I'm off work tomorrow (whee!) then back on Friday (sigh)... but Saturday starts my self-inflicted vacation! I mean that in that - I will not be paid for my nine days away from work. I don't get vacation days. I deliver pizza, what do you expect! We don't earn vacation days.
Regardless, next week I am releasing "Shackled". I want it to be perfect as it heads out the door (my computer) to its first day in the big, bright world (the InTeRtRoN). If I have to spend every waking moment from Saturday to next, next Sunday editing - so be it.
My goal is to release it around Tuesday or Wednesday, so I have a few days to stalk my Amazon numbers and get a feel for the system. It's one thing to look at another's reports... then to look at your own, very real, numbers. I have this gnawing feeling in my belly that I won't sell one (not a one!) and that I will never receive a ranking, thus spiraling cartoon-like into a vortex of dimension-shifting despair.
Not being a cartoon, I see this as a problem.
However, I think, if nothing else, my good friend Aaron (E-publisher's Manifesto) will buy one, for posterity ;) So, no despair-vortex for me! I will at least be ranked somewhere in the 6 millions.
I was reading, today, about the Amazon ranking system. It's super hush-hush, no one knowing the exact algorithm, but mind(s) have long pondered over it! When I realized (for the first time!) that there were over 6 million titles available, I began to wonder - what makes me think I can get into the top 10,000? 1,000? 100? The best-seller's list?!?
Phew, take a deep breath.
I have to check off the things that all the "experts" (as much as any of us can be, on the situation) are saying to do.
Step 1: Amazing Cover
- I hired a professional, Jeroen ten Berge, who produced a very attractive, eye-catching cover. It seems to be going over very well, and I like what he's done with my name. I think for the non-impulse buyer, the image will stick and my name will linger, perhaps even in long-term memory!
Step 2: Persuasive Product Description
- I thought about a good description and put it out there for others to judge. I've gotten feedback and tweaked it to a state of nigh-deitistic proportion! (Or at least made it semi-intriguing). It tells what the story is about, without giving too much away, but leaves the reader wanting to know why.
Speaking of which:
One man, labeled monster, imprisoned for 200 years.
His brother - the only remaining jailer. Refusing to protect his family's shame any longer, he seeks the balm of a confession from his deathbed.
A foster son, witness to an impossible testimony of deceit, jealousy and murder. He must bear the ill tides of the past to correct the future.
Three men, bound by blood, love and iron.
Shackled.
Step 3: Good Book
- My beta readers had very good things to say. They gave me some good, constructive criticisms and in the process of the rewrites I received comments such as, "The rewrites make it really smooth!" and "The characters are really speaking in their own voices." I also feel more confident in the finishing (not quite finished) product.
Step 4: Marketing
- I am pretty solitary by nature. I think about a lot of things and when I have a thread of something winding through my brain, I don't like to be disturbed until I'm finished. My mom jokingly calls me a touch-me-not, because I'm not big on hugs etc. The e-world, for me, is just another place with a whole bunch of people, most of whom probably have opinions I don't care about. That said - I've met some really decent people whom I am sure enrich my life. I had a team from my alma mater, but they pulled their project at the last second, for reasons I am still unsure about. I've wandered about a little on the blogosphere (another word I hate) and tried to make some connections. I am honestly banking on Steps 1~3 considerably more :P I very seriously considered sending out a billion ARCs, but I really like things to grow organically - even if it means only 1-2 sales a year, to grow from.
Step 5: Pricing Below the Impulse Buy
- I am flat out breaking J. A. Konrath's rule, here, and pricing my book at $3.99 to start. If I fall flat on my big beak, then that is a lesson learned, for me. However, I think the ebook world could embrace that price point, provided my product meets a certain standard. A lot of people have screeched at my seemingly deaf ears, but I just don't want to price as low as $2.99. Not yet. It wasn't too long ago that the mass majority of us were clawing for the chance to have our paperbacks in a store for @$10. $4 doesn't seem so bad TO ME! If I have a good, interesting book, I think people will drop $4 for that entertainment. In my area, it costs upwards of $30 for a couple to go to a movie (no snacks included!). That is an entertainment that lasts for about two hours. It depends on how fast you read, but I think my story will take longer than two hours to read... and can be enjoyed over, and over again. I'm going to stick with it, even if only for a little while.
