Herman P. Hunter's Blog: Herman P. Hunter's THE LORE FORGE, page 4

Am I Afraid of AI?

A lot of authors and artists are stressing out about people using AI to produce books, and flooding the market, drowning them out of future sales. I'm not.

First, the market is already flooded with self-published books as is. Doubling or even tripling the volume isn't going to make a lick of difference. If you're not getting noticed now, then nothing is really going to change. If you are getting noticed, people are going to follow you - the author - as opposed to someone (or something) that, supposedly, writes just like you.Oh, and for you types that marvel over stories about fairies and trolls written in the style of Hemingway? Well, I've seen those stories and I hate to break it to you: that's not how Hemmingway writes. Sorry. It doesn't even resemble his style."But the AI is only going to get better! Why, in ten years, the AI {insert pie in the sky prediction here}"

Blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Sure.

The fact is that storytelling is a craft that has to be learned and applied. All AI does is take patterns it can find and apply them to what it knows. It doesn't work well with unknowns. Plus - and I emphasize this again - people don't follow book styles. They follow authors who write in a certain way about a specific set of subjects. Authors, who can sign their book, inform their fans about what kind of jeans they prefer to wear, and give them updates on the status of their pet. That ain't going to change.

The dirty little secret is: writing a book is relatively easy. Selling a book is hard. Yeah, with AI, you can produce a book for next to nothing. But then you have to convince people to buy the darned thing, and that's where the wave hits the breakers. AI ain't going to go on interviews or book signings. AI isn't going to run advertisements for you or pay for them. Moreover, because you cannot - at present - copyright your AI-generated work, you really can't prevent an AI from generating the same exact story for someone else to sell.

As it stands right now, the difference between someone like me (who has literally sold hundreds of books in a year and a half) and your average self-published author (who sells maybe a dozen books a year) is the fact that I'm promoting my stuff non-stop.

Selling a book actually requires a lot of work. A lot of work over a long period of time. How many instant authors are up for the sales game, when they didn't even bother to put in the work to write something special and unique? I'm sure it gets easier once you make a name for yourself. That could take a decade or more. Then, there's the pressure to deliver a story that was as good as last one. How are you going to recreate the experience of your last book, when you never even learned how to do it in the first place? Even experienced authors stress over that sort of scenario. I know I do. Is this book going to be as good as the last one? Am I giving my fans what they want? I know what I want to write, but I'm always doubting my ability...and that's with me knowing how I wrote things the last time around!Needless to say, I haven't gone into full-on panic mode over AI. I'm going to do what I've done twice already. I may stumble but I'll learn from it. Can one say the same of the AI you used to make that book? Probably not. The AI really has no skin in the game when it comes to your success. You, however, do.

Don't try to take shortcuts. Put in the work. You'll be better for it.

(And, no, I didn't use ChatGPT to write this article)

Status Update - June & July 2023

Okay, so it's a June-July-ish update.

Superheroes Con

Well, all in all, it went well. Low attendance, but I sold 11 books. So, I'm putting that in the "win" column. I tried charging a credit card and failed, miserably. So, there's at least one kink in the system that needs to be worked out.

Overall, it was a good experience. I'll probably be doing another convention sometime before the year's end and maybe even the West Branch convention in 2024. More updates to follow.

The Next Book

Well, I'm still working on it. I've got about three-quarters (if not more) of this book already completed. I'm sitting on Chapter 22 as I write this, with other chapters written and ready to be integrated into the manuscript. I think I have, roughly, 5 chapters that still need to be written, but then the rough draft will be complete. I'm also having my wife read the chapters I've completed and patched up while I continue my progress toward the end. She's dying to read what I've got down already and had been bugging me all through July to hand her something - so I am. The story is still pretty rough, and I'm adding elements sometimes after she's read the chapter. Normally, I'd wait until I've done a few revision passes and made it presentable for beta readers, but her work schedule at the school starts up again in late August. I want her to give me her feedback before I hit the beta readers in earnest. Secondly, if the wife wants to get a sneak peek...you give it to her.

