C.R. Richards's Blog, page 23
March 9, 2016
Are You Listening To Your Readers?
Reviews and customer feedback are golden. Praise can send an author skipping down the street. Criticism (helpful or not so nice) plummets a sensitive soul into the depths of binge watching, carb-heavy gorging, self-destructive pouting funks. After you’ve spent time skipping or pouting, go back and take an analytical look at what your readers are actually saying. I know it’s uncomfortable and maybe a bit scary, but it will help you direct your next literary steps.
I learned something very important during my recent book tour. If a reader enjoys your book and the world you create, they will invest more than money into it. The reader becomes emotionally invested in your characters. They become invested in YOU.
An author’s primary duty is to inspire, teach and entertain. Writing a series is an additional agreement you have with your readers.
“I (State Your Name) swear to continue my character’s story with the same or greater level of quality as I did in Book One. I will not disappoint my readers.”
Example: My latest release is the first book in the Heart Of The Warrior series. I looked at the reviews with an analytical eye and found common themes. First: They loved the characters and are invested in them. (Book Two is on the way. Cross my heart!) Second: Nobody liked the prologue, even though they agreed it gave them historical insight.
My Action: Seeing enough people agreed, I immediately yanked out Book Two’s prologue. Snip. Snip. Issue resolved.
Second Example: I released an urban fantasy in 2014 called, Pariah. It was meant as a standalone novel. I had toyed with sequel ideas, but decided to move onto other projects. A high percentage of the comments have a request for a second book with these characters.
My Action: If readers love the characters and the world I built enough to ask for another story, I will begin outlining that sequel as soon as I’m done with the draft of Book Two in my epic fantasy series.
Bottom line: Storytelling gives me a great deal of enjoyment and fulfillment, however, it is ultimately the Reader I keep in mind.
March 2, 2016
Are You Gulping or Sipping?
This year I’ve suffered through a major challenge. No. Not writing, finances or the day job. I’m talking about the important challenge: Faulty Coffee Maker Syndrome. After my overpriced and underperforming Keurig died, I decided not to get another one. It was time to revert back to a simpler time. Forget Mr. Coffee or an electric percolator. I’m talking pure coffee goodness. Stuffing the last of my caffeine deprived dignity in the car, I went to the store and picked up a twenty dollar French Press.
It was love at first sip. Oh the rich, fresh flavor! Sure making French Press coffee is a little high maintenance on a Monday morning, but can you really beat the taste? Of course the press I bought was a little large for one person. I couldn’t quite get that perfect amount for one cup. Why is that a big deal? I was raised by a Depression Era Baby. Throwing good food or drink out is not an option. Leave the grounds soaking in the liquid too long it just gets nasty. I tried putting the leftovers in a thermos, but never drank the remains anyway.
I neglected to mention my job requires me to be bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6:30am on the dot. The cold weather rolled around and I just got lazy. My French Press wasn’t as magical on a frigid Monday morning as it had been during the summer. I broke down and bought a four cup Mr. Coffee. While it gets the job done, the coffee is lousy.
Then the worst happened. My beloved French Press (though not magical, still made dang good coffee) died. Oh the horror! I rushed through snow and ice to grab another one. All they had left on the shelves was a three cup press imported from France. Thirty bucks for a third of the coffee. WTH France?!
Desperate times. I bought it and channeled my Depression Era Dad the entire ride home. Thirty bucks for a tiny little coffee maker. What am I made of money? Grump. Grump. Grump. The voice got worse when I made that first cup and it didn’t fill up my big American mega bucket I call a coffee mug. Grump. Grump. Grump.
Then I tasted the coffee. Saying this was the second best cup of coffee I’d ever had is the honest truth. My best cup of coffee was Cuban Coffee at a restaurant in Key West, but I digress. This coffee ambrosia was too good to gulp. I slowed down. I sipped the coffee and actually tasted its subtle flavors for the first time. Then it occurred to me. When did gulping down a hasty bowl of coffee become our norm? What happened to the eight ounces of comfort we used to sip as we sat around the breakfast table with our families? Or savoring our coffee in the peace of a sunrise?
Life with all its complexities marches on. I’ll admit some days I still gulp. For those times I’m able to sip and savor, I set the mega bowl aside and take out my French Press and little cappuccino cups.
February 24, 2016
Kindle Countdown Deals: Worth It or Take A Pass?
Last week on DTJ, I outlined the initial set up for my new epic fantasy – The Lords of Valdeon – in Amazon’s Kindle Countdown Deals promotion program. The seven day experiment has run its course and I have the end results:
Sales: The Pressing Question
Expected Outcome: I sold a very modest amount of books at $.99
Unexpected Outcome: I sold as many copies at $1.99 as I did at $.99
The Surprising and Exciting Outcome: sales of my other books went up during this period
Lessons Learned and Things I Would Change: Conventional wisdom suggests using Kindle Countdown Deals in conjunction with a special event. A perfect example: Run a countdown deal on book one in a series as you release book two. I would also include my Kindle Countdown Deal in my marketing plan upfront rather than throwing a dart at the calendar (I’m joking. I don’t have darts. I used my lucky cat figurine).
