Writing

First the author tries the great give away, but after that, what’s the next great promotional thing? Well apparently, a huge number of people think it’s the 99¢ novel.

Most of us have heard of Amanda Hocking. She couldn’t get noticed by a traditional publisher, so she went her own way and put her books out on Amazon. She started at 99¢ in a time when there weren’t very many books at that price. Within a short period of time, she was selling more books than you can even imagine. Now she’s worth a fortune.

As with any success story once the strategy is known, everyone jumps on the bandwagon to give that a shot. There are now thousands upon thousands of 99¢books out there. Everyone is waiting to make his fortune.

34¢ at a time. That’s the royalty on 99¢ book.

But, just like the overdone freebie thing, this is no longer a great strategy. One hates to say that the ship has sailed, but if you look out at the ocean, the 99¢ promotion is that dark speck about to disappear over the horizon. Not that people will stop doing it – but as a strategy it may no longer be a great plan.

Go look at the books in that price range. Now, try to figure out how your book will stand out any better there than it would at the price you originally thought it should sell for. If you aren’t selling at one price, reducing the price may help, but not if the whole world is there ahead of you.

Reducing your $4.99 book to 99¢ seems a little desperate. If you sell 10 books at $4.99 you have a royalty of $34.93. (70% royalty on books $2.99 and above) If you reduce your book to 99¢, you now have to sell 100 books to get the same amount.

The 99¢ shoppers aren’t really a whole lot better than the freebie hordes when it comes to writing reviews. They also aren’t great about being repeat customers. Think about this one – you aren’t selling chocolate malts here. I’ll go back time and again to Sonic for a malt, but your title is a single consumption item. Bad news, Betty! They aren’t going to buy it twice.

The current conversation among folks who track and pay attention to such things is that Amazon has weighted their algorithm for the sales ranking with a spot for price. Sell 10 books at $4.99 and you’ll be higher on the list than 100 sales of 99¢. I don’t know if it’s true. I think you could break into the pentagon easier than getting the algorithm for what Amazon does to figure out who gets seen on what lists.

Regardless of what Amazon does, I’ll stand firm. Go ahead and win the 99¢ sales race. But, in the long run, it is merely a race to the bottom, and I’m not sure why everyone is in such a big damn hurry to get there.

Creating a novel is a little like invading Europe in World War II. Scratch that – it’s a LOT like invading Europe. It’s great to have a plan, but in the end, you have to adjust to the conditions you’re facing and get the job done.

Planning the invasion. We’re going to land forces at the following places, and the final objective is to sweep across Europe and capture Berlin. For a writer – this is the concept stage. My concept for the book I’m working on: A USMC special operations team posing as embassy guards, working with their sister unit of Royal Marines, are hunting terrorists. Drop a female Marine in to take care of the armory and weapons. Add a problematic Major who hates women and doesn’t realize that this small group doesn’t work for him. Send them all to an embassy function where (unbeknownst to our heroes) a group of terrorists plan to kidnap an arms manufacturer who has created a new tactical weapon

Start the assault by firing a barrage of artillery at the target from a great distance. Think World War II battleships at sea firing their big guns at a target on land. Their job is to take out as many enemy defenses and do as much damage as possible to soften up a target for a beach landing. This is the initial workup, which is a where I search for a specific target so I can make this happen. What does this team do? Who would they work for? Is this a plausible way to make this happen? Is there a love story? What weapons do USMC special ops carry? What did the arms manufacturer make that someone wants?

D-Day – Parachuting behind the lines, taking Pointe du Hoc, and the beach landing. That’s the first three chapters. You’ve got to get those nailed down. There’s a lot of author blood spilled in making sure that these work. They are somehow the easiest and the hardest to write. You begin with the leap of faith in chapter one and secure the roads, communications, and try to control the front. Then you scale the cliff and take the high ground. And chapter three is the last act of bravery. Much like the end of day one of a beach landing, you have to have your people into position, and have landed enough equipment and supplies to support them. If your reader isn’t hooked by the end of chapter three, then you failed miserably!

Trying to get out of the hedgerows. That’s the next three chapters. You’ve showed up, but you have to get your forces through the first set of problems you face. No one realized just how much trouble those hedgerows were going to be, just as the author didn’t realize how much trouble it was going to be to figure out the details of her own big picture. What started out as a simple concept, “… a group of terrorists with a bomb…” became a major sticking point for me. Just who were these nefarious individuals? What is their goal? And how are they going to carry out their plan? My Marines may not know, but I have to have some idea or I just sound like a one of those losers (liars) that show up in every bar, “When I was a sniper in the ‘Stan.” I randomly (okay – stupidly) picked an ethnic group who would be available in my location and moved on, since their ideals and motives weren’t required in these chapters. Suddenly, I was bogged down in the hedgerows trying to learn about something as basic as bombs and what explosives would this group use. How do you blow up something? How much plastique is enough? Does it leave a residual smell? How big of an explosion is too big? Leaving a crater the size of a football field would not bode well for my poor Marines who were present during the blast. It took a little while to figure out how certain things worked before I could break free and race across France.

