Ruth Nestvold's Blog, page 22
June 24, 2015
Second quarter accounting, and a glass coffin for #wippet Wednesday
My final update for this quarter will be mercifully brief: I pretty much failed on all fronts. I did not keep up on my word counts, either writing or translation. I did not wrap up my indie author series, although I am now at a word count above what I was originally shooting for. I did not finish Shards of Glass or revise my short story “Pool of Souls” to start sending it out.
On the other hand, I did submit 10 short stories to traditional markets this round, the most I have managed in one q...
June 22, 2015
Starting out as an indie author: Rolling with the changes
Last week, I posted about eBook pricing in the “Starting out as an indie author” series. Among other things, I mentioned a strategy often used by erotica authors: publishing short stories with KDP Select, charging $2.99 per story, and relying on borrows through Kindle Unlimited to make money.
Shortly after I had finished that blog post and published it, I received an email from Kindle Direct Publishing announcing new Amazon payment per borrow calculations — a payment scheme that will make t...
June 15, 2015
Starting Out as an Indie Author: Ebook Pricing
Once you’ve written your book, had it beta-read, edited, proof-read, what have you; once you’ve got a great, eye-catching cover and gripping book description; once you’ve formatted the interior (or had someone do it for you) so that your book looks professional on an eReader; after all that, then you are ready to publish.
Only: what price are you going to charge for your book?
There are many philosophies out there regarding eBook pricing, from those who are offended by the idea of pricing t...
June 10, 2015
A disappointing update and a return to the Dowager Princess
Even before the trip the the States, my desktop computer (aka my workhorse) was starting to act funky. It wasn’t any better when we got back. So last week, I finally gave in and ordered a new machine.
While I get a big kick out of new hardware, setting up a new computer with all my files and all my programs is a lot of work. And as far as progress is concerned, I’m back to where I was when we returned from the trip: barely making progress on the translation, and only getting around to writin...
June 3, 2015
Cthulhu and Globosome
A couple of things today that I just have to share. We had the granddaughters overnight the other day, and in the morning, the five-year-old was running around the house yelling, “Cthulhu! Cthulhu! Cthulhu!” I realize that it is indicative of a rather warped sense of priorities, but it makes me happy and gives me the feeling that we’re doing something right.
Of course, it’s really all Sylvia Spruck Wrigley’s fault and the crocheted Cthulhu she gave me at the last Villa Diodati workshop …
Th...
May 28, 2015
Digging Deeper Into Author Earnings
An interesting analysis of the influential Author Earnings reports by the very savvy Phoenix Sullivan.
Originally posted on David Gaughran:
The Author Earnings team are attempting to do something which hasn’t been done before, and their work can’t be refined and improved unless there is some intelligent criticism of their approach and findings.
Today I’ve invited Phoenix Sullivan to blog on the topic. I’ve known Phoenix for a few years now, and if there’s a smarter person in p...
May 27, 2015
The search for the apple for WIPpet Wednesday
In the last week and a half, I have managed to delete about 3000 words in notes and unnecessary scenes from Shards of Glass. Once I finished that task, I started added new (and hopefully better!) words this week. After having been up to 16,000 words, Shards is now coming in at 14,100. Progress is once again being made!
Of course, most of my time is being spent on the translation. I still want to devote a post to that relating to our recent trip, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Maybe s...
May 25, 2015
“10 Tips for Choosing the Right Book Title” via Anne R. Allen
I just read an excellent article on book titles in the ebook age that I had to share with readers of this blog. Take for example all the great advice in Tip #3 alone:
3) Study Titles that Work
Here are some title categories that are “tried and true.”
The hero’s name
This is the oldest type of title in the book, literally. A title simply stating the name of the protagonist has been around since the birth of the novel. Names made up the most common titles in early fiction. From Don Quixote,...
May 20, 2015
Cover creation advice according to genre, via Freebooksy
Freebooksy posted an interesting visual analysis of successful book covers by genre today:
http://www.freebooksy.com/create-best-selling-cover/
Unfortunately, fantasy is not one of the genres for which they provide examples of successful covers. And in the “paranormal” category, they throw in Steampunk, which wasn’t exactly paranormal last time I checked. *g*
Despite that, the article is definitely worth a look. Even if using their advice is no guarantee of success. Example: according to th...
Back to Facets of Glass for #WIPpet Wednesday
I’m slowly getting back into a productive routine again after the disruption of travel and then recovering from jet lag. The translation is going well, and I’ve also gotten back to writing and marketing, organizing several new promos for my books in recent and upcoming weeks. I’m also submitting short stories to traditional markets again — something I have to do more of.
Quantifying the writing, on the other hand, is a bit more difficult. I’ve done a lot of work in hard copy, trying to map o...
