Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 201
December 28, 2017
SILENT ORDER & Kindle Unlimited?
Back when I was planning the SILENT ORDER series, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to put it in Kindle Unlimited (KU) or not. Eventually, I decided to start it in KU, but enough people complained that I changed my mind and released it on all platforms.
But then I noticed something strange, something that might confirm a theory of mine.
I suspected that the market for indie-published science fiction is mostly on Kindle Unlimited these days (that is, that most of the people who read indie-published SF read on Kindle and not on one of the other ebook stores), but I had no data to prove it one way or another. And the sales of my books tend to break down in predictable percentages between Amazon and the other platforms. Usually somewhere around 60% of the sales are on Amazon, and the rest of the sales are on the other ebook platforms, mostly Kobo and Google Play.
For example, in November FROSTBORN: THE IRON TOWER had 62.8% of its sales on Amazon, and the rest on the other ebook stores. GHOST IN THE RING had 62% as well. CLOAK GAMES: SHADOW JUMP had only 45% of its sales on Amazon, and CLOAK GAMES: HAMMER BREAK had 52% of its sales on Amazon.
But the SILENT ORDER series looked quite different. IRON HAND had 79% of its sales on Amazon, WRAITH HAND had 77%, AXIOM HAND had 79%, ECLIPSE HAND had 81%, and FIRE HAND came all the way to 82.5%.
Granted, some of that might be because SILENT ORDER is still relatively new, and my new books tend to overperform on Amazon compared to the other stores before settling down to the 60% level I mentioned above. For instance, SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD had 77.5% of its sales on Amazon in November, but FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE, which I released about a year ago, sold 62% of its copies on Amazon.
So I will wait to see how SILENT ORDER does in December. But if it stays at that 70 to 80% on Amazon, it might be seriously advantageous to put the series in Kindle Unlimited.
-JM
December 25, 2017
Merry Christmas!
A Merry Christmas, everyone!
In the FROSTBORN series, they call it the Festival of the Nativity, but it’s the same thing. 
December 24, 2017
Interesting Links #12: Merry Christmas!
Only a few Interesting Links this week, since I was focused on finishing the rough draft of SEVENFOLD SWORD: NECROMANCER. Interesting Links will return in 2018!
-Dean Wesley Smith explains five ways an indie writer can accidentally sabotage sales: Five Shots At Your Own Sales.
-I’ve seen a lot of people citing these myths as gospel, so this is good to read: 10 Myths & Misunderstandings About Amazon.
-Now this is interesting – a writer commissioned an eyeball tracking study on Amazon book pages to see what people look at the most. Here are the results: Sell More Books With An Eye Tracking Study Of Amazon Book Buying Habits.
-I have to agree with this article. I don’t like the “mystery box” technique at all. I think it’s both nihilistic and lazy storytelling, kind of like writing checks you intend to bounce: Is J.J. Abram’s Mystery Box Just A Lazy Storytelling Crutch?
-At last! Microsoft has added SSH to Windows: How To Enable And Use Windows 10’s Built In SSH Commands.
-JM
December 23, 2017
CLOAK GAMES & SILENT ORDER update
I’m now 30k words into the rough draft of CLOAK GAMES: BLOOD CAST.
Also, I’ve finished the outline for the 7th SILENT ORDER book. It should come out in late spring or so, and it will be called SILENT ORDER: MORPH HAND.
-JM
a SEVENFOLD SWORD: NECROMANCER excerpt
Doing some editing on SEVENFOLD SWORD: NECROMANCER today. Let’s have a short excerpt!
Ridmark frowned. “Nightmares?”
Tamlin nodded. “I suppose you would understand.”
“More than I would like,” said Ridmark. “But the best way to shake off a nightmare is work, and we’ve work to do. The abbot’s going to feed us before we go, and I want to be out the main gate and heading for Trojas in another hour.”
Tamlin nodded and got to his feet with a sigh. “What I really want is a gallon of wine and a willing woman.”
“Since we’re at a monastery, that’s unlikely.”
