It's been a few weeks since I've blogged. Life interrupted of course. I'm getting ready for selling hard copies at the Virginia Festival of the Book here in Charlottesville as well as a quick radio interview this morning.
I've also been working on my new company, Zojoi where I'm developing a series of Sherlock Holmes mysteries for mobile devices. So feel free to check that out if you love Holmes, Watson or mysteries in general.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Facebook ads
So I'm going to try a three day Facebook ad experiment. I'm not going to put a whole lot of money into it - just $30. I made an ad for the novel, defined the target audience and pay Facebook per click up to my $30. So how much? Well FB suggests $.76 per click. Why don't I make it a penny? Because I'm bidding against other ads and the more I pay the better the chance it shows up on the pages I target.
With the book at a dollar I actually break even so let's see if this paltry sum makes a sales dent.
With the book at a dollar I actually break even so let's see if this paltry sum makes a sales dent.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Kdp select
Quick update on the kdp select front. I still have no idea if my second free day was successful. The reports seem to have stabilized but feb 1 still is dark. Anyway, I've seen a pick up in sales and that's great but I'm hoping some of those translate into reviews.
I'm thinking about trying a Facebook ad or two to see what they do. I can't figure out if google ads are worth it tho.
I'm rambling. Tired. I should just go to slee
I'm thinking about trying a Facebook ad or two to see what they do. I can't figure out if google ads are worth it tho.
I'm rambling. Tired. I should just go to slee
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Well then
After a wild ride yesterday where some 1000 people downloaded my book while it was in free status (and a special nod to my 26 friends in Denmark!), today was, er, disappointing. You see, today is my second day of free downloads before it goes into pay status. So I was anxious to see if the novel could match yesterday's excitement. And the answer is?
I have absolutely no idea.
You see, according to the Kindle Author boards, there seems to be a glitch in download tracking so I really have no idea what the novel has done. (Shakes fist at sky) Ahem, of course, it has bounced around a bit in the Top free contemporary fantasy charts (from #4 to #10 to #8 to #6, etc.) so I'm thinking that's good but, really, what do I know? At the moment, not much.
Tomorrow will be interesting and we will see both if the report 'glitch' is fixed and if there is any effect from two days of freebies.
Regardless, I love my book and I hope those who downloaded it enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Of course, finding the last golden ticket would be pretty sweet as well.
I have absolutely no idea.
You see, according to the Kindle Author boards, there seems to be a glitch in download tracking so I really have no idea what the novel has done. (Shakes fist at sky) Ahem, of course, it has bounced around a bit in the Top free contemporary fantasy charts (from #4 to #10 to #8 to #6, etc.) so I'm thinking that's good but, really, what do I know? At the moment, not much.
Tomorrow will be interesting and we will see both if the report 'glitch' is fixed and if there is any effect from two days of freebies.
Regardless, I love my book and I hope those who downloaded it enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Of course, finding the last golden ticket would be pretty sweet as well.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
A few interesting things...
I've always been a "bullet-pointer." Know anyone like that? I like to put bullets in my emails to keep things organized and easy to read. I also like to keep things short. If you've read The Solstice Treaty, you know that I like relatively short chapters (Helps those who only have time to read in short bursts and finishing a chapter can give you a good sense of accomplishment!) and short(ish) paragraphs (I can't stand paragraphs that go on and on - I get lost!). So, bullet points help when I have multiple things to say. So, here's some interesting stuff that happened in the last few days...
1. My first shipment of books arrived. Pretty fun going through the box and even though the book is out digitally, it was sure something to see it in print. Pretty happy about that. I'll put up a photo after this post. I sent a half dozen to Judy (my LA agent) to see if she can drum up some interest in la-la land.
2. I decided to sell my book at this big book shindig called Virginia Festival of the Book. It's in March so I wanted to ensure the print copy was looking good. Saw a few things I want to change but I have enough time. On a similar note, it looks like I'll be interviewed on the local radio station a few days before I sit there begging people to buy one :)
3. I've decided to make my digital book exclusive on Amazon for 90 days. It's not that I have anything against Nook owners but I have heard good things about the KDP program Amazon offers and, TBH, the vast majority of folks downloading the beast use Amazon. So, we'll see how things go. If you found the book through this promotion, welcome to the Shade :)
1. My first shipment of books arrived. Pretty fun going through the box and even though the book is out digitally, it was sure something to see it in print. Pretty happy about that. I'll put up a photo after this post. I sent a half dozen to Judy (my LA agent) to see if she can drum up some interest in la-la land.