There is a lot that goes into being a successful indie and I can only hope my distaste for pimping myself out all over the world wide web doesn't destroy my chances.
I think, in general, I have a lot going for me and a good attitude. I want to keep writing and trying to improve my craft. I want to be popular, sure, but I think it would mean more to me if I could do it on my terms - not to say I can't change my terms, or stretch to meet some other set of arbitrary terms, but I'd like to try my way first.
If all else fails, I'm sure there will always be pizza that needs delivered. Well, until 2012, anyway.
This is my place to vent and extrapolate on personal matters. I may also talk about my life as an indie writer. For strictly release information, please click "here".
Showing posts with label indie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indie. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Rock Out With $$$ (Can I Get a Self-Pubbed WHOOP WHOOP!!)
I am a math(s) geek and probably always will be. I love numbers and how factual they are. Like any good scientist (yes, I also loves me the science), I pithily say, "The numbers don't lie!" If your math(s) are right, you have your answer!
So.
The fact is that I am in a situation where $600/month (600*12 = $7,200/year) is an adequate income for me. I understand I am lucky in a few regards:
1. I live with my fiance who only requires I pay my own bills and stock the house with food. (No rent.)
2. My car payment is less than $188/month. (Rock on Riley, I love my 2006 Chevy Aveo!)
3. I sent home most of my income while I taught in Japan - thus paying down my bills more than average.
4. I am smart with money (AND MATH(s)!)
5. I have implemented the Snowball Effect as pertains to bills, so I am ahead of the curve.
I am planning on selling my current WIP for $3.99. Let's round my royalties from that to a nice number - $2.50.
At $600 needed a month, in increments of $2.50 payments:
600/2.50 = 240 books a month must be sold
Per year:
7200/2.50 = 2880 books a year.
My goal is to sell 1000 books by December 15th, 2011 (of my current WIP). I expect to have at least 1 other book completed and up for sale before then.
If I assume 3/4ths of my sales will be from Book 1 (based solely on the fact that it will be sold longer):
.75*2880 = 2,160 books will have to be Book 1.
Hmm, that's still higher my 1,000 goal.
But, if I make my goal to sell 1k of Book 1, and produce 2 books, I can break it down closer to something like this:
Book 1: 1000
Book 2: 700
Book 3: 400
Total: 2100... getting a lot closer to providing for myself!!
This also assumes a continuous $3.99 price point for all three. That may not necessarily be the case, in which, I will have shorter works but probably more of them. So, if I were to say:
Book 1: 1000
Prjct2: 700 (at $2.99 ~ @1.75/book)
Prjct3: 400
Prjct4: 100
Total $: ((1000*2.5)+[(700+400+100)*1.75]=$4,600/year. That's more than halfway to my goal :)
I don't know what I'll write this year, or how fast I'll write. I don't know how good the ideas that come to me will be (but I pledge to discard the lame ones). I think it would be a shame if I couldn't produce one more book this year, awesome if I could produce 2 and amazing if I could do more, and still have the level of quality I expect from myself.
From my random math(s) ramblings, I believe I could be self-sustainable within 2 years.
I would like that very much :)
Addendum:
Robin Sullivan posted this insight over in the comments of Konrath's blog:
1 book - 10 / month
2 books - 50-60 / month
3 books - 200-400 / month
4 books - 1,000 / month
5 books - 10,000 / month
So, according to that, if I have 3 good books out, my theory holds pretty true! Two years ahoy!
So.
The fact is that I am in a situation where $600/month (600*12 = $7,200/year) is an adequate income for me. I understand I am lucky in a few regards:
1. I live with my fiance who only requires I pay my own bills and stock the house with food. (No rent.)
2. My car payment is less than $188/month. (Rock on Riley, I love my 2006 Chevy Aveo!)
3. I sent home most of my income while I taught in Japan - thus paying down my bills more than average.
4. I am smart with money (AND MATH(s)!)
5. I have implemented the Snowball Effect as pertains to bills, so I am ahead of the curve.
I am planning on selling my current WIP for $3.99. Let's round my royalties from that to a nice number - $2.50.
At $600 needed a month, in increments of $2.50 payments:
600/2.50 = 240 books a month must be sold
Per year:
7200/2.50 = 2880 books a year.
My goal is to sell 1000 books by December 15th, 2011 (of my current WIP). I expect to have at least 1 other book completed and up for sale before then.
