Bryce Westervelt's Blog, page 4

The Little Children’s eBook that Could

The last two days have been pretty crazy.  How crazy, you ask?  1917 free downloads crazy.  

That’s how many copies of “Pomodoro Penguin Makes a Friend” I gave away at Amazon over the last two days.   Between the promotion on the free Kindle book sites, spamming my Facebook friends (no one appears to have unfriended me, yet), tweeting up a storm and using all other forms of social media, nearly 2000 more people have my new book on their eReader, iPad, Android tablet, or computer.   

Yes, Pomodoro Penguin was right next to ‘Treasure Island,’ ‘Tom Sawyer’ and ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’

Thank you everyone who downloaded, read, reviewed, and shared “Pomodoro Penguin Makes a Friend.”   For those of you who didn’t get it the last two days, have no fear… it is currently selling at the less than a cup of Starbucks price of $2.99.   If you have a Kindle Fire/Fire HD, iPad, Android, or sign-up for the FREE Kindle Cloud reader for your PC or Mac, you can read this book.  Share it with a kid.  Don’t take my word for it, check out the reviews!

A look at the numbers shows that I couldn’t crack the top 200 of Amazon’s free eBooks.  I came close, rising as high as No. 203.   In the children’s book category, I even climbed into the middle of some of the biggest names in literature… evah! (Yes, I said evah, not ever)

So, now what am I supposed to do?  Now that I am off the “free” promotion. “Pomodoro Penguin Makes a Friend” is back down to 169,245 in Amazon paid downloads.   They say it takes a couple days for your ranking to bounce back… and I was in the 50k range before the promo.   I have no fear.

One thing is for sure, there are people (especially some kids) who are really excited about book two “Pomodoro Penguin and the Geography Giraffe.”  I don’t have a firm date to complete it, but based on the feedback received about the first book, my enthusiasm to work on getting a really great second book out there is really high right now.  

For now, the trick is letting everyone that I can know about this book:  blogs, children’s book websites and Facebook pages, etc.   Oh, and there is the little thing about getting this second book finished!   

Pomodoro Penguin – Children’s Book Launch KDP Select Style

 

Pomodoro Penguin Makes a Friend is Free on Amazon today (3/14)

What an amazing week this has been.  When I finally finished Pomodoro Penguin Makes a Friend late last week, I had an idea that people might like my little red penguin, but I really had no idea what I was getting myself into once I hit publish.

It took about seven hours for Amazon to make this little book go live on the site from the time I hit submit (it takes only about 10 minutes to actually upload the thing to the website).  Of course, that is seven hours of refreshing browsers, checking email, and wondering when it will actually show up.

It reminds me of discovering my CD on iTunes.  The CD was different though.  I did a Kickstarter project, so I had “pre-sold” over 200 copies of the recording.   This was different.  I could write something, post it, and it could never sell.

Thankfully, my sister and my mother both bought copies within the first couple hours, so I didn’t have to wait too long to get my first sale.

Still, now that I have a book, how on earth am I supposed to promote this thing?

This is where using the KDP Select program has its advantages.   Using Kindle Direct Publishing Select, Pomodoro Penguin is exclusive to Kindle, but I get to use up to 5 free promo days every 3 months.  That means, I get to give the book away for free.

Now, while some people may say that I am nuts for “giving away” more than 1200 (as I write this) copies of my little children’s book, on Amazon, it is about exposure.

Hard to believe that I am ranked between Louisa May Alcott and James Patterson.

In less than 48 hours, I moved to #220 on all of Amazon for free ebooks and #17 in all of children’s ebooks.  That’s right, my little penguin was ranked at one point between a new book from James Patterson and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.  I will take that kind of exposure eight days a week.

Will it translate into “sales?”  Who knows?  One thing is for sure.   I need to get cracking on the second book… because now there are more than 1200 people who are waiting to know who this geography giraffe is that I tease at the end of book one.

Well, back to promoting the book.  It is free for another 13 hours.   Hope the great reviews and downloads keep coming in.  This sure has been a fun couple of days!

