Casey Calouette's Blog, page 7
August 3, 2014
Elite Dangerous : Space Flight Sim
I’m addicted to space sims. Long ago it was Wing Commander, then Privateer, and since about 2005 its been EVE. Now I’m playing Elite. At first I loathed it, I felt cheated.
But then it clicked, and now…
I’m having a blast.
It’s clearly a beta still. There are things that need to be added, features that have to be refined, but for the most part it is a very vibrant world. Now they haven’t added much for newbie guides and the one they have is rather clunky. So I made up a list of the generic Elite Dangerous Keybinds that will hopefully make it easier for new pilots. The one they have in the guide has a black background, so you burn about a years worth of ink. The one I made is designed to be printed.
It also has a few things to help the new player, it’s not a complete newbie guide, but it’ll answer those first few questions. Oh, and if you’re new, run. Run from everything. Max out your engine speed and keep hitting boost. You can avoid (almost) every encounter this way. Unless you want to pick a fight…
As I get more experience in the game I plan on adding more posts about Elite and explore my thoughts on the game.
But here’s a link to my Elite key cheat sheet.
On the writing front I’m still hammering away on my next novel. Max is still editing Edge of Redemption as well. I’m hoping to have it out by the end of August, hopefully earlier. If you’re a newsletter subscriber you’ll get it for free. Yup, you heard me, free. It’ll be an advance release copy. Other free things I’m working on include some 3D models that you can print yourself, or order from Thingiverse. So stay tuned on that note!
July 18, 2014
Poster Won – And Updates
I’d like to congratulate #17, or Matthew of New Jersey as the winner of the poster. There was a person chosen before him, however they didn’t respond on time. So bummer! I plan on doing more things like this. Artwork, signed copies, and a little pet project… 3D printed starship models!
Edge of Redemption, the third book in the series A Star Too Far, is middle way through edits. Max has informed me that he now knows enough about science fiction to become his own action hero. So once he’s finished saving the galaxy (and editing the book) I’ll review it and get it out to you guys. On that line I’m working on a giveaway for all you newsletter people. So stay tuned for some free stuff.
I have a handful more manuscripts that I started but I’m focusing on one and I’m about 20k words into it. It’s still scifi but a complete departure from the structured world of William Grace. This one is unlike anything ever seen, more reminiscent of Jack London and Hemingway than Asimov or Clarke. This is is already a blast, I can’t wait for you guys to see this.
Also, Amazon now has Kindle Unlimited. If you plan to take advantage of this let me know in the comments. I am very curious if I should offer my titles as Prime.
Thank you all again, every day I am humbled to see that people are still reading my works. You guys rock.
July 1, 2014
Free Art Print – Edge of Solace drawing
The drawing is approaching! I placed the order for the giclee print last night. A company in Madison will be doing the printing. It’ll be like the above image, minus the text. You get a professional grade print for your wall. All free. Did I mention Free?
All you have to do is be on my mailing list. If you want a second chance then leave a review on Edge of Solace. And email me with a link to the review. I’ll do the drawing on Twitch using random.org. If the first person to be drawn doesn’t get back to me in 24 hours, it goes to the next number.
#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }
/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
Subscribe to Casey Calouette’s Mailing List
June 30, 2014
Focus and Drive
My goal is to write. Simply write. Focus on learning the craft, how to write a good sentence, and most of all to make it a habit. I put success behind me, any dream of being the next miracle self-pub success story. Orson Scott Card said you need to write a million words before you’re any good. Well, I’m 1/3 of the way there.
The great thing about writing and self publishing is I can get immediate feedback. Not necessarily in reviews, but in sales. Had I gone the tradpub route I’d just get stacks and stacks of rejection letters. Worse off is when I did get published I might very well suck.
Now I’m forced to look at my work and ask the big question : How did I fail?
Not the Editor, or Publisher, or Agent, but me. Because that’s really the question, plenty of authors are successful, so why aren’t I? Or better, why do I suck?
Once I can identify my flaws I can focus on fixing them. Which is a helluva lot more difficult than I thought. Self criticism is tough, I’m literally my own worst critic and I can’t ignore myself. Well, I could, but then it’s pointless. I read a good deal of fiction which is better than mine (or sells better) and I try to focus on the wordsmithing. Other times I’ll get a book like How to Write a Sentence. Though with some of the self-help books I’ve found little value, people get some success and spout off their method. Though one other one I love is 2K to 10K, a wonderful little book on writing.
I also owe a lot to my cousins husband Steve. He’s a fairly famous YouTube celebrity who explained to me how his business model works. I saw then that I needed content more than anything. I had to write and risk getting it out there. I had to learn by doing, and risk that creative channel. So thanks Steve, couldn’t have done it without you.
New Goals
Write better sentences
Write more visceral, but shorter, descriptions
Work in more characters with flair (Drunken uncles who are greek ex-mercenaries and once cavorted with the Shah)
Write in the Mornings (M is capitalized, it’s a worthy opponent)
Up the daily word count
Write two more novels this year
Don’t write in a series until I have three more novels done
Work on my marketing efforts
Finally send Max a bottle of scotch
June 29, 2014
Why I’m Not Using Google Play
For those of you who wanted me to publish on Google Play I apologize. It won’t be happening. I tried, everything went up, the interface to publish was decent, not great, but workable. My book was listed for one day and then I took it down.
Google Play is the Android version of iTunes. If you have an Android device, or buy via Chrome, you can use the Google Play store. So what’s the problem? Pricing.
