B.E. Sanderson's Blog, page 62
October 9, 2016
Just the Facts
Hubs and I were watching a true crime show on Friday night. I think it was 48 Hours. Might've been Dateline. Anyway, the evidence seemed pretty clear cut to me. (Hubs, too.) Even though it was circumstantial. Neither of us wanted to stay up for the end, so I googled the case. And discovered that the first trial had ended in a hung jury...
Let me back up a little. This particular case was 30 years old. A woman was found by the side of the road, barely hanging onto life. She couldn't tell anyone what happened and she never would. Her head was caved in. There wasn't a great deal of physical evidence. There were no witnesses. There was only the man who found her. Or rather, the man who said at the time that he'd been driving down the road and had seen what he thought might be a body, so he whipped a u-turn, and when he realized the woman was still alive, went down the street knocking on doors, looking for help.
Then, after some further investigation, the man who 'found' her said that actually she'd been in his car with him, but she'd fallen out of his car on a turn. Except the body was 200 feet from the nearest curve. Except the woman only had the head injuries - no road rash, no messed up clothing. Even her shoes were with her and she was wearing clogs.
But they had no real evidence, so the case went cold...
Flash forward thirty years. Her daughter, who was only a baby when she died, had badgered the local authorities into opening the case again. Interviews of whoever was still around ensued. Evidence - what little there was left of it (a lot of the case file had disappeared) - was reviewed. It all boiled back around to the man who 'found' her. Turns out he was a bouncer in the bar where she was last seen. Turns out he had a new story that still didn't match the evidence - this time she'd fallen out of his car and hit her head on a mailbox pole. (There was no mailbox anywhere near where she was found.) It was all just a horrible accident.
Now, I've probably left out a bunch of stuff. The guy, for instance, had been a model human being for the past thirty years. The woman's boyfriend had been in and out of jail for the past thirty years. A butterfly was probably flapping its wings off the coast of Chili. None of that really mattered when you looked at the facts.
The facts were that the last person this woman was with had lied. Repeatedly. The evidence showed that her head was bashed in. There was no evidence of anything that would resemble a fall from a moving vehicle. And there was only one person in the vicinity who could've ended this woman's life - however you put together the pieces.
If you strip away all the unnecessaries, the equation is simple.
But, the first jury was hung. The defense introduced theories to cloud up the simple equation. The prosecution introduced theories which clouded up the simple equation. 2 + 2 = 4 turned into (6 divided by 2 -1) + (the square root of 4 plus 0) equals X.
The next jury got it right. Guilty. 15 to life. (Which is apparently the most you can get in the state where this occurred.)
My theory? He offered her a ride home and tried something. She said no. She tried to get away and he whacked her in the back of the head, knocking her down, then he hit her a couple more times in the side and the front of her head. Then he panicked. He got in the car to drive away, but realized she wasn't dead, so he went back and tried to make it look like he was a concerned citizen, in case she woke up and identified him as the one who beat her. I don't know for sure. It's just a theory.
No way, in any theory I could think of - and I thought about this a lot as I was trying to fall asleep that night - did 'accidental' come into the equation.
Something to think about if you're ever sitting a jury, I guess. Try to boil out all the unnecessaries and look only at the facts. Make a decision based on those. I'll probably never get to sit on a jury - not if the attorneys ask me any questions during jury selection. Which reminds me... I'm still on the jury pool here in MO until next month. I wonder if they'll call me up.
Have you ever been on a jury?
Let me back up a little. This particular case was 30 years old. A woman was found by the side of the road, barely hanging onto life. She couldn't tell anyone what happened and she never would. Her head was caved in. There wasn't a great deal of physical evidence. There were no witnesses. There was only the man who found her. Or rather, the man who said at the time that he'd been driving down the road and had seen what he thought might be a body, so he whipped a u-turn, and when he realized the woman was still alive, went down the street knocking on doors, looking for help.
Then, after some further investigation, the man who 'found' her said that actually she'd been in his car with him, but she'd fallen out of his car on a turn. Except the body was 200 feet from the nearest curve. Except the woman only had the head injuries - no road rash, no messed up clothing. Even her shoes were with her and she was wearing clogs.
But they had no real evidence, so the case went cold...
Flash forward thirty years. Her daughter, who was only a baby when she died, had badgered the local authorities into opening the case again. Interviews of whoever was still around ensued. Evidence - what little there was left of it (a lot of the case file had disappeared) - was reviewed. It all boiled back around to the man who 'found' her. Turns out he was a bouncer in the bar where she was last seen. Turns out he had a new story that still didn't match the evidence - this time she'd fallen out of his car and hit her head on a mailbox pole. (There was no mailbox anywhere near where she was found.) It was all just a horrible accident.
Now, I've probably left out a bunch of stuff. The guy, for instance, had been a model human being for the past thirty years. The woman's boyfriend had been in and out of jail for the past thirty years. A butterfly was probably flapping its wings off the coast of Chili. None of that really mattered when you looked at the facts.
The facts were that the last person this woman was with had lied. Repeatedly. The evidence showed that her head was bashed in. There was no evidence of anything that would resemble a fall from a moving vehicle. And there was only one person in the vicinity who could've ended this woman's life - however you put together the pieces.
