tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13512639934701696242024-02-06T17:57:02.371-08:00SIMPLE LIFEAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-33996769022876301362018-01-28T08:52:00.000-08:002018-09-08T04:46:54.223-07:00Amazon Ranking and Bestseller Lists - What's the Deal?It's really hard to draw conclusions in the self-pub marketing game. After almost ten years of self-publishing on Amazon, I still don't know why some ebooks sell more than others.<br />
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I've always believed the secret to success is luck. You can improve your luck by writing great books, having great cover art and great book descriptions, writing more great books, and...<br />
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Advertising? Social media? Newsletters? Amazon visibility?<br />
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I know for certain that social media works. When I have a new title, or I put something on sale, I Tweet it and put it on Facebook, and sales go up. Cause and effect.<br />
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When I have a new title, preorder, or special sale, and I send out a newsletter, sales go up. Cause and effect.<br />
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When I get a BookBub ad, sales go WAY up. Cause and effect.<br />
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But how about other kinds of ads, like AMS? Is the key to being successful on Amazon, being visible on Amazon?<br />
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It's a seductive idea. After all, Amazon has been designed to entice the reader to click, and to buy. Every pixel on the Amazon page has a purpose.<br />
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Surely the bestseller lists, and product ranks, have a purpose as well. They must help sell more books, or else why would they exist?<br />
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Does getting on a Top 100 Bestseller List on Amazon give your book enough added visibility to fuel a lot of sales?<br />
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Or is book rank more about satisfying authors and their egos, and giving prospective buyers more secondary information to corroborate a prospective sale, rather than being the thing that introduces buyers to a book?<br />
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I've been asking myself that question a lot.<br />
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My first experiment was observational and highly subjective. I looked at how I bought things on Amazon.<br />
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We rarely examine our own buying habits, and volumes have been written about why we buy things, but I buy a lot on Amazon, and here's some of the things I've noticed.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Buying Situation #1 - A Need</b><br />
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This is the main reason I buy things. I have a need for something, so I search for it by typing it into the search box. Say it's a hammer. I type in 'hammer', and maybe narrow it down by category. Then I see what comes up, and compare a few products based on prices, appearance, and customer reviews.<br />
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I don't read customer reviews, unless a product has too few, or a lot are bad, or a lot are overwhelmingly good and it seems like they might be fake. (We can all spot fake reviews that were written by shills).<br />
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Maybe one product pages will take me to more pages by showing me what customers also bought, or sponsored products, or what else customers looked at.<br />
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Then I buy something.<br />
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<b>Buying Situation #2 - I Know What I Want</b><br />
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If I know the exact product, I go directly to it. Maybe price is a consideration, but if I'm brand loyal (a specific author, a kind of shampoo) I don't worry about price, reviews, or competing products. I click on it.<br />
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<b>Buying Situation #3 - I'm Shopping</b><br />
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I have a vague idea that I want something, like a book, but I'm unsure of what I want, so I'm just going to poke around Amazon until I find something.<br />
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Of the three kinds of shopping I do, this third one is the least common for me. And here's why:<br />
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I know the authors and types of books I like, and usually buying one of them leads me to instant recommendations about others I'll like based on customers like me. Hell, Amazon sends me emails based on things I've bought and my browsing history. Not a lot of poking around needed by me; it's all on one page.<br />
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Do I ever browse the Bestseller lists?<br />
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As an author I do, to see who is selling.<br />
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As a reader, never. Neither does my wife, an uber-reader who burns through seven books a week. She's always got a full Kindle because Amazon recommends books, she signs up for the newsletters of authors she likes, and she gets BookBub emails daily.<br />
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So we have two readers in our house who spend a lot on Amazon, and neither of us buys books because we discovered something new on a bestseller list.<br />
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My buying habits may not be yours, however. I know many readers who learn of new books on Goodreads, and I've never gotten much use out of that platform, as a reader or an author. I think Goodreads is terrific, but I just don't use it. I'm certainly not obsessed with my Goodreads Author Standing as I am with my Amazon Rank.<br />
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But should I be worried about Amazon Rank at all?<br />
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What's the relationship between causation and correlation in regards to Amazon rank? Does a high rank help a book maintain sales through visibility? Or is it only an indicator of book sales and the added visibility does little for sales?<br />
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My own efforts inform me that it is promotion that leads to sales, and an incidental side-effect of sales is the rank position and any subsequent appearance on a bestseller list, which doesn’t help the book much.<br />
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Some authors seem to believe that appearing on a bestseller list leads to extra visibility and additional sales.<br />
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Am I right? Are they right? Maybe a little of both?<br />
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It’s difficult, if not impossible, to conclusively prove either of these approaches, because there is no way to conduct a perfect experiment with a control. Other books influence the ranks and positions of our books, and there are always “boosts” that we can’t account for; someone reads a promotional Tweet or Ad a day or two after it runs, a promo site finds the book and promotes it, giving it a boost, word of mouth spreads, Amazon has a delay or lag with their site update...<br />
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So I can’t think of any way to definitively state that appearing on a bestseller list is an effective sales tool.<br />
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But I do have plenty of evidence to show that a bestseller list appearance doesn’t do much when it comes to additional sales/downloads. I’ve become convinced that rank makes authors feel special, but doesn't boost sales by any significant degree.<br />
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I say “significant” because I’m sure being on a list is helpful. Just not very helpful, and not worth pursuing.<br />
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That may seem counter-intuitive, but you’ve probably seen examples with your own books.<br />
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I recently made my book ENDURANCE free for five days. I didn’t do any ads, but did link to it on social media. First day, 1375 downloads, and it peaked at #70 on the Top 100 freebie list.<br />
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Now, this book had nothing pushing it up the charts, just my Tweets and Facebook, and anyone who retweeted, and those websites that promote free books on their own initiative to make Associates dollars.<br />
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After that initial social media burst, there was no other promo for ENDURANCE. This was intentional on my part to prove a point.<br />
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Being on the biggest bestseller list made ENDURANCE visible to readers who are presumably searching bestseller lists for ebooks, so once I hit #70 I should have had hundreds or thousands of new eyes on it, and corresponding downloads because, hey, it was free.<br />
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But you can guess what happened once my promotion stopped. Once I stopped promoting, it stopped climbing. By Day #2, it was #95, and on day four it was #214. Whent he promo ended it bounced to the paid list at #42,844.<br />
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According to William Ockham who figured this out with Data Guy, “A sale has a half-life of one day. A sale 24 hours ago is worth 1/2 of a sale made right now. A sale an hour ago is worth 23/24ths of a sale made now. Sum the value of sales for each eligible title and rank order the results.”<br />
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So the moment you peak, that value begins to immediately start fading unless you continue to sell at that speed, a higher speed, or a slightly lower speed. But that slightly lower speed needs to pick up as time passes, for a rank to maintain its spot. It has to run faster to stay in the same place.<br />
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The added visibility of being on a list, without any promo to back it up, doesn't do much to sustain position.<br />
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Promos will help a book sustain its rank, because they are driving more downloads. So as long as the promotion/marketing/ads/retweets/facebook boosts continue, a book can retain its spot, or even climb up.<br />
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Without any promos, the only thing to drive a book’s downloads is its own visibility on a bestseller list.<br />
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When I hit #70, if appearing on the list and being visible to all of those people browsing the list had a big impact, you’d expect a lot of downloads, and for it to continue to climb.<br />
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But being on the list wasn’t enough. By day #2, ENDURANCE only had 729 downloads. Day three, 331, day four 160, day five, 113.<br />
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While it isn’t on the Top 100 Bestseller list, it was still on many other lists (Horror, Occult, Whispersync) in high spots.<br />
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But those high spots aren’t generating enough new downloads for it to sustain its position. It kept dropping without any outside promo push. And this is a freebie list. Being #1 in Horror—a big category—as a freebie only yielded 300 downloads.<br />
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That's 300 downloads if you believe that people only downloaded it because they say it on that bestseller list (or another list). But I know that the reason it peaked on the list was my sale and social media push. That got it on the list.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>And being on the list didn't keep it on the list.</b><br />
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ENDURANCE isn’t an anomaly. I did a BookBub with BLOODY MARY recently, hit #1 on the overall free list with 45,000 downloads. But once the promo stopped, the book dropped like a rock.<br />
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My experience has been that being on a bestseller list doesn’t have much of a positive effect on a book’s downloads.<br />
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I did 1375 downloads on Day #1, while promoting ENDURANCE. Day #2, I had 729. One might attribute those 729 to list visibility, but there is no way to be sure. I could have had people clicking on my Twitter and Facebook push the next day, which meant my promo was still working. Those websites that promote free books could have picked it up the next day, giving it a little push. And there are probably reasons I don’t even know that factor into who downloaded that book on Day #2, and why. During a book launch, for example, it may take some fans a while to discover that a new book is out, or word-of-mouth can build, or social media can build, so a book can continue to climb. But that’s still a push doing it, not a by-product of hitting a list.<br />
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This happens every time I do a KU freebie or countdown without a sustained outside promotional push.<br />
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I have many other examples. My books are always on the WOMEN SLEUTH bestseller lists, but they are often below #100. Since you can’t browse below #100, they get zero visibility from being #202, but they still consistently sell somehow. My belief is readers find them from actively searching for the next book in my series, or through Amazon's "Customers Also Bought" feature.<br />
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I’ve been #1 on both Free and Paid Bestseller List, several times. It feels good, but it doesn’t stick unless massive promotion backs it up.<br />
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Rank may indeed be a measure of success and sales, but rank isn’t the reason for success and sales.<br />
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A simpler example of what I’m saying is watching box office results for movies. STAR WARS hitting the #1 box office spot probably didn’t lead to many more ticket sales, people who said “Hey, look at Star Wars at #1—I’d never heard of it before but now that it’s visible I’ll go see it”.<br />
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When STAR WARS hit #1, do you know what #10 was? No. And neither does anyone else. Because people aren’t looking at box office lists to determine what to see.<br />
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What draws attention to movies? Ads. Marquees. Reviews. Theater websites. But the movie theater websites aren’t ranking movies. AMCtheaters.com doesn't have a list of which movie is the most popular so you can decide what to see by rank.<br />
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Where is the evidence that hordes of readers—or even handfuls of readers—are discovering new books by browsing the bestseller lists?<br />
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It may be helpful—to what degree, I don’t know. But I do know, with 100% certainty, that hitting a list will not keep you on that list unless there are other factors involved.<br />
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The above examples were for free books. Here is a current promo I'm running with a paid book.<br />
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I currently have four box sets all on sale:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Whiskey Sour/Bloody Mary/Rusty Nail (JackDaniels thrillers)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dirty Martini/Fuzzy Navel/Cherry Bomb(Jack Daniels thrillers)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Origin/The List/Haunted House (Horror)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Afraid/Trapped/Endurance (Horror)<o:p></o:p></div>
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I set all four at 99 cents on the 26<sup>th</sup>, and Tweeted three of them, listing the book titles, and one where I didn’t list the titles (Origin)<o:p></o:p></div>
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One the 26th, just via Twitter, I sold:<br />
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<b>Whiskey Box - 270<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Dirty Box - 185</b></div>
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<b>Afraid Box -147</b></div>
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<b>Origin Box - 32</b></div>
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That was the order I tweeted in, one after the other, and pretty much worked as I expected. I’ve never had these box sets at 99 cents, so a lot of thrifty shoppers were waiting for this deal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My Jack Daniels books are more popular than my horror, which is expected again. But the sales directly aligned with the order I tweeted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I tweeted four times in a row. The first Tweet, with Whiskey, got the most downloads.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then some of my followers began to go Tweetblind. Or they didn’t read closely and thought I was repeating. Or they were overwhelmed. Dirty was next, then Afraid, and finally Origin, and with Origin I didn’t list the titles, just tweeted I had another box set.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lessons learned: When promoting more than one thing, don’t do it one after another. And when doing a box set, list the titles.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p>The next day, I did two promotions. For Origin, I did a BookBub ad in the horror genre. For Afraid, I did a newsletter swap with four other well-known horror authors.</o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVwDuea2K2U8gH1Zw0qGAYE35KVujHDeka_Q3UsMJmJ4ETFr__3can54eJw2Ou7heYX1tU23SOuS8gzI46ETxkfG3KzMwWVxLmhbkC3w9gnCOg73UTzAahRCbZdVKTMz15JmBQl0SkL2c/s1600/promo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1214" height="505" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVwDuea2K2U8gH1Zw0qGAYE35KVujHDeka_Q3UsMJmJ4ETFr__3can54eJw2Ou7heYX1tU23SOuS8gzI46ETxkfG3KzMwWVxLmhbkC3w9gnCOg73UTzAahRCbZdVKTMz15JmBQl0SkL2c/s640/promo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p>The above is a jpg. Here's the link to the page:</o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p>https://www.buoy-media.com/18-bestselling-horror-ebooks</o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p>The five of us all sent out a newsletter yesterday, promoting all five box sets. So yesterday I had a BookBub for one box set, this promo for the other horror box set, and did no promos at all for my two Jack Daniels sets.</o:p></div>
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On the 27<sup>th</sup> I sold:<br />
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<b>Whiskey Box - 64<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Dirty Box - 63<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Afraid Box w/ Group Newsletter - 431</b></div>
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<b>Origin Box w/ Bookbub - 1519<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Afraid squeaked into the #300s with rank. Origin climbed to #80.<o:p></o:p></div>
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All of us became Top 50 Horror Authors. We all climbed up on various bestseller lists. I made enough in sales to make up what it cost to send out my newsletter, and of course BookBub always pays for itself.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But our ranks aren’t sticking. They’re dropping.<br />
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In my case, neither of my horror box sets have even been on a bestseller list, because I've kept them at $9.99.<br />
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So my anecdotal evidence, that I don't shop using the bestseller lists, seems to be supported by my experiments. Not many others seem to shop using the lists, or else we'd all be sticking or climbing, rather than dropping.<br />
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Stop worrying about your Amazon ranking. It is an indicator of sales, not a driver of sales.<br />
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What does cause me worry, however, is how to maintain sales. While the vast majority of titles appear on a bestseller list, then drop off pretty fast, some of them do tend to stick around for a while.<br />
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Why? Could the added visibility of high ranking be helping some books and not others? Or is something else at work here?<br />
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I have an idea, but I don't think anyone is going to like it.<br />
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Every book, and every backlist, has a ceiling. The ceiling is based on:<br />
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<b>1. How many people would like your books if they encountered them.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>2. How many people you can help to encounter them.</b><br />
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<b>3. How many people will encounter them because of reasons that have nothing to do with your efforts.</b><br />
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You can write great books in a popular genre, so there is an established base of fans out there. And you can (and must) continue to promote those books. Here's some of the promotions I'm constantly using:<br />
<ul>
<li>I always have a book on sale and a book that's free.</li>
<li>I send out newsletters.</li>
<li>I do ads (Bookbub, AMS, Twitter, Facebook).</li>
<li>I use social media (Twitter and Facebook).</li>
<li>I update my website.</li>
<li>I update my book backmatter to include new titles.</li>
<li>I update my book descriptions and Amazon author page to include new titles.</li>
<li>I experiment a lot.</li>
</ul>
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After that, it's out of my hands. Remember your Serenity Prayer.<br />
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Here are some things beyond your control that could happen, and this is (probably) why some books seem to stick on the bestseller lists.</div>
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<ul>
<li>You could have a publisher promote you.</li>
<li>You could have IP tie-ins (TV, movies, comics).</li>
<li>You could get media exposure.</li>
<li>Word of mouth could explode/go viral.</li>
</ul>
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Basically, I believe we're limited by our own ceilings, unless extraordinary luck steps in. </div>
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You can gradually raise your ceiling by writing more books, and doing all the things I mention above. And the more you do, the easier it will be for luck to find you. </div>
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But you need to stop worrying about your Amazon rank, and stop judging your success by appearances on the bestseller lists. </div>
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Your time is best spent tending your garden. Keep writing, keep promoting, keep growing that readership. </div>
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There's no secret here. There's only hard work and luck.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0United States37.09024 -95.712891000000013-36.4162205 99.052733999999987 90 69.521483999999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-59205933798823376522017-12-31T07:45:00.000-08:002018-09-08T04:47:57.684-07:00 New Year's Resolutions for Writers 2018<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Every December I do a post about resolutions for writers, and every year I add more of them. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">You can read the compilation or original posts HERE.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">This year, rather than repost them all, I'm going to reflect on all the resolutions I've written since 2006.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />This blog began with suggestions of how writers could improve their commercial appeal, find an agent and a publisher, and self-promote.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">This blog has prospered through the birth of social media and MySpace (remember MySpace?), the rise of Amazon and self-publishing, and chronicled my own personal journey of legacy deals, into KDP, and back to having print books on the shelf with my Kensington deal and upcoming release of THE LIST.<br /><br />This blog has lasted so long that I no longer feel the need to blog. I've stated my case, done what I came her to do, and don't have to say much more.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">I've taken a lot of my own advice. And disregarded much of it. Here's the breakdown of every New Year's Resoultion I've offered, with my modern take on the adivice:</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will start/finish the damn book</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">This is still essential. Without this, you aren't a writer.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will always have at least three stories on submission, while working on a fourth </b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Self-publishing has made this irrelevant. If you're writing shorts, self-pub them one at a time, then compile them and self-publish the collection.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will attend at least one writer's conference, and introduce myself to agents, editors, and other writers </b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">I haven't gone to any conferences in years.<br /><br />That said, I will be attending KILLER NASHVILLE at the end of August. If you ever wanted to meet me, that's your chance.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will subscribe to the magazines I submit to</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">If you're still submitting to mags, subscribe.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will join a critique group. If one doesn't exist, I will start one at the local bookstore or library</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Can't hurt. Feedback during the writing progress can be immeasurably helpful. I always discuss books-in-progress with family and friends to litmus test the direction I'm heading, or if I get stuck.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will finish every story I start</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">If it gets hard, good. It makes you stronger.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will listen to criticism</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">During the creation process, it's key. But reviews are not criticism. Don't read reviews.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will create/update my website </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Still essential. I make a few hundred bucks a month on Amazon Associates, all from people who check out my website and click on an affiliate link.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will master the query process and search for an agent</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">When you're big enough to need an agent, they'll find you. Or they'll take a phone call. Query letters are so 1995.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I'll quit procrastinating in the form of research, outlines, synopses, taking classes, reading how-to books, talking about writing, and actually write something</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hell yes. Google and Wikipedia and the Internet Wayback Machine are great for research, but they become black holes from which you cannot escape. You can't let the Internet suck you in when you need to put words on the page.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> will refuse to get discouraged, because I know JA Konrath wrote 9 novels, received almost 500 rejections, and penned over 1 million words before he sold a thing--and I'm a lot more talented than that guy</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">You will be discouraged, but the only surefire solution is to keep writing, or quit entirely. I spent ten years without making a dime. And now I'm close to selling my 3 millionth book.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will keep my website updated</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">I hate going to a favorite author's website and seeing no new news for the last six months. Your fans hate that too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will keep up with my blog and social networks </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Absolutely. But I strongly recommend keeping your personal social media (family stuff, political views, liking Caturday) separate from your professional pages. Your friends and family can follow you because they care about who you voted for, and how much you like the Cubs. Fans probably only care about your new releases, and when your stuff is on sale. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I also strongly recommend Freedom and Anti-Social to block your social media during writing time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will schedule bookstore signings, and while at the bookstore I'll meet and greet the customers rather than sit dejected in the corner</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Sitting and waiting for life to happen isn't a recipe for success. If you're there to get known, make yourself known. If you're at an event and there is no line of fans waiting for a signature and selfie, then get up and mingle.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will send out a newsletter, emphasizing what I have to offer rather than what I have for sale, and I won't send out more than four a year</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Six times a year at most. More than that, and you'll risk losing followers. YMMV.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will learn to speak in public, even if I think I already know how</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It's a good skill to master, and one day you'll need it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will make selling my books my responsibility, not my publisher's</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I was wrong on this one. You should do whatever you can to help, but this is their part of the contract to fulfill. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will stay in touch with my fans</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If someone reaches out, reach back. Keep it brief and impersonal and gracious.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will contact local libraries, and tell them I'm available for speaking engagements</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Libraries will always be relevant.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will attend as many writing conferences as I can afford</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">A few is fine, but they just aren't needed like they used to be needed. It's great to meet readers and author authors, but a BookBub ad, which will likely cost less, is a lot better for your sales.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will spend a large portion of my advance on self-promotion</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I was wrong. Use your advance to live on while you write more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will help out other writers</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">To a point. I've become very protective of my time, and I've hit my lifetime quota of helping others. Be wary you don't spread yourself too thin.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will not get jealous, will never compare myself to my peers, and will cleanse my soul of envy</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Your race is with yourself, not with anyone else. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will be accessible, amiable, and enthusiastic</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Good advice for writing, and for life. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will do one thing every day to self-promote</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">You can tweet, blog, Facebook, answer email, update your site, put something on sale, make something free, book an ad... do something. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Your backlist is like a garden. It needs to be tended, or it will die.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I will always remember where I came from</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br />If you look forward without looking back, you're doomed to retrace your steps rather than get somewhere new.</span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Keep an Open Mind</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It's easier to defend your position than seriously consider new ways of thinking. But there is no innovation, no evolution, no "next big thing" unless someone thinks differently. Be that someone. </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Look Inward</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We tend to write for ourselves. But for some reason we don't market for ourselves. Figure out what sort of marketing works on you; that's the type of marketing you should be trying. You should always know why you're doing what you're doing, and what results are acceptable to you. </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Find Your Own Way</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Advice is cheap, and the Internet abounds with people telling you how to do things. Question everything. The only advice you should take is the advice that makes sense to you. And if it doesn't work, don't be afraid to ditch it. </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Set Attainable Goals</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Saying you'll find an agent, or sell 30,000 books, isn't attainable, because it involves things out of your control. Saying you'll write 20,000 words next month, or update your website, is within your power and fully attainable.</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Enjoy the Ride</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b>John Lennon said that life is what happens while you're busy planning other things. Writing isn't about the destination; it's about the journey. If you aren't enjoying the process, why are you doing it? </span><b style="color: #333333; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>H</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>elp Each Other</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But remember that there will always be people who need help, and you can't help them all. Give what you can, but don't expect anything in return.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>I Will Use Anger As Fuel</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Life is unfair. That won't change. If you want to succeed, don't dwell on that. Focus on improving your odds by working your ass off.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>I Will Abandon My Comfort Zone</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Great artists take chances. </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Successful businesspeople take chances.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">This means doing things you're afraid of, and things you hate, and things you've never tried before.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>I Will Feed My Addiction </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Life is busy. There are always things you can and should be doing, and your writing career often comes second. </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So make it come first.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Right now, you're reading A Newbie's Guide to Publishing. Not A Newbie's Guide to Leading a Content and Balanced Life.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">If you can't devote the time, energy, and money it takes to pursue this career, go do something else.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>I Will Never Be Satisfied </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Happiness isn't productive. Mankind's greatest accomplishments are all tales of struggle, hardship, sacrifice, work, and effort. You won't do any of those things if you're satisfied with the status quo. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Who do you want on your team? The kid who plays for fun? Or the kid who plays to win?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">If you want this to be your year, you know which kid you have to be.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I Won't Blame Anyone For Anything</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">What's done is done, and being bitter isn't going to help your career. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">So try to learn from misfortune, forgive yourself and others, and focus on what you can learn from past failures.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I Will Be Wary</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">For a while, legacy publishers held all the cards. Now it looks like Amazon does, and will continue to do so for a while. But the moment you become complacent, you set yourself up for disaster. Ask the dinosaurs. Stay as agile and wary as possible, and be ready to diversify if the climate changes.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I Will Be A Pioneer</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I continue to try new things (this year I pubbed some </span>puzzle books<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> and a </span>children's picture book<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">). If you aren't failing, you aren't trying hard enough.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I Will Read Books</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Reading, and giving the gift of reading to others, is essential. Period.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I Will Stop Worrying </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Worrying, along with envy, blame, guilt, and regret, is a useless emotion. It's also bad storytelling. Protagonists should be proactive, not reactive. They should forge ahead, not dwell on things beyond their control. Fretting, whining, complaining, and bemoaning the state of the industry isn't the way to get ahead.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">You are the hero in the story of your life. Act like it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I Will Self-Publish</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Welcome to 2018. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br />I Won't Self-Publish Crap</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Just because it's easier than ever before to reach an audience doesn't mean you should.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Luck still plays a part in success. But so does professionalism.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Self-pubbing is not the kiddie pool, where you learn how to swim. You need to be an excellent swimmer before you jump in.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I'll Pay Attention to the Market</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">If you want to make a living, you still have to understand your audience, and how to give them what they want.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Self-pubbing is not an excuse to be a self-indulgent egomaniac. On the contrary, it's a chance for you to learn what sells.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">For the very first time, the writer can conduct their own real-world experiments. By trying different things, learning from mistakes, and constantly tweaking and improving, we have more power than ever before to find our readers.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">That means being attuned, not passive.</span></span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I Will Control My Fear</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">There will always be doubt and uncertainty, because luck plays such a big role in success. I know there are writers who are doing everything right, who still haven't found readers.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">But don't let fear own you.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to get frustrated.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to get envious of those doing better.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to dismiss the success or failures of others.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to worry about the future.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to ignore good advice. It's also easy to take bad advice.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to make snap judgments and quick dismissals.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to make predictions without evidence.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to give up.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">BUT NOBODY EVER SAID SUCCESS IS EASY.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">What Goes Up Must Come Down</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Sales fluctuate, and after being in this biz for almost two decades I still don't know why some things hit and some miss. It's frustrating, but expected.<br /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Here's some things I've learned.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">1. Ebooks are forever, and shelf space is infinite. Once you're published, you'll always be selling as long as you tend to your backlist.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">2. Ebooks are not a trend. They are the new, preferred way to read, and mankind will always have the need and desire to read.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">3. Ebooks are global. Doing poorly in the USA? That's okay. There are plenty of other countries where you can make money.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">4. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You're a writer. You're in this until the day you die. As long as you write good books, you'll find readers. This may take time. And it may take some tweaking because the books you think are good need a rewrite, or that cover art you bought at a bargain price of $19 is scaring readers away because it sucks.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">The universe doesn't owe you readers. You have to earn them.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>Get Over Yourself</b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>Don't use Google Alerts, or read your reviews, or search for yourself on social media.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If you want to be loved, get a pet. The approval of strangers is one of the worst things you can pursue, and it will always leave you empty inside.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">More writing, less concern about if the world approves. As long as you keep putting good work out there, you'll find an audience.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Get your real-life shit together</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">That means:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">1. Incorporating and paying quarterly taxes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">2. Creating a will, including a living will.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">3. Making sure the will includes <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2013/11/death-and-self-pubbed-writer.html" style="color: #3e6d88; text-decoration-line: none;">provisions for your literary properties</a>.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">4. Keeping accurate track of business expenses.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">5. Getting regular doctor check-ups so you don't die from something avoidable.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">6. Remembering that future goals shouldn't come at the expense of enjoying every single day.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">7. Appreciating the people you care about, and making sure they know it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">With luck, we'll all die very old and very rich.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But I've always said that luck favors those prepared. It's very east to get caught up in writing and promotion and ignore the stuff that only becomes obvious when you're in a life-or-death scenario.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Don't wait for the life-or-death scenario. Take care of it now. It doesn't matter if you're 18 or 108, death and taxes are unavoidable. The more you do now to prepare for them, the less painful they'll be.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If you die tonight, will it be with regrets? If so, sort that out immediately. Don't leave loose ends. Don't leave things unsaid. Don't leave a mess for others to clean up.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">WRITE</span></b><br />
