Doug Farren's Blog, page 8
November 27, 2016
Thanksgiving Progress
Update
Last week, Peacekeeper Pathogen stood at 54,864 words. I've been on vacation since then, writing almost every morning. This morning, the word count is 64,070. That's 9,206 words in a single week. When you stop and think about it, those numbers mean something significant and tell what the future will bring when I retire. Provided I can keep up the writing, I could conceivably finish the first draft of an entire novel in about two months. Editing, of course, will take another month or two. Figure in a couple week break to catch up on television and other things and the math claims I could crank out right around two books a year. Assuming I retire at age 70 and I keep writing until I'm 90, that's 60 books after I retire. Figure in an average of one book a year while I'm working, add in what I currently have published, and my lifetime total seems to be around 80 large novels--that's quite an accomplishment!
Those 80 novels could bring in royalties for many years giving someone a small but steady income for the rest of their life. Provided you can make money in this market, this looks like a great plan to help your kids long after you're gone. It's a wonderful dream to have. But this dream has a catch--you must have a plan to turn over ownership of your copyrights to someone who will continue to allow the books to remain published. You do this in a will or by using a trust. If you don't, then who knows what will happen to your legacy when you're gone.
Sales
Book sales have been doing quite well recently. I am very disappointed, however, that Dragonverse Origins has not sold more. I still don't have a single review and reviews are very important. Origins is a wonderful book which was enjoyed by everyone involved in editing and proofing it. My Dragonverse series has never sold well on Amazon, which surprises me because of all the dragons that appear in movies these days. When I sell at conventions or events, Dragonverse sells more than Translight. Perhaps I don't have the book's genre properly identified or people just don't know the books are out there.
I've been focusing on writing and that will remain my goal. But, as soon as I put "the end" on Peacekeeper Pathogen, I will be turning my attention to redoing the covers on the Dragonverse series as well as reformatting the print versions. I will also have time to set up an Amazon ad campaign for Origins as well as work on tweaking the settings in the ad campaigns I have going for the other books. Amazon advertising does work but you also have to put some time into adjusting your settings.
Today is my last day of vacation and the time I have for writing is slipping away. From where I sit, I can envision a long road of time ahead of me filled with words being strung together into new novels. But the road behind is forever set in stone. It is what I do today, right now, that matters, because once the instant of time you are now experiencing passes, it cannot be altered--ever. Plan for the future, live for the moment, but always remember that how you live and what you do will be remembered as your legacy for all time.
Last week, Peacekeeper Pathogen stood at 54,864 words. I've been on vacation since then, writing almost every morning. This morning, the word count is 64,070. That's 9,206 words in a single week. When you stop and think about it, those numbers mean something significant and tell what the future will bring when I retire. Provided I can keep up the writing, I could conceivably finish the first draft of an entire novel in about two months. Editing, of course, will take another month or two. Figure in a couple week break to catch up on television and other things and the math claims I could crank out right around two books a year. Assuming I retire at age 70 and I keep writing until I'm 90, that's 60 books after I retire. Figure in an average of one book a year while I'm working, add in what I currently have published, and my lifetime total seems to be around 80 large novels--that's quite an accomplishment!
Those 80 novels could bring in royalties for many years giving someone a small but steady income for the rest of their life. Provided you can make money in this market, this looks like a great plan to help your kids long after you're gone. It's a wonderful dream to have. But this dream has a catch--you must have a plan to turn over ownership of your copyrights to someone who will continue to allow the books to remain published. You do this in a will or by using a trust. If you don't, then who knows what will happen to your legacy when you're gone.
Sales
Book sales have been doing quite well recently. I am very disappointed, however, that Dragonverse Origins has not sold more. I still don't have a single review and reviews are very important. Origins is a wonderful book which was enjoyed by everyone involved in editing and proofing it. My Dragonverse series has never sold well on Amazon, which surprises me because of all the dragons that appear in movies these days. When I sell at conventions or events, Dragonverse sells more than Translight. Perhaps I don't have the book's genre properly identified or people just don't know the books are out there.
I've been focusing on writing and that will remain my goal. But, as soon as I put "the end" on Peacekeeper Pathogen, I will be turning my attention to redoing the covers on the Dragonverse series as well as reformatting the print versions. I will also have time to set up an Amazon ad campaign for Origins as well as work on tweaking the settings in the ad campaigns I have going for the other books. Amazon advertising does work but you also have to put some time into adjusting your settings.
Today is my last day of vacation and the time I have for writing is slipping away. From where I sit, I can envision a long road of time ahead of me filled with words being strung together into new novels. But the road behind is forever set in stone. It is what I do today, right now, that matters, because once the instant of time you are now experiencing passes, it cannot be altered--ever. Plan for the future, live for the moment, but always remember that how you live and what you do will be remembered as your legacy for all time.
November 20, 2016
Update
UpdatePeacekeeper Pathogen currently stands at 54,864. I am currently working on writing the last few chapters. Since I don’t work off an outline, I have no clear idea as to how much is left—especially since I threw a monkey wrench into the plot the other day. My guess is I have 4 more chapters left. Since I try to keep my chapters at around 2,500 words, this puts the final word count at approximately 66k. That’s short of my standard goal of 80k to 90k. I’m sure the word count can be expanded especially since I need to add a couple additional chapters earlier in the book. I’m resisting the urge to add them now—need to finish this thing first.
On Wednesday, I was all set to help kick off the NaNoWiMo event at one of our public libraries. This library is on my way to/from work so dropping by for a few hours to share my experience in self-publishing was no problem. Another author drove about 45 minutes to attend. The event was for Middle school kids and began after school. Unfortunately, because of some issues the library had had with kids in the past, they required that the children be accompanied by an adult. Nobody showed—nobody. I was fine with this as it did not impact my schedule at all. I felt bad for the other author though.
