Yes, I am freaking out. Yes, I need you help and support and advice.
The thing is, my daughter, who was editing my book, decided that she doesn’t need to. Did you read that? Did you hear that? I have somehow convinced her that my crazy idea of using an alien as the narrator actually does cover up my weird style of writing. It lets me get away with being me… or else I really am an alien, whatever…
So she has gone from being my editor to being my publicist/manager. And instead of being months away from doing this crazy thing, it is now a matter of weeks.
Oh, and I also convinced her to let me change the name of our hero from Rufus back to Arthur…. (Ever since I had a Twitter conversation with Eric Idle and Jess had to admit that I am cool on Facebook, I am somehow in control of my own fate like never before)…
So I am going to e-publish the novel in four parts while I work on the sequel. But I need advice and help. She is researching the best way to do all this, but we could still use your knowledge to make this happen. I want it to be available online, but if possible I would like to have it so that people can buy an actual printed copy if they would like to.
So please share any information that might help me make this dream come true…
Oh, and I guess I am going to take down the button at the top of this blog that has the first part of the novel under it. The chapters will still be back there in old posts, but no sense giving away the cow if I am going to try to sell the milk… or something.
Thanks to all of you who have read some or all of what I posted of the story, and for those of you who pointed out mistakes I made.
Pouring My Art Out 
Robert showed me your email thinking I might be able to help. But the way my book got to be an ebook was through my paperback publisher–I paid them/they did it.
I’m glad you have your very smart daughter working on this for you–I’m sorry I don’t have any experience that would help and haven’t gotten into reading your book. I have two book clubs and several friends who have recently published books–that has kept me very occupied.
Wishing you the best–Congratulations on finishing the book,
Joanne
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Hey… good to hear from you. I think I may actually be on my way, but you know me… it is hard to tell.
Congrats sir.
Thanks so much.
Oh, and we lost a very good man last night. Uncle Bill. Be nice if you could do a montage of sorts on the life and times of a 92 year old sweetheart.
Who is this? All I see is the name ‘someone’… but yeah, I should do that.
Auntie Em….but I will always show up here as Anonymous cause I don’t do cookies…
Not even chocolate chips???
Ummm…Jess didn’t give up before she edited it for spelling, punctuation, grammer and a few other things did she? That is essential if you are to be taken seriously as a writer by any publisher. Just asking cause I love your writing man.
I worry about that… but I think it might work any way.
Approve appropriations…
what does this mean? approve appropriations?
Me and Ed are playing word games.
YOU are a WRITER, I knew it from the beginning, ha!
Unfortunately, the writing part is the part that comes easily to me. It is the ‘actually doing anything with what I created’ part that kills me. But you have always been my most loyal supporter, and I will never forget that.
You’ve got “people” to handle the marketing- Jessica and Adam- yeah, marketing people, sounds like the big time!
Adam?
Well there! I thought maybe I didn’t have the right name for her boyfriend, but Adam is still a good name regardless…
Oh, you mean Jason. We will just call him Adam from now on. I am doing that other writing project with him. It is coming along. And he is going to do a few minor changes to the book cover he did for my Christmas present and I am going to use it. So, yup, I guess I am in good hands. But they are busy and I just want to get moving.
Monumental sigh. You are such a man! Patience is a virtue. I understand that you are now motivated since you have marketing people but it is going to take a while and there will be lots of waiting. Maybe take a walk every time you get antsy.
I am stuck with being a man… nobody asked me first… they just randomly decided that that is what I should be… I do the best I can, but it isn’t easy.
hahahaha! You are a man but you’re a good egg too.
I am the egg man… ha… I kill me…
hahahaha! Apparently you ARE the egg man, I am the walrus.
coo….l… you thought I was going to keep going, didn’t you? But no, I turned it into cool instead. But the L looked just like an I to me, so I had to explain it, and now it isn’t funny anymore and I ruined the moment.
No, I got it, silly.