<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Write better. Write what you've proven works. Write new things that aren't proven. Write more.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This is the single most important thing you can do.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><b>Joe sez: </b>Those are twelve years of my past resolutions, and my recent feelings about them.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Here are two new bits of advice.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><b>Don't Fear Piracy</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">There are writers that actually hire companies to send Cease And Desist letters to file-sharing sites.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">This is a waste of money.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Pirates will always pirate. Don't sweat it. Your work being shared is not equal to losing sales, and there hasn't been a single reputable study to say otherwise. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">As an experiment, for the past three months, I've been torrent seeding one of my own new releases, to measure if it has any impact on sales. I've shared my own book over a thousand times on Demonid and Pirate Bay and a hundred other trackers, and have seen ZERO correlation between file sharing and sales going down. If anything, sales went up slightly when I began sharing.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">While my study hasn't been scientific, it has been enough to confirm my belief that the only piracy worth worrying about is sites selling your work without permission, and only because that can get you unfairly booted out of Kindle Unlimited.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">If someone is selling you illegally, do what you can to make them take you down.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">But if someone is sharing your work, ignore it. You'll never prevent file-sharing, and there's no real need to. Your bad sales aren't because of pirates. You'll have to look at other factors.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><b>Stop Worrying About Amazon Rank</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">We all obsess about sales. That's inevitable.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">But what's with this recent trend obsessing about Amazon rank?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Rank is a number that Amazon controls, and they've changed the rules several times on how they calculate it.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">As far as I know, no one has determined how many extra sales you get by appearing on a bestseller list, and I wouldn't be surprised if the number is minuscule. I just did a BookBub giveaway and hit #1 with 45,000 giveaways on that day.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">BookBub works. The day after my BookBub, I did a $120 ad with Kindle Nation Daily, and managed to give away another 6000 copies as the book dropped to #7.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Now, I wasn't expecting KND to have anywhere near the impact that BookBub did. But on the second day after the BookBub, still free and still in the Top 10, I only gave away 2000 copies.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Let's think about that. At #1, I had the most downloads on Amazon.com. The next day, supported by a pricey ad, I dropped to #7.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">No add, and I dropped to #10, and eventually to #40 by the end of the day before the promo ended.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">This is hardly scientific, but that's a pretty dramatic drop in giveaways. If being one of the Top 10 free books for that three day period really lead to a huge increase in visibility, and thus an increase in downloads, I would have expected more downloads, and more staying power on that list. But when the ads stopped, the sales plummeted fast.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">In other words, being on the bestseller list didn't account for enough exposure to keep it on the bestseller list.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Which makes perfect logic sense. Unless a book has something behind it (ads, marketing, a promo push, a new release, extreme word of mouth buzz) it has a predictable bell curve. It rises, peaks, and drops.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">With tens of thousands of other books also rising, peaking, and dropping, the whole ranking system is a hot mess, and I don't believe it helps sales very much. I've messed around with keywords and had books with similar genres and similar ranks have similar sales, even though one is on a Top 100 list (like Women Sleuths) and one isn't on any list even though it features the same female sleuth.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">That extra exposure you get from being on a list probably doesn't amount to much.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Back when KDP was still DTP (look it up) there was a noticeable, measurable sales effect when you landed on a bestseller list. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">These days, I remain unconvinced that rank helps to increase sales. Until I'm shown otherwise, it makes no sense for me to worry about rank. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Now, you SHOULD be worried about sales. That means figuring out how to maximize the impact your book has by paying attention to the cover art, description, BISEC categories, keywords, price, promotions, and advertising. You want to maximize your reach, and find that sweet spot between making as much money as possible and getting as many eyes on you as possible.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 13px;">But I strongly suggest you stop worrying about maximizing your rank. Find some other way to gauge your success. I gauge my personal success by how much I'm writing and publishing, and my business success by how much I'm earning. That means I'm always tweaking things, especially price, Countdown Deals, and freebies, adding to my Amazon bibliography and product description, and tailoring ads to link with other similar products (Amazon ads don't help much, but as long as you're in the black on them it's a no-brainer). It also means I may be personally successful in any given month, but not really business successful, and vice-versa.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 13px;">It also means going all in with Kindle Unlimited and going for KENP. Like it or not, KENP remains a key component in author revenue.<br /><br />At the same time, don't worry about other authors stealing your KENP cash. It isn't a zero sum amount, and one author having a higher rank than you doesn't mean you'll make less money.<br /><br />It's out of your control, anyway. Don't worry about things you can't control.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Focus on the things you can control.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">That's all I got. I'm out of advice. I hope it helps.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If you appreciated this blog post, check out </span>my latest newsletter<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">. Lots of free ebooks and deals for the New Year.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">And after picking up all my bargains, go write something. Make 2018 your best year ever, both personally, and for your writing business.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Happy New Year!</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0United States37.09024 -95.712891000000013-36.4162205 99.052733999999987 90 69.521483999999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-58345625382820477942017-11-01T13:52:00.000-07:002018-09-08T04:48:44.180-07:00Interactive Ebooks? Almost...So, I was thinking about enhanced ebooks, and decided to try something that, AFAIK, hasn't ever been done before.<br />
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I recently got hooked on playing Escape the Room games. Not just cell phone apps, where you solve point-and-click puzzles to advance the story, but board games that challenge you to follow the clues and get away before the time is up, real-life games where you go into a room with a group of people and a guide and actually tried to escape by following a carefully constructed scenario, and mail-order subscription games where every month you are snail-mailed a mysterious package that you have to figure out.<br />
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And I thought: Could something like this be adapted to ebooks?<br />
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I came up with a concept. A serial killer is emailing me, author J.A. Konrath, and taunting me to prevent his next crime.<br />
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My first, grandiose way of doing this was to have the killer leave clues about the murder in his emails to me. Then readers could solve the mystery like the sleuth in a mystery novel.<br />
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But that already exists. It’s called “a mystery novel.” There’s no user interaction. There’s no “solve a puzzle to advance” dynamic that I enjoy in other media. And mystery novels are vicarious, not hands-on and personal.<br />
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I rejigged my concept, and decided to have the killer send me cryptic puzzles, which linked to his website, www.StopAMurder.com. If I could solve the puzzles and type in the correct answers, it would bring me closer to stopping him.<br />
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If I failed, someone would die.<br />
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Since I don't want anyone to die, I decided to enlist my readers to help me.<br />
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STOP A MURDER was born, combining aspects of both thriller fiction and interactive games.<br />
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Here's how I pitch it:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWH7zn4NE8Pm-5nqmiNBic1nKroDAOJG-efFTPa7qlQCGsMkHcjTp5He2zClebtDSzE3fvgiCE2-E4Pz58Haa2b7QgV4542y0gNMYrOG1akC4C9yU3ETTKA0bIli6EUmYRv32TsgujWL4/s1600/How_FrontCoverPromoPrint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1070" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWH7zn4NE8Pm-5nqmiNBic1nKroDAOJG-efFTPa7qlQCGsMkHcjTp5He2zClebtDSzE3fvgiCE2-E4Pz58Haa2b7QgV4542y0gNMYrOG1akC4C9yU3ETTKA0bIli6EUmYRv32TsgujWL4/s320/How_FrontCoverPromoPrint.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>This is unlike any mystery or thriller book you’ve ever read before. You play the sleuth, and as the story unfolds you will be tasked with solving puzzles to prevent a murder from happening.</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In this five-book series, you’ll uncover the mind and motivations of a nefarious killer who is plotting to commit an unspeakable crime.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Each book contains an epistolary collection of emails, texts, and letters, delivered to thriller author J.A. Konrath, by a serial killer. This psychopath is sending detailed, cryptic puzzles and brain teasers that lead to clues about who will be murdered, why, when, where, and how.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some of the puzzles are easy to figure out. Others are much more devious.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Do you like solving mysteries? Do you enjoy brain teasers or escape-the-room games? Are you good at spotting clues?</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Only you can stop a murder. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are you smart enough?</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Are you brave enough?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Let the games begin…</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">#1 STOP A MURDER – HOW: Puzzles 1 - 12</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>#2 STOP A MURDER – WHERE: Puzzles 13 - 24</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>#3 STOP A MURDER – WHY: Puzzles 25 - 36</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>#4 STOP A MURDER – WHO: Puzzles 37 - 48</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>#5 STOP A MURDER – WHEN: Puzzles 49 - 60</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>STOP A MURDER - ANSWER BOOK</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This series works best with an internet connection, using a color e-reader or app to enter answers on the killer's website. A black and white e-ink device will work, but the interface will be smoother if used in conjunction with a computer or smart phone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While each book in this series can be read and enjoyed on its own, the experience will be richer if read in order, and if the internet is used.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Over the five book series, you'll need to answer more than seventy puzzles. When you answer correctly, you are rewarded with more clues that can stop a murder and reveal the killer's identity.</span><br />
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Intrigued?<br />
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I've released all five books, and the answer book, on all platforms. They're currently live on Amazon, and they will soon be on Kobo, Nook, Apple, and Google Play. There will also be a paper version, with all 70 puzzles, plus answers.<br />
<br />
Check out my website for more info.<br />
<br />
I did a beta test for this a few months ago, via Facebook (I've killed the old posts to prevent spoilers, but the site is still there for readers to exchange hints and tips.) The overwhelming majority (96%) of readers liked it. Since then, I've radically changed the story, and improved the interface. It's bigger, better, scarier, more fun, and easier to use.<br />
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I hope everyone reading this blog gives it a chance. If you do, please leave a review.<br />
<br />
Now I'll take some questions.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: </b>Joe, does this mean you're blogging again?<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Joe sez: </b>I dunno. I haven't really had much to say lately. This project is something completely new, so I thought it was worth blogging about. But in the last six months or so, there hasn't been anything happening in the publishing world that I felt a need to comment on.<br />
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<b>Q:</b> Why are you releasing this on all platforms? Are you done with Kindle Unlimited?<br />
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<b>Joe sez:</b> Like many self-pub writers, I've made less money since KU was introduced. That said, I believe Amazon is still the biggest game in town. But for this project, the books are only about 7500 words each, even though they take several hours to complete. It doesn't make fiscal sense to put them into KU, because I'd be getting paid pennies even though readers are getting many hours of entertainment. Also, as you'll see when you begin to read this series, I spent a great deal of time and money on these STOP A MURDER books. I'll never recoup my investment in KU.<br />
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<b>Q: </b>There has been a lot of talk about KU scammers. What are your thoughts?<br />
<br />
<b>Joe sez:</b> There will always be scammers. It's unknown if scammers are hurting the KU payout, since payouts are decided after a pay period ends. It isn't a zero sum game when the pot is created after the month is over. And the pot keeps climbing higher. I've heard the All Star Bonuses have been affected, which ain't good.<br />
<br />
<b>Q:</b> How about visibility?<br />
<br />
<b>Joe sez: </b>Scammers are certainly taking up bestseller spots. I'm sure that hurts. How much? I dunno. I've never seen any studies about how many ebooks are sold based on bestseller list presence. Having increased visibility is no doubt helpful. And my own buying habits on Amazon have me occasionally scanning the bestseller lists to see if there is anything that piques my interest. But I'd need to see data that differentiates sales between books on and off the bestseller lists to fully understand how much of a boost those books get. Data Guy, you got any ideas? Does being #100 on a list really boost sales as opposed to being #101 and off the list?<br />
<br />
<b>Q: </b>Didn't you promise the next Jack Daniels book would be out, like, ten months ago?<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Joe sez: </b>I did. And I'm a jerk. But it will be out soon. So will the next two Phineas Troutt books. All three books are basically finished. I just need to do rewrites.<br />
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<b>Q: </b>I noticed that all of your Jack Kilborn titles are now JA Konrath titles. What happened to Kilborn?<br />
<br />
<b>Joe sez: </b>Konrath is the bigger brand, so now all Kilborn books are Konrath books. But I am still going to continue that horror line, and have several horror books coming out next year. They'll just be published under the Konrath name.<br />
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<b>Q:</b> What happened to your bad movie blog?<br />
<div>
<br />
<b>Joe sez:</b> My son, Talon, and I are still watching bad movies. He's in college, and I'm just waiting for him to put our notes online. We'll get back on it. And eventually compile the reviews into a book.<br />
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<b>Q: </b>You've got the STOP A MURDER series, and three more novels out by the end of the year. What's next?<br />
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<b>Joe sez: </b>I'm putting the finishing touches on a children's rhyming picture book, and I still need to finish the TIMECASTER trilogy, do sequels to THE LIST and ORIGIN, and finish the horror novels I've already potted out (THE GREYS, CLOSE YOUR EYES).<br />
<br />
<b>Q:</b> Will there be more Jack Daniels?<br />
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<b>Joe sez: </b>Yes. Jack will be back in the upcoming novels OLD FASHIONED and SHOTS. Not sure which will come out first. I hope to get everything I've mentioned above done by the end of 2018... unless STOP A MURDER does well. Then I'm dropping everything and doing a sequel. I already have something in mind.<br />
<br />
<b>Q:</b> And what about this blog?<br />
<br />
<b>Joe sez: </b>If writers have a topic they'd like my opinion on, ask me in the comments.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0United States37.09024 -95.712891000000013-36.4162205 99.052733999999987 90 69.521483999999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-76522674297824674662017-04-04T10:33:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:15.889-07:00Ebooks Sales Slowing? Yes and No<b>Joe sez:</b> This blog originally appeared in 2010. It's extremely prescient about the future of ebooks, but that isn't the reason I'm reposting it.<br /><br />I'm reposting because I got my very first DMCA Takedown notice.<br /><br /><i>Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others. As a result, we have reset the post(s) to "draft" status. (If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.) This means your post - and any images, links or other content - is not gone. You may edit the post to remove the offending content and republish, at which point the post in question will be visible to your readers again.</i><br /><div><br /></div>Apparently my infringement, according to the website Lumen, was including an Amazon link to author Lexi Revellian.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/14128844">https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/14128844</a><br /><br />Lexi was originally mentioned as one of the laundry list of authors below. I've since removed her name and Amazon link from this post, but this has brought up some interesting points.<br /><br />1. Linking to an Amazon page is in no way a copyright infringement.<br /><br />2. I'm pretty sure all authors want as many websites as possible to link to their books.<br /><br />3. I don't think I know who Lexi is, but this was seven years ago and I may have forgotten. I have no idea why, seven years after the fact, she or someone working on her behalf, would complain to Blogger about a very old fair use post of mine that was supportive of her work.<br /><br />I know that some authors hire companies to scour the Internet for examples of piracy. These companies dish out DMCA notices like drunks throw out beads at Mardi Gras.<br /><br />As mentioned by Blogger in the email above, they remove posts regardless of merit. Which means anyone can accuse anyone of copyright infringement, and Blogger (along with many other Internet companies) err to the side of the accuser.<br /><br />Certainly everyone can see what a bad thing this is. Guilty until proven innocent didn't work for the court system, and it shouldn't work for the Internet.<br /><br />4. I have no idea if Lexi is using any services to protect her copyrights, because I have no idea why I got this notice. But I will offer some blanket advice to all authors who think about using one of these services:<br /><br />Piracy doesn't harm authors. I have <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/search?q=piracy">written ample posts about this topic</a>.<br /><br />Hiring companies to police the Internet, looking for evidence of copyright infringement and sending out DCMA notices, does hurt authors. Lexi had an Amazon link to her website, that even seven years later still gets traffic. Now her link is gone. That can't be helpful for an author. And I can guess I'm not the only blogger who is getting notices like this. How many writers, thinking they're combating piracy, are actually limiting their own reach?<br /><br />Probably a lot. So I'll say it again:<br /><br />It's a waste of time, and money, and also potentially career-damaging, to fight piracy. I say this as someone who has been pirated a lot for over a decade. People pirate me. And I don't care. And there is absolutely no verifiable evidence that ebook piracy harms authors.<br /><br />If you're concerned about piracy, make sure your ebooks and audio are easily available and affordable.<br /><br />But, as I said, you shouldn't be concerned. People are going to share files. It's part of the human condition. Anti-piracy laws are about as successful as anti-drug laws. <br /><br />The enemy is obscurity, not people reading your work for free.<br /><br />Now here's the original December 2010 blog post:<br /><br />Am I the only one who noticed this from Publishers Weekly?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Facing some harder comparisons, e-book sales posted their slowest growth rates in 2010 in October. Still, sales jumped 112.4%, to $40.7 million, from the 14 publishers who reported results to the AAP’s monthly sales program."</span><br /><br />The article is <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/45441-e-book-growth-slows-still-up-112-in-october.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=8db322c4b1-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email">HERE</a>.<br /><br />Now, a few things struck me when I read this.<br /><br />First, probably because I'm a writer and have an overactive imagination, I pictured editors in NY clinking champagne glasses with the toast, "The ebook bubble is bursting, thank Gutenberg, and soon we'll be able to get back to what we do best; <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/01/selling-paper.html">selling paper</a>."<br /><br />I realize that reporters and writers of the news have to attribute meaning to numbers, and that hooks and spin are necessary to make facts interesting. But the way PW prefaced these numbers, and called the article "E-Book Growth Slows" gives me a pretty good idea what their focus is. PW serves the publishing industry. The publishing industry is very uncomfortable about ebooks. Here's a nice fact to ease the publishing industry's collective mind.<br /><br />Except it's a myopic, self-absorbed, and flat-out misleading fact.<br /><br />This shows that ebook growth has slowed for 14 REPORTING PUBLISHERS.<br /><br />That doesn't mean ebook growth is slowing for Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, or the tens of thousands of indie authors self-publishing.<br /><br />My numbers have been steadily climbing for 21 months, and in the last six weeks I made $26,000.<br /><br />Yesterday, I mentioned <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Hocking/e/B003H4L762">Amanda Hocking</a>, who is selling 1200 ebooks a day.<br /><br />In the past, this blog has mentioned <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zoe-Winters/e/B002BOD2JE">Zoe Winters</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Karen-McQuestion/e/B003F6K1M8">Karen McQuestion</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Selena-Kitt/e/B002BOF8LY">Selena Kitt</a>. <a href="http://theselfpublishingrevolution.blogspot.com/2010/12/year-of-profits-in-ebooks-2010.html">Selena Kitt</a> made $120,000 this year on her Kindle ebooks.<br /><br />But these are all outliers, right?<br /><br />No, they're not.<br /><br />Mark Coker, who runs <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/">Smashwords</a>, recently interviewed his star author <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker/indie-ebook-author-brian-_b_794433.html">Brian Pratt</a> on HuffPo. Brian has earned $25,000 in three months.<br /><br />If you check over on <a href="http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,43931.0.html">Kindleboards</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Michael-J.-Sullivan/e/B002BOJ41O">Michael Sullivan</a> sold 7500 ebooks in November. The thread also lists 14 other authors who sold more than 1000 ebooks last month.<br /><br />Here are the names of these authors. Keep an eye on them. I only expect their sales to go up.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-L-McAfee/e/B003DCAA84">David McAfee</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nathan-Lowell/e/B003D54RY4">Nathan Lowell</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ellen-Fisher">Ellen Fisher</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Valmore-Daniels/e/B003UWQMEI">Valmore Daniels</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Dalglish/e/B003AUKAI4">David Dalglish</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Loose-OReilly-Paranormal-Mystery-ebook/dp/B003Y5H8IK">Terri Reid</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Victorine-E.-Lieske/e/B003J4VTKO">Victorine Lieske</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Jackson/e/B0037G6GJS">Richard Jackson</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Karen-Cantwell/e/B003VKZTZM">Karen Cantwell </a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Lake/e/B0037T9ANY">Margaret Lake</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/H.P.-Mallory/e/B003VI5C60">HP Mallory</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/K.A.-Thompson/e/B0037JB7N0">KA Thompson</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beth-Orsoff/e/B001IXTQGW">Beth Orsoff</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tina-Folsom/e/B003QHX9KM">Tina Folsom</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bella-Andre/e/B001JS38XI">Bella Andre</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ty-Johnston/e/B002MCBQRU">Ty Johnson</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vicki-Tyley/e/B003K4HBJQ">Vicki Tyley</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Marilyn-Lee/e/B002BMDCVE">Marilyn Lee</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Felicity-Heaton/e/B0039E3HOU">Felicity Heaton</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/L.-J.-Sellers/e/B002BODCX0">LJ Sellers</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jeremy-Bishop/e/B004BF7WT2">Jeremy Bishop </a><br /><br />PW or AAP didn't poll any of these writers and ask if their growth was slowing down. They certainly didn't ask me.<br /><br />And these authors I listed aren't the only ones with growing sales--I'm just too lazy to gather more info. If you're an indie author who sold more than 1000 ebooks in November, post in the comments section and I'll add you to the list.<br /><br />But then, indie sales don't amount to much, right? After all, 1000 ebooks a month isn't a lot. Not compared to what Big NY Publishing does.<br /><br />Actually...<br /><br />Whiskey Sour, by all counts my highest selling and most successful books, has sold 60,000 copies since 2004. That means it has averaged 770 copies a month since its debut.<br /><br />1000 copies a month seems pretty damn good to me.<br /><br />But then, these are indie authors. It's not like there are any professional authors jumping on this Kindle bandwagon. Except for maybe:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Robert-W.-Walker/e/B000APAUAU">Robert W. Walker</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Morrell/e/B000APAKHI">David Morrell</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raymond-Benson/e/B000APPVFY">Raymond Benson</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Libby-Fischer-Hellmann/e/B001HMMDZU">Libby Fischer Hellmann</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blake-Crouch/e/B001H6U8X0">Blake Crouch</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/F.-Paul-Wilson/e/B000AP9H7M">F. Paul Wilson</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Marcus-Sakey/e/B001IO9J18">Marcus Sakey</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/James-Swain/e/B001IGHJWM">James Swain</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Levine/e/B000APPYKG">Paul Levine</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/William-Meikle/e/B002BMOP0G">William Meikle</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Scott-Nicholson/e/B001HCX30O">Scott Nicholson</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Simon-Wood/e/B0028OMCMK">Simon Wood</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Parnell-Hall/e/B001HMQ37E">Parnell Hall</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Nassise/e/B001KH4O2M">Joseph Nassise</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Schreck/e/B001JS8CTI">Tom Schreck</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Floaters-ebook/dp/B002BDT780">Henry Perez</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jeff-Strand/e/B001K8D3F0">Jeff Strand</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Goldberg/e/B000APXNDQ">Lee Goldberg</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Terry/e/B001JSAPW0">Mark Terry</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Shannon/e/B001JP4R1S">Harry Shannon</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Richard-S.-Wheeler/e/B000AQ1HDI">Richard S. Wheeler</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ruth-Harris/e/B001HPOZSA">Ruth Harris</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Don-Pendleton/e/B000APGEQ4">Don Pendleton</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jeremy-Robinson/e/B001JOVF7I">Jeremy Robinson</a><br /><br />There are many more, but I'm tired off adding all the links.<br /><br />However, I do want to post this final one, because I think it's pretty damn cool.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Walker-Neteru-Academy-ebook/dp/B004G0936W"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549100012240177746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhou15vEO33UDyDO1pw8nnf7zMdTAwExJju7bIMG5vZXM6XKVJMBK9BdJjmVwGZaRhgDl-BEiU78TB3dm3fFlCGGiYmUbNcoGYy2veiq2C7xhQLBJ1OJi0cyn9EO4U42tFE_Ylt2mWcc4Y/s400/ShadowWalker_export.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 262px;" /></a>This is the latest book by bestselling author<a href="http://www.leslieesdailebanks.com/"> LA Banks</a>.<br /><br />I met Leslie at a writing convention in New Orleans, and we traded stories about how we'd gotten screwed in our careers, which lead to me talking about ebooks.<br /><br />If you look at the cover (designed by my cover artist, Carl Graves at <a href="http://extendedimagery.blogspot.com/">Extended Imagery</a>), you'd think this is her newest Big NY Print Release.<br /><br />Nope. Ms. Banks is self-pubbing this one, just in time for Xmas, for $3.99. You can buy it on Kindle <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Walker-Neteru-Academy-ebook/dp/B004G0936W">HER</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Walker-Neteru-Academy-ebook/dp/B004G0936W">E</a>.<br /><br />So... perhaps there is a reason ebook sales are slowing for those 14 publishers mentioned in PW.<br /><br />Perhaps sales are slowing because more readers are buying indie books. Or because more professional writers are going indie. Or because publishers are too self-absorbed to notice anything happening outside of the insular world they've built for themselves.<br /><br />But what do I know? I'm an outlier.<br /><br />Here's a fun game, though. You know the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_kevin_bacon">Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon</a> meme? We can also play the Six Degrees of JA Konrath with self-pubbed Kindle authors.<br /><br />Of the names I listed in the blog, I'm one degree of separation from at least 80% of them. The rest, I'm probably second degree.<br /><br />You hear that, NY Publishing? You truly want to slow the growth of ebooks?<br /><br />Shut me up.<br /><br />I'm willing to be bought off. Pass around a collection envelope, like you do for employee birthdays. For a million bucks, I promise I'll never blog about ebooks, or help another writer, ever again.<br /><br />Here's my Paypal button. Maybe we can do business.<br /><form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"><input name="hosted_button_id" type="hidden" value="8574254" /><br /><input alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" border="0" name="submit" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donate_LG.gif" type="image" /><br /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" /></form>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-63426100835397122782017-02-16T11:36:00.000-08:002018-08-19T19:20:16.162-07:00How Good is Good Enough?Bear with me while I work out some doubts.<br /><br />Last month I published <a href="http://getbook.at/grandmaebook">GRANDMA?</a>, a YA comedy horror novel I wrote with my nineteen year old son, Talon.<br /><div><br /></div><div>A lot of the writing was rewriting his prose. He's young, he's still learning, and his stuff wasn't up to the standards I've had since I was first published in 2003.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I was rewriting his scenes, I got to thinking. I wrote bunch of novels before <a href="http://getbook.at/whiskeysourebook">WHISKEY SOUR</a> was published. I self-pubbed most of those early books in 2009, with zero changes, because they were good enough for prime time. I knew they were good enough, because my agent represented them.</div><div><br />A few of them, three in particular, I'd never deemed good enough. So they've been sitting in my attic in a plastic bin, having been written before I owned a computer.</div><div><br /></div><div>While cleaning out the attic, I took a look and decided these three were, in fact, pretty good. Not great, but I'd grade them each a solid B.