David R. Michael's Blog, page 33
March 11, 2011
Short Story Ebook Covers
Camille LaGuire, The Daring Novelist, has a post on her blog: "The Problem with Self-Publishing Short Fiction". Here's a snippet:
It takes just as long to do a cover for a short work as a long one. Sometimes longer — because with short fiction there is less to the concept, so you don't want to give away the story. But you also want them to be quick and cheap to produce. If it's going to be a 99 cent special and you plan to give it away sometimes too, and not do a print version, you can't spend more time on the cover than on writing the darned story.
I've been thinking about that a bit lately, too. When I decided to release 6 new short story ebooks last week (the first one, "Curtain Call" went out today), I realized that, well, yeah, they will all need covers. Can't be putting out an ebook without a decent cover.
As I said in a comment on Camille's post, I have no problem spending $300 or more for the cover of a novel I will sell at $2.99 or higher. But it's hard to justify spending the same amount of money for an ebook that will sell for $.99. With a profit of only $.35 per copy sold, you would need to sell over 850 copies just to earn back the cost of the cover.
I've been lucky with my short story ebooks so far, though, because the stories I've released have all been inspired by paintings by my brother, Don Michael, Jr. Since Don doesn't have to create a new image for the cover, he doesn't have to spend anywhere near as much time or energy on a cover like the one for "Nostalgia" (inspired by this painting of the same name) versus The Girl Who Ran With Horses, where Don had to design and paint an original canvas. The end result being, the cost of the short story covers has been a lot less than for the novels.
Quick Sidebar: Yes, Don is my brother, and, yes, I pay him for the art he does for me. I wouldn't have it any other way. (Hi, Don!
)Anyway, I will be releasing at least one short story soon that was not inspired by one of Don's paintings. Which changes things. Suddenly I have to decide if I'm going to learn how to create decent covers (I guess it could happen) using Paint.NET and Photoshop Elements to save money, or bite the bullet and start spending more for short story covers. Or maybe some combination of both. It's possible I could come up with a new, less painterly cover style for the non-painting-inspired stories. I don't have to make this decision for a couple weeks, so I won't be announcing my decision today.
Something I keep reminding myself is: it's not like selling 850 copies represents that many copies. Sure, it's nearly a couple orders of magnitude more than my current bestselling short story ebook, but the ebooks will be available for a long time. Meaning every story should earn its expenses back eventually. Sooner beats later, but eventually can be worked with. If I have to.
If I could come up with a way to have ebook covers that cost me nothing, I'd love it (and so would my wife). But I don't see that happening anytime soon. First, I would rather spend the time writing (or maybe taking some new photos) that it would take me to be good at making my own covers, but also because I LIKE having covers that rock. I LIKE having covers that look as good as the ones I have now. My ebook sales might not have "taken off" across the board, but I know that it's not my covers that are getting in the way.
Ebook covers are an unavoidable expense (you spend the money or you spend the time) that us indie publishers are just going to have to come to terms with.
-David
Now Available – "Curtain Call"
"Curtain Call" – A new short story by David Michael!
The White Hot Hemisphere Community Theater Company chose Shakespeare's Hamlet for their first production after the cataclysm–and possibly their last before the end of the world. As a tragedy, as a play about loss and descent into madness, Hamlet seemed an appropriate choice, at least to those players who could still make nonliteral inferences…
"Curtain Call" Edition
Price
Kindle edition (Amazon)
$.99
Nook edition (Barnes & Noble)
$.99
Ebook (Smashwords)
$.99
-David
March 7, 2011
Taking the Next Step
Today, after reading Dean Wesley Smith's latest exhortation, I decided I would create my own publishing company. Sure, I already have 7 books out, but it'll be easier to do this now than after I release 7 more.
I have a company name (including a domain name), a federal EIN, and I've filled out my state's paperwork for filing a trade name report. I'll be working toward a company bank account and Web page and sundries in the next week or two.
I'm not sure this will make a lot of difference in the long run, but it might make some difference in the short run. And later on, I might even be happy I did this.
Publishing company or not, though, I still plan to use any free ISBN's offered to me by the likes of CreateSpace and Smashwords. Because, yeah, FREE.