Even though nobody showed up to attend the event, I found the interaction with the library staff to be quite interesting. Some time ago, the same library had hosted a “Cooks and Books” event. During the event, one of the staff walked around and asked each author to give him their elevator speech. This same person is the one who set up the NaNoWiMo event. He told me that after the Cooks and Books event, he went out and purchased a copy of each of my books for the library. I’ll be getting a picture of them sitting on the shelf the next time I drive by.
Knowing my books are in a library was thrilling but what he told me next put a smile on my face for hours afterward. This staffer also runs a writing primer workshop at the library. He uses a copy of When Ships Mutiny in his class. I never thought I would hear anyone tell me they were using one of my books as part of a teaching class.
Finally, I feel compelled to say something concerning the recent election results. To be perfectly honest, I’ve been in a down mood ever since the results were announced and every time I look at my Twitter feed I get a bad feeling in my gut. Historically, this country has claimed to stand for the freedom and rights of its people and it is actively engaged in bringing those same rights to the people of other nations. We condemn those nations that oppress the freedom of their people to express themselves. Based on what I’ve seen happening, it appears as if our government has become a hypocrisy. Being an American meant you enjoyed being free; free to worship the faith of your choice; free to speak your mind without being persecuted. America is viewed worldwide as a country that will welcome you with open arms. A place where the persecuted can come and live freely without fear. All this is changing. If the writing on the wall becomes reality, we will no longer be seen as the leader of the free world. We will be seen as a nation of greedy, hypocritical, arrogant people who are intolerant of the differences that make us human.
On Wednesday, I was all set to help kick off the NaNoWiMo event at one of our public libraries. This library is on my way to/from work so dropping by for a few hours to share my experience in self-publishing was no problem. Another author drove about 45 minutes to attend. The event was for Middle school kids and began after school. Unfortunately, because of some issues the library had had with kids in the past, they required that the children be accompanied by an adult. Nobody showed—nobody. I was fine with this as it did not impact my schedule at all. I felt bad for the other author though.
Even though nobody showed up to attend the event, I found the interaction with the library staff to be quite interesting. Some time ago, the same library had hosted a “Cooks and Books” event. During the event, one of the staff walked around and asked each author to give him their elevator speech. This same person is the one who set up the NaNoWiMo event. He told me that after the Cooks and Books event, he went out and purchased a copy of each of my books for the library. I’ll be getting a picture of them sitting on the shelf the next time I drive by.
Knowing my books are in a library was thrilling but what he told me next put a smile on my face for hours afterward. This staffer also runs a writing primer workshop at the library. He uses a copy of When Ships Mutiny in his class. I never thought I would hear anyone tell me they were using one of my books as part of a teaching class.
Finally, I feel compelled to say something concerning the recent election results. To be perfectly honest, I’ve been in a down mood ever since the results were announced and every time I look at my Twitter feed I get a bad feeling in my gut. Historically, this country has claimed to stand for the freedom and rights of its people and it is actively engaged in bringing those same rights to the people of other nations. We condemn those nations that oppress the freedom of their people to express themselves. Based on what I’ve seen happening, it appears as if our government has become a hypocrisy. Being an American meant you enjoyed being free; free to worship the faith of your choice; free to speak your mind without being persecuted. America is viewed worldwide as a country that will welcome you with open arms. A place where the persecuted can come and live freely without fear. All this is changing. If the writing on the wall becomes reality, we will no longer be seen as the leader of the free world. We will be seen as a nation of greedy, hypocritical, arrogant people who are intolerant of the differences that make us human.
November 13, 2016
Sales
Update
Peacekeeper Pathogen is now at 52,259 words. Unfortunately, I seem to be working on the ending. It is not going to be a quick ending though so the final word count of the first draft will most likely be around 65k. That's not too bad, but it does not satisfy my desire for a minimal size of 80k. This is, however, the first draft and there are a large number of items I need to go back and add. What worries me though is that during my editing, I typically remove sentences, shorten them, and generally make the manuscript shorter. Getting the book rounded out to a minimal 80k could be a challenge. We will see what happens as the story continues to unfold in the computer.
Sales
I have several pieces of news to share with you in this department. Let's start with where I was yesterday--the Cuyahoga County Library Indie Author Expo. This was their second year and 53 authors were granted permission to set up in the library auditorium to sell their books. The only requirement for entry was to have published a book within the past 2 years. You send them a copy of the book and if it is approved, you're in. Here is a picture of the event in progress as viewed from my table.
Even though this was only their second year, there was a large turn-out. I did sell an entire set of my Dragonverse series. That might seem like a small accomplishment but events like this are more than just sales. I had printed out several copies of my self-publishing guide and by the end of the 2-hour event, they were all gone. I also talked to a lot off people and handed out a good number of business cards. I also met several of the other authors were there.
Now here's the interesting part: When I got up this morning and checked ebook sales, they were up a noticeable amount. People will go to these events and a few will buy a physical book. But, if you engage with them and give them a good impression as to who you are, they will take a business card, go home, and buy a book online. For me, this event was worth it and I will look forward to returning next year.
Readers of this blog will also recall that I've been experimenting with Amazon advertising. With one exception, I've been pretty happy with it. The exception is the experiment I did in allowing Amazon to automatically choose my keywords and promotional opportunities itself. I've let this run for a few months and the results have been much less than I anticipated. In fact, I have received only a single click event costing me $0.05 the last time I checked. Amazon advertising does work but only if you elect to enter your keywords manually. I will be doing this very soon.