-JM
newsletters for indie authors
Two unrelated but interesting things happened on the same day, which made me decide to write this blog post about writers and newsletters.
-I read a blog post from a new-ish indie writer (I have 73 novels, so if someone has 2, I get to call them new-ish) who had just sent his first email newsletter. After sending his first newsletter, he expressed profound alarm that 20 people had unsubscribed from his list, and he spent several paragraphs agonizing about what he had done wrong and how he had somehow offended these former subscribers.
-On the 20th I sent out a newsletter promoting a new book and a bargain book of some writer acquaintances of mine, and one of the former subscribers wrote me a very detailed and apologetic letter explaining why she was unsubscribing. For some reason the email was accompanied by a picture of a smiling baby seal, perhaps to lessen the perceived emotional blow.
All this was, of course, unnecessary.
If you’re a writer, or if you have another business that uses an email list, here four things to remember:
1.) You have to make it easy for people to unsubscribe from the list. For one thing, if you don’t, people can complain and report you as a spammer, which causes all kinds of problems. For another, if someone winds up on the list by accident, it cuts way down on the ill will if they can unsubscribe easily.
2.) People unsubscribe from email lists for all kinds of reasons. I’ve sent out newsletters for every single book since GHOST IN THE FORGE back in February 2012, and for every single email, I’ve had people unsubscribe.
But that’s not surprising. One of the nasty secrets of email is that it’s really annoying and most people don’t like it, and they don’t like it when even organizations and people they like send emails. Like, I enjoy eating at Subway, but I’m not subscribed to any of their email lists because I don’t want to get emails about Subway every day.
A long time ago I had a coworker who took it as a personal insult whenever someone mass emailed the entire organization and spent much time on elaborate institutional schemes and policies to cut down on mass emails. (Granted, my preferred solution for dealing with unwanted email is SHIFT-click the entire inbox and then DELETE, but to each his own.) Therefore, you can’t take it personally when people unsubscribe from your email list. That way lies madness.
You also shouldn’t try to track down people who unsubscribe and try to find out why they did. That way lies an entirely different kind of madness.
3.) Because of this, it’s important to have value in your newsletters so people open them. That’s why if you subscribe to say, a restaurant chain’s email list, you’ll get emails with coupons and sales and so forth. I try to do the same thing with mine – my newsletter on the 20th had links to two free novels and 1 free short story.
4.) It’s best to let subscribers happen organically over time. Like, on my website, the newsletter signup form is prominent (I don’t do a popup because popups are the devil), and at the end of every book, I have a link to the newsletter signup form. That way, if people go to the trouble of voluntarily signing up for the newsletter, they’re much less likely to unsubscribe when I do send a newsletter.
If you keep these four things in mind, using your email newsletter will be much less stressful.
-JM
December 22, 2017
SEVENFOLD SWORD: NECROMANCER cover image
Is it time to reveal the cover image for SEVENFOLD SWORD: NECROMANCER?
Yes, yes it is:
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If all goes well, the book will be out in January 2018!
-JM
December 21, 2017
Excerpt Thursday: BLADE OF THE GHOSTS
It’s Excerpt Thursday! Today we have an excerpt from BLADE OF THE GHOSTS, the prequel novel for THE GHOSTS series:
“You’re ready?” said Halfdan.
Caina sat across from him, smoothing her skirts. “I was there yesterday. Everything is in place.”
“Good girl,” said Halfdan. He thumped the roof twice. The coachman cracked his whip, the horses snorting their displeasure, and the coach shuddered into motion, the wheels creaking. “Try not to kill anyone.”
“I’d prefer to avoid it,” said Caina.
“Ideally, this sword of the Count’s should just disappear,” said Halfdan. “Without any trace, if at all possible.”
“That is my plan,” said Caina.
Halfdan nodded. “Good. Try not to set fire to any buildings.”
Caina sighed. “That only happened the one time. I certainly don’t plan on making a habit of it.”
Halfdan smiled a little behind his beard. “I should hope not. The Ghosts are the Emperor’s spies and occasionally assassins when necessary, but we are not arsonists.”
