News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #116…
[Lots of news today. Cherry pick what you find interesting, but be sure and read about the May Day Sale. And BTW, nothing here is an April Fool’s joke. Enough jokes are played on the American public by politicians.]
Jellybooks. If you missed this 3/25 post, check it out. It’s about data-miners colluding with traditional publishers. Not a surprise, of course: When there’s a niche on the internet, it will be filled—Darwin’s Origins applied to electronic media.
See your blurb here. In #115, I made this offer. So far, no takers. Think about maybe combining it with an interview. I’ll send you questions, you can choose the ones you want to answer, and you can even add your own. The final version has to be approved by you and me, of course. I’ll let this ride for a while.
May Day, May Day, May Day Sale. Mary Jo Melendez invites you to a Kindle Countdown Sale. Before she adds her stories to Smashwords, making them available in all ebook formats, she’s giving you a chance to read Muddlin’ Through and Silicon Slummin’…and Just Gettin’ By at $0.99, reduced from $2.99. That’s $2 off, folks! Or, two exciting books for $2! The sale will take place from April 29 through May 5. This is absolutely the last time these prices will be reduced. It’s the perfect time to begin stocking up on good summer reading. (OK, it’s a wee bit ahead of time to announce this, but you wouldn’t believe the acrobatics I have to perform in order to schedule a Kindle Countdown Sale for an entire series, thanks to those Amazon KDP Select restrictions.)
Throwing in the towel. Or, as Roberto Duran said, “No mas!” (That, or some similar sporting event, might have been the origin for “throwing in the towel.”) There are many good writers and good books out there. That’s heaven for readers, of course, but it’s hell for authors. I saw a recent statistic from Amazon that most authors sell fewer than 500 copies of any one title. If that Amazon stat is valid, that readers’ heaven will soon shrink because many authors will flee hell by either discontinuing their book production or not releasing new books if they continue writing. I’m trending toward the second category as a matter of economic necessity. Explanations are found below.
I’m already cutting back. Rogue Planet will be my only new book this year, even though I already have two other manuscripts ready. Below I also suggest things you can do to change my mind. It’s not just me, of course. Many authors are in the same sinking ship. Maybe it’s just that the number of readers is diminishing (Netflix and video games winning them over?) while the number of books is increasing. For whatever reason, it’s a dire time for authors and promises to be a dire time eventually for readers.
An author’s political views. I’ve said it many times in this blog, and I’ll say it again: You, the reader, are going to miss some entertaining fiction if you won’t read an author because of his political views. I write about conspiracies and paranoia sometimes, so I’ll express some paranoia myself: I believe many people won’t read my stuff because I’m a rabid progressive. I agree with Sanders on most things, for example, although I think he needs to revise his stances on foreign policy in general and terrorism in particular (he can still learn—he’s a smart old curmudgeon). That said, my own personal viewpoints never stopped me from reading Orson Scott Card, Michael Crichton, James Hogan, Bill O’Reilly, Jerry Pournelle, or Ayn Rand. (I discovered that at least two of those authors are overrated, but I read them to find that out.)
I minimize my political preaching in my fiction, and I often present both sides of an issue. But maybe in this day of cozy mysteries, bodice rippers, and wild erotica bordering on porn, readers just prefer to bury their heads in the sand and look for books that have no serious themes in them at all? I’m still trying to figure it out. I just know I can’t write that stuff—I need to put some meat in my stories (and not in the sense of Fifty Shades). If that’s not selling, so be it. If you have any ideas, drop me a line about why you won’t try a book written by Steve Moore? There’s a contact page at this website, but here’s my email: steve@stevenmmoore.com.
Freebies. Don’t get excited. I don’t do them anymore. I might offer a book at a special sales price. For example, I’m thinking about one last Kindle Countdown sale for my Amazon exclusive (KDP Select) books before I add them to Smashwords (they can no longer be exclusive to Amazon then)—see the one above. But all my ebooks save one are permanently on sale at $2.99 or $3.99, a real bargain when you compare with a traditionally published ebook at $12.99. OK, they’re not fluff. They might make you think a bit, in addition to entertaining you.
Giving ebooks away never did me any good and made me feel like crap because I was basically saying that all my hard work isn’t worth anything. I’d advise ALL authors to avoid that funky feeling. And I hope all readers who make a steady reading diet out of freebies will rethink their miserliness—at indie prices, you can afford to take a chance! And, by not supporting authors, all those freebies will go the way of the dinosaurs. In fact, if you’ll only read my ebooks if they’re free, I don’t want you as a reader.