Peacekeeper Pathogen is now at 52,259 words. Unfortunately, I seem to be working on the ending. It is not going to be a quick ending though so the final word count of the first draft will most likely be around 65k. That's not too bad, but it does not satisfy my desire for a minimal size of 80k. This is, however, the first draft and there are a large number of items I need to go back and add. What worries me though is that during my editing, I typically remove sentences, shorten them, and generally make the manuscript shorter. Getting the book rounded out to a minimal 80k could be a challenge. We will see what happens as the story continues to unfold in the computer.
Sales
I have several pieces of news to share with you in this department. Let's start with where I was yesterday--the Cuyahoga County Library Indie Author Expo. This was their second year and 53 authors were granted permission to set up in the library auditorium to sell their books. The only requirement for entry was to have published a book within the past 2 years. You send them a copy of the book and if it is approved, you're in. Here is a picture of the event in progress as viewed from my table.
Even though this was only their second year, there was a large turn-out. I did sell an entire set of my Dragonverse series. That might seem like a small accomplishment but events like this are more than just sales. I had printed out several copies of my self-publishing guide and by the end of the 2-hour event, they were all gone. I also talked to a lot off people and handed out a good number of business cards. I also met several of the other authors were there.
Now here's the interesting part: When I got up this morning and checked ebook sales, they were up a noticeable amount. People will go to these events and a few will buy a physical book. But, if you engage with them and give them a good impression as to who you are, they will take a business card, go home, and buy a book online. For me, this event was worth it and I will look forward to returning next year.
Readers of this blog will also recall that I've been experimenting with Amazon advertising. With one exception, I've been pretty happy with it. The exception is the experiment I did in allowing Amazon to automatically choose my keywords and promotional opportunities itself. I've let this run for a few months and the results have been much less than I anticipated. In fact, I have received only a single click event costing me $0.05 the last time I checked. Amazon advertising does work but only if you elect to enter your keywords manually. I will be doing this very soon.
November 6, 2016
The Future
Update
Peacekeeper Pathogen is now at 49,343 words. Looking toward the future, I've created a bit of a problem for my characters and right now I haven't figured out how to get them out of issue so the story can come to a satisfactory end. My brain has also been apparently performing internal reviews of the story and has begun pointing out things I missed in earlier chapters. I didn't ask my brain to do this! But, I'm glad it does. I just keep a side-log of things so I can go back and fix them during my first editing pass.
I realized yesterday (which turned out to be a non-writing day) that I have put writing ahead of many things I should be attending to such as: My website is very out of date; Several books require reformatting and cover alterations; Critical off-line backups had not been done; Scanning and filing of household documents had been delayed. I took care of the documents and backups yesterday. The rest will have to wait for when I not only have time to write but time to do other things as well. Prioritizing is often difficult.
The Future
I write science fiction and as such I try to be as up-to-date on all the cool gadgets people are creating these days. We live in an age of ultra-fast advances--often too fast for these advances to be properly integrated into our lives. If our society were different, these advances would be quickly turning our lives into an abundant, thrilling existence. Instead, it often serves a darker purpose.
Take the internet of things as an example. For a disabled or elderly person who finds it difficult to get around, having the ability to remotely control the lights in your house, view what's going on in another room, adjust the thermostat, or see who's ringing your doorbell can make life much better. But when these same devices can be hacked, it can make that same person's life a living hell. Those same devices can also be used by those who really don't need them. Why get up off the couch to turn off the kitchen light when you can pick up your phone, open an app, find the appropriate icon, and flip the light off? These devices, while useful to some, can also end up turning us into couch potatoes of the extreme kind. Too lazy to turn off a light.
Because we have certain types of people in our society, the manufacturers of these devices need to consider what can happen if their helpful devices are exploited by people who have social issues. The devices need to be easy to use but at the same time they need to be secure. But, manufacturers are driven by greed (called profit in social circles) and taking the time and effort to make their devices useful yet secure is not in their business model. Because of that, people suffer. Yet, if the manufacturer does try to do what is right and profits fall, the same people who are demanding they build better devices make the manufacturer suffer by pointing out that their profits have fallen.
We are rapidly moving towards a world where robots will be common, vehicles drive themselves and talk to each other to prevent accidents and increase efficiency, and machine intelligence is used by professionals to make everyday decisions. This is the world of science fiction! But is society ready for this? Have we advanced enough culturally and sociologically to handle what we are now capable of building? Given what I have seen in the news over the past few months the answer is no. After I'm done writing Peacekeeper Pathogen, I'm seriously thinking of writing a darker science fiction story of the near future where people cower in fear of the very machines they thought would free them because others have taken them over for their own purposes.
Peacekeeper Pathogen is now at 49,343 words. Looking toward the future, I've created a bit of a problem for my characters and right now I haven't figured out how to get them out of issue so the story can come to a satisfactory end. My brain has also been apparently performing internal reviews of the story and has begun pointing out things I missed in earlier chapters. I didn't ask my brain to do this! But, I'm glad it does. I just keep a side-log of things so I can go back and fix them during my first editing pass.
I realized yesterday (which turned out to be a non-writing day) that I have put writing ahead of many things I should be attending to such as: My website is very out of date; Several books require reformatting and cover alterations; Critical off-line backups had not been done; Scanning and filing of household documents had been delayed. I took care of the documents and backups yesterday. The rest will have to wait for when I not only have time to write but time to do other things as well. Prioritizing is often difficult.
