S.A. Hunter's Blog, page 4
May 6, 2012
No Time to Write Reviews
I think I may have to stop doing full reviews of what I've read. I actually had a stack of five books piled up waiting for me to write a review and I just don't seem to have the time. I've read Mockingjay even, but haven't written a review of it. I thought it was awesome BTW. I'll try to write a little something, but full reviews are out I think, unless I'm really passionate about a book.
April 11, 2012
My Review of Hunger Games, the Movie
If anyone is interested, I have a review up of the movie The Hunger Games up on my blog.
Here's a link to the post.
Here's a link to the post.
February 11, 2012
No, I haven't written a new book.
2/13/12 ETA: The other author has differentiated herself from me, and her book has been moved off my profile. I wish this other author the best of luck!
It seems someone else has published a book using the same name as me, and various vendors, like here on Goodreads, are confusing us. I can't see how to remove the book from my profile. I will be contacting support I guess to get it removed.
It seems someone else has published a book using the same name as me, and various vendors, like here on Goodreads, are confusing us. I can't see how to remove the book from my profile. I will be contacting support I guess to get it removed.
February 7, 2012
Should I have a Facebook Page?
Hi Everyone!
Over on my blog, I've set up a poll asking if I should have a Facebook page. Your input would be greatly appreciated!
Click here to take Poll
Over on my blog, I've set up a poll asking if I should have a Facebook page. Your input would be greatly appreciated!
Click here to take Poll
December 17, 2011
Selling Out
I've been struggling with something that feels a little sacrilegious. I've been thinking about switching from free to charging for Scary Mary and Unicorn Bait. I would most likely leave the free versions up on their websites, but I would charge for the ebook versions, and any updates I would appear to stories (in most cases grammatical) would only appear in the ebook version. My thinking is purely monetary. My current dream is to make enough money where I could reduce my full-time job from 40 hours a week to 32 or less (while still keeping my full benefits, I would just be paid less). The ultimate goal is to support myself solely by writing, but I know that isn't likely anytime soon. I just want to reduce my schedule by one day right now.
I know if I switched both books to .99 that the downloads would take a nose dive, but they wouldn't stop completely. I would possibly make fifty bucks a month or something but that would help me get a little closer to my goal of reducing my work schedule. That's not a guaranteed dollar amount, but I feel it's very likely, especially as a lot of reviews have been generated, so new readers may be willing to put down .99 for a book that a lot of other people have seemingly liked.
In my mind, one of the hiccups to changing to .99 is the free online versions. I worry that readers might resent the fact that I charge .99 for the ebook while giving it away elsewhere, but I've been told by some readers (they email me directly) that they would've happily paid for the story. This is wonderful to hear, but I worry that other readers may not feel that way. I've also seen some other authors charge for their ebooks in one location while giving it away elsewhere.
If I did begin charging for the stories, I would at least make another pass through them to fix any errors I found. (I just realized that somehow the first piece of dialog by Mrs. Boon is not italicized in Scary Mary's ebook version. I don't know how that happened.) But I wonder about adding any other content to make paying for the story worthwhile. I could add a sneak preview of Stalking Shadows to Scary Mary. That's a no brainer, but I don't know what to do about Unicorn Bait. I could add a sneak preview to (OMG, this will be first reveal of the title to the sequel) Dragon Prey. BUT that is still being written. I'm not even sure the first chapter will stay the same, and I would need to indicate when the sequel would be available which OMG (again), I have no idea about.
And I don't know if anyone really reads these posts so I may be typing into the wind, but if you have an opinion pro or con, please feel free to leave a comment. Even if no one comments, typing out my thoughts here has helped.
I know if I switched both books to .99 that the downloads would take a nose dive, but they wouldn't stop completely. I would possibly make fifty bucks a month or something but that would help me get a little closer to my goal of reducing my work schedule. That's not a guaranteed dollar amount, but I feel it's very likely, especially as a lot of reviews have been generated, so new readers may be willing to put down .99 for a book that a lot of other people have seemingly liked.
In my mind, one of the hiccups to changing to .99 is the free online versions. I worry that readers might resent the fact that I charge .99 for the ebook while giving it away elsewhere, but I've been told by some readers (they email me directly) that they would've happily paid for the story. This is wonderful to hear, but I worry that other readers may not feel that way. I've also seen some other authors charge for their ebooks in one location while giving it away elsewhere.
