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Secret Agent X23 posted:Added to the list up above. Not sure how I missed these, since I had read Jackboots for Jesus at breaktime at work earlier today. I mean, talk about an attention-getting title. (and having grown up sitting in any number of classes taught by nuns...) No worries 
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Apr 20, 2011 11:06
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You guys all have a backlog of stuff written that you are just now putting online/back log of stuff online that you are just now plugging, right? 'Cause it has taken me more than half a week just to get through 3600 words of a 7000 word pulpy short story and I am dreading worrying about the cover. e: thanks for putting all the books in one place and the "make your ebooks not look poo poo" links. Arnold of Soissons fucked around with this message at 12:11 on Apr 20, 2011 |
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Apr 20, 2011 12:07
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FingerbangMisfire posted:I would happily contribute to this and I think it's a great idea. That list above should totally be in the OP.
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Apr 20, 2011 13:46
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Arnold of Soissons posted:You guys all have a backlog of stuff written that you are just now putting online/back log of stuff online that you are just now plugging, right? Yah, so far I'm working through stuff that has been published other places a year or two back and the rights have reverted back to me. There's some other stuff that's out on submission that might get put up on amazon if they don't find a home and some others I'm writing specifically for the ebook format that will be awhile.
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Apr 20, 2011 14:08
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I had my two short stories ready to go, so I figured I'd publish them while I was getting my novel ready . Other than that, I have a lot of "almost done, but I for some reason never finished" stories that I can polish and pub, too. We're not all just busting these out overnight. Well, unless someone in this thread is a Fiction Machine, in which case, well played.
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Apr 20, 2011 17:10
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Myrddin Emrys posted:That list above should totally be in the OP. Yep. I'll add it now. I think I got all of them. Lemme know if I didn't somehow. (Brain's fried at the moment) FingerbangMisfire fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Apr 20, 2011 |
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Apr 20, 2011 20:08
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Arnold of Soissons posted:You guys all have a backlog of stuff written that you are just now putting online/back log of stuff online that you are just now plugging, right? I wouldn't worry about deadlines. You're your own editor in self-publishing. The timing and publication schedule is all up to you. It should be less stressful! As for myself, I do have a little back log of stories I've been sitting on/editing. I'm trying to time the releases so they come out at about the rate of 2 per month. Or once every 2 weeks. Something like that. What's everyone's self-imposed writing discipline like? I usually aim to get 1,000+ words down a night, then give myself a day to edit, then write, and on like that. FingerbangMisfire fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Apr 20, 2011 |
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Apr 20, 2011 20:22
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FingerbangMisfire posted:What's everyone's self-imposed writing discipline like? 
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Apr 20, 2011 20:26
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FingerbangMisfire posted:What's everyone's self-imposed writing discipline like? I generally get some words down every night. Some times it's 500, some times it's 2500. Just depends on the work week and the family needs for a given week/day. I write movie reviews and stuff too, so I'm generally writing something most nights, but it may not always be on a new story.
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Apr 20, 2011 21:36
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Poopinstein posted:I generally get some words down every night. Some times it's 500, some times it's 2500. Just depends on the work week and the family needs for a given week/day. I write movie reviews and stuff too, so I'm generally writing something most nights, but it may not always be on a new story. This is more like me . I try to put some words down every day, but I don't sweat it if I miss a day. I know I'll go nuts on another one, and it will all even out.
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Apr 20, 2011 22:31
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Myrddin Emrys posted:Complete lack of, right now, due to work craziness. I have lots of freetime, I'm funemployed! 
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Apr 20, 2011 22:55
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Now that we're all cranking out some e-books, who's ready for some research?  I listen to a couple different writing podcasts and most tend to get into the subject of self publishing a bit from time to time. The big one is Mur Lafferty's I Should Be Writing. Generally it's a lot of writing tips, answering people's questions on writers block, etc. But she gets some really good interviews and lot are self-pub people (generally with a good amount of success). Mur herself has done a lot of releases as podcasts (podiobooks?) And she just recently raised something ridiculous like $19,000 via kickstarter to put out a print run (not Print on Demand mind you, paying out of pocket for the run) of her long podcast story series "Heaven" Scott Sigler gets mentioned on her podcast a lot too. He seems to be a self publishing juggernaut. The Dead Robot Society is another podcast I listen too. The hosts themselves are at the same point we all are in our writing careers, but they have interviews every week as well. They actually have Mur Lafferty on their most recent episode and there's some really great insight on the indie author angle. One of my biggest fears is that somebody will tell me I'm ripping people off for charging $.99 for my crappy short story...she put it in great context; those same people will blow $10-15 on a sub-par 2 hour movie or blow $60 on a video game. The $.99, $1.99 we're charging? It's a drop in the bucket. If they don't like it? That's their problem! So, there's some resources for you to check out. There's a new report out this week too that e-books are now the #1 selling medium which is pretty huge! Sorry for the rambling, I'm excited about all this
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Apr 20, 2011 23:56
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Thank you for the links. I'm looking forward to listening. And Arnold of Soissons posted:Made me laugh obnoxiously loud.
