Elle Casey's Blog, page 6

Writing Software : A How-To Video

I use this software called Scrivener to write with. It’s kind of complicated to learn, so I put together a video for my writer friends showing how I go through and set it up to write and compile the book for the Kindle format. Share this post if you have writer friends, please.

http://youtu.be/Mec7TH3dVgA

Starbucks and Books

I’ve been writing this romantic serial novel called Just One Night (purchase links below if you’re interested). I’ve gotten a ton of great feedback, and really the only negative feedback I’ve gotten has been about the potential future cost.

As serial novels become more popular, we’ll see more and more of this conversation, I’m sure. I’ve touched on the pricing issue before in a long blog post HERE, but I thought this was worth a mention one more time, from a slightly different perspective.

I price my books according to page length, for the most part. I rarely offer promotions or sales on my books because they are so fairly priced as it is. With the romantic serial parts, so far they’ve been 99¢ because they’re about 100 pages long. I’ve had some readers suggest that if I charge more than 99¢ they will not buy those parts. I’ve also had some readers say that if I have too many parts in the serial, they won’t keep buying.

Here is my official response to those comments:

COMPARISONS

FANCY STARBUCKS COFFEE

ELLE CASEY ROMANTIC SERIAL

  How much does it cost?
  $3.50-$5.00
  99¢ – $2.99 depending on length


  How long can you enjoy it?
  10 minutes unless you don’t mind cold coffee
  1-3 hours


  How many times can you enjoy it?
  Once
  As many times as you want


  Does it make you laugh?
  Nope
  Yes


  Does it make you cry?
  Not unless it’s too hot
  Maybe


  Does it make you get tingley?
  Not unless someone roofied it
  Definitely

I think you see where I’m going with this.

The point is, before you as a reader decide out of hand that you’re not going to pay for something, think about what it is you’re actually saying. If an author prices by the page count, you cannot get ripped off. You will pay for exactly what you get.

I realize some authors out there are charging $2.99 for a 75 page book. That’s not something I’m doing, but is it wrong to do it? No, of course not. They’ve assigned that value to their work, and readers who agree with the value will pay it. And since these books are on the New York Times and Amazon bestseller lists, I have to believe there are a TON of readers out there who agree.

Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll increase my prices. But for today, this is where I stand on the matter, and I hope the vast majority of the readers out there will agree that my work is worth at least a little bit more than a cup of coffee (even though I’ve priced it significantly less than one.)

PURCHASE LINKS

PART ONE

US: http://amzn.to/1fOqwF8

UK: http://amzn.to/1crXxT8

Canada: http://amzn.to/1fOra5A

Germany: http://amzn.to/OJXFIo

France: http://amzn.to/1lpikyR

Italy: http://amzn.to/1cfC7xU

Spain: http://amzn.to/1fw8Lpt

KOBO: http://bit.ly/1kSst76

BARNES AND NOBLE: http://bit.ly/1g0aO6d

Buddy-Read for JUST ONE NIGHT

Hello, fans! There’s a buddy read going on over at Goodreads for readers of JUST ONE NIGHT, my latest serial romance. I popped in to check it out and saw that people are already sharing ideas and thoughts on what’s to come, and it’s going to be fantastic for me to help me write the next parts!  Go get in on the conversation, either there or here on my website. Hope you’re loving the series as much as I am enjoying the writing part of it!

Pictures from Wicked Book Weekend in Ft. Lauderdale

I met some really fabulous readers and authors in Ft. Lauderdale this past week. Here are some photo highlights! I wish I had more, but my camera operator [cough * mom * cough] wasn’t feeling well so a lot of the others were too blurry to keep.

My obituary

A story mostly unrelated to books but hopefully inspirational …

Last time I was at my mom’s house, I was going through old boxes of things that had to either be thrown out or kept, depending on their worth to me after having been stored for 3 years. I ran across some surprising things, but none more so than my obituary.

At some point in my late 20s, early 30s, when I was a struggling single mom trying to figure out where my life was going, I wrote out my obituary to try and ‘design’ who I would be when I died (hoping, of course, that I’d have plenty of time to get there.) I think it might have been part of a self-help book’s exercises or just something I thought that would help me clarify my vision for myself.

Anyway, I was happily surprised upon reading it to find that at age 45, I have become that person I wanted to be back then. I could literally die today and that obituary being read wouldn’t make anyone scratch their heads in confusion. I’m really proud of that.

And now I know in order to stave off the Fates from taking me earlier than I want to go, I must write another obit for the new and improved me!

