Christopher D. Schmitz's Blog, page 22

State of Writing

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So my vacation didn’t go exactly as planned. This freak weather in the upper Midwest washed out the roads and bridges so I did a kind of staycation and went to different things each day. That meant a bunch of driving and so I didn’t really get to sit and write for spells. I did carve out a little time, though to catch up on some blog material and spent some time with family.

I did manage a few other things like finalizing my second short story anthology and putting together a book for an author who found me through this blog; it should available in a couple months and I’ll mention it more, later. I also put some ideas together. So many ideas. I have four projects I wish I could invest 80 hours in today… it makes launching out difficult since they are each so awesome. Plus, the business side of being an author is increasingly demanding. I need to run some promo badly as my book sales have grinded to almost nothing these last two months without it.

This week my goal is to simply start… pick a project and begin. I’d like to have an outline complete for one of my stories that I can work from—two if I can manage it—and if I’m feeling particularly ambitious, I’d love an outlined novella, very rough notes for a potential novel, and a strong teaser for it so I can lay some groundwork with the company who is considering it.

10 Ways to Make Your Own Opportunities

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I wrote a while back about a guy who quit Facebook because he didn’t like my advice about what he needed to do if he wanted to be successful as an author. He wanted to just release his book quietly and take a chance that he somehow got rich and famous. Being an author, however, is about more than just the writing. Click Read More to get ten ways you can force opportunities to come your way.

Follow and comment on blogs you like. There is a chance your readers will, too, especially if they target cross-over or niche items that appeal to your readers. Don’t try to sell them your book… try to get them hooked on you as a person. Following and commenting is probably the most under-used way to connect. (You can turn that around by following and commenting on this very blog!)
Take out an ad. I say this almost tongue in cheek. It’s an obvious way to get prospective readers interested in what you have, but it needs to be handled delicately. Facebook is used to advertise everything… You’re not selling faucets, are you? So try a service that specifically deals with books… and look for reputation over price.
Chase down guest slots for blogs. Heck, if you’ve got good content, I’ll put you on here. Bloggers love to fill space with new content and I often put out calls in writers’ groups asking specific questions relating to writing. Get involved in one of those and find bloggers who want to network.
Chase media connections for exposure. Find ways to “newsjack” (present yourself as a person of interest/authority on a topic because of your book and pitch yourself to news outlets, and then tie the subject to your book,) or search out opportunities to talk books on podcasts, TV, or print media. Cable Access channels love talking about books, but they aren’t going to find you unless you initiate a connection.
Exhibit at a craft fair or book festival. Keep your eyes peeled and do local research. There are always many opportunities!
Book a blog tour. You can’t be at every festival or fair, but you can spread yourself thinner via the internet. I try to keep a healthy balance between an online presence and doing brick and mortar bookstore events.
Look for speaking opportunities. Many libraries, civic groups, etc. would welcome a speaker on certain topics. This is a great secondary way to put the above “newsjacking” to work for you. You could also talk about writing or the content and research you did for your book. Libraries are often a great venue for these kinds of events.
Find reviewers for your book. This goes without saying, but the importance of solid reviews cannot be understated. Don’t look for them by spamming book groups on facebook. Try to connect with real people on meaningful levels.
Submit articles for publication. Similar to creating content for a blog, you can often write for established media outlets and these often pay. While you might get a chance to add your book to your byline, it also lets you continue honing your writing skills. Additionally, you can write short fiction for anthologies or literary journals in a similar manner.
Hold a contest. Everyone loves free stuff. Sometimes that’s enough to create an opportunity to share about your books or lead to other avenues of promotion. Goodreads no longer does free giveaways, but many services such as rafflecopter are all about this sort of thing… just have a mechanism in place to broadcast this to potential readers.

These tips and so much more are inside my Indie Author’s Bible. Check it out over at Amazon!

A Strategic Book Launch Timeline From the Pros

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Have you ever released an indie book and thought, “I should have put some strategic effort into the launch,” or wished you could plan better for a strong opening sales rank? Click Read More to hear some thoughts from professionals that I wish I’d heeded with my last several books.

The experts over at Bookbub often publish a lot of great thoughts on being an indie-preneur. I’ve struggled time and again to get the perfect mix of reagents to brew a strong book launch. Ever since my very first book release party over a decade ago (which one person attended out of pity) to the book that hit the market two months ago, I feel like I’ve struck out with bases loaded.

It probably flies in the face of what most of us Indies do as we grasp at straws to carve out a foothold in our story’s niche market, but a marketing strategy has to include more than just about giving away free books, tweeting, making videos, or sending a press release. A book launch strategy is about getting the media’s attention and transforming yourself and your books into a brand to be followed.