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Apr 21, 2011 00:01
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Poopinstein posted:The Dead Robot Society is another podcast I listen too. The hosts themselves are at the same point we all are in our writing careers, but they have interviews every week as well. They actually have Mur Lafferty on their most recent episode and there's some really great insight on the indie author angle. One of my biggest fears is that somebody will tell me I'm ripping people off for charging $.99 for my crappy short story...she put it in great context; those same people will blow $10-15 on a sub-par 2 hour movie or blow $60 on a video game. The $.99, $1.99 we're charging? It's a drop in the bucket. If they don't like it? That's their problem! Thank you so much for this . I've been obsessing over this very question all day, so this is exactly what I needed to hear. I mean, think about it. Our story is both cheaper and better for you than a Mt. Dew Code Red! Ain't no thing to take a chance on it. Also, I just learned about Amazon tagging from the Kindle Boards. Have you guys already tagged each other, and if not, is anyone interested in setting up a tagging party? It seems like the more people tag you, the easier it is for your story to pop up through the Amazon search engines. We can also "like" each other. Thoughts?
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Apr 21, 2011 00:10
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tarepanda posted:It just occurred to me that it would be neat to make a Goon anthology and publish it, then buy a banner ad or something... but then we'd have to hammer out pricing and money distribution, etc. I would be interested in being part of this, if the rest of you will have me. Arnold of Soissons posted:You guys all have a backlog of stuff written that you are just now putting online/back log of stuff online that you are just now plugging, right? The five Ray Holland books are work I've done over the last four years or thereabouts, although a lot of the ideas and stories and fragments of text date back a lot farther. As far as self-publishing, I started putting out printed editions in late 2008 through CreateSpace. It's just recently that I've started publishing e-book versions.
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Apr 21, 2011 00:35
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I'd be down, but you'll have to explain the mechanics!
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Apr 21, 2011 00:43
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Two Head Knight posted:Also, I just learned about Amazon tagging from the Kindle Boards. Have you guys already tagged each other, and if not, is anyone interested in setting up a tagging party? I have similar tags on all my Kindle stories, and I actually just started going through folks' amazon pages & 'liking' them. HOORAY FOR US THINKING THE SAME. Tagging party sounds like a good idea. How do we go about it? Put up links to books & tags we'd like folks to use for them? (We're talking about the thing where you press t,t while on someone's amazon page, right?)
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Apr 21, 2011 00:44
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FingerbangMisfire posted:I have similar tags on all my Kindle stories, and I actually just started going through folks' amazon pages & 'liking' them. HOORAY FOR US THINKING THE SAME. I'd be up for a tagging party. My ebook is supposed to be done by the end of April. Tagging party would be a nice blogging tip to mention, too.
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Apr 21, 2011 01:55
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Kindleboards has a similar tag party that's been going on for an obscene 560 pages in one thread. Basically people ask for specific tags related to what they think people will search for when looking for their story. Also the more people check off and add tags the better the chance it has of coming up.(It's basically Amazon SEO and works through voodoo magic  )The key is basically to link your work through tags to other similar and perhaps well known works. People looking for something similar to that/clicking through the tags, can chance across your work through that tag. Also be sure to check out the popular tag cloud, it'll give you a raw view of the most popular tags. HiddenGecko fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Apr 21, 2011 |
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Apr 21, 2011 02:07
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Cloud: http://www.amazon.com/gp/tagging/cloud/ref=tag_sr_nss?redirect=true (anime art baby ... hip hop historical fiction, aw yeah) 560 pages is obscene, though. I don't think I can sift through all of that.
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Apr 21, 2011 02:15
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Yeah, I gave that thread a look and they are TAGGING MACHINES, I'd just get lost in the flurry of tagging.
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Apr 21, 2011 02:22
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Yeah, I hear that. As such I'm still in favor of goon-tagging.
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Apr 21, 2011 02:24
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Good news for me: I finished the principle writing on my short story today! Still need polish/editing/cover/formatting. But still! Good news for you: I can finally order my kindle this weekend! Which means I can finally go through and buy/read/review the books other people have written.