My main market is Amazon and they price match. If they see a retailer with a lower price the algorithms automatically snip the price. Google Play has a pricing model where I set a price and they automatically make an arbitrary discount. It’s normally around 28% or so. Which means that if I don’t want Amazon to price match my novels on Google Play I’m forced to mark them up, and mark them up significantly. Otherwise Amazon slashes the price, then Google slashes it with the 28%, and then Amazon etc…
So who pays the price? You, the reader. My $2.99 novel on Amazon becomes a $4.49 novel on Google Play.
Not cool Google.
Google put me into a place where either I will get screwed, or I’ll be forced to screw the customer. The more I dug into Google Play the more I found that they are deceptive, have horrible service, and go out of there way to screw the consumer and the provider.
You can still get my stories on Amazon, iTunes and Barnes and Noble. They all have apps you can read with, even on an Android device. I’d strongly recommend you do so and avoid the Google Play store. They’re sticking it to both the readers, and the writers. So much for not being evil.
June 24, 2014
Starting from Scratch
One of the biggest sales drivers for books on Amazon is the cover and the blurb. You know the cover, I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten that covered. The blurb is tricky. It’s the “back of the book” you use to decide if you want to buy. It’s what gets you excited, it’s the worm, the shiny sticker, the sales pitch. It’s also damn tricky to get right. I’ve gone through a few revisions and I’m finally happy. (For now!)
The next thing I’m learning is about the nature of a series. I write my stories to be a good standalone, like Bernard Cornwell or Patrick O’Brian, so you can read them in any order. No cliffhangers, no sudden-stops, just a good story that happens to follow an arc. If you read them out of order my goal is to have you enjoy them no matter. But I think people are buying the first book (which is OK) and then the second book. This is great, I’m just not seeing the rise like I did on the first novel.
Speaking of the first novel my edits should be in this evening and I will be resubmitting it. Grammar, typos, flow, etc. to be resolved. It will also go up on Google Play, Itunes, and B&N. Expect to see that in the coming days. I’m not sure what sort of timeframe to expect with the other stores. But once it’s live I’ll have links.
Thank you everyone. Every time I see a review or comment I get a giant, huge, smile.
June 2, 2014
Watching and Waiting
Edge of Solace has been live for about two weeks. In that time I’ve tweaked the blurb and also revised the cover font to make it pop. Now comes the wait for reviews and response. I think it’s better than my first but that doesn’t matter. Do you think it’s better than the first? Speaking of the first novel, some updates are inbound.
I didn’t know how my first novel would be received, and didn’t pay to have it edited. In hindsight that was a bad idea. Now I’ve found a good editor and he is doing Trial by Ice. After that he’ll edit Edge of Redemption. Should be right around August for the release of book #3.
Something special for you folks too, Advance Release Copies. If you, my loyal reader, wants to get an early copy let me know. All I ask is you give me your feedback and leave an honest Amazon review. In the traditional publishing world this is standard fare. The publisher sends out copies to other authors, papers, reviewers, bloggers, all in the hope of generating a buzz. I’m not so interested in that as I am in getting your feedback before release. Maybe Alpha reader would be a better term.
Reviews are huge for self-pubbed authors. Even a few at launch can catapult a book. If you’ve read my books please leave an honest review. I say honest because it is not uncommon to see authors buying reviews, a few of the early self pub success stories ended up being propelled by fake reviews.
Work has begun on my next novel, this one will be quite unlike anything I’ve seen recently, maybe ever.
Keep an eye and let me know what you folks think, I love feedback.
May 20, 2014
Edge of Solace is live!
Yes, I feel about as cool as Darth Vader at Halloween.
Edge of Solace is live!
If you enjoy it please let me know, if you really want to be my friend please leave an honest review.
Edge of Solace – Submitted
There it is! Max Booth III came through with an awesome set of edits. I’ve been feverishly tearing through the last bits and have submitted it all to Amazon. Man, what a feeling. Its been a long road to get here, but finally I’ve got a beautifully polished product to turn out to you, my readers.
Sometime tomorrow morning the book will go live on Amazon. About that time I’ll send out my newsletter and let everyone know. Remember that if you’re a subscriber you can win a full sized Giclee print of the cover art. With, or without, the title text.
If you enjoy the book I’d love to hear. A review on Amazon would also be totally and wickedly awesome.
I’m still working on my revisions for book three and then it’ll head off to Max!
May 13, 2014
Villainous Villain
Writing a villain is hard. A good villain, a rich villain, a meaningful villain. Evil for the sake of evil is boring, it’s a cop out. A writer can make a one dimensional bad guy, but what’s the point? There’s no connection there, it’s just a placeholder. My task has been building up a villain who is worth despising. And man, he’s even making me angry.
They say you’ll write a character who will surprise you. The character will do something unexpected, and the author will recoil in astonishment. I always thought this was bunk, but then it happened. Not only did it happen but it happened on page 2. This character was unlike any I’d ever written. This character is going to be fun to write into a novel.
I’ve been outlining two stories. Two that I really want to write. But given that my writing time is limited I can’t do both at once. Well, I could, but I’m not going to.
Both seem like great stories. They’ll both get written, of that I’m sure. My plan was to write a start to each book and get a feel for it. Well, that solved it for me and now I’m focusing.
Edge of Solace is due to be done with editing this weekend. My editor, Max, had a slight delay. Everything else is ready to roll so it shouldn’t take me long. I’m about halfway done revising the third book too, so that will go to Max soon as well.