If you strip away all the unnecessaries, the equation is simple.
But, the first jury was hung. The defense introduced theories to cloud up the simple equation. The prosecution introduced theories which clouded up the simple equation. 2 + 2 = 4 turned into (6 divided by 2 -1) + (the square root of 4 plus 0) equals X.
The next jury got it right. Guilty. 15 to life. (Which is apparently the most you can get in the state where this occurred.)
My theory? He offered her a ride home and tried something. She said no. She tried to get away and he whacked her in the back of the head, knocking her down, then he hit her a couple more times in the side and the front of her head. Then he panicked. He got in the car to drive away, but realized she wasn't dead, so he went back and tried to make it look like he was a concerned citizen, in case she woke up and identified him as the one who beat her. I don't know for sure. It's just a theory.
No way, in any theory I could think of - and I thought about this a lot as I was trying to fall asleep that night - did 'accidental' come into the equation.
Something to think about if you're ever sitting a jury, I guess. Try to boil out all the unnecessaries and look only at the facts. Make a decision based on those. I'll probably never get to sit on a jury - not if the attorneys ask me any questions during jury selection. Which reminds me... I'm still on the jury pool here in MO until next month. I wonder if they'll call me up.
Have you ever been on a jury?
October 5, 2016
The Value of Time - Part 2
I've been thinking about the whole 'value of time' thing and the hard numbers.
For me, here's an estimate of how it works out...
My first drafts work out to be approximately 70,000 words. I type an average of 1000 words an hour. So, that's 70 hours. Add another conservative estimate of 40 hours for editing it to the point where I can have my editor look at it. Another 25 hours of inputting her initial edits. Another 15 hours of inputting her proofreading edits. Another 5 hours of final read-through to catch anything I might've missed. 2 hours of formatting.
70+40+25+15+5+2 = 157 hours. And that's if I don't make my own cover. And it doesn't count research or networking or any one of a sundry other things I do to make a book happen.
157 hours.
At federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, that means a book would cost $1138.25 in labor. Of course, the last time I had a job, I was earning roughly $19 an hour, so that's $2983 for a book. And if I wanted to get freaky, when I was doing computer consulting, the company billed my time at $60 an hour, so that would be $9420, but they only gave me like $20 of that, so we're back to around $3000.
$3000 per book in labor alone.
If I priced it that way, I'd only need to sell one. LOL. But, like I said before, the market doesn't give a rat's hairy butt what it costs me to produce a book. They only care about what they are willing to pay for said book. Oh, I could charge $9.99. I'd need to sell about 300 books to break even. But when I raise my price, I get no sales. Zero times anything is still always zero, and breaking even point moves farther away instead of closer. True, I haven't tried raising the price to traditional publishing levels. That's laughable to me. I did try once to make one of my books $5.99. Crickets. Drop the price to $3.99, I get some sales. Drop it to $2.99, more sales.
Now, here's where it gets sticky. I get even more sales when I go below $2.99, but then I also drop from a 70% royalty structure to 35%. More sales, less money.
For the same amount of work. But, again, readers don't care about my level of effort. Well, unless my level of effort is low and the book is crap. Then they care. And I'm okay with that. That's how it should be.
I don't tell you any of this to make you feel bad that I'm doing all this work and only making like $2 a book. That's life. I'm pretty okay with that $2. Sell a hundred books, get two hundred dollars. Sounds good to me. I'd get it all in cash and roll around in it naked, but that seems silly. And if I wasn't doing this writing thing for whatever my hourly wage would actually work out to, I'd have to get a job working for someone else. I could make $9.50 an hour at the Tyson plant, where it either smells like yummy chicken nuggets all day or it smells like rotten meat bad enough to make me gag when I drove past. (I used to drive by the place to get to Walmart, so yeah, it's either yum or barf.)
Personally, I'd rather be doing this.
Anyway, that's how it plays out here at the Sanderson Ranch. Any questions?
Oh, and if your comment doesn't show up right away, it means I went fishing. ;o)
For me, here's an estimate of how it works out...
My first drafts work out to be approximately 70,000 words. I type an average of 1000 words an hour. So, that's 70 hours. Add another conservative estimate of 40 hours for editing it to the point where I can have my editor look at it. Another 25 hours of inputting her initial edits. Another 15 hours of inputting her proofreading edits. Another 5 hours of final read-through to catch anything I might've missed. 2 hours of formatting.
70+40+25+15+5+2 = 157 hours. And that's if I don't make my own cover. And it doesn't count research or networking or any one of a sundry other things I do to make a book happen.
157 hours.
At federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, that means a book would cost $1138.25 in labor. Of course, the last time I had a job, I was earning roughly $19 an hour, so that's $2983 for a book. And if I wanted to get freaky, when I was doing computer consulting, the company billed my time at $60 an hour, so that would be $9420, but they only gave me like $20 of that, so we're back to around $3000.
$3000 per book in labor alone.
If I priced it that way, I'd only need to sell one. LOL. But, like I said before, the market doesn't give a rat's hairy butt what it costs me to produce a book. They only care about what they are willing to pay for said book. Oh, I could charge $9.99. I'd need to sell about 300 books to break even. But when I raise my price, I get no sales. Zero times anything is still always zero, and breaking even point moves farther away instead of closer. True, I haven't tried raising the price to traditional publishing levels. That's laughable to me. I did try once to make one of my books $5.99. Crickets. Drop the price to $3.99, I get some sales. Drop it to $2.99, more sales.
