David Neth's Blog, page 9

Fantasy Lovers Giveaway

I’m participating in my first multi-author promotional event! This will hopefully help me get more attention on me and my books, but it is also beneficial to you!

You can enter for a chance to win a free Kindle Fire loaded with 50 FREE fantasy ebooks! The details are below. If you’re an ebook reader and a fan of fantasy, this could potentially supply you with a year’s worth of books!

Feel free to share and spread the word to other people who might be interested in entering!

Do you love reading fantasy books? Then this giveaway is just for you! 50 authors have teamed up to bring you the ULTIMATE giveaway — a Kindle Fire loaded with 50 fantasy ebooks! Even better, this contest doesn’t just have one winner, but SIX! One person wins the kindle, and an additional five people will be given one of the 50 ebooks listed in this giveaway — their choice. PLUS you can earn unlimited extra entries! Scroll down to learn more about the prizes, or click here to enter:

Enter the Fantasy Lovers Giveaway Here

The Prizes: One Kindle Fire…

Plus these FIFTY Fantasy eBooks!

    

       

     

        

    

        

    

          

         

    

Well? What are you waiting for? Click here to enter the giveaway.

Enter to win a free signed paperback of The Full Moon!

Over on Goodreads, I’m giving away a signed paperback copy of The Full Moon! If you haven’t picked up your copy yet, now could be your chance! (Or you could, you know, buy a copy for only $3.99 on Amazon…) No matter how you get your hands on the book, make sure to leave a review once you’re finished!

Goodreads Book Giveaway


The Full Moon
by David Neth

Giveaway ends February 27, 2016.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

My First Audiobook

I released my first book on August 1, 2015 (has it really been over six months!?). It was actually on that day that I was convinced that being in audio is a powerful thing and I needed to get going on it as soon as possible. So I created a profile for my book on ACX the day it was released (you can actually create a profile for your preorder, too, which I did for my next book).

Not surprisingly, I didn’t hear anything. Sure, my book was selling at the time (to friends and family), but it wasn’t number one, nor did I have an established following. Admittedly, I didn’t really read any of the ToS or look into how any of it really worked, so I listened to some samples, made an offer to a couple people, who turned it down.

Eventually, one woman accepted. Her samples were nice. She had a bit of an accent that I thought would fit well with the supernatural element of my story. But when she did the first 15 minutes, I wasn’t blown away. I asked for a few critiques, which she made, and I accepted the first 15 minutes, even though I wasn’t really crazy about it (dumb move). I got the first few chapters and still wasn’t impressed. I didn’t want to keep asking for revisions, so I looked into my options.

The ACX contract says that if both parties agree, the contract can be broken. So I requested that I find a different narrator. Thankfully, she agreed.

This whole process set me back considerably. By the time I found her, sent her the manuscript, had the first 15 minutes recorded, modified, rerecorded, the first few chapters posted, and then the contract broken, I was well into September.

Rule #1: Make sure you like your narrator and what they’re doing with your piece before you agree to a contract.

I took some more time looking for my next narrator. Learning from past experience, I decided to focus on a few key points:

What kind of narrator was I looking for? Young/old, male/female?
What style did I want them to read in? What was the tone of my novel?
Did I want them to do different voices for different characters?
How fast did I want this to be turned around?

Again, I requested that a few people read my book, which they politely declined until Nathan Weiland accepted. This was his first audiobook, but I loved his voice. He adapted it well to my book and my characters.

The process was slow (maybe slower than it would have been with an experienced narrator), but I’m very happy with the result.

Rule #2: Communicate with your narrator.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in other things, but it’s important to keep tabs on the progress being made with your audiobook. Don’t be annoyingly persistent, though. Your narrator needs lots of time to rehearse, record, and produce your audiobook. It’s as much of a process as writing the book is. So be patient.

Listening to my audiobook made me cringe and wish I could change the manuscript, but the book was published and I needed to move forward. Once I accepted the final recording, it took ACX about 1-2 weeks to approve it (although I’ve heard it could take longer). When it was accepted, it took a day or two to appear on Audible.com and another day or two for Amazon and iTunes. Like I said, a process.