The Future
I write science fiction and as such I try to be as up-to-date on all the cool gadgets people are creating these days. We live in an age of ultra-fast advances--often too fast for these advances to be properly integrated into our lives. If our society were different, these advances would be quickly turning our lives into an abundant, thrilling existence. Instead, it often serves a darker purpose.
Take the internet of things as an example. For a disabled or elderly person who finds it difficult to get around, having the ability to remotely control the lights in your house, view what's going on in another room, adjust the thermostat, or see who's ringing your doorbell can make life much better. But when these same devices can be hacked, it can make that same person's life a living hell. Those same devices can also be used by those who really don't need them. Why get up off the couch to turn off the kitchen light when you can pick up your phone, open an app, find the appropriate icon, and flip the light off? These devices, while useful to some, can also end up turning us into couch potatoes of the extreme kind. Too lazy to turn off a light.
Because we have certain types of people in our society, the manufacturers of these devices need to consider what can happen if their helpful devices are exploited by people who have social issues. The devices need to be easy to use but at the same time they need to be secure. But, manufacturers are driven by greed (called profit in social circles) and taking the time and effort to make their devices useful yet secure is not in their business model. Because of that, people suffer. Yet, if the manufacturer does try to do what is right and profits fall, the same people who are demanding they build better devices make the manufacturer suffer by pointing out that their profits have fallen.
We are rapidly moving towards a world where robots will be common, vehicles drive themselves and talk to each other to prevent accidents and increase efficiency, and machine intelligence is used by professionals to make everyday decisions. This is the world of science fiction! But is society ready for this? Have we advanced enough culturally and sociologically to handle what we are now capable of building? Given what I have seen in the news over the past few months the answer is no. After I'm done writing Peacekeeper Pathogen, I'm seriously thinking of writing a darker science fiction story of the near future where people cower in fear of the very machines they thought would free them because others have taken them over for their own purposes.
October 30, 2016
Update only
This will be a short update. Peacekeeper Pathogen is now at 47,882 words and moving along very nicely.
Last week, I received an email from one of our local libraries. In support of NaNoWiMo they are hosting a junior write-a-thon for younger writers. They've asked me if I would like to be part of the kick-off. I've been asked to share my self-publishing experience and then answer any questions the young writers might have about what it means to be a writer. Of course I accepted! I look forward to sharing my experience and knowledge with those who will be entering the world of writing.
That's it. Keeping it short and simple so I can get back to writing.
Last week, I received an email from one of our local libraries. In support of NaNoWiMo they are hosting a junior write-a-thon for younger writers. They've asked me if I would like to be part of the kick-off. I've been asked to share my self-publishing experience and then answer any questions the young writers might have about what it means to be a writer. Of course I accepted! I look forward to sharing my experience and knowledge with those who will be entering the world of writing.
That's it. Keeping it short and simple so I can get back to writing.
October 23, 2016
Geek Expo
Update
Peacekeeper Pathogen is up to 44,428 words. Today should be a good writing day--you should see the word count go up quite a bit next week.
Geek Expo
Several years ago, an Olympic training facility named The Spire was built just down the road from our house. My wife and I use it to walk. The secretary who takes our walking fee knows I'm a writer. Two weeks ago, she pointed out a flyer for an event called the NorthEast Ohio Geek Expo. I'd never heard of it. Interested, I grabbed a flyer. Later that day, I went on the web and found out that it was much like a local comic convention. Unfortunately, the window to apply for a vendor space was already closed. I sent them an email asking to be put on the mailing list so I would not forget next year.
About a week later, I received an email saying they had some spots available and also wanted me to do a panel on self-publishing. Of course I accepted. With the event only 4 days away, I quickly fired off an email to my local author friends and told them I had a table I was willing to share. On the day of the event, it was me and one other author selling out books. We had a great time and I sold a lot of books.
We assumed that due to the location, the event was going to be small. We were wrong. Toward the end of the expo, I asked one of the organizers how many people they believe had attended. I was told that they had expected about 1,400 but ticket sales (although not confirmed) seemed to be more toward 2,000. That made the Geek Expo a fairly large event. As the only authors there, we did quite well. I sold a total of 12 books which more than covered the shared cost of the table and the one meal I ate there.
The self-publishing panel I did went very well as well. Instead of just standing up in front of a group of people, I turned it into a Q&A session. That way, the audience could ask me the questions they wanted answers to concerning self-publishing. One of the people there asked some very pointed questions. I later learned that she is a best-selling romance author who is traditionally published. After the panel, she stopped by my table. That was when I learned who she was. She explained that she asked those questions to get the ball rolling. It helped.
She's also a member of a local writers group. In fact, quite a number of people at the expo including one of the organizers are members. I think I'm going to have to check them out! Here's a picture of me at our table taken by Andi Lawrencovna--the other author who shared the table with me.
The lesson here: Even if the window of opportunity appears to be closed, take a chance and make a polite inquiry. You never know what might happen.
Peacekeeper Pathogen is up to 44,428 words. Today should be a good writing day--you should see the word count go up quite a bit next week.
Geek Expo
Several years ago, an Olympic training facility named The Spire was built just down the road from our house. My wife and I use it to walk. The secretary who takes our walking fee knows I'm a writer. Two weeks ago, she pointed out a flyer for an event called the NorthEast Ohio Geek Expo. I'd never heard of it. Interested, I grabbed a flyer. Later that day, I went on the web and found out that it was much like a local comic convention. Unfortunately, the window to apply for a vendor space was already closed. I sent them an email asking to be put on the mailing list so I would not forget next year.
About a week later, I received an email saying they had some spots available and also wanted me to do a panel on self-publishing. Of course I accepted. With the event only 4 days away, I quickly fired off an email to my local author friends and told them I had a table I was willing to share. On the day of the event, it was me and one other author selling out books. We had a great time and I sold a lot of books.
