Jason Halstead's Blog, page 27
December 12, 2012
Three Months Later the Marketing Campaign Results Are In
I spent a lot of money (for me) to promote my books, starting on 9/22 and running to 12/21. Specifically it was geared towards my Vitalis book, which is an omnibus of the first 7 novellas in that series. I blogged about it and tweeted about it as well as what the marketing firm did for me. I researched the firm at length and hoped for some rocking results. I didn’t expect any because that’s how I roll, but I hoped. And no, I’m not going to release the name of the firm because I don’t hold them directly responsible. They didn’t do anything wrong, as near as I can tell.
And to be completely fair they have a couple of tasks yet to finish. After all, there are 10 days left in the campaign and the project chart they published shows finish dates ending next week. So maybe something miraculous will happen just before x-mas. Yeah, I’m not holding my breath.
So here’s the numbers: Before the campaign started my average daily sales was 56.2 books. During the campaign the average dropped to 54.2 and that includes the release of two additional books in that time frame (Vitalis: Resurrection and Bounty).
The book in question performed thusly:
August (pre-campaign): 124
September (mostly pre-campaign): 108
October: 81
November: 82
December (forecasted based on mtd sales): 86
So that’s a kick in the pants. In May alone amongst all 7 novellas that are in the Omnibus I sold 5920 copies (at $.99 each). Now I’m struggling to hit 80 – 90? It kind of stings. I took all the $.99 novellas offline because of the massive hate they were receiving from reviewers that felt I was trying to screw them out of $.99 for each part of the overall story. It didn’t matter that each novella was a story in and of itself or that my intentions couldn’t have been further from that. That stung too.
Yes, May has been my best sales month since I’ve been writing. I’m hoping to get back up there in the future (and exceed it), but I’ve got a long ways to go. These days I’ve got 23 books available and another one in the works. I’m still clearing well over 1000 books sold per month, but that’s not enough to pay the bills by themselves. Fortunately for me, I’m a stubborn son of a bitch! I’ll keep writing and putting more stuff out there. Readers tell me they love what I do and they try to bring more people into the fold. My reviews these days are solid 4 and occasional 5 stars (with a 3 star outlier hear and there). The day will come and I won’t stop even when that day gets here!
Enough whining! Back to the promo firm / campaign review. My book income does not replace the income from my primary job that I lost very recently. Thus the sizable amount of money that I paid out for this campaign that did not give me a return on my investment is doubly painful. My recommendation to writers is to abstain from anything of this nature. It doesn’t do any good. You’re far better off spending money on editing and artwork to make sure you’ve got the most presentable and enjoyable story you can possibly have. That will generate sales.
As for the promo company I used, I still don’t blame them. All the guest blog posts I wrote I never received any notice of from my Google Alerts. All the other tasks I did – no clue where they went. I know the ad company tried their best, I just wish I’d listened to my skepticism. Still, I learned a valuable (and costly lesson). I may be naive when it comes to marketing, but I’m not stupid.
Oh, and by the way, it’s looking very promising regarding my job hunt. I’ve been contacted by so many recruiters and company’s that are hiring it’s nearly become harassment. I think this is a great time to have my skill set and education and be looking for a job – the economy, as far as I can tell, is definitely coming back around! I’ve accepted one, provided my security clearance with the DoD comes back clean. It’s going to move me back to Michigan but I’m really looking forward to the new job. Thanks to everyone who offered me warm thoughts and words of encouragement!
December 11, 2012
The Price of Success
I keep hoping that one of these days people are going to settle down about pricing their books and either agree to disagree or just do their own thing. I know I have, but I seem to be in the minority. Lots of independent authors think they’re gaming the system and winning by tweaking their prices on a daily or weekly basis, trying to ride imaginary waves that propel them into bestselling lists with low prices then maximizing profits by raising prices and screwing readers until they’ve fallen in the rankings. Then they lower prices to try and climb back up the hill. Ugh.
This is a fail. An epic fail, in my opinion. An occasional special price for a reason? Sure, go ahead. But doing it every fourth or fifth day? Come on. This just shows a disregard for readers and shows an interest in the bottom line over everything else. Me, I’d rather pick a price and stick with it. In fact, that’s what I do! I’m still priced at or under the value of most books out there and according to the reviews, my books are pretty darn good.