Now, here's where it gets sticky. I get even more sales when I go below $2.99, but then I also drop from a 70% royalty structure to 35%. More sales, less money.
For the same amount of work. But, again, readers don't care about my level of effort. Well, unless my level of effort is low and the book is crap. Then they care. And I'm okay with that. That's how it should be.
I don't tell you any of this to make you feel bad that I'm doing all this work and only making like $2 a book. That's life. I'm pretty okay with that $2. Sell a hundred books, get two hundred dollars. Sounds good to me. I'd get it all in cash and roll around in it naked, but that seems silly. And if I wasn't doing this writing thing for whatever my hourly wage would actually work out to, I'd have to get a job working for someone else. I could make $9.50 an hour at the Tyson plant, where it either smells like yummy chicken nuggets all day or it smells like rotten meat bad enough to make me gag when I drove past. (I used to drive by the place to get to Walmart, so yeah, it's either yum or barf.)
Personally, I'd rather be doing this.
Anyway, that's how it plays out here at the Sanderson Ranch. Any questions?
Oh, and if your comment doesn't show up right away, it means I went fishing. ;o)
September 28, 2016
Let's Talk Numbers Again
It's been a while since I talked numbers here on the blog. But since I passed a milestone this past month, now is as good a time as any.
This month, I rolled over $2K in gross earnings. Yeah, it doesn't sound like much. But I know there are authors out there struggling worse than I am, so I'm going to be content with that for now.
Here's how that shakes out.
First a look back at 2015:
Books sold: 1016.77
Dying Embers: 514.25
Accidental Death: 421.24
Wish in One Hand: 63.52
Blood Flow: 17.75
Now a look at this year so far:
Books sold: 556.57
Dying Embers: 297.23
Accidental Death: 45.28
Wish in One Hand: 98.73
Blood Flow: 7.04
In Deep Wish: 37.46
Fertile Ground: 62.28
Up Wish Creek: 8.55
Yeah, not quite the banner year I was hoping for, but I haven't really done much in the way of advertising this year. Of course, it's hard to obtain advertising without reviews. It's also hard to spend money on advertising when you don't have money, but that's my problem. To make $2K since I started this whole endeavor, I spent around $7K. The larger portion of that was spent in the first year, so I'm not as deep in the hole this year as I was last year. So I got that going for me.
Lastly, if you're interested in review numbers, here they are:
DE:
Amazon: 27 reviews (4.7 stars)
Goodreads: 53 ratings / 17 reviews (4.13 stars)
AD:
Amazon: 7 reviews (4.9 stars)
Goodreads: 24 ratings/ 6 reviews (4.29 stars)
WIOH:
Amazon: 7 reviews (5 stars)
Goodreads: 13 ratings / 7 reviews (4.46 stars)
BF:
Amazon: 3 reviews (5 stars)
Goodreads: 4 / 2 (4.75 stars)
IDW:
Amazon: 4 reviews (4.25 stars)
Goodreads: 6 / 4 (4.17 stars)
FG:
Amazon: 1 review (5 stars)
Goodreads: 2 / 2 (5 stars)
UWC:
Amazon: 2 reviews (5 stars)
Goodreads: 4 / 3 (4.75 stars)
This is only for Amazon US. I have additional reviews at Amazon UK that shake out about the same way. No reviews on any other Amazon country site as far as I know. I had a few reviews at B&N when I sold there. And I know I have reviews at some of the pirate sites. (yay, reviews... boo, book piracy)
Anyway, my books are well-received for the most part, so that's good.
Not sure where I was going with all this. I hope it helps other writers see what's possible (although my numbers my not be indicative of anyone else's success or failure). I hope it helps readers better understand the self-publishing thing.
Any questions?
This month, I rolled over $2K in gross earnings. Yeah, it doesn't sound like much. But I know there are authors out there struggling worse than I am, so I'm going to be content with that for now.
Here's how that shakes out.
First a look back at 2015:
Books sold: 1016.77
Dying Embers: 514.25
Accidental Death: 421.24
Wish in One Hand: 63.52
Blood Flow: 17.75
Now a look at this year so far:
Books sold: 556.57
Dying Embers: 297.23
Accidental Death: 45.28
Wish in One Hand: 98.73
Blood Flow: 7.04
In Deep Wish: 37.46
Fertile Ground: 62.28
Up Wish Creek: 8.55
Yeah, not quite the banner year I was hoping for, but I haven't really done much in the way of advertising this year. Of course, it's hard to obtain advertising without reviews. It's also hard to spend money on advertising when you don't have money, but that's my problem. To make $2K since I started this whole endeavor, I spent around $7K. The larger portion of that was spent in the first year, so I'm not as deep in the hole this year as I was last year. So I got that going for me.
