Be Careful What You Wish For

As most of you readers realize I've not posted in almost a month and for good reason. Remember a few months ago I was talking about a vacation where I didn't have to lift a finger? Well I got it last month. A vacation nobody would want...I've went to the hospital.  I had a stroke.

I am still waiting for the right side of my body to wake up. So I won"t be posting for a while and one handed hen pecking like this posting like this is for the birds. Will return when life returns to normal.

Keep writing and loving the Lord.

Rest and Relaxation Friday--Well Sort Of

Today is TGIF! Yippee! Horray! Well I finished editing my competition novella for the Black Orchid Competition. Almost 18,000 words.

I read it aloud to my family group last night after dinner. Consensus was entertaining with a weird twist like most of my stories.I had them glued with one of the high speed chases in the story and an Evil Kenevil type stunt.

Either way the decision on the winner will be in December. Wish me luck.  If I lose I'll publish it myself. If I win I'm headed for NYC. It's a win-win for me either way.
  I enjoy playing with words almost if not more than I like playing with food.

If you read my Wednesday post, you'll know that I unpublished the Kindle version of "Escape from Second Eden." I'll start on the reformatting and editing this weekend. But today is Friday. I'm taking the day off from writing and letting my fast and furious working muses rest. The only thing I have on the agenda is ONE wedding for a local doctor and then I'm done. It will be the first one wedding Friday in about four months.

I plan on hitting the hay early and getting a fresh start on Saturday morning. First I have to upload my copy of "Eden" off a CD-ROM onto my new computer. Since most of my stuff is in two places still (my old office and the new one) it may take some searching. I really need to get myself organized better. But that's a project for another weekend not this one.

This weekend I'm focusing on editing and formatting. Since it is a long weekend I can't mail my entry out until Tuesday anyhow.

Keep writing and loving the Lord.

Decision Made

Well, it's been in research and discussion for a while now. I don't do anything without a critical thinking process. I'm pulling my first three books off of Amazon Kindle for reformatting.

Escape from Second Eden

The Sacrificial Lamb

Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption

Will all get a face lift over the next couple months. I'm going to work on the kindle versions and possibly give them new titles. If you want an e-copy I'm going to ask my readers to get their copies from Smashwords and the paperbacks will still be available through Amazon and CreateSpace. Only the Kindle version will not be available on Amazon.

It will take about a month for each copy. Starting next month with "Escape from Second Eden." This has been an arduous decision for me, but like anything else...this is a learning process.

Keep writing and loving the Lord.

Monday Mayhem & More for the Indie Author

Well folks it's Monday again. Had a long weekend of weddings and assorted other things go on during the two day break. I started writing a novella for the Black Orchid Awards a couple months back. It's coming together nicely. The deadline is fast approaching and I hope to get all the tweaking done in time...if not there is always next year.


What's a novella? It's a short book. Longer than a short story but over 15,000 words. I'm finding with self/e-publishing shorter is better. It sells cheaper, it's a fast read, and I can plan, finish, edit, and write them much faster than their novel counterparts. It would be the only writing I do that I would even consider offering for $0.99 to $1.99. It's not that I value my writing higher than anyone else, it's more like I worked hard putting my works together and as such I should be paid for it.

Pricing your work is one of the most difficult things you will have to do as an indie author. But honestly, no matter what you charge for your books, they may not sell. With the rush to e-publish that I've seen in the past couple years...there is just too much free stuff available for readers. Some of it is total trash while others are quite well done. While I may be plugging away between $0.99 - $3.99 for e-versions of my books, I'm not a household name like say Critchton, Gabaldon, Brown, or Clancy. The fact is millions out there have no idea who I am, that I am writing novels and nonfiction, or where to find me. Via all the social marketing sites I may hit 1/1,000,000,000 of readers out there. That's a pretty small market. My odds are better winning the lottery.