We assumed that due to the location, the event was going to be small. We were wrong. Toward the end of the expo, I asked one of the organizers how many people they believe had attended. I was told that they had expected about 1,400 but ticket sales (although not confirmed) seemed to be more toward 2,000. That made the Geek Expo a fairly large event. As the only authors there, we did quite well. I sold a total of 12 books which more than covered the shared cost of the table and the one meal I ate there.
The self-publishing panel I did went very well as well. Instead of just standing up in front of a group of people, I turned it into a Q&A session. That way, the audience could ask me the questions they wanted answers to concerning self-publishing. One of the people there asked some very pointed questions. I later learned that she is a best-selling romance author who is traditionally published. After the panel, she stopped by my table. That was when I learned who she was. She explained that she asked those questions to get the ball rolling. It helped.
She's also a member of a local writers group. In fact, quite a number of people at the expo including one of the organizers are members. I think I'm going to have to check them out! Here's a picture of me at our table taken by Andi Lawrencovna--the other author who shared the table with me.
The lesson here: Even if the window of opportunity appears to be closed, take a chance and make a polite inquiry. You never know what might happen.
October 16, 2016
Advertising
Update
Peacekeeper Pathogen now stands at 42,723 words. The story is moving along quite nicely and I don't foresee any additional roadblocks preventing me from sailing to the end of this novel. But in writing, as in life, there are no guarantees that something might pop up.
I purchased a new HP laserjet printer for the writing business. This is something I should have looked into doing a long time ago. Laser printers have gotten much cheaper and far more user-friendly the last time I even considered buying one. My little writing area (the chunk of our computer room I claim as part of my writing business) did not have much room for a printer. Luckily, I had a long ethernet cable as well as a spare port on my network switch. I installed the printer on a section of my old entertainment center that used to serve as the charging station for my laptop. Now, I need to find a new place for the charging station. I look forward to printing out my next manuscript on a laser instead of an inkjet. Should be much faster and much cheaper--plus, it does double-sided!
Advertising
Some time ago, I mentioned in this blog that my sales were severely declining. An author I met at Launch Pad suggested I try Amazon advertising. Since my books are enrolled in Amazon's KDP Select program, setting up an advertising campaign was a snap. Selecting the keywords according to the instructions given to me by Jake Kerr) took up most of the time. The results? Sales have picked back up and I've been very happy ever since.
A couple years ago, I tried sending out flyers in the mail. I had little to no success and the ROI (Return On Investment) caused me to abandon this idea as a viable means to promote my books. Likewise, attending conventions, writing conferences, and other such large-scale events also provides little to no increase in sales. Setting up a table at an event such a flea-market, library event (which is the only free event), or convention might net you some instant sales, but the cost of renting the space makes generating a profit from these events difficult to impossible. One must also figure in the cost of gas, time, food, etc.
In the end, I've learned that the best way to promote my books is through Amazon's advertising program. I am still considering signing up for a BookBub promotion but that costs money and the ROI there is a big unknown. It's still a possibility though. If I do decide to give it a try, I will share my results on this blog.
Peacekeeper Pathogen now stands at 42,723 words. The story is moving along quite nicely and I don't foresee any additional roadblocks preventing me from sailing to the end of this novel. But in writing, as in life, there are no guarantees that something might pop up.
I purchased a new HP laserjet printer for the writing business. This is something I should have looked into doing a long time ago. Laser printers have gotten much cheaper and far more user-friendly the last time I even considered buying one. My little writing area (the chunk of our computer room I claim as part of my writing business) did not have much room for a printer. Luckily, I had a long ethernet cable as well as a spare port on my network switch. I installed the printer on a section of my old entertainment center that used to serve as the charging station for my laptop. Now, I need to find a new place for the charging station. I look forward to printing out my next manuscript on a laser instead of an inkjet. Should be much faster and much cheaper--plus, it does double-sided!
Advertising
Some time ago, I mentioned in this blog that my sales were severely declining. An author I met at Launch Pad suggested I try Amazon advertising. Since my books are enrolled in Amazon's KDP Select program, setting up an advertising campaign was a snap. Selecting the keywords according to the instructions given to me by Jake Kerr) took up most of the time. The results? Sales have picked back up and I've been very happy ever since.
A couple years ago, I tried sending out flyers in the mail. I had little to no success and the ROI (Return On Investment) caused me to abandon this idea as a viable means to promote my books. Likewise, attending conventions, writing conferences, and other such large-scale events also provides little to no increase in sales. Setting up a table at an event such a flea-market, library event (which is the only free event), or convention might net you some instant sales, but the cost of renting the space makes generating a profit from these events difficult to impossible. One must also figure in the cost of gas, time, food, etc.
In the end, I've learned that the best way to promote my books is through Amazon's advertising program. I am still considering signing up for a BookBub promotion but that costs money and the ROI there is a big unknown. It's still a possibility though. If I do decide to give it a try, I will share my results on this blog.
October 9, 2016
People
Update
Peacekeeper Pathogen is up to 39,729 words as of this morning. I've solved the major plot snag and I'm moving along. I did have another snag last night but it was more about how to word something I needed to say than an actual plot issue. The best way (for myself anyway) is to forget about it, think about it as I'm going to sleep, and, usually, the solution appears in the morning. My brain did not let me down and I will be rolling along again as soon as this post is finished.
My heart and prayers go out to those caught in the path of Hurricane Matthew. My wife's cousin lives on one of the barrier islands off the Georgia coast and he posted a Facebook video after the storm passed. He's head of maintenance at an elderly community and had to remain because many of the residents could/would not leave. His area sustained only minor damage.