Lastly, if you're interested in review numbers, here they are:
DE:
Amazon: 27 reviews (4.7 stars)
Goodreads: 53 ratings / 17 reviews (4.13 stars)
AD:
Amazon: 7 reviews (4.9 stars)
Goodreads: 24 ratings/ 6 reviews (4.29 stars)
WIOH:
Amazon: 7 reviews (5 stars)
Goodreads: 13 ratings / 7 reviews (4.46 stars)
BF:
Amazon: 3 reviews (5 stars)
Goodreads: 4 / 2 (4.75 stars)
IDW:
Amazon: 4 reviews (4.25 stars)
Goodreads: 6 / 4 (4.17 stars)
FG:
Amazon: 1 review (5 stars)
Goodreads: 2 / 2 (5 stars)
UWC:
Amazon: 2 reviews (5 stars)
Goodreads: 4 / 3 (4.75 stars)
This is only for Amazon US. I have additional reviews at Amazon UK that shake out about the same way. No reviews on any other Amazon country site as far as I know. I had a few reviews at B&N when I sold there. And I know I have reviews at some of the pirate sites. (yay, reviews... boo, book piracy)
Anyway, my books are well-received for the most part, so that's good.
Not sure where I was going with all this. I hope it helps other writers see what's possible (although my numbers my not be indicative of anyone else's success or failure). I hope it helps readers better understand the self-publishing thing.
Any questions?
September 21, 2016
Breaking the Rules
You may have discerned that I don't appreciate people telling me what I can and cannot do with regards to my writing. (Not without some actual basis in fact, and even then, I'm skeptical until I do my own research.). When I was a new writer, I railed against all the 'rules' regarding querying, etc. I followed them, but it grated my butt. I followed them because the gatekeepers* wouldn't have given me the time of day if I hadn't.
Now? Eh. I do what I want. I threw out the notion of going through a gate and climbed over the damn wall.
I'm not sure readers really give a rat's ass about the rules writers are supposed to follow anyway. Unless they've been listening to the traditional publishing machine. For me, as a reader, anything goes as long as it's done well. Want to start a book with a character waking up? Go for it, but do it well. Want to start with a dream? Works for me, as long as it works. Breaking the rules of grammar? Fine by me, provided you do it in such a way that makes sense. (Dialogue is awesome for breaking the rules, because people don't talk proper in most cases.)
Oh, I'm still bound by rules. They're in the back of my head with everything I read and everything I write, and every time I find myself facing one, I stop and try to figure out whether the rule makes sense or whether I'm just following it because it's accepted by a bunch of people I don't know. If it's the latter, I throw the damn thing out. Or at least set it aside and look at it later.
What are some books you think might've broken some unwritten rule, but that you enjoyed anyway? I keep going back to a short story I read years ago, by Bradbury I think, that was written entirely in 2nd person. It totally worked for me and I enjoyed it. And that's really all that matters, right?
*Yeah, there are gatekeepers in traditional publishing. But I don't think you're supposed to talk about them. I'm such a rebel. LOL
Now? Eh. I do what I want. I threw out the notion of going through a gate and climbed over the damn wall.
I'm not sure readers really give a rat's ass about the rules writers are supposed to follow anyway. Unless they've been listening to the traditional publishing machine. For me, as a reader, anything goes as long as it's done well. Want to start a book with a character waking up? Go for it, but do it well. Want to start with a dream? Works for me, as long as it works. Breaking the rules of grammar? Fine by me, provided you do it in such a way that makes sense. (Dialogue is awesome for breaking the rules, because people don't talk proper in most cases.)
Oh, I'm still bound by rules. They're in the back of my head with everything I read and everything I write, and every time I find myself facing one, I stop and try to figure out whether the rule makes sense or whether I'm just following it because it's accepted by a bunch of people I don't know. If it's the latter, I throw the damn thing out. Or at least set it aside and look at it later.
What are some books you think might've broken some unwritten rule, but that you enjoyed anyway? I keep going back to a short story I read years ago, by Bradbury I think, that was written entirely in 2nd person. It totally worked for me and I enjoyed it. And that's really all that matters, right?
*Yeah, there are gatekeepers in traditional publishing. But I don't think you're supposed to talk about them. I'm such a rebel. LOL
September 18, 2016
The Value of Time
There's a meme going around that talks about writing as if it was some lofty, sacrosanct thing - giving readers a piece of our souls. Bleh. This. This is part of the crux of the whole 'value of my time' thing.
The other day, I posted about my reasoning for pricing my books low. A commenter there said something about writers devaluing their time by pricing books low. Not just that person thinks that way, it's all across the range of authors. But I think they're wrong.
Lemme 'splain. No, that would take too long. Lemme sum up.
We don't get to choose how valuable our time is. The market chooses that.
If I spend 100 hours writing a book, that's on me. If I spend 200 hours or 400 hours, it's still on me. It doesn't change the worth of my book to the people who buy it. (If that was the case, the Game of Thrones books would be astronomically priced. I've heard he takes forever to write one of those. I wouldn't know. I can't afford to read him anyway.) If my book is awesome, people will buy it. If it's gold-plated awesome with sprinkles, they might even be willing to pay more for it. But that depends on how much they can afford. Right now, with taxes through the roof and health care costs skyrocketing and grocery prices soaring, people can afford less and less. Especially for sundry items - like books.
I'd really love to buy all my friends' and beloved authors' traditionally published books. It makes me sad that I can't. But thems the breaks.