Writing a Children’s Book for Kindle – Part 1

Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is everything.  It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”    I have always had plenty of imagination, though sometimes I lack follow-through.

Case in point.  A couple of years ago, I stumbled across an internet entrepreneur who has developed a career around repurposing public domain books and materials for profit.   At the same time had been a writer for a website called Suite 101, where I wrote about opera. This seemed like a logical writing gig for a classical singer.

Luciano Pavoturkey

I thought it might be a fun idea to create a blog/website around a character that called Luciano Pavoturkey.  The purpose of the website was to teach about opera.  Not just kids, but adults.  Give opera plots, create resource materials, etc.

I went so far as to work out a design enlist my sister’s savvy design skills to come up with an image for my “opera gobbler,” secure a domain name, and even go to Build-a-bear and make a stuffed turkey that sang when you squeezed it.   I took Luciano with me to a couple of gigs, and he even made it to Germany and Italy.

One thing I learned was that trying to build the website I envisioned on a shoestring – read $0  - budget was both painfully slow and there was little return on the investment of time and resources.   I dropped Opera Gobbler like a hot potato.

Fast forward to about two months ago.   Still receiving email from the guy – since I never took my name of the email list – I heard about a podcast that covered children’s books.  I signed up for the free podcast and decided to spend a couple of hours listening in.

Opera Gobbler in Manhattan

Now most of these podcasts tease the listeners with about 45 min or so of real information before the sales pitch comes.  If you are creative, you can still glean enough information from the beginning of one of these things to be dangerous.

After seeing a couple of case studies about successful children’s ebooks, I thought to myself, “How hard could this be?”   Still, I hadn’t really attempted creative writing since I was in high school; I had no idea where to start.  One thing was clear from these trainings, self-publishing to Kindle was the way to go.   If I could self-produce a CD, I could certainly write a kid’s book, right?

One problem: I needed a character.

What about Luciano?   I could write books about opera, music, theater, etc. Then it dawned on me.  Perhaps Luciano is just one of the people who my “main character” meets.  The Opera Gobbler could teach about music and the arts, but other characters could teach about other things.

I still needed a main character.

Pomodoro Penguin is red like a tomato

Then it dawned on me.  What about a penguin?  I have a pomodoro timer that I purchased – though don’t use enough – I could design my penguin around this timer.  What should I name him/her?   Ding, Ding, Ding…. how about POMODORO!

And Pomodoro Penguin, a little red guy who loves to eat spaghetti was born…

Taking my finger off the pause button (Day 15)

I’ll admit that I stuck my finger squarely on the pause button about 2 1/2 weeks ago and pushed it really hard.  Today, I am here to say that I am taking my finger back off the button.

A lot has happened since I last wrote a blog post.
There was a blizzard that dumped 32 inches of snow on us.
There was one trip to the grocery store where I tried my hand at “extreme couponing” and saved more than 60% off a grocery bill.
The Ravens won the Super Bowl.
I landed a gig, singing Beethoven at St. John the Divine in April.
I wrote a children’s book.

It was a blizzardy blizzard that dumped more than two feet of snow!

What? Wait?  I know what you are thinking: “You wrote a children’s book?”

I have toyed with the idea for the last several weeks as one of my big projects that will help  build enough residual income to get out of debt (and help me get back to working on music).   After having done a ton of research and watching a number of podcasts, I have decided to try my hand at Amazon Kindle publishing – at least to begin with.

Technology has opened up the world for self-publishers.  There are several success stories about writers who have sold millions of books on Kindle.  Now, while I may not sell millions, I am sure I can sell dozens – or at least one to my mom.

I won’t completely let the cat (or in this case the penguin) out of the bag just yet, but needless to say, I have the first draft of book number one.    The plan is to get drafts of 3-5 books, and then while I am editing and tweaking them, work on the illustrations.   I hope to launch all of them together sometime in early April.

The goal is to create something (hopefully) fun and educational.   This may actually give me a vehicle to spin-off characters and develop several music education pieces as well as general ed material.     Hopefully, these will be something I am proud of, will have a longer shelf-life than a celebrity gossip article, and be a fun and rewarding project.

