Jordan Castillo Price's Blog, page 71

Contest Time

I just dropped my wireless mouse under my desk and it shattered.

Question:
How many raisins were under there?

The winner will get a copy of Pretty Ugly from Petit Morts batch #2...which should be ready before Halloween.

The Double-edged Sword of Free

I usually mused about my epublishing business on Packing Heat, but since I won't be updating that content anymore, I figured I could post my mental process about it here and tag it epublishing, and readers can follow or comment as they want to.

Recently I heard a disturbing professional opinion about putting things on sale. Disturbing because I do in fact think it's true, but also because I plan on continuing my sales simply because it's an awesome way to exploit my autonomy.

The theory is this: by putting things on sale, you devalue your product, and you train your readers to wait for sales rather than to buy your things full-price. On the flip-side, I've been happy with the performance of my weekly sales, because it gives me the chance to send my subscribers an email that says, "Hello, I may not be able to produce a book a month, but I am still alive, see?" Also, it encourages readers to buy from me directly rather than having half the price on an ebook go to a middleman.


But what about free? Free is a double-edged sword that can cut both ways. People either totally over-value "free" by standing in line half an hour for a free ice cream cone that would normally cost three bucks, or they entirely devalue something that's free and make an extra effort to go put a lousy review on a free read from an author on the web so that everyone can see how delightfully jaded they are.

I got some numbers today that tell me that my PsyCop freebie Thaw was downloaded 5613 times at Barnes and Noble! That's a lot of downloads. How about the reviews? Well, when I try to open the review page, I see it for a quarter of a second and then it snaps shut. I see the average rating is a shitty 2.5 stars, so that probably gives me a good indication of what the reviews might be like.

How many sales has this resulted in? Among the Living sold three copies in that time. About what I'd expect it to sell from over five thousand people tripping and falling on their Nooks while looking at the page.

In this particular case, "free" is clearly not my friend. Does that mean I spaz out over the crappy ratings and run and unpublish my story from B&N's site? No. There are probably some intangibles I'll never know. Maybe a handful of those 5000 people never knew m/m existed and now they do, and they'll come back and find me again someday when they're ready. It certainly hasn't cost me anything.

And these people who are basking in how few stars they can give my free offering are incidental to me, regardless. My first intent when writing a freebie is always to hook a new reader who already loves m/m, maybe a reader who's heard of me but never cared to try my writing for whatever reason. This would happen at a venue where more m/m readers hang out, like a specifically romance-themed or GLBT-themed ebook seller. In tandem with this, equally important, is the urge to make stuff for my current readers and be able to give it to them as a gift with no strings attached, just because I can. I quit my day job because I want to be independent, and being able to give stuff away if I choose to is one way my free spirit can manifest. And finally, by having the freebies available at JCP Books, I convince a few readers it might not be so scary to buy from me direct.
Resources:
Posts tagged "free" on Dan Ariely's Blog. Dan is a behavioral economist, and the author of one of my favorite books, Predictably Irrational
Sarah Petty interviewed on Duct Tape Marketing on Creating a Boutique Business - here's where the comments about devaluing your product came from--a great interview
Sign up for my weekly sales and specials for JCP Books

P.S.
Speaking of sales and freebies, this weekend I will be a featured author at Rainbow eBooks. Among the Living will be free 10/16-10/17, and my other stories there will be 20% off. I suspect it will be a more receptive crowd there than at B&N.

Packing Heat 124: Final Ep

Recommendation: Accidental Genius We all know how to freewrite, right?

Mark Levy’s book Accidental Genius is all about freewriting. You may be wondering what there really is to say about the practice of writing with the internal editor switched off to generate ideas and solve problems. More than you’d think!

Mark did an awesome interview on the podcast Six Pixels of Separation to talk about the new revised edition of his book. His talk got me so excited, by the time that podcast was done, I’d visited his website , signed up for his newsletter, downloaded his free PDF and MP3, and bought his book from Amazon. Then I listened to the whole podcast again. How’s that for a testimonial?

A few key things about Mark’s technique:
Aim for a time-goal rather than a substance goal. It’s okay to freewrite and not come up with something usable from the session, as long as you’ve put in the time. You're trying to develop a habit.After you do a block of freewriting, go in and underline the key points.Do another freewriting session to further explore some of the key points you underlined.Don’t stop once you get a good idea. Trust that you’ll spot it when you do your underlining.
What was different for me:
The creative outpouring was interspersed with analysis to guide it.Multiple sessions are done back to back—and Mark goes a lot longer than I’ve ever done, sometimes 5 to 8 hours!Many people stop and pat themselves on the back once they get a good idea. Keep going. Who knows, another wonderful idea might be right around the corner. Drawing the Podcast to a close I’ve been doing the show for three years, and I think I’ve told you all I know about writing. I’ll leave the 147 episodes up—tagged for searching—so that both old listeners and new can refer to them.

Thanks for listening. Now go put your butt in the chair and write!