I've been a little down on myself as to the direction of this book. I've changed plans and directions at least three times now and I've started to feel a little rudderless in my writing. Ironically, stopping development and patching up a few chapters forced me to look at the stuff I've already put down and make an assessment of what I've produced thus far. I thought it would all suck. Surprisingly, it doesn't. I've gotten through the Prologue and all the way through to chapter 18 by the writing of this post. I'm feeling much better about the book, the twists and turns in the story, and a bunch of the elements.

I was going to dump the prologue because I felt it was weak. Then, my wife told me how much she loved it. So...I guess it stays in, huh?

I think I should have the rough book complete by mid-August. Then a couple of editing passes, and it's off to the beta readers. Of course, I've set deadlines before and missed them. But, whatever.

Next Steps

I've made so many plans at this point, then changed them, I really don't know what's coming next.

I'm trying to trademark a logo and a name. So that's going to cut into writing time.

I need to sell books. That cuts into writing time as well.

I want to get two books out in 2024. The next Halsedric book will be fairly large (probably larger than THE WIZARD'S STONE), so if I do put a second book out, it'll probably be 50,000 words or less. I have more ideas than time, to be frank. I'm still eyeing the Halsedric origin book, but as I stated before, I've made many plans and reversed them at this point. It's probably better I don't make any more. The one upside to the origin book for Halsedric is that I have several chapters already done. Pounding out that as a novella would be relatively quick and painless.

Relatively...

I'm looking to open an online store. Part of me dreads that. It'll mean I have to do fulfillment...which cuts into writing time. I have some other things to do before that, however.

Conclusion

Conclusions cut into writing time, so I'm going to forego one for this post.

Go, go #ironage.

Convention Appearance - July 1st

Just a reminder: I'll be at Superheroes Con in Houghton Lake, MI, on July 1st signing and selling books with special Con pricing. If you're in the Mid-Michigan area stop by. If you've already purchased one of my paperbacks, I'll sign it for free. Of course, you'll still have to purchase admission to the event. :D

Here's the official Facebook link to the event:https://www.facebook.com/groups/705977773407601/posts/1206611326677574/

Upstream Review of THE WIZARD'S STONE

Trevor Denning of Upstream Reviews has done an extensive review of THE WIZARD'S STONE.

Spoiler: It's a good review.

https://upstreamreviews.substack.com/p/book-review-the-wizards-stone-by

Status Update: May, 2023

Instead of doing my usual blog post, how about a video instead?

No? Too bad...

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/5b7182_911ab3ff3b944dddb09f375394facfdd/480p/mp4/file.mp4

A Minor Apology (A Multi-Month Status Update)

I usually do a monthly update, so the fact that I haven't done one in several months makes me a very naughty boy. So, I'm apologizing for being remiss in posting content.

Sorry.

Now that I got that over with...

The Wizard's Stone

The release of THE WIZARD'S STONE went stunningly well. I sort of have to pinch myself to see if I'm dreaming. By the end of March, I was rapidly approaching 50% of the books I sold for the entire year of 2022 (actually, I gauge a year from one release to the next but you get the general idea). As it stands right now, I've passed last year's sales. Moreover, I can say - without any reservations - that in a little over a year, I've sold hundreds of copies of my book. Hundreds. Yeah, it's not going to get me on a USA Today list, but for an unknown self-pub author who is only able to release 1 book a year, I think that's pretty good. The feedback I've gotten on THE WIZARD'S STONE has also been fairly solid. Being my second book, I was really concerned about whether I could hit the same notes that I did with THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB, but this appears to be the case. I've had at least one person say to me that they liked it more than the first book.