You know, I would also love to eat nothing but Magnum Gold ice cream bars. They look awesome. Gold-plated awesome. But my budget tells me to walk past them and snag the store-brand ice cream sandwiches instead. Are Magnum Gold worth the higher price? I guess so. I've never tried them. They're priced out of my range. And they're not a necessity to my existence. They're sundry.
When choosing reading material, I have to watch my budget like a hawk. If I only have $10, do I spend it all on one ebook? Or do I buy 3 ebooks at $2.99? Or 10 ebooks at 99 cents ea.? You can guess which way I usually go - a mix of $2.99 and $.99 depending on what looks interesting. (And when I don't have $10 to blow on books, I hit the thrift store and buy books 4/$1.)
I know not every reader is in the same straits I am. But I'd be willing to bet there are more on my end of the budgetary scale than on the other end. I price my books for those people. I want as many people as possible to read my books. And I can price them that way because I am self-published, and no one is standing behind me telling me I have to price them higher. (Well, maybe there's a whole crowd of people back there, but I don't have to listen to them.) The only person who has any say besides myself in the pricing is Hubs, and he agrees with me.
Of course, we also joked early on that all I should price Dying Embers at $1000 and all I need to sell is one copy. We both had a good laugh about that.
This, of course, is strictly my pricing strategy and my opinion. Like I said, I have the luxury of being able to price my own books - something no traditional author has. They might hate people like me. I can live with that if the readers appreciate what I'm doing. Then again, those TP authors might wish they could set their own prices, too. :shrug:
I'm sure somewhere in the industry, people are suggesting that all authors band together and set an across the board minimum price. Shame on them. That's called 'price fixing' and it's illegal. Also, it's a bully tactic and it's force. Not a big fan of force over here. And bullies should always get what they deserve - a swift kick in the pants.
So, that's my two cents. Disagree if you want to, but understand that no one is going to tell me what my books should or shouldn't be priced at - except the market. And if you feel like you should've paid more for my books, feel free to send me money. LOL
The other day, I posted about my reasoning for pricing my books low. A commenter there said something about writers devaluing their time by pricing books low. Not just that person thinks that way, it's all across the range of authors. But I think they're wrong.
Lemme 'splain. No, that would take too long. Lemme sum up.
We don't get to choose how valuable our time is. The market chooses that.
If I spend 100 hours writing a book, that's on me. If I spend 200 hours or 400 hours, it's still on me. It doesn't change the worth of my book to the people who buy it. (If that was the case, the Game of Thrones books would be astronomically priced. I've heard he takes forever to write one of those. I wouldn't know. I can't afford to read him anyway.) If my book is awesome, people will buy it. If it's gold-plated awesome with sprinkles, they might even be willing to pay more for it. But that depends on how much they can afford. Right now, with taxes through the roof and health care costs skyrocketing and grocery prices soaring, people can afford less and less. Especially for sundry items - like books.
I'd really love to buy all my friends' and beloved authors' traditionally published books. It makes me sad that I can't. But thems the breaks.
You know, I would also love to eat nothing but Magnum Gold ice cream bars. They look awesome. Gold-plated awesome. But my budget tells me to walk past them and snag the store-brand ice cream sandwiches instead. Are Magnum Gold worth the higher price? I guess so. I've never tried them. They're priced out of my range. And they're not a necessity to my existence. They're sundry.
When choosing reading material, I have to watch my budget like a hawk. If I only have $10, do I spend it all on one ebook? Or do I buy 3 ebooks at $2.99? Or 10 ebooks at 99 cents ea.? You can guess which way I usually go - a mix of $2.99 and $.99 depending on what looks interesting. (And when I don't have $10 to blow on books, I hit the thrift store and buy books 4/$1.)
I know not every reader is in the same straits I am. But I'd be willing to bet there are more on my end of the budgetary scale than on the other end. I price my books for those people. I want as many people as possible to read my books. And I can price them that way because I am self-published, and no one is standing behind me telling me I have to price them higher. (Well, maybe there's a whole crowd of people back there, but I don't have to listen to them.) The only person who has any say besides myself in the pricing is Hubs, and he agrees with me.
Of course, we also joked early on that all I should price Dying Embers at $1000 and all I need to sell is one copy. We both had a good laugh about that.
This, of course, is strictly my pricing strategy and my opinion. Like I said, I have the luxury of being able to price my own books - something no traditional author has. They might hate people like me. I can live with that if the readers appreciate what I'm doing. Then again, those TP authors might wish they could set their own prices, too. :shrug:
I'm sure somewhere in the industry, people are suggesting that all authors band together and set an across the board minimum price. Shame on them. That's called 'price fixing' and it's illegal. Also, it's a bully tactic and it's force. Not a big fan of force over here. And bullies should always get what they deserve - a swift kick in the pants.
So, that's my two cents. Disagree if you want to, but understand that no one is going to tell me what my books should or shouldn't be priced at - except the market. And if you feel like you should've paid more for my books, feel free to send me money. LOL
September 14, 2016
Why My Books are Inexpensive
I'm not a wealthy woman. I'm not even close. Never have been. Even when my husband was making good money, we were penny-pinchers because we knew that saving every penny we could would get us out there that much sooner. Back then, I sold used books online to fund my book-buying addiction, but now, I live too far from the post office to make that a reasonable way to earn extra cash. I keep the reins on my current book budget tight. I have to.
