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I'm writing an modern fantasy series. The first one's been done for a while and I'm working on the second. Is there any reason to finish the second one before putting the first one out? Do people ever put out two at once?
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Oct 24, 2016 17:08
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I'd wait at least a month between releases. You get a discoverability boost for the first 30 days or so, and longer you have a book in that grace period, the better. I just publish as soon as I'm done.
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Oct 24, 2016 17:18
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How do you do, fellow kids? Long time lurker and previous denizen of CC here (you may know/loathe me for being involved with A Game of Bones, or for the snippets of Song of Ice and Wire crossovers). I finally took the plunge as well and decided to self-publish a set of three short stories that make up a larger framework of an idea I had years ago. Yeah, I know, short fiction doesn't sell that well. But I am not a marketing-first kind of writer guy (also, being back in school for a career change gets in the way). At any rate, I had the idea for this particular series several years ago and had been writing a short story every Halloween previous to it. I thought to combine them, but also to start something new. Fast forward a few years later, with several moves, a return to school, and a breakup (two, actually...) inbetween, and I finally got off my rear end and made a website, got a cover done up, procrastinated another year, and finally released this week. I used draft2digital and it made my hours and hours spent trying to format a .doc with Calibre and by hand with HTML a completely trivial task. I modified the epub preview they gave and resubmitted it for processing, as well as uploaded that copy to Amazon kdp. That was Sunday night. As of today, all my selected vendors have the book live. Incredible. My cover was done my the inimitable asylum years, if he's still around. The stories themselves are supernatural/horror fiction, and by anthologizing the whole thing, I hope to not only cover more creative ground, but to eventually open this thing up to collaborators. Thanks for all the advice and tales of your work, all! Feel free to spread some links: https://books2read.com/u/mvYWWl https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M3U24MJ If you twit, I'm attempting to use that too: https://twitter.com/PenumbraBen Feel free to PM or tweet or whatever if you feel like commiserating or if you want to do a review exchange or something similar. Cheers! SaviourX fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Oct 25, 2016 |
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Oct 25, 2016 18:19
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I'm a few days away from being ready to send my new MS to my editor, and my artist is already working on a cover. I've already sent her the first scene though, because I want to upload that somewhere as a sneak preview on Halloween. The problem I have is that I don't have anywhere to host it - no website or anything. It's 4,500 words, so it's too long to just post on Facebook or wherever (and, let's face it, that wouldn't be ideal anyway.) Does anyone have any bright ideas about where I can put it up that would present the least hassle for my readers? I'm guessing making it a .pdf would probably be best, but I could make it into a .mobi or whatever as well. Any suggestions would be welcome. I suppose I could just use Dropbox - but I always get very paranoid when sharing stuff from Dropbox!
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Oct 26, 2016 19:14
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Wattpad? Livejournal? Medium? Tumblr? Blogspot?
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Oct 26, 2016 19:51
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Ooh, Wattpad's a good idea, thanks! I don't really want to start a blog just for one entry, but Wattpad should do nicely. Cheers for the suggestion!
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Oct 26, 2016 19:58
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Flopstick posted:Ooh, Wattpad's a good idea, thanks! I don't really want to start a blog just for one entry, but Wattpad should do nicely. Cheers for the suggestion! You can also be a balla and dump a sample chapter into an epub file  not worth it unless you're tech savvy
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Oct 28, 2016 06:03
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Hey thread, lurker here. Posting here to let you know that I published my first novel. Ove Hakon: The Storm To Fault is a story about power and revenge. A man emerges from a hole in the ground on the modern-day Faroe Islands and has only one thing on his mind: to find a woman named Dereliss. He has the supernatural power of flight, among others, to help him realize his goal. The cover art's by the talented Gábor Csigás, as recommended by this very thread. Thanks for listening. Hope it works out!