But to be fair, until only very recently writing was not my primary profession. I had a day job as an IT Manager, Developer, and DBA. That day job ended recently and I’m looking for another one. Writing is fun for me, but I’m not sure it will ever hit the level of stand-alone profession. I’ve got a family to support and that includes not only food, rent, and transportation but also health insurance. There’s a history of, “Hey y’all, watch this!” in my family (case in point: a recent trip to the ER when I stabbed myself in the leg).
I read recently that the magic number of publishing 30 books was what it was assumed would be enough to be successful as a writer. That fell under the romance / erotica genre, so it might be different than people like me that write in different genres (I’m primarily fantasy and science fiction, in case you just stumbled across this). Presently I have 23 books published, but 5 of those are free as an offering to readers to try me out and see what they think before they buy. That means, in theory, I’m 7 – 12 books away from the magic number. I’m already hard at work on number 24, Victim of Fate (book two in my Blades of Leander series). If I can sustain last year’s rate I should be there by the end of 2013, but what we’ve found is that having the writing income as well as a day job income is very reassuring. Bills get paid off quicker and we can enjoy ourselves a little bit more by going out with friends and spoiling our children a little more. Note that I said children – I’m still hammering away on the keyboard of a PC that’s several years too old to effectively play Black Ops, let alone Black Ops 2! (yes, that’s a source of irritation for me, but let’s move on).
Back on topic, my advice to fellow writers, especially the new writers trying to break into the business is to just focus on writing the best damn books you can. My experiences in marketing and promotion is that you should save your money and focus on writing. Get as many people as you can to buy your book in a short time frame (preferably a day or a week) and boost it enough to get it noticed and put on some lists, then other people will see it. If it’s a good book then it will continue to grow from there. Tweaking prices is a waste of time and it only adds stress and workload to you. It’s the tool of a control freak to try and think you can control sales. You can’t. It sucks, but we’re at the mercy of our readers – the only way to truly influence them is to write something they love and talk about. And yes, I’m admitting that I’ve got the same control freak problems.
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
December 10, 2012
Bounty Posted!
There are so many cheesy ways I can have fun with the titles of my sci-fi trilogy, Wanted. So of course, I’ve been doing my best to maximize the corniness for my own amusement! Take the title of this blog article, I’m specifically talking about how I just released it this morning in a print version available on Amazon or Createspace. That makes the entire trilogy available. Hmm, makes me wonder if I should make an omnibus out of it? That’d be a doozy of a book though.
In the meantime, I’m working hard on Victim of Fate, book two in my Blades of Leander fantasy series. Simultaneously I’m hunting for a new day job. That’s tying up a lot of time, I have to admit. I’ve had a few interviews and I’ve got more coming. I wonder how many I have to go through until I get a free set of steak knives?
Worth mentioning for my fellow computer programming geeks out there – I spent some time this weekend and this morning teaching myself hyperthreading. It’s pretty cool and I really wish I’d learned it earlier. So many windows and web applications I’ve written in the past could have benefited from it! C’est la vie, at least I’ve got the basics down now and I can boost it for the future – and talk about it intelligently during an interview!
Now enough about me, time for you to get yours! Here’s the links to Bounty:
Bounty on iTunes (coming soon)
Bounty on Sony (coming soon)
Bounty in print
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
December 6, 2012
Guns and Boobs
What better way to spike testosterone in a man than to give him a hefty dose of boobs and guns? Maybe throw in a little 80s rock and before you know it hair will be popping out of his chest and muscles bulging! Well, it sounds good on paper. It certainly wasn’t my intention to focus on boobs and guns in my Wanted series of books but I just received a couple of great four star reviews from a reader that posited the books were filled with both. I was very entertained!
The reviews were positive and the reader claimed he enjoyed them very much, even if he felt they were boob-and-gun-centric. He questioned whether I was targeting an audience or if that’s just the way I roll. Well, I confess that I did grow up hunting and enjoying guns. I’ll also confess that I’ve participated in a few breast cancer events. Beyond that, I have no problem looking a woman in the eyes.
The third book in the Wanted series that became available yesterday is called Bounty. Yes, there are guns and yes, there are boobs. I think it’s fair to say there’s more of the former and less of the latter, but one of the main characters is definitely a free spirit that loves to shock people. Ultimately though Bounty uses the science fiction medium to tell a romantic story. Sure, there are guns and obscenities along the way, but the ultimately it shows the lengths some people are willing to go to – the sacrifices they are willing to make – for the people they love. Or, as I put it in a tweet, Bounty shows why it’s a very bad idea to attempt to kidnap or hurt Carl Waters’ family.
