Eamon Ambrose's Blog

A Beginner’s Guide To Writing Serials

Just over a year ago, I published a short story called Zero Hour. It was my first foray into publishing and through a combination of luck, star alignment, fate, or whatever else plucks obscure nerds out of the Amazon minnow farm, it somehow got noticed and sold quite well. My initial plan was to write and publish a few short stories and collect them later in an anthology. It was purely an experiment in toe-dipping to see if I could actually get anyone to read my work. The rest is history.

Then something unexpected happened – readers started contacting me asking what happened next. Truth was, I had no idea, but who was I to argue with discerning readers? So, I fired up my laptop and set down to continue the story. I had no real outline, but I had a fair idea of where I wanted the story to go. Thus began the Zero Hour serial.

Of course, one of the most celebrated serials in recent years was Hugh Howey’s Wool. He too had a similar experience and not only that, wrote two more works in serial style, Sand and Beacon 23. I really enjoyed the serial format on Sand and Beacon 23 (Wool was already collected in an omnibus by the time I had read it) and looked to these releases as a template of sorts to continue Zero Hour.

So, with that in mind, and with Zero Hour now collected in its own omnibus, I’d like to share with you what the experience taught me about serials. This is purely my experience. For others, it may be a completely different one, but I hope it does provide some insight to an often misunderstood format.

1. Know What A Serial Is

First of all, and most importantly, serials are not novels and shouldn’t be treated as such when writing. Serial parts are not mere chapters, they are episodes, and each needs to be treated individually. The biggest mistake I’ve seen people make with serials is trying to serialise an already written novel. This doesn’t work. Readers can spot it a mile away. It can most certainly be compiled into a novel afterwards, but needs to be treated much differently in the initial stages.

2.Part One Is King

Although it was a happy accident in my case, the first part should be able to exist as a standalone work. Think of it as a pilot for a TV series. It must grab the reader, drag them into your world, and make them not want to leave, but still leave them faced with the choice. You need to make a solid connection with your readers from the get go, otherwise you’re wasting your time, and it will show in your sales. The first part is your anchor, and the most important set piece in the overall work. It’s the part you need to concentrate on selling, and should always be the focal point for any reader.

3.Publish Consistently

I’ll be the first to admit I took a little too long in between parts for Zero Hour. I hope it didn’t lose me too many readers, but in my case as a first timer, I wanted to make sure I got it right. It’s up to you if you want to write all the parts first, and then release them on a schedule, or if you want to release them as you write, but decide beforehand and stick to it.

4.Know Your World 

Particularly if you’re writing on the fly, or pantsing as we like to call it, make sure you have planned out the world you’re going to be writing in as best as you can. If there’s a journey involved, either real-world or fictional, know the route your characters will be taking, even if you’re not going to be specific about the location.

5. Remember Where You Parked! 

Continuity can be one of the big pitfalls in serial writing. It’s easy to place an event, object or character somewhere and completely forget about it, only to be reminded when it’s time for that which you have forgotten to take its place within the story.  This is where good beta readers are a huge asset, so make sure you have a enthusiastic team that will follow the journey with you. They’ll often spot inaccuracies or omissions and help to avoid glaring plot holes.

6.Keep Parts Around The Same Length.

There is a good reason for this: Amazon have separate charts for shorter works, based on page length. If your parts are selling well, this has the advantage of having them all show in the same chart, In my case the first five parts were all around the same length and on a few occasions, it was nice to see them all in the top ten! It’s also easier to get into these charts initially, and if selling well, you have a better chance of hitting the number one spot and getting the coveted “Amazon Bestseller” flag.

7.Split Your Production Costs

One of the advantages of publishing a serial is that compared to a full novel, the cost can be broken down. You can pay for your editing and proofreading part by part, without having a huge outlay.

Cover wise, I designed a cover that could be easily altered for each part, just changing the colour for each, again saving money on separate covers. If you use a cover designer, talk to them about this, they will usually offer a discounted rate for serials.

8.Reviews

Reviews are important for any author, but if you publish a serial, expect the first part to garner most of the reviews. People will read the entire series, but often only review one part, so don’t worry if the other parts don’t pick up as many (see #2).

9. Follow Up 

It’s essential that your readers know what’s happening. With serials, readers can tend to be a little more anxious for the next part, so keep them updated with your progress, and if there are delays, let them know.

10. Serials Are Not For Everyone – Get On The Omnibus

Not every reader is a fan of serials. If they already like your work, then they may want to wait until all parts are collected in an omnibus. Give it a week or two after your final part is released to launch an omnibus, and try to add some value to it, whether it’s bonus chapters, production notes, artwork, or anything else that might persuade people to buy the entire collection. Of course, it should also be priced cheaper than the sum of the parts.

So there you have it. I hope I’ve covered everything, but if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask in the comments or find me on the social media links above.

Eamon

Zero Hour 6 Is Go!

Well folks, it’s finally here. Zero Hour Part 6: Collision, the final episode in the series is now live on Amazon! This was by far the hardest part to write, but it was also the most enjoyable.