If I assume 3/4ths of my sales will be from Book 1 (based solely on the fact that it will be sold longer):
.75*2880 = 2,160 books will have to be Book 1.
Hmm, that's still higher my 1,000 goal.
But, if I make my goal to sell 1k of Book 1, and produce 2 books, I can break it down closer to something like this:
Book 1: 1000
Book 2: 700
Book 3: 400
Total: 2100... getting a lot closer to providing for myself!!
This also assumes a continuous $3.99 price point for all three. That may not necessarily be the case, in which, I will have shorter works but probably more of them. So, if I were to say:
Book 1: 1000
Prjct2: 700 (at $2.99 ~ @1.75/book)
Prjct3: 400
Prjct4: 100
Total $: ((1000*2.5)+[(700+400+100)*1.75]=$4,600/year. That's more than halfway to my goal :)
I don't know what I'll write this year, or how fast I'll write. I don't know how good the ideas that come to me will be (but I pledge to discard the lame ones). I think it would be a shame if I couldn't produce one more book this year, awesome if I could produce 2 and amazing if I could do more, and still have the level of quality I expect from myself.
From my random math(s) ramblings, I believe I could be self-sustainable within 2 years.
I would like that very much :)
Addendum:
Robin Sullivan posted this insight over in the comments of Konrath's blog:
1 book - 10 / month
2 books - 50-60 / month
3 books - 200-400 / month
4 books - 1,000 / month
5 books - 10,000 / month
So, according to that, if I have 3 good books out, my theory holds pretty true! Two years ahoy!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Reflections While Home Sick
I'm home sick from work today, seem to have caught a nasty stomach bug that has laid me low. It started last night and I was not in a condition to be delivering pizza this morning :( Luckily they found someone really quick, so I don't have to agonize over my decision, as I never, -never- call off if I can help it. I'm hoping I feel better by tomorrow.
First off, I'd like to give a shout to Megan Duncan because while reading her blog I saw a nifty little gadget (the word counter in my upper right hand corner) that she ganked from Melissa Shepard, that SHE ganked from here.
I have almost decided on naming the book "Chains of Memory", so that is the heading for it. It's a little satisfying to see the percentage complete, there. Between visits to the Porcelain Throne, I hope to get some writing done as I'm not good for much else today (well, sleeping, but that's probably even less productive). Hopefully I can bump it up off the 84% where it currently sits.
But, the title of this post starts with "Reflections" so I'd like to reflect a little today on the publishing industry as a whole. I have very mixed feelings when I read blogs like J. A. Konrath's and see the print publisher bashing that goes on, especially in the comments section. It's amazing to me how much shouting down is done to anyone trying to defend the traditional printers anymore.
When I first started reading it, I fell into the "Publishers must be wrong, Indie writers must be right, how could there be such a gap in royalties..." et cetera type of mindset. It is very easy to lay the blame for the "bad decision" of rejecting a manuscript and poor royalty rates on a failing by the industry as a whole.
In the end, I have a BBA and I came to my senses. It is true that, "All that glitters isn't gold"; that it is an irrefutable statement. Do I think selling 1,000 copies a month of Book A on your own is amazing? Yes. Do I think the industry made a horrible decision by bypassing your manuscript? Not necessarily.
I read an interesting article here today. I was looking for a tangible fact on the cost of printing a book so I wouldn't have to do the work myself, but I didn't really find that in so many words. My goal was to try and demonstrate why publishers seem to desperately seek out that 1 million plus blockbuster over your 12k/year book. Then I found **THIS**. Finally, someone who understands and speaks rationally and objectively!
It's not that they wouldn't love to publish your book and get it into people's hands, it's simply the economics of the business. Once you parcel out the money to printing presses, editors, cover artists, discounts to get your books on the shelves of major retailers... the publisher doesn't actually get to keep so much of that 85% cut. In some cases (especially cases where the author doesn't earn out their advance), the author makes more than the publisher, in the end.
In order for publishers to keep taking on new authors they MUST be making a profit that allows them to do that! If a publisher offers up an advance that is NOT earned out, they are losing money. If they do that again, and again, and again... they will go belly-up, no questions asked. (You cannot keep drinking from a container and expect it never to go empty - you MUST refill!) The publishing industry is like a sieve. They want to put out new books, but they have to spend money to do it. Sometimes, the money they put out is more than the final product gives back, so the money trickles through the bottom of the sieve. So they work harder and faster, all the while trying to stay high enough that the sieve won't be completely empty, leaving them with nothing.