</div><div><br /></div><div>They all feature the character of Phineas Troutt, who is the current husband of Jack Daniels, and has appeared in eight JD novels, a handful of short stories, and my TIMECASTER series. Phin was the protag of my very first novel, DEAD ON MY FEET, written when I was 23 years old. Literally half my life ago, as I'll turn 47 next month.</div><div><br /></div><div>I reread it, and decided I could do a quick polish and self-pub it and its two sequels without spending a lot of time and energy on them.<br /><br /></div><div>But, as I'm polishing, I find I'm doing a lot of rewriting.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which brings us to the title of this blog post: How Good is Good Enough?</div><div><br /></div><div>DEAD ON MY FEET is going to sell a certain number to my diehard fans, who buy everything I put out.</div><div><br /></div><div>It will also sell a number of copies to my casual fans, who buy some of my stuff (for example the thrillers, but not the horror, or the erotica, but not the sci fi).</div><div><br /></div><div>It will also sell a number of copies to those who have never heard of me, and it will serve as an introduction to my work. Some of those readers may become fans, and some of those fans may become diehards who read/buy everything.</div><div><br /></div><div>Every book is a billboard for your entire backlist. If that book is enjoyed, it will lead a certain number of readers to your other books.</div><div><br /></div><div>Does everyone see where I'm going with this?</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBjZcdlEULeQOHURtdBDwJsE8Yx0wMcRveBfM8lffpviZI_KKQ6dPjxKKC-eTrj6u_otfOa6xqaLKeDLsepGXVmJTrO4WjBZTzQEbva_YDI_ukflrsEHlTeZRxMCM71aYMuX999BcZGU/s1600/PhinBoxSet_eBookFrontCoverFINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBjZcdlEULeQOHURtdBDwJsE8Yx0wMcRveBfM8lffpviZI_KKQ6dPjxKKC-eTrj6u_otfOa6xqaLKeDLsepGXVmJTrO4WjBZTzQEbva_YDI_ukflrsEHlTeZRxMCM71aYMuX999BcZGU/s320/PhinBoxSet_eBookFrontCoverFINAL.jpg" width="213" /></a>DEAD ON MY FEET will sell to diehards, and some casual fans, and some new readers. It's good enough that the diehards won't be disappointed. Maybe some of the casual fans will, since it isn't quite up to par with my latest JD novels, and maybe they won't read the sequels. And it might not quite be good enough to prompt new readers to read more of my backlist, but there are books of mine that I consider grade A that also don't prompt new readers to read more of my backlist.<br /><br />Finding readers is a crapshoot. Keeping readers is a crapshoot.<br /><br />When I look at my wife's reading habits, I'm even more perplexed. My wife reads 3 to 5 novels a week. When she finds a new author, she'll read every book by that author.<br /><br />Even the disappointing books.<br /><br />In fact, Maria will stick with an author for three mediocre novels before she finally gives up on them.<br /><br />Talk about rewarding mediocrity. But she isn't the only one who does this. There is a lot of stuff that I find so-so that is insanely popular.<br /><br />I like to consider my novels above average (I'm sure all writers feel the same about their work, so there is a disconnect somewhere). But let's say my books are, indeed, average.<br /><br />Why should I try to do better?<br /><br /></div><div>If a Grade B book will only result in slightly fewer readers over the next ten years, why should I put in weeks and weeks of effort to make it a Grade A book? Why not just put it out there, and spend those weeks writing a new book that I'm sure will please more people?</div><div><br />I consider <a href="http://getbook.at/disturbebook">DISTURB</a> to be my weakest novel. Not only is it short, but it lacks the humor found in my other books. It's a straight medical thriller, and I wrote it by numbers rather than put my personality into it. But it still sells reasonably well, and has an Amazon average rating of four stars.<br /><br /></div><div>Many times, in the past, I've thought about doing a rewrite of DISTURB to beef it up, make it better. But why should I? Would it sell enough extra copies to be worth the effort?</div><div><br /></div><div>I've been planning on spending the rest of the month to whip DEAD ON MY FEET in Grade A shape. But I could release it tomorrow as a Grade B novel, not lose very many readers in the long run, and use those two weeks to work on my next Grade A novel.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the surface, this seems like a no-brainer. Release those three old books with minimal work, and use that time I've saved to write new stuff. I'll make more money in the long run, and the only downside is that some readers won't be as pumped about the Phin books as my other books. I'll do okay with DEAD ON MY FEET, but fans are waiting for the next Jack Daniels book, and getting that out two or three weeks earlier would mean two or three weeks of quicker income.<br /><br />Ebooks will theoretically earn money forever. But I won't live forever. I have an expiration date. Why not get paid a few weeks sooner, as well as save three weeks of work (and by extension, three weeks of my life.)</div><div><br /></div><div>And yet, I just can't do it.</div><div><br /></div><div>I suppose the same reason that got me into writing--the desire to tell a fun story--prevents me from releasing a book that isn't as good as it could be.<br /><br />On the other hand, my favorite books of mine are the <a href="http://getbook.at/timecasterebook">TIMECASTER</a> series. I love writing those. But they're the weakest sellers in my backlist, so the long-awaited third book in that trilogy keeps getting pushed back. If I was writing mainly to please myself, shouldn't I be working on that now?<br /><br />So what's the answer? Please readers? Please myself? Please the tax man?</div><div><br /></div><div>Hemingway said that stories are never finished, they're simply due. But somewhere between endless rewriting and going live there is a sweet spot where the story is good enough to go out into the world and stand on its own.<br /><br />I don't want to release something I don't think is ready. I feel I have one chance to hook readers, so I should show them my best.<br /><br />But, at the same time, I'm probably wrong about that. My success is based on luck. Not on how good I think my own books are.<br /><br />There is so much mediocrity in the world, and mediocre things can, and are, popular. Why try harder?<br /><br />Every author secretly thinks their books are uniquely special, but the vast majority of books don't sell. I haven't been blogging regularly for eight months, and I still get urgent emails from authors, wondering why their sales are slumping. They ask if it's their covers, or if the market is crashing, or if they aren't doing the right kind of marketing.<br /><br />But none of them ever ask if they self-pubbed too soon, before the book was Grade A. Writers are a pretty insecure bunch, but I've never met one who blames their sales on their bad writing.<br /><br />I gotta say, it's seductive to think I could self-pub these three books instantly, make some money, not worry about the anticipated three star average (I encourage writers to not look at their reviews, and I usually don't), and immediately move on to something I know will sell better.<br /><br />But I won't do that. I'll put in the time and make these books better. Money is nice. Having more time is nice. However, the nicest thing of all is having pride in my work.<br /><br />I'm pretty sure I'm just as deluded as everyone is. I don't deserve to sell as well as I do. So I've decided to always give it my best shot, because if my sales ever slow I don't want mediocrity to be a possible culprit.<br /><br />However, I'm willing to admit that might be a stupid attitude, for many reasons.<br /><br />What do you think?</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-11216574287918779972017-01-21T16:01:00.000-08:002018-08-19T19:20:16.436-07:00Joe's Got a Movie BlogThose of you who have been paying attention have probably been wondering why I've only done two blog posts in the last six months.<br /><br />It's because there isn't much more I can say about the publishing industry.<br /><br />From 2005 until 2009, my blog was all about self-promotion, landing an agent and a publishing deal, and working with publishers to make your book a success.<br /><br />From 2009 until 2016, my blog was all about self-publishing, and why legacy publishing was no longer the best choice for most authors.<br /><br />I've blogged, at length, about changes and controversies in the publishing world, and did my part to inform (and hopefully entertain) authors of all experience levels.<br /><br />But, lately, nothing in the industry has piqued my interest enough to blog about it.<br /><br />And I miss blogging.<br /><br />I will continue to blog sporadically on NEWBIE'S GUIDE, if something cool happens. Or something uncool happens. I created this blog to advocate for authors, and I will continue to do that.<br /><br />I have also begun a new blog.<br /><br />I'm a huge movie fan, and have about five thousand titles in my home library. As you might guess, not all of them are good. Some, in fact, are terrible.<br /><br />I'm going to be blogging about the terrible ones.<br /><br />My son, <a href="http://www.talonkonrath.com/">Talon Konrath</a>, and I have launched <a href="http://bestworstmoviesever.blogspot.com/2017/01/what-is-this-blog-about.html">THE BEST WORST MOVIES EVER BLOG</a>. Several times a week we're going to be watching bad movies and sharing our thoughts.<br /><br />Unlike this blog, the movie blog is meant to primarily entertain. If you're a fan of bad movies, you'll no doubt see some titles you recognize. If you don't understand the appeal of bad movies, I hope you'll check it out and learn why you need to seek out and see many of these amazing films.<br /><br />So far we've got nine posts live, and plan on at least a hundred more by the end of 2017. It's a rough job, but we're committed to it.<br /><br />Please take a look, and as always, thanks for reading!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-19015441181955898062017-01-16T10:34:00.000-08:002018-08-19T19:20:16.704-07:00New Konrath Zombie Novel GRANDMA<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Randall just wanted to have a fun summer vacation with his family, visiting Grandma at her cabin on a lake in the Wisconsin Northwoods.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then everything went horribly wrong.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Join fifteen-year-old Randall, and his younger brother Josh, as they fight for their lives on the eve of an elderly undead apocalypse.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>GRANDMA? - The Complete Novel</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>She won't bake you cookies...</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Forget everything you've ever read about zombies. But that's probably impossible, because you know you've read a lot. So maybe just put aside your preconceptions, because this living dead epic will make you remember why you fell in love with this genre in the first place. Part scary, part funny, this is a living dead Armageddon like you've never seen before.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book is over 60,000 words long. It also includes a Q&A with the authors on the creation of the novel.</div><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MS2P80T/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01MS2P80T&linkCode=as2&tag=bestworstmo0a-20&linkId=90ba8a6cf34795e816f618d3eb5d36eb" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=B01MS2P80T&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL250_&tag=bestworstmo0a-20" /></a><br /><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MS2P80T/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01MS2P80T&linkCode=as2&tag=bestworstmo0a-20&linkId=90ba8a6cf34795e816f618d3eb5d36eb" target="_blank">Only $3.99 on Kindle</a>!</b></div><br /><b>Joe: </b>So, after four years of writing, GRANDMA? - Attack of the Geriatric Zombies!: The Novel is finally available. <a href="http://getbook.at/grandmaebook">$3.99 on Amazon Kindle</a>. <a href="http://getbook.at/grandmapaper">$9.99 for the paper version</a>. How does it feel?<br /><br /><b>Talon:</b> I feel exuberant.<br /><br /><b>Joe: </b>What took so damn long?<br /><b><br /></b><b>Talon:</b> Someone other than me in this blog post… Nah, I’m kidding. This was a grueling process. I lost track on how many times I rewrote this book. Being in high-school didn’t help much either. <br /><br /><b>Joe: </b>So how much of this is you, and how much of this is your kind and tolerant father working his magic to make you look good?<br /><br /><b>Talon: </b>The story, the plot, the characters and a lot of funny things are me. The wonderful, eye-pleasing writing is my father. <br /><br />He also wrote a lot of funny things.<br /><br /><b>Joe:</b> We're launching a blog called The Best Worst Movies Ever Blog, where we both make humorous comments about bad movies and try to convince more people need to watch them. A big part of the blog is Talon's 20 Second Review, where you post a YouTube video listing five reasons to see the movie.<br /><br />What are five reasons, in twenty seconds or less, that people should read GRANDMA?<br /><br /><b>Talon:</b> I'm glad you asked...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RkmYY-GpzME/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RkmYY-GpzME?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></span></div><br />So what are you blog readers waiting for? <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MS2P80T/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01MS2P80T&linkCode=as2&tag=bestworstmo0a-20&linkId=90ba8a6cf34795e816f618d3eb5d36eb">Buy a copy!</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-78881490645386450012016-12-15T11:31:00.000-08:002018-08-19T19:20:16.975-07:00Konrath's New Year's Resolutions for Writers 2017<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Every December I do a post about resolutions for writers, and every year I add more of them. They've changed a lot; after all, when I began this, there was no Amazon Kindle, self-publishing was a bad idea, and this blog was for writers eager to find agents and land deals with the Big 6.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">But a lot of the advice from a decade ago still holds true, so take these resolutions for what they're worth to you.</span></span><br /><div align="left" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><b>2006</b></span><br /><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Newbie Writer Resolutions</span></b></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will start/finish the damn book</span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will always have at least three stories on submission, while working on a fourth </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will attend at least one writer's conference, and introduce myself to agents, editors, and other writers </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will subscribe to the magazines I submit to </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will join a critique group. If one doesn't exist, I will start one at the local bookstore or library </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will finish every story I start </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will listen to criticism </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will create/update my website </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will master the query process and search for an agent </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'll quit procrastinating in the form of research, outlines, synopses, taking classes, reading how-to books, talking about writing, and actually write something </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> will refuse to get discouraged, because I know JA Konrath wrote 9 novels, received almost 500 rejections, and penned over 1 million words before he sold a thing--and I'm a lot more talented than that guy</span></ul><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Professional Writer Resolutions</b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"> </span></span><br /><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will keep my website updated </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will keep up with my blog and social networks </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will schedule bookstore signings, and while at the bookstore I'll meet and greet the customers rather than sit dejected in the corner </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will send out a newsletter, emphasizing what I have to offer rather than what I have for sale, and I won't send out more than four a year </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will learn to speak in public, even if I think I already know how </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will make selling my books my responsibility, not my publisher's </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will stay in touch with my fans </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will contact local libraries, and tell them I'm available for speaking engagements </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will attend as many writing conferences as I can afford </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will spend a large portion of my advance on self-promotion </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will help out other writers </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will not get jealous, will never compare myself to my peers, and will cleanse my soul of envy </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will be accessible, amiable, and enthusiastic </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will do one thing every day to self-promote </span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will always remember where I came from</span></ul><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />2007</span></b><br /><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Keep an Open Mind.</b> It's easier to defend your position than seriously consider new ways of thinking. But there is no innovation, no evolution, no "next big thing" unless someone thinks differently. Be that someone. <b> </b></span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Look Inward.</b> We tend to write for ourselves. But for some reason we don't market for ourselves. Figure out what sort of marketing works on you; that's the type of marketing you should be trying. You should always know why you're doing what you're doing, and what results are acceptable to you. <b> </b></span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Find Your Own Way.</b> Advice is cheap, and the Internet abounds with people telling you how to do things. Question everything. The only advice you should take is the advice that makes sense to you. And if it doesn't work, don't be afraid to ditch it. <b> </b></span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Set Attainable Goals.</b> Saying you'll find an agent, or sell 30,000 books, isn't attainable, because it involves things out of your control. Saying you'll query 50 agents next month, or do signings at 20 bookstores, is within your power and fully attainable. <b> </b></span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Enjoy the Ride.</b> John Lennon said that life is what happens while you're busy planning other things. Writing isn't about the destination; it's about the journey. If you aren't enjoying the process, why are you doing it? <b> </b></span></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>H</b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>elp Each Other.</b> One hand should always be reaching up for your next goal. The other should be reaching down to help others get where you're at. We're all in the same boat. Start passing out oars.</span></ul><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br />2008</span><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /><br />I Will Use Anger As Fuel</b></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">We all know that this is a hard business. Luck plays a huge part. Rejection is part of the job. Things happen beyond our control, and we can get screwed.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It's impossible not to dwell on it when we're wronged. But rather than vent or stew or rage against the world and everyone in it, we should use that anger and the energy it provides for productive things.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">The next time you get bad news, resolve to use that pain to drive your work. Show fate that when it pushes you, you push right back. By writing. By querying. By marketing.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">I Will Abandon My Comfort Zone</b></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">The only difference between </span><span style="color: #333333; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;">routine</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"> and </span><span style="color: #333333; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px;">rut</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"> is spelling.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">As a writer, you are part artist and part businessman.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Great artists take chances.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Successful businessmen take chances.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">This means doing things you're afraid of, and things you hate, and things you've never tried before.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">If, in 2008, you don't fail at something, you weren't trying hard enough.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></b></span><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I Will Feed My Addiction </span></b><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Life is busy. There are always things you can and should be doing, and your writing career often comes second.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">So make it come first.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Right now, you're reading </span><i style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">A Newbie's Guide to Publishing</i><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">. Not </span><i style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">A Newbie's Guide to Leading a Content and Balanced Life</i><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">You want to get published and stay published? That means making writing a priority. That means making sacrifices. A sacrifice involves choosing one thing over another.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">If you can't devote the time, energy, and money it takes to pursue this career, go do something else.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></b></span><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I Will Never Be Satisfied </span></b><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Think the last resolution was extreme? This one really separates the die-hards from the hobbyists. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">While an overwhelming sense of peace and enlightenment sounds pretty nice, I wouldn't want to hire a bunch of Zen masters to build an addition on my house. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Satisfaction and contentment are great for your personal life. In your professional life, once you start accepting the way things are, you stop trying.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">No one is going to hand you anything in this business. You have to be smart, be good, work hard, and get lucky.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Every time you get published, you got lucky. Don't take it for granted.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">When something bad happens, it should make you work harder. But when something good happens, you can't believe you earned it. Because it isn't true. You aren't entitled to this career. No one is.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Yes, you should celebrate successes. Sure, you should enjoy good things when they happen. Smile and laugh and feel warm and fuzzy whenever you finish a story or make a sale or reach a goal.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">But remember that happiness isn't productive. Mankind's greatest accomplishments are all tales of struggle, hardship, sacrifice, work, and effort. You won't do any of those things if you're satisfied with the status quo. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Who do you want on your team? The kid who plays for fun? Or the kid who plays to win?</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">If you want this to be your year,</span><i style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"> </i><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">you know which kid you have to be.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">2009</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">This year I'm only going to add one resolution to this growing list, but if you're writing for a living, or trying to write for a living, it's an important one.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I Won't Blame Anyone For Anything</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It's tempting to look at the many problems that arise in this business and start pointing fingers. This is a slippery slope, and no good can come from it.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Do agents, editors, and publishers make mistakes? Of course.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">You make mistakes too.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Hindsight is 20/20, so we can all look at things that didn't go our way and fantasize about how things should have gone. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">But blaming others, or yourself, is dwelling on the past. What's done is done, and being bitter isn't going to help your career.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">So try to learn from misfortune, forgive yourself and others, and make 2009 a blameless year.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2010</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I Will Be Wary</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">The medium in which stories are absorbed is changing in a big way, and it will continue to change. 2009 will go down in publishing history as Year Zero for the upcoming ebook revolution. Writers should explore this new territory, but we need to understand that Print is still King, and any goals and dreams a writer might have regarding publication should be focused on getting into print.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">That's not to say that ebooks shouldn't be explored and experimented with. They should be, and in a serious way. Erights are a very long tail--one that can potentially continue long after our lifetimes.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Don't forsake print for ebooks without understanding what you're giving up, and don't give away your ebook rights to get a print deal.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I Will Be A Pioneer</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Remember the old saying about how to recognize a pioneer? They're the one with the arrows in their backs and fronts.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">I've tried to be forward-thinking in my career, rather than being content with my role as a cog in a broken machine. Your best chance for longevity is to question everything, test boundaries, experiment with new ideas, and be willing to change your mind and learn from your mistakes.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Your job is to survive, by any means necessary. So pull out the arrows and forge ahead. Discover the difference between determination and stupidity by being an example for one or the other or both.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Though this may seem at odds with the previous resolution about being wary, it's actually quite simpatico.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Q: What do you call a wary pioneer? A: Still alive.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I Will Read Books</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">I'm surprised I haven't mentioned this in previous years. If you're a writer, you must be a reader. I don't care if you read on your Kindle, or on stone tablets. Reading, and giving the gift of reading to others, is essential. Period.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I Will Stop Worrying </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Worrying, along with envy, blame, guilt, and regret, is a useless emotion. It's also bad storytelling. Protagonists should be proactive, not reactive. They should forge ahead, not dwell on things beyond their control. Fretting, whining, complaining, and bemoaning the state of the industry isn't the way to get ahead.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">You are the hero in the story of your life. Act like it.</span></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2011</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I Will Self-Publish</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Just twelve short months ago, I made $1650 on Kindle in December, and was amazed I could pay my mortgage with ebook sales.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">This December, I'll earn over $22,000.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">The majority of this is on Kindle. But I'm also doing well self-pubbing in print through Amazon's Createspace program, and will earn $2700 this month on nine POD books. I'm also finally trying out B&N's PubIt program, which looks to be good for over $1k a month, and I'm doing okay on Smashwords, with Sony, Apple, and Kobo combining for another $1k.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">This is nothing short of revolutionary.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">The gatekeepers--agents who submit to editors who acquire books to publish and distribute to booksellers--are no longer needed to make a living as a fiction writer. For the first time in history, writers can reach readers without having to jump through hoops, get anointed, compromise integrity, or fit the cookie-cutter definition for What New York Wants.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">I'm not saying you should give up on traditional publishing. But I am saying that there is ZERO downside to self-pubbing. At worst, you'll make a few bucks. At best, you'll make a fortune, and have agents and editors fighting over you.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">But remember: even if you are being fought over, you still have a choice.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">DO NOT take any deal that's less than what you believe you could earn in six years. If you're selling 1000 ebooks a month, that means $144,000 is the minimum advance you should be offered before you consider signing.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It blows my mind to think that way, let alone blog about it. I got a $34,000 advance for my first novel, and even less for my last few.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Currently, I have seven self-pubbed novels, each earning more than $24k a year. In six years, at the current rate, I'll earn more than one million bucks on those.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">But I don't expect them to maintain their current sales.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">I expect sales to go up.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Ebooks haven't saturated the market yet. But they will. And you need to be ready for it. Which leads me to...</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br />I Won't Self-Publish Crap</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Just because it's easier than ever before to reach an audience doesn't mean you should.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">I can safely say that I'm either directly or indirectly responsible for thousands of writers trying out self-publishing. The majority of these writers aren't making the same amount of money that I am, and are scratching their heads, wondering what they're doing wrong.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Luck still plays a part in success. But so does professionalism.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Being a professional means you make sure you have a professional cover (</span><a href="http://extendedimagery.blogspot.com/" style="color: #666699; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.extendedimagery.com</a><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">), and you have been professionally formatted for ebooks (</span><a href="http://www.52novels.com/" style="color: #666699; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;">www.52novels.com</a><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">) and for print books (</span><a href="http://yourepublished.blogspot.com/" style="color: #666699; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;">http://yourepublished.blogspot.com</a><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">.)</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Being a professional means you're prolific, with many titles for sale, and that you diversify, exploiting all possible places to sell your work (Kindle, Createspace, Smashwords, iBooks, iTunes, Sony, Nook, Kobo, Borders, Android, and no doubt more to come.)</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">But most of all, being a professional means you won't inflict your shitty writing on the public.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Self-pubbing is not the kiddie pool, where you learn how to swim. You need to be an excellent swimmer before you jump in.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">If your sales aren't where you'd like them to be, especially if you've done everything else I've mentioned, then it's time to take a cold, hard, critical look at the writing. Which segues into...</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">I'll Pay Attention to the Market</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">To say I'm excited about the ebook future is putting it mildly. But that doesn't mean I have carte blanche to write whatever the hell I want to, and then expect it to sell.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Yes, writers now have more freedom. Yes, we can now cater to niche tastes, and write novellas, and focus on more personal projects.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">But if you want to make a living, you still have to understand your audience, and how to give them what they want.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Self-pubbing is not an excuse to be a self-indulgent egomaniac. On the contrary, it's a chance for you to learn what sells.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">For the very first time, the writer can conduct their own real-world experiments. By trying different things, learning from mistakes, and constantly tweaking and improving, we have more power than ever before to find our readers.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">A lot of folks know how much money I'm making. But how many know:</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">I've changed or tweaked cover art 45 times.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">I've reformatted my books five times each.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">I've changed product descriptions over 80 times.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">I've changed prices on each book two or three times.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Unlike the traditional publishing world, where published books are static, self-publishing is dynamic. If something isn't selling as well as you'd like, you can change it. The work doesn't end when you upload your ebook to Kindle. The work is never-ending, and vigilance is mandatory.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Self-publishing is a wonderful opportunity to learn and to grow. This means you MUST try new things.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">2011 is going to be a turbulent year for publishers and bookstores and editors and agents. Change is coming, and many of the stalwarts of the industry aren't going to be around for much longer.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">But savvy writers will be safe from harm. In fact, they'll thrive like never before.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">For the first time in the history of publishing, we have control. Embrace that control, and make 2011 your year.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">2012</b></span><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Hard to believe this will be my sixth year offering New Year's Resolutions to writers. Even harder to believe is how much the publishing industry has changed during that time.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">When I first began this blog, it was about helping authors find an agent and a legacy publishing deal. And once they did, it was about working with your publisher to sell as many books as possible by understanding how to self-promote and market.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Now, writers are much better served learning how to upload their work to Kindle and write a product description than learning how to write a query letter or do a successful book signing.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">So is there still anything left for me to say?</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Yes. There's plenty.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></b></span><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I Will Experiment</span></b><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Don't let fear prevent you from taking chances and trying new things. I'm talking to all of you who refuse to raise or lower your ebook prices. I'm talking to all of you who pass judgement without any experience to back up your position. I'm talking to all of you who insist that your way is the right way without ever having tried any other way--or in some cases, knowing nothing about the path you want to take (I'm looking right at you folks still chasing legacy deals.)</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">The goals you set should constantly be adapting and changing as more data comes in. But don't be a lump, expecting data to come to you by surfing the net, or reading this blog, or praying Santa Claus helps you out.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">You need to be the one actively trying different things, taking different directions, and learning through trial and error.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">In the past, there were a lot of gatekeepers who could hold you back.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Today the only one holding you back is you.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></b></span><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I Will Help Other Writers</span></b><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">If you learn something, share it. If you have some success, show others how to follow your lead. If you fail miserably, warn your peers.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Writing and publishing were once solitary, private matters, and everyone played their cards close to their chests. No one knew how much anyone else was earning, or how many books they sold, and this suited the publishers just fine. The dark ages are all about being kept in the dark.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Well, let there be light.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">The more we share, and help one another, the more our collective base of knowledge can grow.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Self-publishing is an open source project. Add to the database.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></b></span><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I Will Control My Fear</span></b><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">There will always be doubt and uncertainty, because luck plays such a big role in success. I know there are writers who are doing everything right, who still haven't found readers.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">But don't let fear own you.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to get frustrated.