And I expect that the majority of readers out there are feeling the pinch, too.
Every once in a while, I'll see an impromptu survey on FB asking how much people are willing to spend on an ebook. The results are usually around $3.99 with the occasional dip into high priced ebooks if it's an author or a series the reader really loves.
My books are all $2.99. Why? Since I'm self-published, I can set whatever price I want to. I could set them at what I think they're worth. I could set them at what it costs me to put them out. But who wants to pay that exorbitant amount? LOL
I set them all at $2.99 because I don't want to feel like a hypocrite. If I can't afford to buy a book higher than $2.99, how could I possibly expect readers to pay more for my books?
Sure, if I sold them for more, I might be able to afford to buy higher priced books... But it doesn't work that way. Since $2.99 also seems to be what the market will bear, setting the price higher will actually net me less money in the long run. (Ask traditional publishing how that whole $9.99+ ebook strategy is working out for them. Last I heard, they were crying that sales were down across the board.)
I read something the other day where a writer was basically damning Amazon for creating the push for cheap books. And for sales sucking. And indie authors are the culprits, too, because we're willing to make beans and driving the prices down... Yeah, yeah. Again, the market pretty much tells businesses what they are willing to pay. And my market is telling me they want inexpensive reading material.
Of course, some of the same people who are demanding cheaper books are also damning cheaper books as being of lower quality, but that's a rant for another day.
My point is, I set the price for all my books where I think people will be able to afford to buy them. If you bought every one of my ebooks right now, you'd pay $20.93 for SEVEN books. As opposed to the traditional publishing low-low price of $9.99 x 7 = $69.93. You could buy all my books and take your spouse out to dinner for that amount. Or pay part of the electric bill. Or get your kids some new shoes. (At Payless, but still.)
Jus' sayin'.
And, yes, the above only applies to ebooks. I have to charge more for print because it costs more to produce them. (Funny how that works, ain't it?) And I have to be above a certain amount or I would end up owing Createspace money instead of making a little. (Especially on their 'extended distribution'... but don't get me started on that.)
So, there it is in a fruit cup. I still hope to make money selling low-priced novels. Volume is the key there. Sell loads of books and then I won't have to worry if I'm making beans on each one. I still won't be rich, but I'd like for this self-publishing venture to someday fund itself. That'd be awesome.
What's the average amount you pay for books? What's the most you'll pay for a book? Why?
And I expect that the majority of readers out there are feeling the pinch, too.
Every once in a while, I'll see an impromptu survey on FB asking how much people are willing to spend on an ebook. The results are usually around $3.99 with the occasional dip into high priced ebooks if it's an author or a series the reader really loves.
My books are all $2.99. Why? Since I'm self-published, I can set whatever price I want to. I could set them at what I think they're worth. I could set them at what it costs me to put them out. But who wants to pay that exorbitant amount? LOL
I set them all at $2.99 because I don't want to feel like a hypocrite. If I can't afford to buy a book higher than $2.99, how could I possibly expect readers to pay more for my books?
Sure, if I sold them for more, I might be able to afford to buy higher priced books... But it doesn't work that way. Since $2.99 also seems to be what the market will bear, setting the price higher will actually net me less money in the long run. (Ask traditional publishing how that whole $9.99+ ebook strategy is working out for them. Last I heard, they were crying that sales were down across the board.)
I read something the other day where a writer was basically damning Amazon for creating the push for cheap books. And for sales sucking. And indie authors are the culprits, too, because we're willing to make beans and driving the prices down... Yeah, yeah. Again, the market pretty much tells businesses what they are willing to pay. And my market is telling me they want inexpensive reading material.
Of course, some of the same people who are demanding cheaper books are also damning cheaper books as being of lower quality, but that's a rant for another day.
My point is, I set the price for all my books where I think people will be able to afford to buy them. If you bought every one of my ebooks right now, you'd pay $20.93 for SEVEN books. As opposed to the traditional publishing low-low price of $9.99 x 7 = $69.93. You could buy all my books and take your spouse out to dinner for that amount. Or pay part of the electric bill. Or get your kids some new shoes. (At Payless, but still.)
Jus' sayin'.
And, yes, the above only applies to ebooks. I have to charge more for print because it costs more to produce them. (Funny how that works, ain't it?) And I have to be above a certain amount or I would end up owing Createspace money instead of making a little. (Especially on their 'extended distribution'... but don't get me started on that.)
So, there it is in a fruit cup. I still hope to make money selling low-priced novels. Volume is the key there. Sell loads of books and then I won't have to worry if I'm making beans on each one. I still won't be rich, but I'd like for this self-publishing venture to someday fund itself. That'd be awesome.
What's the average amount you pay for books? What's the most you'll pay for a book? Why?
September 12, 2016
Acknowledgments
This morning, I got to thinkin'. Does anyone read the Acknowledgements anymore? Did they ever?
I mean, I know sometimes other writers read that section, if they're looking for an agent or a cover artist or an editor. I know people close to the author read them to see if they're mentioned. Sometimes, I'll read the ones in my friend's books to see who they thanked. But, for the most part, as a general reader, I don't read them.
