Neil D. Ostroff's Blog, page 30

Riches vs. fame

I’ve been pondering the notion of my books one day going viral and selling millions of copies. I’ve been pondering how much my life would change and what I would do with my time if I didn’t have to work at a conventional job anymore. Of course, I would still write books, that’s a given, but what else would I do with my time? I guess it depends on the amount of sales. A million copies sold would allow me to live a life of ease, but if you’re talking in the millions, then I would like to give back a little. It’s always been a dream of mine to start my own publishing company and help out authors who write books that are wild, and a bit off the mainstream, like mine. But, the reality of the twenty-first century is that authors don’t need publishers anymore. With epublishing and Kindle Direct Publishing, author’s can be their own bosses. Maybe, I’d contribute to a college or give some money to an animal rescue or a homeless shelter. I don’t know. I guess, if I go viral we’ll see what happens. Riches are good. But what about fame? What does fame allow you to do? Let’s see. It can get you a good seat at a restaurant. It can most likely get you a romp in the sack with a member of the opposite sex… Gee, it’s hard to come up with another one. Without money, fame is nothing more than an ego boost. As of this writing, I’ve got almost fifty followers on my blog, my books have been “liked” on Amazon by dozens of strangers, my author’s den site has had over 45,000 hits, and my other sites have combined hits of over 25,000. That said, over 70,000 people, at least, have read about me, seen my books, and showed an interest in what I do. In a way, I guess that makes me famous. So let’s see what that fame can do for my writing career, because I sure ain’t getting rich off it. Yet.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com
http://www.authorsden.com/neilostroff

My dead dog.

I dreamt of my dog last night. It has been exactly six months since I made that awful decision to put him down. He was deaf, crippled, and going blind. I had spent the last months of his life in denial of his condition and constantly cleaning up his incontinence. When I went to work I would have to line the floor with newspaper and still would come home to messes. Finally, when all he could do was eat, sleep, and spin in circles, I decided it was time. It took everything I had to walk into the vet’s office and hold my dog as the injection was administered. I would have been okay if all my dog did was go to sleep peacefully, but he didn’t. He whined and cried as the medication took effect. He hadn’t uttered a whimper for two months previous. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, he went limp in my arms and I put him onto the table. I looked at his lifeless body with his blind eyes open wide, and then went outside to sob. It was only the second time in my ten years of marriage that my wife had seen me cry. I spent the remainder of that day throwing away my dog’s things, except for his collar which I put away in a box.
So, why am I telling you this? Because I just wrote that scene into my latest book, turning that negative into a positive. Although my dog of fifteen years is gone now, his memory will live on.
http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.comDrop Out

Hated Indie authors

Once again, I’ve made the cardinal sin of trying to market my books on forums and threads, and once again, a bunch of people are sending me nasty replies. Which is fine if these forums and threads had a policy of no author marketing, but they don’t. I learned early on that trying to post of those sites gets you a base of enemies real fast. But what still confuses me is the length that some people will go to, to make you feel bad for even trying to distribute your novels. I mean, why are these people so bored with their lives that they actually take the time to comment negatively? If I don’t like something I ignore it, I don’t use it as a vehicle to spew my hate and anger. Why even waste my time with it? I guess what I’m trying to say, is that if you hate the concept of the indie writer marketing and selling their own work without the help of the big publishing corporations and corporate greed, then just ignore us and move on with your lives. All we’re trying to do is provide some escapism entertainment for the world. Believe me, there are very few indie writers making anything more than beer money from their indie books. It’s about art and sharing your stories.
Thanks.
http://www.authorsden.com/neilostroff

How long does it take to write a book?

I’ve been wondering how long it really takes for an author to write a book. I’m not talking about a first draft, I’m talking about the point where an author says “done!” and then sends it off to the publisher or agent. For me, it usually takes about six months to write a draft worthy of revision. But to consider the manuscript completed it takes a lot longer. Since all of my books have been through the ringer with agents, editors, and publishers and I’ve used their advice and my continuing literary improvement to keep revising and strengthening both plot and grammar, the maturation process for each book has taken a long time. Here are the time frames it took to consider each of my novels complete and off-to-the-publisher-worthy. I have many more books to come.

TIM MADISON GALACTIC WARRIOR 1996-2003…7 years
http://www.amazon.com/Madison-Galacti...

INSECTLAND 1997-2011… 14 years
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005P81J48

FROSTPROOF 1998-2009… 11 years
http://www.amazon.com/FROSTPROOF-N-D-...

PULP 1999-2010… 11 years
http://www.amazon.com/PULP-novella-N-...

DEGENERATES 2000-2009… 9 years
http://www.amazon.com/Degenerates-N-D...

AFTER. 2001-2011… 10 years
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0050Q8D8U

DROP OUT 2007-2011… 4 years
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FX0K7U

Spooky times ahead

Tis the season to be spooky. That said, AFTER is now half price for the Halloween season. Many of you read my article on pricing and I received many comments both good and bad about lowering the price of my books and the perceived worth of the material inside. I believe that by temporarily lowering the price of my books I will be able to generate a larger audience who will appreciate a good, original story and want to check out more of my stuff. If you haven’t checked out AFTER, here’s a brief summary and a link for purchase.
Thanks.
AFTER

When Nick Murray dies mysteriously he enters an afterlife like nothing he had ever imagined. There are rules, regulations, and beings in positions of great power. The devil craves this power and will do anything to attain it, even use his evil influence to start a global war on Earth. The devil intends to collect billions of human souls and turn them into a massive, afterlife zombie attack force.