Likewise...the audiobook. Audiobooks seem to make up a quarter of my sales. Recently, the sales of my audiobooks have escalated, and from some pretty unlikely sources. When THE WIZARD'S STONE was released, there was a succession of check-outs from Bibliotheca (a library service) - double from the previous year. Chirp ran a promotion on both of my books, and I started to get organic sales from there too. I know I have sales at Apple and Audible, but the surprising one was Storytel. Storytel services countries outside of the English language sphere. One morning I woke up, and - BANG! I see 29 additional audiobooks sold in places like Norway, Poland, Sweden, and so on. That's a 107% increase in sales in that market!

My actual sales starting March 3rd is actually far higher than I know. I have yet to receive any of the Audible and Apple numbers yet, but I have tools to inspect a historical sales rank, and the resultant graph is like a sawtooth pattern. So, something sold. As to how many, I'm not sure. Unlike last year, book sales have been happening organically, meaning that they occur without the need to run ads. Since March 3rd, I've been selling a minimum of 3 books a week. Last year, I'd get about 2 - 3 sales a month without ads.

I don't know how long this will last, but it is a very welcome change.

The Next Book

Development of the next Halsedric book is still ongoing. I have a ton of material written, but the story is in pieces. Currently, I'm writing the beginning chapters...which is actually a rewrite.

Why?

My original plan was to give the reader a closer look at Halsedric, Herodaini, and the Elanni kingdom of Elenur. The intention was to provide my readers with more depth to the relationship that exists between Herodaini and Halsedric - this was actually requested by several of my readers. However, I was sitting at Chapter 5, realizing that just about every chapter past the prologue was slow.

So, the entire strategy has been revised.

I've cut those backstory chapters and reworked the beginning (I’m on Chapter 5 at this point). I'm also adding more tension to the story, as - at present - the reason for Halsedric to be in this region of the world is not really apparent. I still have a bit of a slow start - comparable to THE WIZARD'S STONE - but I get the characters engaged in the events of the region, which then gets me into the action quicker.

A number of people have been disappearing in and around the city of Orem and Halsedric and Herodaini are sent to find out the reason behind them. While Halsedric already suspects the reason why, what he discovers is something far different than what he expected. And that's all I'm going to reveal. While THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB gave you a peek at some of the lore of this Fantasy world, the next book will be an introduction to the greater struggle that's currently going on. And it has to do with a couple of prophecies that are foundational to some of the books I've already written.

However, those cut chapters, and all of that backstory? Those may not go away. I'm toying with the idea of releasing an "author's complete edition," at a later date, for those who really want to learn more about the characters.

Other Books on the Horizon

As some of you may already know, THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB was the second attempt to write a story about Halsedric. The first attempt was his origin story, and it was abandoned. The beginning and the end were compelling enough and it had some great characters. Halsedric’s actions and his inner conflict were interesting topics to explore but, in the end, I had to drop the book. The middle of the book was a mess.

I’m considering picking up that abandoned project. Huge chunks of it are already written. It would not be a huge effort to develop it alongside the current book I’m working on now. While I’ve not committed to pursue this, I’m giving it serious thought.

As I have it planned now, I think there will be no more than 4 stories with Halsedric as the main character. They would break down thusly: his origin, THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB, the book I’m working on now, and a final story that has yet to be determined. What I will say, however, is that one of these stories may incorporate a dragon along the way. No guarantees. Just something I’m mulling over.

Dragons are a touchy issue for me. Everybody writes about dragons. E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y. To the point, in my opinion, where the sheer terror of facing such a beast is lost. There are stories about people who ride dragons, kindly dragons, wise dragons, people with powers to control dragons, and so on, and so on.

If I write about a dragon, it’s going to be a malevolent force of nature. Something that even some of the greatest powers in my fantasy world fear to challenge. Something like a nastier and crueler version of Smaug from The Hobbit, except without all of the prissy dialog. (Yes, I know it was a children’s book. I’m trying to make a point here.)