Operation Market Garden becomes A Bridge Too Far. This is where the brilliant idea of a quick finish to the war, meets the reality of a stubborn enemy and the failure of a plan to properly come together. At about a third of the way into the book, I figured out that I had some real problems. I hadn’t done enough research on my terrorists and while my concept and early battle plans had met with good results, I may have grossly underestimated my capabilities to accomplish the task in the time allotted. For my novel to be completed on time everything had to go right – and it didn’t. I withdrew to reconsider my options, and while the story (much like the war) progressed on one front, I was definitely struggling on the other.

The Big Slog. As the armies push their way across the continent it becomes a logistical nightmare to keep everything moving. This is the middle of the book and it’s work! This is the part where I often ask the big question – What the hell was I thinking? The excitement of the opening days has worn off, your nose has been bloodied a time or two, and now you have to get it together and get the job done.

The Battle of the Bulge. The Allies are caught by surprise, surrounded, cutoff, and under siege. But they refuse to surrender even though they have taken massive casualties. The allied commander’s response to the German demand for surrender was simply, “Nuts!” General George Patton turns his forces to Bastogne to rescue that unit. Well, there I was at the three quarter point of this project. I was on track and racing forward, the words were flying and the plot was working – and then I had the “aw s***” moment. That’s the point where I realized that I had made a tactical error in the plot. I’d gotten ahead of myself and there was simply no way to write myself out of it in the future chapters. I couldn’t go forward, and my self-imposed deadline of sixty days was running out.

About this time, I was praying for Patton to climb upon the 55-gallon drum in the muddy intersection of my brain and take command. I desperately needed someone in riding jodhpurs, carrying pearl handled Colts, and in possession of an ugly damn dog to untangle the traffic jam in my plot. I waited about three days, cursing my plot, my characters, and my foolishness. It was disappointing to realize that I wasn’t going to meet the original deadline, and I spent a day moping around and feeling sorry for myself. I considered putting the book away and moving on with other projects, but I really didn’t want to do that. I like to finish what I start, and just like the men in World War II, I had to accept that I was in it for the duration. My wimpy side told me to throw in the towel, but I managed to channel Brigadier General Anthony McAuliff for about thirty seconds and beat my wimpy side down while screaming, “Nuts!” Fortunately, the neighbors are used to me yelling at myself and didn’t call the police. Then I accepted that Patton wasn’t coming to save me, and I’d have to untangle my own damn mess. So, I gave myself a good slap in the face, picked up my rifle, and went back into the war. I fixed my issues by taking a week out and reworking the timeline and adjusting two of the characters. The rewriting was easy and painful all at once.

Crossing the Rhine. Finally, everything starts to go right and the enemy resistance collapses. All the hard work culminates in a rush to Berlin. This is the happy part of the writing. You know how it ends and the last three chapters fly from your fingertips. All you need to do is come up with the right last line.

V.E. Day. The war is over. The troops aren’t going home quite yet, but the bloody part is done and the clean-up and healing can begin. I, much like the poor soldiers, have collapsed in a grungy heap. All I want is a shower, a decent night’s sleep, and a real meal. There will be months of rewrites and edits before I can declare this book complete.

But the war of getting a first draft down on paper has been won.

It’s been almost two weeks since A Shared Fear was enrolled in KDP Select (how it’s known to the author) Prime (the membership program for the Amazon buyer/reader), so it’s way too soon to talk about whether Prime will have an impact on anything. However, in my conversations with other people several things came up that were worth talking about in your consideration of whether to try Select.

I chose A Shared Fear because Protecting Parker has a proven track record of sales over the last year, which makes it a good baseline for seeing if lending and views from Prime drives sales of my other books. A Shared Fear has not moved well on Barnes and Noble and since I have to take the book off B&N to participate in Select, why not use the one that isn’t moving. Stuck in Korea Time is still fresh, so I don’t have a track record with it at this point. My Blood Link series is a different genre and shouldn’t be impacted in this case.

I am looking at KDP Select purely as a marketing tool to drive sales in this instance.

#1 – It would seem to work best for people with at least three or more books available. You need to have a catalog of books available for the newly interested reader to purchase. If you only have one book for sale, WHY in the world would you even consider doing Select? If the reader borrows your book and likes you, the most you can gain is a positive review, a “like” and maybe a website subscriber. If you have no books ready to go, then by the time you publish your next one, the reader has already moved on and likely forgotten your name.

#2 – You should only put up one book at a time. The idea is to draw new readers through one book so they purchase the others. If you have all of your books up and they adore you, then they will download your other books rather than purchase them.