After all was said and done, the project that I started on August 1 was finally on sale everywhere by November 30. Sure, I had some bumps along the way, but that seems about average to produce a 7 hour book. A lot of books are longer than that.

Another thing to consider when venturing into audio is how you’re going to pay for it. A lot of quality narrators only charge per hour (which could cost around $2,000 per book!). Some still accept royalty share, where you and the narrator split your audio profits 50/50. Since my narrator was new to the game, he was willing to accept royalty share.

We’ve had some sales, but nothing too impressive yet. I’m hoping once the rest of the series gets published, sales for this book will take off or at least be measureable where royalty share still makes me a decent profit. In the future, if my finances allow it, I’d love to pay per hour so I can retain all my royalties, but that just wasn’t feasible right now. What was more important was getting the audio out there.

What has your audiobook experience been like?

The Full Moon is now available. Pick up your copy on Amazon!

Kathy and her sister, Samantha, have always been a team. Throughout their time as witches, they’ve taken out more than their share of bad guys. But after Kathy meets Will, who she learns is a demonic Dark Knight, her loyalties begin to change.

Meanwhile, Samantha doesn’t trust Will or his intentions. Still, Kathy can’t help but feel tempted by the dark side as she falls deeper in love with Will. Crossing over would give Kathy the freedom to do whatever she wanted with her magic. No rules. No limitations. It would also mean breaking the bond she has always shared with her sister, who has made it clear that she wants nothing to do with the dark side.

When Will proposes they take over the underworld, Kathy loves the idea of having power. But it also leaves her with a choice that will change her life: abandon her family and the life she has always known, or give up the love of her life forever.

The Full Moon has arrived!

The new book in the Under the Moon Series is out today! The Full Moon is my favorite book I’ve ever written and I’m so glad it’s out now!

Follow any of the links to pick up a digital or print copy online or contact me for signed copies! The Kindle version is currently $0.99 for a limited time!

Also, once you’re done reading it, I’d appreciate it if you left a review on Amazon or Goodreads or wherever it is you bought it.

For audio fans, the audiobook is currently in production, so stay tuned for details about that! Also, pay attention for ways for you to get a FREE audio copy!

Kathy and her sister, Samantha, have always been a team. Throughout their time as witches, they’ve taken out more than their share of bad guys. But after Kathy meets Will, who she learns is a demonic Dark Knight, her loyalties begin to change.

Meanwhile, Samantha doesn’t trust Will or his intentions. Still, Kathy can’t help but feel tempted by the dark side as she falls deeper in love with Will. Crossing over would give Kathy the freedom to do whatever she wanted with her magic. No rules. No limitations. It would also mean breaking the bond she has always shared with her sister, who has made it clear that she wants nothing to do with the dark side.

When Will proposes they take over the underworld, Kathy loves the idea of having power. But it also leaves her with a choice that will change her life: abandon her family and the life she has always known, or give up the love of her life forever.

Writing Tip: Creating a Mix

I picked up Veronica Roth’s Divergent over a year ago because I wanted to see what all the hype was about and I wanted an easy read. The trailers for the movies didn’t do much for me, but neither did the trailers for The Hunger Games series and I devoured those books last year, so I figured Divergent might be the same way.

However, once I started reading it, I was underwhelmed. Even a little bored. But mostly, I was disappointed. How could a novel so successful be such a bore? I didn’t discover the magic of the book until a little more than halfway through.

Once the world building and the setting and character types were established, I felt like Roth was going through some of the most mundane tasks that her characters were going through. The fighting scenes were described in detail, but they were simply training, so what difference did it make who won and who didn’t?

That all changed once things started to heat up between Tris and Tobias. Their romance created a distraction from the “normalcy” that had become the rest of the book. (We get it, you chose a different faction, abandoned your family, and miss them dearly. The point?) It wasn’t so much that I craved to read a romance, I just wanted something to happen. Something that mattered.

Tris and Tobias’s relationship provided that extra bit of detail that I was looking for. From there, the novel started to dive into the revolution that was only slightly hinted at through the rest of the book.

