Stephen Burckhardt's Blog: My Blog Ramblings, page 84

The Plight of the Self-Published

There are a lot of great things about self-publishing and there are a lot of drawbacks. It's nice to be able to have such control over every aspect of your own project but you also don't have the resources that are available to people who have real publishers backing them.I'm lucky in that I worked in advertising and design for years so I have that experience going for me. I also worked for Barnes and Noble for more than 13 years so I have a good understanding of how the actual business side of selling books works. All good things, however, I do not have the cash to actually do the things I need to do to promote my work to the best of my ability. If I could afford to invest in some publicity I would be further along in building my career but I do not have the resources for that right now.I'm definitely not making money at this and probably wont for quite a while. I have sold books but the profit margin can be pretty slim. If I'm lucky, I can make $1 off of some of the books depending on where it is purchase. However, I can also end up making $0.01 per book depending on where it is purchased. I try to set my prices as low as possible and still make a profit, but it can be tricky.Setting the 6x9 paperback from Createspace at $5.99 can earn me $2 if it is bought from CreateSpace (Has anyone actually bought books from here?), $1 if that same book is purchased from Amazon, or $0.01 if it is bought through Barnes and Noble or any other bookstore.Recently, I added a hardcover and a 5x8 paperback through Barnes and Noble Press. I had to set the paperback at $6.99 there. When someone buys the book from Barnes and Noble, B&N takes $3 off the top and $3.99 goes to me, but then the printing costs come out of my portion. Before I actually get paid anything, $3 is taken for the printing of each book and I am left with $0.99. The hard cover book is paid out the same way with me receiving $1.10 per book. And this is all dependent, of course, on if they sell. I have had months were nothing sold.When you consider all the hours I work, either writing, editing, designing, creating ads, posting on my social media pages, etc. I work more hours now than I ever did at a 9-5 job and am currently actually losing money instead of making it. It can be very discouraging.Trying to get people to post reviews is another issue. There are writers groups where indie authors trade books to read and post reviews for each other but to get reviews I would have to take the time to read other writers books and leave reviews for them as well. I just don't have the extra time for that right now considering I'm doing everything myself from writing and editing to publicity and acting as publisher, it can be extremely time-consuming. But I'm going to have to find time to participate in something so I can get reviews. Reviews are what drive indie authors sales.I have noticed a few people on Goodreads posting stars for my books but they don't leave any comments. The stars are great, at least it's something, but it would be wonderful to have some constructive criticism.I refuse to let the obstacles deter me at this point, this is still a work in progress, I will have it all figured out at some point. For now, I will just keep plugging along and hope the people who are reading my books like my work. It takes time to build a following and I'm determined to do just that. If nothing else, I am at least loving the work, something I haven't been able to say in a very long time.

Aliens, Shaggy, and Hardcover Books

I had every intention of posting a blog yesterday but when P.R. and I got home I was just so wiped out I took a shower and went straight to bed.There was a carnival set up so P.R. and I went and spent some money, ate apple strudel, and saw the Alien Experience. It was fun. The Alien Experience was like one I had been to at Universal Studios years ago.You sit in seats that strap you in and are rigged with sensory devices. When it sounds like the alien is behind you, air will blow on you neck like it's sniffing you. The shoulder bars will press down on you like the alien is climbing over you. Little wires trail over you hair like a tongue flicking out tasting you. Of course all of this is going on in the dark so your imagination fills in all the gaps that their special effects can't. It was so much fun.We followed the Alien Experience up with a trip to the theater and saw Independence Day. It was pretty good. I like that they explained Will Smiths absence instead of just ignoring it. I love that Brent Spiner had such a big part. He was even better in this one than in the first. He got to have a much more complete character in this one. All in all it was a great day.I'm glad P.R. and I to have this weekend out. We haven't done much for fun lately, we've been too focused on work and other things. It was a nice change of pace. Next weekend will be spent getting ready to leave. P.R. will be going out of town for work and I will be leaving to visit my parents for a week.I have been worried about finding a place to board Shaggy. We don't know too many people here and we are not familiar with any of the boarding places. It has been nerve wracking. I worry that someone would treat him bad. Shaggy already has a lot of fear after being a street dog and spending time in a shelter. I was so worried that being boarded for a week would set him back in his progress. But today we got the best news ever. Our landlords, who love dogs and who's daughters bring their dogs to their parents house for play dates with Shaggy, have agreed to take Shaggy the first week I am gone. The second week P.R. will either stay here or take Shaggy along on the business trip. We have already found a hotel that allows dogs. This is a huge weight off of my mind. Now I will be able to relax and just enjoy my time with my folks.Yesterday, wasn't just a day of fun with P.R., I got some work done too. I decided to check out the Barnes and Noble Press site. I was able to uploadInto the West: The Orphan Trainon the site and it will be available through Barnes and Noble in a 5x8 paperback and a 6x9 hardcover book in a day or so. I'm still trying to read through the agreement for the B&N ebook publishing. If I like the terms I will work on loading the books up on their ebook site this week. Tomorrow, I will work on gettingInto the West: A New Homeup in paperback and hardcover through B&N as well. At some point I need to finish the edits of the audiobooks and get them available. I need to finish setting all of this up so I can work on writing the next book in the series.I need to start writing again soon. The voices of the characters are getting louder in my head, they are an impatient bunch.