Lead times for getting media coverage are getting longer and longer. PR firm Media Connect recommends starting to reach out to journalists 4-6 months before a book’s launch. Here was the timeline that they recommended for soliciting media coverage for a new book:

6 months prior to launch:

Create a website (or add a book page to your existing site)
Brainstorm ideas and craft a marketing plan

5 months prior to launch:

Develop a press kit/media pitches
Pull together your advanced review copy (ARC) media list
Start to solicit testimonials/blurbs

4 months prior to launch:

Compile a list of media connections you plan to approach
Send out your ARCs to long-lead media (those that need more advanced notice)
Select/schedule book signings and appearances

3 months prior to launch:

Follow up on ARC pitches to media
Continue to query bookstores and speaking opportunities

2 months prior to launch:

Contact non-book reviewer media (such as relevant talk shows or feature story reporters)
Approach online reviewers
Reach out to local media (or arrange a book tour)

1 month prior to launch:

Schedule radio and TV interviews
Finish ARC follow-up
Contact more online reviewers
Add on bloggers and websites for outreach
Hit daily newspapers, newswires, and weekly publications

In addition to promoting the fact that audiobook sales are on the rise (which I’ve written at length about,) the Bookbub crew cite a successful launch that started two years prior to the book’s launch date. Check out their marketing advice column here.

State of Writing

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Success! I was able to complete my story early in the week and then complete several revisions of Grandma Ethel’s Bullets and Hollow Points. My last several weeks have been very chaotic; I’ve barely gotten any sleep and hardly kept up with my work load (ran three weeks’ worth of youth camps.)

Now that I have that done I can work on some other items on my agenda. I hope to write one more short story and a comicbook before I get serious about my next project (the second Hidden Rings novel). I will probably also get a rough sketch of an untitled fantasy project as well that I’m currently speaking to a gaming company about (warm door so far, so keeping my fingers crossed.) My artist friend who did the Wolves of the Tesseract comic wants to do another comic with me.

The story I’m planning to write takes place in both the Wolves of the Tesseract and the Hidden Rings of Myrddin the Cambion series. It follows the character of Vikrum Wiltshire, a paranormal investigator much like Mike Mignola’s Baltimore… think Dresden meets Penny Dreadful. The comic will be a Wiltshire comic (I might call it The Red Order, though Wiltshire was technically kicked out. He has a cameo in the second Wolves of the Tesseract Book and I have some unpublished stuff with him in it already. The Red Order is formed during the first book of the Hidden Rings series.)

I have so many ideas, so little time. Dang it. If I could just get paid to write full time I’d be so thrilled. Help me out with that. Hop over to my website and by a book or three.

Television Again

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I just got word about the Great American Read project that PBS is pushing. My local area PBS has a news program called Compass and they are choosing to broadcast an interview I did with them a little while back about my Indie Author’s Bible (a resource for writers who want to publish their book). The episode “fits nicely with the national effort to promote reading,” their general manager said in an email.

The segment is part of the Compass program that will be broadcast on Thursday, June 28 at 9 p.m. It will be repeated the following Sunday at 12:30 p.m. After that, the interview will be available online. If you’re in the SW part of MN, tune in and check it out!

I was also on their program last season as well. Click here to see that interview.

Review: The War of Humanity

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E.S. Dunn’s The War of Humanity has sat for a couple weeks at the bottom of my reading stack, teasing me. It’s such an impressive book and I’ve eagerly waiting to get into it.

Let’s talk about what worked and what didn’t for me. This book strikes a good balance between standard SF and superhero tales as it effectively bridges tropes. The world building is impressive and Dunn uses a lot of language terms to infuse the alien nature of he culture and humanoid race of Chaosns. I Felt that part made me feel the surroundings and see what the author wanted me to. One thing that I felt the DCEU did great was visiting Krypton in the setup for Batman vs Superman. The world Dunn crafts feels similar to Krypton, perhaps intentionally, as Selison’s story shares so much in common.

Unfortunately, it may have achieved some world building intricacies at the expense of getting to the plot. It felt slow moving until after 50 pages or so (partly because the blurb lets us know the MC goes to earth, so the expectations are set and we don’t get to earth for a while.)

Another complaint is the POV/voice. 3rd person present makes the whole thing feel off… like it’s trying to be 1st person without limiting the readers omniscience.

All in all, it’s a solid read, and it is firmly grounded in proven SF tropes as Selison learns what it means to protect his new home and new people.

I got a free copy in exchange for an honest review. You can click here to get this book on Amazon.

