Richard Stephenson's Blog

COLLAPSE is *FREE* This Weekend!

Grab your copy now!

http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-New-Am...

Resistance is for sale *NOW*!

BOOK TWO in the New America Series. Eighteen months after the Collapse of 2027, the former United States is divided. On one side is the evil and tyrannical Unified American Empire, controlled by President Simon Sterling, the man responsible for the death of the last legitimate president, Malcolm Powers. On the other side, President Howard Beck controls the Pacific States of America, the last hope for democracy and freedom. The two adversaries become embroiled in a bitter game of deception, betrayal, and espionage while battling an even more imposing menace that could easily destroy the very nation they are both desperately fighting to control.

COLLAPSE is FREE on Amazon!

Over 6K paid downloads! Grab it while it's FREE!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008HYUFWO


Collapse

Audiobook for COLLAPSE now available!

Pleased to announce that the audiobook for COLLAPSE is available on Audible.com

http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?...

COLLAPSE is FREE for Download at Amazon

Got a new Kindle For Christmas and need to fill it with books?

Download the best-selling dystopian thriller today!

http://amzn.to/M9U67Q

Amazon's KDP Select Has Its Hooks In Me

I've previously chronicled my first experience with KDP Select. Once that ninety day period was completed, I decided to opt out of the program so I could offer Collapse on other outlets, primarily Nook, Smashwords, and Kobo. On November 1st, everything was in motion so that proud owners of Nooks and Kobos could enjoy reading my novel. During my ninety day exclusivity with Amazon, I received periodic contact from potential readers asking when Collapse would be available elsewhere. It bothered me to receive correspondence like this because I felt like sales were suffering. I looked forward to moving into other markets thinking that it would be a golden opportunity for more sales.

Boy, was I wrong!

In three weeks time, I've sold a grand total of seven books outside of Amazon. I've also lost out on not being a part of the Kindle Owners Lending Library (KOLL). When you are enrolled in KDP Select, one of the benefits is profiting from KOLL. Anytime your novel is loaned out from one Kindle owner to another or an Amazon Prime member uses their free monthly download on you, Amazon sends a few bucks your way, but only if you are enrolled in KDP Select. For my first KDP Select period, I had 228 borrows netting me $506. If the previous three weeks away from KDP Select is any indication, I will never make $506 over three months selling my novel on Nook, Kobo, or Smashwords. I'd be lucky to make $100. The math is pretty simple.

Peddling my novel outside of Amazon also means that I'm not eligible for the free promos. During my first KDP Select period, I gave away over 22K copies of my novel. That's a lot of publicity for free. I was pleased to watch Collapse make it all the way to number 12 on the Top 100 Free list and number 1 on the free list for its categories.

I can't say with certainty, but it's my educated guess that my rankings have dropped significantly since I've been away from KDP Select. I haven't really done anything different in my advertising other than not signing back up for KDP Select. Could it be that my novel has just run its course and will fade away? Maybe, but I'll never admit to that, not in a million years. I think the old girl has a lot of living left to do

I think her best chance at a long and healthy life is with Amazon.

The Future of Self-Publishing

When I started writing Collapse, I didn't really take the idea of publishing it very seriously. I mainly wanted to see if I could actually write a novel. I also love to write, it is a fantastic means to exercise my brain. I considered it a hobby, a fun way to unwind and stay busy. Some people pass their time playing fantasy-football, others enjoy gardening, I decided to take up writing as a hobby.

I think I was on maybe the fifth chapter when it dawned on me that I was actually pretty good at writing. Call me arrogant or conceited, but I impressed myself with how good the story was coming along. It was then that I truly believed that my story could be published and people would read it.

I was faced with the dilemma of what to do. Should I go the traditional route and find a publisher or do it on my own? To answer that question I did what I always do - research. Other than the obvious and prevalent information telling me that I had a better chance of being struck by lightning than being traditionally published, one article in particular really opened my eyes. Then I read a follow up to that post and the New York Times Best Selling author stated that she made a net of $24,517.36. Mind you that is a lot of money, but nowhere near what I imagined an author on the New York Times Best Seller list would make from a popular book. What shocked me even more was she made $25K when the publisher made $453K. No, that's not a typo, her publisher made in the neighborhood of half a million dollars compared to her $25K. Further research revealed that the publisher eats all of the cost of distributing the book, they do everything besides actually writing the book - cover art, editing, formating, marketing, raw materials, printing, distribution, and a host of other things. The author in that article made an educated guess that they netted $250K on her book. She got a measly ten percent of that. That hardly seems fair if you ask me. The big publishing houses wouldn't be in business without authors and they only get ten percent? Something is wrong with that picture.