Final Thoughts: Will I enroll future books in Amazon’s Kindle Countdown Deals? If I decide to enroll in Kindle Select again (This experiment ends in April), I would say yes. It’s free and it does give you a bit more exposure for a week.
An Epiphany Proven: We often hear the sage advice: “To sell more books, write more books.” I think the results of my experiment has proven this to some extent. It’s not the magic bullet we’re all looking for, but it just might be the ultimate reality of our profession.
February 17, 2016
My Kindle Select Experiment Continues
A few months ago, I made the decision to enroll my new epic fantasy – The Lords of Valdeon – in Kindle Select (see my blog post here). I’m like most Indie Authors who hunt for a viable opportunity to feature my book. I couldn’t resist the temptation of Amazon’s promotional tools. Anxious to take advantage of Kindle Countdown Deals, I enrolled my latest release as soon as Amazon gave me the thumbs up. My countdown deal started this week (Feb 15th thru Feb 22nd). Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
Set up is simple – Enter the start date and the starting price for your countdown deal. Then decide how many price changes you’d like over the next seven days (maximum promotion runtime). I’ll use mine as an example:
Original price for The Lords of Valdeon ($2.99). Countdown deal starting price ($.99 – lowest price possible). Amazon’s suggests a maximum of 2 price changes for my book. NOTE: Yours will most likely be different depending upon your original price and the lowest discounted price you choose.
Visibility – The Good news: The countdown is listed on your book’s page. As an added bonus, your book is listed in a special Kindle Countdown Deal searchable section. The Bad news: Your book is listed with everybody else’s countdown deals. Those with “featured books” come first. How does your book become a “featured book?” Pretty sure it involves $$. The Worse News: Amazon has added links to participating authors and book series. My information wasn’t included in either of these links (I believe these are also featured authors). I had to drill down under Fantasy sub-genres and/or search by publication date under my genre to find my book. Bottom line: Readers aren’t going to see my book unless they’re looking for it.
Final Thoughts for this week – A bit of HOPE! Despite the odds, I’ve sold a copy at $.99 in under a day. Honestly, I think this was the result of me sharing the link to my book on Twitter. Check back on DTJ next week when I share the end results of the Kindle Countdown Deal Experiment.
Disclaimer: The views presented in this blog come from a Kindle Select novice. Your results could be vastly different than the ones demonstrated on DTJ.
February 3, 2016
And That’s A Wrap – The Lords Of Valdeon Virtual Tour Comes to an End
December and January have been a wonderful blur of interviews, guest posts and reviews on The Lords of Valdeon Virtual Tour. It was a fun ride, well planned and expertly executed by the talented Samantha Lien of Roger Charlie. Huge thanks for making this the best tour ever, Sami!
What’s Next?
The Heart Of The Warrior series is just getting started. I’m hard at work on Book Two – Beyond The Obsidian Gates (working title – knowing me, I’ll change this at least twice before it’s published). Seth and Riley enter a world full of danger and intrigue, while Xavier the Wolf fights for his life against the Jackal Horde.
For more information on the series and my other books:
Author Website: www.crrichards.com
FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/authorcrrichards
Twitter: @CR_Richards
Goodreads: C.R. Richards
January 27, 2016
Are Your Platform Building Efforts Working?
The Internet is full of helpful advice on building your author platform. Create a website. Jump on Social Media. Get out there and do a virtual book tour or cover reveal. Great ideas, but how do you know if they’re working? Or are you just wasting your money?
Baseline is a project management term defined as “a starting point for comparison.” One of the first steps a project manager takes when starting a new effort is determining the “current state” of the “thing” they have been assigned to improve. It could be anything from a software system to a marketing campaign.
The next step (after meeting with her team and her clients) is to determine what the “future state” of this “thing” looks like. For example: The project manager is handed an A-frame cabin kit (baseline). It’s pretty boring and too small (current state). Her client wants a wrap around patio and two bedrooms added (future state). Oh yeah. And the client wants it completed in six months (time frame).
Let’s take it from an author’s point of view. You’ve just signed a contract to publish your first book (hooray!), but your publisher told you to beef up your website. Oh boy. You’re not a web developer. What now?
Baseline. Baseline. Baseline.
You’ll definitely put effort into the new design whether you pay someone or DIY. Hopefully, you’ve chosen a web hosting service that offers analytic tools. They’ll tell you how many (unique and returning) visitors have visited your site and how long they’ve stayed. These two data elements are a great place to start.
Example: Current State
Sally Author’s current website gets 10 visitors per week and they stay an average of 12 seconds.
Example: Future State
Sally Author wants her website to get 10,000 visitors per week and they should stay five minutes.
Reality Check: I’m all for dreaming big, but this is Sally’s first book and her last name isn’t Kardashian. It’s more effective to take baby steps with a set (and realistic) time frame.
Better: Sally Author wants her website to get 100 visitors per week and they should stay 30 seconds. She wants to reach this goal within the next three months.