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Nov 3, 2016 18:08
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Here is a collection of creepy stories from a goon or possibly two. Sales SMASHED my Halloween expectations, meaning I thought people would buy it and then they did not. I just like writing, though, and wanted to share, so here is $0.99 worth of short stories! Memento mori means “Remember death.” The four short stories in this book preach that even in an age of convenience and comfort, death is ever-present and inevitable. Visit a rural town hiding something sinister in "The Red Wall". Root for a frustrated middle-management drone make something out of his life in "Self Help". Walk through the piney woods of East Texas in "There is a House". Decide whether we all get what we deserve in "Reck: Part 1". https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/674766 https://www.amazon.com/Memento-Mori-Joseph-R-Halbert-ebook/dp/B01MDT7EMJ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1478260875&sr=1-1 (This should be $0.99 at some point today instead of whatever it's listed as now.]
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Nov 4, 2016 13:03
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I'm done with my first book and ready to move into the actual publishing phase. Is there an updated list of good resources for buying a cover? The OP is quite old by now.
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Nov 5, 2016 01:31
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freebooter posted:I'm done with my first book and ready to move into the actual publishing phase. Is there an updated list of good resources for buying a cover? The OP is quite old by now. It will depend a lot on the genre
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Nov 5, 2016 03:37
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freebooter posted:I'm done with my first book and ready to move into the actual publishing phase. Is there an updated list of good resources for buying a cover? The OP is quite old by now. I will also tell you if your cover idea sucks and is bad, and most other cover designers don't offer that service 
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Nov 5, 2016 04:21
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Zombie apocalypse horror?
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Nov 6, 2016 02:14
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Halbey posted:Here is a collection of creepy stories from a goon or possibly two. Sales SMASHED my Halloween expectations, meaning I thought people would buy it and then they did not. I just like writing, though, and wanted to share, so here is $0.99 worth of short stories! This sounds up my alley and cool and rad and so is the cover, so well done. Sold!
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Nov 6, 2016 19:40
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freebooter posted:Zombie apocalypse horror?
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Nov 6, 2016 20:53
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When I first wrote it years and years ago it was a serial called End Times, now I've re-edited it and want to publish it as a series. For this first one I've settled on End Times: Rise of the Undead, because "Rise of the Undead" only appears to have been used once before for a straight-to-video horror movie in 2005. (A lot of better titles I can think of are already in use). I'm not wedded to "End Times" as a title for the series as a whole, especially since it seems strongly associated with Christianity and Revelations etc on the internet, but I can't think of anything particularly more compelling either.
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Nov 7, 2016 00:14
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made you a thing, let me know if you want it. If you want to try to recreate it yourself the font is nexa, stock photo from depositphotos.
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Nov 7, 2016 02:11
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moana posted:And I'm out of the writing game for now Really curious about why, if you're willing to share.
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Nov 7, 2016 15:19
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because of this stupid babby I made:  I just don't have the brain energy to devote to writing, and I never wanted to do it forever - 25 novels is enough for me! I made almost a million dollars in the past four years and that's good enough for at least a semi-retirement to take care of the kiddo for awhile 
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Nov 7, 2016 21:28
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moana posted:made you a thing, let me know if you want it. If you want to try to recreate it yourself the font is nexa, stock photo from depositphotos. Thanks, I like it - will tinker with the title a bit and change it to my pen name. I have this idea in my head that a book needs a super distinctive cover, and have to keep reminding myself the piece of advice I heard that by far the most important thing is that it gives off the right genre vibe when looked at as a thumbnail alongside dozens of others. And a million dollars? Wow. Wow. I'd be happy if I could just shave a bit off my monthly rental bill.
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Nov 7, 2016 23:35
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moana posted:because of this stupid babby I made: But look how happy he is that you're writing!
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Nov 7, 2016 23:36
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Congrats, moana! Also just wanted to echo Bardeh's contractor pain from the last page. 
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Nov 9, 2016 07:46
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You guys think us full timers will have affordable healthcare next year?
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Nov 9, 2016 07:51
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angel opportunity posted:You guys think us full timers will have affordable healthcare next year? Ha. 
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Nov 9, 2016 08:14
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For some bizarre reason, Kindle Unlimited has launched in Australia. Amazon.com.au only sells ebooks, so I guess if you see a strange spike in earnings from Australia it's probably a bunch of people jumping on the month's free trial, because why not, free books for a month.