Guns & Magic will still be my blog, but the company Web page will provide another platform for promoting my books. A bit less cluttered than here, I'm sure.
I'll announce the company name when I have all the ducks lined up and the paperwork filed.
More news as it happens.
-David
Writing Progress Report
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, February 28, 2011.
Writing Project
Words
Monday
Edited "Encounter".
Line edited "Encounter".
Tuesday
Line edited Door Sky chapter 1.
Wednesday
Line edited Door Sky chapter 2, 3, 4, 5.
Thursday
Proofed Door Sky chapters 1-5.
Friday
GoSH1
311
Saturday
Adjusted my daily writing production goals.
Sunday
Line edited Door Sky chapter 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Total
311
Marketing/Submission
Monday
Updated DC promo threads on KB, NB, and MR.
Sent "Encounter" to first readers.
Tuesday
Updated TSF promo threads on KB, NB, and MR.
Wednesday
Updated HG promo threads on KB, NB, and MR.
Added "Free Ebooks" page to the blog.
Thursday
Added MOBI and EPUB versions of NBSS to Free Ebooks page.
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Reading List
The Torment of Others by Val McDermid.
March 5, 2011
Publishing Seemed Less Work When I Didn't Know Any Better
Now I know better. Or I think I do.
Let's just say I'm learning on the job and (hopefully) improving as I go.
Every story, novel, or collection I release, I learn something new. Which means I see how I could have done a better job after I release the work. Then I try to remember that for the next work. Which means, so far, every new publication requires the same or more time and energy than the one before it.
Here are the tasks I've learned/added as I've gone along:
Simplify the formatting in the base Word doc, including the front matter and back matter. Most such formatting is wasted in ebook form, anyway, and too much formatting (different font sizes, font faces, etc) confuses the conversion software.
Line edit/copy edit. I do a reasonably good job editing, but I don't always see the less obvious things. I use Serenity Software's Editor, and that catches most mechanical issues as well as helps me tighten the copy (e.g., just use "She stood" instead of the slightly redundant "She stood up").
Proof read. After I line edit, I have to go back and make sure that everything still makes sense. Many of the line edits are done with a tight focus on one sentence. A proof read helps me see the changes in the larger context.
Those are just the editing/document preparation tasks. If I'm going to put out the story as a print-on-demand paperback, I've learned to:
Verify page numbers (even on the left, odd on the right).
Maximize word count on the page (minimize margins).
Calculate the exact spine width for the cover.
Check the printed proof before approving the project for sale.
I didn't really believe it before, but now I know it to be true: There really such a thing as "book design".
Covers have actually been the source of least issues (except for when me and CreateSpace have disagreed about the spine width; and that was my fault). I pay Don to take care of the covers, ebook and POD. I provide some initial comments and concepts, he applies artistic skill, and my covers magically appear. It's wonderful.
In addition to all the above, there are also the chores of paying bills (proof copies, cover art, etc), tracking expenses (usually per project, but there are some expenses that are general purpose), recording royalty payments (from 4 separate sources), and the myriad little tasks that afflict any business.
As much as I can, I automate the tasks, or create templates that simplify things. Some tasks, though, like line editing, can't be automated, but that's OK. Overall, I enjoy what I'm doing.
I would say the biggest lesson I've learned since last September's release of "Nostalgia", my first ebook, is this: Writing ain't publishing.
But I think that's a subject for a future post.
Have a good weekend!
-David
March 2, 2011
Doubling Down
My February book sales were lackluster. Approaching dismal. Perhaps even a touch depressing.
On the bright side, though, I did sell copies of almost everything in my oeuvre.
I was already planning to release my short novel The Door to the Sky in March. That will keep The Summoning Fire and The Girl Who Ran With Horses company (as in, it's also a novel; it's not like either one of those books, though). Now, with an eye to adding still more titles to my growing list, I'm also pulling together six new short story ebooks. Four of these stories had early drafts posted here on the blog, but two of them have never been seen before (except by those lucky souls I call my "first readers").
Maybe March will be another slow sales month for me, but it won't be from lack of trying.