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
December 5, 2012
A Soldier, a Porn Star, and a Coed Walk into a Bar…
The subject might be a great lead in for a dirty joke or the next book in the 50 Shades series, but I just used it to pique your interest. Although to be fair, the book I finally released has all three of those characters in it. More importantly, it’s a book that people have been wanting me to write for over a year now. Bounty, book three in my Wanted series, has been released!
It was a close call, I admit. Writing the book, once the idea came to me, was the easiest part. It kept stretching out longer and longer as more great details and ideas emerged, but it never creeped so far out of scope that it became too long. Then I had problems with my content editor hitting my schedule, but those eventually sorted themselves out. Finally I ended up losing my job a couple of days before my copy editor finished with the book, preventing a timely payment – she was great and offered to give me a little leeway, due in part to her and her husband both enjoying my writing so much. Finally there was the issue with Amazon – they published it but the link wouldn’t open! I emailed them my concerns on December 2nd and they promised they’d look into it and have an answer by December 7th. 5 days?! Thankfully when I checked this morning it was finally cleared up and released. YAY!
So, without delaying any further, here’s the blurb, cover, and links so you can get your Bounty!
The U.S. government has reclaimed the abandoned western states but the law remains the province of whoever has the biggest gun. Life was good, if boring, for retired special forces operator Carl Waters and his wife Jessie until she received an offer to reprise her acting career and star in a new role. When a hired gun tries to kill Jessie on the set of her new movie they discover that their new found fame is not the blessing they’d hoped for.
Carl has to defend his family from the loose ends of their old lives. That, or avenge them.
Bounty on iTunes (coming soon)
Bounty on Sony (coming soon)
Bounty in print (coming soon)
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
A Soldier, a Porn Star, and a Coed Enter a Bar…
The subject might be a great lead in for a dirty joke or the next book in the 50 Shades series, but I just used it to pique your interest. Although to be fair, the book I finally released has all three of those characters in it. More importantly, it’s a book that people have been wanting me to write for over a year now. Bounty, book three in my Wanted series, has been released!
It was a close call, I admit. Writing the book, once the idea came to me, was the easiest part. It kept stretching out longer and longer as more great details and ideas emerged, but it never creeped so far out of scope that it became too long. Then I had problems with my content editor hitting my schedule, but those eventually sorted themselves out. Finally I ended up losing my job a couple of days before my copy editor finished with the book, preventing a timely payment – she was great and offered to give me a little leeway, due in part to her and her husband both enjoying my writing so much. Finally there was the issue with Amazon – they published it but the link wouldn’t open! I emailed them my concerns on December 2nd and they promised they’d look into it and have an answer by December 7th. 5 days?! Thankfully when I checked this morning it was finally cleared up and released. YAY!
So, without delaying any further, here’s the blurb, cover, and links so you can get your Bounty!
The U.S. government has reclaimed the abandoned western states but the law remains the province of whoever has the biggest gun. Life was good, if boring, for retired special forces operator Carl Waters and his wife Jessie until she received an offer to reprise her acting career and star in a new role. When a hired gun tries to kill Jessie on the set of her new movie they discover that their new found fame is not the blessing they’d hoped for.
Carl has to defend his family from the loose ends of their old lives. That, or avenge them.
Bounty on iTunes (coming soon)
Bounty on Sony (coming soon)
Bounty in print (coming soon)
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
December 1, 2012
Glass Jaw
I’ve been a fan of the Rocky franchise since I first became aware of it in my childhood days. Who hasn’t? It’s a classic underdog story with truly likeable characters – even Carl Weathers in spite of his arrogance. And yes, I even enjoyed Rocky V and I’ll admit it. Balboa, Rocky VI, continued this life and times of Rocky Balboa for me in continued excellence. As far as I’m concerned Silvester Stallone proved that he’s still got it and I don’t give a damn if he pops HGH and other chemicals to keep himself in performing shape. And yes, I enjoyed his final Rambo movie too, although I don’t understand his fascination with taking a bow and arrow up against assault rifles.
But this isn’t a movie review, this is far deeper and more personal. I mention the Balboa because in it Rocky makes a statement that I’ve long held true to, though I’d never heard it so succinctly spoken. In it Rocky tells his son (and later himself when he’s having the tar beaten out of him in the ring), “It don’t matter how hard you hit. What matters how hard you can be hit.” For those unfamiliar with the movie or story, it serves both as a reminder of how Rocky Balboa has succeeded in the ring and how he has succeeded in life. I think it rings true for everybody, and it served as a great reminder to me.