What new heights shall I reach for this time? I know that continuing to help others while reaching for my own dreams shall be top on the list. I’m excited about the other prospects as well. Now that I know it is possible to design my own dream life and then live it, I realize: the sky’s the only limit. And then, maybe it’s not my limit. Maybe there’s more.

Anyway, I highly recommend you take the time to write your obituary today. I strongly believe that you become what you think about most of the time, and also that you strive towards the goals and dreams you have for yourself even subconsciously, as long as those goals are clear.

Write ‘em down, y’all. Make it happen.

Oh, and happy Monday.

You have been TRICKED in the bookstore by publishers

I had a reader-fan write me and ask me for advice about formatting her paperback book that she just wrote. She’s moving from reading to writing. Yay! Her questions led me to write this post.

As a reader, I used to walk into the bookstore, head over to the section that housed the books I like to read, and search for the biggest, fattest one they had. Why? Because I loooove to read, and I especially love to extend the experience out as much as possible. That also meant I’d search for series. If it was a series full of fat books, more’s the better. Auto-buy.

When it came time to format my own books for paperback, I came at the project from a different perspective: I wanted to make my book as affordable as possible. That means fewer pages is better since a printer charges me by the page (and hence, the reader pays by the page). To get fewer pages, it’s very easy; you simply make the font smaller, use a font that’s more compact, use smaller margins, smaller line spacing, and a bigger book footprint (9×6 instead of 8×5). I took an 89,000 word book and printed it out in just under 200 pages.

And then something weird happened.

Readers complained.  They complained that the book was too short.  I tried to explain that it wasn’t short, it was just small, but they didn’t agree. They didn’t listen to my discussion of word count and a comparison of my book’s word count and the word count of a bigger, fatter book on the same shelf in the bookstore.

Confused and frustrated, I conducted an informal poll on my Facebook page. I asked my readers this question: Would you pay more for a book that was fatter, knowing it had the same word count as a book that was thinner or smaller? I explained the conundrum of an author/publisher who was trying to make her books more affordable, so they would understand the issue.

You know what they said? Every single person responded that they’d happily pay more for a bigger book, even while knowing it wasn’t any longer word-wise than another book. Many said they would feel like they were getting more for their money, even while admitting it made no rational sense.

I also took a stroll over to my bookshelf and pulled off a few titles that are in the same genre as the book I had just published. I was shocked and appalled at what I found in there. Huge fonts, massive line spacing and margins so big I could have taken classroom notes in them. No wonder I read these books so quickly!  They weren’t nearly as “big” as I thought they were when I bought them. All this wasted space that should have had words in them was just empty. I paid for that emptiness, when all along I thought I was paying for words.

Did you know that Amazon puts “actual page count” on the ebook when there is a paperback of the same book? They use the paperback page count to show readers what they’re buying.  In essence, just by tweaking the formatting of my paperback, I can have an ebook that says 350 actual pages or I can have an ebook that says 195 actual pages, even though it’s the exact same book. Which one would you buy?

I wanted to fight the system, but I couldn’t. Readers told me what they wanted, and even though my heart was in the right place before, I had to give them what they were asking for now. I also know that if I decided to become a one-woman crusade against selling empty space to readers, that I would get punished for it. People who didn’t realize what I was trying to do would proclaim me the ripoff author who charges way too much money for books that are tiny.

I went back in a re-formatted my paperback to increase the page count by about 125 pages. I made the margins smaller, the line spacing bigger, the font bigger. I caved to the pressure from the publishing industry and raised the price of my book to cover the cost of the additional pages. Lo and behold, the readers stopped complaining about it being short. And I sold more of them.

I guess you could say that I’m outing myself on this blog post, but I’ve already done that on my Facebook page. It frustrates me that I feel like I’ve been forced into making readers pay more. I also posted this because I wanted you readers to know that you should NOT trust page counts given by Amazon or publishers. You should not trust the width of the spine of your book.  The only real measure of a book’s length is the word count, and even then you have to know whether the word count includes the front and back matter and any sample chapters of other books included. That could add thousands of words to the length and it wouldn’t really be the story they were measuring.

I believe that all authors should include the word count of their manuscript in the description so readers really know what they’re buying. I’ve already done this for several of my books, but I will be doing it for all my books in the future.  We could change this practice in publishing, people. Speak out! Tell authors and publishers what you want!  If you need some inspiration, go take a look at what’s on your bookshelf. Compare the fonts and the margins and see how much empty space you’ve purchased in your reader lifetime.  Oh, and try not to think about how many other books you could have purchased with all that extra money.