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Apr 21, 2011 02:40
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A quick question about formatting: whats the best way to format a manuscript before uploading to Amazon or any of the other sites you guys have talked about? Is it fine just to use regular indentations and stuff? I recall someone saying this may have hosed over the format when everything was said and down. Oh yeah, one mroe questions. I don't own a Kindle or anything. Can I still download stuff and read it through a text document or anything like that? I figured I should support people if I end up asking for the same. tarepanda posted:It just occurred to me that it would be neat to make a Goon anthology and publish it, then buy a banner ad or something... but then we'd have to hammer out pricing and money distribution, etc. That sounds kind of fun.
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Apr 21, 2011 02:46
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enigmahfc posted:A quick question about formatting: whats the best way to format a manuscript before uploading to Amazon or any of the other sites you guys have talked about? Is it fine just to use regular indentations and stuff? I recall someone saying this may have hosed over the format when everything was said and down. Tab is your enemy for formatting. Set up a paragraph rule that indents the first line and you should be OK (though you may end up going back through your manuscript and rejiggering a few things). Also, no more than one blank line between paragraphs or you'll end up with a giant white space. And, yep, Amazon has a free Kindle For PC program that'll let you read whatever you buy. Arnold of Soissons posted:Good news for me: I finished the principle writing on my short story today! Still need polish/editing/cover/formatting. But still! Congratulations, man.
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Apr 21, 2011 02:49
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enigmahfc posted:A quick question about formatting: whats the best way to format a manuscript before uploading to Amazon or any of the other sites you guys have talked about? Is it fine just to use regular indentations and stuff? I recall someone saying this may have hosed over the format when everything was said and down. http://guidohenkel.com/2010/12/take-pride-in-your-ebook-formatting/ Try this tutorial, he goes over all the basics and you'll be able to see your final copy before you upload it.
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Apr 21, 2011 02:53
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HiddenGecko posted:http://guidohenkel.com/2010/12/take-pride-in-your-ebook-formatting/ This is the best thing ever, thanks.
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Apr 21, 2011 03:12
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Okay, so I'm following the tutorial HiddenGecko posted, but I've hit a brick wall. The file he links to, jEdit (I can't use the Apple version because I don't have a Apple) keeps giving me errors when I paste in text-- C:\Program Files\jEdit\#Untitled-1#: Cannot save: java.io.FileNotFoundException: C:\Program Files\jEdit\#Untitled-1# (Access is denied) and keeps telling me I may not have permission to install the Java version. I'm the only user on the computer, so I guess the program is hosed (or I am). All i want to do is format the thing to work properly. Does anyone else have any resources they use to format for ebook? This is seriously more confusing then it has any right to be. enigmahfc fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Apr 21, 2011 |
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Apr 21, 2011 17:22
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hmmm, try opening jEdit as administrator, right click and it should be one of the options. That may fix the problem.
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Apr 21, 2011 17:47
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HiddenGecko posted:hmmm, try opening jEdit as administrator, right click and it should be one of the options. That may fix the problem. Yeah, I did that not ten seconds after posting and it worked. I'm just loving tired. One thing I noticed that wasn't really addressed is how should the text that is pasted into the program editor being formatted. Like, should it be double or single spaced? When I view the html file in my browser everything still looks lovely. Like every paragraph having having an extra space between it and the next, but all lines in that paragraph are single spaced, and the extra spaces I added to seperate different scenes/sections is just gone entirely. I loving hate web design, and that's what this is feeling like. I want to just give up, but I know I shouldn't just yet. All I want to do is put my short story up for people to look at, is that so wrong .Sorry about the venting just then, I promise I'll keep it out of here for future posts, but I'm just having a bad day.
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Apr 21, 2011 17:56
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well that's an issue I haven't had to address actually. I literally cut and paste my entire short story out of google docs and did that whole search ^(.+) thing to put in my <p> tags without a hitch. Maybe cut and paste your story into notepad, address any issues there then cut and paste from there to jEdit. Self-pubbing can be tough because you have to control every aspect of your work from conception to cover art so don't be discouraged, it's not easy. Poopinstein: Yeah, if you're terribly leery of coding and html try publishing through Smashwords first. Their whole meatgrinder thing is a little imposing but if you follow their style guide to the T It'll come out looking great and get simul-published in something like 10 markets. Benefits for you are that you only have to muck around in word and you can probably use the same document to submit to Amazon and get similar results when it's converted to .mobi or .epub. HiddenGecko fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Apr 21, 2011 |
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Apr 21, 2011 18:37
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I'm just ultra-paranoid of doing it wrong, since I feel I keep making mistakes when it comes to submitting and querying, and I'm so scared I will make the same stupid mistakes with an ebook. I'll just play with the formatting after work or this weekend. Seriously though, your blog entry is really helpful, I'm just impatient and easily discouraged (two things that MAKE THE BEST WRITER!) And the cover was the easy part for me. So I guess there's that.