“Yes, one must have some standards,” said Caina.
Halfdan laughed. “Indeed.” His mirth faded. “Be on your guard. Count Armus Valdarion is an eccentric and a touch naive, but he is not a stupid man. He knows how valuable the Sword will be, if it is indeed genuine.”
“Is it genuine?” said Caina.
“I have no idea,” said Halfdan. “That is what I hope to discover tonight. If it is not genuine, the Count can keep it as a curiosity. If it is genuine…well, it is best that it comes into the possession of the Emperor.”
“It’s just an old sword,” said Caina.
“It might be enspelled,” said Halfdan. “Relics from the ancient epochs of the Empire often bear spells lost to the mists of history.”
“Then it should be destroyed,” said Caina. “Sorcery is a blight upon the world.” She almost added that the Imperial Magisterium ought to be destroyed as well, but kept her silence. Halfdan already knew her thoughts on the matter.
She had very good reasons for wanting to see every last sorcerer in the world dead.
“Certainly sorcerous power is dangerous in the wrong hands,” said Halfdan. “Nevertheless, even if the sword bears no spells, it might still be dangerous.”
Caina shrugged. “All swords are dangerous.”
“This one is dangerous not because of its sharp edge but because of what it represents,” said Halfdan. “The Sword of the First Emperor could serve as the rallying point for a rebellion. Not a few nobles imagine they would make better Emperors than Alexius Naerius, and an ambitious lord with the Sword of the First Emperor might use it to raise a revolt.”
“From what you’ve told me Count Armus Valdarion does not seem like that kind of man,” said Caina.
“No,” said Halfdan. “He is a scholar, not a warrior. His son Aetius might feel differently. Or someone else might wish to steal the sword.” He leaned back in his seat with a grunt. “If the sword is a harmless relic, the Count is welcome to add it to his collection. If it is not, well…we shall see then, won’t we?” He sighed and rubbed his hip. “I’m getting too old to ride in these damn rattling coaches.”
Caina smiled. “You ought to exercise more. That would loosen your joints.”
Halfdan snorted. “You might enjoy working the unarmed forms of combat every morning after a five-mile run, but I’m also too old for that.”
-JM
SEVENFOLD SWORD: NECROMANCER rough draft finished!
I am pleased to report that the rough draft of SEVENFOLD SWORD: NECROMANCER is finished!
104,500 words in 20 days. That’s pretty fast, even for me. I didn’t have any 10,000 word days, but I did have two 8k days, and one 7k. That’s like a quarter of the book right there.
Next up, SHIELD KNIGHT: CALLIANDE’S TALE, which is a bonus novella I will give away to my newsletter subscribers when SEVENFOLD SWORD: NECROMANCER comes out in January. I’m going to try something slightly different for this novella- it will start in third person POV of as Calliande is talking to Kalussa Pendragon, and then will shift to first person POV as Calliande tells Kalussa about something that happened during the first Frostborn war, hundreds of years before the FROSTBORN series even started.
In over 2 million words of FROSTBORN/SEVENFOLD SWORD, I’ve never written about Calliande’s early days, so this is exciting.
Of course, the key to understanding Calliande’s character is simple. She is compassionate, kindly, forgiving, will endure excruciating agony to heal someone, and this one time when a muridach mercenary threatened to enslave her sons, she blasted a crater through the mercenary’s chest before he got his next sentence all the way out. That’s Calliande.
December 20, 2017
Christmas sale SF/F books!
Some author acquaintances of mine have books on sale for Christmas, and I thought I would share them here!
L. Jagi Lamplighter’s Rachel Griffin series is a bit like Harry Potter meets Narnia meets HP Lovecraft, and on December 20th and 21st it is free on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, and Amazon AU.
Author Brian Niemeier has concluded his epic science fiction/horror Soul Cycle series with on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, and Amazon AU.
The first book in Brian Niemeier’s Soul Cycle series, which I would sum up as “Space Pirates Escape From Hell”, is temporarily on sale for $0.99 USD on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, and Amazon AU.
-JM