And I do it even less than I used to because with ebooks, the book opens up at the first line of the book (Chapter One or Prologue or whatever), and it takes actual forethought to scroll back and read them. I usually just dive right in. I'm more likely to read them in hardcopy. They're right there as I turn pages to get to the story, so why not glance at them? Right?
If you pick up a copy of Up Wish Creek and read the Acknowledgements, you might notice something. Well, you might notice if you've already read In Deep Wish's Acknowledgements. They're almost identical. I read the previous Acknowledgements and all of it was still true, so I left it. It's not that I'm not grateful to the people who help me, but since I'm a hermit, there aren't that many people to thank individually.
I've started putting a Special Note right after the Acknowledgements, pointing people to other books in the series, but that's something a reader would have to scroll back for, too. :shrug:
So, your turn to chime in. Do you read the Acknowledgements? Do you read the other front matter of a book? What about the back matter - About the Author, or Other Books By?
I mean, I know sometimes other writers read that section, if they're looking for an agent or a cover artist or an editor. I know people close to the author read them to see if they're mentioned. Sometimes, I'll read the ones in my friend's books to see who they thanked. But, for the most part, as a general reader, I don't read them.
And I do it even less than I used to because with ebooks, the book opens up at the first line of the book (Chapter One or Prologue or whatever), and it takes actual forethought to scroll back and read them. I usually just dive right in. I'm more likely to read them in hardcopy. They're right there as I turn pages to get to the story, so why not glance at them? Right?
If you pick up a copy of Up Wish Creek and read the Acknowledgements, you might notice something. Well, you might notice if you've already read In Deep Wish's Acknowledgements. They're almost identical. I read the previous Acknowledgements and all of it was still true, so I left it. It's not that I'm not grateful to the people who help me, but since I'm a hermit, there aren't that many people to thank individually.
I've started putting a Special Note right after the Acknowledgements, pointing people to other books in the series, but that's something a reader would have to scroll back for, too. :shrug:
So, your turn to chime in. Do you read the Acknowledgements? Do you read the other front matter of a book? What about the back matter - About the Author, or Other Books By?
September 9, 2016
It's LIVE.
Up Wish Creek is live now.
I said that I would have it published on or before the 14th, and I did it. Five days ahead of schedule. Okay, four and a half.
Here are the links...
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
Amazon AU
If I missed your country, do a search at your Amazon. It should be there.
And through this weekend, all of the Once Upon a Djinn books are only 99 cents ea (US) and whatever corresponding price at your chosen country. All inexpensive. But only through Monday. I'll reset the pricing Sunday night and then Amazon will change it within 12 hours. So, don't wait until the last minute.
Again, thank you for following this blog, for being awesome friends, and faithful readers. I truly appreciate you all.
I said that I would have it published on or before the 14th, and I did it. Five days ahead of schedule. Okay, four and a half.
Here are the links...
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
Amazon AU
If I missed your country, do a search at your Amazon. It should be there.
And through this weekend, all of the Once Upon a Djinn books are only 99 cents ea (US) and whatever corresponding price at your chosen country. All inexpensive. But only through Monday. I'll reset the pricing Sunday night and then Amazon will change it within 12 hours. So, don't wait until the last minute.
Again, thank you for following this blog, for being awesome friends, and faithful readers. I truly appreciate you all.
September 6, 2016
Crutch Words
Hello!
As I said yesterday on The Writing Spectacle, I have crutch words. To most, these are words writers use on a regular basis in place of better, richer words, ostensibly because they are lazy. Or in my case, have a boatload of bad habits that I am disinclined to worry about during the drafting phases.
Also, in yesterday's post, I said I'd talk about those words here today. Yah, I'm airing my dirty laundry. :shrug: Shtuff happens.
Anyway, here are some of the words my editor came up with this time around...
just - 152/56
even - 155/39
like - 290/110
then - 221/43
know - 135/45
again - 159/60
The first number is how many instance of that word I found when I highlighted them all. The second number is how many I found AFTER I'd finished tweaking. It took me about 6 hours over 2 days of finding and rewording.
She did point out some words that I didn't bother with. When I did a search of 'took', for instance, I only found 39 of those. Compared to 'like', 39 was a non-issue. Plus, I'm tired and a little cranky. I apologize if the word irritates you.
I also apologize to anyone who isn't overly fond of the word 'like'. (Which, btw, includes child-like, likeable, etc.) But there were places I just couldn't bring myself to change. And the sentence "I like him, but I don't like him like him' chalked up 3 all by itself.
I really do try to make these books the best they can be. But, as I say in my front matter, "Any flaws or fiascos in grammar, punctuation, spelling, research, etc. are entirely the fault of the author. My editor probably pointed them out, and the author was too stubborn to change them." I am kinda stubborn sometimes, as AWE will attest to.
Anyway, I hope that gives you a little insight into the pre-publication process. Authors really are out there working to make your reading experience as awesome as you hope it will be. Thanks for reading.
And for an update... Once I read through this one more time, checking to make sure I didn't insert errors while I was fixing errors, I will be able to upload this for sale. Check back throughout the week to see where that process is at. When I know it's live on Amazon, you'll know it.