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to get envious of those doing better.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to dismiss the success or failures of others.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to worry about the future.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to ignore good advice. It's also easy to take bad advice.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to make snap judgments and quick dismissals.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to make predictions without evidence.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">It is easy to give up.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">BUT NOBODY EVER SAID SUCCESS IS EASY.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Yes, it is the greatest time ever to be a writer. But no one owes you a living, and no one promised that even if you write a great book and promote the hell out of it you'll get stinking rich.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Not to get all Yoda here, but fear leads to doubt, and doubt will take you down the wrong path.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Controlling fear is easier than you might think. Just accept that failure is part of the process.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. All major success stories are filled with setbacks and mistakes and bad luck. But all successful people persevere.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">We've all heard that luck favors those who are prepared. So be prepared, and stay prepared, for as long as it takes for success to find you.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Remember that. You don't find success. Success finds you.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">This is especially important when you realize this truism:</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">What Goes Up Must Come Down</b></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">I've had a lot of writers email me that their sales are down. Mine are, too. Because ebooks are so new, no one knows what this means, and it is easy to let fear cause doubt.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Here's a mantra for you to help you get over it.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">1. Ebooks are forever, and shelf space is infinite. Once you're published, you'll always be selling.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">2. Ebooks are not a trend. They are the new, preferred way to read, and mankind will always have the need and desire to read.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">3. Ebooks are global. Doing poorly in the USA? That's okay. There are plenty of other countries where you can make money.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">4. Sales fluctuate. Always. And there is often no logical or discernible reason why. Riding high in April, shot down in May, that's life.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">5. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You're a writer. You're in this until the day you die. As long as you continue to write good books, you'll find readers.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">2012 is going to be a very interesting year. We'll see unknown writers get rich. We'll see big name writers leave their publishers. We'll see more and more people buy ereaders throughout the world. We'll see some companies go out of business. We'll see other companies start growing market share.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">We're part of something big, and it's going to get even bigger. And while everything that goes up must come down, we've got a very long time before that happens with ebooks.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">And when it does? That's okay. Formats and gadgets come and go.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">But the world will always need storytellers.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Have a great 2012.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">2013</b></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">I've lived long enough to see my advice become obsolete, and that gives me hope for the future.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Back when I began, this business was all about finding an agent, finding a publisher, then doing whatever you could to promote yourself.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">This blog spoke at length about social media, and book tours, and partnering with your publisher.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Things have changed. </span></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I have 10,000 followers on Twitter, but I only use it occasionally Facebook? Haven't been on there in eight months. I witnessed the rise and fall of MySpace. I've opted out of Google+ because I saw no benefits. LinkedIn? I can't even remember my password.</span></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I'll never do another book tour. I doubt I'll ever do another official booksigning. I've stopped speaking in public, stopped attending events. Once it was important to meet fans and network with peers. Now I can do that just fine via email. </span></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Partnering with your publisher? Why would you do that, when they offer so little? 17.5% ebook royalties with them, vs. 70% on your own. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">I haven't blogged or Tweeted in months. I've been busy doing what writers should be doing: writing.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">And guess what? My sales have remained constant. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Many times this year, I took industry practices to task. I saw stupidity, or unfairness, and I did my best to discredit it. I fought, tooth and nail, for what I believed, and wasted untold hours arguing with pinheads.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Which brings me to my resolution for 2013.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>Get Over Yourself</b></span></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>I have turned off Google Alerts, and don't Google my name or my pen names.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />I don't go on message boards.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />I don't read my book reviews.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />I don't care what people are saying about me, good or bad, in blogs or on Twitter or in the media.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />There will always be people who don't like you, and don't like your books.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />Ignore them.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />Trust me, it is liberating to be free of the opinions of strangers. We all need to focus on our writing. Because the millions of readers out there don't care about your blog. They aren't searching for you on Twitter and avoiding your books based on the comments of others. They aren't taking one star reviews seriously.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />It's very easy to obsess in this business. But I haven't seen a single shred of evidence that obsession helps careers.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />The thing that I have seen, over and over, is people finding success by writing good books.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />I really think it is possible to make a very nice living by writing and not worrying about anything else.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />We all want to believe we're doing something good for our careers, so we abuse social media, buy ads, rigorously defend our good name, cultivate media contacts, make appearances, and celebrate our own very minor celebrity.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />Let it all go. Spend your time working on your books. That's the only thing that really matters, and the only thing you have control over.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />I hope everyone reading this has a very successful 2013. Happy new year.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>2014</b></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I'll get all of my real-life shit together.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">That means:</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">1. Incorporating and paying quarterly taxes.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">2. Creating a will, including a living will.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">3. Making sure the will includes <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2013/11/death-and-self-pubbed-writer.html" style="color: #3e6d88; text-decoration: none;">provisions for your literary properties</a>.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">4. Keeping accurate track of business expenses.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">5. Getting regular doctor check-ups so you don't die from something avoidable.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">6. Remembering that future goals shouldn't come at the expense of enjoying every single day.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">7. Appreciating the people you care about, and making sure they know it.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">With luck, we'll all die very old and very rich.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But I've always said that luck favors those prepared. It's very east to get caught up in writing and promotion and ignore the stuff that only becomes obvious when you're in a life-or-death scenario.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Don't wait for the life-or-death scenario. Take care of it now. It doesn't matter if you're 18 or 108, death and taxes are unavoidable. The more you do now to prepare for them, the less painful they'll be.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If you die tonight, will it be with regrets? If so, sort that out immediately. Don't leave loose ends. Don't leave things unsaid. Don't leave a mess for others to clean up.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Now go take care of business, and have a great 2014.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2015</span></b><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I skipped this year, <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/01/welcome-to-2015.html" style="color: #3e6d88; text-decoration: none;">and did this post instead.</a></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2016</span></b><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I'm boiling my resolutions down to the essence:</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">WRITE.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It's so easy to get caught up in different aspects of a writing career. I've had phases where I tried to help other writers, started my own company, blogged, collaborated, fought the publishing world, evangelized, experimented, promoted, tried to figure things out, and spent a whole lot of time doing stuff other than writing.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I'm happy I did all that. But it has taken me away from the thing I like most.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I might be a blogger, and a teacher, and an innovator, and a pundit. But first and foremost, I'm a writer.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">And writers write.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So for 2016, I'm going to write more than I've ever written before. I'm going to finish those stories I've put aside, I'm going to break new ground, and I'm going to get back to my roots. I've spent a lot of time tending to my career. And for good reason. A backlist is a garden that needs attention to grow and prosper.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But now I'm going to spend the lion's share of my time planting more seeds. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I'm looking for 2016 to be my most productive year ever.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>2017</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">I've been writing resolutions for writers for eleven years. What's left to say?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">How about:</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><b>Change with the times.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Keeping with this resolution, I'm about to sign a three-book publishing deal with <a href="http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/">Kensington</a>, the largest independent publisher in America.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Many longtime readers of this blog might be thinking I'm crazy, a hypocrite, or got a giant paycheck, since I've been preaching for years to never give up ebook rights.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Actually, I'm not crazy or a hypocrite, and I didn't get an enormous advance, either. I'm also thrilled with this development.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Party because Kensington has a good chance to hit a homerun with the deal. But mostly because I kept my ebook rights.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Kensington will publish <a href="https://www.amazon.com/List-Thriller-Konrath-Kilborn-Collective-ebook/dp/B00267T89E">THE LIST</a> (on deck for 2018), along with two other backlist titles of mine, in paper-only.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">This is going to be a fascinating experiment for me, and for Kensington. THE LIST has sold over 200,000 ebooks. How will it do in paper?</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">I've always known that I'm leaving money on the table because my books aren't in brick and mortar stores. There are a whole lot of readers who shop at bookstores, airports, department stores, and convenience stores, and I'm not available in those outlets. My POD titles are $13-$17, which is pricey compared to my $4.99 ebooks. Wal-Mart won't ever carry me. Neither will B&N.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">This Kensington deal will let me reach an audience I haven't reached since 2009.</span></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So is this a portend of things to come for self-pubbed authors?</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Kensington has shown themselves to be nimble and forward-thinking. I have yet to see any evidence that the Big 5 are smart enough to try something like this, save for that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hugh-howey/how-wool-got-a-unique-pub_b_2852547.html">big Hugh Howey deal years ago</a>. Writers waited for more opportunities like that (me included), and none happened. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But if THE LIST and other novels from my backlist do well, maybe we'll start seeing successful indie authors signing print-only deals with Kensington, and the Big 5.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Until that happens, Kensington has a head-start on the competition. And kudos to them. Companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars on focus groups and surveys and samples and test screenings and trial runs trying to guess what consumers want. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I've had over 17,000 Amazon reviews. Readers have vetted my backlist, and I've sold over two million copies worldwide. Seems like a no-brainer to get some of my books into stores, right?</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So, when Kensington approached me, I was all for it, even though 2/3 of this blog has been dedicated to criticizing publishers. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">During my decade of blogging, I've gone from pro-publisher, to pro-indie, to anti-establishment. I've <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/02/my-thoughts-on-amazon-debate.html">championed Amazon</a> and criticized the <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/10/fisking-authors-guild.html">Authors Guild</a> and <a href="https://www.authorsguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2016-Summer-Bulletin.pdf">Authors United</a>, and then went on to doing a <a href="https://www.authorsguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2016-Summer-Bulletin.pdf">panel for the Authors Guild</a> and watching as <a href="https://www.authorsguild.org/industry-advocacy/authors-united-join-forces-authors-guild/">Authors United disbanded</a>.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">I got my first rejection in 1989, got my agent in 1998, signed my first book deal in 2002, self-pubbed in 2009, and got my rights back from three publishers in 2010. Now, in 2016, I'm signing with a publisher once again.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">The only consistent thing about this business is change. And make no mistake; this is a business. It isn't an ideology. It isn't a philanthropy. It isn't a hobby.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">In 2007, I began my yearly resolutions with "Keep an open mind."</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">"Changing with the times" falls under that credo, and it is something for all writers--indies, hybrids, and those with publishing contracts--to keep in mind. As we head into the new year, writers have more opportunities than any time in history. We can <a href="https://www.amazon.de/Nagelkiller-Ein-Jack-Daniels-Thriller-9-ebook/dp/B01M24N7JE/">reach other countries</a>. We can produce <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Last-Call-Jacqueline-Daniels-Mysteries/dp/B01M8NXDT1">our own audiobooks</a>. We can <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Adult-Coloring-Book-Triangles/dp/1533695342">publish nonsense</a> just for fun. And maybe this Kensington deal will be the start of a new kind of deal that will become standard. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">What was once an inclusionary club run subjectively (and often nepotistically) by gatekeepers is now open to anyone with a computer and a dream.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">Now go write something. And make sure it's good.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-81304292876539311012016-06-28T07:20:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:17.258-07:00Do Ebook Preorders Work? Part 2A few months ago I wrote a <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2016/04/do-ebook-preorders-work.html">blog post about preorders</a>. I experimented with three preorder titles, curious as to how they'd perform.<br /><br />Here are some of the topics I addressed back then, and my results.<br /><br /><i><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">1. Deadlines.</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"> I wanted to light a fire under my ass and get some work done. On one hand, why invite extra stress into your life? On the other, consider what motivates you.</span></i><br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> Well, the fire was lit. And I burned hot. I wrote three novels and two novellas in less than six months, and I definitely felt the stress. As the deadlines neared, I beat a personal record--over 27,000 words in three days. And the words were good words, most of which I kept.<br /><br />So deadlines did push me write over 250,000 words in only a few months. While it wasn't the most enjoyable writing experience I've ever had, I think the works turned out well, and since launching <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">LAST CALL</a> two days ago my panic attacks have almost stopped. :)<br /><br /><b>Verdict:</b> Deadlines do force you to get words on the page, but only if you work well under stress.<br /><br /><i><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">2. Sales. </b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">I've had many writers ask me: What's the best time to launch a new book? My answer has always been the same: When it's finished. </span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><i>At the same time, if a book is going to be out on a certain date, why make people wait to buy it? And if fans want to buy something right now, why make them wait until later, when they could possibly forget?</i></span></span><br /><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><b>Joe sez: </b>I still think that you shouldn't make people wait to buy something. If they know it is going to come out, let them preorder it.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">But preorder dates don't work as well as they could, for reasons I'll continue to disclose.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">With Blu-ray, you can pre-order it on Amazon even if their is no set release date. I can see how they couldn't happen for KDP authors--it is bad customer service if readers pre-order books that take years to--or never--come out. But this would be a cool feature to have. I know my next Jack Daniels novel is WHITE RUSSIAN. I don't know when it will be finished, and I'm not committing to a crazy deadline again. But it would be nice to have readers be able to pre-order this title even without a release date set.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><b>Verdict:</b> I still would like readers to be able to order a book the moment they hear about it, but I don't think the pre-order system as currently configured is worth it.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><b>3. Buzz.</b> I believe that sales are about what you have to offer, not what you have to sell. The goal is to find people looking for the kinds of books that you write. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">So, when I'm pimping a title, I usually only do it around launch day, or if the book is on sale.</span></i><br /><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><b>Joe sez:</b> I haven't seen added sales benefits to pimping more often. In fact, I see downsides.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">I announced preorders, I reminded people about preorders, and I announced on launch day. This constant promo has cost me some Twitter followers, and instead of having a big one-time boost in sales that would get me on a lot of Top 100 lists, I had a few smaller boosts. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">It's tough to compare recent numbers with numbers from the past because KU has changed KDP so much. But my gut is telling me that preorders lost me some of the visibility that a bigger launch would have had.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><b>Verdict:</b> I think less marketing over time, and a stronger marketing push on launch date, may be the way to go.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><b>4. Sales.</b> While slow and steady sales help your book attain, and keep, a decent ranking on Amazon, nothing beats a book launch without preorders for getting the best initial rank. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">But how much does getting high ranks and showing up on bestseller lists help raise sales?</span></i><br /><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><b>Joe sez:</b><i> </i>All in all, I have about 6500 preorders for those three titles. That's a decent chunk of change, priced at $4.99 and $5.99. But I didn't peak on the bestseller lists like I'd done with previous titles.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">Could it be my brands are losing their popularity? I don't think so. Sales remain solid--I'm still averaging about 180 sales per day and 140,000 KENP. And when I release a new title, there is a big boost. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">But my feeling is I'd get a bigger initial boost without preorders.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">Verdict:</b><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"> Seeing preorder sales accumulate is nice. But I don't know if they help in the long run.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">With or without preorders, I think a comparable number of readers are going to find my books. But I think if a substantial chunk of readers all bought on the same day, rather than sales being staggered over weeks and months, that would raise visibility on the bestseller lists.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">Then again, having a book for sale for a longer time seems smarter than having it for sale for a shorter time. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">They're probably some equation for this. What are the number of eyeballs on a title ranked at #3000 for two months vs. the number of eyeballs on a title ranked at #15 for three days?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">Going with my gut, my next few releases won't have preorder pages. Then I'll be able to compare data in a more meaningful way.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">What have your results been?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-74811123900370663502016-06-27T06:11:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:17.531-07:00Last Call is Released!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />LAST CALL by JA Konrath Now Available<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv48Z0jWChEm87quZnbfbqgorjiR6o5a63TiNfgoyk0HCWibG5zeb1KVodCErAtmGjDnkkTZYKqF1ar8R4Lt1JqTW_tbPoqFnzDtQLaJtAMtbcYUZIMtUKoje9l23y3npQOmLK_M4qcPQ/s1600/Last+Call.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv48Z0jWChEm87quZnbfbqgorjiR6o5a63TiNfgoyk0HCWibG5zeb1KVodCErAtmGjDnkkTZYKqF1ar8R4Lt1JqTW_tbPoqFnzDtQLaJtAMtbcYUZIMtUKoje9l23y3npQOmLK_M4qcPQ/s320/Last+Call.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>My tenth (and last?) Jack Daniels thriller, LAST CALL, is available today in <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">ebook</a> and <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallpaper">paper</a>.<br /><br />Fans have been waiting over two years for this conclusion to the Jack Daniels/Luther Kite story. It was a lot of fun to write, and it ties up all of the loose ends from STIRRED and SERIAL KILLERS UNCUT.<br /><br />RUM RUNNER, the ninth Jack Daniels mystery, is now available as an <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunneraudio">audiobook</a>, performed by rock star Bob Walkenhorst of <a href="http://www.rainmakers.com/">The Rainmakers</a>.<br /><br />Working with Bob was a dream come true for me, as I've been a fan of his for thirty years. I also had a chance to unleash my inner voice actor and play Harry McGlade.<br /><br />Bob also narrates (and I play Harry) in the upcoming audiobook versions of <a href="http://getbook.at/webcamebook">WEBCAM</a> and <a href="http://getbook.at/watchedtoolongebook">WATCHED TOO LONG</a>, co-written by Ann Voss Peterson. Watch Amazon, Audible, and iTunes for July release dates.<br /><br />Speaking of Ann, she and I are still writing funny erotica under the pen name <a href="http://www.jakonrath.com/erotica.php">Melinda DuChamp</a>. Our latest is a novella in the bestselling Magic and Mayhem series, called <a href="http://getbook.at/thesevenyearwitchebook">THE SEVEN YEAR WITCH</a>.<br /><br />And if all that isn't enough, I have finally entered the Adult Coloring Book business with <a href="http://getbook.at/trianglespaper">The Ultimate Adult Coloring Book of Triangles</a>! It contains a hundred pages of the exact same triangle. And yes, it's supposed to be funny. Buy a copy for the adult coloring book fanatic in your life, or really confuse them by getting them the ebook version. <a href="http://getbook.at/circlespaper">CIRCLES</a> and <a href="http://getbook.at/squarespaper">SQUARES</a> are also available. Check out the reviews. They're hysterical.<br /><br />There will be more new releases in upcoming months, including the long-awaited sequel to THE LIST, called THE NINE. I'm also going to finally finish that TIMECASTER trilogy.<br /><br />As always, thanks for reading!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-34358003524169662072016-06-09T13:31:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:17.800-07:00Chasing Publishing TrendsIt's never wise to chase fads or trends, because by the time you get a product to market, it may be over and you've missed the bandwagon.<br /><br />Unless the product is a book and you self-publish. Then you can write, edit, create cover art, and get three books live in less than three hours.<br /><br />Presenting my latest epic trilogy:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">JA Konrath Adult Coloring Books!!!</span></b></div><br />Not only am I able to compete on price with the major houses, but I'm also one-upping traditional publishers by releasing these titles as ebooks as well as paper books.<br /><br />Take that, Big 5!<br /><br />To buy, click on the links below:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirDPktqgVmUG_iyVFNSnfeSxh0uf-MFiF6FQnpJgBx1fhfXrnZe7ac1kBR-5tlW2M_6Lyo_8EfagfsJLvTnkir17bnmKvpKcV9MQTqaVyTuG5SiQ6wZ2EPE85s85DldcbES8Kn67qFbSI/s1600/EbookTriangles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirDPktqgVmUG_iyVFNSnfeSxh0uf-MFiF6FQnpJgBx1fhfXrnZe7ac1kBR-5tlW2M_6Lyo_8EfagfsJLvTnkir17bnmKvpKcV9MQTqaVyTuG5SiQ6wZ2EPE85s85DldcbES8Kn67qFbSI/s400/EbookTriangles.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://getbook.at/trianglespaper">The Ultimate Adult Coloring Book of Triangles! - One Hundred Pages of Triangles</a></b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbijWVphpUbEBEC4ka8yj_QmyGpEdZzME44ZQ36LiGzbMNQ2JE8zqeU87mJnBEz-optZWXtiCXB0OzikJTFDjHvxShRai0im_u5MvdDenvDKlKwB8-pe3-KnYR4qUMUFnUK-i-EU1DxC8/s1600/SquaresEbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbijWVphpUbEBEC4ka8yj_QmyGpEdZzME44ZQ36LiGzbMNQ2JE8zqeU87mJnBEz-optZWXtiCXB0OzikJTFDjHvxShRai0im_u5MvdDenvDKlKwB8-pe3-KnYR4qUMUFnUK-i-EU1DxC8/s400/SquaresEbook.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://getbook.at/squarespaper">The Ultimate Adult Coloring Book of Squares! - One Hundred Pages of Squares</a></b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjosGxbJIFWcnn8HARwiVWzSo1a2B_0_I6JQtEVVIhK2bRainzDJRtxSWv3q3hFAyeN-49BQQi7GklKl-T9u-bFwW8jk440sth4I8W4QI69smAzV8ea6JaKek4PXkKyPw0zqrvFc96pALo/s1600/CirclesEbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjosGxbJIFWcnn8HARwiVWzSo1a2B_0_I6JQtEVVIhK2bRainzDJRtxSWv3q3hFAyeN-49BQQi7GklKl-T9u-bFwW8jk440sth4I8W4QI69smAzV8ea6JaKek4PXkKyPw0zqrvFc96pALo/s400/CirclesEbook.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://getbook.at/circlespaper">The Ultimate Adult Coloring Book of Circles! - One Hundred Pages of Circles</a></b></div><br /><b><br /></b><b>From the Introduction to the Ultimate Adult Coloring Book of Triangles:</b><br /><br />Do you like coloring?<br /><br />Do you like triangles?<br /><br />You just found the perfect book!<br /><br />This coloring book contains one hundred pages of triangles!<br /><br />What color will your triangles be? Red? Blue? Green? Red?<br /><br />You're only limited by your imagination!<br /><br />So grab some sort of coloring implement, and start coloring!<br /><br />Also available as an ebook!*<br /><br />*JA Konrath is not responsible for loss of or damages to your electronic device if you attempt to color your ebook.<br /><br /><b>Coming soon: The audiobook versions!</b><br /><div><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-76535824838298633112016-06-06T07:40:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:18.070-07:00PermafreeWhenever I have a chance to bend Amazon's ear, I make a few pitches. The top three always are:<br /><ul><li>I'd like to see cumulative sales figures, for both units and royalties, in KDP and Author Central reports.</li><li>I'd like to be able to automatically split royalties with co-writers.</li><li>I'd like the ability to make ebooks permafree.</li></ul><div>Currently, it's a PITA to make a book permafree on Amazon. You have to make the ebook free on some other website, then keep alerting Amazon about those competitive prices by cutting and pasting URLs into the "tell us about a lower price" link:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLOUnPYwO8LvhmC3NvklCjj3zQfxlEj_Ucfe7x0evnXXE4nmt7HkFxuR-_rqPkjrkxhzDrce45DUIC_tG1hBxjPDKZkOo796pi_T8mDlDiKG1rmenXUKc9PKKvkAY9cr3hEUHYuwrN8WE/s1600/arrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLOUnPYwO8LvhmC3NvklCjj3zQfxlEj_Ucfe7x0evnXXE4nmt7HkFxuR-_rqPkjrkxhzDrce45DUIC_tG1hBxjPDKZkOo796pi_T8mDlDiKG1rmenXUKc9PKKvkAY9cr3hEUHYuwrN8WE/s640/arrow.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>It can take weeks for Amazon to price-match and make a title permafree. It's irritating, especially since I'm doing it for the benefit of Amazon customers and my own fans. (More on that in a moment.)</div><div><br /></div><div>I understand that Countdown Deals are part of the reward for KU exclusivity, and those 5 day freebie slots are valuable. But thousands of authors are bypassing this already by using Draft 2 Digital and Smashwords to make freebies on Amazon's competitors.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Note to Amazon: </b>That's self-defeating. If I want to make an ebook permanently free on Amazon.com, I also have to post free ebooks on Kobo, iTunes, Nook, etc. How does that benefit Amazon at all when I allow your competition to get my free titles?</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a suggestion: Allow KU unlimited titles the option of being free for a full year, provided they are free only on Amazon.com. The books are going to be free anyway, but this way, Amazon has exclusivity for those freebies.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have only used permafree twice, and I've published over 60 titles on KDP.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNqxl0N__M4SxPj8tLi6fgifByEQgNjVpIHTrFDHHsMa431QZsx883MPDCZvSEg7N2dmHP3ZxGCT5BfLUrTXoXkHdqf2zCfNNP9Z9xC2h2Y6e_KfHnl7WpWci1sAxOXIIXQW7731xPsM/s1600/Konrath+reading+order.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNqxl0N__M4SxPj8tLi6fgifByEQgNjVpIHTrFDHHsMa431QZsx883MPDCZvSEg7N2dmHP3ZxGCT5BfLUrTXoXkHdqf2zCfNNP9Z9xC2h2Y6e_KfHnl7WpWci1sAxOXIIXQW7731xPsM/s200/Konrath+reading+order.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>The first time I used it was for the clumisly named <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BD0167G">J.A. Konrath Books in Order: Jack Daniels Series in Reading Order, Jack Kilborn, Codename: Chandler, Melinda DuChamp, Complete Pen Name Chronological Bibliography</a>. </b></div><div><b><br /></b>I blogged in detail about this <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2016/02/attack-of-bibliography.html">HERE</a>.<br /><b><br /></b></div><div>I only give away about ten copies a day of this title. But the people who download it are fans and potential fans who want an easy checklist of all my book titles. Win for me, win for readers, win for Amazon.</div><div><br /></div><div>So why did I have to upload it to six other ebook retailers and then send Amazon price-match alerts several times a day for two weeks in order to make it free?</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGsx-mmZ36vJCXquA0xN0pKY9kBYS3gLiOfo53BVQZ7EWRLWeJkkLJTbmTfTQEbi3gV7PyrMrpz2ni3_BYQ5EKp-WJWcJJN5NB1zOc2Bh6sQUAsZr_4U4-8IzYkjLh8-syM4XGCJFMq4/s1600/%2521cid_5556D4C5-B334-4C5E-BC3E-20EE359F12D3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGsx-mmZ36vJCXquA0xN0pKY9kBYS3gLiOfo53BVQZ7EWRLWeJkkLJTbmTfTQEbi3gV7PyrMrpz2ni3_BYQ5EKp-WJWcJJN5NB1zOc2Bh6sQUAsZr_4U4-8IzYkjLh8-syM4XGCJFMq4/s400/%2521cid_5556D4C5-B334-4C5E-BC3E-20EE359F12D3.jpg" width="253" /></a>The second permafree I've done is recent. I'm currently putting the finishing touches on the tenth Jack Daniels thriller, <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">LAST CALL</a>, and it ties into an old short story I wrote called THE AGREEMENT.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why not give away <a href="http://getbook.at/theagreementebook">THE AGREEMENT</a> as an extra to people who read LAST CALL? Doesn't that seem like a fun extra?</div><div><br /></div><div>What I once would have done is add it as bonus content to the end of the novel. But then readers could get irritated, because the book ends at 95% completion when they they were expecting more. So instead, I wanted to put a link in the book, giving them the option of reading the aforementioned story for free. </div><div><br /></div><div>Which meant jumping through hoops again just to give my fans something extra.</div><div><br /></div><div>Happily, <a href="http://getbook.at/theagreementebook">THE AGREEMENT is now free on Amazon</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>I decided to use it as a promo item as well, so it includes an excerpt from LAST CALL, if any readers want to get a sneak peak.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, if that was all there is to this story, I'd just suck it up and not whine in public. But, unfortunately, these two freebies are only available to Amazon US readers, because I haven't been able to make them free on Amazon stores in the UK, Canada, etc.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's really not fair to my fans in other countries. It's like giving some of your children extra dessert, and telling the others to sod off. (See? I used a UKphemism! Why can't they get these titles free?!?)</div><div><br /></div><div>What do you writers think? Do you want to be able to make titles permafree on Amazon? </div><div><br /></div><div>Let me hear from you in the comments.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-24396352480079041422016-05-25T06:09:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:18.375-07:00Self Publishing my First Audiobook<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAc3dpA9p_9YISXArfR_KKCxzm4jDLTxooZuavVi6tm8aVdeVXutB3ABI09iK-PqAUUr1DpESNwFPSy4HG866WqNRYM9eolmsKnzDgc_D-7on8u0ZdvN1mKytqpvOzhVi1bNSSpzApEs/s1600/Audio+Rum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAc3dpA9p_9YISXArfR_KKCxzm4jDLTxooZuavVi6tm8aVdeVXutB3ABI09iK-PqAUUr1DpESNwFPSy4HG866WqNRYM9eolmsKnzDgc_D-7on8u0ZdvN1mKytqpvOzhVi1bNSSpzApEs/s320/Audio+Rum.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I'm pleased to announce that I've begun self-publishing audiobooks. My first, <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunneraudio">RUM RUNNER</a>, is currently available.<br /><br />What took me so long to self-pub audio?<br /><br />It all began 30 years ago...<br /><br />When I was a sophomore in high school back in halcyon days of 1986, I was flush with cash from my job at Burger King (all about the fryer, baby) and eager to spend my whole $70 paycheck on music.<br /><br />Cassette tapes were my preference, because I could rock the jams in my car stereo, and also in my Sony Walkman, and in my Panasonic ghetto blaster (which ate D batteries like Pac-Man ate quarters.)<br /><br />While I admit I did own a pair of Hot Topic parachute pants that were shiny enough to be seen from space (and boasted no less than ten non-functional zippers as decoration), my style at the time tended toward Hawaiian shirts and Vans before most folks in Chicagoland knew what Vans were. And my musical affectation in '86 was metal.<br /><br />Classic NWOBHM, like Priest, Raven, Tank, Motorhead, and Maiden, but also the newer, faster indie stuff coming out of the US as exemplified by Anthrax, Metallica, Slayer, Exciter, and my personal favorite, Stormtroopers of Death.<br /><br />I loved me some SOD.<br /><br />If you were a young metalhead with fast food money burning a hole in your camo pants, you eventually discovered Megaforce Records, the label that released the first Metallica and Anthrax records.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>So one fine summer day in '86, I'm in the mall record shop (Flip Side? Musicland?) and see a new cassette compilation called FROM THE MEGAVAULT by Megaforce. New songs and B-sides by Overkill, Exciter, Raven, Blessed Death, and SOD.<br /><br />I immediately plunked down my ten bucks, and raced out to my car, eager to hear SOD shred RAM IT UP.<br /><br />But RAM IT UP did not come out of my car speakers. Something else did. And as I fast-forwarded through the tape, I didn't hear any Raver or Exciter, either.<br /><br />In fact, the music on the tape wasn't metal at all.<br /><br />Somehow, some southern rock album had been recorded over From the Megavault. Or the factory that manufactured both albums spooled the wrong tape in the wrong case.<br /><br />Major screw-up. And I was only making $3.35 an hour. How could life be so unfair?<br /><br />Once I got over my immediate anger at the bait and switch, I gave the mystery album a thorough listen.<br /><br />And I liked it.<br /><br />I liked it so much, I made copies for my friends. They liked it, too. But we had no idea who the artist was, or the name of any of the songs.