My brother lives in Virginia Beach. He called after I had gone to bed last night and said the water in his house was at 3 feet and rising. I'll be watching the news for a bit this morning as soon as this is posted to see what The Weather Channel has to say.
People
Years ago, I used to watch the news every night. There was even a time when I read the newspaper a few times a week. But being constantly barraged with how horrible humans can be to each other caused me to abandon that practice. Today, I catch an occasional news article or hear a conversation now and again that I then look up on the internet. But instead of getting better, it seems as if our species is getting worse. It's depressing.
I will be the first to admit that I am a privileged white man. But that does not give me the right to act that way. Yesterday, the writer's group I attend diverted from the discussion of our various writing projects to a discussion revolving around race relations--specifically, the problem between our police and those who are not white. I am well-aware that this is a problem and I am also aware that there are those who insist on trying to use this issue to create a larger divide between people. Instead of trying to be part of the solution, there are those from both sides who use an incident as an excuse for doing violent acts.
As a science fiction writer, I live in a fantasy world where humans and aliens interact with one another in a peaceful society. Imagine how different an alien culture would be from our own! If we can't get along with our own species, how are we going to get along with a culture from another planet? I believe there are aliens out there. I think they may be aware of our existence. And I'm positive that if that's true, they are unwilling to make contact with us because they know how they would be treated.
Ignorance is something we should all be aware of and be willing to change. Allow me a moment to explain exactly what I mean by this. This is only an example and is not meant to be offensive. Let's say I grew up learning that all Native Americans greeted each other by raising their hand and saying "How" and I was taught that all women Native Americans were referred to as squaws. This could come from my parents, history books, television shows, or even role-playing while growing up. Now, imagine I find myself in a job where I need to interact with Native Americans for the first time. It could be a disaster or a learning experience depending on how I and those I interact with react to my ignorance.
My first reaction would be that the person I'm meeting does not look like what I think an 'Indian' should look like. Thinking I'm being respectful of their culture, I greet this person by raising my hand and saying "How". In an ideal situation, it should be calmly explained to me that my greeting was considered rude. My proper response would be to admit I'd never met a Native American before and to apologize. I would then learn from this and never do it again. I would then begin to question everything I thought I knew about their culture. The incident would de-escalate and life would be better.
On the other hand, things could get very ugly. I could instantly be labeled as a racist and the interview terminated. I would most likely have no clue what I had done wrong and my beliefs regarding the culture of Native Americans would not change. My attempts to apologize could be viewed as stalking or harassment. I could be physically attacked and verbally abused causing me to believe that all Native Americans are intolerant. Labels would be applied by both sides and it could take years before the problem was resolved.
I could also react to a gentle admonishment by rejecting the person's attempt to correct me. Instead of recognizing my own ignorance, I would try to force my own cultural beliefs on others. To understand our differences, both sides must be willing to at least try to educate the other. Ignorance is something that can be corrected as long as it is recognized as such. If I unintentionally offend anyone, I would want that person to correct me so I can learn. Intentionally offending another person is a sign of a mental disorder and such people should be put in their place.
Time to check the news, eat breakfast, and get back to writing.
Peacekeeper Pathogen is up to 39,729 words as of this morning. I've solved the major plot snag and I'm moving along. I did have another snag last night but it was more about how to word something I needed to say than an actual plot issue. The best way (for myself anyway) is to forget about it, think about it as I'm going to sleep, and, usually, the solution appears in the morning. My brain did not let me down and I will be rolling along again as soon as this post is finished.
My heart and prayers go out to those caught in the path of Hurricane Matthew. My wife's cousin lives on one of the barrier islands off the Georgia coast and he posted a Facebook video after the storm passed. He's head of maintenance at an elderly community and had to remain because many of the residents could/would not leave. His area sustained only minor damage.
My brother lives in Virginia Beach. He called after I had gone to bed last night and said the water in his house was at 3 feet and rising. I'll be watching the news for a bit this morning as soon as this is posted to see what The Weather Channel has to say.
People
Years ago, I used to watch the news every night. There was even a time when I read the newspaper a few times a week. But being constantly barraged with how horrible humans can be to each other caused me to abandon that practice. Today, I catch an occasional news article or hear a conversation now and again that I then look up on the internet. But instead of getting better, it seems as if our species is getting worse. It's depressing.
I will be the first to admit that I am a privileged white man. But that does not give me the right to act that way. Yesterday, the writer's group I attend diverted from the discussion of our various writing projects to a discussion revolving around race relations--specifically, the problem between our police and those who are not white. I am well-aware that this is a problem and I am also aware that there are those who insist on trying to use this issue to create a larger divide between people. Instead of trying to be part of the solution, there are those from both sides who use an incident as an excuse for doing violent acts.
As a science fiction writer, I live in a fantasy world where humans and aliens interact with one another in a peaceful society. Imagine how different an alien culture would be from our own! If we can't get along with our own species, how are we going to get along with a culture from another planet? I believe there are aliens out there. I think they may be aware of our existence. And I'm positive that if that's true, they are unwilling to make contact with us because they know how they would be treated.
Ignorance is something we should all be aware of and be willing to change. Allow me a moment to explain exactly what I mean by this. This is only an example and is not meant to be offensive. Let's say I grew up learning that all Native Americans greeted each other by raising their hand and saying "How" and I was taught that all women Native Americans were referred to as squaws. This could come from my parents, history books, television shows, or even role-playing while growing up. Now, imagine I find myself in a job where I need to interact with Native Americans for the first time. It could be a disaster or a learning experience depending on how I and those I interact with react to my ignorance.