You know you’re an online bully when …

I was thinking about the online bullying of authors, after reading the article about Anne Rice and the bullying she experienced (she is not alone – lots of us have suffered from this sickening trend), and it struck me how strange it is that a person who might be perfectly nice in public can become a menacing troll online, under the cover of anonymity. There’s a petition directed at Amazon here, by the way, if you want to sign it. I did.

Impulse control

Online bullying is an impulsive behavior. When I’ve seen it happen and the comments start piling up, it’s almost inevitable that the original poster removes the original post and sometimes they end up deleting entire websites and online profiles as the fallout comes crashing down and it spirals out of control. People start or enter conversations without stopping to think. They let their fingers fly and allow passion to take charge. They get all riled up and start saying the craziest things. We don’t do this in polite company. When we’re upset with someone, we pause for a moment to reflect: should I say that or not? This is why I believe not permitting anonymous posting on Amazon reviews and Amazon forums would stop this behavior. When people know that what they say will be assigned to their names, they pause to reflect and act like they would if they were standing in front of you.

Could it be that they just don’t realize?

Anyway, as my mind was wandering like it often does, I started thinking … what exactly is an online bully or a troll? What are the behaviors one might assign this moniker to? As I came up with a list of things I’ve seen and experienced as an author, I realized that it’s very possible some people might act as bullies while not realizing that’s what they’re doing.  And then I was thinking that maybe those people would stop, or at least pause and consider their actions before taking them, if they had a list of bullying behaviors to which they could compare their own.  With that in mind, I’ve created this Jeff-Foxworthy-inspired post.

You know you’re an online bully when …


You’re not a forum moderator, but you go to the forums and “police” them anyway, scolding, lecturing, or taking action against other posters when they do things that don’t follow your rules of proper behavior.
You see a message from someone online discussing an author’s poor behavior, and then seek out that author online and say negative things to or about her, like a judge meting out a form of punishment. And/or you incite others to join the fray.  The overriding thought here is: “We need to teach that author a lesson.”
You write a negative book review for a book you haven’t read.
You write a book review that includes negative personal judgments about the author.
You do anything online with this thought providing the impetus: “Oh, yeah? Well, I’ll show her…” or “I’m going to teach this person a lesson…”
You down-vote positive reviews for any reason other than it was not helpful to your buying decision. e.g. You use down-voting to manipulate an author’s ranking as a form of punishment or retribution.
You threaten physical violence to an author.
You threaten to harm the reputation, career, sales, or income of a writer.
You accuse an author of buying reviews or gaming the system when you have no actual proof and only suppositions based on detective work that consists of reading reviews and finding them suspicious.

I’ve probably missed a few, but these are the ones that I’ve seen and/or experienced. If I think of any others, I’ll add them later; or you can comment below if you think of some I forgot.

 

 

Money grubbing authors? Readers, before you paint, make sure you have the right brush.

I received an email from a ‘devoted fan’ who was dismayed to find that I’ve started writing a romantic serial novel. You can find Part 1 of Just One Night here. She accused me of being another one of those “money-grubbing authors” who rip off their readers.

Wow. Can I just say that again? Wow. I’ve never been called a money grubber before and I can tell you this right now: I don’t like it.

I’ve seen a lot of press about a certain author who shall remain nameless, who writes this type of fiction and charges $2.99 per episode or part. These books are bestsellers, which means this author and her work are very popular with lots of readers. But there is a very vocal minority who is speaking out all over the place (reviews, blogs, Facebook, messages to me) about how this is a horrible practice, and as a result, all authors who write serialized fiction are being painted with the same brush. We are all, apparently, money grubbing wankers.

The only thing I’m going to say about this author or any other charging $2.99 per episode is this: if you don’t think the value is there for your money, don’t buy the book! No one is forcing readers to buy these books, right? On top of that, no reader has the right to decide for other readers what they should or shouldn’t spend for books, so getting angry at people who do buy them is completely out of line. Yes, share your thoughts. No, do not attack other people. Do you cry foul and launch verbal missiles at publishers charging $10 or more for an ebook? No, most people don’t. They just either buy the book or not. I’ve seen some pretty nasty messages to this indie author online, though, and I just don’t understand that. Why attack someone over their pricing? People can charge whatever they want. Vote with your dollars, readers. Being angry and nasty isn’t going to help anyone; it just makes your day suck.

Should you be a reader of serialized romance? It all boils down to value for me, as I believe it should for anyone spending money on any product.  Ask yourself how much entertainment you get out of that thing you bought and how much you spent, and decide if you could have spent that money elsewhere and been more entertained. If the answer is yes, then don’t buy another. If the answer is no, then buy the next one. It’s that simple.