Nick’s soul is dropped into the body of a deceased army commander in the hopes of stopping the apocalypse. But an unexpected turn of events lands him face to face with the ultimate adversary where he discovers a terrifying truth. How can you destroy something that is already dead?
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0050Q8D8U
Blog
http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

What price?

In earlier posts, I’ve often said that I think the 99 cent price on Kindle books seem to cheapen the worth of the book. Now, I’m not reversing that conviction completely, but what I will say is that 99 cent books appear to be selling many more copies than those books priced just a few dollars higher. Why? Let’s put it in terms of a used bookstore that has a rack of books for 99 cents and a rack of books for three dollars. As a reader, which shelf are you likely to check out first? I for one, always check out the cheaper books hoping to find a gem. And even if I don’t, I’m likely to buy a few books that merely spark my interest. After all, you can’t really go wrong with 99 cents, even if the book is terrible. So that said, I’ve caved into the common denominator and lowered the price of my Kindle books to $1.25 each. I chose that price because I wanted to set myself apart from the pack, even if it is only by twenty-six cents. All of my books have been professionally edited, formatted, and the covers are all original artwork. I think that alone is worth the extra pennies. So, if you’ve got a buck and a quarter to spare, check out my stuff, it’ll be the most entertainment value around.

My mistakes.

My father always told me that it's okay to make mistakes, it's how you learn. Well, I'm about to tell you the mistakes I've learned while marketing and promoting my books so that you don't have to go through the same things when you market and promote your books. I'll put them in list form so it's easier to digest.

Number 1. When posting on forums don't just promote yourself with no other redeeming information. When I first started out I'd post summaries of my books and links to buy them on sites that specifically said no self-promo. I didn’t listen. The result: I got banned from these sites and all the networking they could have provided.

Number 2. Don't write articles that tell people how they are going to feel about your book. For instance, don't write a blurb that says, "this is the best book you'll read all year". Statements like that really turn off the reader.

Number 3. Don't believe the hype that paying for click advertising or putting up banners are going to increase sales. The most important driver of sales is word of mouth through social sites and networking. It's a very small percentage of people that actually will buy the book through a paid ad.

Number 4. Don’t think that by spamming social network sites that you’re somehow going to go viral and sell a million books. I’ve had a few tweets and postings that went viral (meaning tens of thousands of people clicked on the info) and it led to just a small increase in sales. It’s a cool feeling knowing so many people have checked your stuff, but not profitable.

Number 5. Just because you wrote a book, published it, and sold a few copies, don’t think you’re going to be able to quit your job and retire. That only happens to a few lottery-winning writers.

Number 6. Write for yourself and don’t try to copy what’s out there just because what’s out there is selling now. Be original and write what you want.

So there you have it. These are the mistakes I made and that cost me loads of time and damaged my professional online persona. Do the exact opposite of these six things and I guarantee you’ll see your sales rise and people will begin to notice you.

It's here! It's wild!

INSECTLAND is now available nationwide! This week will be spent marketing and promoting. I have several hundred people on various websites and forums that are anticipating this book. Hopefully, it will reflect in the sales. If you're looking to read a story like no other, than this book is for you. Please check it out. Thanks.

INSECTLAND
Be frightened! Be very frightened! Tiny, dragon-like creatures hiding in our homes are going to harm us. They will shrink us to the size of ants, enslave us, and turn our world into their own. But there is hope. Legions of insect robots intent on stopping them have recruited high school sophomore Dan Larson for help. Thrust into danger, Dan risks everything in a desperate attempt to thwart an attack and prevent the end of society as we know it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005P81J48

Is it worth it to even try to get an agent?

The year is 2005 and I just signed with my agent at Fineprint Literary. I was full of hope and excitement and dreams of hitting it big. Unfortunately, three and a half years later we ended our contract. Now, with six books available for sale and another four on the way I’m beginning to wonder if it is worth the effort to try and get signed again. Considering the average “good” agent receives over 100 email queries a day, what are my odds of getting discovered even if I’m the next Steven King? Are writers still trying to go the traditional route or are most writers taking their product into their own hands and self-publishing, then marketing and promoting on the web? Will there even be traditional publishing in the next five years? Will some really smart people develop websites that match writers to readers’ specific wants thereby cutting out the middlemen of big publishing houses? As an Indie writer who’s a bit off the mainstream, I hope so.
http://www.authorsden.com/neilostroff

I love publishing books that shake-up the mainstream

Yeah, I had a top agent once; Gary Heidt at Signature Lit. Yeah, at one time I was also signed to one of the best agencies in NY; Fineprint Lit. Yeah, I got phone calls that editors wanted to buy my books. Yeah, you guessed it, they all fell through in the end. But you know what? I don't care. Cause now, I can write, publish, and sell anything I want. When I was signed to these agencies I got dozens of rejections, not because my stuff was bad, the editors all said, but because my stories didn't fit the mainstream marketplace. How does anyone even really know what mainsteam is? Thank you Kindle for allowing me to publish my books the way I wrote them.