My first reaction would be that the person I'm meeting does not look like what I think an 'Indian' should look like. Thinking I'm being respectful of their culture, I greet this person by raising my hand and saying "How". In an ideal situation, it should be calmly explained to me that my greeting was considered rude. My proper response would be to admit I'd never met a Native American before and to apologize. I would then learn from this and never do it again. I would then begin to question everything I thought I knew about their culture. The incident would de-escalate and life would be better.
On the other hand, things could get very ugly. I could instantly be labeled as a racist and the interview terminated. I would most likely have no clue what I had done wrong and my beliefs regarding the culture of Native Americans would not change. My attempts to apologize could be viewed as stalking or harassment. I could be physically attacked and verbally abused causing me to believe that all Native Americans are intolerant. Labels would be applied by both sides and it could take years before the problem was resolved.
I could also react to a gentle admonishment by rejecting the person's attempt to correct me. Instead of recognizing my own ignorance, I would try to force my own cultural beliefs on others. To understand our differences, both sides must be willing to at least try to educate the other. Ignorance is something that can be corrected as long as it is recognized as such. If I unintentionally offend anyone, I would want that person to correct me so I can learn. Intentionally offending another person is a sign of a mental disorder and such people should be put in their place.
Time to check the news, eat breakfast, and get back to writing.
October 2, 2016
Covers
Update
Dragonverse Origins is now at 35,799 words. I managed to get some writing in during the week. I am fast approaching a point in the book where I need to solve a couple of major problems facing the Peacekeepers. At the moment, I have no clue how they are going to solve this problem. I need some detailed information on biotechnology and I've sent out a request to the network of authors from Launch Pad looking for an expert in the field. I believe I've found one.
Covers
I'm sure you've heard the saying that a book is sold by its cover. There's a great deal of truth in this. On the flip-side, you don't want to judge a book by its cover either. A book could have the slickest cover imaginable and be filled with words that make no sense. A well-designed cover will entice a reader into looking at what's inside. The formatting, grammatical correctness, and how well the first few pages are written will determine if the reader makes the purchase. Plot, character development, and the story itself will determine how the reader judges the book and his or her subsequent review (if one is written).
The point is, all of the pieces that make up a book must be done correctly or your novel is going to be a flop. It's the cover that starts this entire process. Word of mouth plays into this as well but the cover is ultimately what get's the ball rolling towards building a following.
With that in mind, I decided to make a tweak to the cover of Dragonverse Origins. The original had a pinkish sky. The dragon did not stand out as much as I would have liked. Photoshop came to the rescue. Using the recolor feature of Elements 14, I altered the color of the sky from pink to blue. That made the dragon stand out much better. You can see the results at the end of this post.
I did this yesterday instead of writing. Sometimes, you have to work at the mechanics of self-publishing instead of focusing all your attention on putting out the words. I made the cover changes for a very important reason--I've submitted the book to the SFWA for consideration in the 2016 Nebula awards. This is the first time I've ever submitted a book to any sort of award contest and I was unsure if I should do so.
I've always been a believer that if people found my books good enough, they would have submitted it to compete for an award. But, believe it or not, most of your everyday readers have never heard of or simply don't care about what awards a book has won or been nominated for. So, I decided to submit a book and see what happens. This submission does not mean it is nominated. I've simply made it available for anyone who is a member of SFWA to read the book. Someone else will have to actually nominate it.
Here are the before and after book covers for Dragonverse Origins:
Dragonverse Origins is now at 35,799 words. I managed to get some writing in during the week. I am fast approaching a point in the book where I need to solve a couple of major problems facing the Peacekeepers. At the moment, I have no clue how they are going to solve this problem. I need some detailed information on biotechnology and I've sent out a request to the network of authors from Launch Pad looking for an expert in the field. I believe I've found one.
Covers
I'm sure you've heard the saying that a book is sold by its cover. There's a great deal of truth in this. On the flip-side, you don't want to judge a book by its cover either. A book could have the slickest cover imaginable and be filled with words that make no sense. A well-designed cover will entice a reader into looking at what's inside. The formatting, grammatical correctness, and how well the first few pages are written will determine if the reader makes the purchase. Plot, character development, and the story itself will determine how the reader judges the book and his or her subsequent review (if one is written).
The point is, all of the pieces that make up a book must be done correctly or your novel is going to be a flop. It's the cover that starts this entire process. Word of mouth plays into this as well but the cover is ultimately what get's the ball rolling towards building a following.
With that in mind, I decided to make a tweak to the cover of Dragonverse Origins. The original had a pinkish sky. The dragon did not stand out as much as I would have liked. Photoshop came to the rescue. Using the recolor feature of Elements 14, I altered the color of the sky from pink to blue. That made the dragon stand out much better. You can see the results at the end of this post.
I did this yesterday instead of writing. Sometimes, you have to work at the mechanics of self-publishing instead of focusing all your attention on putting out the words. I made the cover changes for a very important reason--I've submitted the book to the SFWA for consideration in the 2016 Nebula awards. This is the first time I've ever submitted a book to any sort of award contest and I was unsure if I should do so.
I've always been a believer that if people found my books good enough, they would have submitted it to compete for an award. But, believe it or not, most of your everyday readers have never heard of or simply don't care about what awards a book has won or been nominated for. So, I decided to submit a book and see what happens. This submission does not mean it is nominated. I've simply made it available for anyone who is a member of SFWA to read the book. Someone else will have to actually nominate it.