I’ve long had a determined goal to write full time. Well as of Friday morning that opportunity presented itself for me. Unfortunately, I’m not at the point yet where it is self-sustaining. Suffice to say over the past couple of years the situation finally reached a point where I was forced into parting ways with my day job. I’d love to dish out a lot more dirt on it, but that’s the red skinned devil on my shoulder talking and my professionalism will allow me to say no more of it.
What I will say is that I’ve been more or less actively looking for another primary income for several months now. My greatest frustration over this issue is that I wasn’t the one who originated the separation. I confess I laughed at one point during the meeting and smiled at many other points. My immediate reaction that one of incredible relief. I know, crazy. But the stress that lifted off of my shoulders was unbelievable!
So now I’m writing like crazy with my extra time, in between hunting for a new day job. Anybody looking for a DOTNET or SQL developer, SQL DBA, or IT Manager / Director feel free to give me a shout. I’ve got some very exciting prospects already lined up, one as soon as this coming week. Or feel free to make my real dream come true and go and buy up as many of my books as you can. Don’t hesitate to leave reviews heaping praise on them while you’re at it. I figure a couple of books that pull in 30 to 50 sales in a single day and a reasonable amount of reviews in the very near future after those sales should boost me up into some of Amazon’s algorithms to make things really take off. The problem, as always, is getting into those areas in the first place to achieve visibility. I personally recommend Child of Fate, the Vitalis Omnibus, or Voidhawk – The Elder Race (the first one is just titled Voidhawk and it’s free, but I don’t get any appreciable credit for that). Or if you’re up for something else, I’ve got lots to choose from, just check out the covers on the right and click on one to be taken to the Amazon page for it.
Or if the status quo continues don’t worry. I can take a punch, a knife, a concussion from slamming into a dumpster at a high speed, or a car hitting me. I come out stronger every time and this one will be no exception to that rule.
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
November 28, 2012
It Seemed Like a Good Idea
Thanksgiving’s over and after five days spent on the road with family celebrating the holiday and my son’s birthday I can say that I’m stuffed. Tired too, it was a lot of miles and a lot of activity. And a lot of food. Loads and loads of food. Good food, but it’s still calories.
And that brings me to the next part of this post. All those calories don’t just go away. Sure, I’m an active guy that hits the weights pretty hard. Truth be told, if I work out regularly I have to focus hard to eat enough to avoid losing weight. Now now, don’t get mad at me – my regular workouts involve moving barbells with 300+ pounds on them multiple times. Doesn’t sound quite as easy / fun now, does it? It is, but you have to have something wrong with your brain (like I do) in order to enjoy that kind of work.
But there’s more holidays looming around the corner! And that means more holiday food. People will be bringing in the goodies to work too – and it’s not like I can just have that sweet tooth removed. And after that my wife and I have a trip to the Arnold Classic planned in early March. No, we’re not competing in anything but we’re both in great shape so shouldn’t we look like it if we’re going there? So what’s the answer? More exercise!
It’s more than just trimming the fat though. I had the realization that, almost a decade ago, I felt great about myself when I would go for a jog to start the morning off. I did it for a year or so, maybe more, and I was in great cardiovascular shape and on my way to building up some muscle mass. So why not try to get that runner’s high again and soar through my work days by starting it off with a morning jog? Turns out I only had one thing that I’d overlooked… Cardio sucks.
The after effects not so much, I suppose, but actually doing it is horrible. If you reach the point where you’re vision isn’t blurry and you don’t feel like you might spontaneously expel a lung then you just got horrible bored at the mindless task of running. I’d forgotten most of these things, but this morning I reminded myself. I have a plan though, and it’s a simple one. I’m going to minimize my cardio. 10 minutes or less in the morning, that’s it. Too much cardio burns muscle mass and I want my muscles to stay where they are (or get bigger).
Even so, half a mile at 6mph nearly killed me this morning. Laugh if you need to, I’ll take it like a man. I’ve always been built for speed, not endurance. Think cheetah, but please refrain from any visions of me chasing down an antelope wearing leopard print underwear. Nobody wants to see that.