Because you are smart… and you get me… but other people might be eavesdropping, and I don’t want them to feel left out.
hahahahahahahahaha!
Don’t laugh at my less clever followers… I am fairly sure they have feelings.
The eavesdroppers? hahahaha!
Oh, stop.
Good news! I want to buy a printed one. I’m old fashioned. I have H.E. Ellis’s book, got it on amazon, says printed by amazon in the uk. had a quick look and looks like you sign up for createspace, they take royalties but looks like you can get them to print. there was a section to buy your own copies. Depends on the size you want and number of pages. I punched in 500 pages at 7×5 in black and white and ten copies was 68 dollars. maybe worth checking it out in more detail.
I really want there to be real copies that people can get. I might even buy a box of them and try to sell them around town. I want it to be available in as many ways as possible. Thanks, Joe.
Good luck.
That may be the one thing that I need the most of… thanks…
This is exciting. Congratulations! Unfortunately I cannot offer any advice on publishing but you might want to ask David McGowan since he recently published his (outstanding, in my opinion) book.
Good luck with everything! 🙂
I will try that if I am smart enough to figure out how to do it. Thanks so much.
You’re welcome. 🙂
I know you are, but what am I? … or something …
Aha! Always a laugh guaranteed at your blog. 😉
Guaranteed may be too strong of a word, but I do try…
Guaranteed is most certainly the correct word.
Okay, but not a money back one…
Aha! 😆
word…
You’re pretty ‘hipster’. 😉
It’s my kids… not me… Oh, I used to be hip way back in the day…
I’m certain you did. 😉
That sounded sarcastic to me… I have pictures down there somewhere…
No sarcasm intended whatsoever, honest. Though I’d be fascinated to see some proof, if you’re offering. XD
Well, my old posts are chock full of pictures of me… some I Photoshopped to make even funnier… ha… and some move… and some are just me… I had rock-hard abs when I was about 8 years old. And there is the sexy me when I was about 21 where I invented the wardrobe malfunction…
Aha, I’ll definitely have to do some browsing. XD
Do not get lost in the swamp that is my creative mind. Bring food, a blanket, water, a flashlight, and bread crumbs to leave a trail. It is a swamp down there. Just scroll through the months first, look at the pictures… do not read the words. That is the mistake that most of the lost souls made.
Aha, I’ll take your advice into consideration. Thanks. 😉
I have to warn people… it’s the law.
I commend you for that.
But no pressure… I feel guilty enough for the piles of bones trapped down there.
Aha! 😆
I really am considerate that way.
You most certainly are. Always looking out for others. Such a beautiful quality. 🙂
It is because I really do care.
And that is what makes you such a wonderful person.
No, that is what keeps me from being a world-class jerk.
That too.
Sigh…
🙂
Ha.
Ok, here is my 2 cents worth. Do you already have the four parts? If so, this is what I would do:
I would put all four up at one time with the first part being 99 cents or free. Once someone starts the book and likes it, they’ll go for the other parts right away, too.
I’m not a fan of being exclusive to Amazon for 90 days. I’m getting sales through Smashwords from Barnes & Noble and Kobo (and they are picking up). Lesser sales from Apple and Sony, but still sales. I’m a fan of putting your work everywhere as soon as possible.
Maddie –
Are the benefits for Amazon exclusive not worth it? I was going to give that a try this time around because my Amazon sales seem to be better. Or do you think it’s not really worth it when it comes down to it? I swear I don’t usually use a version of the word “it” 4 times in once sentence on a regular basis.
Tim, I have friends who swear by the 90-day exclusivity at Amazon, but they never share their actual $$ numbers generated. They only share how many books they gave away for free. I’ve read that the Amazon algorithms have changed so much, that the one benefit of giving your book away for free with their select program doesn’t provide the results it used to.
As a consumer, I’m aware from friends, my own Nook, and simply reading message boards, that eReaders everywhere are bloated with free books, and most people will never live long enough to read all the books they’ve downloaded for free. Free isn’t necessarily a guarantee for future sales.
