|
angel opportunity posted:I made a long post but I guess I failed to press "submit reply" before I closed the window, so now it's gone... rewrite
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2015 16:11
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2024 05:48 |
|
|
Jalumibnkrayal posted:Bolding mine. I guess if it's one big pie, reducing payouts for EU/UK/Aus pages read should increase the payments for US pages read? Oh good, more uncertainty!
|
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2015 17:28
|
|
|
angel opportunity posted:I've switched to romance, but I'm kind of paralyzed with indecision about marketing and ARCs etc. My first shifter novella is done, but I can't tell if it's good or not. I'm going to buy Sundae's ARC service, and I have like 20ish people from my erotica mailing list who want an ARC as well. I'm really worried it's going to get like a 2-3 star average rating because it really just might not be very good. I really can't tell! I'm hoping to send the ARCs out this weekend, and once those are sent out, I'll just start writing another...then I'll publish the first one after I think I can get enough ARC people to post their reviews right as I release. Come back to IRC! Complain with the rest of us! Also, if you want another set of eyes on it, feel free to PM me.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2015 19:09
|
|
|
Shirec posted:Are there any names too terrible for romance novels? I was noodling over some but my experience before this is Sims names and World of Warcraft. Yes. Of course. But romance readers aren't idiots (some are) and tend to get the absurd/funny nature of a lot of these names.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 5, 2015 20:01
|
|
|
Shirec posted:Ok good. I wasn't going to go full Space Mutiny but it's a comfort to know winks and nods are acceptable. For some reason I was roadblocking over it. I hope once I get this first one out, the following will be easier. Everyone here is hella impressive! The more winks the better, I think. Romance readers like humor with their drama/steam. I mean, don't get overly meta, but there are plenty of romance where the heroine mentions loving trashy romance novels, etc, at least in the NA stuff I read. Also, there's a book called Prince Albert out in the top 10 of the whole Kindle store right now. It's about a Prince named Albert with a Prince Albert piercing. Yep.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 5, 2015 22:37
|
|
|
angel opportunity posted:I'm seeing so many people on the off-sites talk about them like they are nearly mandatory. I've come up against all of this, too, especially the bit with bargainbooksy booked way in advance yet requiring an Amazon link. Tough to get promo in the very first week if I need to plan 3-4 weeks ahead, yet still somehow have the book page up? I haven't really figured out a good workaround for this, or at least a better list of places willing to take submissions in advance. And as for Facebook ads, I don't use them. I see people saying they're getting huge ROI and some people not so much. Some people say it's great for getting list signups, and some say it's good for only expensive collections, and some that say it's fine for whatever. Basically, it seems like you can do pretty much whatever you want so long as you're willing to put the time and energy into perfecting it. Personally, I haven't been willing, but if my returns ever start to really drop then maybe I'll be singing a different tune.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 8, 2015 21:36
|
|
|
Jalumibnkrayal posted:I think it would be literally impossible to lose money on a PNR novel. Like, I would be impressed if you managed it. Yeah, agreed, unless you invest a ton of money. You might not make gangbusters, but it'll at least be a good foundation. Quick question: which month has been historically the best for Kindle sales? December? January? I know Kindlemas is a thing. Trying to plan ahead a bit at the moment.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 9, 2015 16:32
|
|
|
RedTonic posted:Some of us are rabid for the pomodoro technique, named for some dude's tomato-shaped timer. I was doing this for a while, back when I wasn't good at motivating! It definitely works.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 10, 2015 00:56
|
|
|
Unfortunately, the current romance self pub model basically means you need to release quickly and consistently (unless you get a bestseller or two, then you can probably sit back and count your gold for a bit). It really does reward the people that can just bang out a shitload of copy, spruce it up in editing, and shove it out there. If you can write a relatively good story and hit all the genre high points, all the better. Personally, in an ideal world, I'd get to the point where I'd only need to release every other month. But I just don't see that happening anytime soon, or at least at my current level of popularity. Then again, I'd much rather write dirty/fun stories every day than do most other things for work.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 10, 2015 14:27