If I did begin charging for the stories, I would at least make another pass through them to fix any errors I found. (I just realized that somehow the first piece of dialog by Mrs. Boon is not italicized in Scary Mary's ebook version. I don't know how that happened.) But I wonder about adding any other content to make paying for the story worthwhile. I could add a sneak preview of Stalking Shadows to Scary Mary. That's a no brainer, but I don't know what to do about Unicorn Bait. I could add a sneak preview to (OMG, this will be first reveal of the title to the sequel) Dragon Prey. BUT that is still being written. I'm not even sure the first chapter will stay the same, and I would need to indicate when the sequel would be available which OMG (again), I have no idea about.
And I don't know if anyone really reads these posts so I may be typing into the wind, but if you have an opinion pro or con, please feel free to leave a comment. Even if no one comments, typing out my thoughts here has helped.
December 8, 2011
Vote for Me!
Made a fun discovery tonight. It seems I've been included in a few lists here on Goodreads, and there's a voting option to each list.
Unicorn Bait is on these lists:
Unicorn Books
Best Unicorn Books
Scary Mary is on this list:
Eye of the Beholder
So if you have the time and are so inclined...VOTE FOR ME!
I know I won't beat Peter S. Beagle in either Unicorn list or any list really, but I want that second place! ;-)
To whoever added me to these lists, thank you so much. They made me happy!
And no, I did not vote myself, and it has nothing to do with the fact that Goodreads tracks that sort of thing...
Unicorn Bait is on these lists:
Unicorn Books
Best Unicorn Books
Scary Mary is on this list:
Eye of the Beholder
So if you have the time and are so inclined...VOTE FOR ME!
I know I won't beat Peter S. Beagle in either Unicorn list or any list really, but I want that second place! ;-)
To whoever added me to these lists, thank you so much. They made me happy!
And no, I did not vote myself, and it has nothing to do with the fact that Goodreads tracks that sort of thing...
October 30, 2011
Stalking Shadows now Available (Sort of)
Well, I've pulled the trigger finally and uploaded Stalking Shadows to Amazon and Smashwords. I don't think it has fully indexed yet on Amazon so it isn't linked to my author profile yet, and Smashwords hasn't approved it yet for the premium catalog which would send it to Barnes and Noble and the iBookstore, but it is published as far as I'm concerned. Here is the entry at Amazon, and this is the one for Smashwords. I hope everyone enjoys it!
ETA 11/3/11 - I need to keep better notes. I had to link Stalking Shadows to my author profile in Amazon. So it is now! I feel like such a dunce waiting and waiting for Amazon to magically do it for me.
June 7, 2011
Unicorn Bait Free on Kindle!
Well, I'm not sure what finally prompted Amazon to make Unicorn Bait free for Kindle. I had sent them 2 requests in the previous month showing the book was free at Barnes & Noble and at the iBookstore, and nothing had come of it. They didn't even send me a message this time to announce they were making Unicorn Bait free like they did when they made Scary Mary free. But better late than never I suppose. Unicorn Bait is finally free! Read and enjoy!
April 18, 2011
Unicorn Bait is here!
I'm not sure why Unicorn Bait does not show up on my profile page. It may just be an indexing delay, but it is here on Good Reads, and I look forward to everyone's comments on it. If curious, you can search by title to find it.
It is a fantasy romance novel with a lot of humor. It is not YA. I would say it is not suited to those under 15. I'm not sure. It has profanity, nudity, and violence though none of it terribly graphic in my estimation.
Update: Well, I see Unicorn Bait is appearing on my main page so it must have been an indexing delay. Yay!
It is a fantasy romance novel with a lot of humor. It is not YA. I would say it is not suited to those under 15. I'm not sure. It has profanity, nudity, and violence though none of it terribly graphic in my estimation.
Update: Well, I see Unicorn Bait is appearing on my main page so it must have been an indexing delay. Yay!
March 21, 2011
Figuring this out
So...I've been a member of goodreads now for a bit and have done absolutely nothing with the membership. I do like to read, though I seem to do it in stops and starts. I'd like to change that, especially as I seem to steadily acquire books. Annually I go through my shelves and take down books for the FOL sale and the majority will be books I never cracked open. It's kind of shameful, espcially as I usually bought them at the previous annual FOL sale...
I do write. I publish online and am not famous by any stretch of the imagination, but I like to share my work and dream of making a little money at this one day. I'm prepping my second book to go up on Smashwords. My first book Scary Mary has done very well in my estimation, but then again it's free and who can say no to free? I'd be very interested in any reviews or comments, though I can't promise a speedy reply. I also go through bouts of internet silence.
I do write. I publish online and am not famous by any stretch of the imagination, but I like to share my work and dream of making a little money at this one day. I'm prepping my second book to go up on Smashwords. My first book Scary Mary has done very well in my estimation, but then again it's free and who can say no to free? I'd be very interested in any reviews or comments, though I can't promise a speedy reply. I also go through bouts of internet silence.