2. I decided to sell my book at this big book shindig called Virginia Festival of the Book. It's in March so I wanted to ensure the print copy was looking good. Saw a few things I want to change but I have enough time. On a similar note, it looks like I'll be interviewed on the local radio station a few days before I sit there begging people to buy one :)
3. I've decided to make my digital book exclusive on Amazon for 90 days. It's not that I have anything against Nook owners but I have heard good things about the KDP program Amazon offers and, TBH, the vast majority of folks downloading the beast use Amazon. So, we'll see how things go. If you found the book through this promotion, welcome to the Shade :)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Finding an agent
Sooooo, now that I had finished my first draft and then edited it to the point that I felt comfortable sending it out, I started down the path of finding a Lit agent.
Now, something you should know about me is that things have always gone relatively smooth as far as my career goes. I had published dozens of games from the Apple II and Commodore 64 to SNES to DVD to massively multiplayer PC games. I figured with this would be no different. Why should it be? I had a cool book and a cool background.
Sheesh.
I had heard all the horror stories about finding an agent and for me (for the most part) that was true. You see, the market was in major shift when I started looking. Borders closed down. Big deals for books went by the dodo. Men are disappearing from the book landscape and vampire romance is in full swing. Finding someone to represent (let alone publish) an urban fantasy with a WWII twist was a tough sell. And it was. I sent out dozens and dozens of queries (all very professional), created a killer website, illustrations and book trailer. I did get some folks interested in reading partial manuscripts and fulls but that ultimately didn't work out.
Friends were gracious reminding me how JK Rowling was snubbed as well and I understand all that. Still it was tough as I felt (and do feel ever more) that the novel can stand on it's own against any other urban fantasy.
On the other side of the coin, I found a wonderful LA agent (Judy Coppage) who liked the novel and has been great in helping me get it ready to be pitched in Tinsel Town. I met Judy through a friend and she has been very supportive. So, we will see where that goes.
More later :)
Now, something you should know about me is that things have always gone relatively smooth as far as my career goes. I had published dozens of games from the Apple II and Commodore 64 to SNES to DVD to massively multiplayer PC games. I figured with this would be no different. Why should it be? I had a cool book and a cool background.
Sheesh.
I had heard all the horror stories about finding an agent and for me (for the most part) that was true. You see, the market was in major shift when I started looking. Borders closed down. Big deals for books went by the dodo. Men are disappearing from the book landscape and vampire romance is in full swing. Finding someone to represent (let alone publish) an urban fantasy with a WWII twist was a tough sell. And it was. I sent out dozens and dozens of queries (all very professional), created a killer website, illustrations and book trailer. I did get some folks interested in reading partial manuscripts and fulls but that ultimately didn't work out.
Friends were gracious reminding me how JK Rowling was snubbed as well and I understand all that. Still it was tough as I felt (and do feel ever more) that the novel can stand on it's own against any other urban fantasy.
On the other side of the coin, I found a wonderful LA agent (Judy Coppage) who liked the novel and has been great in helping me get it ready to be pitched in Tinsel Town. I met Judy through a friend and she has been very supportive. So, we will see where that goes.
More later :)
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The first draft
It didn't take me long after writing "book 1" or part 1 of the book to finish the first draft. It was definitely nights and weekends for about 4 months. It's amazing how different the draft was from the way I had initially sketched out the chapters. Because I was open to it, I found that some characters I thought would be prominent ended up less so while others (like Grace or Elijah) ended up having a more central role.
So a few years ago I saw this 20/20 thing where there was a symphony-writing prodigy who thought that the music he wrote the first time was perfect and didn't need to be altered (even though the greatest composers ever constantly altered their works). I thought the kid has a lot to learn. Fast forward to my rough draft - I thought it was brilliant and wouldn't need much editing.
Hahaha.
I have edited this novel dozens of times. Basically, I stopped editing about a week ago. So that means that I basically edited it for 2.5 years. Of course, the thing I learned that worked best was when I would step away from it (sometimes more than a month at a time) and then return and look at it with fresh eyes.
So, there you have it. I wrote the first draft then edited for years while I tried to find an agent.
Oh, boy. Let's get into that next. :)
So a few years ago I saw this 20/20 thing where there was a symphony-writing prodigy who thought that the music he wrote the first time was perfect and didn't need to be altered (even though the greatest composers ever constantly altered their works). I thought the kid has a lot to learn. Fast forward to my rough draft - I thought it was brilliant and wouldn't need much editing.
Hahaha.
I have edited this novel dozens of times. Basically, I stopped editing about a week ago. So that means that I basically edited it for 2.5 years. Of course, the thing I learned that worked best was when I would step away from it (sometimes more than a month at a time) and then return and look at it with fresh eyes.
So, there you have it. I wrote the first draft then edited for years while I tried to find an agent.
Oh, boy. Let's get into that next. :)
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