I was still fueled with the same arrogance that led me to believe that I had a best seller on my hands. I was not arrogant enough, however, to believe that the NY Times was on the horizon anytime soon. I remembered that a friend of a friend had self-published a book on Amazon and was making a decent amount of money at it. I went to Amazon and found that it had some of the worst reviews I've ever seen on Amazon. I'm talking cringe-worthy reviews stating he was a "blight on the literary world." He had more one and two star reviews than anything. I felt sorry for him, it was just sad. The one positive thing that I took away from this was that if he could do it, I certainly could do it. Earning a seventy percent royalty compared to ten percent made much more sense to me.

My research then focused on self-publishing. I found some very encouraging articles like this one and discovered indie author legends Hugh Howey, Amanda Hocking, and of course E.L. James, the author of the Twilight fan-fiction turned Fifty Shades books, who started out as an indie. Self-publishing is an untapped gold mine. The decision was made, I was going to stake my claim and mine for gold in the self-publishing world.

I've read a lot of material proclaiming the downsides of self-publishing. Some of the more fanatical articles I came across actually claimed that self-publishing was going to destroy traditional publishing as we know it. The doomsday prophecies even went so far as to say that it wouldn't be long before the brick and mortar retail giants like Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million would be defeated by the online giant that is Amazon. Once the brick and mortar retail chains closed their doors, the publishing industry would never recover.

I'm counting on it.

For the record, I don't subscribe to the prediction that all of the brick and mortar chains will go bankrupt and join the likes of Borders. No matter how much popularity ereaders gain, people will always want physical books they can hold in their hands. I predict that the large retail chains will dwindle and fade away leaving only one major bookstore chain left. The bulk of the publishing industry will be online. We're already seeing it today. Starting in 2010, Amazon sold more ebooks than hardcover books. In 2011, Amazon sold more ebooks than all printed books. The future of publshing is ebooks.

The big publishing houses are terrified of independent authors. They can't control us and don't have any say in what we do. They have been the official gatekeepers of our reading selection until now. The self-publishing industry has broken down the gate and made the big publishing houses irrelevant in that regard. Indie authors let the reader decide what they want to read. The obvious downside to taking the big publishing houses out of the picture is that they filter out a lot of garbage, the "blight on the literary world" for example. I think that the readers are willing to sift through the garbage if it means they can find the gems on their own. It doesn't take long to read a sample on Amazon and make the determination for yourself if it's worth your time.

Indie authors can set their own price, something that has the big publishing houses running scared. The big publishing houses are selling ebooks at $15. That is simply an outrageous price to charge for an ebook, especially when you can spend a couple of dollars more and purchase the physical book. I think that even $10 is too much for an ebook when you take into account that the most expensive costs on producing a physical book are production and distribution. Ebooks don't have those costs to cover. When will the big publishing houses wake up and start taking this seriously? Indie authors can undercut them at every turn at much lower prices.

The self-publishing industry is growing more each year. In 2009, ebook sales topped $287 million; in 2010, that figure more than tripled to $878 million. Analysts predict ebook sales to top $2 billion in 2013. Self-published authors are scrambling to get in on the action. In 2012, fifteen of the top 100 ebooks on Amazon were by self-published authors.

Here's hoping indie authors dominate that list in 2013.

Why Did I Write Collapse?

What led me to write my first novel? Why would I pen a tale of the downfall of the very country I live in? What prompted me to write a dark, bleak, dystopian thriller?

I knew before I published Collapse that people would make some pretty broad assumptions as to my motivation for writing it. So far I've gotten feedback from various sources that believe 1) I am a hardcore liberal that hates conservatives. 2) I am anti-Islam 3) I'm opposed to big government so I wrote a piece of anti-government propaganda in the spirit of the Tea Party. 4.) I'm a conspiracy theorist that believes the events in my book will take place. 5.) I'm a hardcore Republican that detests Barrack Obama because he is leading our country to it's demise. (I was going to say "collapse" instead of "demise" but decided it was too corny.)

Well, my friends, let's set the record straight - none of those are true. On a funny sidenote, I thought that I would be accused of #5 very early on, but it didn't happen until recently. If none of those are true, then why did I write Collapse? What was my motivation? The answer is simple - survival.

Survival has always fascinated me because it is the ultimate test that never discriminates. Survival levels the playing field for all involved. Rich or poor, intelligent or ignorant, hard-working or lazy - none of that matters in a survival situation. Everyone has to step up and make the decision to fight to live or give up and die. Survival yanks people out of their comfort zones to see if they have what it takes to pass the test. The Walking Dead isn't my favorite TV show because I'm a fan of the zombie genre, I watch the show religously because I want to watch and see how they survive.