Now, since I’ve asked not to be painted with the brush used on other authors, I’m going to show you why it makes sense that you judge me by my work and my actions alone.  What follows is the email I sent back to my ‘devoted fan’.

Here’s the deal:

1.  Serialized fiction is not new. It began in the 17th century. Many classics were written this way … Charles Dickens, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Alexandre Dumas, and many many other authors used this form to publish their work. It fell out of favor with the advent of high speed presses, cheaper books vs, income per capita, and then the internet later, but still there are some modern-day authors who’ve done it, Stephen King being one of them.

Sometimes “old-fashioned” things are really cool and shouldn’t disappear. Part of the joy of being an indie author is the ability to write in whatever format you want instead of the format publishers want (you know, those same outfits that charge over $10 for an ebook).  Right now there’s a movement in several genres to bring this back, and it’s not because of the money for many of us. Yes, there is at least one author out there who is doing it in a way that suggests it is about the money, but to paint the rest of the authors on the planet with a brush suited to one author would be unfair, don’t you think? And like I mentioned above, many people find good value in these serials, which is why they’re bestsellers.

2.  Serialized fiction the way I’m doing it — I hope and believe — will make the reading experience more fun for the readers because they have the opportunity to share their thoughts with me as the serials continue, for the first time putting readers in the position to be able to guide the characters and story arc to some degree.

This story, JUST ONE NIGHT, is not already written. I haven’t even started part 2. I’m waiting for readers to comment on the website link I provide inside the book about Part 1 so I can take their thoughts, wishes, and desires into consideration as I write the second episode. Show me one other author actively doing that out there.  I’m the first I know of, and I don’t do it to make my job easier. It makes it harder!  … But more fun.  I believe after I do this successfully, other authors will join in and you’ll start seeing more of what I call “crowd-sourced fiction”. Have you ever read a book that you wish the author had written differently? Gotten upset because an important detail was overlooked?  Well, this is your chance to make it right.

3.  I put out a lot of material. It can be a monotonous job to some degree if I don’t change things up now and again. That’s why I change genres frequently. It’s also why I do co-authored projects. It’s also why I’ll join anthologies and write a couple short stories here and there. Writing in this serialized format helps me stretch my writer wings and stay motivated to keep putting out great material on a frequent basis.  Would you rather I take long breaks and publish less frequently? Most of my readers would say NO to that.  I do what I can to keep my readers happy, because they support my family and me. It’s that simple.

4. Let’s do some basic math.  Is it really all about the money, as some readers assume?  Take a step back and think about this for a moment:

I’ve offered the first book for 99¢. It’s 100 pages (I’ve already formatted the paperback, so I know this) or 25,000 words. One of my full-length novels is about 85,000 or so, and I charge $5 for that.  So for 30% of the book, you’re paying 20% of the price.

My royalties on a 99¢ sale is 35¢.  On a $5 book it’s 70% or $3.50.  Anything under $2.99 has 1/2 the royalty rate (which is why you see authors often charging this $2.99 amount.)

Let’s say I charge 99¢ for Book 2 also, $1.99 for Books 3 and 4 and $2.99 for Books 5 and 6 (this is not necessarily my plan, but it’s good for illustrative purposes.)  In total, for 150,000-word story (about 600 paper pages – a monstrous romance novel), you’ll pay $12.00.

How many hours do you think it will take you to read a 600 page novel? Now divide that by 12. That’s how much you’re paying for the entertainment I provide. My royalty in this split scheme would be $6.27, but if I charged $12.00 outright, I’d make $8.40.

So essentially, writing serialized fiction, I do more work (working with readers to make a better product) for less money.  Add on top of all this that I have to pay for cover art, editing, website changes, and all the other expenses that come with publishing a single part of this serial, and you’ll see that it’s not just about the money.  It’s about a lot of hard work and dedication to the process and to the fans.

Judge ME by MY actions.

In the end, you’re going to make your decision about me as a writer and me as a person, and use that opinion to decide whether my work is worth spending your hard-earned money on. I would like to think that you’ll look at ME for that and what I DO, and not what another author might be doing.

The bottom line is this: if you like my work and you look forward to reading what I write, then buy my books. Invest in me. If you don’t, if you feel as though I charge too much for my work, don’t invest in me. Invest in someone else who gives you a better value for your buck.  I believe that my work is worth what I charge, and that I could actually charge more and still have a very big following. But I try to keep my prices affordable for the vast majority of readers because I know what it’s like to spend a lot of money on books. I’ve done it all my life. Making an income as a writer makes it possible for me to keep being a writer. No one should expect me to apologize for earning a living at this.