And, as per usual, the story of this encounter will be dark and gritty. Because the European version of a dragon was a nasty, vicious beast. Typically, that doesn’t coincide with all things sugar and spice. Just sayin’.

Another book I want to write dovetails into THE WIZARD’S STONE and Odo’s fate. It’s the tale of a fallen angelic creature who has become disillusioned with the cause to which he and his fellow rebel brethren have committed themselves. Something happens where he finds himself on an odyssey where he must finally come to grips with the things he has done in the past. I hesitate to call it an epic story, but I think it has a lot of potential. While I’ve talked about resurrecting Halsedric’s origin story, this is the book I’ve presently committed to develop when the story I’m currently writing is done.

In Conclusion

Well, that's all for now. I have lots of plans for things I want to do. Sadly, I don't have a lot of time to do them. Plus, at this stage, I think it's probably better to go slow, building something solid along the way, as opposed to going in fifteen different directions with material for which there is no audience.

Once again, if you've read THE WIZARD'S STONE, please leave an honest review of your experience. This is especially true if you liked the book. :D

I also need your help to spread the word. Word of mouth is still a strong driver of book sales. If you liked the book, tell a friend. Tell a bunch of friends. If even one of your friends buys the book, that's a "Winner, winner, chicken dinner" moment for me.

I've been pushing my books as hard as I can, without being obnoxious about it. I spend a lot of money on advertising, and it's beginning to pay off. However, the reality is, unless I actually start making money on my books, this is nothing more than a very expensive hobby. Or a vanity project. And that type of endeavor doesn't usually last. And yeah, while I shill my wares like a madman, I'm already slipping into promotional burnout. So, any little thing you can do to keep the ball rolling is more than appreciated.

Until next month. (Of course, I probably said that back when I let the updates lapse...)

Closing Out the Month of March

So, my launch month for THE WIZARD'S STONE is coming to an end, and the sales were - for me - STAGGERING. My sales this month rivaled HALF of all the books I sold in the prior year. Half. In one month. And that doesn't count the audiobook sales, which will put me well over the top. I can say now, without reservation, that I've sold hundreds of books in the last year. Ok, maybe a little more than a year. But not much more.

And I'm virtually unknown as an author.

To all of you who support me in this endeavor: thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

I have only two things to ask of my audience. The first is to leave an *honest* review of the book on the site where you purchased it from. Reviews are important as they help undecided readers make decisions about their next book purchase. Plus, I can get a little feedback on how this type of story was received. Your opinion will help me decide what kind of content I will continue to release.

So, please, take a few minutes and leave a review. It doesn't have to be extensive.

Second, if you really liked THE WIZARD'S STONE, tell a friend. Believe it or not, word of mouth is still a HUGE influence on potential buyers. The more readers I get, the easier it is for me to create more content.

Again: THANK YOU for your support of my writing and publishing efforts. My next release, as per fan feedback, will be the follow-up to THE REVENANT AND THE TOMB.

THE WIZARD'S STONE is Now Available!

THE WIZARD'S STONE is now available for purchase. You can find it at the following sites:

More stores will be available soon. Get your copy today!

A Pre-Release Sample of The Wizard's Stone Audiobook.

Copyright 2023, Herman P. Hunter. Narrated by Steve Fortune. Do not copy or distribute.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/5b7182_c5dfec37625046738ff9f87684077b6f/480p/mp4/file.mp4

A Sample Chapter from THE WIZARD'S STONE

A narrated sample chapter of my latest book: The Wizard's Stone.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/5b7182_c93356d90edf4211b4e2c54fa5b1b6de/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Narrated by: Pete Mac. (https://www.youtube.com/@PeteMacmovies)

Music: "Mysterious Forest" by Howard Harper-Barnes.

Book Cover Design: Helping Authors Everyday (www.helpingauthorseveryday.com)

Intro Graphic: "Frankie Views Eaufen Mirrinholm for the First Time" By: Zach Bradley

Twitter: @Zach_DB