Reviews

So, I seem to recall reading in some article about how to succeed at self-publishing in the eMarket that reviews are crucial. There was a possible direct correlation between the number (and of course, ranking) of reviews to the number of units sold. Now, I might be misremembering, and it may not work that way. However, there has to be some truth to this, even if I simply made it up in my mind.

So, on Friday I made an announcement on my Facebook page that I would send anyone who asked in a PM a free copy of whatever story they wanted to review, if they agreed to review it on both Amazon and Smashwords. I gave them until last night to request it.

No one asked. Of course, that may be because I ended the offer with an ultimatum: "If you don't review the story within 14 days, I will publicly out you as a liar and a thief on Facebook." But, I made sure I ended it with a smiley! :) (Although still I would have done it)

So, this idea tanked. I know there are things I should be doing. Advice I get is to ask bloggers to review my stories. Really? That's how it works? I guess so, since a couple of my followers are bloggers who review, and thus get asked to review stories and books.

Still, and this may be a stigma or some such, but the thought of doing that brings up images of panhandling for reviews. Like I'm standing at a blogger's door, my hat nervously in my hands, saying "Please sir, might you review my paltry story for me? I can offer no recompense, but for the feeling of good will you shall receive."

Am I being overly dramatic? Probably. Still, if anyone wants a free copy of a story to review, let me know. I will email you one. This week. After Friday the 7th, no more will be available. :)

Oh, and for those who are thinking I should just offer the story for free for a limited time on Amazon, I can't. My stories are not registered with KDP Select (so I can publish them at other places, like Smashwords), so I can't run promotions. Quite a little scam they got going on over there, I think.

Feelings on Self-Publishing

Yesterday, news hit Facebook that Amazon has purchased the rights to certain characters from various TV series (mostly female-oriented ones, from what I read), and will soon be allowing writers to self-publish fan-fiction based on those characters, for profit.  Reactions were all over the place, but among the writers I know, it was a universal grunt of disgust. 

However, a few people were downright enraged by the idea, and expressed their well-thought out grievances accordingly.  What it boiled down to was that this move on Amazon's part was a money-grab based on stroking the egos of wannabe writers who have not "paid their dues" in the publishing industry.  Admittedly, I was a bit hurt by this sentiment at first.  Until I got to thinking about it.

For me, self-publishing has been a journey.  A way to get my works out to potential readers, and get some feedback that will help me become a better writer.  If I can make a bit of change on the side, cool deal.  And although I would love to write a runaway success with millions of copies sold, that's really not the point.  To understand my view, you have to look at the publishing industry as a whole.

Right now, it's tough to get published.  I mean, I think it always has been, and if you get published by an established publisher, or even in a respectable magazine or anthology, that has always been generally viewed as you paying your dues.  You suffer numerous rejections, you work hard to please an editor who shows interest, you cater to their desires for your story, occasionally changing things you would rather not change; all for the sake of being published.  This is the way it has always been, and the way it still is, as far as I can tell.  In fact, I would wager that things are actually tougher today.

The heyday of print fiction magazines are long-gone.  And even their electronic successor, the e-zine, has seen better days.  There just aren't enough paying markets to support the growing number of people who wish to be published authors and writers.  Self-publishing in the pre-eReader age was minor, and relegated to "vanity presses" who didn't do much more than grant your technical wish of seeing your name in print, but for a steep price.  And even though those presses are still working, the eReader boom has probably curtailed some of their influence.

With places like Amazon and Smashwords, all you need is a story, a bit of knowledge about formatting, and a method for making a cover image, and BOOM!  You're a published author.  The problem is, these stories have no oversight.  no editor making changes, or pointing out mistakes and plot-holes, or shoring up crappy writing.  In essence, most self-published eFiction is nothing more than a rough first draft with a cover image slapped on it.

But, those of us who are smart recognize this, and take action accordingly.  Personally, I make sure I act as an editor as well as a writer.  My fiction is short, and it's not hard to see the plot holes, the bad writing passages, and the rough mistakes so common in writing fiction.  With short formats, I can go back and correct those easily, and publish a more-or-less polished product.  So far, it's worked, as my stuff has been generally well-received (I have yet to get less than 4 stars on any one of my stories at Amazon).

