The reviews are solid as I write this, 11 five-star reviews and a single four-star (didn’t like the format). Fine, I’ll take that – I already knew that some people wouldn’t like it. But if it’s a five-star story, writing, editing, and plot, and only get knocked down a single star because it’s a strange format? I’ll take a hundred more like that in a heartbeat.
So, what have I learned so far about releasing a book, as opposed to just writing it?
Continue reading Painful lessons, learned slowly
If a physical paper book of this story was in print, how many would want it, and what would be a fair price? Bear in mind that this is a large book, on par with a mid-size Harry Potter story in word-count.
A couple of people have asked me how to read it if they don’t have a Kindle. No problem. You can download a “kindle reading app” from Amazon. Pick your platform, download the app, then buy the book. If you have some other preferred reader, once you download the file, you can find it on your computer, then convert it with Calibre. Again, if you like it, spread the word, write a review, let me know.
Hard data is difficult to find when you are self-publishing. I have no idea how many that bought it heard about it, or what it was that appealed to them enough that they bought it.
So, a quick question to anyone that shows up here- how did you find the title? The obvious choices are: Follow The View From North Central Idaho, saw the Odds ‘n Sods post at Survival Blog, saw the Book Plug Friday post, saw the comments in Ace’s Sunday morning Book Thread., or saw it in one of Amazon’s top sellers list like these. And, of course, the three people I know personally and sent an email to :-). Any other ways? Let me know!
Whoo-hoo! I got plugged. Er, perhaps I should explain.
My book, The Stars Came Back, got a plug in the Book Plug Friday over at PJ Lifestyle, part of the Pajamas Media Megaplex. Be interesting to see what effect it has on sales. Looks like Peter Grant’s book, Take the Star Road, is in there too.
Well, it’s officially ranked at #81 in paid Military sci fi at Amazon. Has been as high as #75, but it bounces around as various books are sold. Currently it’s at 82 copies sold, close to my target of the first “easy” hundred in the first week. Not sure what the ranking time-frame is, but I’m guessing it’s the last week. Tell your friends about it. Write a review. Suggest marketing avenues.
Update: no longer genre ranked, at #13,858 overall. Looks like the “hot sellers” list is a window of only a couple days. 90 copies sold, 2 borrowed.
Most of us have have that “what would make a great movie scene” moments, where we had an idea about how something could or should happen on the big screen. Sometimes we even see them in movies. The problem is that they need to be strung together in a way that is coherent, and there is a reason for the actions you see to be, well, reasonable. There are FAR to many movies that are little more than an excuse for special effects and random events, with plot holes you could park a small mountain in. Continue reading How it started
I had exchanged emails for several months with Peter Grant, aka Bayou Renaissance Man, about self-publishing and authorship. When was nearing completion of the story, I sent him a copy of the manuscript. He just posted a plug for it. It’s funny, I don’t really think of myself as a blogger, but I suppose most don’t; they think of themselves as an [insert day job]er who blogs a bit on the side. It was a little weird seeing me described that way. Eh, that’s OK, I’m sure I learn to live with it.
“Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public.” — Winston Churchill, speaking to the National Book Exhibition in London.
Flung, available at Amazon.
Now… the waiting.