So why do I persist? Because I have to. I know that sounds trite, but it's a fact. Without writing something everyday, I feel lost, disorientated and like I'm not doing anything but standing still. So, I move forward and write. While I might never get notoriety, it's enough that I tried. Sometimes you just have to accept "enough." If you don't love what you are doing, if you are doing it for someone else, or if you are doing it just for the money...you are writing for the wrong reasons.

I'm also getting ready for the Southeastern Writer's Workshop next month. I didn't enter any of the manuscript categories for a possible prize, not really sure which classes I want to take...so many to choose from. While I have manuscripts ready for possible publication to show an agent or editor...I'm not pitching one. So why in the heck am I spending a few hundred dollars to attend? It's a chance to touch actual physical bases with other authors. An opportunity to share ideas. I am, after thirty years in this business of writing, still a novice. Okay maybe not a novice, but I can always learn new things.

Keep writing and loving the Lord.

More Self-Help for Indie Authors- Market Shares

On Tuesday and Wednesday I talked about the business ends of self-publishing and being an indie author. I'll continue that thread today. Today's focus is more about the entrepreneurial spirit of being an indie author. Today's topic is analyzing data and market shares, and why you should care as a writer.

I know many of you have tried being traditionally published. I'm not knocking it. I traditionally publish also or at least did in the past. I know there is a swing towards being an indie author with traditionally published author. So much so that traditional publishers are hurting financially to the point of lawsuits and bankruptcies.

As a child and young adult, I spent hours in brick and mortar bookshops and libraries. Now, the internet makes it so much easier to find what you want from the comfort of your home. With electronic media such as twitter, Facebook, and Google+ you don't actually have to meet up with friends to chat.

I had another author friend ask me about GoodReads. I've been a member there for about a year now like most of the social medias. GoodReads is a different animal all together. It's all about the reader. You can promote your books as an author, but more importantly it ties you in with other readers. For me, I developed a fan page there also. It's not getting a whole lot of activity but that's okay for me. I'm chatting away with other readers about books I read and write.

It's market research. I know many writers do research into the markets they are writing in whether they are traditionally published or self-published.

It shows the writer who reads what and what they thought about it.  This is important. In the old days you'd have to hire a market research firm to get this valuable information for big bucks. I know I've done it and charged the big bucks to do it. It's like Google Analytics. With GoodReads I can speak to readers one on one as well as other authors. What works and what doesn't. It saves time. You can develop an email list of those who are reading you as an author for your next novel. It's a back door look into the publishers' confidentiality clause. It's what standard publishers do so well.

Do you know the market for your books? Okay, say it's romance. Ah, but what kind of romance is it? Paranormal? Historical? The Barbara Cartland type? The steamy erotica type? There are a whole host of sub genres in one category. Do you know who your market is? Doh! Women, right? Yes, but what are their age brackets? What nationality reads more romances than any other? What is their educational background? This is data all necessary for you to figure out who makes up your readers' market. You wouldn't sell a teenie booper romance to an elderly woman, would you? No of course not, you would hit the tween market.

Wouldn't you want to cultivate that particular market? This is what most agents say "know your market." This is not necessarily a broad area. It could be a specialized market niche. Say you write a military based how-too book. Housewives on average will not buy it. The language you use in the book wouldn't be warm and fuzzy...it goes over most men's heads. You'd get this kind of look from them. ----------->

As an indie author you have to know who your audience is and how to reach them. It's building your "platform." It's creating a mailing list. It's letting those who would possibly buy your book know who you are and what you've written. Most writers do not see the sense in wasting their time on twitter, Facebook, GoodReads, Google+, etc because they don't see results instantly. Social media is not about sales...it's about the possibility of future sales and building relationships with readers. Like this blog does for other writers. You may have few viewers at the present time, but it grows.

For traditional publishing a successful internet platform is 5,000 hits a day is optimum. But for the indie author it's a growing experience.

Keep writing and loving the Lord.