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this project, it’s exceeded any expectations I might have had. I’m overwhelmed at the reaction so far.

The full novel edition will be available very soon. Here’s a quick preview of the cover:

In other news, I’ve been invited to write for a really cool anthology called helmed by the legendary Samuel Peralta called B-Movie. My story is called Bubbles.

Disclaimer: May contain clowns.

I’ve also been asked to write for another anthology,

Chronicle Worlds: Wool which

features stories based on the wonderful world of Hugh Howey’s Wool. Look for that releasing around March.

After that it’s on to my next novel. I’ll be releasing details of that very soon so stay tuned.

Once again, I can’t thank you all enough. You have changed my life in ways you can’t imagine and for that I’m eternally grateful. I really hope I did the finale justice, and if you haven’t already left a review (even for part 1 is fine) it would mean an awful lot to me if you could. Without reviews, us indie authors don’t sell books – it’s that simple.

Until next time,

Eamon

Zero Becomes One: My Year In Indie Publishing.

Exactly a year ago today, I clicked the “Publish” button on my Amazon KDP dashboard, sending Zero Hour: A Short Story off into the digital wilds, with a packed lunch and a nice, warm coat on. I expected that to be pretty much it. The figures bandied about by the many self-publishing gurus who frequent message boards and other social media platforms, waffling about how much they know about publishing, said something like “An average debut self-published book will sell two hundred copies in its lifetime,” so I reckoned if  I hit that figure at some stage, I’d know I had done something right.

I hit that in the first week.

Now, I don’t want this to turn into a bragfest. I have little time for those writers who spend their entire day on writer message boards, telling everyone how many thousand books they’ve sold.

So then the reviews started to come in, and I knew that maybe I had done something else right. I was waiting for the inevitable bad one (and still do), but it didn’t come, indeed the only one star review I’ve gotten was a troll review from a fellow Irish author who didn’t like my views on publishing. People were talking about it, discussing it in forums, some readers, some authors wondering how the hell I got Hugh Howey to blurb my book. I had no idea what to expect when I published, I had no back catalogue, no budget (I designed the cover myself), certainly no money for marketing of any kind, and no mailing list to fall back on. On paper, it shouldn’t have worked, but for some reason, it did.

Then something else happened. I started getting contacted by people out of the blue asking “Well, what happens next?” I had no clue of course. While some may say it mirrors the success of Hugh Howey’s brilliant Wool (albeit on a much smaller scale-I won’t be buying a boat just yet!), I certainly had no plans to expand on the story. My initial plan was to write and release a few separate short stories, dipping my toe in the literary waters, and eventually releasing them in a collection, before moving on to my first novel. Like many short stories, Zero Hour is open-ended, but somehow what I’d written had captured people’s imagination enough that they cared about what happened next to these characters, so I began to think about what could happen next. A few weeks later, part 2 was finished, and I felt even more nervous than the first day I published. What if they hated it? What if it was all just a fluke, some error in Amazon’s algorithms? Thankfully, readers liked it just as much as the first.

As I write this, I’m putting the finishing touches to part 6. This will be the final part, and it’s been the hardest to write. I feel like I owe these characters a good send-off, and I don’t want to mess it up. Once that’s done, the omnibus edition comes next. Not everyone likes reading a serial, I get that, and I hope it translates well into a novel.

It’s been a largely positive experience for me so far, and I acknowledge that I’ve been very lucky, but I’m hoping at this stage that I’ve got what it takes to do this and make a success of it. I’d genuinely love to do this full-time. I have no aspirations of being either rich or famous, I love my little house in the country, and my shitty-yet-reliable thirteen year-old little car. If I can put food on the table and put my kids through school, maybe go on a nice holiday once in a while, I’ll be happy. It’s taken me until middle age to find out what I really wanted to do, and this is it. I’ve finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up, and it looks like I’ve grown up. I may not be making a living from writing yet, but it’s paying some bills. I’m getting paid for creating something from nothing. That blows my mind.

I’ve made some great friends, too many to name, but check my social media feeds and my blog reviews and give them a read if you can. I’ve lost a few too.  The ones I’ve made are helpful, supportive and kind people. The ones I lost were those who quickly turned out to be self-obsessed, dishonest, manipulative individuals, masquerading as helpful, supportive and kind people, but thankfully there are far more good than bad. Just watch out for those folk.

So, what have I learned from this experience? I’ve made a little list.