|
|
|
angel opportunity posted:My mom wants to read my novella, and I really don't want her to... Gross
|
|
#
¿
Nov 10, 2015 15:16
|
|
|
RedTonic posted:I'm not really sure! That whole drama seems to have many parts. Review trolling is still a thing, period, but as for GR being an extremely bad example right now... Seems to depend on who you ask. Just throwing this out there, my experience with Goodreads has been pretty positive. Back when I didn't have a mailing list, I used to cold message people that liked romance offering them an ARC for a review. Got some responses that way. Then the next book I'd message those same people, plus more randoms, and so on. People that don't respond I never message again. All in all, I'd say the reviews on Goodreads tend to be harsher, but not that much harsher. Especially if you find people that actively read and review ARCs for authors. Plus, and someone on this thread may have given me this idea, you can basically 'forget' to remind the people that left you a bad review to leave their review on Amazon. I try and get reviews up on GR before I put up the Amazon page, and so far that works pretty well.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2015 14:28
|
|
|
EngineerSean posted:First of all I don't necessarily agree with the page title ("Don't Go Exclusive...") but the part that I quoted is absolutely true and I wanted to pass it on to anyone feeling down about the current state of the industry. I agree with all that, but also, what about erotica? That seems like an example where the 'sky is falling' mentality may actually be correct.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 13, 2015 15:06
|
|
|
magnificent7 posted:If the postal service will ship a book with feces smeared between the pages, I'll ship it to you free of charge. That was a really good video, good job! Made me want to buy your book (downloaded it for free).
|
|
#
¿
Nov 14, 2015 04:33
|
|
|
brotherly is right about all things!!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 15, 2015 05:31
|
|
|
angel opportunity posted:Thank you, brotherly! look at those sweet, sweet categories! and you're still in the top 100 in the free store, so good job.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 15, 2015 19:08
|
|
|
Hijinks Ensue posted:Got a BookBub for next month. Yes! Merry Christmas to me! Congrats! Lucky! The bub keeps rejecting me 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 16, 2015 19:52
|
|
|
seorin posted:How long does it take you guys to churn out a 200-250 page novel? About how many words per day on average? Most of my writing has been short form, so I've been trying to practice just getting more words on the page. It's harder than it sounds, at least for me. I'm guessing it goes a lot quicker when you're just following an established formula? 2,500/day is my goal but I go over almost every day. I've found that 65k is a pretty good number for a novel length romance. I can churn one out in about three weeks, then it takes some extra time for ARC reviews and editing, etc. So I'm on something like a 5-6 week release schedule. I wish I could do it in 4, but I have a day job and that's also kindof a brutal pace. I think 1k/day is a good place to start. Once you get into a habit (and make sure it's a habit, do it every single day and don't skip your words no matter how quiet the ~muse~ is that day) you'll eventually start writing more and more. It's like anything else. Just practice and you'll improve. Look into trying the pomodoro technique, I found that was really helpful for me when I was starting out. But really just sit your rear end down and write your drat words. That's all it is.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 19, 2015 14:39
|
|
|
angel opportunity posted:is synirc down right now? Nope, I don't think so
|
|
#
¿
Nov 23, 2015 14:42
|
|
|
Sulla-Marius 88 posted:That calculation might be a bit off anyway, how much of the wordcount do you guys lose/strip in editing? 5%? 20%? 100% Lose? I add like 5%. Because everything I originally write is brilliant and people need more. (this isn't a joke)
|
|
#
¿
Nov 25, 2015 16:01
|
|
|
EngineerSean posted:I mean I've never added a dog dream sequence but you have no idea how many times I've been like "god, where can I put another sex scene in here?" or "can I have them verbally spar one more time in chapter seventeen?" I do this all the time too. I'm only at 48k? Might as well toss in a sex scene. Maybe a random heroine-and-bff-go-to-the-club scene too!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 25, 2015 17:40