However, I’m not 100% against free – especially when there is more than one book by an author, or more than one book in a series. I’m still mulling over if I want to go that route or not. I have five books out now, and hope to write the sixth before summer. I’ll have to see at that time if I want to make the change to free on the first.
Numbers? I have some numbers I’m willing to share. My first book was published last year on May 9. My fifth book was just published on December 21. I only had a couple of family members buy books, and I didn’t tell friends about them. I started blogging in June, and it took until Sept/Oct before traffic started picking up for me. Several bloggers have purchased my books. I sold 153 books at Amazon in 2012, and 50 at Smashwords. I’m happy with those numbers. They’re not great, but they are a good start.
If you do the 90 days with Amazon, I would love to know your results. For all I know, I could really be missing out.
Arthur, I hope you don’t mind the long response to Tim. Hopefully, it adds to the discussion between you and your daughter.
Okay thanks for the advice. I think I’m going to give it a whirl. I put up a book on Amazon and wanted it to be free but couldn’t figure out how yet for some reason I’ve actually been selling a few copies for a buck. It’s almost made me think if I put a few more shorter things up there for cheap I can still make some money and possibly drive traffic to longer works. If I’m successful I probably won’t have to tell you, you’ll hear about me on the news.
Yes! I’ve read that, too. Shorter stories for free drive readers/buyers to the larger works for sale. I’ve often thought I should do a Susan Hunter short story and use that as the stepping stone to the other books. Thanks for the reminder!
Arthur, you may want to consider having your first part shorter than the others and offering it for free. Just a thought.
I hope I get to read about you on the news, Tim!! 🙂
Ha! You are now the ‘it’ guy…
You are full of it…
Full of what? Vast knowledge?
Just ‘it’… you are the it boy… you are full of it.
The parts are done. So far, the idea of doing one for free to lure people in has two votes. Thank you so much for your input.
How exciting! :)! Let me know when I can buy it, and then let me know where the signing is (please say LA haha)
LA would be good, it will make it easier for them to turn my novel into a movie. And I live in San Diego, so it isn’t that long of a drive. And I can do all the talk shows… but thanks.
I have NO CLUE how to do all this. But good luck 🙂
Honesty is refreshing if completely unhelpful…
LOL. I would give you a gum ball, but I’d have to mail it.
A virtual gumball is good enough… half the calories.
Awesome.
It is, isn’t it?
deedni
(That’s “indeed” backwards. Indeed just seemed kinda boring).
Indeed it does… uh…
That’s exciting. Let me know when I can buy a copy!!
I am going to be prostitutin… Uh… I mean… marketing myself all over the place… but thanks.
There’s something to be said for being your own book slut!!
Or any kind of your own slu… never mind…
Printed copies? I haven’t found a place where it wouldn’t cost like $30 a copy so that might have to wait.
Your best bet would either be to publish it to “Direct Kindle Publishing” and have it exclusive to Kindle for 90 days. I think you get some benefits, I’m going to give it a try soon. Other than that do it through Smashwords. They’ll distribute the book out to Barnes and Noble, Apple, and all the other places for you so it’s really simple. Do that at some point for sure, even if after the 90 days runs out on Amazon. Every time I type my name into the iTunes store it’s great to see stuff I created come up.
You’re releasing it in 4 parts? I’d say make the first one free. Give people a reason to want to buy the rest. Make it easy for people to get free copies because honestly people aren’t going to spend the money. Eventually what will happen if you’re lucky is 5,000 people will read a free copy and they’ll all tell 5 friends and at that point you’ll be charging $5 for it and you’ll make money off the friends. I definitely encourage you to put out free stuff though even if it’s shorter stories based on the characters. This will drive up some more interest and people may be willing to pay once they read something that was free.
Good luck Rufus….errr I mean Arthur!
I will pass that all on the Jessica… thanks man.
That is so wonderful! Yay! I can’t help you publish, but I will definitely buy a copy. 🙂
That works for me…