Category Archives: professional life

People Ask ‘When’.

Snarls6-2-2016webStrip

People ask me ‘when will the next [book title] sequel come out’?

Well, here’s the thing. I’m not sure. I’ve got sequels completely drafted, yes. I’ve got full manuscripts ready for the re-writing phase, yes. I’ve got new stories begging to be written, and writing them doesn’t take me that long since I can produce a 90k novel in less than thirty days.

But.

There’s a lot of effort to releasing a novel. There’s a lot of hard-earned money–my money–that has to be spent to launch another novel. There’s even more time–my time–to be devoted to that launch. And, when, out of more than ten thousand ‘downloads’ of just the eBook version of one title nets me less than twenty-five cents per downloaded book because the majority of those eBooks were stolen and continue to be stolen, why should I put more books out to suffer the same fate?

I could go the DRM route, but that wouldn’t solve the problem. I admit I made a HUGE mistake in using Smashwords for two of the titles before bringing them back to Amazon’s Kindle Select program. But even the KS eBooks are out on the free download sites. They get there within hours of release.

Of course, I could spend my day writing cease and desist orders to all the sites presently carrying my titles, but, tomorrow, all those sites will have removed my titles and those sites’ databases containing my titles will have moved to new addresses, so I’ll have to start all over again.

No thanks. I’ve got better ways to spend my time.

So, I’m not sure I will release any more novels. What’s the point? It certainly isn’t paying the majority of my expenses, even the cost of producing those novels. It’s not rewarding me in any way. It’s just providing content for scammer sites and making me resent the people who steal from me.

Snarls6-2-2016web

 

Self-Promotion Does NOT Work. Really.

How many of you self-publishing authors see repeated promotions of one author and the latest book by that author coming out of publishing’s Big 5 in your social media streams? I’m guessing ‘not’. You might see a few pre-release promo-s and one or two during the book’s release week, but that would be it.

On the other hand, how many of you self-publishing authors see repeated promotions by some one or another self-publishing author about their books in your social media streams? I’m guessing ‘a lot’ …unless that self-publishing author happens to be highly successful. Then, you rarely see promotions from them. What you WILL see are others sharing the news that that successful author has just released another book. And therein lies the key.

The most effective promotions are those proliferated by fans of the author, not by the author themselves. And they don’t flood your streams.

Take a clue and stop flooding your streams with self-promotional posts. It doesn’t work, and, in fact, it’s counter-productive. It just turns potential readers OFF.

 

On Dolts Offering Writing Advice

DigMarkQUOTETH: “50-75% of blog posts with ‘Tips’ for writing are really marketing posts. They have nothing to do with writing at all.”

I have a friend, who shall remain anonymous, who shared this with me. It’s totally right on. And, yet, this friend refuses to say this publicly…because of all the flack that comes back to bombard him/her/it.

Yet, it’s completely true, and one of the HUGE irritants that I find with authors, indie and trad pubbed, alike.

Most of these posers–yes, I said posers–ain’t gotta clue what makes good writing and good novels, and have absolutely NO business trying to share their under-educated, all but illiterate advisements with anyone. And the only reason they do is to try to game up their own books and ‘brand’.

There. I said it right out loud, because it’s true.

Want to know what’s sad? The real experts who DO have valid and valuable insights on writing now mostly stay mum. That’s because what they have to say isn’t going to be swallowed well by the striving ‘wanna-be’s–that writing well means years of learning how to do it right by reading, by doing, by being harshly critiqued by in-the-know, usually caustic-as-hell editors.

Getting the New Computer, Me, & Space Sorted

This week has been spent getting the new computer sorted–installing and setting up programs and the like. And, of course, I’m not even done by half. (Last week was a wash with all the connection problems…which, for the moment, seem to have settled down some). And, of course, most set-ups I’m doing require or have to do with connecting to remote locations and my websites and server…which requires a stable (what’s that?) connection. Email has proven to be the most fitful to get settled, especially with using a local client rather than some big box in the Cloud. (Never, no, uh-uh, not and compromise my clients’ correspondence, never mind my own correspondence with friends, which, admittedly, is sparse).

I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking…which has proven somewhat sobering, a little depressing, but may mean greater productivity with more satisfying outcomes.

Oh, and we got the recording studio and its dedicated computer set-up almost done, too (That required Forrest’s expertise.) That means that I will begin recording TIAM soon, along with A Gathering of Rebels (well, re-recording them).  I’ll start with short stories, first, though, to get back in practice.

Last, I set up my practice areas, which is good.  For too long things have been half-baked in the music practice department.

Next week, I’ll get back to working on some art for Marva that I started on the other computer, only to have to transfer everything to this station since I’ll be vacationing that one. (It’s tired and in desperate need of some TLC.)

Turning My Head

autumn at the driveway entranceTurning my head from primarily working my graphic arts biz (see zentao.com if curious, though that’s not the half of it, not even) to writing as my focus makes me even more aware of how much work I was doing helping others with their projects while ignoring mine. It’s a real eye-opener. To suddenly focus on me is all but a completely new experience. In fact, it is a completely new experience. There’s a sense of utter joy, deeply felt to almost overwhelming, but there’s also this odd sense of guilt–a sense that I’m neglecting something that’s crucial. So I’m going to compromise just a little. I won’t say no to everyone who asks for assistance, just the most presumptive.

Meanwhile, writing is actually taking second place to preparing for winter’s onslaught. I’m almost done, but the contractor is still way behind reinforcing and reroofing Dad’s giant garage. And we’ve a whole other pallet of concrete to mix, probably tomorrow or Tuesday. I am NOT looking forward to that. At all.