<br /><br />Remember, this was 1986. No way to look up lyrics. I took that tape to a dozen record shops, playing them cuts, and no one knew who the band was.<br /><br />Which was especially irritating, because the band was really good. I grew up when John Hughes was making movies for my age group, and he was correct that the music you listened to in high school imprinted on you strongly.<br /><br />My buddies and I called the tape The Mystery Album, which we labeled with a single question mark. And we played the hell out of that album.<br /><br />Cut to 1988. One of my good friends moves out of state. We stay in touch, and one day he calls me up, excited.<br /><br />"I heard a song from the Mystery Album on the radio. The name of the band is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rainmakers/dp/B006XMRGYM/">The Rainmakers</a>."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dMnnPI5GUps/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dMnnPI5GUps?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><br />And they had a second album out, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tornado-Rainmakers/dp/B006XMTGMC">TORNADO</a>. And soon put out a third, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Good-News-Bad/dp/B006XMSZ88">THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD NEWS</a>, in 1989.<br /><br />The second and third albums were just as good as the first, and The Rainmakers became my favorite band ever. Which was a big deal for me, because at the time I had over a thousand albums. My entire bedroom wall was lined with cassettes. I was into tunes in a big way, and this band represented everything I liked about music. Catchy melodies. Powerful lyrics. Songs to dance to, songs to sing along with, songs that hit you in the gut.<br /><br />Great rock and roll.<br /><br />But fate was cruel in my younger days, and The Rainmakers broke up before my friends and I ever got to see them live.<br /><br />Years passed. I toked and drank my way through college and spent years waiting tables and trying to sell a novel on my way to racking up 500 rejections. I was working on a word processor, because I wasn't convinced buying a computer is a good investment, even though this burgeoning "Internet" thing seems like it might be useful someday.<br /><br />When I finally did get online, I looked up The Rainmakers (it was, literally, my first search ever), and I saw they had <a href="http://www.rainmakers.com/">a website</a> and a message board. I also found out they've released a live album, and a new CD, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QMRDF8">FLIRTING WITH THE UNIVERSE</a>. If that wasn't exciting enough, I posted a question on their forum and the lead singer, Bob Walkenhorst, was kind enough to answer it.<br /><br />His answer: No, they weren't touring.<br /><br />More years passed. I was still collecting rejections for my novels. The Rainmakers put out their fifth album, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Skin-Rainmakers/dp/B004Q8LJIY">SKIN</a>, which was terrific, and then they immediately broke up again.<br /><br />I was convinced that I'd French kiss the Loch Ness Monster before I ever saw The Rainmakers live.<br /><br />In 2002 I sold <a href="http://getbook.at/whiskeysourebook">WHISKEY SOUR</a>. My audio rights went to Brilliance Audio in Grand Haven, MI, the largest independent audiobook producer in the world. I loved Brilliance. They rolled out the red carpet for me, the narrators were terrific, and I even got to voice a few characters.<br /><br />In 2009 I discovered self-publishing on Kindle and started making real money for the first time in my life. Brilliance Audio continued to buy my self-pubbed books, and I was fine with that because they did a great job.<br /><br />In 2011, The Rainmakers put out a new album, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/25-Rainmakers/dp/B004Q8LM8G">25 ON</a>, and announced a reunion concert.<br /><br />I don't think I'm overly nostalgic, or overly excitable, but I do consider myself a fanboy of certain things. Going to see The Rainmakers with my high school buddies, after first hearing the Mystery Album twenty-five years earlier, was surreal.<br /><br />Maybe I'm not using the word "fanboy" in the proper context. Bob Walkenhorst and The Rainmakers have released nine albums (my current fave being <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Movie-Rainmakers/dp/B00JXJ7C1O">MONSTER MOVIE</a>), and I know every song. By heart. I can sing each tune from start to finish with minimal lyric mistakes depending on how much beer I've had. <br /><br />So when we finally saw them live, and they played The Mystery Album in its entirety, I was hoarse by the middle of the show from screaming so loud.<br /><br />That's the happy ending, right? Throw in a romantic subplot, and some conflict within the friend group, and it's enough to be the backdrop for a John Hughes film. Or a Cameron Crowe flick.<br /><br />No more to tell, you'd think.<br /><br />But actually, there is more.<br /><br />I kept checking The Rainmakers website every so often, hoping to hear news of another show or new album, and I noticed Bob was offering to do house concerts. Fly him out, pay him well, and you can have a Rainmaker in your living room.<br /><br />This resonated with me. In 2006, I toured for two months and stayed in fans' houses. It was a tough tour, but rewarding. Getting to know people that my work had touched was something I'll never forget, and I wondered if it was possible to have an experience like that with Bob.<br /><br />So I emailed him, saying I'm a famous author (this no doubt didn't impress him, as the previous famous author who flew him out for a show was Stephen King). I said I'd like to book him for two nights, three hours a night.<br /><br />He was skeptical we'd want to hear him for six full hours. He was also dubious of the crowd; this is a man who has played 20,000 seat arenas, and I was asking him to play for just me, my wife, and my two high school buddies. For two nights in a row.<br /><br />After some back and forth emails he did eventually accept, and his wife came along (to save him if the gig turned sour).<br /><br />It was one of the most fun things I'd ever done. Even though you really couldn't hear Bob over my singing.<br /><br />We talked in the downtime, trading stories about our professions and basically get to know each other as people.<br /><br />And that somehow turned into a friendship.<br /><br />Besides being the greatest singer/songwriter of our generation, Bob is a ridiculously nice guy and extremely easy to get along with. And for some reason, I amuse him.<br /><br />So a few years pass, and we've hung out a dozen times, and talk and text as friends tend to do. When my other friends come over, we usually drink too much and sing some of Bob's tunes and then send him the videos because what rock star doesn't want to see drunken idiots screeching off-key to songs he labored over? To one-up me, Bob sent me a video of him reading one of my books aloud. But unlike my singing, Bob was good at reading. Really good.<br /><br />I told him he should check out ACX, because I thought he could make some decent money narrating audiobooks.<br /><br />Then I promptly forget about it.<br /><br />My secret fanboy fantasies involving Bob Walkenhorst all center around his work, not mine. Like perhaps someday he'll invite me on stage to sing with him (he's heard my voice, so he hasn't), or maybe he'll call me up, stuck on a lyric, and ask me to use my writing skills to assist him (his lyrics are perfect, so he hasn't).<br /><br />But in the past six months, I've been pretty prolific. RUM RUNNER, WATCHED TOO LONG, and WEBCAM, with LAST CALL coming up, and more on tap for later in the year. I was planning on selling the audio rights to Brilliance, but my old buddy Blake Crouch told me I was foolish for not self-pubbing audio since the royalties are so much better.<br /><br />The seed was planted in my head, but I still didn't connect the dots until we were at Bob's house and my wife said, "You should ask him if he wants to narrate your books."<br /><br />Right. Then I could call Bill Gates and ask him to overclock my CPU.<br /><br />But my wife pushed it. So, expecting a no, I gave Bob the worst pitch ever, "If this is something you might consider, maybe you could try it, but I have no idea if it'll make any money because I haven't done it before and it'll probably take a long time to do and you might hate the book, so if you don't want to try, it's totally cool, I don't want to push you or anything, really. It was Maria's idea."<br /><br />Bob surprised me by saying yes.<br /><br />And that's the story of how I self-published RUM RUNNER, narrated by Bob Walkenhorst, whom I was listening to thirty years ago because I liked heavy metal.<br /><br />Life is funny, isn't it?<br /><br />Now, I'd really like to say that RUM RUNNER is easily the greatest audiobook ever recorded.<br /><br />And I can say that, because it's true.<br /><br />Bob nailed it. He hit the right notes for the humor, and for the suspense. His characterizations are up there with the best I've ever heard. His pace is impeccable. The whole things sounds great.<br /><br />If you like my work, you'll love this. If you like audiobooks, you'll love this. If you have ears and a pulse and understand English, you'll love this. This will stand up to any audiobook produced by anyone.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/o_pxfEIf3o0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o_pxfEIf3o0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><br />And yes, that's me voicing my character, Harry McGlade.<br /><br />I had expectations that were probably too high, and perhaps I’m still too much of a fanboy to be fully objective, but I really love how Bob has interpreted the work. His voice is terrific (obviously, the guy is a rock star), but he went above the call of duty to create specific voices and mannerisms for the different characters to make them all stand out. He’s got a very good sense of comic timing, he pours on the pathos during the emotional scenes, and he makes the book better.<br /><br />I invited Bob to answer a few questions about the process.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez: </b>So this is a first for you. Not reading aloud—I’m pretty sure you’ve done that before—but performing an audiobook. What are your initial thoughts?<br /><br /><b>Bob: </b>It is a rather LARGE task. Fun, but large. Your books, and Rum Runner specifically, cover such a wide range of emotions and moods. From terror to love, graphic violence to painfully immature humor. You bring it all, and I've done my best to bring it to audio-life. From gangstas, to babies, to a damn parrot. Then there is the whole gigantic data management of keeping all the chapters and sections in order.<br /><br /><b>Joe:</b> How does this compare to recording music?<br /><br /><b>Bob:</b> LONGER, a lot LONGER! But the construction of mood is similar, in that you change tones and volume and tempo. The big difference being that is all has to be done with the spoken (or shouted!) voice, rather than all the infinite choices of instruments and effects in music.<br /><br /><b>Joe:</b> You just finished recording <a href="http://getbook.at/watchedtoolongebook">WATCHED TOO LONG</a>, and the scenes I’ve heard are hilarious. Are you up for doing more Konrath audiobooks? Or do you need a little break?<br /><br /><b>Bob:</b> I have this suspicion that you can write them faster than I can record them. So keep 'em coming - I'll catch up. I really have enjoyed Rum Rummer immensely. I love the story, enjoy the dramatic challenge, and the big jigsaw puzzle of putting it all together.<br /><br /><b>Joe: </b>Now that you’re a narrator on ACX, are you going to consider doing audiobooks for other authors?<br /><br /><b>Bob:</b> Now that I know how much time and work it entails, I would hesitate to do an audiobook for a first time author. Just being honest. You were gracious and trusting enough to let me do it as I wanted - you told me from the start that you did not want to "direct" or edit it. I fear other authors might be very picky and have specific ideas about how characters should sound, how pacings should go. It could easily become a giant pain, and an endless job to finish it for a finicky author.<br /><br /><b>Joe: </b>Stephen King used several Rainmakers lyric quotes in The Tommyknockers, and he even flew you guys to Maine to perform for him. What if he wanted you to read one of his? On the plus side, he probably pays better than I do. On the minus side, his books are 3700 pages long...<br /><br /><b>Bob: </b> Sure, I would entertain the idea of a King book. Again, I am trying to avoid high-pressure situations in my life, and a King book might be a "be-careful-what-you-wish-for" thing. Hey, you should write a book where an insane author chains his narrator in the basement and makes him keep recording it over and over and over . . . Maybe that's already been done. <br /><br /><b>Joe:</b> So, when can we expect a new album from you and/or your band?<br /><br /><b>Bob:</b> I am currently working on a quickie album of solo acoustic versions of past Rainmakers tunes. I did one a few years ago called Spare. This will be Spare Vol. 2. I mostly sell these at my solo house concerts, kind of a souvenir of the evening. And always writing new songs for whatever happens down the road.<br /><br />Thanks again Joe, for letting me take a crack at this. I think we made something damn good here. Now, let's go drink beer.<br /><br /><div><b>Joe:</b> I'm all for that.<br /><br />RUM RUNNER is available as a digital audio download on <a href="http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Rum-Runner-A-Thriller-Audiobook/B01FYBOSR0">Audible</a>, <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunneraudio">Amazon</a>, and <a href="https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/rum-runner-thriller-jacqueline/id1116793620?mt=3">iTunes</a>. You can find Bob at his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bobwalkenhorst">Facebook page</a>, or if you're in the Kansas City area, catch him at a gig. It's some of the best rock n' roll you'll ever hear. Guaranteed.<br /><br />But don't take my word for it. Download a few of his shows for yourself, for free.<br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1963390879"><br /></a><a href="https://archive.org/details/BobWalkenhorst">https://archive.org/details/BobWalkenhorst</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-50398769611852913342016-05-23T10:10:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:18.651-07:00Fisking Porter Anderson<b>There was so much bad information in this piece, <a href="http://writerunboxed.com/2016/05/20/books-prices-and-writings-value-careful-what-we-asked-for/">Books’ Prices and Writing’s Value: Careful What We Asked For?</a> by Porter Anderson, including cherry-picking a quote from me. Rather than respond in his comments I went ahead and fisked it.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Porter's nonsense in italics, my common-sense replies in bold.</b><br /><br /><i>“The biggest issue is one that will be difficult for us to recover from…the degradation of our worth as creatives.”</i><br /><i><b><br /></b></i><b>Joe sez: Our worth as creatives is dependent upon reaching readers. This meme is so damned old I wrote about it back in 2010, <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/03/value-of-ebooks.html">The Value of Ebooks</a>.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>In that blog post I use real numbers to discuss author earnings, and came to this inescapable conclusion:</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>The value of an ebook is determined by the overall amount of money it earns, not the list price.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Obvious, right? But let's forge ahead through this...</b><br /><br /><i>That line is from a piece here at Writer Unboxed a year ago, in May 2015. Our colleague Heather Webb, in As Writers, What Are We Worth?, was anticipating a groan heard ’round the world.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Last month, when I led a round-table discussion at Berlin’s Publishers’ Forum, our topic was “Re-Thinking Ebook Sales and Understanding the Consumers.” But what drew the biggest response was book pricing.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>We're in a world now that thinks it can write just as well as you can. It doesn't need your book. It can write its own. It can publish it. And it can lowball it on Amazon.</i><br /><br /><b>Joe sez: This nefarious scheme is called "capitalism" and is evidence of something called a "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market">free market</a>". </b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Once upon a time, publishing wasn't a free market. Not everyone with a book had an equal chance to reach readers. Amazon, and other ebook retailers, have democratized the process. Which means consumers now have more choices than every before. And many of those choices are priced according to the market, rather than according to the publishing cartel that controlled pricing with their quasi-monopoly.</b><br /><br /><i>“The consumer,” one of our publishers said, “is in perpetual confusion. No way to understand what a single book costs or how to value our authors’ work.” And at the influential publishing house Bastei Lübbe AG, executive board member Klaus Kluge is calling book prices “staggeringly low” in an interview with Sabine Schwiering Tert at Boersenblatt.net.</i><br /><br /><b>Joe sez: When technology cuts out middlemen, costs (and subsequently prices) drop.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Publishers didn't drop prices even when they no longer had to pay for shipping, printing, warehousing, distribution, and returns. They suddenly had more money because they didn't have to pay a myriad of middlemen for ebooks. And rather than share that extra income with authors, publishers kept it all for themselves.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>So authors like me decided we didn't need publishers, and now publishers feel threatened. Boo-hoo.</b><br /><br /><i>In the UK in January, Penguin Random House CEO Tom Weldon told my Bookseller colleague Benedicte Page: “”One of the biggest challenges in 2016 will be e-book pricing: how do we maintain the value perception of our quality content and maximize revenues across all formats for both authors and publishers?”</i><br /><i><br /></i><b>Joe sez: Allow me to translate: "How do we get people to pay more for ebooks, because if we drop them too low then consumers will buy the ebook rather than the paper book, and paper books are where we have the distribution oligopoly."</b><br /><br /><i>A year later, Webb can see clearly now. Here’s what’s happening on a daily basis to authors’ work in the marketplace:</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Heather Webb @msheatherwebb - It's awesome when people brag about how cheaply they got your novel for. NOT. They forget we make our living this way. AKA starvation diet</i><br /><b><br /></b><b>Joe sez: I'll fix that quote so it makes sense. "It's awesome when people brag about how cheaply they got your novel, because others will then seek it out and buy a copy. I wish every fan bragged about my cheap books."</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Perhaps, for some odd reason, Heather would rather sell a $14.99 ebook and earn $2.32 in royalties from her publisher (after her agent's cut) than sell four books at $5.99 and earn $3.64. </b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Just saw a study <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-05/du-ers051204.php">done with Lemurs</a>. Even Lemurs know $3.64 is more than $2.32.</b><br /><i><br /></i><i>When we chat about it, she tells me, “I’ve been noticing this group of readers who troll all the author Facebook pages and websites, Goodreads, etc, for giveaways and they never buy books. They don’t have to. Makes me a little nuts.”</i><br /><b><br /></b><b>Joe sez: Holy sense of entitlement, Batman! We also need to close all the libraries! Trolls are getting free books there, too! Reading for free is bad, bad, bad! Everyone must pay!</b><br /><br /><i>She’s not alone. If we triangulate our German associates’ concern for the “confusion” in the readership about what a book costs today with a nod to London’s PRH chief Weldon’s worry at the highest corporate level with Webb’s lament as she writes, “We can’t lose sight of what’s truly important,” then something bigger than “perma-free” and the per-page-view payouts of Kindle Unlimited comes into view.</i><br /><i><br /></i><b>Joe sez: What's truly important is the ability to reach readers, and maybe you can make few bucks in the process. More writers are doing this now than any other time in history. Perma-free and KU are tools authors can use to reach readers and make money. Maybe you should learn how to use them rather than waste time whining about how <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Moved_My_Cheese%3F">your cheese was moved</a>.</b><br /><br /><i>Everybody’s a Critic. An Author, too.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>What have we done to the idea of writing’s value? How fuzzy is this math going to get?</i><br /><i><br /></i><b>Joe sez: Hang on, it's about to get hysterically fuzzy...</b><br /><i><br /></i><i>That’s my provocation for you today. How are today’s pricing problems affecting what Webb characterized here last year as “our dignity, our value, and the viability of this industry”?</i><br /><i><br /></i><b>Joe sez: Oh-no, people aren't buying $14.99 books because they're reading cheap and free books instead! Someone help me pick up my dignity!</b><br /><br /><i>Books were always commodities of a kind, and buying second-hand romances by the grocery-bagful didn’t start yesterday.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>But the Wall of Content, as I call it, is doing more than loom over us. Digital means never having to say you’re out of print. It also means you’re in competition—forever—with everything since Gutenberg.</i><br /><b><br /></b><b>Joe sez: Using that logic, we've always been in competition with everything since Gutenberg. Readers have always had millions of choices, many for free in libraries, or for cheap via used bookstores. Trying to get your book to stand out among the millions of other titles is NOT a new problem.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>But this isn't competition. Bookselling isn't zero sum. Readers tend to read more than one book in their lifetimes. If we're both thriller writers, a thriller fan won't just read me<i> or </i>you. She'll read me <i>and</i> you.</b><br /><i><br /></i><i>With both the trade and the self-publishing sectors in rampant over-production as they are today, you’re facing a sheer rock face of competition for every glance your book might get, let alone a read, let alone a sale. Your price is in free-fall.</i><br /><i><br /></i><b>Joe sez: Porter, have you ever been in a bookstore? Notice how it's filled with thousands of books? Do you glance at every single one before making a selection?</b><br /><i><b><br /></b></i><b>There have ALWAYS been other books. But now, for the first time, the cost is coming down so it isn't prohibitive. Rather than $30 hardcovers, which is a luxury price, readers can get new titles for $4.99. And the $4.99 book is just as good as the $30 book. </b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Or do you enjoy paying more for comparable products? If so, I've got some $40 per roll toilet paper I'll sell you. It does the same thing as the $1 per roll toilet paper, but if you buy that cheap stuff my dignity will be in jeopardy. You don't want me on a starvation diet, do you?</b><br /><i><b><br /></b></i><i>And we can look to our cohorts in Hollywood for a little guidance here, too. You may not remember what the advent of Blockbuster video and then Netflix did to film. But those of us who watched those developments roll in know. Suddenly there were films everywhere, peopled with actors who are not quite the stars they look like speaking dialog that’s as wooden as they are, in strangely unsatisfying knockoffs of other films.</i><br /><br /><b>Joe sez: Translation: When you lose control over distribution, cheap knock-offs abound and eat your lunch.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>I'm fine with you calling me cheap. Why should I care? Your lunch is delicious. I bet you really enjoyed it when it was still yours. </b><br /><br /><i>We can’t entirely blame independent authors for this gauzy focus on pricing in books. As the indie insurgence began to impact the trade a few years ago, authors who had never been able to get past the agents and editors, the dreaded gatekeepers, found that they could self-publish in our digital age. But self-selling was a different thing.</i><br /><i><br /></i><b>Joe sez:<i> </i>The amount of self-promotion I've done as an indie is 1/10 of what I did when I had trad contracts, and now I'm now I'm earning 50x as much money. Self-selling is much easier than being at the mercy of the painfully slow, eternally clueless, archaic, self-interested legacy publishing machine.</b><br /><i><br /></i><i>When you have no marketing department behind you, when you’re not even listed in a publisher’s catalog or recommended to a Barnes & Noble buyer—and no one’s ever heard of you in the world of books—the one way you might turn the head of a potential buyer cruising Amazon is offer a low price. Or no price. “For free” may be a grammatically deplorable phrase (“free of charge” or simply “free” is correct), but for a time, it had a happy ring among consumers who could stuff their e-readers with books by folks they’d never heard of: today a lot of those free slush-files still remain unread on those e-readers, which have been supplanted by tablets.</i><br /><br /><b>Joe sez: I sold nine novels to legacy publishers. Being listed in a publisher's catalog is about as effective a selling tool as putting your book cover on your car bumper and driving around the neighborhood. The only books that actually get marketing money are books that have giant advances. The other 99% of authors get zip. I remember asking various people at various publishers what the value of a book press release was, and no one could tell me. But they all spent time and money on those stupid press releases, laboring under the delusion that they were promoting that book.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>As for TBR piles--does Porter think these are a new phenomenon brought about by the digital age? My paper to-be-read pile is bigger than the list on my Kindle (which I still prefer to read on over my tablet, and I'm not alone).</b><br /><br /><i>If the trade was aghast at Amazon’s institution of $9.99 as a viable price for the ebook version of a hardcover hit, it’s tempting to mutter “all is forgiven” now. I know many authors who’d love to get $9.99 for their ebooks. Free downloads by the hundreds might feel exhilarating, but your take-home pay? And while it’s popular to hunker down in the bloggoria and shoot the breeze about the “sweet spot” between $2.99 and $4.99, what frequently is not mentioned is frequency: how many of those things do you have to sell at $3.99—even if you’re getting 70 percent—to put together an income?</i><br /><i><br /></i><b>Joe sez: I've given away hundreds of thousands of ebooks, for free. And I've sold over two million. So I'm pretty pleased with my take-home pay. I also don't know any author who only gives away ebooks. It's a means to a sale, not its own exclusive behavior. If you see a deer licking salt do you think that's what it solely subsists on?</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>As for how many books you have to sell at $3.99 to put together an income, it's a metric fuckton better to earn $2.70 on a self-pubbed title (paid monthly, and you keep your rights) than it is earning $2.27 on a $14.99 ebook, which is what authors get paid after trad publishers and agents get their cuts.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Guess which pricing point will sell to more customers? You're the one who brought up frequency. Go on, guess.</b><br /><br /><i>Indie/hybrid icon J.A. Konrath, doing a terrific job last week at BookExpo America on a panel about authorship, might have surprised some of the fight-club followers of his blog posts when he said, “If you want to reach the most people possible, you sign with one of these big publishers…. [But] most of us don’t get that invitation to the big show.”</i><br /><br /><b>Joe sez: Notice I didn't say "If you want to make the most money, you sign with these big publishers." </b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Landing a huge publishing deal is like winning the lottery. We would all love to win the lottery. But spending all of your income on lottery tickets isn't a wise financial investment. Chances are you'll go broke long before you win.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>The vast majority of authors will make more money by self-publishing. It is only the 1% of the 1% who get huge advances and gigantic marketing campaigns.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Very few authors would turn down a multi-million dollar pub deal, and very few are offered one. </b><br /><b><br /></b><b>But a whole lot of authors sell authors sell their rights to publishers forever in exchange for shitty royalties, bad treatment, and no chance at ever making what they could have as an indie.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>My quote is about reaching readers with paper books. Signing with a publisher is the only way to do that. It is not my endorsement of publishing deals. If your goal is to reach people via brick and mortar bookstores, fine, but know what you're signing and what you're giving up.</b><br /><br /><i>And nobody forced the industry to follow the self-publishing sector in driving the car right on over the cliff. </i><br /><b><br /></b><b>Joe sez: Thankfully, a big pile of cash cushioned my car's fall.</b><br /><br /><i>For a time, a UK publisher staged a 20-pence promotion on some of the hottest titles of the year. Now, the bigs are in “new-agency” pricing contracts with Amazon that somehow have them charging high “this price set by the publisher” prices for ebooks at the very moment that the industry needs to energize its digital investments, not price them out of reach.</i><br /><b><br /></b><b>Joe sez: I agree with Porter here. The publishing industry should lower prices.</b><br /><br /><i>As painful as pricing issues may be in the marketplace and in authors’ efforts to put together a living, the real question, as Webb has suggested, is what happens in the public mind when pricing goes through the floor?</i><br /><b><br /></b><b>Joe sez: What happens is middlemen--and publishers are middlemen--are no longer viable. </b><br /><i><br /></i><i>"No way to understand what a single book costs or how to value our authors’ work.”</i><br /><i><br /></i><b>Joe sez: You know who understands the value of authors' efforts? Amazon. Amazon knows exactly the sweet spot for selling books. But rather than allow Amazon to price ebooks to sell, publishers would rather shoot themselves in the feet while whining how unfair it all is. Fail. </b><br /><br /><i>In the readership’s collective mind, the bottom has fallen out. The digital decoupling of price from assumptions of aesthetic and artistic value may, in the long run, prove second only to the Wall of Content, itself, for its impact on publishing’s new context. </i><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Joe sez: Translation: Readers are figuring out you can get good books for cheap or free, and they're flocking to them. And along with lower prices, readers also love more choices. But neither of these things bode well for the Big 5.</span><br /><br /><i>This has happened in other industries, of course. In news, in music, in freelancing, as many of us discussed in a recent look at the Huffington Post’s use of writers it doesn’t pay.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Webb’s phrase was “degradation of our worth” as creative people. A difficult devaluation is under way. </i><br /><br /><b>Joe sez: No one owes you a living. Especially if you think people should pay $14.99 for an ebook when comps are priced at $3.99. </b><br /><br /><i>‘Tis bootless to exclaim, as Marshall McLuhan told us so long ago, “All media work us over completely.” We knew nothing of his genius then. Sadly, we do now.</i><br /><br /><b>Joe sez: First of all, I'm pretty sure McLuhan was recognized as a genius back in his time. Also, you're wrong.</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9wWUc8BZgWE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9wWUc8BZgWE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><br /><b><br /></b><b>Joe sez: The quote you used is about how media is needed to understand society, not about how media prices should be artificially inflated so middlemen can keep their expense accounts. It isn't about pricing, or devaluing, or anything at all to do with the points you're lamely trying to make.</b><br /><br /><i>Far beyond all those craft considerations of how to keep your protagonist dry when it rains, this question of how the world sees literature’s value (in every genre), writers’ value, writing’s value, is about as unfocused and queasy a quandary as you’ll find in publishing.</i><br /><i><b><br /></b></i><b>Joe sez: Pricing is extremely simple. You find the sweet spot between selling the most units and making the most profit. The only group that has pricing problems is the group that lost their paper distribution oligopoly to ebooks and can no longer force consumers to pay lockstep high prices because those readers now have a choice.</b><br /><br /><i>We’re in a world now that thinks it can write just as well as you can. It doesn’t need your book. It can write its own. It can publish it. And it can lowball it on Amazon, leaving your would-be readers clicking right past your beautiful books.</i><br /><br /><b>Joe sez: So maybe you should lower the price of your beautiful books.</b><br /><i><br /></i><i>Say what? You’re asking an outlandish $9.99 for the ebook it took you four years to write and thousands of dollars to produce responsibly?</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Who do you think you are?</i><br /><i><br /></i><b>Joe sez: I have nothing against $9.99 ebooks. If you can command that price, go for it.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>But publishers are charging $9.99 for titles which don't command that price. Readers will pay premiums for bestselling authors. But they won't pay a premium to take a chance on a new author. </b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Here's the solution for authors: don't sell your books to publishers who charge $9.99 until you get a giant advance.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Here's the solution for publishers: lower your ebook prices on authors who can't command those prices. There's a sweet spot. I bet, if you ask Amazon, they'll happily tell you what that sweet spot is.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Here's the solution for everyone who feels they are being devalued: go do something else. The world will never value your work as much as you do. Find a different career where your genius will be appreciated.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>If you need me, I'll be here, with no expectations, but somehow still managing to eek out a living in the shadow of this daunting and scary Tower of Content...</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-27177140721638211272016-04-21T13:13:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:18.922-07:00Harlequin Settles<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2012, Ann Voss Peterson wrote a </span><a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/05/harlequin-fail.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">blog post</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> about Harlequin’s contract terms. </span></div><b id="docs-internal-guid-08038939-3a74-30fa-a705-96de870478f5" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">TL;DR - Harlequin allegedly leased ebook rights to a company that it also owned, which effectively reduced author royalties from 50% to 3% for contracts signed in 1990-2004. Several months after the blog, a group of authors filed a lawsuit against Harlequin.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since then, Harlequin has been acquired by HarperCollins. And to their credit, </span><a href="http://www.harlequinsettlement.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HC just settled this suit, to the tune of 4.1 million dollars.</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some agents and authors called Ann a whiner for taking issue with this. Their views seemed to be that authors should just shut up and be grateful for whatever crumbs their publishers wanted to toss them. Or that Ann and hundreds of other authors weren't taking responsibility for signing contracts with those terrible terms.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've blogged at length about </span><a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/05/unconscionability.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">unconscionable contracts</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Prior to the ebook revolution, writers had no choice but to eat the shitty clauses, or pound sand. But unless authors speak out and share information, and rally when things get bad, one-sided behind-closed-doors deals will remain the norm, and everyone will assume that's just the way things are and can't ever change. </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscionability" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to Wikipedia</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unconscionability is a doctrine in contract law that describes terms that are so extremely unjust, or overwhelmingly one-sided in favor of the party who has the superior bargaining power, that they are contrary to good conscience. Typically, an unconscionable contract is held to be unenforceable because no reasonable or informed person would otherwise agree to it. The perpetrator of the conduct is not allowed to benefit, because the consideration offered is lacking, or is so obviously inadequate, that to enforce the contract would be unfair to the party seeking to escape the contract.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unconscionability is determined by examining the circumstances of the parties when the contract was made, such as their bargaining power, age, and mental capacity. Other issues might include lack of choice, superior knowledge, and other obligations or circumstances surrounding the bargaining process. </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As of yet, no one has taken on the whole of the publishing world, where one-sided, boilerplate clauses would be laughed off the negotiating table in any other industry. The overwhelming majority of newbie authors have no bargaining power, no choice, and very little clue. What reasonable person would take a $5k advance for a book they worked a year on, against never making another dime off of those rights, forever? That five grand is the highest interest loan, ever. And you pay for life.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm not a lawyer, and nothing on this blog even comes close to constituting legal advice, but I don't know why some savvy, hungry firm doesn't start looking hard at publishing contracts, because there's money in them thar hills. </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This move by HarperCollins is a step in the right direction. I'm not privy to the circumstances of this settlement, but this is undoubtedly a victory for Harlequin authors, and for all authors who never thought they could budge the status quo.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Authors as a group tend to have a "don't rock the boat" attitude. And with good reason; rock the boat, and the captain kicks you out.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But if you say nothing, nothing changes. </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this business, as in life, no one is going to just hand you anything. Because none of us deserve anything. You have to work hard, and fight for whatever you can get. Fighting for something when the outcome is uncertain is a scary thing. That's the definition of bravery.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bringing this suit was gutsy. These authors faced being blackballed by the largest romance publisher in the world, but took that chance because it was the right thing to do.