Sally has set her goals with a realistic time frame. Now she can do the research on how to achieve those goals. After the three months are up, Sally can check her results against the baseline to determine what worked and what didn’t.
Last piece of advice: If you can’t baseline something and/or can’t gather data on the effort’s effectiveness, then you are most likely wasting valuable time and money.
January 20, 2016
Dipping My Toe in the Kindle Select Pond
Trying new approaches for the same old task is critical for success and growth. This is especially true in the literary world. Technology is carrying us along at a rapid pace. Our work is available on all sorts of devices and media. We, as authors, have constantly changing options to get our books to readers.
In the spirit of experimenting with new approaches, I decided to try enrolling my newest release – The Lords of Valdeon – in Amazon’s Kindle Select program. This was a huge step for me. I’ve been a Smashwords supporter for several years. It’s a one stop shop for laptop readers and folks with Kindles, iBooks, and Nooks. Whether or not to exclusively sell my book on Amazon was a tough choice. Would I alienate my Nook and Apple Readers? Would I limit my exposure on an Amazon only platform? Am I taking that first step toward the Dark Side?
Every experiment has a risk associated with it. The key is doing your research in advance and mitigating it as best you can. I took an honest look at my readership through the tools available on both sites. The results: My novel length fiction does much better on Amazon. My horror short is a favorite with the B&N crowd (Smashwords), but scored a big fat goose egg on Amazon. This new insight left me with the lingering question: Is it really necessary to spend the extra money on multiple platforms for each work when I might be wasting money?
NOTE: My results are unique to my books and my experience. Take a look at your own readership to make sure you’re making the right choice for you. Not published yet or first time Indie Author? Consider looking at the best selling Indie books in your genre to gauge the route those authors have taken.
I made the decision to dip my toe in the Kindle Select pond for the mandatory 90 days. The Lords of Valdeon (Heart Of The Warrior – Book One) was released on Kindle Select and Kindle Unlimited on Jan 7th. It’s been out there for almost two weeks. I have to admit, Amazon is seducing me with their real-time charts and reader participation. There’s a graph (Angelic music plays) indicating how many pages of your book per day Kindle Unlimited subscribers have read. Which brings me to another insight: How do we measure commercial success in this new era of subscription services? Will it be based on how many pages read or books sold?
My experiment has just begun. I’ll be discussing my results on DTJ when the Kindle Select 90 day period is up. Have some insight or experience with Kindle Select? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section.
January 13, 2016
Two Fantasy Authors Walk Into A Bar
Two fantasy authors walk into a bar
and a book signing broke out!
(Author C.R. Richards (left) signing – The Lords of Valdeon
and Author K. Ferrin (right) signing – Magicless)
After publishing a fist full of books, I’ve dragged my bag of print copies to signings many times. Sometimes it’s a fantastic way to meet readers and other authors. Sometimes you sit in a corner wishing you’d remembered your iPad with Gummy Drop! on it.
The Local Author Happy Hour at The Book Bar Denver on Saturday night was the best signing I’ve ever attended! Our hosts were gracious and very professional. My signing buddy – YA Fantasy Author, K. Ferrin – was awesome. And Book Bar gets my vote for “Best Cappuccino” in Denver.
If you live in the Denver Metro Area, you’ve got to check this place out! Books. Food. Drink. Books.
Happy Reading!
C.R. Richards – www.crrichards.com
K. Ferrin – www.kferrin.com
January 7, 2016
The Epic Tale Begins!
It’s release day for the beginning of an epic tale many years in the making!
Join me on this journey to an Erthe remade where continents have been toppled and islands reach out into mysterious waters. In this new world, remnants of residual “Good” and “Evil” have been personified by magic. Each side relentlessly seeks the one talisman which could decide an eternal struggle for dominance. The fate of nations rest upon the carnivorous hunger of this living ring.
The Lords of Valdeon Virtual Book Tour – Jan 5 thru Jan 22
Let’s have cocktails at The Bookbar’s Local Author Happy Hour, Jan 9th from 5-6pm
December 30, 2015
Have You Chosen Your 2016 Mantra?
I released Pariah in September of 2014 to positive reviews. Following the current trends of “This is what the crowd is reading now,” and “You should market this way,” I put it out there. The book still didn’t stir as much interest as my little one off Horror short, Lost Man’s Parish.
What did I learn? Writing Lost Man’s Parish was organic. Nothing was forced or stressful. It was just fun to write. And art is supposed to be organic and fun!
Now don’t get me wrong. I love Pariah. It’s a great story. However, I had another organic book series waiting in the queue. Is it part of a popular trend? No. Am I expecting it to be a grand commercial success? I can honestly say it doesn’t matter. There are six books in the series. The first arrives next week and I’ve already started work on book two. I’m not going to stop until the final “The End” on the last book. Why? Love. I’m in a committed relationship with these characters. Which brings me to my 2016 Mantra:
My art my way.
No one can predict the future with 100% accuracy, so you may as well have fun doing what you love. Having chanted my mantra, I’m excited to announce the first book in that long simmering organic book series.
Buy the print copy or pre-order the ebook.
Join me on The Lords of Valdeon Virtual Book Tour