Listen to the show, 11 minutes

Say it Sweetly

T he JCP Books author/editor team--now 5 people strong with the addition of kennsea  --is gearing up to bring you some sweet Petit Morts treats, hopefully in time for Halloween!

And so for the next issue of JCP News, I thought I'd see if you have any questions for the chilling chocolatier we all love to be baffled by, Chance! Granted, he's pretty slippery about actually answering questions. But I think they'd amuse him.

Checking out Flickr

P1000193
Originally uploaded by jordancpriceI upgraded iPhoto last week and noticed a little Flickr icon in the corner...then I went to Flickr and saw it integrated with LJ. This could be a way easier method for posting pics. We'll see how it works.

Took this one in Vegas at the Clark County Museum. And here you thought it was my first car. Don't lie.

Icons may be less exciting than they appear

I was looking at a bigger Iowa map I got from AAA in anticipation of tomorrow's adventure and I noticed a little red teepee next to the small town I'll be staying in. I thought, OMG, COOL! INDIANS!

Then I looked at the map legend and saw the teepee actually means "campground."

No fair.

Packing Heat 123: What's Important?

Packing Heat is a podcast I've been putting out since 2007. My goal is to help other writers stay motivated, and to encourage them to take their writing to the next level. You don't need special gadgets to listen; Packing Heat plays in your browser, like YouTube. Or you can subscribe (and leave me glowing feedback) at iTunes!

What’s important? Recently I read a number of story-pairs at a contest being held at All Romance Ebooks . It got me to thinking about why I might like one story more than the other, and what specifically is important to me as a reader when I'm enjoying a story. Character typeThis is a really personal like/dislike. I would go for books featuring gothy or post-punk characters because that’s the type of social circle I travel in. Military types leave me flat. Character voice Be unique and consistent – snarky is overused
PlotHave interesting setup. Good action is happening. So many scenes, broken down into action, would actually be “people talked” or “the main character thought.” Scenes need action!
Conflict Characters should want something they can’t have, or need to work for. Even better if their needs block each others’ needs. In romance, it’s often helpful to start with “why can’t these characters be together?” to figure out your plot. “I misunderstood you,” is not a strong enough conflict to carry a story.
Writing style Gramatically correct sentences are important to me.

Misused words are a huge turnoff. It says to me that an author is reaching beyond her vocabulary, probably in an attempt to sound writerly. It also tells me her editor either has a shitty vocabulary too, or isn’t paying attention.

I prefer a transparent style that’s both precise and plain. Fussy words turn me off.

An editor can help you polish up your writing style if your characters, plot and conflict are strong.
Your assignment Read at least one or two story pairs from the contest at allromanceebooks.com. Decide what you like/dislike in that pair and articulate it, either aloud, or by journaling. If you're listening to this podcast after the contest has ended, poke around for some free reads at All Romance and find a new-to-you author to analyze instead.

Being conscious of what you like/dislike in the mechanics of a story will help you craft stories so they better fit YOUR definition of what a good story is.

Listen to the show, 15 minutes

It's Growing Fast!

Lately, I've been convinced that in-person research is the key to growing a great story. So before the weather gets too cold, I'm going to hole up in a cabin in the Iowa woods this week and try to get a feel for Insomniac, the sequel to my last story, Sleepwalker.

This Week's Deal
To ensure plenty of readers reap the benefits of my traipse through the cornfields, I'm hoping to encourage as many of you as possible to pick up a copy of Sleepwalker. Enter the promo code that matches your preferred file type for 10% off Sleepwalker:
CORNYPDF
CORNYMOBI
CORNYLIT
CORNYHTML
CORNYEPUB

Wish me grand adventures in my kittycorner neighbor state, Iowa! I have no doubt I'll discover the seeds of a good story.

This deal is good through 10/17/10! Go to the JCP Books Sale Page

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Natural appetite suppresant

Cripes, I really hate trolling through stock photos. I'm looking for a certain piece of candy to use as a model for the cover on Petit Morts and I searched "chocolate candy bite." I'm looking for something cracked open with the filling oozing out.
So I get this little darling instead.


Seriously, I need a "STOP SHOWING ME NAKED LADIES" button on these sites. You can't search anything without it returning naked ladies to you.

Crabby.

All I want is a damn piece of chocolate with a drippy center showing, and I get this naked broad covered in poo.

JCP Books smiley sale

Whoops, forgot to post this Monday!
A Reason to Smile One of these things is not like the other...well, at least we hope Vic has more than helium for brains, and that he doesn't find himself tied to friendship bouquet baskets! He is smiling awfully hard, though. Maybe he was looking to stock up on some JCP books and he heard I was knocking 15% off the purchase of 3 or more ebooks!

Enter the coupon code THREESMILES for 15% off your purchase of three or more ebooks (not counting free ebooks) through 10/2/2010. Discount not valid for wholesale paperbacks.
 
Want to receive email notifications of the weekly specials? Sign up here. If you already subscribe to one of our newsetters, email Jordan to have the specials added to your existing subscription.
Subscribe to JCP News sales updates in your feed reader