I felt the same about Cinda Chima’s Seven Realms series. The Demon King bored me to no end. Still, I loved Chima’s previous work with the Heir series, so I pushed through it. Demon focused on world-building and Han and Raisa were featured separately throughout the whole book, although some of the minor characters crossed paths. Once Han and Raisa met and their stories became intertwined in The Exiled Queen, I was more interested. As the series progressed in The Gray Wolf Throne and The Crimson Crown and Han and Raisa developed a romance while the world that the story was based in was in a civil war, that’s when I was at the edge of my seat.

It wasn’t until I was reading Divergent that I noticed how important mixing plots becomes. You need a healthy combination of romance, story arc, and great characters to make a good story. That’s hard to achieve, but something every writer is working toward.

As I wrote my second book, The Full Moon, the story naturally lent itself to the healthy mix that I was looking for. The story wouldn’t exist without the romance between Will and Kathy and the conflict between Kathy and Samantha only added to the plot of the book.

However, during the first draft of The Harvest Moon, I was finding a hard time grabbing that magical recipe until I was working on edits, which helped me discover where that magic was hiding.

So take a look at what books you enjoyed reading. Which ones made you sit on the edge of your seat and look forward to that next chapter? Which ones didn’t leave a huge impact and were forgotten? Which one do you want your book to be? What exactly did you find so captivating about your favorite books? How can you capture that for your own books?

The Full Moon is available for preorder and will be released TOMORROW.

Kathy and her sister, Samantha, have always been a team. Throughout their time as witches, they’ve taken out more than their share of bad guys. But after Kathy meets Will, who she learns is a demonic Dark Knight, her loyalties begin to change.

Meanwhile, Samantha doesn’t trust Will or his intentions. Still, Kathy can’t help but feel tempted by the dark side as she falls deeper in love with Will. Crossing over would give Kathy the freedom to do whatever she wanted with her magic. No rules. No limitations. It would also mean breaking the bond she has always shared with her sister, who has made it clear that she wants nothing to do with the dark side.

When Will proposes they take over the underworld, Kathy loves the idea of having power. But it also leaves her with a choice that will change her life: abandon her family and the life she has always known, or give up the love of her life forever.

Life’s Too Short to Not Read What You Want

I gave up on a book last night. I really thought I was going to like it…and then I didn’t. I almost felt guilty for putting it down. Like I should stick it out in case it got better. But I’ve learned from other books that they rarely do get better.

For the last few years, “people” have been talking about how great The Magicians is. It’s even has it’s own TV show now. It’s supposedly “Harry Potter for adults” and features a secret school where students learn to use magic while also getting in the typical social situations late-teens get themselves tangled into.

That was the claim anyway.

First off, I didn’t especially care for Quentin Coldwater. Judging from the Goodreads reviews I read, that was the general consensus. But I thought I could find interest in the other aspects of the book…if anything had actually happened.

After over 100 pages, not much had changed. The basic premise was laid out, but there was nothing pushing me to the next page, the next scene, the next chapter. The author gave me no reason to care about the story. (And if I read one more time “One day, this and this happened…” I swear.)

The events of the book were just sort of pushed along. Over the course of the first 100 pages, Quentin discovers the school, abandons his friends and family, and starts classes.

Okay, fine.

But then nothing happens. Suddenly, he’s in his second year. Then he’s in his third year. Oh, and then a mysterious attack happens…and the next page he’s in his fourth year.

WHAT!?

Why didn’t the story just start with Quentin in his fourth year and give the backstory as the story unfolds to fill the lulls between ACTION?

I stopped the book because there wasn’t any action in it. There were a few scenes, but mostly the author was explaining what happened and not actually allowing me as a reader to get lost in that world.

I noticed the importance of telling a good story when I picked up my next book: a book I had been dying to read for some time now…Red Rising. From the first chapter, I was hooked. And judging from the cult following and Goodreads reviews, most people like it (so I will too, right?). That wasn’t the case with The Magicians…

If all else fails, I have the rest of The Maze Runner series that I can read.

Book Review: Your First 1,000 Copies

Your First 1000 Copies: The Step-By-Step Guide to Marketing Your Book by Tim Grahl

This book wasn’t what I expected it to be. I was hoping for more examples of how to complete each step of his selling process. Instead, I got generic advice like “write great content” or “come up with some ideas for extras for readers.” Not very helpful to generate creative marketing ideas. The author examples he did point to were mostly non-fiction writers, so if you’re a fiction writer, a lot of the advice in the book might not even apply to you. That’s not the kind of book I thought I was buying, but I suppose he succeeded in making me complete the sale, so there’s that.