As Thomas Edison says:

If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.

We never really know what we are good at unless we try.  If we never try “new” things, are we limiting what we are capable of accomplishing.  What about getting out of our own way and taking that first step.

Well, having read some of the stuff that is out there, I have full confidence that this is something that I am capable of doing.   Perhaps all I really need to do is take my finger off the pause button.

Midday music news: Bruno Mars, CeeLo Green, One Direction and more!

Welcome to my first installment of “Midday Music News”  I have decided that the easiest way for me to share some of the articles that I have written for my writing gigs (both for Gather and Examiner) is to share them a couple of times a day on my blog, rather than trying to “promote” them one at a time.

So, without further ado, here is some of what I am following today in Music News:

CeeLo Green just released a new song and is trying to drop a few lbs: read more
Seattle rapper Macklemore visits David Letterman and Dave shows his age after the performance: read more
While Bruno Mars has been in Japan, his music still tops the charts back in the states: read more
Speaking of Bruno Mars, did you know he has four sisters? Did you know they were model beautiful? Did you realize that they can carry a tune? They call themselves the Lylas and they have a new album: read more
One Direction’s Harry Styles turns 19 today: read more
One Direction’s Niall Horan tries to back over Harry on his birthday… seriously: read more
Clay Aiken is proud of how Beyonce handled the lip-sync controversy surrounding her performance at the inauguration. If you haven’t seen it yet, see what Ms. Knowles does at her Super Bowl press conference: read more

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading, subscribing, liking, sharing, tweeting, commenting, stumbling, etc.!

Karma, rainbows, and ignoring the numbers (Day 14)

I am a believer in Karma.  Yesterday, I realized that I was taking a negative tone to my writing, both here on my blog and in my attitude toward my writing gigs.  This was spilling a bit into my attitude about my singing as well.

Is it not funny what a change in attitude will bring?  I decided to embrace my writing and drop the pen-name from my celebrity gossip column on one website and stop hiding my writing from my “singing friends” on Facebook.

A morning rainbow!

Then – like clockwork – I received an email about a gig in New York City for April.   I have been invited to sing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at St. John the Divine for the Interfaith Committee of Remembrance’s annual concert.   Quite an honor, plus this will be the first big concert I have done here since moving to New York six months ago.

Karma!

Then this morning, after the nasty winds and storms of last night, I woke up to a rainbow.  Again… Karma!

Of course, I have gotten off track with reading my “Achieve Anything in a Year…” book, so I am a day behind.   Instead of fretting about it, I will run with today’s thought, which comes from Mother Teresa:

Never worry about the numbers.  Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest to you.

There is plenty to take from this quote.  The thing that struck me – and the point the book makes – is that it is “easy to worry about the numbers.”    With my writing on Examiner.com, I have real-time Google Analytics, so I can sit and watch the numbers click up all day long.  It can be mesmerizing.

It can also be a total downer.  While you sit and stare at the numbers, wishing they would go up, hoping that they will somehow miraculously get better, you aren’t doing anything to actually affect a change on the numbers.

The numbers on my Google Analytics go up (or not) whether I sit and stare at them or not.  The only way I can honestly change the numbers is to write more content.   Of course, if I don’t I will wake up tomorrow wondering why I didn’t reach my goals.   Perhaps it was because I frittered away my time staring at the numbers all day long.

So, today my plan is to concentrate on the present.  I will work on the things that can make a difference right here, in the moment.   It isn’t that I don’t care about the numbers, but my little experiment is what happens if I only evaluate the numbers after I have done the work instead of during or in lieu of the work.

Today I will forget about numbers and concentrate on Karma.  It seemed to work pretty well yesterday!

Embracing the upbeat, stop the insanity (Day 13)

Today is the day I stop beating my head against the wall.  Today is the day that I stop hiding behind the smoke and mirrors and embrace the fact that I am a professional writer.

I have two degrees in music, but for the better part of the last four years, I have made equal if not more money from writing on-line.  What do I write about, you ask?  I write about celebrity gossip.