I didn't write Collapse as a protest to a corrupt government or to insult the ignorant and lazy. I wrote it with a very simple concept in mind - civilization is fragile. History is rife with examples that illustrate this fact. Many Americans believe that we live in the best country on earth, the strongest, the mightiest, the most advanced. I wanted to illustrate that an unfortuante combination of events could easily unravel all of that. When the delicate house of cards that we consider our civilization comes crashing down upon us, one thing will remain - survival.

Do you have what it takes to survive?

Spider is *FREE* on Amazon!

Spider is a short story based on characters from my full length novel "Collapse."


From Amazon:


Three convicts have escaped from Highland Valley State Prison, a supermax penitentiary located in southeastern California. James "Spider" Littleton has parted ways with his fellow escapees, Richard "Killer" Dupree and Billy "Tank" Bratchett, and is going to take his chances on his own in the town of Highland Valley.


Highland Valley is not without it's dangers for the escaped felon. The town holds the only signs of civilization for miles and the population is made up of prison guards that would shoot an escaped inmate on sight.


Will Spider pull off a daring escape from Highland Valley, or should have taken his chances with Dupree in the desert and made a break for Las Vegas?

http://www.amazon.com/Spider-A-Short-...

The Birth of a Computer Nerd

Howard Beck's A.I. computer, Hal, is many a fan favorite based on the feedback I have received thus far. What made me create the character? Maybe not "create," more like "mimic."

I am a computer nerd. Well, more aptly put, I am a tech nerd. Gadget nerd? Which is it? Doesn't matter. You get the idea. This is the story of how it all began, what put me on the path to obsession with all things technology. The story does not start out on a positive note. I feel that I should be upfront with that little disclaimer. However, if you stick around till the end I think you might enjoy it.

For a large portion of the 1980s I was a Mallrat. What is a Mallrat you ask? Ever see those kids wandering around the mall with everything except commerce on their minds? Not really getting into trouble because they like the mall and don't want to get thrown out, but not exactly up to anything good? Ring a bell? That was me. My parents owned some retail shops in three of the malls in the DFW area. In my summers I spent many a day at the mall from open to close. Sometimes I would see two or three movies a day. Sometimes I would read books in B. Dalton or Waldenbooks, or look at cassettes in the local music store.

But the most worthwhile adventures were in Radio Shack looking at computers.

I remember the first time I set eyes on a computer. I was maybe eight or nine. The movie 2010 was in theaters and the HAL-9000 completely blew me away. My youthful naivety led me to believe that the circa 1984 Radio Shack computer in front of me would behave like HAL. Well, what to do on this historic occasion? What wonders could this Radio Shack marvel perform? Figured I would keep it simple, you know, no need to insult this powerful piece of machinery. So, with no typing skills whatsoever, I slowly pecked out a simple question that the computer would be able to tackle with no problem at all. "How far is the Earth from the Sun?" Then I hit "Execute" (not enter, mind you, but Execute like I was in the Swan Hatch on Lost ). I waited the second or two ready to be impressed.

I was not.

Huh? What happened?! I must have done something wrong. I typed the question again, double checked it to make sure there were no typos. And, like Desmond, I hit "Execute" one more time. I was certain I must have made a typo and that things would be right this time.

The computer had to be broken, that was it.

I found one of the Radio Shack employees and asked for help. Not thrilled to be bothered by a Mallrat, the faithful employee swallowed his frustration and humored the eight year old.

"There's something wrong with the computer, I asked it a simple question and it couldn't answer it."

He laughed. "Kid, computers can't do that!"

I was very disappointed. I thought with awe and wonder about how cool it would be to have a computer that could answer questions and open up an entire world of knowledge at my fingertips. I hoped and dreamed that one day I would have a computer that could do all of that and more. I longed for a day that computers would be woven into every aspect of our lives like they were in the sci-fi adventures that sparked my imagination.

Now, over a quarter century later, every single time I do a Google Search, a very small, tiny part of me, somewhere in the back of my mind is in complete amazement that I can ask my computer a question and it will answer me in the blink of an eye.

Even better, after I hit submit on this little story I hope you enjoyed, I'm going to ask that question again, only this type I'm not going to type it. I'm going to Siri and think back to that little boy in the Radio Shack all those years ago and ask the same question that he did. Only difference is that this time I won't be disappointed. ;)