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Nov 9, 2016 13:08
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Be aware everyone due to an orange STD being our next president.... our sales this month won't look great. At least that's a main theory from a lot of pretty big romance authors. Judging by the way the markets are looking, id say that's a good hunch.
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Nov 9, 2016 14:44
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LionArcher posted:Be aware everyone due to an orange STD being our next president.... our sales this month won't look great. At least that's a main theory from a lot of pretty big romance authors. Judging by the way the markets are looking, id say that's a good hunch. You're saying that a predominantly female audience isn't going to be interested in escapism right now?
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Nov 9, 2016 18:45
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Benson Cunningham posted:You're saying that a predominantly female audience isn't going to be interested in escapism right now? I think they will be, but it will take till December. Either way, good luck with us paying for healthcare! Gotta adjust my budget to include how much more I'll have to pay.
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Nov 9, 2016 20:51
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I'm at like, 500 pages read the last 2 days. What the hell? The election is killing me. It's even worse than Halloween.
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Nov 9, 2016 21:25
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Any advice for someone writing a mystery/detective novel? It's not something I see talked about here at all. It seems just behind romance in terms of numbers moved, and I think I've done enough research to write to market well enough (it has is own stable of conventions and expectations, just like romance) but unlike a lot of other genres out there, there's not a huge public indie scene for it. I don't have PM's if you don't to chat publically but you can track me at dasleah at gmail . com if you want.
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Nov 12, 2016 22:10
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Advice is pretty much the same. Write series. Audiences skew older, so older protagonists may be a good idea. There's no magic bullet, though, and the audience demands something that could have been predicted but isn't. Or at least mine does.
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Nov 12, 2016 22:14
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If anyone is in need of editing services, I have a few slots left before the end of the year. Or you can book for early next year. I don't have PM here so send an email to booksidemanner at gmail.
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Nov 13, 2016 01:53
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I'm writing a short children's novel and in order to get into the flow of it, I've been writing a shorter story in the same format. My original plan was to "sell (was gonna list it as PWYW)" the shorter story on Gumroad and get feedback from that to use towards the first book, but Gumroad doesn't use reviews. Would it be garish to dedicate a page at the end like "Thank you for reading, there's more to come soon and if you liked what you read, don't hesitate to tell me at (my email).
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Nov 13, 2016 17:51
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Like Aaronicon, I'm also considering writing mystery and crime fiction. I think I'd like to try something with a humorous bent to it, like the works of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen. I'm trying to do some research on the market, but I can't even figure out if that's a specific genre. Amazon seems to categorize their books in different--but nearly identical--genres. Can anyone point me towards an understanding of Amazon's categories and how the ranks within them work? I'd love to have a clearer sense of the size of this market before I commit myself. e: I should add that I've learned a lot of useful stuff about Amazon ranks by reading older posts in this thread, like the relative significance within a category of #100 vs #1,000 vs #10,000. But I still haven't got a good sense of how different categories compare to each other in market size or why books that seem similar to me are in completely different, but similar-sounding, categories. Steely Dad fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Nov 14, 2016 |
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Nov 14, 2016 01:25
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I have been sitting here for three hours trying to write a blurb and I never thought it would be this hard.