Now, I have walked around for the same amount of time being embarrassed about writing – and getting paid for – articles about subjects ranging from Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber to “American Idol” and Snooki. Seriously, somehow I thought I was “above” this, or that I should be ashamed to write this stuff. (Did I mention I was cashing a paycheck?)

Yesterday things changed.  I gained the position of National Music Examiner on Examiner.com.  I had gone back to writing on the website last week and quickly found success.  I was ranked the No. 1 contributor in Music for the entire website.  So, getting to be the top dog is pretty cool.

Why should I hide that?  Why not embrace the news and roll with it!  Why not see this as a victory instead of some weight that I am dragging around behind me.

So, today I launched a new Facebook fan page that parallels my music page, just to promote the writing and start some conversations.  I will share my blog posts, my celebrity gossip, and some other fun stuff there!  Why not, right?  If I am going to pay down this debt, and writing celebrity gossip and music news helps me do it, then the more the merrier!

Come join me on Facebook; you never know what you might learn!

Lone Wild Bird or Safety in Numbers (Day 8)

I’ll admit, sometimes often I go at projects as a “lone wild bird” rather than asking for help.  Today’s assignment was to look at my relationships and my work and realize that I might not have all the answers by myself.  

Sometimes, you just have to ask for help.

Of course, when I started this blog, I debated whether to stay “anonymous” throughout (or at least for a little while).  I do realize though, that in doing that, I have ended up blogging in vague generalization after vague generalization.

That really isn’t my personality, at all. I usually am one who feeds on interaction and being around groups of people.  Perhaps the best solution to this is to invite my friends into this project… at least those who won’t judge, but will be supportive.   

It will be hard enough to reach all my goals in a year (or year and a half) without going all by myself.  Perhaps there really is safety in numbers as opposed to going at this all by my lonesome.   My only question now is, how do I invite them?

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

- Helen Keller

This lonely wild turkey stands by him/herself

I am not a Sloth! (Day 7)

Some times you feel like a sloth.  Some times you don’t!  Today could have been a slothful day, but instead I did get a little work done.  My biggest chore was setting up a new Twitter account and compiling Google alerts in a new gmail account for one of my writing gigs.  

My assignment today was  to get off my lazy butt (which I pretty much have been doing all week) and work to cross something off my to do list from yesterday.  Well, after a few hours of organization, I have.

Do I feel accomplished? Sure. Today I have conquered laziness and impatience. Today, I was not a sloth.  I am, however, cutting this short.  Tomorrow is a busy day!   

I leave you with this photo:

A sloth, just hanging around.

 

Dreams, Action Items, Derailed by Hillary Clinton?! (Day 6)

Sometimes you just need to dream big. Other times, you just need to take action. My assignment today was two-fold:

Make a list of dreams, no matter how big, outrageous, or unthinkable they may be.
Make a list of tasks – no matter how mundane – that I need to do, but never get around to doing.

List number one is fun.  Thankfully, after making list number two in my handy notebook, I wasn’t actually required to follow through on these action items.   Today just wasn’t that good of a day.

Hillary Clinton answers the tough questions while giving me an excuse to procrastinate.

First off, I admit that I broke my no television pledge today by watching about three hours (out of five) of Hillary Clinton’s testimony before Congress.

Secondly, I had a pretty nasty headache that has finally gone away.  No, the headache had nothing to do with Hillary Clinton (or Congress for that matter). 

Third of all, I was more than a little frustrated with how yesterday’s results were.  I decided that I needed to take a step away and recharge for the day.  What I have to remember is that even though yesterday’s step forward was smaller than I would have liked, it was still a step forward.

Obviously, there is no way to work 12 hours a day, every day for a year.  That wouldn’t be healthy.  It would be nuts.  Yes, I have plenty of dreams and action items to work on and toward, but sometimes the most important action item is to take a step back and regroup.

Tomorrow is a new day.  I won’t have Hillary Clinton or Congress to blame for my own inaction. Instead, I will go into tomorrow equipped with my dreams and a to do list of action items.  Most importantly, I will come ready to take another step forward!