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If every legacy pubbed author had that attitude, we could do away with "next option" and "non-compete" clauses, raise ebook royalties, and make boilerplate term length ten years, rather than the author’s life plus seventy.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't blame any author for signing any contract. This business feeds on hope, and writers are especially vulnerable to being taken advantage of. If I had to do my career over, I still would have signed the same deals I originally did, even though I had to do quite a bit to get my rights back.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Happily, self-publishing has finally given us a choice. We can walk away from deals. We finally do have bargaining power.</span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And if we don't like the contracts we signed a decade ago, we can hire a lawyer. </span></div><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those Harlequin writers who brought the suit found a firm to handle it on contingency. That firm is banking seven figures from this settlement. </span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So if you're unhappy with your contract terms, it can't hurt to email a few of your peers with similar contracts, and run it past a lawyer or two. I have a feeling this Harlequin settlement is just the beginning...</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-81240033693673737222016-04-15T09:13:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:19.198-07:00Do Ebook Preorders Work?So I've been trying out Kindle preorder pages for some new books (including my latest horror thriller <a href="http://getbook.at/webcamebook">WEBCAM</a>, which launches today), experimenting to determine if this is a smart way to run my self-publishing business. Here are the pros and cons I've encountered.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhJDLZL5dK324ZW_XixPlKPbFmbbZlcmtDPc1w_uh-uL6X2qgIORtXUY4iuz2bUyV7dpeSMT9yQcKI9jNDjmwIUllCQ7LuFsxzRh4YjDDhfHmrqXcSXJL1MjEwibp6ifPa5B_gGeYPEk/s1600/Webcam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhJDLZL5dK324ZW_XixPlKPbFmbbZlcmtDPc1w_uh-uL6X2qgIORtXUY4iuz2bUyV7dpeSMT9yQcKI9jNDjmwIUllCQ7LuFsxzRh4YjDDhfHmrqXcSXJL1MjEwibp6ifPa5B_gGeYPEk/s320/Webcam.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><b>Preorder Pros</b><br /><br /><b>1. Deadlines.</b> I wanted to light a fire under my ass and get some work done. On one hand, why invite extra stress into your life? On the other, consider what motivates you.<br /><br />I believe the biggest motivator for an artist is inspiration; that spark that compels you to create. Even if it never sells. Even if no one ever reads it. We become writers because we love storytelling.<br /><br />The biggest motivator for someone self-employed is (usually) money. I own my own business, and my boss is usually a workaholic jerk.<br /><br />But lately he's been slacking off.<br /><br />Like most writers, I've never lacked for ideas, and I keep files of potential book ideas, some with partial outlines, that I'll get to someday. But I found I was in the middle of two novels, RUM RUNNER and WEBCAM, and as much as I tried to self-motivate, I wasn't putting in the time I would have had I been creatively inspired or fiscally needy.<br /><br />In other words, I was dragging my ass and not getting the words down to the degree I'm capable of.<br /><br />Back in the stone age when I had legacy contracts, writing life was filled with deadlines. Get the manuscript finished by date X. Get the redline returned by date Y. Get the outline for the next book done three months later. You kept to that schedule out of contractual obligation, and a little bit of fear.<br /><br />For the first few years of my self-publishing career, I was writing and publishing as fast as I could. No stress. No fear required.<br /><br />But lately, I haven't been pushing myself. So after a lot of thought I decided to give myself deadlines. Tough deadlines, but within my abilities.<br /><br />As a result, I've written and published over 100,000 words since January. For me, those deadlines for preorders were the motivator I needed.<br /><br /><b>2. Sales. </b>I've had many writers ask me: What's the best time to launch a new book? My answer has always been the same: When it's finished.<br /><br />If your book is ready to be unleashed upon the world, there's no need to wait. Let people buy it as soon as they're able to. I recall peers of mine sitting on completed, polished, formatted manuscripts because they wanted to release books the old-fashioned way: with a launch date.<br /><br />The launch date is a relic of legacy publishing. The point was to get as many people to buy your book the day it came out, to make a run at the bestseller lists.<br /><br />I am not, nor have I ever been, a NYT or USA Today bestseller.<br /><br />Now, there is still something to be said for making a big impact on Release Day. But since I'm exclusive on Amazon, and since Amazon's algorithms seem to reward steady sales over sales that peak and fall quickly (which is one of many insights to glean from <a href="http://authorearnings.com/">Authorearnings.com</a> and is broken down succinctly at <a href="http://selfpublishingadvice.org/amazon-sales-rank-taming-the-algorithm/">selfpublishingadvice.org</a><span id="goog_1697305789"></span><span id="goog_1697305790"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a>), I decided not to fret too much about building up to a book launch day.<br /><br />At the same time, if a book is going to be out on a certain date, why make people wait to buy it? And if fans want to buy something right now, why make them wait until later, when they could possibly forget?<br /><br /><b>3. Buzz.</b> I believe that sales are about what you have to offer, not what you have to sell. The goal is to find people looking for the kinds of books that you write.<br /><br />So, when I'm pimping a title, I usually only do it around launch day, or if the book is on sale.<br /><br />A preorder page gives me more opportunities to make announcements on Twitter, or to send out a newsletter. Rather than beat fans and potential readers over the head saying "Buy my book!" over and over, instead I'm offering them new information with each announcement.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsDCHOVXtuzQpY9iTJUCQN8n8kT5EZKQVco1ADoOM8bxJJqsgWed6gWsiLSPdCXeKtNBx5Lq9NvfQUs_7qf4CmbD24jl6Iu7LYnazI8bRwJ6M4PfeD6MPv7oir_vac9v-9bFhUPq_O7g/s1600/Rum+Runner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsDCHOVXtuzQpY9iTJUCQN8n8kT5EZKQVco1ADoOM8bxJJqsgWed6gWsiLSPdCXeKtNBx5Lq9NvfQUs_7qf4CmbD24jl6Iu7LYnazI8bRwJ6M4PfeD6MPv7oir_vac9v-9bFhUPq_O7g/s200/Rum+Runner.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>Hey, I've got a new preorder title!<br /><br />Hey, my new book is out today!<br /><br />Hey, my book is on sale!<br /><br />People are looking for information and entertainment. At the same time, anyone who has ever spent more than ten seconds studying the effectiveness of advertising knows that repeated exposure is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_frequency">pretty much essential</a>. So having a non-abrasive way to tout my work by offering new information each time I do (rather than those writers--you know who you are--who think their followers want to see the exact same ad three times a week for an entire year) seems to me to be a more effective, and less irritating, way to self-promote.<br /><br />This is why you rarely see me doing a straight-up promo blog post, and instead put the promo in an informative piece about how promos work.<br /><br /><b>Preorder Cons</b><br /><br /><b>1. Deadlines. </b>I intentionally didn't give myself much leeway in my deadlines, in order to push myself harder. On one hand, I've hit both of my deadlines. But <a href="http://getbook.at/webcamebook">WEBCAM</a> launched today in a less-than-ideal version.<br /><br />Allow me to explain.<br /><br />Amazon allows preorders because authors asked for them. I was the first ever, back in 2010, when I worked with DTP to get the first self-pubbed preorder page for <a href="http://getbook.at/draculasebook">DRACULAS</a>.<br /><br />Since then they've streamlined the process. You can submit a book for preorder in KDP, and you must submit the final manuscript 10 days before the on sale date.<br /><br />But that 10 day period isn't set in stone. After you submit a final 10 days prior to the launch, you have 7 more days to upload newer versions. Typo fixes, tweaks, that sort of thing.<br /><br />At 72 hours prior to the launch day, KDP locks you out and you cannot upload a new file until the book goes live. So if you're one to cut it close, beware.<br /><br />I'm one to cut it close. Ten days prior to launch I uploaded a barebones text version of the novel. Then I tweaked for a few days, then asked my book designer, 52 Novels, that I wanted some special design work done, and needed it by the 12th. He squeezed me in, and did an awesome job making the ebook look beautiful. But I'd given him the wrong date. I had actually needed it by the 11th.<br /><br />See, the day starts at midnight. So 11:59pm CST on April 11 was the last moment for me to upload the new version.<br /><br />As such, those who preordered got the still readable text version, but without all the gloss and style that the designed version has.<br /><br />My bad.<br /><br />Amazon may send out an email blast telling those who preordered that there is a prettier version now available, but this is a professional boo boo on my part that I should have been on top of.<br /><br />So if you cut deadlines close, you might want to give yourself some breathing room.<br /><br /><b>2. Sales.</b> While slow and steady sales help your book attain, and keep, a decent ranking on Amazon, nothing beats a book launch without preorders for getting the best initial rank.<br /><br />But how much does getting high ranks and showing up on bestseller lists help raise sales?<br /><br />I dunno.<br /><br />I submitted <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">RUM RUNNER - A Jack Daniels Thriller</a> for preorder on February 1, to launch March 25.<br /><br />I submitted <a href="http://getbook.at/webcamebook">WEBCAM - A Novel of Terror by Jack Kilborn</a> for preorder on March 12, to launch April 15.<br /><br />I submitted <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">LAST CALL - A Jack Daniels Thriller</a> for preorder on March 12, to launch May 28.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ymgo3R_sxbA13XDL6kpqMx8U_xVKRqqAtciVHJIwevGMJvDoRsiqsI9CKw1ZZuy66zSSOvdfwJ0U9q9kxNP7gt_ldzgqRQpCsqf2RbqZQgsXQFvZlft2XVO-n0WDM_ETD1bi6iii8qU/s1600/%2521cid_3A97B997-2F3C-43B7-A999-294583725409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ymgo3R_sxbA13XDL6kpqMx8U_xVKRqqAtciVHJIwevGMJvDoRsiqsI9CKw1ZZuy66zSSOvdfwJ0U9q9kxNP7gt_ldzgqRQpCsqf2RbqZQgsXQFvZlft2XVO-n0WDM_ETD1bi6iii8qU/s200/%2521cid_3A97B997-2F3C-43B7-A999-294583725409.jpg" width="131" /></a><br />I published <a href="http://getbook.at/watchedtoolongebook">WATCHED TOO LONG - A Val Ryker Thriller</a> on March 23 with my co-author, Ann Voss Peterson.<br /><br />RUM RUNNER, WATCHED TOO LONG, and WEBCAM are all interconnected. They take place during the same time frame, and <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2016/03/more-advantages-to-self-publishing.html">characters from each story appear in the other stories</a>.<br /><br />In the back matter of each book, I link to the others using Booklinker, <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2016/02/attack-of-bibliography.html">which I detailed in a previous post</a>.<br /><br />The idea was to build momentum with four new releases (three novels and one novella, WATCHED TOO LONG) and team it with KDP Countdown sales and a free BookBub ad to get some momentum going.<br /><br />The jury is still out on whether it worked or not. Let's talk numbers.<br /><br />RUM RUNNER had 2236 preorders at $4.99.<br />WEBCAM had 637 preorders at $4.99.<br />LAST CALL has had 1662 preorders at $5.99.<br />WATCHED TOO LONG wasn't available for preorder. It's a 20,000 word novella priced at $2.99.<br /><br />So far, RUM RUNNER has sold 3300 copies, so it's made about $12k in sales 21 days, and 350,000 KENP reads (which at $.0045 per page is $1575). Not counting preorders, it is averaging 45 sales and 16700 KENP reads per day, which means it is steadily earning $232 daily.<br /><br />So far, WATCHED TOO LONG has sold 400 copies, with 26,350 KENP reads. It has been out for 24 days, and has earned $958. Sales are steady, and it is averaging $40 a day. I'm pleased with that, but wonder if that couldn't have been more if we'd done a preorder page.<br /><br />When I have data on WEBCAM and LAST CALL, I'll do an update.<br /><br />But then the data gets weird.<br /><br />The BookBub ad for free RUSTY NAIL (the third Jack Daniels thriller) cost $450. I gave away over 60,000 ebooks.<br /><br />Prior to the ad, it had been getting about 4000 KENP reads per day. In the 10 days after the ad, it had 234,000 reads, earning $1053. Since then is has averaged about 8000 page reads a day.<br /><br />But a rising tide lifts all boats. Sine the launch of RUM RUNNER and WATCHED TOO LONG, I've been averaging 150,000 KENP reads per day.<br /><br />Prior to the launch, I was averaging 50,000 KENP reads per day. My KENP income is $675 a day.<br /><br />Prior to the launch, I was selling about 70 ebooks per day. Since the launch, not counting preorder sales, I'm averaging 180.<br /><br />I'm curious to see how WEBCAM will add to this.<br /><br /><b>3. Unknowns. </b>Because I have so much happening at once, I don't know what to credit for tripling my KDP income. I think the preorders played a big part, but so did the BookBub ad, the discounts, the booklinker bibliographies, and possibly other intangibles like the Easter holiday, and the long gap since my last solo novel.<br /><br />As per usual, I don't know what worked and what didn't. I can only guess.<br /><br /><b>CONCLUSIONS</b><br /><br />Preorders seem to be a smart move. They're a more stressful way to release a book, but it's a healthy stress and it pushes you harder. The extra money and buzz is worth it.<br /><br />BookBub still works, even for freebies.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYZ8t8m31Zck3fE4zG_Bw9sMLF6tAksOi5qZVXwKr7ppdAEnSwEG5aYh5Uyh1CSKbFWD9X0nldLCNhlHY0SR4OpBjPHjaWDxE_GSvUVni9viL4AYGWFhyFfJ9J4yemvpLoiTCMkAlUbs/s1600/Konrath+reading+order.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYZ8t8m31Zck3fE4zG_Bw9sMLF6tAksOi5qZVXwKr7ppdAEnSwEG5aYh5Uyh1CSKbFWD9X0nldLCNhlHY0SR4OpBjPHjaWDxE_GSvUVni9viL4AYGWFhyFfJ9J4yemvpLoiTCMkAlUbs/s200/Konrath+reading+order.jpg" width="131" /></a>Putting out a new release while discounting other titles seems to raise the series up in both KENP and sales. It's 21 days after RUM RUNNER was released, and sales are steady with no sign of decline.<br /><br />Novellas don't sell nearly as well as novels, but I already knew that.<br /><br />I haven't gotten any reader input yet on how I intertwined the novels, other than a few reviewers who seem confused by it rather than pleased.<br /><br />I don't know how long this income bump will last. It remains to be seen how WEBCAM and LAST CALL do, and I'm still not quite back at the KDP levels I was at prior to the Kindle Unlimited subscription service.<br /><br />Besides butting booklinker links in the back matter of these new titles, I also put in new complete bibliographies based on my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Konrath-Books-Order-Chronological-Bibliography-ebook/dp/B01BD0167G">biblio ebook</a>. How much this has helped sales, I dunno. But that biblio is averaging 10 downloads a day from people who obviously want to know what to read next.<br /><br />Jack Kilborn doesn't sell as well as J.A. Konrath. I'm thinking of ditching Kilborn completely, and rebranding all of my titles as Konrath. I'd really like to hear your comments on that. Good idea? Bad idea?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-54133455103938163332016-04-06T15:26:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:19.471-07:00WebcamSo my new Jack Kilborn horror novel, WEBCAM, comes out in a few days.<br /><br />It involves a maniac stalking models on the website <a href="http://www.hotsororitygirlslive.com/">www.HotSororityGirlsLive.com</a>.<br /><br />For fun, I asked my web designer to put something on that URL. Check it out. :)<br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-46577058649276424362016-04-01T05:06:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:19.740-07:00New JA Konrath PreorderIn my last post, I told you I'm <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2016/03/more-advantages-to-self-publishing.html">experimenting with ebook pricing</a>.<div><br /></div><div>My results have been surprising, to say the least.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you've been a long time follower of this blog, you know that way back in 2009 I advocated for $0.99 ebooks.</div><div><br /></div><div>Years passed, and I pushed prices up to $2.99, then $3.99, and my current Jack Daniels novel, <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">RUM RUNNER</a>, has been performing well at $4.99.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just to see if it made any difference, I listed the tenth JD thriller, <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">LAST CALL</a>, at $5.99.</div><div><br /></div><div>And people really love the higher prices. To the tune of 10x as many sales every time I go up a dollar.</div><div><br /></div><div>Crazy, right? I know it sounds counter intuitive, but data doesn't lie. Who would have thought that fans actually want to pay more money?</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, actually, the Big 5 have been saying that for years. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think they're right. I've been devaluing my titles. </div><div><br /></div><div>With this in mind, I quickly put my coming-soon <i>eleventh</i> Jack Daniels thriller up on Amazon for pre-order.</div><div><br /></div><div>Keep in mind that this isn't the final cover. I just slapped this together to get some of that primo pre-order cha-ching. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh23QzC3Yr4nN852Yf5S0fUaQvrVmSBsEcpwOp1-6EyhyphenhyphennpRLPIrg2qoKtpFFtunnomQXpU4-6R5DsP-3EP6WiSmf_4GKEgBCtC81YCgP7K9n3RFdkbgKXmxhcuRHcTituT7LdjDKr-Cgo/s1600/Image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh23QzC3Yr4nN852Yf5S0fUaQvrVmSBsEcpwOp1-6EyhyphenhyphennpRLPIrg2qoKtpFFtunnomQXpU4-6R5DsP-3EP6WiSmf_4GKEgBCtC81YCgP7K9n3RFdkbgKXmxhcuRHcTituT7LdjDKr-Cgo/s320/Image2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'll probably change the colors a little before it goes live. And maybe use a font other than Comic Sans.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But, at this point, it isn't about professionalism. This is a money grab, pure and simple. Which is why the ebook version of SCREAMING ORGASM will be priced at <b>$39.99</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://bit.ly/4kb77v">Pre-order now</a>! And be sure to follow my example. Every writer reading this needs to price their ebooks between thirty and fifty dollars each. You fans will thank you for it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Trust me. I'm a trendsetting pioneer with this self-pub shit. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-10144078843634327802016-03-25T04:56:00.000-07:002018-08-19T19:20:20.008-07:00More Advantages to Self-Publishing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnOOyyxjLBCMH4nlqZB4JHuQvS5Y9bqlHZo69RT5F2BiPifSPFAEnLgjQ5SaW-dK5yH9C2OqNIUrphyFlS_cRNbAqpetNrGRMTFlHFqPBVEFMV3wjiXopKgpgkClpKzkXofN0v6s5dDI/s1600/%2521cid_F42EB181-CDD9-4B37-9688-88B460078D9F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnOOyyxjLBCMH4nlqZB4JHuQvS5Y9bqlHZo69RT5F2BiPifSPFAEnLgjQ5SaW-dK5yH9C2OqNIUrphyFlS_cRNbAqpetNrGRMTFlHFqPBVEFMV3wjiXopKgpgkClpKzkXofN0v6s5dDI/s320/%2521cid_F42EB181-CDD9-4B37-9688-88B460078D9F.jpg" width="205" /></a>Today my ninth Jack Daniels novel, <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">RUM RUNNER</a>, launches.<br /><br />Incredibly, I haven't released a solo book since 2010, when <a href="http://getbook.at/shakenebook">SHAKEN</a> came out. Got to say, it feels good. And I'm not done with Jack yet. Which brings me to this blog post.<br /><br />On this blog, I've written hundreds of thousands of words touting the advantages of self-publishing over traditional publishing. Keeping your rights, higher ebook royalties, and having control over pricing, presentation, and content are the three biggest reasons.<br /><br />Here come a few more.<br /><br /><b>Crossovers.</b> I really enjoy it when intellectual properties visit each other's universes. Back when Who Framed Roger Rabbit? came out, I was giddy with joy during the Donald Duck/Daffy Duck piano duel. One of the first comic books I ever bought was Superman Vs. the Amazing Spider-Man. Sonic and Mario in the same game? Sign me up. Mulder and Scully from The X-Files on The Simpsons? Fangasm!<br /><br />So naturally I've been a huge proponent of crossovers in my own fictional worlds. My thriller <a href="http://getbook.at/hauntedhouseebook">HAUNTED HOUSE</a> combined characters from <a href="http://getbook.at/originebook">ORIGIN</a>, <a href="http://getbook.at/thelistebook">THE LIST</a>, <a href="http://getbook.at/afraidebook">AFRAID</a>, <a href="http://getbook.at/trappedebook">TRAPPED</a>, and <a href="http://getbook.at/enduranceebook">ENDURANCE</a>. When I developed my <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/02/jack-daniels-associates-kindle-worlds.html">Kindle World</a>, I had the opportunity to work with <a href="http://www.repairmanjack.com/">F. Paul Wilson</a> again, and his character Repairman Jack got to brawl with, and sleep with, Chandler from the eponymous series I created with <a href="http://www.annvosspeterson.com/">Ann Voss Peterson</a> in our short novel <a href="http://getbook.at/fixebook">FIX</a>. <a href="http://www.blakecrouch.com/">Blake Crouch's</a> villain Luther Kite figures prominently in <a href="http://getbook.at/stirredebook">STIRRED</a>, and in my upcoming novel <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">LAST CALL</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikD60HDvCv75qs5va7V7x1tAxxco1IQ3vBc2v-vVK4qiwZb19vGnAd1Wt3pl9m73IMSteKSjZU4wI-0JE5d6zaPihgVU7o7guWpyVPTiBg8bbu9kN6FYlezLfvXQhXZ2nyPQrbJuu1IUE/s1600/Last+Call.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikD60HDvCv75qs5va7V7x1tAxxco1IQ3vBc2v-vVK4qiwZb19vGnAd1Wt3pl9m73IMSteKSjZU4wI-0JE5d6zaPihgVU7o7guWpyVPTiBg8bbu9kN6FYlezLfvXQhXZ2nyPQrbJuu1IUE/s320/Last+Call.jpg" width="208" /></a>And yes, that's a link. After years of pushing back the release date, <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">you can finally pre-order LAST CALL</a>.<br /><br />My characters often show up in Ann Voss Peterson's Val Ryker series, and I've done crossover novels with <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/07/konrath-collaboration-update.html">Iain Rob Wright</a> and <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-jack-daniels-novel-q-with-jude.html">Jude Hardin</a>, and have co-written too many short stories to count.<br /><br />Legacy publisher aren't big on crossovers. Rights are tricky. While some crossovers do exist, publishers looking to build an author's brand seem to want to focus on that author and that brand, rather than split time and profits with another author or publisher. The non-compete and first option clauses that are still boilerplate in legacy contracts also make a crossovers difficult or impossible.<br /><br />If you want to share universes, going indie is the easier way to do it.<br /><br />Especially if you want to attempt what I just did, and write three stories that crossover with each other and take place during the same 48 hour time period. More on that in a moment.<br /><br /><b>Novellas.</b> In a paper world, books have to be a certain length. In a digital world, they don't. So a twenty-thousand word story that is too long for magazines and too short for a print book has no barrier to entry.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAKEvoaiu66tqmnSnA7UM2WQw2luPgj4Hhl4RnR29aK5mCy6QUu1bofZvlmNoAjmotHGfbtXWOwmD72WXL499_IssrzU9M55wRZzSMqXCPR84pO81_4FzvqjSQS0C6GNmZajebLZ2Yfk/s1600/%2521cid_3A97B997-2F3C-43B7-A999-294583725409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAKEvoaiu66tqmnSnA7UM2WQw2luPgj4Hhl4RnR29aK5mCy6QUu1bofZvlmNoAjmotHGfbtXWOwmD72WXL499_IssrzU9M55wRZzSMqXCPR84pO81_4FzvqjSQS0C6GNmZajebLZ2Yfk/s320/%2521cid_3A97B997-2F3C-43B7-A999-294583725409.jpg" width="210" /></a><a href="http://getbook.at/watchedtoolongebook">WATCHED TOO LONG</a> by Ann Voss Peterson and yours truly, is only 20k words. And it takes place in Ann's Val Ryker universe, but follows a side story that occurs in <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">RUM RUNNER</a>.<br /><br />So you can (and should) read <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">RUM RUNNER</a>, then read <a href="http://getbook.at/watchedtoolongebook">WATCHED TOO LONG</a> to see what happened to Jack's daughter, Samantha, when Jack asked Val Ryker to babysit.<br /><br /><b>Release Dates. </b><a href="http://getbook.at/watchedtoolongebook">WATCHED TOO LONG comes out today</a>. And in two weeks, <a href="http://getbook.at/webcamebook">WEBCAM</a> by my horror pen name, Jack Kilborn, will be released. <a href="http://getbook.at/webcamebook">You can pre-order it.</a> Releasing three novels (<a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">LAST CALL</a> comes out May 25) and a novella within two months is something much easier to do as an indie than if you were with a publisher. Publishers usually won't release more than one title a year. And release two titles on the same day? Unheard of.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbgbVu49LaVpRsDSbw-2wpI0hf7jWU7BasvJ7kpGNEDs_ySaXnj2I6SOPVdIpUjmOeIxXS3W-BD-hULmNu9877B2E9EdJuCRxsRqE_p_s3-wLAFcx3PLeWbCWkRJvWqPkrgeeyKolavc/s1600/Webcam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbgbVu49LaVpRsDSbw-2wpI0hf7jWU7BasvJ7kpGNEDs_ySaXnj2I6SOPVdIpUjmOeIxXS3W-BD-hULmNu9877B2E9EdJuCRxsRqE_p_s3-wLAFcx3PLeWbCWkRJvWqPkrgeeyKolavc/s320/Webcam.jpg" width="210" /></a><a href="http://getbook.at/webcamebook">WEBCAM</a> also crosses over with <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">RUM RUNNER</a> and <a href="http://getbook.at/watchedtoolongebook">WATCHED TOO LONG</a>. The hero, a cop named Tom Mankowski (<a href="http://getbook.at/hauntedhouseebook">HAUNTED HOUSE</a>, <a href="http://getbook.at/thelistebook">THE LIST</a>) winds up in Jack's novel, and she winds up in his.<br /><br />While each of these stories can be read and enjoyed as a standalone, part of the fun of writing them was hoping readers would explore all three, to see where and how they crossover. But there aren't any spoilers of cliffhangers, so if you only want to read one or two, it isn't necessary to read all three.<br /><br />I had a ball doing this, and I hope it shows in the writing. Being able to release four connected stories, one a collaboration, in such a short period of time, is something that I couldn't ever do when I had legacy contracts. Plus I keep my rights, make better royalties, and have final say over cover art, price, and design.<br /><br />I'll be releasing paper versions of these shortly. And for the first time, I'll be self-pubbing the audio versions. The guy reading is one of my favorite singer/songwriters, going back to 1986 when I bought his first album. On cassette,which dates both of us. To be able to work with him is surreal, in the best way possible. I've spent endless hours singing his songs, and now he's reading my books. Fangasm.<br /><br />Now some Q & A with myself.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> So, just to be clear, today we can buy <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">RUM RUNNER</a> and <a href="http://getbook.at/watchedtoolongebook">WATCHED TOO LONG</a>, and we can also pre-order <a href="http://getbook.at/webcamebook">WEBCAM</a>, which comes out on April 15 (as if taxes aren't scary enough) and the long- awaited <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">LAST CALL</a>, which comes out on May 25.<br /><br /><b>A:</b> That is correct. I urge every single person reading this to buy these books, and gift copies to everyone they know. Is that too much to ask?<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Is Blake Crouch writing <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">LAST CALL</a> with you?<br /><br /><b>A:</b> He is not. Blake has two TV series currently in production, and will be spending the summer touring with his excellent new thriller, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Matter-Novel-Blake-Crouch-ebook/dp/B0180T0IUY">DARK MATTER.</a> If you see him on one of his many stops, give him a sloppy kiss from me.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> So does <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">LAST CALL</a> have Luther Kite in it?<br /><br /><b>A: </b>It does. Blake has given me permission to use his characters Luther and Lucy (from <a href="http://getbook.at/serialkillersuncutebook">SERIAL KILLERS UNCUT</a>).<br /><br /><b>Q: </b>Why are you releasing so many titles in such a short time frame?<br /><br /><b>A: </b>Because I can. And because I'm curious how it will work out. For decades, publishers have insisted on the "one book per year" route for most authors. The justification for this varies. Some say that too many new titles too quickly forces them to compete with each other and results in lost sales. Some say the windowing of hardbacks to paperbacks requires a full year, in order to suck the high cost of hardcovers out of as many fans as possible. Then the cheaper paperback (supposedly) pimps the newest hardcover release. Some say it is because publishing takes so damn long (often 18 months after the contract is signed before the book hits the stores) and publisher's schedules are so booked they can't possibly squeeze any more releases in.<br /><br />I think this is all bullshit. When I like an author, I want to read as much as I can by that author. I believe many readers share my sentiment. So releasing four titles in 60 days will be an interesting experiment that has the potential to show if I'm correct or not.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Who is the mystery rock star reading your book?<br /><br /><b>A:</b> We haven't made the announcement yet. But he's been a professional musician since the 1970s, and has released over a dozen albums. Also, the plan is for me to do the voice of Harry McGlade on these four titles.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Do these books be have to be read in any special order?<br /><br /><b>A:</b> No. Even though they interconnect, they're all standalones. The real challenge was to make sure that reading one didn't spoil the others, and to make sure the characters had good reasons for being in each other's stories.<br /><br />That said, if you insist on doing things chronologically, here's the order I suggest: <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">RUM RUNNER</a>, <a href="http://getbook.at/watchedtoolongebook">WATCHED TOO LONG</a>, <a href="http://getbook.at/webcamebook">WEBCAM</a>, <a href="http://getbook.at/lastcallebook">LAST CALL</a>.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Will you be doing more Jack Daniels novels?<br /><br /><b>A: </b>Yes. I'm also going to do sequels to THE LIST and ORIGIN, and finish the TIMECASTER trilogy.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> I notice RUM RUNNER is $4.99, and LAST CALL is $5.99? Are you raising prices?<br /><br /><b>A:</b> Yes. Next week, all of my novels are going to be changed to five or six bucks. I have a few reasons for this, which I'm happy to discuss.<br /><br />When I first started doing this self-pub thing, I had no idea it would wind up being my main source of income. Back then, I priced ebooks at 99 cents because free wasn't an option. It was only when I started making serious money that I considered self-publishing as a career, rather than as a form of self-promotion.<br /><br />I raised priced to $2.99 when Amazon switched to 70% royalties. Then I kicked it up to $3.99 and have been there since.<br /><br />But Kindle Unlimited is changing the game. As more and more readers move to the subscription model, ebook sales are dropping. This is purely anecdotal, so I don't know if it's a widespread thing. I also don't know if the drop in sales directly corresponds with a rise in KENP royalties. My KDP income is down about 25% from last year, but that could be attributed to me not releasing a solo book in so long. Will raising ebook prices help counter that drop? Only way to know is to try.<br /><br />Amazon has a Beta service called KDP Pricing Support, which recommends the sweet spot for ebook prices to maximize income. I don't know if this recommendation takes KENP into account, but it suggests $5.49 for genre ebook novels.<br /><br />Also, I'm watching how Amazon is pricing their imprint titles, and seeing $5.99 - $7.99. Amazon is all about data and algorithms. Unlike the Big 5, which prices ebooks high to protect their paper oligopoly, Amazon's incentive is divided. They no doubt want to make a profit, but they also are fine with postponing profits to grow their customer base. But if Amazon truly wanted to incentivize Kindle ereader sales they'd make every A-Pub book 99 cents. Or free. Or even $3.99, as I'm currently doing.<br /><br />But they seem pretty consistent with six to eight dollars for their newer releases. I can't help but feel that they know something I don't. So I'll give it a shot.<br /><br />If you haven't picked up my series yet, now is the time. The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A0VADK0/">first eight books are either free or under two bucks each</a> for a limited time. Grab them before I jack up the prices.<br /><br />And thanks for reading. I'd love to hear in the comments from authors who experiment with pricing, and/or with crossovers.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-3738158653414611032016-02-19T10:33:00.000-08:002018-08-19T19:20:20.280-07:00Fisking Lee ChildI like Lee Child. He's a generous guy, pleasant, smart, and a decent writer.<br /><br />But Lee has aligned himself with the <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/07/authors-united-epic-fail-o-rama.html">pinheads of Authors United</a>, and though his views differ enough to be considered on their own merits rather than instantly dismissable like the majority of AU alarmism, Child's continued anti-Amazon stance is getting boring.<br /><br />Yes, I know he wants to defend the crumbling establishment that has made him a gazillionaire, and suck a few more bucks out of it. But be honest that's the intent. Don't spout self-interest under the guise that Amazon is bad for readers, or writers, or the world in general.<br /><br />I'm very open about my pro-Amazon bias. Amazon has allowed tens of thousands of authors who were screwed or spurned by the legacy publishing industry to make a few bucks. It has brought down the price of books, allowing more readers to enjoy them. I've personally benefited from Amazon's policies, but so have the majority of readers and writers. And the only reward I get for my pro-Amazon activism is thousands of thank yous from writers who have self-pubbed and can now pay bills with their writing income.<br /><br />Who is thanking Lee? Doug Preston? Scott Turow? James Patterson? It's good to have friends. I'm sure it's rosy at the top, and those megasellers want to keep it that way. But at some point you maybe need to do some soul searching and admit your success is fueled by a corrupted, archaic machine that is ultimately bad for society and culture. And luck, of course. A lot of luck.<br /><br />Which brings me to Child's piece in The Guardian, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/12/lee-child-amazons-real-life-bookshops-why-we-should-be-worried">Lee Child on Amazon’s real-life bookshops – and why we should be worried.</a><br /><br />Don't you love that title? I mean, just think of how terrible the world would be with--gasp!--<i>more bookshops!</i><br /><i><br /></i>The stuff of nightmares, it is. Let's fisk.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> In December, Amazon US released its 2015 in-house all-format all-category bestseller list. They also published other lists, for bestselling paperbacks on Amazon in 2015, regardless of publication year and a Kindle list too. Then the newspaper USA Today came out with its own industry-wide all-sources version. What was the difference? Two words: The Martian (good movie, but the book was better). It was number four on USA Today’s list and number four on Amazon’s Kindle list – but it was number 16 on Amazon’s physical book list. There were other titles in the same anomalous situation. Why?<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> Don't get me started on the WTF factor of bestseller lists. USA Today compiles a list based on <a href="http://fourhourworkweek.com/2012/08/17/amazon-monthly-100/">surveys of polled outlets</a>. Since publishers don't release actual sales figures to the public (or even to their authors, according to the many who have called for--and won--audits), comparing paper sales of The Martian on USA Today's list and on Amazon's list is apples to oranges.<br /><br />But for the purpose of this post, let's say that both USA Today and Amazon have bestseller lists that accurately reflect true sales figures.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> Because, even now, for most books and most people most of the time, the biggest spur to purchase a physical book is seeing that actual book in a physical place.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> That's one interpretation. While I fully believe in the power of the point-of-purchase sale, and I personally believe shelf space and distribution are what has created the name-brand bestselling authors who have dominated bestseller lists for decades, there could be other interpretations of the discrepancy.<br /><br />Maybe the publisher of The Martian didn't pay Amazon as much co-op as it paid other retailers, so it wasn't as prominently displayed on Amazon.<br /><br />Maybe people on Amazon prefer buying ebooks, which is evident in The Martian's #4 standing on the Kindle List. (Which would beg the question, where did The Martian fall on USA Today's ebook bestseller list, and why?)<br /><br />Maybe some publishers paid Amazon more co-op than The Martian's publisher, and so their books had better placement on Amazon and thus sold better.<br /><br />Maybe some Amazon published or self-published books--which aren't tracked by USA Today--sold better on Amazon than The Martian did.<br /><br />As I said, I know point-of-purchase is a real thing. Because that's how I believe I've sold two million books. Readers have no idea who I am. I'm not a name brand. But my books are visible on Amazon, and visibility sells books on Amazon the same way it does in airport bookstores.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> Because for most people most of the time, reading is a take-it-or-yawn-leave-it activity. Books are not quite distress purchases, but neither are they exciting enough for enthusiastic online hunting. (Again, for most people most of the time, which I’ll stop repeating now, but only if the e-fanboys agree to discuss the real world, not their pretend version. Deal?)<br /><br /><b>Joe sez: </b>No deal.<br /><br />Lee, for your audience--like the audience of most mega-bestsellers--book buying may be a take-it-or-yawn-leave-it activity. I won't argue with that. But you're a rare bird. You're the 1% of the 1% of the 1%. Your books are everywhere, so you sell everywhere, and I don't doubt that the vast majority of your buyers are those who read occasionally, picking up a book while on vacation, or for a long flight, or as a gift for the in-laws.<br /><br />I also have no reason to doubt that the majority of book buyers are casual readers. I can believe that a few hundred bestsellers per year sell far better than their few million competitors, and that most books sold are bought by those who buy fewer than five books per year.<br /><br />But the majority of authors don't subsist on those type of readers. We make a living from the solid core of medium-to heavy readers, who go through more than a few books per year. This may be a fraction of your audience, but it's still a billion dollar slice of pie to split up among us.<br /><br />As a legacy fan-boy, you seem to think that unless an author is making an eight figure deal, they're a hobbiest. That is not the "real world" as known by the tens of thousands of our peers who are making a few bucks for the first time ever. Your world is a fairy-tale that you seem to think is the norm (or worse, that you somehow earned).