Thank God it's Friday!!

If you actually read my blogs (thank you Gayla), you will have noticed I haven't posted anything for several days. This was the first week of P.R.'s, my amazing better-half, new consulting job. For those who are following along, you know P.R. and I got married in 2013. P.R. works for a consulting firm and had been consulting for a company here in town for the last year. But that has changed.Now, P.R. is consulting for a company out of state and has to travel every Monday morning to the client, stay there until Thursday afternoon, then flies back home on Thursday night. I hate it.It is also because of P.R.'s job that I can never refer to my better-half using any kind of identifying words and only use initials instead of actual names. It can be tough sometimes when I really just want to write a whole blog about who P.R. is and the things I find so amazing about P.R. but I can't. One day I hope I get to introduce the world to my better-half and then everyone will understand perfectly why I'm so in awe of P.R. and truly hate it when P.R. has to leave town for work.Until then, I will just have to be satisfied with the fact I get to be married to this amazing person and that is a huge blessing in itself. So now I'm going to post this and go spend some quality time with P.R. and Shaggy while I can.

It's Called Brooding

Yes, I'll admit I've been brooding, according to Raj on The Big Bang Theory it's how sexy men pout.I haven't been working lately because I've spending as much time as possible with P.R. because Monday is D-day here, my day of dread. P.R. starts consulting for a new client and the office is no where near where we live.The whole team will fly out on Monday, work until Thursday, then fly home together Thursday night, then telecommute on Friday's I hate this. Don't get me wrong, I could not be more proud of P.R. for landing this client. It's an amazing job and could lead to even better opportunities for P.R. with this firm. I'm thrilled or what this could mean for P.R.'s career.However, I'm not thrilled for me. I was single for 46 years. I had been engaged before a few times but always ended up breaking things off for one reason or another, until I met P.R. P.R. is the first person I could actually see myself being with for the rest of my life. I love spending time with P.R. We can talk about anything and everything all night long. Call me crazy but I married P.R. because I wanted to actually live with my better half and spend time together. It's a radical idea, I know.So, before D-day we have been going out shopping and out to dinner and even just going for walks with Shaggy. I will have plenty to do while P.R. is gone. I have to finish the audiobook edits from Dianne and I need to study for my class that will start up again for me in August and I need to start working on writing out the next two books. I have them both written in my head I just have to put them on the page.I'm sure I'll get a lot more work done being here by myself with Shaggy but I would trade never writing again if It meant I would not have to spend one more night separated from P.R. I've written stories since I was a old enough to form coherent sentences but as much as I love creating my own worlds, I love P.R. so much more.Tomorrow is our last day to spend time together before this new life begins for us and unfortunately this will be our lives for the foreseeable future. So, as you might guess, I will not be working tomorrow. I'll let you know how things go Monday.Good thing we have junk food in the house.