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Apr 21, 2011 19:21
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I used the Smashwords Style Guide, seemed to be pretty easy. They give you a few different ways to format and make your changes. Worth a look!
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Apr 21, 2011 19:35
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enigmahfc posted:Sorry about the venting just then, I promise I'll keep it out of here for future posts, but I'm just having a bad day. Don't worry about venting. This thread is basically a digital pub where we can all bullshit & talk.
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Apr 21, 2011 20:40
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Though I have nothing to contribute, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone in this thread who did. After having a few bits and pieces rejected the traditional way, you've sort of re-lit a fire under my rear end. I was always sort of too shy/ashamed/self-deprecating to post in CC but I may actually start doing that now. gj goons 
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Apr 21, 2011 20:56
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AFM posted:Though I have nothing to contribute, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone in this thread who did. After having a few bits and pieces rejected the traditional way, you've sort of re-lit a fire under my rear end. I was always sort of too shy/ashamed/self-deprecating to post in CC but I may actually start doing that now. Remember, just because a magazine or publisher rejected your work it doesn't mean it was "bad". The ultimate reason I went this route is because getting readers is more important to me than perhaps some nebulous author cred. Submit a short story to a magazine, get it published once, and then have the readers of the magazine(who are probably authors hoping to submit to the magazine anyway) read it once and then throw out the magazine or put it away? It's like throwing your work into a black hole. Plus you'll have to wait a long while before you can republish it in other formats Vs. Having it sit, potentially forever, as an e-book that anyone can impulse buy for .99$ and I get a 35% royalty on each purchase!? and millions of people can find it on amazon? yeah Indie Publishing is going to be the future. The gatekeepers are shifting from publishing companies and editors to readers. And besides, we all write for the readers in the end so this is a good change in my opinion.
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Apr 21, 2011 21:18
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HiddenGecko posted:Remember, just because a magazine or publisher rejected your work it doesn't mean it was "bad". The ultimate reason I went this route is because getting readers is more important to me than perhaps some nebulous author cred. This! 100% agree. The only tangible reason to try to submit to magazines is to a) be able to join a writer's guild, or b) use it as a credit in a query letter. If you're no longer trying to kiss the asses of corporate publishers, why not start your career now and publish it yourself? It definitely seems more lucritive and with a MUCH higher potential for readers to stumble across your work.Speaking of stumbling across people's work, TAG PARTY! I'll help organize a tagging, liking, and reviewing party for this group if you'd like . Folks can PM me which tags they'd like for which books, and then I can compile a tidy list in the next day or two. Do you guys think that will work?Then we can put it in the OP and even set up a rotation if thing gets bigger than any one goon can handle. Also, everyone make sure now that you've used all 15 of your tags, AND that your tags are showing up on the UK store site. I read in the boards today that the UK site often doesn't show your US tags and you have to add them. Cheers! 
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Apr 22, 2011 00:03
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^^^Whoa, did not see your reply when previewing. OK, so I'm going to jump on this tagging party thing. Just post the links to your works and the tags you'd like us to add to its amazon page. (Press 't' twice in succession while on the page & it'll bring up a little window for the tags you want to add) http://www.amazon.com/Bodily-Harm-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B004TMM3OG/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2 http://www.amazon.com/Bodily-Harm-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B004TMM3OG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1303426973&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/The-Boneyard-A-Novelette-ebook/dp/B004WSQ4SI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1303426973&sr=8-3 william vitka, cheap read, amazon, kindle, science fiction, short stories, short story, horror, cheap, dark, comedy, humor, scifi, twist, vitka I have no idea if the order of the tags matters... Two Head Knight posted:Then we can put it in the OP and even set up a rotation if thing gets bigger than any one goon can handle. I can dig it. FingerbangMisfire fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Apr 22, 2011 |
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Apr 22, 2011 00:06
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enigmahfc posted:I'm just ultra-paranoid of doing it wrong, since I feel I keep making mistakes when it comes to submitting and querying, and I'm so scared I will make the same stupid mistakes with an ebook. Amazon gives you an in-browser preview before you publish and Barnes & Noble lets you download the file before you publish, so either way, you can reread/check for errors. With Lulu, you're uploading whatever it is that you finished, so you can look it over on your computer. On all three sites, you can also upload new versions, so if you find mistakes, just do what a publisher does and issue a new version. Amazon has the worst turnaround at around 3-5 days, the rest are usually same-day for updates. Long story short, don't worry about screwing something up because you can catch it in the preview stage and fix it later even if you do happen to submit.
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Apr 22, 2011 00:33
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I never really understood tags. Do they link books together, or are they more like search terms?
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Apr 22, 2011 00:51
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