In e-publishing, the costs are lower than traditional print books. Yes, that's true. But, there is still a significant cost to getting that book up for sale. It is also a truism of business that if you want to continue with one thing that does not earn well enough to support itself (read: lowering print book sales), you use your "cash cow" (in this case, the slightly extra profit from e-books) to fund that other side of your business.
I keep hearing that the traditional publishers are floundering, that eventually they will be gone - bookstores all over the nation will close and we'll be left with no outlet for the "dead-tree model". I absolutely don't believe that is true. Yes, bookstores are closing. The Borders near me closed because of poor management by Borders. (You don't get into debt to publishers because people aren't buying a product from you that they buy elsewhere - you get there because you have screwed up.) The Barnes and Noble in the area stripped it clean of customers by its better selection, prices, and over-all functionality of the store... exactly like Best Buy did to Circuit City in the same area only a few years earlier. It is the nature of capitalism.
I think that publishers are holding on and riding it out. Yes, many publishers and editors seem to be giving out information and quotes that puts them drastically behind the times. It's not impossible or even particularly difficult to do that - witness Richard Curtis' blunder. (Sorry Konrath, I'm not trying to pick on you, here.) The fact is, when people are trying to prove a point, they will print information that puts their hypothesis in the correct light.
I personally believe that publishers are turning around the higher profits on their e-book sales to keep print publishing alive. I applaud them for that! I will be truly devastated if print books vanished, or became something for rich collector's to show off to their fancy friends. When I was a child, I dreamed, dreamed of the day I would have enough money to have a library IN MY HOUSE. A room, completely full of precious, delicious, well-written literature! I love my Kindle to death, and I will parade it around and show off it's fancy features and all the while, it will fill with books I couldn't find in bookstores... while my bookshelves at home fill with books that CAN BE.
So publishers miss out on a few bestsellers - indie authors that go to e-book publishing and with a liberal dose of personal promotion and luck, become famous almost overnight. Who hasn't made a mistake? That time I drove that guy's car to pick him up for work and got hit by a truck gone left-of-center, doing $43,000 in damage? How about flying home from Japan on an overbooked flight and turning down a free flight to Hawaii, including overnight hotel stay? I've made mistakes, too. Everyone does. It's part of the human experience.
I have a sneaking suspicion that one day, publishers will turn the whole business on its head and indie authors will be left wondering what's happened, because they are becoming so smug and self-important that they believe they can never fail. I picture those publishers like jungle cats in the trees, indie authors sprawled fat and lazy in the shade with the profits they have garnered for themselves.
Are you not afraid of that image? I am.
What happens when publishers strike a deal with Amazon that, under their label, Amazon continues the 70% profits, but self-pubbed only get 35% at best? What if it's 20%? 5%?
I'm not saying it's a future that's chiseled in stone, I'm saying let's not throw our spears into the fire before the jungle cats are actually exterminated, yeah?
First off, I'd like to give a shout to Megan Duncan because while reading her blog I saw a nifty little gadget (the word counter in my upper right hand corner) that she ganked from Melissa Shepard, that SHE ganked from here.
I have almost decided on naming the book "Chains of Memory", so that is the heading for it. It's a little satisfying to see the percentage complete, there. Between visits to the Porcelain Throne, I hope to get some writing done as I'm not good for much else today (well, sleeping, but that's probably even less productive). Hopefully I can bump it up off the 84% where it currently sits.
But, the title of this post starts with "Reflections" so I'd like to reflect a little today on the publishing industry as a whole. I have very mixed feelings when I read blogs like J. A. Konrath's and see the print publisher bashing that goes on, especially in the comments section. It's amazing to me how much shouting down is done to anyone trying to defend the traditional printers anymore.
When I first started reading it, I fell into the "Publishers must be wrong, Indie writers must be right, how could there be such a gap in royalties..." et cetera type of mindset. It is very easy to lay the blame for the "bad decision" of rejecting a manuscript and poor royalty rates on a failing by the industry as a whole.