What I Found Most Helpful: He gave great suggestions on how to get more people to sign up to your mailing list. I haven’t used them long enough to determine if they’re as successful as he says they are, but my website looks more professional because of it.

 

The Full Moon is available for preorder and will be released February 6, 2016.

Kathy and her sister, Samantha, have always been a team. Throughout their time as witches, they’ve taken out more than their share of bad guys. But after Kathy meets Will, who she learns is a demonic Dark Knight, her loyalties begin to change.

Meanwhile, Samantha doesn’t trust Will or his intentions. Still, Kathy can’t help but feel tempted by the dark side as she falls deeper in love with Will. Crossing over would give Kathy the freedom to do whatever she wanted with her magic. No rules. No limitations. It would also mean breaking the bond she has always shared with her sister, who has made it clear that she wants nothing to do with the dark side.

When Will proposes they take over the underworld, Kathy loves the idea of having power. But it also leaves her with a choice that will change her life: abandon her family and the life she has always known, or give up the love of her life forever.

Staying Local

The number of independent authors has grown tremendously since Amazon first introduced the Kindle in 2007, thanks to the Internet. Other retailers have certainly followed in Amazon’s footsteps allowing indies to self-publish quickly and easily.

With the introduction of print-on-demand sites like Createspace, indie authors can now see their words in print. If it’s done right, readers can’t tell the difference between a self-published title and a traditionally-published title anymore.

This is all thanks to the Internet.

Authors have maintained professional appearances and created online businesses all while working from home. There is no doubt about it that this is a great way to spread the word, get to the market faster, and, essentially, “fake it, ’til you make it.”

But it also creates a sense of anonymity. Nobody on the Internet cares one way or another about yet another author posting their work online.

Locally? They may buy your book simply because you live in the same town.

Prior to launching my first book, I wasn’t expecting to receive the local attention that I got. People were interested in me and my book simply because I lived where they lived. I’ve sold a couple paperbacks face-to-face and I’ve realized that I don’t have to travel far to set up an author table. There are plenty of opportunities around you.

I’m brainstorming ideas about how I can maintain my local presence (and awareness) without relying solely on media coverage of my releases. Next year when I have a few more titles out, I’ll look into buying stock of my books for events. It’s a bit costly up front (about $100 for a box of 20 copies from Createspace), but once you have your books, you can sell them all tomorrow or you can sell them over the next six months. Either way, you’re making your money back and then some.

Ask your local bookstores if they’ll carry your books. They may even offer to hold an author signing or ask you to be a part of a reading series. They may shelve your book under a “Local Authors” section that will help draw attention to you. Some booksellers may be more willing to tell people about your book if it’s local.

See if you can participate in different community events. Where I live, every summer they close down Main Street for a day and different local businesses within the area set up tents to help generate buzz. I know my community is not unique in this. Find yours and participate.

Different fairs or craft shows are a good way to be present in the community as well. The thing about books at a craft show or a fair is that people can’t always get a full picture of what the product is just by looking at it. They’ll stand there and read the back cover or talk to you about what the book is about. They’ll linger. The more people that linger at your table, the more people will pick up on the fact that you have something to good to offer. They’ll come and check out your books or at least take your card and look you up.

There are so many local opportunities to take advantage of. They’re like your family. They’ll support you just because. While hand-to-hand sales might not help your Amazon ranking, you’re still making money. And who’s to say that you can’t have a mailing list sign-up form at your table at a fair or event? You’re increasing your list and will hopefully hook those readers who will buy each new release and may even go back and buy your entire catalog! Pretty cool!

Now obviously there are costs involved, which will have to be considered. But start small. Choose an event that gets the most people or an event that is free to participate in and just worry about getting your books in print. If you have the funds, have bookmarks or business cards printed (can you do that locally too?) to pass out along with your books.