But in the meantime while visiting family and stuffing my face full of tasty treats I also managed to crank out over 11,000 words on Victim of Fate! I’m still a long ways from finishing but I’d wager I’m somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the way through the rough draft. Bounty, book 3 in my Wanted trilogy, is in the hands of my copy editor now. It’s getting close and this one is going to be great!
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
November 27, 2012
Why My Dog is Better than Yours
I had a question posed to me recently that set me back on my heels and made me really think. No, it wasn’t something life changing, nor was it a moral dilemma. I didn’t have to sort out whether the chicken or the egg came first, and I’m of the opinion that tastes great beats less filling almost every time. The question was about my book, Vitalis. Specifically, what’s so great about it?
At first glance that question is on the level of, “Why my dog is better than yours.” After thinking about it for a few seconds it becomes far more practical. After all, if my book really is as good as I think it is, why shouldn’t I be able to share that with the world? Nobody else is going to tell them about it unless I start the ball rolling.
Years ago I realized that I didn’t read books because they had neat toys in them, I read them because of the characters. Sure, crash landing on an alien planet is cool, but that same character concept could be applied to a host of other genres. With that in mind my writing underwent a serious change. I started writing about people, not about things.
Vitalis embodies that with the many characters the story revolves around. These are people that feel very real, they have flaws and quirks just as much as they have strengths and talents. They have emotions and relationships, and sometimes those get twisted up and stepped on. Just like us these characters make mistakes and suffer setbacks, but they try to learn from their failures and evolve into better people because of it. These people are as real as I can make them – my goal is to take the voices in my head and put them in the readers.
While the characters are central to the story there does need to a balance between them and the environment. That’s where the genre comes in. Vitalis is science fiction at its most fun. There’s futuristic space travel, interstellar piracy, and an undiscovered world teeming with vibrant, beautiful, and deadly life. It offers the opportunity to expose the fragile characters to new experiences, opportunities, and challenges that will either make them better or it will destroy them emotionally or physically (or both).
Vitalis is filled with intrigue. Whenever you get a group of people together politics are going to form and the residents of Vitalis are no except to that. Hidden agendas and ulterior motives are prime motivators for some characters and it falls to others to understand the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
These are but a few of the reasons why Vitalis is a fun book filled with a little bit of everything from horror to action to drama. I know if I hadn’t wrote it, I’d be swept away by it – but I might by biased.
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
November 26, 2012
Things to do in the Dark
The world works in mysterious ways. Coincidences abound and are just frequent enough to make naturally suspicious people like me wonder about the nature of free will and conspiracy theories about supreme overloads controlling out actions. Or maybe that’s just the science fiction writer in me.
Whatever the case, I disassembled my large saltwater aquarium last weekend after running it for a year and a half. The reasons behind this move were many, but no fish, coral, or invertebrates were harmed by this action. One of my chief complaints of my setup was the nature of the sump tank plumbing I built. During power outages, in particular, bad things can happen very quickly that would cause the system to overflow and flood my living room.
Sunday I took the tank down. Monday night we had a power outage that lasted roughly an hour. Now is that simply good luck and timing, or evidence of some nefarious mastermind pushing buttons on a computer simulation that we’re all unwittingly part of?
To continue to power outage story, I saved my work on my laptop and shut it down. It’s a laptop with a battery, what’s the big deal, right? Well I went all American and supersized this laptop – as a result I get around 45 minutes out of a full battery charge. And yes, the battery is operating just fine. Then I rushed to shut down my desktop before the UPS it ran off of died, and finally I had to shut my server down in the basement for the same reason.
So there I am, sitting in the living room with my kids freaking out because they’re bored without TV, computers, or other electronic excitement to keep them busy. My wife remains glued to her Kindle reading my book, Vitalis, and using the light attached to her Kindle case. I had to check on her, I wasn’t sure she realized we’d even lost power!
Seeing my wife on her Kindle provoked an idea. The kids were terrorizing the dog and, given the gloomy lighting caused by a serious rainstorm, risking life and limb with their antics. I pointed out that the iPad and the Kindle Fire were fully charged. Zoom! Off they went, craving their electronic fix. For the record they’re six and three, but the devices are loaded with games to keep them happy whenever we need a digital babysitter (long car rides, appointments at doctor’s offices, etc.).
But these portable godsends aren’t just for kids! As evidence I point to my wife reading her ebook. Heck, if I’d have had another device I might have done the same. Instead it gave me yet one more reason why ebooks are great and on any e-reader with a backlight (or a battery operated front light) they are every bit as useful as a vintage print book.
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