Once you publish on Amazon, the KDP dashboard will be the most visited web page on your phone, tablet and computer.
Be careful writing serials. Continuity!
Find a good editor, and keep them. Ask around, get opinions, read books they’ve edited. Don’t pick someone because they’re the cheapest/sexiest.
Don’t constantly yearn for a publishing deal. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I’ve turned one down already. If a decent one comes along at some stage, who knows, but the one I was offered was most definitely not a good one.
Self-publishing isn’t for everyone. It’s a tough game, and I completely understand why some people may find it daunting.
It’s totally worth it though.
One of the questions I get asked most in interviews is “What advice do you have for aspiring writers?” My answer? Don’t be an aspiring writer, be a writer. Just get off your butt and do it. Every tool and resource you need is right there waiting online. You’ll either be very good, or very bad-either one will become evident very quickly.
Stephen King’s On Writing is a holy text. The audiobook even holier.
On Amazon, everyone judges a book by its cover. Get a good one.
Word counts mean nothing. Tell the story you need to tell, then you can count the words all you want.  Some people preach the “write everything and anything down, and edit later” mantra. I don’t. Quality over quantity, slow and steady. Just my two cents.
Don’t sit on short stories. They’re not eggs and you’re not a chicken. If you’ve submitted a short somewhere and it’s been rejected, screw ’em – get it edited, get a nice, simple cover, and put it out. It’s not going to do you any good sitting in a folder on your laptop. Better yet, if you have a few, put them out in a collection.
Write what you love to read. Unless what you read is Alien Space Bear Dinosaur Erotica, in which case you need more help than I can ever give you.
If someone offers to publish your book and then asks for money, then all they really want is your money.
Don’t open separate Facebook pages for your books. Your author page is enough.
Be good to each other, help each other out. Pay it forward, return favours. It doesn’t require as much effort as you might think.

Finally, the best advice I can give comes from one of my favourite authors, Ray Bradbury. Funny thing is, as I write this, one of my books is beside his on an Amazon chart, which is pretty mindblowing. He says: “Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens.”

Worked for me so far.

Eamon

Stranger Things Review

I’ve just written a full review of Stranger Things as a guest post on The Leighgendarium.

Check it out!

News N’ Stuff!

Hard to believe it, but we’re almost coming up on the one year anniversary of the launch of Zero Hour, and what a ride it’s been! I never thought for a second that I’d be writing this mail a year later, but here we are, and I’d sincerely like to thank everyone who has helped and supported me along the way.

At the moment, ZH1 is standing at 91 reviews, which is phenomenal for a new writer. What I would really love is to hit 100 by the anniversary, which is August 21st. If you haven’t had a chance, or don’t normally leave reviews, please consider it, a few words is fine and it would mean the world.

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A REVIEW

In addition, I’m going to have some really cool stuff to give away on the day, including one special one-off item, so stay tuned!

So, fancy a free gift now? How about some music? I’m giving all my email subscribers not only a free copy of Zero Hour, but also a copy of my album Aura (recorded a while back). It’s mostly instrumental electronic music, but I’m very proud of it. Let me know what you think!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP AND GET YOUR FREE BOOK AND ALBUM 

Or if you have Spotify you can find it here.

Finally, fancy an exclusive sneaky cover reveal for Zero Hour part 6? Go on then!

Everything Wrong With Stranger Things In One Blog Post

Are you nuts?? There’s nothing with Stranger Things. It’s PERFECT!

PERFECT!

Zero Hour 5 is Live!

It’s here folks! Zero Hour 5: Countdown is now live on Amazon. Work has already begun on part 6 and it should be ready in a few weeks.

Grab your copy now:

Don’t forget to head over to Goodreads for a chance to win a signed Zero Hour paperback!

As usual, please leave a review if you can, it means the world to us indie authors.

Once again, thanks to everyone for your support. You folks rock!

Eamon

Cover Reveal – Zero Hour 5!

Well here we go friends – this is the cover for Zero Hour 5: Countdown.

Second round edits are being worked on at the moment and we should be good for release sometime next week. In case you missed my post on Facebook earlier this week, part 5 will not be the final part as originally planned – this story is going places I never thought it would, so there will be another part. But fear not – part 6 should be available in about a month to wrap everything up, with the full omnibus edition released shortly after.

In the meantime, if you have read all the parts so far, I’d really appreciate if you could leave a review either on Amazon or Goodreads (you can just give a star rating on Goodreads if you don’t feel like leaving a review) I know, I know, I keep wittering on about reviews, but they are truly the only real marketing tool for authors like myself with very low budgets.

Thanks for sticking with me so far. It’s very encouraging to look at the sales and see that so many have read all four books , so I must be doing something right! Stay tuned for the finale – it’s going to be a blast (literally!)

In other news, to celebrate hitting 200 ratings on Goodreads I’m running another giveaway for signed paperbacks from June 6th so head on over and try your luck.

Goodreads Book Giveaway


Zero Hour
by Eamon Ambrose

Giveaway ends July 06, 2016.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

 

Eamon

New Podcast Interview!

This week I joined fellow indie authors Jason Anspach (‘Til Death) and Kevin G. Summers (Legendarium, The Man Who Shot John Wilkes Booth) on the Literary Outlaws podcast. We had a lot of fun and a great chat about the business. To listen on a browser or for iTunes/Google Play links click here.

 

Giveaway Update

Sincere thanks to everyone who entered my Goodreads giveaway. We had over 1200 entries, which is an amazing response. The contest is now closed and winners have been picked. Books will be on the way very soon!