<br /><br />Congrats. You got really lucky, and won the publishing jackpot. Enjoy it, but stop talking down to us e-fanboys who are making ends meet, because you come off sounding entitled and elitist.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> So why would a physical book be number four on one list and 16 on another? Nothing sells physical books better than physical displays in bricks-and-mortar locations.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> I can agree with this. It would sure be great if I could get some of that love. Bookstores tend to <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/05/indie-bookstores-boycott-konrath.html">boycott me,</a> however.<br /><br />But your argument hasn't even attempted to show why paper sales are somehow better sales than ebook sales for anyone other than the 1% of 1% of 1%. "We" don't need to be worried about this phenomenon. You and Patterson do. And even then, not really. You may lose your eight figure advances as the publishing industry changes, but I'll bet you'll still be able to pay the electric bill if your paper sales disappear.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> Millions of people passed by bookshop windows or airport bookstalls, and saw The Martian, and some vague impression clicked in and they said, “Oh yeah, that’s supposed to be cool”, and they bought a copy, and enjoyed it. Same for the other anomalous titles. That is still how books get sold.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> No. Nope. Nuh-uh. This is how <i>paper bestsellers</i> get sold.<br /><br />None of my books have sold this way. Granted, I've only sold two million, not half a billion. And I'm as much of an anomaly to most self-pubbed authors as you are to me. But you're using The Guardian to preach to the Everyday Joe (unless I'm wrong and The Guardian's circulation is limited to members of Authors United), and Everyday Joe simply doesn't have your concerns. The vast majority of writers can't relate, and readers just don't care. Both the casual and the power reader find their books however they find them, and will continue to do that even if the retailers change and the format changes.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> Research bears it out. Physical eyeballing is way ahead of any other prompt, be it word of mouth, spam, social media or other kinds of advertising.<br /><br />Which is a problem for Amazon.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> Sure. Except for, you know, the billions of things they sell due to people physically eyeballing Amazon.com. You may have heard the Internet terms <i>surfing </i>and <i>browsing</i>. One does not need to be standing in a shopping mall to impulse buy.<br /><br />In fact, you may have noticed that Amazon is pretty good at recommending items for customers to buy. The airport kiosk has your latest, a Stephen King, a Nora Roberts, a James Patterson, and whoever took over for poor, dead Michael Crichton. This limited selection ensures that you'll sell a fuckton of paper. I'm sure you like that a lot. I sure would.<br /><br />But I'm stuck with Amazon, which democratizes that limited shelf space into equal unlimited space for all writers (except for that co-op thing, which we'll get into shortly).<br /><br />Amazon doesn't have a problem, here. Brick and mortar stores do. Because they have limited space.<br /><br />You know this. And this is a big reason why you're concerned about Amazon opening 300 stores. Because Amazon could attempt to democratize physical shelf space the same as it has done with virtual shelf space, and that would mean readers would have more than you and six other old white guys to choose from (No disrespect to Ms. Roberts, but old white guys have dominated the bestseller lists for decades.)<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> Classically it uses books to hook customers and then data-mine them. But it gets only dedicated book buyers.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> I have no doubt Amazon is data mining me. Google data mines me. Apple data mines me. My own government data mines me, except they're trying to arrest people without due process rather than sell them stuff. But I don't understand your "dedicated book buyers" comment.<br /><br />Amazon does get the heavy readers who buy more than a few books a year, and Amazon certainly has loss leads and incentives to get customers to shop for more than just books--they do call themselves "The Everything Store".<br /><br />Sure, there are more cases of someone grabbing a Red Bull and some M&Ms in an airport and also grabbing your latest paperback at the same time than they are of seeking out a specific Konrath title on Amazon, but what's your point? You sell more so your way is better? You sell more so your way is what the Common Man really prefers?<br /><br />I think you sell more because you're everywhere. And you're everywhere because you got lucky and won the Big Pub Lottery and could plug into a gigantic distribution network that allows casual readers to find you.<br /><br />That doesn't make airport impulse purchases the better way to sell books, or the only way. But it certainly discriminates against the vast majority of authors.<br /><br />Some shoppers look for something specific, like a predator on a game trail. Some graze and devour whatever is in front of them. Most of use do a bit of both. But there is no superior way to buy a book.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> Browsing on Amazon isn’t great as a casual experience: fatigue sets in.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez: </b>Have you ever gone to the mall on Black Friday? You really want to argue fatigue?<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> (How do you make something totally invisible? Put it on page 17 of an internet search.)<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> How do you force a midlist legacy author to take a day job? Don't give her a six figure marketing budget.<br /><br />You're being either myopic or intentionally disingenuous. I'll wager Amazon has allowed many more authors to reach readers in the last five years than the Big Publishing has since 1950.<br /><br />True, Amazon hasn't created another Lee Child. But I think most people will settle for a hundred Hugh Howeys instead.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> And Kindle hasn’t taken over the world. It has settled into a solid niche, like those tiny tubes of toothpaste – essential for travel, but no one uses them at home. (Down, fanboys! Real world!)<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> Ah, the real world. Do you even remember what that was like, Lee? Worrying about bills? Self-promoting to reach fans? Being paid twice a year and budgeting to make that money stretch?<br /><br />I like your toothpaste tube analogy, though, even though you intended it to be insultingly dismissive. There are a lot of companies making a lot of money selling travel sized toothpaste. And it may be a niche, but <a href="http://authorearnings.com/report/february-2016-author-earnings-report/">I can subsist in that niche</a>, along with tens of thousands of my peers.<br /><br />Of course, I really don't believe it's a niche. I believe it's a shadow industry that is a lot bigger than you and your cronies think. It may not have hurt your bottom line, yet. It may never. But my career path doesn't require paper books to fail for me to succeed. My path doesn't require paper sales at all.<br /><br />Here's a simpler way to explain it. Is it better to have ten people feast until they're stuffed, or for a whole village to eat enough to not starve?<br /><br />Right there is the difference in our ideologies.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> So there is no way for Amazon to replicate that happy, random encounter with a physical bookstore window. Yes, there are bots and algorithms, but those casual millions of three-books-a-year people never see them: they don’t buy books online.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> You're proving my point, here. Other than incorrectly romanticizing the selling process of paper books (<a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/02/you-can-pry-my-paper-books-from-my-cold.html">I debunked paper infatuation way back in 2010</a>), you're preaching to a crowd of a hundred authors, and the bloated industry that has made them rich. The majority of writers don't agree and don't care. Neither do readers. Because those casual three-books-a-year readers will find those books elsewhere if the current paper source dries up, or they'll do something else with their leisure time, like Angry Birds.<br /><br />Your argument is like saying people truly enjoy the experience of going into a 7-11 and impulse buying a Twinkie. Lots of people certainly do that. But it is far from the only way people choose to snack. And if the Twinkies were gone, these people will find something else to eat, or search elsewhere.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> Which is a defeat for Amazon. It prides itself on going where the customers are, and doing what the customers want. And it needs to. Its growth demands all the customers there are.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> You have the first part backwards. Amazon's strategy thusfar has been to lead customers to it, not to go where the customers are.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> So now, rumour has it, Amazon plans to open another 299 physical bookstores (it already has one, in Seattle). The rumours are denied – or at least, not confirmed – and at first glance they appear economically insane. At the best of times, books are low-velocity, low-margin items, and commercial rents are geared to the opposite – clothes, handbags and other high-profit stuff. But then, for 20 years Amazon has proved willing to eat losses, and investors have allowed it to.<br /><br />So, what if? And suppose those 300 stores were only the start? We’d quickly approach a de facto monopsony.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> And here were go again. I'm so tired of <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/10/amazon-will-slash-your-royalties.html">debunking this one.</a> And I'm also tired of repeatedly stating that the Big 5 are a <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/05/exploited-writers-in-unfair-industry.html">de facto oligopoly</a>; a cartel that fixes prices and censors books. But as much as I debunk the <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/08/zombie-publishing-memes-1-amazon-is.html">monopoly/monopsony argument,</a> no one has ever challenged my accusations about the Big 5.<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> Amazon would become the only practical route to market for 1,400 US publishers and a million US self-publishers, for either digital or paper product.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> Currently Amazon is the only practical route for millions of self-publishers. Your point?<br /><br />I've blogged about this before, but can't find the link. In a nutshell, once a company becomes powerful enough to dictate terms for consumers or suppliers, it still has powerful incentives to play fair. That's why Wal-Mart, when it opens in a new town and destroys all the Mom and Pop stores, doesn't raise prices when the competition is killed. If they did, it would allow the Mom and Pops to return and compete. So they have to keep prices low.<br /><br />The same thing works with suppliers in a digital world. We're not talking oil barons owning a limited amount of land. We're talking the Internet. If Amazon starts screwing authors (you know, maybe like slashing their ebook royalties to 17.5%--<a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/04/agency-model-sucks.html">who would do something so awful?</a>) then that's just asking for competition to step up and lure authors away with better terms.<br /><br />And unlike the Big 5 cartel who don't compete on terms (for us mere mortal writers they only compete on the size of advance), Amazon isn't ever going to go the oligopoly route and collude with competitors. Amazon wants to have the widest selection, and they don't want to share. They incentivize authors with Kindle Unlimited in order to offer readers the widest selection. This alarmist notion of "Amazon Will Slash Your Royalties" has no basis in reality.<br /><br />Or does it? Let's see what Lee digs up...<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> The history is worrying. Amazon has already tried to use its power in a punitive fashion, as if determined to hurt publishers financially.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> Uh, no it hasn't. Anyone who followed the <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/11/amazonhachette-negotiations-finally-end.html">Hachette nonsense</a> on this blog knows what that was really about; publishers wanting higher ebook prices. Which has harmed publishers, and lots of authors (though not Lee Child because he sells buttloads of paper books.) <br /><br /><b>Child:</b> All kinds of fees and “contributions” are required. “Pay to play” was openly the name of the game, until Amazon’s lawyers suggested a less explicit description. One publisher resisted, and a senior Amazon executive boasted: “I did everything I could to screw with their performance.”<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> As if Amazon invented co-op. C'mon, Lee. Stop being disingenuous. Publishers have always paid to play. Hint: the reason your books are front and center at Barnes & Noble is because your publisher paid out the ass for it. I don't hear you bitching about those "contributions".<br /><br /><b>Child:</b> Already, self-publishers have only “terms and conditions”, which change capriciously – so far only to Amazon’s advantage. Is it good public policy to allow one corporation to have total power over a nation’s published output?<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> Give me "terms and conditions" over the greedy, moronic, inept fuckers who wanted my rights, forever.<br /><br />You keep demonizing Amazon for things that Big Publishing has already done, and done to a much worse degree. They had total power, and the exercised it lockstep, and fixed prices, and kept millions of books from reaching readers, and screwed authors.<br /><br />Amazon can never have total power, because they don't own rights, and they can't censor other sales outlets for authors. The Big 6 could and did censor, because they controlled distribution.<br /><br />You said earlier that the Kindle is niche. So pick an argument, Lee. Does Kindle cater to only a small percentage of the book market, or does it command total power over everything published?<br /><br />And why, exactly, should we be worried if Amazon opens 300 bookstores? Didn't you say that readers prefer that "happy, random encounter with a physical bookstore window"? What's wrong with 300 more windows?<br /><br />Oh... wait. I know.<br /><br />Those are 300 windows that your books won't be prominently featured in unless your publisher pays for it. And how could your poor publisher hope to afford that when they keep giving you eight figure advances?<br /><br />My my, this is a dilemma.<br /><br />As for me, who has had zero physical premise in brick and mortar bookstores since Shaken was published in 2010, I'm hoping Amazon does start opening stores and giving those casual readers a broader choice than that same handful of old white guys. And I'm not worried about Amazon having "total power" because, unlike you, I have an understanding of how Amazon works. Every Amazon imprint, every section, functions as its own company. It has to bid for co-op just like publishers do. That's how it avoids any DOJ problems. Amazon will sell used products alongside new ones, for less, via third parties. Amazon allows third party vendors to sell things that Amazon doesn't even carry. Consider that. If you're really worried Amazon will boycott your publisher, Amazon will still offer your publisher's titles on Amazon.com via third parties.<br /><br />Probably not at the discount you'd like, though.<br /><br />Amazon won't ever have "total power" because it competes with itself. It wants to sell everything to everyone. Even at the expense of its own profits and shareholders.<br /><br />The Big 5 want to sell certain books to certain people in certain ways. They want higher prices, and will collude to get them. Except for 1% of 1% of 1%, they pay they authors much less than Amazon does. They keep rights. They demand <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/05/unconscionability.html">unconscionable clauses</a> like non-compete and next option.<br /><br />Amazon has allowed me a career. But I'm only pro-Amazon for as long as they are pro-author.<br /><br />I said "pro-author" not "pro-Joe."<br /><br />The Big 5 are not pro-author. They are pro-Lee Child.<br /><br />That's awesome for you. But--down legacy fanboy!--the rest of us live in the real world.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-11919925222580356162016-02-17T13:20:00.000-08:002018-08-19T19:20:20.555-07:00Konrath's Advice For Indie BooksellersI just <a href="http://www.jakonrath.com/newsletters/newsletter-2-16.html">sent out a newsletter</a> to 10,000 people on my mailing list. Some of those people have been on that list since I first started in this biz, back in 2003.<br /><br />I haven't sent out a newsletter since 2014, so I wasn't too surprised to get this reply from an indie bookseller:<br /><br /><div><i>One of the first rules of marketing is know your audience.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>It is not the best technique to send an email soliciting orders for Amazon and their related products to Independent Bookstores. This is not the way to win friends and garner bookseller support.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Knowing that you are putting your personal efforts into Amazon guarantees that your titles are special order upon request only for my store.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Fair enough. I appreciate the response. I also understand it.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I'm pretty sure this bookseller doesn't understand me. Or the majority of authors who are self-publishing.</div><div><br /></div><div>I considered replying, but don't see how any good could come from it. She owns a bookstore. She competes with Amazon. She doesn't want to get email from authors who publish through Amazon. If I reply, even graciously, I don't see a way to mend the broken fences she perceives.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which is a shame. Because I want her store to thrive. And I'd like to help her bookstore thrive. But because I publish my paper work via Createspace and Thomas & Mercer, indie bookstores don't want to have anything to do with me.<br /><br /></div><div></div><div>This is disappointing. I've always loved bookstores. I’ve signed at over 1200 bookstores in 42 states. I’m pretty sure that’s more than just about any other author.</div><div><br />Then my publisher dropped my series.</div><div></div><div><br />Amazon picked the series up, which allowed me to have a real career in this biz. Since working with Amazon, I’ve sold over 2 million books.<br /><br /></div><div></div><div>Yet, even though I have a lot of fans, the majority of independent bookstores refuse to stock my paper books. Because of my relationship with Amazon. Because they believe I'm a traitor, who has sided with their enemy.<br /><br />It reminds me a lot of professional sports. Being from Chicago and growing up a Bulls fan, our biggest rival in the 80s was Detroit. The Pistons' Dennis Rodman was the king of all jerks, constantly committing cheap shot after hard foul. What an asshat.<br /><br />Until he was on our team. Then he was awesome.<br /><br />For us. Once he moved to Chicago, he lost a lot of Detroit fans.<br /><br />Detroit shouldn't blame Rodman for the move. The Worm went where he had to go, in order to continue playing. He didn't betray the Motor City for the Windy City. He did what was best for his career.</div><div></div><div><br />Right now there are tens of thousands of indie authors. They'd love to be stocked in your bookstore. They'd love to do signings. They're selling very well as ebooks, and I can guarantee some of them would sell well in paper, to your customers.<br /><br />But first you have to give them a chance. And to do that, you need to stop blaming them for their career choices.<br /><br />That above email said my books would only be ordered upon special request in her store. I'd bet good money they weren't stocked in the first place.</div><div><br /></div><div>The above email also took me to task about one of the first rules of marketing. Well, what is one of the first rules of retail? Isn’t it stocking items that customers want to buy?</div><div></div><div><br />In my novel DIRTY MARTINI, I thanked over three thousand booksellers, by name. But once I signed with Amazon, these booksellers considered me the enemy, and refused to stock my books.</div><div><br /></div><div>Is that the way to compete with Amazon? By driving your customers to Amazon.com because they can't find what they want at your bookstore?</div><br /><div>Years ago, <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/05/indie-bookstores-boycott-konrath.html">I made an offer to indie bookstores</a>. That offer still stands. I'd love to work with you. I'd love to help you make money off of my work.<br /><br />For those too lazy to follow the link, here's some of my TL;DR suggestions:<br /><br /><b>Remember why people shop indie. </b>You probably got into this business because you love books. And your customers keep coming back because of your knowledge, recommendations, suggestions, and carefully curated selection.<br /><br />Well, there are over a million books, written by tens of thousands of authors, that you aren't able to recommend or sell to your customers, because they're self-pubbed and Amazon-pubbed and you won't stock them. Your customers missing out on reading new authors, and you're missing out on those sales.<br /><br />The shadow industry of <a href="http://authorearnings.com/report/february-2016-author-earnings-report/">self-publishing is growing, while legacy publishing shrinks</a>. And now there are rumors that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/12/lee-child-amazons-real-life-bookshops-why-we-should-be-worried">Amazon is going to start opening bookstores nationwide</a>.<br /><br />If you sell indie books, you can beat them to the punch.<br /><br /><b>Hold author events.</b> A booksigning still draws readers. But you need to give people a reason to attend other than just a signature. Perhaps an exclusive short story from that author, free to everyone who buys a book. Perhaps a $30 admission includes a book, coffee, a signed t-shirt, plus an ebook download. Give your customers something they can't get elsewhere.<br /><br /><b>Start publishing.</b> If you're an indie store beloved by authors, ask those authors for a story to put into an anthology, which you can then publish in print and as an ebook. Or ask favorite authors with out-of-print backlists if they'd like to partner with you to re-release those books. Amazon became a publisher. Why can't you?<br /><br />I have over twenty book-length works available. If you'd like to publish any of them and sell them out of your store, contact me. I'll give you an 85% royalty, send you my already formatted interiors and covers, and you can print and sell as many as you'd like. Or I can do the printing, and ship them to you signed, and give you the same 40% discount the major NY Publishers give you per book.<br /><br />And I'm just one author. Imagine doing this with a hundred authors. Your own imprint, selling books the chains don't sell, signed copies that Amazon doesn't sell, for a higher profit margin than you get anywhere else.<br /><br />Nobody wants to see the Indies disappear. There is a tremendous opportunity here, but it starts with taking the emotion out of how you view self-published authors and looking at it with an eye to what customers want.<br /><br />What they want hasn't changed. They want your advice about which books to read.<br /><br />You just need to figure out how you can best serve them in this brave, new world.<br /><br /><b>Joe sez: </b>I wrote that blog pose five years ago, and it's still ahead of its time.<br /><br />Not a single bookstore has taken me up on my offer.<br /><br />But they're more than happy to email me about my lack of marketing savvy.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-67062955464502376322016-02-08T14:27:00.000-08:002018-08-19T19:20:20.823-07:00Attack of the Bibliography!I noticed an Amazon trend a few months ago. Some third party indie publishers were creating Kindle bibliographies for bestselling authors who had a lot of titles.<br /><br />I thought it was interesting, but probably not necessary. Amazon makes it pretty simple for readers to find books. Why should readers have to buy an ebook to get a list of ebooks to buy?<br /><br />But more and more of these bibliographies began to pop up. I took a closer look at the trend, and realized why.<br /><br />Amazon customers were searching for series titles in order. So to find them, they would type in something like "JD Robb series in order" or "Nora Roberts series" or "JD Robb books chronological".<br /><br />If you search for any of those, you get four different bibliographies by different publishers offering their $0.99 checklist of JD Robb/Nora Roberts titles.<br /><br />So I had myself a think.<br /><br />I have two pen names--Jack Kilborn and Melinda DuChamp.<br /><br />I operate under the assumption that most of my ebooks are bought and read by readers who haven't heard of me (or my pen names) previously. They're browsing, find a title, and buy it. If they like it, the hope is that they'll seek out other titles.<br /><br />One way I do this is to have a bibliography in the back of my ebooks. But this is problematic; links are tied to a specific region, like the US or UK or Canada, so I haven't been using links, just a static list. This makes it harder for readers to instantly buy one of my other titles (every step introduced between the desire for a purchase and the actual purchase loses some potential customers). It's also problematic when, like me, you have 60 ebook titles with more coming out every year, which requires updating the bibliography in every single title.<br /><br />Maybe readers who try me and like me will Google me and find my website. But that takes an extra step. More likely, they'll search for me on Amazon, perhaps with the term "JA Konrath series in order", and maybe they'll start the series from the beginning. Or maybe they won't. Or maybe they'll miss a title. Or maybe they'll give up in frustration because it isn't immediately apparent to them which books of mine tie in together, and the order they should be read in.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjodoC-kb3JoAtEY6x4jjfTg1SuofWMi9Kf7sU0dxRqqIz5-DaCvBfwu33D7N_2e-wVIbRIywZgbgkalfXAdZV2od_tZSsqIL7bP4jxjQQyHLvhRkGOnC_qyiPq1I0tlGIMUI2Koi-dhuU/s1600/Konrath+reading+order.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjodoC-kb3JoAtEY6x4jjfTg1SuofWMi9Kf7sU0dxRqqIz5-DaCvBfwu33D7N_2e-wVIbRIywZgbgkalfXAdZV2od_tZSsqIL7bP4jxjQQyHLvhRkGOnC_qyiPq1I0tlGIMUI2Koi-dhuU/s320/Konrath+reading+order.jpg" width="210" /></a>So I published this, for free on Amazon.<br /><br />The long and search-intensive title is:<br /><br /><b>"J.A. Konrath Books in Order: Jack Daniels Series in Reading Order, Jack Kilborn, Codename: Chandler, Melinda DuChamp, Complete Pen Name Chronological Bibliography".</b><br /><b><br /></b>The link is: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Konrath-Books-Order-Chronological-Bibliography-ebook/dp/B01BD0167G">http://www.amazon.com/Konrath-Books-Order-Chronological-Bibliography-ebook/dp/B01BD0167G</a><br /><br />I also made <a href="http://www.jakonrath.com/books.php">free downloads available in my website</a>, as Kindle and pdf files.<br /><br />But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.<br /><br />The Reading Order ebook has links in it, to make it very easy for readers to immediately download any of my titles, in order.<br /><br /><b>Q: </b>But Joe, earlier you said that was a problem, because links are tied to a specific Amazon store. What if an Amazon.ca reader downloaded the book? Does your ebook have links for Canada too?<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> Sort of. I took a shortcut. There's a very cool, and free, service called <a href="http://booklinker.net./">Booklinker.net.</a> You put in an Amazon link, and you can create your own URL.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Ieahz5yv5a01_mwdlfP3EvsT2dQKuYlyDApKnSOrPE_ZmF5diGF6MrV0G2tsxOMpW2BKpnQ6Pom6tBQDuPTFXhYHPkkb_neT3qXSKTKIGzo8Qa7oBTT9ynHsVjoI1nKasK5NS6ePdRQ/s1600/%2521cid_F42EB181-CDD9-4B37-9688-88B460078D9F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Ieahz5yv5a01_mwdlfP3EvsT2dQKuYlyDApKnSOrPE_ZmF5diGF6MrV0G2tsxOMpW2BKpnQ6Pom6tBQDuPTFXhYHPkkb_neT3qXSKTKIGzo8Qa7oBTT9ynHsVjoI1nKasK5NS6ePdRQ/s320/%2521cid_F42EB181-CDD9-4B37-9688-88B460078D9F.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>For example, for my upcoming 9th Jack Daniels novel, RUM RUNNER (being released March 25), I created this universal URL:<br /><br /><a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">http://getBook.at/rumrunnerebook</a><br /><br />That link is clicker specific. If you are from Canada and shop at Amazon.ca, it will take you to the RUM RUNNER Amazon page in Canada. If you are in England, it'll take you to Amazon.co.uk. And so on.<br /><br />Pretty cool, huh? So rather than have a gazillion links for each ebook title, I only have a single, Booklinker link.<br /><br />BTW--if you haven't <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">pre-ordered RUM RUNNER yet, please do</a>.<br /><br /><b>Q: </b>Okay, so you've got a bibliography, and it has links for all of your ebooks at all Amazon stores worldwide. But how did you make it free? Does Amazon allow free ebooks?<br /><br /><b>Joe sez: </b>No, Amazon doesn't allow freebies. But it does price-match with other retailers who do offer freebies.<br /><br />So I used the fine services of <a href="https://www.draft2digital.com/">Draft 2 Digital</a>. In about ten minutes, I set up an account and uploaded the READING ORDER ebook as a free ebook, and D2D distributed it to Apple, Kobo, Scribd, Nook, and Inktera, and they all went live within 24 hours. It was fast, simple, and free to do, and the D2D folks were accommodating and responsive.<br /><br />I also created a <a href="https://www.google.com/googlebooks/partners/">Google Books account</a> and uploaded it there, also for free.<br /><br />Then I went to me <a href="http://getbook.at/rumrunnerebook">Amazon page for the READING ORDER ebook</a> and clicked on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Konrath-Books-Order-Chronological-Bibliography-ebook/dp/B01BD0167G#">tell us about a lower price</a> at the bottom of the Product Details section.<br /><br />I started this on February 2. Once a day I'd tattle on myself, clicking on that link and reporting the free links from Apple, Nook, etc. Six days later, Amazon price-matched my book, so it is now free.<br /><br />Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca aren't free, because first I wanted to see how the US experiment went. But now I'm doing the same thing with those stores, and I expect they'll be free soon.<br /><br />All in all, not too much work. A few hours at most to compile the book. I paid <a href="http://52novels.com/">52novels.com</a> to do the formatting, and <a href="http://www.extendedimagery.com/">Extended Imagery</a> to do the cover, so there was a cost involved. <br /><br /><b>Q: </b>Was this effort worth the time and cost?<br /><br /><b>Joe sez:</b> I have no idea. I saw a trend. It made sense to follow it, because I understand why it's happening. Aggregation is a form of information, and it has value. So much value that some readers are willing to pay for compiled information that they could otherwise get for free.<br /><br />Amazon is very good at collecting data, and very good at recommending books to readers. But there are many ways to skin a cat. The fact that these "reading checklist" books seem to be so popular shows that some readers want aggregation in ebook form. I've even seen some ask for pdf form, to print out. Why miss an opportunity to connect with fans and potential fans if this is how they prefer to find you?<br /><br />Media industries are filled with cautionary tales about companies not listening to customers. One that springs to mind is Napster. Rather than study and learn from consumers who were trading digital files, they tried to shut it down with lawyers and cries of copyright infringement. As a result, Apple--a computer company--is now the biggest music retailer in the world. If the record companies had listened to what consumers wanted (easy to download digital files) they could have made billions.<br /><br />If some readers want a handy ebook checklist to make sure they get all of my work, it makes sense to give it to them.<br /><br />My approach seems like the best way for me to give it a go. It works for all Amazon stores, it will allow new fans (and longtime fans) to easily find and read all of my ebooks in order, and it should be easy to maintain and update as I release new titles.<br /><br />But if anyone has any suggestions or better ideas, I'm all ears.<br /><br /><i>Visibility</i> and <i>discoverabilty </i>seem to be the biggest hurdles for authors to overcome. Remember, sales isn't about selling something to someone who doesn't want it. It's about informing people who are looking to buy the type of things you're selling.<br /><br />You want readers to be able to find you in as many ways as possible. And once they find you, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to read you. Every extra step they have to take--even if it's just one extra click--will lose you some customers.<br /><br />If someone likes your kind of books, you should be very easy to find and acquire. If you have more than twenty titles, that might mean you should consider a reading order checklist.<br /><br />Thoughts?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-54988097705779313842016-01-31T07:51:00.000-08:002018-08-19T19:20:21.097-07:00Book Cover Art SaleMy cover designer is having a sale on his pre-designed covers, and they're gorgeous.<br /><br />As I've said many times in the past, a great book cover is one of the four essential ingredients to finding readers (the other three being a great book, great description, and reasonable price).<br /><br />If your sales are slumping, one of the things you should look at is your cover art. An amateurish cover can send subconscious signals to potential fans that the writing is also amateurish. You don't want to be dismissed by your readers before they even read your first sentence.<br /><br />For a limited time, these pre-designed covers available on <a href="http://www.extendedimagery.com/">www.ExtendedImagery.com</a> are $200. When you buy one, it's yours, and no one else can claim it. So if you see one you like, snap it up fast.<br /><br /><b>Via the Extended Imagery website:</b><br /><br />When a book cover concept is created but not used as the final, I alter the design and offer it to other authors for a discounted price. See a concept that would work perfectly for your paperback/ebook cover? Email me at carl@extendedimagery.com with the number of the cover you're interested in.<br /><br />Pre-designed covers are sold on a first come, first serve basis. Minor changes to elements such as the color scheme or font are included in the price. Additional fees will be required for any major alterations. Fees are determined by the complexity of the requested changes.<br /><br />Just like with my custom covers all pre-designded book cover packages include:<br />- 6x9 inch (72dpi) ebook cover used for publishing on Amazon and all other major online retailers.<br />- 6x9 inch (300dpi) full paperback print cover used for Print-On-Demand books.<br />- 3D book mock-up image used for online promotion.<br />- Website banner used for social media sites, blogs and author sites.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhByufGfYwnrK5GTRBHn7sX5BRymCQW-8s-qCWsAvK3kdFurGQ8s2TS0ID4bG4GPVC91awyZedtg3ooamcHS-A4LqYDZ-u6hvAsTJ68-w5fW-14KSfpTEc6hxBoggBzvHljeOgez7disKg/s1600/%2521cid_E1ED45F9-2B6E-44BF-8AEF-0C465FA0A939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhByufGfYwnrK5GTRBHn7sX5BRymCQW-8s-qCWsAvK3kdFurGQ8s2TS0ID4bG4GPVC91awyZedtg3ooamcHS-A4LqYDZ-u6hvAsTJ68-w5fW-14KSfpTEc6hxBoggBzvHljeOgez7disKg/s400/%2521cid_E1ED45F9-2B6E-44BF-8AEF-0C465FA0A939.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIeAVw1wiTUburrfmxddApf7MqkKwN148T4tgsiLjDr9ySvPzbm5HfbUVg098LDiYVeKNOYll5Q0FuRBoe9zKRGR0IR9jP4gAlvSyGS3t0PeJ30cqyJGkVXP6vWAZC5MtQznUSS0aexQ/s1600/%2521cid_9E78ABE8-C85F-4A8D-81D4-C88D5CA1FD6A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIeAVw1wiTUburrfmxddApf7MqkKwN148T4tgsiLjDr9ySvPzbm5HfbUVg098LDiYVeKNOYll5Q0FuRBoe9zKRGR0IR9jP4gAlvSyGS3t0PeJ30cqyJGkVXP6vWAZC5MtQznUSS0aexQ/s400/%2521cid_9E78ABE8-C85F-4A8D-81D4-C88D5CA1FD6A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-84513070583962423252016-01-26T09:01:00.000-08:002018-08-19T19:20:21.376-07:00Guest Post by Silas Payton<b>The F-word Authors Should Learn from Rap Music</b><br /><br />Hip hop, or rap, has done extremely well in the past twenty years and I would argue it is largely because of the F-word. Fans want the F-word, plain and simple, and I'm willing to bet this holds true with writing just as much as with rap music. The F-word I'm referring to is <i>featuring</i>. It's seen after the title of many, many hip hop songs, used to highlight a guest performer. Many music artists have worked together in the past, but no other music genre has done it so effectively. Writers would do well to learn from this strategy. In this post I highlight some rap examples of this success and discuss ways we can apply this technique to writing.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihkk36B1nts2QDnoi1hsNEf8ojl1kVx_XnICvF1hXv72jrlw9cApGzKqcv_J6_0QQtopmZZ9L7c1_Ewuyj6std3VzrNA1E20mxOaukHmU7puHvJ14y1anmrXuaH3TxhHcLj5vJ0LHxH2Y/s1600/PARALYZER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihkk36B1nts2QDnoi1hsNEf8ojl1kVx_XnICvF1hXv72jrlw9cApGzKqcv_J6_0QQtopmZZ9L7c1_Ewuyj6std3VzrNA1E20mxOaukHmU7puHvJ14y1anmrXuaH3TxhHcLj5vJ0LHxH2Y/s320/PARALYZER.jpg" width="210" /></a>When someone starts listening to a particular rapper, it's not long before they have a list of other rappers they also want to check out. Fans quickly become aware of other artists similar to, or liked by, their new star. When they are looking for something else to listen to, guess where they are going to turn.<br /><br /><br />Rappers seem to enjoy promoting each other. Not only do rappers collaborate on songs and show up to each other's concerts, but often other performers will be mentioned in a song without even being featured in it. The only benefit is to raise awareness. Perhaps it's from the roots or history of rap, I'm not sure. What I do know is rappers take cross-promotion to a whole new level.<br /><br />Take for example, Eminem. Arguably one of the most successful rappers of all time. A quick scan of singers he has featured, or has been featured with, reveals an extensive list, including: Skylar Grey, Obie Trice, Pink, Rhianna, Sia, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Busta Rhyme, Cashis, Yelawolf, Dr. Dre, D12, Lloyd Banks, and Akon, Jay-z, and The Game, to name just a few. I stopped counting at sixty collaborators.<br /><br />As a second example, I looked up Snoop Dogg. I stopped counting at ninety collaborators. Here's a quick scan of a few other big names: Jay-z, over sixty; Lil Wayne, over fifty; Kendrick Lamar, new to the scene has over twenty... eleven on one album.<br /><br />This "featuring" in rap music, is simply cross-promotion done right. A fan of one is introduced to another through collaboration. Just as in the book world, rap fans are always on the lookout for more. As an author, there are a number of ways we can cross-promote as well. A few come to mind and I'll briefly mention each: anthologies, multi-author book collections or boxed sets, Kindle Worlds, co-writing a book with someone else, and a few other ideas.<br /><br /><br /><b>Anthologies</b><br /><br />An anthology is a collection of stories... quite often short stories, from different authors. An anthology often has a common genre or theme, which introduces fans to authors they may not heard of. It may be be a collection put together and sold for shared profits, for charity, or it may even be put out as a free collection. Either way it gets your name out in front of new readers.