To me, this is just another way of "paying my dues."  I am learning how to write better stories, how to use different voices, how to work outside my previously-narrow comfort zones (such as dialogue and gender).  In short, I am learning my craft.  And one ideal I intend to stick to is that I will only self-publish short works.  Longer works will need a dedicated editor.  Someone with no personal investment in the story beyond making sure the best product is presented to the public.

So, to my writer friends who were outraged, be it known that I agree with you 100%.  Fan-fiction for profit has no place in the self-publishing industry.  But, that being said, let's hope that more people than we think will use this opportunity to grow in their craft, and not just use it as a place to find false-validation.

SASE is a No-Go

Ok, I am taking down the SASE page above.  Mainly for two reasons.

The first is that PayPal sucks ass.  I cannot transfer the money I have in that account because they keep putting the wrong routing number on my transfer requests.  The number they put in is from my old account, not my new one.  And no matter how many times I change it, it never takes.  Add to that the fact that when you call their service line, you get an automated system that just walks you through the steps like you can't read what's on the website, and doesn't give you an option to talk to a live person.  I'm done with PayPal.

The second reason is that, the one story that is there is going somewhere else very soon.  I have decided that I need to focus on longer works.  Novellas at the very least.  So, I will soon be taking down Pekra and Severance from Amazon, and combining them with Blood from Sand into a single collection entitled With a Silken Fist.  This collection will have a new intro where I discuss the origins of each story.  Additionally, I will revise all three stories to expand them and flesh them out a bit.  Once all three stories are ready, and I figure out a cover (that will be the hardest part), the new volume will go up on Amazon and Smashwords for $2.99.

I'm doing all of this because, while I like the idea of doing it all myself, I simply can't.  There are not enough hours in the day, nor do I have the proper resources at my disposal.  So, for now I will be relying on The Man for my self-publishing.  But, I won't be taking part in the KDP Select program anymore.  That has done me zero good, and it only prevents me from publishing through other venues.

So, in the end SASE was a cool idea, that just can't swim in these waters.  I will probably still use the name on my works (like Charles Gramlich does with his Razored Zen).

Publishing

I feel compelled to make a second blog post today. Partly from something I mentioned in my last post, but largely from something that I just read in the news.

Authors are being screwed. Okay, so this is not news. Authors have always had to struggle to get their piece of the publishing pie. But things are getting worse and worse. Publishers are taking a larger and larger bite, leaving a slimmer slice for the writer.

You know, the guy (or gal) WHO ACTUALLY PRODUCES WHAT THEY SELL!?!

For some recent details, read this New York Times article.

The gist of it is, Publishers, with their (laughable) marketing departments, Photoshop Art Direction Departments, and their Mafia-like distribution fleets, are taking more and more of the cover price on your average book for themselves. The net effect is that the writers are left with the table scraps.

Does this seem wrong to ANYONE who isn’t a writer???

Here is what I am considering doing. I have the means to produce eBooks in a variety of formats, including MOBI, which is readable on the Kindle. What if I were to self-publish all of my own work, and sell it directly? Say you own a Kindle, and you want to read my latest short story. You can go to Amazon, pay $.99, and have it electronically delivered to your Kindle device. Or…

You could go to my site, pay $.99 thru PayPal, providing me with your Kindle's email address, and I could send the story in MOBI format directly to your device. For you, the difference is a slightly longer purchasing process (probably about as long as ordering a print book to be delivered). But for me, I get paid $.99 rather than $.35 for your purchase.

Additionally, I could produce it in other formats for other eReaders, or even in PDF, just to read on your computer (or print out if you are so inclined).

And then, what if my site (which could be ad-driven) was available to other authors so they can also provide their books for sale in the same manner? Honestly, I would be willing to convert the files and email them out, or send the files to the authors so they can email them out, for free. I put that Avenger collection together in about an hour, and that included using Photoshop to cobble together a decent cover. Had I had the cover art already done, the time would have been about 10 minutes, all together.

I can already see the disadvantage here. Even though “marketing” is almost non-existent by the publishing houses, it still exists to a degree. So, my biggest obstacle would be how to drive traffic to my site. Obviously search engines, sites like Goodreads, and social media. And really, would it take much more than that?