With any luck, these events will be beneficial, but you’ll have to weigh the pros and cons afterwards. Did you sell out? Did you make enough to justify giving up a whole writing day? Maybe that event wasn’t your right audience. Or maybe you could just rely on local word-of-mouth to sell your books? Maybe you could have a small ad in the local paper asking people to contact you for signed paperbacks. Word of mouth is the most popular thing.

Once you’ve conquered your little town, expand further. Is there something in the next town over that you can be a part of? Do what’s most effective without spreading yourself too thin. It’s great to sell (it’s a great motivator to write) but we still need to leave time to write.

 

The Full Moon is available for preorder and will be released February 6, 2016.

Kathy and her sister, Samantha, have always been a team. Throughout their time as witches, they’ve taken out more than their share of bad guys. But after Kathy meets Will, who she learns is a demonic Dark Knight, her loyalties begin to change.

Meanwhile, Samantha doesn’t trust Will or his intentions. Still, Kathy can’t help but feel tempted by the dark side as she falls deeper in love with Will. Crossing over would give Kathy the freedom to do whatever she wanted with her magic. No rules. No limitations. It would also mean breaking the bond she has always shared with her sister, who has made it clear that she wants nothing to do with the dark side.

When Will proposes they take over the underworld, Kathy loves the idea of having power. But it also leaves her with a choice that will change her life: abandon her family and the life she has always known, or give up the love of her life forever.

The End of the Series Never Comes

Do you have trouble reading series? Do you start and don’t finish; avoid altogether; or devour your series? A friend of mine writes about her problem with not finishing series over on her blog, 80 Books Blog.

What is your take on series?

Source: The End of the Series Never Comes

Book Review: Let’s Get Digital

Let’s Get Digital: How to Self-Publish, and Why You Should: Updated Second Edition by David Gaughran

On Goodreads, I tend to keep the reviews for the books I love brief. The review for this book simply said: “A great resource for new indie authors!” Granted, I was standing in line to board a plane when I wrote that, but I could’ve given more than seven words for this impressive tome!

The thing with self-publishing guides sometimes is it gets to be overwhelming with everything that is involved and everything you could be doing and finding what works for you and what doesn’t. It’s hard to wade through all of that without books and sales numbers of your own to play with.

Let’s Get Digital simplifies that. There were only a few moments that I felt like I was in over my head, but for the most part, Gaughran broke down each step and explained each step into bite-size chunks for newbies. That’s good. He even provided links back to his blog for more information.

I have only two complaints about this book:

There were parts that he didn’t explain things that well and simply provided a link to his blog for more information. I didn’t like that. I wanted to know more right then. I didn’t want to save the link and read about it later. Either he wanted to drive traffic back to his site and his other books or he wanted to cut back the word count on this book to save on the cost of production. Either way, I think he should have included expanded explanations. But at least he provided the resources to obtain that information.
He was a little anti-traditional publisher. I get it, it’s a self-publishing guide, but just because I chose to self-publish doesn’t mean that I will never traditionally publish. Nor do I damn the authors who choose to pursue traditional publishers over self-publishing. He wasn’t as bad as some people I’ve read, but it still kind of irked me.

What I Found Most Helpful: The interviews with successful indies in the third section were particularly inspiring. Especially the ones who stumbled into self-publishing. It proves that a good story is really all it takes. I also found his suggestion to submit your short stories to literary magazines prior to putting them on Amazon to maximize profitability a unique idea. I never thought of that, nor did I know where to look for short story markets.

 

The Full Moon is available for preorder and will be released February 6, 2016.

Kathy and her sister, Samantha, have always been a team. Throughout their time as witches, they’ve taken out more than their share of bad guys. But after Kathy meets Will, who she learns is a demonic Dark Knight, her loyalties begin to change.

Meanwhile, Samantha doesn’t trust Will or his intentions. Still, Kathy can’t help but feel tempted by the dark side as she falls deeper in love with Will. Crossing over would give Kathy the freedom to do whatever she wanted with her magic. No rules. No limitations. It would also mean breaking the bond she has always shared with her sister, who has made it clear that she wants nothing to do with the dark side.

When Will proposes they take over the underworld, Kathy loves the idea of having power. But it also leaves her with a choice that will change her life: abandon her family and the life she has always known, or give up the love of her life forever.