Because I've decided to only check my sales on the first of the month, I won't know how March is going until April 1 (which might be appropriate). Not checking but once a month is useful, really. Seeing a slow month happen (or not happen) in real time is a lot of emotional wear and tear that I just don't need.
In other news, I haven't worked on GoSH1 this week due to depressed (and depressing) February sales and a handful of Life's Little Surprises that cropped up all at once. Also, I'm trying to get The Door to the Sky edited and ebooked ASAP. I will be pushing forward on GoSH1, though, and still plan to be done with it before the end of March. (Which once again reminds me I need to figure out what I'm writing after GoSH1…)
Have fun!
-David
February 28, 2011
Book Giveaway Reminder
Just a quick reminder that I'm giving away 3 trade paperbacks this month. You have until next Monday (7 March) to sign up over at GoodReads.
Win a FREE Signed Copy of The Girl Who Ran With Horses!
Enter from now through Monday, March 7, to win a FREE copy of
The Girl Who Ran With Horses
!1 FREE signed copy of The Girl Who Ran With Horses in trade paperback will be given away.
Click Here to Enter
It's summer vacation and all 13-year-old Stevie Buckbee wants is to be close to her family again and to ride her horses–especially Jack Rabbit, her first horse all her own. But past tragedies threaten her plans before the summer has a chance to begin. Even as she discovers that she is somehow able to communicate with Jack Rabbit and the other horses on the family ranch, she finds she can no longer get through to her Dad and brother Blake. And what good is it to be able to run with the horses if no matter how fast and how far she runs, everything she knows and loves is lost?
Click Here to Enter
Win a FREE Signed Copy of The Summoning Fire!
Enter from now through Monday, March 7, to win a FREE copy of The Summoning Fire!1 FREE signed copy of The Summoning Fire in trade paperback will be given away.
Click Here to Enter
All Reese Howard has left is pain–and a pump-action shotgun. Sam is dead. The Old Man killed her right in front of Reese, a blood sacrifice to fuel his latest powerplay in Hell on Earth. Reese hopes the Old Man made a mistake, leaving her alive and armed. But she doubts it. He knows she's coming. The bastard has to know. Whatever. Reese plans to make him pay. And she plans to die trying.
Click Here to Enter
Win a FREE Signed Copy of Demon Candy!
Enter from now through Monday, March 7, to win a FREE copy of Demon Candy!1 FREE signed copy of Demon Candy in trade paperback will be given away.
Click Here to Enter
Four linked stories of Hell, and Life, and Life in Hell. Illustrated with paintings by Don Michael, Jr.
"Summer Breeze" – The demon Jike decides he needs a change.
"Inferno" – Undead hellcat Canto gets a night out on campus of lust and gluttony and the other deadly sins.
"Sweet Tooth" – Donut baker Ted Millet, divorced and broke, has a new customer that makes his ex-wife seem almost human.
And in the novella "Afterimage" Emily M-Something March, dead and damned for thirty years, finds herself back in her home town with a fifty-foot demon looking for her.
Click Here to Enter
-David
Writing Progress Report
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, February 21, 2011.
Writing Project
Words
Monday
GoSH1
3133
Tuesday
GoSH1
2298
Wednesday
GoSH1
2029
Thursday
GoSH1
1012
Friday
GoSH1
230
Saturday
Edited Door Sky.
Sunday
Total
8702
Marketing/Submission
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Updated all Amazon links on G&M to have my associate ID.
Reading List
The Wire in the Blood by Val McDermid.
February 24, 2011
Cover Tease
New cover on the way. Here's a small part of the whole:
More to come.
-David
February 22, 2011
Do I Count Every Word? You Bet Your Sweet Bippy
Here is my word count tracking from today:
GoSH1 chapter 5 starting: 1675
Target: 4675 (or EOC)
Ending: 3942 (2267)
Chapter 3 starting: 3964
Ending: 3987 (23)
Chapter 1 starting: 2701
Ending: 2703 (2)
Chapter 4 starting: 3061
Ending: 3067 (6) [2298]
I'm writing in chapter 5, which is why that one is on top and has an actual target assigned. As I write, though, and think of changes/additions to chapters already written, I then record the starting and ending word count for those chapters too.
Because, yes, I count every word.
-David