|
|
|
freebooter posted:Since there's 12 I was thinking of setting their price as low as possible and also probably making January free. But is 20,000 still too short? Will people hate that, even if they got it for free and can read the next instalment for 99c or whatever? I don't know much about that genre, but I think making January free is the right move. It's fine if it's on the short side. After that I'd price at .99c and put them in KU (the first one won't be in KU to get that permafree status). Also make sure January has a really awesome hook. I personally like the idea of releasing each month as a separate entity; it'll give you more room to mess around with promos. 20k seems low, which is why I think it would be a good free opener, and 30k is on the low end but still fine for .99c or KU. I wouldn't price over .99c unless you're dead set on going wide, at which point I guess 2.99, although I can't imagine you'll get much traction at that price point. People say 1.99 is a dead zone of no sales, so keep that in mind. Invest in good covers and have reasonable expectations. I don't know how well horror sells.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 27, 2015 16:26
|
|
|
fruit loop posted:Well, yes. You pay higher taxes due to being self-employed. You'd be better off selling used cars and writing in your spare time if you want to "be a writer". At least that way, you'd make more money and be able to write what you love instead of what sells. I hate this logic. Why can't you write what sells and also write what you want? Also, writing 50k words a month isn't hard. It takes effort but anyone can do it. I'd rather write romance 9-5 than do pretty much any other job I could get right now. Then I can write what I want after 5pm. Anyone can do that if they treat it like a job and put in the work.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 6, 2015 21:43
|
|
|
angel opportunity posted:As far as "work hard and treat it as a day job, then write whatever you want after 5pm," this could 100% work, but I think most people who have day jobs don't want to take that level of risk. For me personally, I want to make enough from this in my spare time that it becomes like 200% clear that I can make more money if I quit my job. I agree with this, and also what Sundae said. I don't really advocate quitting dayjobs. Hell, I haven't quit my dayjob, and I'm not sure I'm going to. I guess what I'm saying to the invisible straw man is, it isn't THAT much of a time commitment to write like 2k words a day. An hour or two? Then you're done and you can write what you like. Or, write what you like on weekends, and only write your smut during the week. It's definitely a lot of effort, but what else is there to do? Maybe I'm downplaying the effort a little bit, being a little too glib. But I do think it's possible to have it all. Sundae posted:Two things: As Redtonic is currently saying in the IRC channel, (so hey guys come hangout in IRC and talk about this poo poo with us) different people have different income needs, and while 100k may be amazing for one person just may not be enough for another. But like, if you're a single person living in a relatively inexpensive area, you can absolutely hustle for enough cash to live relatively comfortably writing romance or something else you're good at. Especially if you're a young person. It's not easy and won't happen instantly but it's possible. Different stroke, different folks, and all that. That brings up issues of risk and future career development (ie, if I quit and do this full time and fail, what are my job options?? I have a nice, fat gap on my resume, with only "Smut Extraordinaire" written in comic sans italic pink, but who wants to hire the Smut Lord?) but I don't know, there's risk in any career, especially in anything self employed. We bitch and moan about Amazon and yeah Amazon is poo poo but every industry has their ups and downs. Risk management is the name of the game.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 7, 2015 16:37
|
|
|
RedTonic posted:Popping in to address this issue specifically: if you job seek after a year or two of trying out authorship-only work, reframe it as running your own small business, because that is what you are as a self-publishing author - a sole proprietor. There's no dishonor in failing nobly. If you can account for what you did during that time (developed marketing skills, copywriting, accounting, vendor and supplier management, blah blah blah revenue numbers), it's actually a good thing to include on your resume. As always, I recommend checking what Allison at AskAManager.org says about how to account for a gap year/small business on your job applications. Thanks for the advice, Redtonic. This is the sort of gem RT drops in IRC on the reg, people. Lord Smuttington will rise again!