If you got  this far in the message, gold star!  I hope this clears up any misinformation that might be floating around out there about my latest adventure, at least about me personally. Thanks to those readers who are willing to give this a shot. I’m having a ball so far and I really appreciate your feedback!

My latest release : JUST ONE NIGHT

DESCRIPTION

Jennifer is sexually frustrated and disillusioned with love, a very dangerous combination. Convinced there’s no such thing as Prince Charming, and against her best friend’s better judgment, she places a personal ad seeking a one-night stand. No strings, no commitments, no second dates. Her goal? To restore her faith in men by setting up a single night of fantasy that can never be tainted by reality.

William is a busy executive, newly arrived in the United States from England. Life for him is all about minimizing complications. He doesn’t have the time nor the inclination to share his life with anyone, to have obligations outside of work, or to become entangled in a relationship with an emotional basket case of a woman who’s desperately seeking her Prince Charming. But he does see the value in having an attractive woman in his arm for networking purposes …

********************************

**This book is Part 1 of the serial romance novel, JUST ONE NIGHT, approximately 25,000 words or 100 paper pages long. The story continues with additional Parts which will be published in 2-3 week increments. DUE TO SEXY SITUATIONS AND CONTENT, THIS BOOK IS DEFINITELY NOT APPROPRIATE FOR YOUNGER READERS**

Joint the conversation about this book HERE. Scroll down to the comments!

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON

US: http://amzn.to/1fOqwF8

UK: http://amzn.to/1crXxT8

Canada: http://amzn.to/1fOra5A

Germany: http://amzn.to/OJXFIo

France: http://amzn.to/1lpikyR

Italy: http://amzn.to/1cfC7xU

Spain: http://amzn.to/1fw8Lpt

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1g0aO6d

 

Blog Tour for SHATTERED WORLDS. 6 authors, 6 novels, dystopian fiction

 

Shattered Worlds is on TOUR, people. There’s a crazy schedule going over the next few days. If you drop by these blogs listed below on their specific hosting dates, you can expect to find exclusive excerpts from the novels and some guest posts from the authors. There’s an opportunity to enter the Shattered Worlds giveaway and win a $60 gift card, so go check out these bloggers!

Please stop by to show us some love.

26th February

Playing Jokers

Mythical Books

Read More, Sleep Less

Jess Time To Read

Donnie Darko Girl

K.F.Breene

Vanilla Moon Blog

Old Victorian Quill

Happy Indulgence Books

Sarit Yahalomi

Trina’s Tantalising Titbits

Mom with a Kindle

Primorose Musings

Becca Anne’s Book Reviews

Aria Kane

Booky Thoughts and Me

Share My Destiny

Day Dream Books

Simplistic Reviews

A Touch of Book Madness

A Dream Within a Dream

To Dream with Eyes Open

Wonderful Monster Book

Reviewing in Chaos

We Do Write

Girls with Book

Rude Mom

Living in a Book World

Marked by Books

Gin’s Book Notes

27th February

Two Ends of the Open

Purple Shadow Hunter

Books Direct

I Love Books

Sassy Book Lovers

The Book Bag

The Bookish Confections

Fantastical World of Wonders

28th February

Why I can’t Stop Reading

Shayna Varadeaux

Books by Kay

Contagious Reads

Creating Serenity

Bawakas Book Fair

Crazy Beautiful Reviews

Literary Me

Fuonlyknew

Wanted Readers

Pieces of Whimsy

Naughty Book Eden

1st March

Bibliophile Mystery

Vanya Drum

Yearning Mermaid

My Book Addiction

Reviews by Jasmine

Magic Inside Pages

Book Liaison

Cada Libro Un Mundo

Ebook Escapes

Literary Winner

Rockin’ and Reviewing

Fundinmental

Sun Mountain Reviews

Mismatched Bookends

Books to Breathe

2nd March

Once Upon a YA book

Buried Under Books

Michael Scifan

Book Lover’s Life

Live a Thousand Lives

All Things in the Cloud Sweet

The Cover Contessa

Scandalous Bookblog

3rd March

Thoughts at One in the Morning

Addicted Readers

A Book Addict’s Bookshelves

So Many Books, So Little Time

FicCentral

Deal Sharing Aunt

NaYa Books and More

Thank you SO MUCH to all the bloggers who have signed up for the Shattered Worlds tour!! The six of us are completely thrilled with how many of you have agreed to host our book.

Don’t forget that Shattered Worlds is now on sale at the bargain price of 99¢ (77p in the UK). Check out the buy links below if you would like your copy.

Amazon.com

Amazon UK

Amazon Deutschland

Amazon Canada

Amazon Italia

Amazon Espana

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Smashwords