor had some great ideas):
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/07/zero-sum.html:
"Some ebooks won't be read.
But quality does seem to eventually find an audience.
Maybe not to smashing success, but authors don't need smashing success. They need 100 sales a day at $2.99 to live very well.
What do you need to do to reach that 100 sales a day?
1. Write good stories. As many and as fast as you can.
They should be edited, proofed, and well formatted I use www.52novels.com for formatting, and they do better work than any of the Big 6. The more you have out there, the better you'll do.
2. Make sure you have a great product description and a professional cover.
Joe Konath's cover artist, Carl Graves, has 24 new covers on sale on his website for $200 each. A bunch of them are awesome, and $200 is a great deal (he charges Joe $500).
Check them out, first come first serve, at http://extendedimagery.com/predesignedcovers.html.
Our friend, Jeremy, from RETRO-ZOMBIE also does covers. $75. How cool is that?
http://izombielover.blogspot.com/
3. Find the sweet spot between price and quantity sold,
where you make the most profit. Currently Joe is at $3.99 for novels, $2.99 for novellas (over 10k words) and story collections, and 99 cents for short stories. But this isn't set in stone.
4. Experiment with different ways to promote.
Some things I've tried to varying degrees of success are giving away free ebooks to get reviews, announcing sales on ebook websites, having sales, making titles free for a limited time, partnering with different platforms, and guest blogging.
What don't I bother with?
1. Advertising.
It doesn't work on me, so I don't use it on other people. That's a cardinal rule of mine. I only use something or believe it works if I do it as a consumer.
2. Social media.
Occasional tweets of Facebook announcements are fine. At most, once a week. Maybe once a day if you have a new release, but end it after a few days. Otherwise people get sick of you.
3. Publicity.
I've already blogged that getting my name in the press doesn't lead to sales. You probably don't need a publicist.
4. Spamming.
Joe has a newsletter, and uses it a few times a year. He doesn't use it everytime he uploads something new to Kindle. And he doesn't pimp his work on other peoples' blog or forums unless invited to do so, or there's a section for it.
So Siv:
Don't Be Afraid. Yes, the future will be different. Yes, things will change. But there will always be a need for storytellers, and if you hold onto your rights, you'll be in a good position to exploit those rights no matter what the future holds.
Siv Maria:
Also I have read many of your books out of order. I really wish you would tell us readers which book follows the next. I think you have tried but it still is confusing...Maybe I am just stupid.
Roland:
No way are you stupid! I have just written so many books over 3 years that there are a few of them out there!
The BATMAN of my linked universe is SAMUEL MCCORD. He is the lynch pin of my literary world.
1.) RITES OF PASSAGE {1853}
2.) ADRIFT IN THE TIME STREAM {Sequel to RITES set in 1853 as well}
3.) FRENCH QUARTER NOCTURNE {2005 - Victor is missing since in THREE SPIRIT KNIGHT (YET TO BE PUBLISHED)
he followed Sam into Hell, wiping all traces of himself from reality for a time.}
4.) CREOLE KNIGHTS {Sequel to FRENCH QUARTER NOCTURNE set in 2005}
5.) THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH {Set in 2005 just prior to FRENCH QUARTER NOCTURNE}
6.) UNDER A VOODOO MOON {Sequel to LEGEND set both in 2005 and 1834}
7.) THE RIVAL {Sequel to VOODOO MOON starting in 1998 going to 2005 and flinging poor Victor & Alice back to 1834
and ending with Victor on the last night of ancient Troy -- the poor guy should get frequent flyer miles!}
8.) END OF DAYS {Sequel to THE RIVAL, set in 2005, bringing all my heroes together to fight Ragnarok in the French Quarter --
told through the eyes of Alice Wentworth.}
9.) BURNT OFFERINGS {Set in 2005 after the events of END OF DAYS starring Lucanus and 3 tales of Samuel McCord.}
10.) CALL ME TOMBS {Set just prior to END OF DAYS, starring the Lakota heyoka, Toomey Starks and his hellhound, Puppy.}
11.) THE LAST SHAMAN {Set in November 2012, starring the Lakota shaman, Wolf Howl, who burned up the pages in END OF DAYS.}
12.) THE LAST FAE {Set in 1936 and 2001, starring Fallen, the last Sidhe, who was a major character in RITES and ADRIFT.}
13.) LOVE LIKE DEATH {Set in 2002, starring Fallen, Kirika, and Blake Adamson, the clone of The Nazarene.}
14.) THE PATH BACK TO DAWN {Set in 2003, sequel to LOVE LIKE DEATH}
15.) BLACK ROSES IN AVALON {Set in 2003, sequel to THE PATH BACK TO DAWN}
16.) LAST EXIT TO BABYLON {Set in 2004, sequel to BLACK ROSES IN AVALON and ending in Hell -- what can I say Fallen, Kirika, and Blake led those kinds of lives.}
17.) THE BEAR WITH TWO SHADOWS {Set just after ADRIFT IN THE TIME STREAM, starring Hibbs the bear with 2 shadows, Estanatlehi, and others who star in END OF DAYS.}
18.) LET THE WIND BLOW THROUGH YOU {Set in the present, starring Luke Winters the defrocked psychologist who goes to his home town to try to save the soul of the dying love of his life, a woman who rules the crime in an unnamed state.}
19.) BLOOD WILL TELL {Set in 2001, with a rare blood courier, Luke Winters (I liked the name! LOL) battling an alien invasion of intelligent blood!}
20.) GHOST WRITERS IN THE SKY {The ghosts of MARK TWAIN, HEMINGWAY, FAULKNER, RAYMOND CHANDLER,
BRUCE LEE, ALFRED HITCHCOCK, WINSTON CHURCHILL, ROGER ZELAZNY, TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, ROBERT E. HOWARD, JOHN D. MACDONALD, and others teach all of us how to write.
Oh, and my ghost cat, Gypsy, gets into the act, too.}
THIS JUST IN:
AMAZON lists THE BEAR WITH TWO SHADOWS at #20; END OF DAYS at #25, & BLACK ROSES IN AVALON at #26 in their TUATHA de DANANN listings! Nice news.
:-)