In the end, I have a BBA and I came to my senses. It is true that, "All that glitters isn't gold"; that it is an irrefutable statement. Do I think selling 1,000 copies a month of Book A on your own is amazing? Yes. Do I think the industry made a horrible decision by bypassing your manuscript? Not necessarily.
I read an interesting article here today. I was looking for a tangible fact on the cost of printing a book so I wouldn't have to do the work myself, but I didn't really find that in so many words. My goal was to try and demonstrate why publishers seem to desperately seek out that 1 million plus blockbuster over your 12k/year book. Then I found **THIS**. Finally, someone who understands and speaks rationally and objectively!
It's not that they wouldn't love to publish your book and get it into people's hands, it's simply the economics of the business. Once you parcel out the money to printing presses, editors, cover artists, discounts to get your books on the shelves of major retailers... the publisher doesn't actually get to keep so much of that 85% cut. In some cases (especially cases where the author doesn't earn out their advance), the author makes more than the publisher, in the end.
In order for publishers to keep taking on new authors they MUST be making a profit that allows them to do that! If a publisher offers up an advance that is NOT earned out, they are losing money. If they do that again, and again, and again... they will go belly-up, no questions asked. (You cannot keep drinking from a container and expect it never to go empty - you MUST refill!) The publishing industry is like a sieve. They want to put out new books, but they have to spend money to do it. Sometimes, the money they put out is more than the final product gives back, so the money trickles through the bottom of the sieve. So they work harder and faster, all the while trying to stay high enough that the sieve won't be completely empty, leaving them with nothing.
In e-publishing, the costs are lower than traditional print books. Yes, that's true. But, there is still a significant cost to getting that book up for sale. It is also a truism of business that if you want to continue with one thing that does not earn well enough to support itself (read: lowering print book sales), you use your "cash cow" (in this case, the slightly extra profit from e-books) to fund that other side of your business.
I keep hearing that the traditional publishers are floundering, that eventually they will be gone - bookstores all over the nation will close and we'll be left with no outlet for the "dead-tree model". I absolutely don't believe that is true. Yes, bookstores are closing. The Borders near me closed because of poor management by Borders. (You don't get into debt to publishers because people aren't buying a product from you that they buy elsewhere - you get there because you have screwed up.) The Barnes and Noble in the area stripped it clean of customers by its better selection, prices, and over-all functionality of the store... exactly like Best Buy did to Circuit City in the same area only a few years earlier. It is the nature of capitalism.
I think that publishers are holding on and riding it out. Yes, many publishers and editors seem to be giving out information and quotes that puts them drastically behind the times. It's not impossible or even particularly difficult to do that - witness Richard Curtis' blunder. (Sorry Konrath, I'm not trying to pick on you, here.) The fact is, when people are trying to prove a point, they will print information that puts their hypothesis in the correct light.
I personally believe that publishers are turning around the higher profits on their e-book sales to keep print publishing alive. I applaud them for that! I will be truly devastated if print books vanished, or became something for rich collector's to show off to their fancy friends. When I was a child, I dreamed, dreamed of the day I would have enough money to have a library IN MY HOUSE. A room, completely full of precious, delicious, well-written literature! I love my Kindle to death, and I will parade it around and show off it's fancy features and all the while, it will fill with books I couldn't find in bookstores... while my bookshelves at home fill with books that CAN BE.
So publishers miss out on a few bestsellers - indie authors that go to e-book publishing and with a liberal dose of personal promotion and luck, become famous almost overnight. Who hasn't made a mistake? That time I drove that guy's car to pick him up for work and got hit by a truck gone left-of-center, doing $43,000 in damage? How about flying home from Japan on an overbooked flight and turning down a free flight to Hawaii, including overnight hotel stay? I've made mistakes, too. Everyone does. It's part of the human experience.
I have a sneaking suspicion that one day, publishers will turn the whole business on its head and indie authors will be left wondering what's happened, because they are becoming so smug and self-important that they believe they can never fail. I picture those publishers like jungle cats in the trees, indie authors sprawled fat and lazy in the shade with the profits they have garnered for themselves.
Are you not afraid of that image? I am.
What happens when publishers strike a deal with Amazon that, under their label, Amazon continues the 70% profits, but self-pubbed only get 35% at best? What if it's 20%? 5%?
I'm not saying it's a future that's chiseled in stone, I'm saying let's not throw our spears into the fire before the jungle cats are actually exterminated, yeah?
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