I may look into this. I would probably start it out as strictly a place to offer short stories. But that could be a niche market, no? I’m sure I am overlooking some issues. But, something needs to be done. And these are just some thoughts.

Why is this important to me, since I produce so little writing of my own? Well, because I have friends who are writers, and this new trend in “Going in dry” publishing is going to hurt them. And I don’t like people hurting my friends.

It's Tuesday!

Monday is history this week already.  Nice way to start.  Had a pretty good weekend.  Gaming on Friday, The People's Brat Fest on Saturday, cookout with Friends on Sunday, and a nice, lazy Monday (except for that whole installing the A/C thing).

Yesterday also marked the publication of my third Kindle.  I had submitted this story to a couple of different places without success.  I figured since I had made it a goal to publish a Kindle a month for a year, and I hadn't managed to get anything finished this month, I would just throw it up there.  So, a couple of hours of working up the cover image and formatting the file, and presto!  Kindle #3.

This is a fun one.  It's an action/horror/sword & sorcery bit, about a young girl assassin, and her most terrible foe.  I rather enjoyed this one.  And my wife really likes it.  Special thanks to her for helping me fill in those holes in the characterization.  It's a better story for it, I think.

The story is available here.

Just as an aside, most of these stories will only be available through Amazon for the time being.  I'm testing the waters of their KDP program, which makes the story exclusive to Kindles for 60 days.  We'll see how that pans out in the future.

The Short Story

The initial reactions to my self-published short story, Blackskull's Captive!, has got me thinking about a few things. I have long wanted to be a "published" writer, and I guess I am now, technically (ok, "technically" I have been since about 1996, when I got an article in the then-print Dragon Magazine, but I'm thinking about fiction here). But am I really?

Traditionally, you need a professional publishing in some sort of mass-market publication, such as an anthology or magazine, in order to be considered a "published" short story writer.  And there is merit to this view. After all, anyone with a word processor program and an internet connection can be a published writer, thanks to places like Amazon and Smashwords. But, unlike the pro markets, self-publishing has the stigma of being unpolished, unedited, and generally of lower quality.

Now, this is not to say that all self-published fiction deserves those descriptions. But, unfortunately, a large share of what's out there does.

So, the question becomes, how do I make myself stand out? How do I market a story that, despite the rejection notes, is worthy of publication? Or should I even try? Is there a negative side?

It should be noted that, as of this moment, there are a couple of factors that effect this decision for me personally. First off, I am not a full-time writer in the sense that writing is my only source of income. It is primarily a "hobby" with money-making potential. And even though I dream of striking it rich with the next "Great American Novel (TM)" (just like every other fiction writer), I don't expect it to happen any time soon.

The other thing is that I am only looking at publishing the odd short stories that seem to have a hard time finding a Pro Home. I am also working on a novel, with a few others in the wings, and those will all be taking more traditional routes to publication. But I am a whimsical writer at heart, and I will sometimes write a story without any thought as to where it could get sold or published, and often in a little-utilized genre for the medium.

One option I have considered is simply to create a "publisher" for my eFiction. Charles Gramlich has done this with his Razored Zen Press, and I am already beginning to pester him about how that works for him. So, that may be an option.

Anyways, I guess what I'm really wondering is whether there are ways to get my stuff in front of more readers as a self-publisher of short stories. Any ideas?

Dipping my toe in the pool...

Last night I decided to give it a try. After hearing about how easy it is to publish for Kindle, I formatted a story, created a simple, but effective cover image (at least, I think it is), and put myself out there.

It's a story of Orc space pirates, written as a science-fantasy homage to Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. I rather love the story, and I have a sequel plotted out and started, and a third part in "idea" form.

Because it's such a mash-up of about three different genres, I felt it would probably have a hard time finding an established venue. So, self-publishing seemed the best bet. If you're interested in reading it, here is the link.

Also, there are other eVenues to publish. If there is interest in non-Kindle formats, I would be open to going there as well. Like I said, this is my first foray, so I'm still learning as I go.

I have to admit, this has me all kinds of excited!