State of Writing

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I’m so close to having this short story done! It’s taken me almost as long to write as my last novel… partly because of content and partly because of my schedule. This is my last super crazy week, though, and I do hope to finish it this week.

“Grandma Ethel’s Donuts and Hollowpoints.” Grandma Ethel’s got a long day ahead of her: a pile of cancer medications, a fistful of bullets, and a plate full of donuts. Good thing her car does 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds… if only she could see over the steering wheel.

Taking the Pulse of the Publishing Industry

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Every new year, publishing guru Mark Coker releases his predictions for the industry in the upcoming year. How many of them have come true in 2018?

I came across this nifty article at the beginning of the year that is written by Mark Coker, the founder of Smashwords. He puts up his annual predictions for the state of the publishing industry. There are things I like and don’t like about Smashwords, but I really do like Coker’s attitude and approach to Indie authors.

I’m going to skip over his feelings towards author independence (but strongly urge you to check it out and get involved in the problems he identifies over at his 2018 predictions).

As with any successful business, you’ve got to keep your finger on the pulse of the market. It’s worth evaluating exactly where we are and try to figure out where we are headed so that we can plan accordingly.

Coker’s negative predictions were that:

2018 will be tough on sales for books
The glut of quality, low cost ebooks will get increase
Barnes & Nobles will continue to get sicker
Kobo will falter
Amazon’s devaluation pressure (part of how Coker views the KU program, and rightly so,) will increase
Single copy ebook sales will decline (also due to KU) and this will be across the board as part of the above
Romance readers (the largest, most voracious group) will continue migrating to KU to get the most bang for their buck, which will ultimately hurt romance writers
Despite the base of Romance books, larger traditional publishers will begin to reduce their commitment to the genre
Email lists will get tired after authors continue to beat on them in order to shore up sales in the declining market and address owners will begin to unsubscribe in larger droves to protect their inbox
Pressure will mount from Amazon who will want to reduce their 70% royalty rate (it used to be 35%, several years ago)

Here are some of his positive predictions:

Audiobooks are going to be the next big thing
Audible (Amazon’s audiobook subscription service) will finally see a bona fide competitor
Readers will still pay for books that are worth reading
New subscription services similar to KU will be unveiled by competitors
Antitrust actions against Amazon will mount
Indies will reassert control over their platforms (this is in response to all the effort they poured into building their Facebook audiences which the social media company has undermined by switching to a pay-system, and then changing it all up again multiple times in the first few months of 2018)
Indie authors will begin looking into podcasting in addition to the audiobook services as a way to find and harness the power of audio readers.

Some of my regulars know that I write my blogs far in advance (except for my Monday updates and random ramblings). I’m actually writing this in the middle of a snow drift. School was just canceled and I’m booked that far out, so Coker’s predictions are still fairly new. As it turns to summer, however, it is a good point to stop and take the pulse of the market. How many of his predictions look to be true now that the year is nearly half gone? What does that mean for us and where do we go from here?

Review: Morgan La Fay, Small Things and Great

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I got a chance to review Jo-Anne Blanco’s Morgan La Fay, Small Things and Great. It’s got a more fairytale feel than fantasy I’ve read of late.

Blanco’s world building is spot on as she recast traditional Arthurian elements to fit her tale. She even does something that few writers do well: use weather to set moods and situations. All the necessary elements are present to entrench the narrative in the Pendragon mythos and it reminded me in many ways of Mists of Avalon when the magical elements crossed into territory usually reserved for church (or maybe Lawhead’s Patrick) though Blanco’s book is a much easier read.

The writing is accessible and I wouldn’t have any reservations to recommending this book to most readers.

I got a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. You can get it on Amazon by clicking here.

State of Writing

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As fast as I usually am, this short story is going slow. I’ve been slogging through a lot of junk on the business side of things (in addition to it being maybe the busiest time of the year for me). I’m still gonna cross my fingers that I finish the story this week… we’ll see. I’m about a quarter done with it and I’ve already got solid notes for the next short story I’d like to write (plus a rewrite on another one which establishes it as a series.)

I did have a good time at the B&N author panel for MN based SF/F writers. We had a decent crowd, in fact, and I was glad to be a part of it… though it was more of an informative event than a buying one and so I’ve got a bit of an overstock on books so I’m trying to get back to that store by the end of summer to move some books (if you’re near Roseville, stop in at the HarMar location and pick one up!)

Also, I’ve had some great conversations with some folks who hold the keys to awesome opportunities. (I’m in preliminary talks with a company who owns some old TSR rights to write a story in their universe… there were only a few books in an old series, but one of them was an old favorite of mine!)