As I said yesterday on The Writing Spectacle, I have crutch words. To most, these are words writers use on a regular basis in place of better, richer words, ostensibly because they are lazy. Or in my case, have a boatload of bad habits that I am disinclined to worry about during the drafting phases.
Also, in yesterday's post, I said I'd talk about those words here today. Yah, I'm airing my dirty laundry. :shrug: Shtuff happens.
Anyway, here are some of the words my editor came up with this time around...
just - 152/56
even - 155/39
like - 290/110
then - 221/43
know - 135/45
again - 159/60
The first number is how many instance of that word I found when I highlighted them all. The second number is how many I found AFTER I'd finished tweaking. It took me about 6 hours over 2 days of finding and rewording.
She did point out some words that I didn't bother with. When I did a search of 'took', for instance, I only found 39 of those. Compared to 'like', 39 was a non-issue. Plus, I'm tired and a little cranky. I apologize if the word irritates you.
I also apologize to anyone who isn't overly fond of the word 'like'. (Which, btw, includes child-like, likeable, etc.) But there were places I just couldn't bring myself to change. And the sentence "I like him, but I don't like him like him' chalked up 3 all by itself.
I really do try to make these books the best they can be. But, as I say in my front matter, "Any flaws or fiascos in grammar, punctuation, spelling, research, etc. are entirely the fault of the author. My editor probably pointed them out, and the author was too stubborn to change them." I am kinda stubborn sometimes, as AWE will attest to.
Anyway, I hope that gives you a little insight into the pre-publication process. Authors really are out there working to make your reading experience as awesome as you hope it will be. Thanks for reading.
And for an update... Once I read through this one more time, checking to make sure I didn't insert errors while I was fixing errors, I will be able to upload this for sale. Check back throughout the week to see where that process is at. When I know it's live on Amazon, you'll know it.
August 31, 2016
News and Stuff
AWE (Awesome Wonderful Editor) got my edits back to me yesterday morning. I hit them hard last night and I'm already through chapter 3, so I'm ahead of schedule to meet my self-imposed deadline of September 14th. If I get it done sooner, you'll get a chance to buy it sooner. Yay!
If you want an Advance Review Copy - one without all of the final edits, but still pretty much done - let me know and I'll shoot you a PDF. I give you a copy, you give me an honest review. K?
Oh, and since I didn't mention it, it's the ARC for Up Wish Creek (Once Upon a Djinn #3). Here's the blurb I came up with:
For Jo Mayweather, genie life is far from perfect, but it was finally beginning to settle down after the incident where she accidentally glassed over part of the Florida Panhandle. Her enemies have been quiet. The Djinn Council has left her alone. Her traitorous ex-lover has disappeared. Finally, she has time to figure out who’s behind the conspiracy to ruin her life. But setting her feet on that trail means discovering things from her past she’d rather not know, facing her parents in their newest incarnations, and getting a mission from the gods that she’s not sure she can complete. All in a day’s work, right? Sometimes Jo wishes she had a different occupation. Too bad wishes don’t work that way.
It's up at Goodreads, if you want to add it to your 'Want to Read' list.
Right now, the other two books in the series - Wish in One Hand and In Deep Wish - are still 99 cents each. I'll be making Up Wish Creek 99 cents, too, but only for a limited time. Shop early, shop often. Of course, when I raise prices again, they'll only be $2.99 each, so if you miss the sale, you won't be killing yourself.
I will be putting a newsletter out. Eventually. It'll have stuff in it. If you want to see what kinds of stuff, click the newsletter button up there near the top, fill out the form, submit. Easy peasy.
And just for reading all the way to here, I'll give you a chance to win a paperback copy of one of my books. Just comment and I'll draw a name next week.
If you want an Advance Review Copy - one without all of the final edits, but still pretty much done - let me know and I'll shoot you a PDF. I give you a copy, you give me an honest review. K?
Oh, and since I didn't mention it, it's the ARC for Up Wish Creek (Once Upon a Djinn #3). Here's the blurb I came up with:
For Jo Mayweather, genie life is far from perfect, but it was finally beginning to settle down after the incident where she accidentally glassed over part of the Florida Panhandle. Her enemies have been quiet. The Djinn Council has left her alone. Her traitorous ex-lover has disappeared. Finally, she has time to figure out who’s behind the conspiracy to ruin her life. But setting her feet on that trail means discovering things from her past she’d rather not know, facing her parents in their newest incarnations, and getting a mission from the gods that she’s not sure she can complete. All in a day’s work, right? Sometimes Jo wishes she had a different occupation. Too bad wishes don’t work that way.
It's up at Goodreads, if you want to add it to your 'Want to Read' list.
Right now, the other two books in the series - Wish in One Hand and In Deep Wish - are still 99 cents each. I'll be making Up Wish Creek 99 cents, too, but only for a limited time. Shop early, shop often. Of course, when I raise prices again, they'll only be $2.99 each, so if you miss the sale, you won't be killing yourself.
I will be putting a newsletter out. Eventually. It'll have stuff in it. If you want to see what kinds of stuff, click the newsletter button up there near the top, fill out the form, submit. Easy peasy.
And just for reading all the way to here, I'll give you a chance to win a paperback copy of one of my books. Just comment and I'll draw a name next week.