<br /><br /><b><br /></b><b>Multi-Author Boxed Sets</b><br /><br />This is a collection of books put out by a number of authors, usually at a discount price. Similar to an anthology, this may be a collection of books of similar genres. This is often a collection of previously released books bundled together. It could be a permanent option or and possibly only be available for a short time for a promotion. A huge benefit to anthologies and boxed sets are the collective marketing. If all authors are pushing the book or collection, more readers can be introduced to the other authors.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZEOtrJJPUikU4sjrHWR1LTG5C0eSQ3GybmwSFV7HdZ3ZEFxkxivEnuQJRLjmyktV7q1EJHmCdlqIWYjEUQ0JCtQ2Ks34rL2p3gF72NcCYuHtJXf02KQ7k7e30XPpYNQbr9ES-3WtONY/s1600/JAKonrathKW_WhiteLady_FrontFINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZEOtrJJPUikU4sjrHWR1LTG5C0eSQ3GybmwSFV7HdZ3ZEFxkxivEnuQJRLjmyktV7q1EJHmCdlqIWYjEUQ0JCtQ2Ks34rL2p3gF72NcCYuHtJXf02KQ7k7e30XPpYNQbr9ES-3WtONY/s320/JAKonrathKW_WhiteLady_FrontFINAL.jpg" width="210" /></a><b>Kindle Worlds</b><br /><br />Anyone who follows Joe's blog should know about Kindle Worlds. Amazon has a series of Worlds that anyone can write in. These include a number of popular series from authors, comic books, and even television series. The idea here is the same... if you write in the 'world' of an established author, you may be able to entice some of their existing fans to cross over into your books.<br /><br />I've been in J.A. Konrath's Jack Daniels and Associates Kindle World for roughly six months now, and sales have been steady since. Not only am I currently selling books to Konrath fans, but I have no doubt this will also bring new readers to my other books over time.<br /><br />I have two in Joe's Jack Daniels Kindle World, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Daniels-Associates-Roberts-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00U7TTQ7M/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">White Lady</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Daniels-Associates-Paralyzer-Kindle-ebook/dp/B00XAY275E/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">Paralyzer</a>. Please check them out.<br /><br /><br /><b>Co-Writing a Book</b><br /><br />If you are very lucky, you may be able to co-write with a more established author. There are many examples of new authors being given an opportunity. Self-published Jude Hardin writing with Lee Child, Russell Blake writing with Clive Cussler, and Joe Konrath writing with F. Paul Wilson, are a few that come to mind. Even if you collaborate with other new authors, it will still benefit both of you. This isn't something I've tried yet, but it's on my list.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-7OPdAXAN3S-4t-c5HszghvaHb61KRG-1FOjD7o7M0SsZmUlyjSLKs2rthMbQL689pbbbHTTyqg-YK84kF0sTsiEFSQBd8kCwxHLJwZV6mi6RV7TCI15vpPF7IFMbgFNXOIdrBeTJRk/s1600/IMG_0080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-7OPdAXAN3S-4t-c5HszghvaHb61KRG-1FOjD7o7M0SsZmUlyjSLKs2rthMbQL689pbbbHTTyqg-YK84kF0sTsiEFSQBd8kCwxHLJwZV6mi6RV7TCI15vpPF7IFMbgFNXOIdrBeTJRk/s320/IMG_0080.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><b>Author Mentions</b><br /><br />In my first book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Going-Under-Bill-Roberts-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00SIEY416/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">Going Under</a>, I name drop as a character (my psychotic antagonist) reads a J.A. Konrath book. In my new book, 14 Gable Lane, due out in February, I've worked in a similar scene where I have a character reading a book by another author friend of mine.<br /><br /><br /><b>Back Material: Recommended Reading Lists, and Bonus Material</b><br /><br />I've also seen cross-promoting using a Recommended Reading List in your back pages. This has been used by traditional publishing for years. If you can get a group of writers together who you recommend, you can list each other. With ebooks, you can even add hyperlinks to the author's Amazon page. You can also pair up and have an introduction to a friend's book as an extra at the back... maybe a few chapters, or a blurb, maybe even a short story.<br /><br />Cross-promotion is an easy way to get your work in front of new eyes, but the take home message here is not just how to gain readers. The real message is, there are many ways in which you can help others by cross-promoting their work. We all gain far more from trying to help others than from trying to help ourselves. Take a lesson from the rappers on this one...prolific use of the F-word will help.<br /><br />Silas PaytonAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351263993470169624.post-58827281430434393502016-01-15T10:26:00.000-08:002018-08-19T19:20:21.651-07:00Freedom of Expression?<div class="MsoNormal">A guest post by frequent contributor to this blog, <a href="http://www.barryeisler.com/">Barry Eisler</a>. I chime in midway.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Barry sez:</b> I just learned about an event put on by an organization called <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/">New America</a>(formerly The New America Foundation): <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/open-markets/amazons-book-monopoly/">Amazon’s Book Monopoly: A Threat to Freedom of Expression?</a> Ordinarily, propaganda is something that concerns me, but when it veers this far off into parody, I sometimes welcome it as a comic diversion.<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Because, come on, putting your tendentious conclusion right there in the title and disguising it as a question, while an impressively textbook instance of question-begging, in this context is also pretty funny. Because, “Hey, we’ve already established that Amazon is a monopoly; we’re just here to determine how much of a threat the company poses to Freedom and All That Is Good. Is it an existential threat, like <a href="https://twitter.com/barryeisler/status/675355163872202752">Roger Cohen said about ISIS</a>? Or merely an extremely threatening threat?”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And who knows, maybe they’ll answer the question, “No,” right? Maybe the panelists will decide that Amazon’s “book monopoly” is actually a <i>benefit</i>to freedom of expression, as monopolies often are. It’s not as though they’ve structured things so that the question answers itself, and I don’t know why anyone would suspect this panel might be anything other than a diverse collection of open-minded people honestly engaging in free inquiry and the pursuit of knowledge wherever the facts may lead!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Thanks to the efforts of serious-sounding organizations like New America (and if that vague but happy-sounding name didn’t cause your bullshit detector to at least tingle, it should—see also <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/30/covert-operations">Americans for Prosperity</a> and the <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/secret-donors-behind-center-american-progress-and-other-think-tanks-updated-524/">Center for American Progress</a>), this “Amazon is a Monopoly” silliness is so persistent that Joe and I dealt with it in our <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/08/zombie-publishing-memes-1-amazon-is.html">inaugural post</a> on zombie memes—“arguments that just won’t die no matter how many times they’re massacred by logic and evidence.” Half the purpose of the Zombie Meme series is to save Joe and me from having to repeat ourselves, so if you want to have a laugh about why, despite its persistence, “Amazon is a Monopoly” is so embarrassingly dumb and misguided, <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/08/zombie-publishing-memes-1-amazon-is.html">here’s your link</a>.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But here’s the amazing part: “Amazon is a monopoly” is actually the <i>clever</i>half of the event’s title. The really funny part is what follows: that Amazon poses a threat to freedom of expression!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">As I said in a previous Techdirt guest post called <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150729/15551431793/authors-guilded-united-representing-not-authors.shtml">Authors Guilded, United, and Representing…Not</a>:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Given that Amazon’s self-publishing platform enables all authors to publish whatever they like and leaves it to readers to decide what books they themselves find beneficial, while the </span><span style="color: #0f264a; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">New York Big Five</span><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (no concentrated market power in a group with a name like that!) has historically rejected probably 999 books for every one they deem worthy of reaching the public, a few questions present themselves. Such as:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">•<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Who has really been “manipulating and supervising the sale of books and therefore affecting the exchange of ideas in America,” and who has really “established effective control of a medium of communication”—an entity that screens out 99.9% of books, or one that has enabled the publication of any book?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 1.0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">•<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Who has really been running an uncompetitive, controlled, supervised, distorted market for books—a company dedicated to lower prices, or a group calling itself the Big Five that has been found </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Apple_Inc."><span style="color: #163d7c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">guilty of conspiracy and price fixing</span></a><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 1.0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">•<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Who is really restoring freedom of choice, competition, vitality, diversity, and free expression in the American book market—an entity that consigns to oblivion 999 books out of a thousand, or one that enables the publication of all of them?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 1.0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">•<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">And who is really ensuring that the American people determine for themselves how to take advantage of the new technologies of the 21st Century—an entity responsible for </span><a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/12/eisler-konrath-vs-hachette.html"><span style="color: #163d7c; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">zero innovation</span></a><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> and dedicated to preserving the position of paper, or one that has popularized a new publishing and reading platform that for the first time offers readers an actual choice of formats?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Think about it. This “New America” organization has put together a panel dedicated to persuading you that there was <i>more</i> freedom of expression when an incestuous group of five Manhattan-based corporations held the power to disappear 999 books out every thousand written, and indeed performed that disappearance as the group’s core function (they call this “curation”). And that, now that Amazon’s KDP platform has enabled <i>all</i> authors to publish virtually <i>anything they want</i>, freedom of expression is being <i>threatened.</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"> For an organization calling itself “New America,” these jokers sure seem wedded to the old version.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In fairness to New America, I should note that their worldview is hardly unprecedented. The notion that the traditional way of doing things is ipso facto the best way of doing things was lampooned by Voltaire over 150 years ago through his character Dr. Pangloss, who was convinced (before experience in the world introduced doubts) that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candide">“All is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.”</a> And Pangloss was himself based on the religious philosophy known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodicy">theodicy</a>—a word coined over 300 years ago to describe a kind of faith that’s doubtless as old as the human race (and a word I admit I like because it sounds a bit like “idiocy”).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In fact, it was as recent as, say, the 1950s that a group of tweed-jacketed, straight white male college professors were genuinely convinced that the collection of books they deemed the most intrinsically worthy—all, coincidentally, written by other straight white males—represented the maximally possible amount of valuable expression, information, and ideas. They even called their collection the “canon,” which I admit did tend to make their subjective choices sound important and even divinely ordained. As people came to question the absence of women and minority writers from this collection selected exclusively by straight white males, I imagine the straight white males genuinely believed that broadening the “canon” to include women and minorities was a threat to freedom of expression and all that. This is just the way a lot of people are wired, especially when status and privilege are part of the mix.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And really, you do have to take a moment to applaud the mental gymnastics required of otherwise presumably intelligent people to say shit like “more authors writing more books reaching more readers is threatening freedom of expression, the flow of information, and the marketplace of ideas.” It’s War is Peace/Ignorance is Strength/Freedom is Slavery level doublethink. On the one hand, it’s sad, but on the other hand, in all the universe could there be a race as capable as humans of clinging so resolutely to faith in the face of so many contrary facts? Seen in this light, there’s something tragically beautiful about it.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And while I admit that New America’s “day is night, black is white” bizarro worldview isn’t easy to parody, I can’t resist trying. So…<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Coming up next from New America: <i>The Internet’s Dictatorial Grip: Impeding Access to Information?</i> And <i>The Tyranny of the Cell Phone: Shutting Down Communication?</i> And <i>Our Addiction to Paved Roads: A Threat to Freedom of Movement?</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">One more thing about this event that’s unintentionally hilarious, and then I need to get back to something worthwhile (AKA, the new manuscript). Take a look at <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/open-markets/amazons-book-monopoly/">the guest list</a>. If you hired a team of NASA scientists to design the most rabidly, incestuously anti-Amazon panel possible, this is pretty much the group the team would propose. Though I doubt even the scientists (assuming they had a little dignity) would have gone to far as to bring in <a href="http://barryeisler.blogspot.com/2014/07/one-percent-authors-want-to-end.html">Douglas Preston</a> <i>and</i> his literary agent, Eric Simonoff. I mean, this is getting pretty close to just adding clones of existing panelists and eliminating the last fluttering fig leaf of diversity.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">They also have <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130408/01345422620/authors-guilds-scott-turow-supreme-court-google-ebooks-libraries-amazon-are-all-destroying-authors.shtml">the dean</a> of the Amazon Derangement crowd, <a href="https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/a-list-of-things-scott-turow-doesnt-care-about/">Scott Turow</a>. And <a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/5V4DIASJ/eisler%20franklin%20foer">Franklin Foer</a>, who in fairness should be disqualified from even being on this panel because of his claim—in his much-derided “Let us kneel down before Amazon” screed—that “That term [monopoly] doesn’t get tossed around much these days, but it should”!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">By the way, I wouldn’t be surprised if Foer makes the same cringe-worthy claim again, on this very “Amazon is a Monopoly” panel. The anti-Amazon crowd has never been particularly educable.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Also present will be Mark Coker, the head of <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/">Smashwords</a>, an Amazon competitor. And author Susan Cheever, a member of Authors United, an organization that represents pretty much the platonic ideal of <a href="http://www.hughhowey.com/authors-united-i-wish-it-were-so/">Amazon Derangement Syndrome</a>. A couple of anti-trust lawyers to provide a veneer of legal gravitas (and to troll for clients, no doubt). And a second-year law student named Lina Khan who has argued that Amazon <a href="http://qz.com/282971/what-everyones-getting-wrong-about-amazon/">“should alarm us.”</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And that’s it. That’s as diverse and wide-ranging as the lineup gets. The full gamut of viewpoints, from A…all the way to B.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Although really, even that feels a little generous.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Oh, by the way, Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, another Amazon competitor, is the chairman of New America’s board of directors, too. No conflict of interest there. Nothing to disclose to anyone who might think this is some sort of disinterested, scholarly event.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So yeah, it’s really that much of a hive-mind lineup. But that’s not even the best part. The best part is, this remarkably insular and incestuous exercise in groupthink has been assembled to speak out against a purported threat to…freedom of expression! The flow of information! And the marketplace of ideas!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">None of this is an accident, by the way. It isn’t just stupidity and incompetence. There’s a reason organizations will try to take a narrow outlook and propagate it through multiple mouthpieces: doing so can create the impression that a rare and radical notion is in fact widely held—held even by ostensibly disparate groups—and therefore more trustworthy. Indeed, this form of propaganda is a favorite of some of the same reactionary groups New America is showcasing on its panel. As I said recently about the supposedly <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/08/barry-and-joe-and-more-authors-guild.html">“unprecedented joint action”</a> of some booksellers, authors, and agents complaining together about Amazon:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">Which brings us to the second revealing aspect of this “propaganda masquerading as an interview” drill. You see, in the standard “blow-job masquerading as interview” gambit, it’s generally enough to hope the reader will just assume the interviewer and interviewee are working at arms-length. Making the point explicitly isn’t really the done thing. Here, however, perhaps not trusting readers to be sufficiently gulled, the ABA and AG are at pains to describe the “unprecedented joint action” of the AG, Authors United, the ABA, and the Association of Authors’ Representatives in going after Amazon for<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/24/amazon-publishing-establishment-monopoly"><span style="color: #315975; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span><span style="color: #103cc0; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">monopolizing the marketplace of ideas</span></a>,<a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2013/12/konrath-and-eisler-vs-richard-russo-and.html"><span style="color: #315975; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span><span style="color: #103cc0; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">devaluing books</span></a>, and generally<a href="http://barryeisler.blogspot.com/2014/07/amazon-cancer-cure-stunt-to-separate.html"><span style="color: #315975; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span><span style="color: #103cc0; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">crushing dissent, democracy, and all that is good</span></a>. The impression they’re trying to create is, “Wow, if so many <i>separate</i> organizations hate Amazon, Amazon must be doing <i>something</i> bad.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">But what’s critical to understand is that<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150729/15551431793/authors-guilded-united-representing-not-authors.shtml"><span style="color: #315975; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span><span style="color: #103cc0; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">the most fundamental purpose</span></a> of the Authors Guild, Authors United, the American Booksellers Association, and the Association of Authors is to <i>preserve the publishing industry in its current incarnation</i>. Whatever marginal differences they might have (I’ve never actually seen any, but am happy to acknowledge the theoretical possibility) are eclipsed by this commonality of purpose. Under the circumstances, the fact that these four legacy publisher lobbyists agree on something is entirely unremarkable (indeed, what would be remarkable would be some evidence of <i>division</i>). But if people recognize the exercise as a version of “No really, I read it somewhere…okay, I wrote it down first,” the propaganda fizzles. And that’s why these propagandists have to nudge readers with the bullshit about the “unprecedented joint action.” Otherwise, when Authors Guild Executive Director Mary Rasenberger cites Authors United pitchman Doug Preston as though Preston were a separate, credible source, people might roll their eyes instead of nodding at the seriousness of it all. They might even giggle at the realization that all those “When did Amazon stop beating its wife?” questions were functionally being put by Rasenberger to herself.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">So no, this wasn’t remotely a cross-examination, or even a cross pollination (indeed, publisher lobbyists are expert at<a href="http://the-digital-reader.com/2015/07/31/what-the-authors-guilds-mary-rasenberger-isnt-saying-about-amazon/"><span style="color: #315975; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span><span style="color: #103cc0; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">fleeing</span></a>anything that offers even the slightest whiff of actual debate—which does make their alleged devotion to the Free Flow of Ideas and Information as the Engine of Democracy worthy of a smile, at least, if nothing else). It was just a stump speech lovingly hosted by someone else’s blog. The sole reason for the exercise was to create the misleading appearance of multiple, arms-length actors when functionally there is only one.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">In fairness to the aforementioned Unprecedentedly Joint Actors, there is a<a href="http://truth-out.org/archive/component/k2/item/90380:the-new-national-security-state"><span style="color: #315975; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span><span style="color: #103cc0; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">rich heritage</span></a>behind<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/archive/item/90583-just-a-leak"><span style="color: #315975; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span><span style="color: #103cc0; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">this form of propaganda</span></a>. For example, in the run-up to America’s second Iraq war, Dick Cheney would have someone from his office phone up a couple of pet <i>New York Times</i>reporters, who would then dutifully report that anonymous administration officials believed Saddam Hussein had acquired aluminum tubes as part of his nuclear weapons efforts…and then Cheney would go on all the Sunday morning talk shows and get to say, “Don’t take my word for the aluminum tube stuff—even the <i>New York Times</i> is reporting it!”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .75in; margin-right: 1.0in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 355.5pt;">So leave aside the fact that the “joint action” in question is<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authors_Guild,_Inc._v._Google,_Inc."><span style="color: #315975; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span><span style="color: #103cc0; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">anything but unprecedented</span></a>—that it is in fact<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150729/15551431793/authors-guilded-united-representing-not-authors.shtml"><span style="color: #315975; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span><span style="color: #103cc0; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">publishing establishment SOP</span></a>. Anyone familiar with the record of these organizations will instantly realize that the “unprecedented joint action” in question is a lot like the “joint action” of <i>all four fingers—plus the thumb!</i>—of someone throwing back a shot of tequila. Like that of a little boy pleasuring himself—<i>with both hands!—</i>and trying to convince anyone who will listen that the Unprecedented Left and Right Action is proof that “Everybody loves me!”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Okay, I apologize for the multiple excerpts from previous posts. But what are you going to do? These bloviators keep vomiting up the same tired bullshit, no matter how many times it’s debunked. It just saves time to refer to the previous debunkings rather than typing it all out again.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">My advice to New America? If you’re more than just a propaganda operation—if you really do care about freedom of expression, and the flow of information, and the marketplace of ideas—you might want to add at least a token panelist with a viewpoint that differs even just a tiny bit from that of the nine Borg you’ve assembled to intone that Amazon Is Evil and Will Destroy All That Is Good. Otherwise, your event is going to feel more like a circle jerk and less like sex. And, doubtless, with similarly productive results.<o:p></o:p></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Joe sez:</b> And just when I think I’m out…<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Thanks, Barry, for turning a spotlight on this silliness, and patiently picking apart why it is so silly. I’m sure the panel will be a resounding success, much like all circle jerks and echo chambers are for those involved. Masturbation is supposed to be satisfying, and a nice “atta boy!” and backslap at the finish seems preferable to eating the soggy biscuit.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Don’t Google that if you don’t know what I mean. You can’t unlearn it.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">One of the reasons I’ve largely eschewed activism lately is because I haven’t seen any ill effects from all the Amazon bashing being done by the usual spin doctoring suspects.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">At the risk of invoking Godwin’s Law, the propaganda classic <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Will-2015-Remaster-Blu-ray/dp/B0161TTI42">Triumph of the Will</a> was just released on BluRay for the first time. It’s an effective piece of filmmaking, and Frank Capra imitated a lot of elements from it for his Why We Fight series. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It worked. And it is still being imitated today, both as a film, and as propaganda. Fear mongering is an old standby for getting people on your side. I wrote a <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-name-game.html">whole post about alarmist terminology and spin</a>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But I don’t think this approach works when it comes to Amazon. People aren’t so ready to buy what the pinheads are selling. Today we can have the New York Times, which I believe still has the motto “All the news that’s fit to print”, show such stunning anti-Amazon bias that the <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/10/is-nyt-coverage-of-amazon-vs-hachette.html">public editor has called it out</a> more than once, and the public simply doesn’t give a shit. Amazon still gets their approval and their business, no matter how many times <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/08/david-streitfeld-embarassment-to-new.html">David Streitfeld</a> one-finger-types his screeds while busting out knuckle babies with his other hand. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The public likes Amazon. Even if it were true that Amazon is planning to overthrow the government and replace the Bill of Rights with a guarantee of same day free shipping, its approval rating is so high that I don’t think most folks would care.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But for all the alarmist rhetoric and soothsaying predictions of world domination, I’ve yet to see anyone other than Big 5 apologists and their NY media cronies show much concern over Amazon’s mounting dominance of online retail.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Maybe that’s because—wild guess here—Amazon offers authors unprecedented opportunity to reach readers, and offers readers the widest selection at the lowest possible prices coupled with good customer service.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/09/nonsense-united.html">Authors United</a>, and the <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/19/media/amazon-response-new-york-times-article/">NYT</a>, are doing everything they’re supposed to be doing to spread their anti-Zon propaganda, but the people don’t care.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If I had faith in human nature, I’d posit that access to the Internet (and the ability for anyone with second grade spelling skills to type words into a search engine) can reveal in a click or two what utter nonsense the morons are spouting.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But I think the more realistic answer is that people simply like Amazon because it has a wide selection, low prices, and good customer service.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So I no longer feel the need to correct the greedy, self-interested 1% of authors who want to prop up an archaic, inefficient, and ruthless publishing industry with stupid organizations and articles and events. Joe Average might very well read about this panel in a Streitfeld spat of “journalism”, cluck his tongue at how Amazon is destroying freedom of expression, and then quickly forget about it when the UPS guy knocks on the door with a box of Bounty because yesterday Joe used his Amazon Dash button to order more. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The legacy publishing industry is dying. Once it lost its lock on distribution, it lost the majority of its power. The only ones who will mourn that industry are the few handfuls of authors it made rich. And when their corporate masters merge and downsize into inevitable bankruptcy, watch how quickly they jump on Amazon’s teat when the seven figure advances are gone.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But, for old times’ sake, let me fisk New American’s event description. Their nonsense in italics, my replies in regular font.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Amazon dominates the U.S. book market to a degree never before seen in America.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But does it dominate the U.S. book market to a degree never before seen in Canada?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Okay, I’m making fun of the lousy sentence, but isn’t that like saying “In my house I dusted the bookcases to a degree never before seen in my house?”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">That's silly. Especially since I switched to ebooks and got rid of my bookcases.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>This corporation dominates every key segment of the market.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Wow, that's a lot of dominance. I hope the public has a safeword.<br /><br />We had a cartel dominating publication and distribution for decades. It was an oligopoly called the Big 6. Not only did it reject a high percentage of books submitted to it—which can be argued is a form of censorship—but when it accepted a book it fucked the author in the ass with <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/05/unconscionability.html">unconscionable, one-sided contract terms</a>. Terms even the <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-publishers-guild-strikes-again.html">Big 5 enamored</a> <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2016/01/latest-from-authors-guild.html">Authors Guild has spoken out against</a>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>And this immense size gives Amazon unprecedented power to manipulate the flow of books – hence of information and ideas – between author and reader. <br /><br /><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal">OK, reread what Barry and I have written here. For over a hundred years, publishers have refused to publish the overwhelming majority of books, essentially preventing the public from ever reading them. They had a right to do that, just like Chick-Fil-A has a right to be closed on Sundays for <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-reifowitz/chickfila-franchise-christian_b_1737408.html">ridiculous religious reasons</a>.<br /><br />But unlike the Big 6, or Chick-Fil-A, Amazon is allowing <i>more</i> traffic than ever before. More books are flowing with Amazon than flowed with the Big 6. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Plus, <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/08/zombie-publishing-memes-1-amazon-is.html">Amazon isn’t a monopoly</a>, and doesn’t control the Internet, so if there were cases where Amazon decides it doesn’t want to sell something, it can’t prevent it from being sold elsewhere. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Last summer a group of authors made the case that Amazon’s actions constitute an abuse of its monopoly powers and threatens this vital marketplace of ideas. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It was <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/08/amazon-vs-hachette.html">a shitty case</a>. But let’s not allow facts to get in the way of good propaganda. Because if you keep repeating the same lie, some people are bound to start believing it. <o:p></o:p><br /><br />Unless they're Prime members. Then they'll cluck their tongues and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-SK705DI-Echo/dp/B00X4WHP5E">ask Alexa</a> to pre-order the new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Eye-View-Barry-Eisler-ebook/dp/B00XT47SOK">Barry Eilser book</a>,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Amazon’s actions, they wrote, may already be affecting what authors write and say.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">As evidenced by Amazon refusing to sell any work by any signatory of Authors United.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Oh… wait.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But look how Amazon has forced writers to cower in the shadows, fearful of offering any sort of critique. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Oh… wait.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Hmm. Doesn’t a panel about Amazon restricting freedom of expression prove that Amazon can’t restrict freedom of expression? Or if it can, doesn’t want to? <o:p></o:p><br /><br />Oops, my bad. They used the word "may". So it could read "may already be affecting what authors write and say, even though there is no evidence or logic to support that conclusion." Like someday I "may" own my own country, which I'll name Joetopia and make our main export beer parties. If you'd like Joetopia to export a beer party to you, let me know because it "may" happen. Wait by the phone until you hear back.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>The authors strongly urged antitrust regulators to take action, in what would be the most important antitrust case since Microsoft in the late 1990s. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Except for the tiny little fact that, you know, <a href="http://www.teleread.com/judge-cote-denies-bob-kohns-request-to-investigate-amazons-pricingagain/">THERE IS NO CASE</a>.<o:p></o:p><br /><br />Barry and I take a lot of time to add these links to prove out points. You diligent readers are clicking on them, right?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Join New America’s Open Markets program for a discussion of Amazon’s monopoly over books and what it means for American readers and America’s democracy. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">For God’s sake, someone <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_of_the_children">think of the children</a>! Because an online retailer is all that stands between the freedom to vote for representatives in government (that's the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy">definition of democracy</a>), and a zombie world where neighbors feast on neighbors and the only law comes from the business end of a twelve gauge. Because that argument makes as much sense as theirs.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Some of the nation’s best-known authors will discuss their personal experiences with Amazon.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And nary a one with a contrary point of view! Perhaps because they couldn't find any author with a good personal experience with Amazon. I mean, other than a <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/manufacturing/article/64305-output-of-self-published-isbns-rises-again.html">hundred thousand or four</a>. But I'm sure New America has much better things to do with their time than a little research.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Antitrust lawyers and experts in Big Data and price discrimination will then discuss the larger effects of the corporation’s behavior, and whether the government should bring a case against Amazon. <o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">With Data so Big it’s Capitalized! Did that become a thing and I missed it?<br /><br />And what could they possibly say in regard to price discrimination? Amazon fights to keep prices low. The Big 6 fight to keep them high. They illegally collude to keep them high. They print the prices on their <a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/08/amazon-vs-hachette.html">damn books to keep them high</a>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Could they be going into the nefarious business practice of co-op, and Amazon charging publishers for better visibility? Is that the discrimination they mean? Or maybe loss leads?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Last I checked, both were not only legal, but commonplace in retailers. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I wonder what the antitrust lawyers will say about Amazon allowing anyone to sell through Amazon. In other words, if Amazon decided it no longer wanted to sell Big 6 titles, I could open up an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-product-page.html/ref=mm_sys_soa_pro_surl">Amazon seller account</a> and sell Big 6 titles on Amazon. Can someone explain to me how that limits the flow of books between reader and author? <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Follow the discussion online using #BookMonopoly and follow us @NewAmerica.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">No thanks. But here's a hashtag you can follow: #StoptheStupid.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Lunch will be provided.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And it will be the only substantive thing offered that afternoon.</div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Now I’m going back to my WIP. When the NYT write-up of this stupid event runs, I’m going to ignore it.<o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15335099446215544003noreply@blogger.com0