S.D. Rudd's Blog, page 2
August 5, 2013
Adventures In Writing Chapter 1: The Request
July 2, 2013
Albert Einstein
How Many People Want To Go With Me?
June 17, 2013
Content With Single
It’s not a secret that I’m a single man. One of the things I have to go through as a single man, at 35, is the pressure from others to get married before I grow old.
But I rather enjoy my lifestyle right now, as it allows for me to build my writing career without the distractions of a relationship. The common belief is that I am supposed to feel lonely, and miserable, when I’m actually happy. Being in love with my work helps that a lot.
So, this morning, I wrote this short poem and posted it on my personal Facebook account. Then I thought other people might like it, so I slapped a title on it and here we are.
Share if you like it. You never know who it might encourage.
____________
Content With Single
People think I’m hard to get
I’m just happy to be alone
People say it’s just a play
But loving me has become my home
It’s just me against the world now
Content with no artificial flavors
With no room for make believe faces
And no ears to hear the haters
And no tongue so as to savor
What people say is so good
As if my life is meaningless
Unless change, my status, I would
I will do it one fine day
Change that “S” into a “M”
But only when I get the word
But only when I hear from Him
____________
Yeah, I told you it was short. I hope you weren’t expecting more because I certainly had none of that to give this morning! Until next time…
P.S. I promised an update on my writing process. Well, I’m finished expanding my book “Black Water” to the proper length required to tell the story.
It’s going to the editor sometime in the next few weeks (after I make some rewrites) and then I’m looking at the new updated version being ready around the end of August. I’ll keep you posted!
S. D. Rudd is a provocative storyteller, creating unforgettable characters and placing them within plots that move at breakneck pace. If you have read one of his books, visit him on Goodreads or Amazon to leave him a review.
June 9, 2013
Don’t Buy My Books For A While
Crazy title, eh? Well it’s true.
I don’t want anyone to download my books for a while, mainly “Black Water.” For the “why” on this topic, I’ll keep it short. Below I’ve compiled a list of reasons why I don’t want you to download, or buy my books.
Let’s get this self-massacre over with…
Don’t Buy My Books 1: It needs to be edited.
I know, right? My books have plenty of mistakes in it. Who’d think a good storyteller has no idea where to place a comma?
Hey, I never said I was an English major, only that I can tell great stories. So, I’ve done my job. Now, I need to find a good editor who is an expert at not irritating my readers with run-on sentences and too many sentence fragments (case in point, this sentence right now…but this one was intentional).
And, “loose” or “lose?” Or, how about “were” versus “was?” See…I need professional help. Moving right along.
Don’t Buy My Books 2: My stories are too short.
Yes, I heard everyone.
Great series, way too short…I heard you. I’ve worked to expand the book so that I tell the full story in one novel. Originally, “Black Water” was only 20k words. Then, I broke it up into 3 parts, added some fat to it, and made 3 stories of 20k words in length a piece.
Then, people called the Fiction Police on me, reported me as a loser with no real purpose, and forced me to recompile them together into a 68k page novel, but now I’ve decided to add another 15k -20k of content to “Black Water.” Once complete, it will be about an 80k – 90k word novel (about 400 – 420 pages, 6×9…yeah).
Will it still be a series? Absolutely!
You guys love it so much, I have no choice but to keep writing it! Some of you hate it, and the profile pictures I chose to upload, and wished the bones in my right hand would shatter, so that I couldn’t write again.
News flash, if I break my hand…there’s still voice recognition software!
So, a lot of people didn’t like my work but, you know, not everyone can be as cool as the people who do! I’m joking….or am I…..hmmmmm. A sense of humor is a prerequisite for reading one of my posts.
Don’t Buy My Books 3: I really didn’t have a third reason.
So why did I add a third one? I don’t know, man! I only had two reasons but it seemed odd to not have a third, so here were are.
And, now, here we go. See you later when I make the next update.
P.S. I have no idea when all of this will be finished, but I promise to give you a timeline in the next update.
S. D. Rudd is a provocative storyteller, creating unforgettable characters and placing them within plots that move at breakneck pace. If you have read one of his books, visit him on Goodreads or Amazon to leave him a review.
May 27, 2013
The Implied Do Not Disturb Sign That Kids Care Nothing About
My bedroom door is shut and locked. It’s the middle of morning, right in between coffee and lunch. Cloudy days usually keep my mind in imagination mode and today is no different.
Outside of my bedroom window I hear a basketball bouncing in various rhythmic patterns. It was the neighborhood kids again.