|
|
#
¿
Dec 7, 2015 17:01
|
|
|
angel opportunity posted:just before you step out the door to go write, you decide to sit down and "check twitter" (or some other dumb/useless poo poo) Literally doing that right now. I think AO's post is full of really good advice, most of which boils down to: you have to do the work. Butt in the chair, banging out words, day in and day out. At least when you're trying to make money writing romance/erotica. Probably if you're trying to make money writing other genres, too. Amazon basically requires that you work fast and throw poo poo out there with their 30-day window/cliff. Sometimes I don't feel like writing and sometimes it's really not fun. But it definitely gets easier once you build those good habits.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 8, 2015 20:24
|
|
|
angel opportunity posted:If anyone really wants to see, you can PM me and I'll show you (the cover, not my jacking off) I saw the cover, it was good! The jacking off was just OK.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 11, 2015 15:05
|
|
|
So how long does this Kindlemas boost last? Am I going to be rich soon?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 21, 2015 02:23
|
|
|
Most of my stuff has been pirated too--can't help it, not worth worrying about it. December has been an amazing month for me. Releasing another book in a few days, hopefully I can create some ~~synergy~~. One thing I've found that helps motivation is having a daily goal, and not thinking beyond that. So when one book is done, that doesn't mean my daily goal is done, it just means I have to start a new book. I write 2,500words/day 5 days a week without fail, and so far I've been able to put out 10 books this year. It's easier for me just to think about the small chunks and doing those small chunks every day instead of thinking 'this is going to be a whole book one day!'.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 21, 2015 18:46
|
|
|
My newest release is NOT doing well, and I was just planning on going full-time, too. My advice: don't try to launch right around Christmas. Wait until after the new year. I think the competition is tough right now, and I probably didn't get decent also-boughts from my short free run. Still early days, so hopefully it turns around, but we'll see.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2015 18:11
|
|
|
Has the top 100 romance / new adult list always been based on something other than pure rank? My one book is ranked 533 in the whole store, but 49 on the new adult list. My other book is 475 in the whole store, but 55 on the new adult list. Is this new or have I just never noticed or is Amazon being weird?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2015 21:18
|
|
|
angel opportunity posted:So it looks like your book that was at 1,500 the other day surged up to 437...which I realize is still a flop compared to where your last book was. Do you think the also boughts just started doing work later or what? Is there any chance of the book going now from like ~450 to ~50? Honestly, I think I sorta panicked yesterday. Since I'm on the verge of going full time, I'm super anxious about how the next few books are going to do. But I would guess also-boughts kicked in. I don't see why the rank wouldn't keep dropping over the next few days, but you really never know. If I'm lucky, I'll crack the top 100... we'll see!
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2015 22:38
|
|
|
Hey! I'm a full time author now! Just throwing that out there. My only job is to bring the sweet smut to my adoring masses. Feels good.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 11, 2016 02:09
|
|
|
EngineerSean posted:lol like i'm gonna install some new app just to berate you suckaz browser based, it's also pretty neat! but don't berate us
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2016 18:55
|
|
|
EngineerSean posted:Scammers as in people who used D2D to format their books? Have you seriously already forgotten that we all lost 10-15% of our page count in February? Am I in the Twilight Zone? He was talking about the link scammers.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 15, 2016 19:19
|
|
|
EngineerSean posted:Believe it or not I have been aware of this scam and emailing Amazon about it for Quite Some Time. Right, so Amazon capped the kenpc at 3k and pulled that kenpc2.0 poo poo which helped stem the tide of scammers a bit, which is why we think the rate has gone up. People have been up in arms about it on the forums for a few weeks now.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 15, 2016 19:52
|
|
|
that slack is by far the most active place for self pubbers talkin' smut i've found so far. plus, glorious gifs! it's like IRC, but if IRC wasn't stuck in 2001.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2016 17:48
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2024 05:48 |
|
|
whoops sorry, wrong thread. I'm dumb.
brotherly fucked around with this message at 12:42 on Feb 28, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Feb 28, 2021 12:30
|
|