Leon Stevens's Blog, page 77
May 24, 2023
Weird Wednesday May 24th: Cartoons
Not weird, but when I looked at my book page I saw that it cracked the top 50 in science fiction books.
It’s a good day.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
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May 23, 2023
Terse Verse Tuesday
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
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May 22, 2023
Music Monday May 22: Cover songs – Shine
There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.
CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music
Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it. Maybe you will find a new favorite.
1993. Where was I? Ahh, university. Getting my music degree. Being part of the weird ones on campus who blast Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Carl Orff’s Carima Burana, and yeah, bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and this one:
I am so surprised that I had never heard this cover until recently, seeing that I think Dolly is one of the gems of country music and backed in this song by another of my favorites, Nickel Creek.
Which one is better? No contest.
Both.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
May 20, 2023
Weekend Wrap-up May 20: Print Book Prices
The news that has been rippling through the indie author community about Amazon’s decision to raise the printing costs, eating away at the royalties. I understand that with inflation, costs for everything are going up, so I’m not surprised. C’mon, poor Amazon needs to make money, right?
I don’t sell many physical copies of my books; most of my sales are for the Kindle version, followed my Kindle Unlimited reads. I order author copies to give away to friends and family, and to have a copy for myself.
I price my paperbacks pretty low. I know that most people keep a tight reign on spending, and physical books are a somewhat luxury item. I looked at what other authors charge from indie authors to bigger names, and it was anywhere from $6.99 to $15.99 for a novella length book.
I have always balked at the prices for print books (in Canada, they are a few dollars higher compared to the US price), so I struggled with what I should sell my books for, a comparable book is To be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers, which goes for $13.99. Keeping in mind I am a new author, I shouldn’t expect readers to pay that much for one of my books, right?
Or should I? It is a luxury item, and if readers can afford it they will buy at a higher price.
One marketing site suggests adding $7 -$10 to the eBook price, which would make any of my paperbacks around $10. Ten dollars? That’s not unreasonable, and if I only sell a few, it makes a decent royalty.
So after much debate, I am going to raise my print prices, not due to Amazon doing so, but to reflect the value my creation has to me. Before that happens, though, I do want to purchase a complete set of my finally finished science fiction trilogy for my own book shelf, and because I can, I’ll be dropping the price for the next month to $5.99, which only makes me a few cents royalty.
It will take a few days for the price to change on Amazon, so I’ll keep you updated.
-Leon
On my blog this week:
Free Book Friday May 19: 13 Days – Until …?
Thursday Thoughts: Success – How do you define it?
Weird Wednesday May 17th: Cartoons
Music Monday May 15: Ruby Waters
Happy Mother’s Day!
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
May 19, 2023
Free Book Friday May 19: 13 Days
13 days.
For what?
Until my book, The View from Here is no longer available in Amazon’s Prime Reading catalogue. I’m hoping it will be picked up for another term, but I don’t know how likely that is. Its catapulted the book into the high 100s in the Science Fiction category, and sales for the next two books have been trickling in.
But that’s not really a free book, is it?
No. Like Kindle Unlimited, you pay for the privilege, but if you don’t use it, it’s like throwing money away.
True.
I also created a new book page using the StoryOrigin site, so that all of my books and newsletter sign-up (and get a free book!) are on a nice, clean, uncluttered site.
The story behind Free Book Friday:I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?
Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.
Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.
Here are this week’s promos to check out:
Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnelStoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!
Free Books
Previous promos: Discover New Authors and Free Books.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
May 18, 2023
Thursday Thoughts: Success
I came across a Facebook post asking for recommendations for fantasy/sci-fi series. I recognized the book of an author I follow on Twitter and occasionally exchange retweets of each other’s posts. I took a screenshot and sent it to him, and he replied that it made his day.
I follow many authors and readers on various social media accounts, and I am waiting for the day that one of my books shows up in a post. With so many books out there, it’s a long shot, but someday, maybe.
How are my books doing? I’m glad you asked. For a few months now, The View from Here has been in the Top 100 Science Fiction books on Amazon. Much of the credit is due to it being featured in Prime Reading (free for Prime members) and that will end at the end of this month, so it will probably drop in the rankings unless I put it on sale or heavily advertise it.
I don’t get royalties on Prime Reading ‘sales’, but I have seen sales of books 2 & 3 of the trilogy pick up. So, if you do have Prime reading, you have a couple of weeks to read The View from Here for free.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
May 17, 2023
Weird Wednesday May 17th: Cartoons
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
May 15, 2023
Music Monday May 15: Ruby Waters
There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.
CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music
Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it. Maybe you will find a new favorite.
Ruby Waters is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Of Métis and Slovak heritage, Waters grew up in Shelburne, Ontario. Her parents were in a country band together and introduced her to music at an early age. She began busking and performing in bars around the age of 13
Here is a bare bones version of the first song:
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
May 14, 2023
Happy Mother’s Day!
From my book, A Wonder of Words.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
May 13, 2023
Weekend Wrap-up May 13: Perils of Multi-genre Writing
This could be a very long post but I’ll make it short. It’s hard to be a multi-genre author because you have to divide your marketing efforts if you write under one name or many.
My mailing list started after I published my poetry book, as I set out to reach as many poetry aficionados as I could. As I was doing so, I started on my short story science fiction collection. The dilemma was to start a completely new mailing list under a new pen name, or market to my already growing list.
Did I want to have to craft and send out two different newsletters each time? Nope.
Readers read. Most readers read different genres, so I hoped my poetry fans would give my sci-fi writing a chance and my sci-fi readers would enjoy my poetry. I even wrote some post-apocalyptic poetry to bridge the gap.
I have more sci-fi books than poetry now, and I am sure I have lost subscribers along the way, but that is understandable. As I wrote in yesterday’s post, I just want to entertain and contribute to the promotion of other indie authors.
Now I just have to finish my short story romance collection …
In the meantime, here are my two genres:
On my blog this week:
Free Book Friday May 12: Writers are entertainers.
Weird Wednesday May 10th: Cartoons and Origin Stories
Tuesday Tirade: Writing
Music Monday May 8: Andy Shauf
Sunday: New Trailer
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