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Nov 14, 2016 06:00
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I've written a few blurbs for my satire novel. Do any of these look like they would work as a blurb?Blurb #1 posted:While Dustin Fowler is slacking off at his job at the Fresh ‘n Tasty supermarket (which he hates), he gets a visit from George Miles, a biotechnologist, who asks him about Grace Wheeler, an obese customer that Dustin delivers groceries to. George insists he’s not a fat fetishist (even though Dustin never asked) and the two are drawn into a struggle to uncover what happened to Grace after she ate that last delivery of food. While they strive to uncover the mystery, they have to deal with Rupert Riley, Dustin’s supervisor, who’s obsession with a radio personality devolves from a bit obsessive to almost certainly felonious; Craig Shearer, the rockstar cooking celebrity, who is in rehab more than he’s in the kitchen; Miss Wong, a full service masseuse and expert in kung fu; and a GMO seed inspector that does dirty business on the side for a high flying CEO trying to keep the lid on a scandal that threatens his company and the planet. Blurb #2 posted:Dustin Fowler, a young grocery delivery driver, hates his boring job. When he delivers a box of toaster pastries containing genetically engineered corn, he discovers that they cause mutations in the public that threaten the country and the world. With the help of a genetic engineer that worked on the project, Dustin uncovers the people behind the mutations and tries to stop them before everyone is infected. Blurb #3 posted:Dustin Fowler, a twenty-one year old grocery delivery driver, and George Miles, a biotechnologist working for the world’s largest biotech corporation, discover a problem with a strain of genetically modified corn that has been on the market for over a year. As they fight against the corporation to expose the danger to the nation, they uncover a larger conspiracy that threatens the entire world. Space Taxi fucked around with this message at 08:29 on Nov 14, 2016 |
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Nov 14, 2016 06:02
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OK, working blurb. Zombie apocalypse, first volume in a series, title is Rise of the Undead:quote:New Year's Day; midsummer in Australia. In Perth, twin brothers Aaron and Matt have graduated high school and are enjoying their last few weeks of freedom before adulthood - while on the other side of the country, something has fallen from the sky, heralding the dawn of a new age...
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Nov 14, 2016 09:21
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Space Taxi posted:I've written a few blurbs for my satire novel. Do any of these look like they would work as a blurb? Blurb 1 Don't use parentheses in a blurb like this. This reads like a laundry list of zany characters and by the last paragraph, I don't remember which one Grace is. If you are ever having to mark your lists off with semicolons in a blurb, you know you are laundry-listing. There's a lot of words here but I don't really know what the story is about. All I got is that it's zany. Like, I understand that you mention a mystery, but it's totally drowned out by the zany list of people. Blurb 2 This blurb is better to me in that it makes it quite clear what the story is and what it is about. It, however, sounds really loving boring. I wouldn't want to read this story, and it gives no hint you are doing a satire/zany thing. Just having read these two blurbs, I'd almost want you to be 65-70% Blurb 2, 30% Blurb 1 so that I know what the story is actually about but can also get an idea what the tone of the book is. Blurb 3 This blurb is kind of hitting the ratio right but it needs work. You have really extraneous and boring poo poo in there like "for over a year." I hesitate to even say this, but the "fight the corporation" thing just SOUNDS boring as hell. It's a long-existing trope and you see tons of movies pulling it off and making it compelling, so maybe there is just a way to phrase it so it doesn't sound dull as poo poo. The second paragraph--for me--is about the level of "zany" that I actually prefer here. Blurb 1 was just so over the top I had no interest at all, but the line "a woman following her dream to become the world’s fattest person" and "and Tolkien-themed Pyramid schemes" are just about the right level of interest grab that works for me. The stuff you listed off here is just enough without becoming ridiculous. I'd look for second opinions because I would never want to actually read this book no matter how good the blurb was, so I'm not your target audience, but Blurb 3 is looking best to me to keep polishing.
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Nov 14, 2016 10:06
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Still tinkering with a blurb, this is honestly so much loving harder than actually writing a book:quote:New Year's resolution: keep a journal.
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Nov 18, 2016 12:39
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So, a question about ARCs. Who should they go to other than your mailing list? Reviewers? Goodreads contacts? Friends and family? Passerbys on the street because the crazy incoherent guy can't stop ranting about publishing? I'm aiming to get the second novel at the beginning of next year, and I had a lot of success as a free download, but not many takers on the mailing list. ARCs are one of the things from my last release process that I completely whiffed on, and I don't want to repeat my mistakes. late edit: While I'm at it, is it worth holding a Bookbub free giveaway once my KDP exclusivity runs out? The book's clearly out of gas at this point, but it might inspire a second wave of interest that I could ride into the next release. idk! Chokes McGee fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Nov 19, 2016 |
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Nov 19, 2016 02:00
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