Of course, I still give away free stuff. If you’re reading this newsletter, it’s free. If you’ve enjoyed the short stories I’ve posted in this blog (archived in “Steve’s Shorts”), those are free. The op-ed articles on current events and the writing business (archived in “Writing”) are free. The book and movie reviews are free. You can circulate these items or repost them to your own blog as long as you give me credit (if a copyright isn’t attached to the item, the overall copyright corresponding to this website applies).
Reviews. And you can read my books for free: I will always give you a freebie in exchange for an honest review. To those who have done this in the past, I salute you and express my gratitude. I’m a reviewer myself, and I think it’s a good thing when readers post a review about the things they like and dislike about a book—readers need that kind of information.
Some people say they’ll do a review just to get the freebie, but then never deliver—scum of the Earth, I say—but never fear, I keep track. I know who you are. You’ll never receive another freebie from me! Most of these sad cases correspond to people who pass as book bloggers, which explains why I’ve stopped querying them. (Warning to authors: Simon Royale’s list is mostly worthless. Advice to bloggers: you should query me instead! You’re the first person to know whether you’re interested in one of my books.)
Pre-release reviewers for Rogue Planet. That said, I’m building a pre-pub list of reviewers for Rogue Planet. Thanks to all who have already signed up. Drop me an email if you’re interested. It will be released real soon now. When it is, you’ll get it hot off the press, as they say (it will be in all ebook formats and in paper).
Crowd funding. I’ve said it in this newsletter and many other places in this blog and elsewhere, my business model is probably the worst in the book world: I try to produce the next book and maintain this website using royalties from previous books. While this has given me an extensive catalog, I’m at the end of my rope and the noose is tightening (in other words, the towel mentioned above). I guess it could be called authorcide instead of suicide.
A depressing fact: there are more real visitors to this site (blog readers?) than readers of my books. In fact, as the number of real visitors increases, the number of readers of my books decreases (that political thing mentioned above?). An interesting phenomenon, to say the least, but it’s killing my motivation for releasing more books. (Never fear, I have plenty in mind, and two manuscripts are already ready—I’m waiting until I can afford the production costs.)
I’ve thought about crowd funding. Forget about Amazon’s Scout. That’s not really crowd funding because the production costs for the author are nearly the same, and the author must go Amazon exclusive (i.e. KDP Seclect). I suppose that’s good business practice on the part of Amazon, but being exclusive on Amazon has never done much for me.
People suggest Kickstart and other websites—I’ve seen some authors try those—but you want to know which crowd funding really works? Readers buying the author’s books! My catalog is extensive. You can crowd fund me by buying one or more of my books. That was the idea of my business model all along; I just didn’t call it crowd funding.
The catalog. I won’t bore you with details (see the “Books and Short Stories” webpage at this site), but I’ll mention that I have 21 books to offer you (22 when Rogue Planet is published). That’s a lot of entertaining reading at a reasonable price. As I stated above, if you’re reluctant to just dive in, put your toe in the water with the freebies I’ve mentioned. I just finished posting the novella “Escape from Earth,” for example. (This novella and several short stories are also free on Wattpad in slightly more polished versions without ad libs and advertising.)
I also have two short story collections priced at $0.99: Pop Two Antacids and Have Some Java, an intro to the main characters in the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series” (the antacids are the Tums Mr. C is always chewing to counteract the acid in his coffee—I didn’t want a product name in the title); and Fantastic Encores!, an intro to characters found in the “Chaos Chronicles Trilogy” and the inimitable Dr. Carlos of starship Brendan. All other books are $2.99 and $3.99 save one.
Advertising. When you do try my writing, don’t keep it a secret—tell your friends, relatives, and acquaintances about me. If you’re reading one of these blog posts, don’t be shy—I love comments and will accept most opinions, as long as you keep it clean. If you’ve finished a book or short story, let me know your opinion. Better still, right a review if it’s a book. Word-of-mouth, whether face-to-face or via the internet, is still the author’s best advertising. While I outsource PR and marketing for a new book release, I keep those costs to a minimum, as I do with production costs. I pass those savings on to you, the reader, giving you quality entertainment at bargain prices.
Bottom line. Readers, help authors out. Buy their books. Be adventurous—you certainly can afford to try new authors at most indie prices. And, most of all, read, read, read. It’s the least expensive and best quality entertainment around.
In libris libertas….