#3 – Perhaps only one or two books per year. Put up your first book and then wait six to eight months before putting up another book. Aside from #2, you need to realize that there are only so many people enrolled in Prime, if they have seen you and bought your other books, they are not coming back to buy them again. However, in six months to a year there will be a whole new group of people who have bought into Prime and you could then be in a position to acquire new readers.

#4 – If you are writing in different genres then try one book of each, but not at the same time. My standalone books are classified as fiction in the category of suspense. I consider myself to have a military component and romantic elements. My Blood Link series is about military vampires, which places them firmly in paranormal. Two totally different groups of readers. I’ll be releasing The Civilian – Blood Link III soon. When A Shared Fear ends its run on Select, I will put up Blood Link (the first book). By giving Prime members a look at the first book in the series, perhaps it will interest them enough to buy the next two in the series. It is conceivable that the people who like the paranormal books would buy the standalones, but the readers of the standalones are less likely to purchase the paranormal.

#5 – Don’t expect miracles. This is but one more tool and one more opportunity.

I do not for one minute believe that KDP Select will “make you or break you” and you shouldn’t panic if nothing exciting happens. You may not notice a jump in numbers, but this is one of the few things that costs you nothing to try.

I’ll let you know at the end of the 90 days what the trends were.

There is a small part of me (okay, maybe a little bigger than small) that worries when I finish one story that I might not have another one in me. That somehow, I’m out of ideas and I’ll just be repeating myself if I try to write another book. Each time, something has happened to excite me and a fresh story pops into my head. And each time, it has invariably been from something that a friend has said or done, either directly or indirectly. My friends are incredibly helpful and sometimes they don’t even know it.

Just the other morning, I was sitting around feeling sorry for myself. I’ve gotten nowhere with plotting my next vampire book and my brain feels “too full.” Then, my friend LeiMomi posted on Facebook, “I am unsmotable!” I kid you not, folks, I came to a complete stop and stared at that word. UNSMOTABLE! She said that she wasn’t sure it was a real word, but I know it is! Maybe not in Marcia’s forty pound American Heritage dictionary, but to me it is. UNSMOTABLE! I finally managed to make my fingers work and responded, “You know this will end up in a damn vampire book don’t you?” Then, her friend Joe posted, “The Adventure of LeiUnsmotaMomi: Peerless Mud Racer, Volcano Tamer, Vampyre Hunter” and that was when the fat lady started to sing for me. I immediately knew what was going to happen. One of my military vampires falls for the long cool woman in the black dress. You know… the one that might just be the death of him.

That one word and short conversation has altered what I thought would be happening in the next books. The Damaged: Blood Link IV will now require a few small adjustments. Okay, maybe a little bigger than small. Then the plan for The Healer: Blood Link V will have to be adjusted radically to accommodate the setup for Book VI. I’m thinking I can’t title it, THE UNSMOTABLE even though that is now how I’m thinking of it.

So with one small smart-ass comment – LeiMomi has a master’s degree in smart-ass by the way – I am excited beyond belief. There are suddenly not enough hours in the day to get everything done. The trick now will be to get all those notes down on paper while I take my time to complete the edits on The Civilian – Blood Link III. It is all I can do not to leap into action on the next books. I’m ready, I’m excited, and thanks to my friends, I am no longer afraid that I don’t have that next book in me.

Contrary to how some of my posts may sound, with the exception of giving your book away (that’s still just freaking stupid in my opinion), I am not against any author trying any of the things previously mentioned. I believe that in certain genres some of those things work very well for the people involved. I also think that if you are committed to being a high seller then some of those things are incredibly important to do. They just aren’t all for me.

Lest you think that I’m unwilling to try anything, I spent several weeks considering the options available and I’ve decided to try Prime on Kindle. The idea behind Prime as I mentioned previously, is that Amazon buyers (readers) pay an annual membership fee of $79 and this entitles them to a wide variety of Amazon benefits. One of those is the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which entitles members of Prime to download and read a participating author’s book at no charge. The difference between this and “Free” is that Amazon pays the author a sum of money for each download. In my case, it will be less than I would earn if my book sold, but there are side benefits to trying this course of actions.

There are pros and cons to all things and I like to know what they are before I jump. So let me share what I’ve learned.

The negative – According to Amazon’s fact page for the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Prime members are entitled to the following.

One book can be borrowed at a time, and there are no due dates. You can borrow a new book as frequently as once a month, directly on your registered Kindle device, and you will be prompted to return the book that you are currently borrowing.

As frequently as once a month??? Let me just go all wimpy and whiney here for a moment. A reader gets one free download a month and I’m expecting them to choose me over all the options that they have? Why would they choose me? Okay, I’m done now. Moving on…

The other negative – Your book must be exclusive to Amazon for the 90 day period that it’s offered in the Prime program. So, even though several of your loyal readers own Nooks, you can’t offer it through Barnes and Noble during this time.