Decisions, Decisions

I'm torn.Yesterday, I came across an opportunity I find very intriguing and I'm trying to decide if I should pursue it now or wait.I've always wanted to write a biography detailing the rare health condition I have, the year I spent in hell being treated for it, and the years of hard work it took to recover to the point I have reached today. In 2004, I had seven surgeries in six months, six of which were brain surgeries. After the fifth brain surgery, I contacted a MRSA infection in my spinal fluid, meningitis, and nearly died.During the same six months of my surgeries, my grandfather died, my dad had a triple bi-pass, and I had to take my 18-year-old cat in to be but to sleep. Not to mention, the person I was dating back then decided not to come see me while I was in ICU with MRSA trying not to die but chose instead to go to St. Louis to cheat on me. It truly was a year in hell.Even after I survived all of this, I was in horrible pain for the next five years. I did everything the doctors told me to do, I even lost 100 pounds, and still I was going to the E.R. repeatedly for pain issues, being hospitalized periodically, and loaded up on pain killers daily. I survived but I wasn't really living, I was existing. I was advised to go on disability because my condition would never improve, This was my life now. I wasn't having that!Eventually, I got fed up with all the negativity from my doctors and got rid of all of them except my neurosurgeon and my general practitioner, both of whom I still recommend to others.  I did my own research into pain triggers and began changing my diet and taking supplements. A week after I became a vegetarian, I was able to stop taking all my daily pain pills. Eventually, I was able to not only go back to work, I was able to go back to work full-time and eventually even started working in the stockroom carrying boxes that weighed up to 50 pounds everyday and still I did not go back to the E.R. These are all things I was told I would never be able to do again. It was amazing.Here it is, 12 years after my year in hell and I'm doing better than ever. Not only did I get married to the love of my life, my true better half, but I also started writing again. In the last eight years, I have gone skydiving, flown a glider in the rocky mountains, and P.R. and I are talking about next year taking a hot air balloon through the Alps. Life is good!My condition is incurable, it's only manageable but I am managing it very well. I still have issues everyday, just a few of them are; pain, trouble swallowing, walking, seeing, understanding what I hear, balance issues, my short term memory is almost non-existent, my hands will go slack without warning and I drop anything I'm holding, my immune system is compromised so not only do I catch everything I'm exposed to but it will hit me harder and last so much longer than for most. It's a constant process but then who's life isn't?I think it's a story worth telling and I think others would like to hear it.  I just don't know if I should tell it now. I want to finish my Into the West Saga Serial, I already have the next two books in my head. Currently, I might make $5-30 on a book, if I'm lucky, and if the new opportunity works out, I have the potential to make thousands.However, I have to consider I will be going back to class starting in August and will have to spent a great deal of time on my class work, just like before. I can keep up with the western serial while I'm in class because I'm self-publishing and I feel like this is my practice series as I learn to write tighter and more descriptive.I feel like maybe I should wait to submit my proposal to this company for my biography until, at the very least, my class is over with. By then I should have the next two books in the western finished and I will have had so much more practice. But the truth is I could really use the money now. I have been raiding my 401K to cover bills as P.R. makes up the rest but having a real paycheck coming in now would be wonderful.I know this is a much longer post than normal but I have a lot on my mind. Logically, I think the answer is to wait until my class is finished and I finish the Into the West Saga Serial so I can devote all my time to this new project. The money, however, is very tempting.So much to consider.

Decisions, Desisions

I'm torn.Yesterday, I came across an opportunity I find very intriguing and I'm trying to decide if I should pursue it now or wait. I've always wanted to write a biography detailing the rare health condition I have, the year I spent in hell being treated for it, and the years of hard work it took to recover to the point I have reached today. In 2004, I had seven surgeries in six months, six of which were brain surgeries. After the fifth brain surgery, I contacted a MRSA infection in my spinal

Odds and Ends, and Little Ramblings

I have no idea what to write for this blog today. So much is going on and I'm so distracted I'm finding it hard to focus. First, P.R. has to go out of town again this weekend for a training class. At least this trip is an overnight thing and then home the next day. But soon that will be the norm. P.R. will be consulting on a new job and it will require a lot of travel. So, I'm getting used to the idea of spending a lot of time just me and Shaggy. On the up side, I'll have plenty of time to

Odds and Ends, and Little Rambling

I have no idea what to write for this blog today. So much is going on and I'm so distracted I'm finding it hard to focus. First, P.R. has to go out of town again this weekend for a training class. At least this trip is an overnight thing and then home the next day. But soon that will be the norm. P.R. will be consulting on a new job and it will require a lot of travel. So, I'm getting used to the idea of spending a lot of time just me and Shaggy. On the up side, I'll have plenty of time to

If Only I Could Buy Motivation

Well, I'm feeling very underwhelmed lately. Still on bed rest. Still coughing and wheezing. Today, I had to withdraw from my class. I'm already 40 hours behind in my class work. There is no way to catch up and I do not even know if I will be able to go back anytime soon. They have another class starting soon and I can join the class in late August when they reach the point my class was at when I got sick. It will put me a little behind in finishing but it's better than not finishing the class at

Blah, Blah, Blah

I know we all have those days when we wake up in the morning, roll over and think, "nope, I don't want to be a responsible adult today." Today is one of those days for me. I have so much I need to do and I'm still on bed rest until Thursday. Part of me wants to get up and do all the stuff I need to do anyway but then I start coughing and change my mind. I am not a good patient. I never have been. First of all, I am a control freak so having to give up control of everything, letting others take