Here are the before and after book covers for Dragonverse Origins:
September 25, 2016
Random Thoughts
Update
Peacekeeper Pathogen is now at 33,473 words. For a brief moment last week, I was stuck. Every so often, I will end a chapter knowing exactly where I want to go starting with the next but having no clue how to do it. When that happens, I usually just set the work aside and stop thinking about it. I watched the new version of Jungle Book to take my mind off the writing. By then, my wife was home and it was time to focus my attention on her. Later that night, as I was showering before bed, the solution came to me--I just needed to tweak the ending of the last chapter just a bit.
Random Thoughts
Some weeks it's a struggle to come up with anything at all to put in these weekly posts. Others, I have too many things to say. I've been trying to keep these a bit shorter and this week is one of those weeks where I have lots to say. I'll just pick the important ones.
Networking
If you're a writer, you should work at creating a network of writing contacts. Use this network to help you improve your craft and write better stories. You can also tap into their knowledge when needed. Most writers don't write for a living and those that do most likely began their working career in a different occupation. As a collective group, they will have knowledge and experience you can use. Over the years, I've had the honor of becoming acquainted with a large number of very good writers. We are all members of a Google email group. When one member has a question they can't find an answer to, they send out an email. The responses begin coming in almost immediately. For instance, we recently had a fascinating discovery of what would happen to blood on the surface of Ceres. One great forum I used to haunt (don't have the time anymore) is the SFF World discussion forums.
Our Changing Society
Growing up, I watched Star Trek and I imagined a world where anyone could achieve their full potential. It was a world where poverty did not exist and greed never reared its ugly head. Our society does not appear to be heading in that direction. A couple we are friends with have been going to Vegas every year for the past 22 years. They've noticed how greed has taken over and it has soured their experience to the point where they were actually talking about not going back. There is an ancient saying that "money is the root of all evil". I disagree because money cannot determine its own destiny. I say "greed is the root of all evil" because it takes a person to bring greed to life. It's an insatiable monster that will ruin this world unless we can find a way to kill it.
I remember back when I was a child living in a society where gas stations competed amongst themselves to see who could provide the best service (I'm talking about full-service gas stations--something that is no longer found). We left our house unlocked and our neighbors could--and did--just walk right in, get themselves a cup of coffee, and visit while my mom cooked. We could trust our neighbors to watch over our house while we were gone. It was a time when people actually talked to one another. Today's society is a very different place and it's not getting much better.
As a science fiction writer, my job is to try to predict the future. Of course, this is impossible, but we try anyway. If you look at how society has changed over the past 40 years and predict that trend into the far future, we are headed for a society where people fear each other unless they are almost exactly like us. We will live next door to someone and never speak to them. Our "friends" will be people we talk to via text or send a funny video to. Our electronic footprint will be under constant attack and only those with the knowledge and money to protect it will be able to do so. A few powerful individuals, driven by greed, will rule the world. Excessive? Perhaps. Possible? Frightenly so!
Peacekeeper Pathogen is now at 33,473 words. For a brief moment last week, I was stuck. Every so often, I will end a chapter knowing exactly where I want to go starting with the next but having no clue how to do it. When that happens, I usually just set the work aside and stop thinking about it. I watched the new version of Jungle Book to take my mind off the writing. By then, my wife was home and it was time to focus my attention on her. Later that night, as I was showering before bed, the solution came to me--I just needed to tweak the ending of the last chapter just a bit.
Random Thoughts
Some weeks it's a struggle to come up with anything at all to put in these weekly posts. Others, I have too many things to say. I've been trying to keep these a bit shorter and this week is one of those weeks where I have lots to say. I'll just pick the important ones.
Networking
If you're a writer, you should work at creating a network of writing contacts. Use this network to help you improve your craft and write better stories. You can also tap into their knowledge when needed. Most writers don't write for a living and those that do most likely began their working career in a different occupation. As a collective group, they will have knowledge and experience you can use. Over the years, I've had the honor of becoming acquainted with a large number of very good writers. We are all members of a Google email group. When one member has a question they can't find an answer to, they send out an email. The responses begin coming in almost immediately. For instance, we recently had a fascinating discovery of what would happen to blood on the surface of Ceres. One great forum I used to haunt (don't have the time anymore) is the SFF World discussion forums.
Our Changing Society
Growing up, I watched Star Trek and I imagined a world where anyone could achieve their full potential. It was a world where poverty did not exist and greed never reared its ugly head. Our society does not appear to be heading in that direction. A couple we are friends with have been going to Vegas every year for the past 22 years. They've noticed how greed has taken over and it has soured their experience to the point where they were actually talking about not going back. There is an ancient saying that "money is the root of all evil". I disagree because money cannot determine its own destiny. I say "greed is the root of all evil" because it takes a person to bring greed to life. It's an insatiable monster that will ruin this world unless we can find a way to kill it.
I remember back when I was a child living in a society where gas stations competed amongst themselves to see who could provide the best service (I'm talking about full-service gas stations--something that is no longer found). We left our house unlocked and our neighbors could--and did--just walk right in, get themselves a cup of coffee, and visit while my mom cooked. We could trust our neighbors to watch over our house while we were gone. It was a time when people actually talked to one another. Today's society is a very different place and it's not getting much better.
As a science fiction writer, my job is to try to predict the future. Of course, this is impossible, but we try anyway. If you look at how society has changed over the past 40 years and predict that trend into the far future, we are headed for a society where people fear each other unless they are almost exactly like us. We will live next door to someone and never speak to them. Our "friends" will be people we talk to via text or send a funny video to. Our electronic footprint will be under constant attack and only those with the knowledge and money to protect it will be able to do so. A few powerful individuals, driven by greed, will rule the world. Excessive? Perhaps. Possible? Frightenly so!