So why’d I do it? Because for me there are a few positives that make it worth trying.

#1 – My book gets seen by a group of people that might not normally see me. And in this business it’s all about getting seen. It’s a narrower field. If you’re lumped in with 50,000 other books and your sales ranking is low, you won’t get seen. The less you are seen, the less opportunity there is to sell. On Prime, you may be one of only 1,000 other books, which puts you higher up in the search order. If you have a positive review, and others don’t, you may be even higher in that search order.

#2 – I get paid for the borrow. The program has all the benefits of a giveaway, without being a giveaway.

#3 – My book remains for sale on Amazon. My regular price is visible, so the Prime member sees what it is and recognizes that there is a value in the opportunity to download my book through this program. Prime should not affect my normal average sales. Nor should it piss off the people who already spent money on my book. I hate paying for something only to have it go on sale, or worse yet, be given away for free.

#4 – My book is higher priced than the average. You might not think that would be a positive, but I do. Just a thought here – but why the hell would I, as a Prime member, use my one download per month on a 99¢ book or a book that has already been offered for free? I’m using mine on a book that’s a little higher in cost. I paid for that membership – I’m getting the most out of it. I’m already willing to pay good money for my favorite authors, I’m using my freebie on someone that I want to try.

#5 – There is a potential for an increase in sales in my other books. If they like the one they downloaded, then perhaps they are willing to spend the money for the other ones.

The positives appear to outweigh the negatives so I’m giving it a shot. I’ve put A Shared Fear in the Prime program for 90 days. It’s currently not offered on Barnes on Noble due to the exclusive requirements of Prime. I’m tracking the sales ranking and the numbers and I’ll let you know how it works out.

Cross your fingers for me.

So just how do you put yourself out there without sounding completely desperate or becoming totally annoying? When is too much – TOO MUCH?

To be good at this sort of thing you have to sell yourself as much as you sell your book. I’m uncomfortable with blowing my own horn in some ways. Telling you things about myself in the blog is mostly anecdotal (yes I had to look up the spelling), and it is almost always done in a way that lets you know that I’m an idiot. I make huge mistakes that I hope others will learn from, and I’m okay with you knowing that I screwed up.

But. standing on a street corner and beating my own drum is just not something I know how to do. In truth, it’s not something I ever want to be good at. I find all that self-gratifying “Look at me – I’m the best writer you’ve ever seen!” stuff makes me a little ill. Well – and it’s a lie. I’m not and neither are you! Good is acceptable; Best is always for someone else – usually someone DEAD. Sure, you should talk about the good things you’ve accomplished on your website. If you got a good review, say so. But there’s a fine line between okay and too much.

I’m really uncomfortable with “spin.” When I see the words Bestselling Author, I immediately want to know the qualifier. If you’re in the top 100 in the paid category because your books actually sold, then I’m good with you using the title. If you’re in the top 100 of the download numbers because you gave them away with no sales to back that number up and you use this title, then you’re nothing but a liar. If you are called a bestselling author by a competent authority such as the N.Y. Times, then I’m good with that. But, if you are one of only ten writers publishing through some no-name press – that don’t count. Under that criteria, I’m a bestselling author too since I’m the only author in this stable. If one of your books sells betters than the others that may make it your best selling book, but that doesn’t make it a bestseller. If that’s the criteria then Protecting Parker is a bestseller.

Whooohhhhooooo! Look at me, I’m a bestselling author! Quick, somebody, kiss my damn ass!

The truth is that if you can’t make a living off your sales, or you didn’t make the top 100 of a real sales list, then you need to remove that title from your website and author pages. Because in reality, you’re just some desperate, needy wannabe, trying to sound better than you are.

I don’t ever want to be included in that group.

The other thing is that I’d rather not drive my friends crazy by trying to jam my books down their throats on a regular basis. As a result, I don’t bang my friends over the head with requests to share my announcements or blogs. I link my blog to my Facebook author page and to my personal Facebook page and some folks read it and some folks don’t. I don’t beg them to go to Amazon and like my books, or go to my author page and like me, nor do I beg them to buy my books. I don’t continually post that my book is still for sale. Duh! If they didn’t buy it when it came out, embarrassing yourself by multiple postings will not help. Especially on your personal page! That type of behavior simply goes back to the desperate and needy thing I mentioned earlier.

Would I like my books to be noticed? Yes. Very much!
Would I like more sales? Yes please!
Would I like my friends to share my notices and talk about my books? Absolutely!

Will you see me lying about what I’m doing or spinning who I am? Nope.
Will you see me abusing or annoying my friends to gain a sale? Never.

So, while some folks are out there beating their own drum, blowing their own horn, and bugging the crap out of their friends – I’ll be right here writing.