Someone brought the basketball goal out of the garage and it didn’t take the other kids on the block long to gather around. It’s too early for my thirty-five year old body to fathom such activities so close to the upside of noon.
Yet my kids are running up the stairs and I hear them down the hall making the most horrible noises I’ve heard this Memorial Day while they put on their clothes. It’s only a matter of time now.
With the curtains pulled shut, the room dark enough to be late in the evening, my fingers are ferociously attacking the computer, the clicking of keys echoing throughout the vaulted ceiling in the room. I’m writing; I’m writing well…and I’m in a tunnel.
So I didn’t hear the first knock on the door, nor the second. But, when the knocks graduate to repetitive bangs, I thought the police were coming to serve me an arrest warrant. It’s time.
“I’m busy!” I call out to the boys.
My nephew, Jabari, nine years old and very much opinionated, yelled back, “it’s Khayla!”
It’s Khayla…Khayla is knocking at my bedroom door. It’s Khayla who placed the bomb in the tunnel and wrecked my writing flow. It’s Khayla…my lovely niece, twelve years old, the apple of my eye. It’s Khayla.
“I don’t care who it is,” I yell back, trying to sound authoritative while pretending to mean what I say. “I’m busy!” I continued.
Now, my son, Zion, also twelve years old and the loudest one of the three kids, chimes in.
“It’s Khayla, dad! She wants to ask you a question!”
It’s not long before my nephew kicks his heels together too. “Yeah, she wanna ask you something!”
Even the boys know that the girl gets whatever she wants. I’ve trained them well.
I yanked on the door handle without hesitation. Khayla is standing at the door with a cute smile on her face, her pretty hair touching her shoulders, and hands me a bottled water. I didn’t ask for water so I know this isn’t a love offering. No, this is a bribe.
“Can we go outside?” she asks me.
“Does that mean you’ll leave me alone this morning?”
She peels her eyes at me.
“I love you,” I sing to her.
She shakes her head and walks off. That was her way of saying it back…we have an understanding. After a while, the kids return and I get another knock on the door followed by a soft voice.
Again, no hesitation once I knew it was the girl.
“What and speak fast.”
“Why are you always looking at your computer?” she asks.
I shoot her a bewildered expression.
“You look crazy,” she says.
“I have good teachers,” I reply.
She didn’t get the joke. She thought I was referring to my friends when I was really referring to her grandparents…my parents.
She shakes her head at me when she says, “you must have a boring life to be looking at your computer all day.” Then she squeezes my neck way too tight, verging on strangulation, releases and then skips off.
My life is boring, she says.
One day she will understand that staring at my computer is more exciting than real life. One day she will understand that the make-believe worlds I create for the real world to read are more exciting than real life.
One day she will understand that her uncle…is a writer.
The Implied Do Not Disturb Sign That Kids Care Nothing About
My bedroom door is shut and locked. It’s the middle of morning, right in between coffee and lunch. Cloudy days usually keep my mind in imagination mode and today is no different.
Outside of my bedroom window I hear a basketball bouncing in various rhythmic patterns. It was the neighborhood kids again.
Someone brought the basketball goal out of the garage and it didn’t take the other kids on the block long to gather around. It’s too early for my thirty-five year old body to fathom such activities so close to the upside of noon.
Yet my kids are running up the stairs and I hear them down the hall making the most horrible noises I’ve heard this Memorial Day while they put on their clothes. It’s only a matter of time now.
With the curtains pulled shut, the room dark enough to be late in the evening, my fingers are ferociously attacking the computer, the clicking of keys echoing throughout the vaulted ceiling in the room. I’m writing; I’m writing well…and I’m in a tunnel.
So I didn’t hear the first knock on the door, nor the second. But, when the knocks graduate to repetitive bangs, I thought the police were coming to serve me an arrest warrant. It’s time.
“I’m busy!” I call out to the boys.
My nephew, Jabari, nine years old and very much opinionated, yelled back, “it’s Khayla!”
It’s Khayla…Khayla is knocking at my bedroom door. It’s Khayla who placed the bomb in the tunnel and wrecked my writing flow. It’s Khayla…my lovely niece, twelve years old, the apple of my eye. It’s Khayla.
“I don’t care who it is,” I yell back, trying to sound authoritative while pretending to mean what I say. “I’m busy!” I continued.
Now, my son, Zion, also twelve years old and the loudest one of the three kids, chimes in.
“It’s Khayla, dad! She wants to ask you a question!”
It’s not long before my nephew kicks his heels together too. “Yeah, she wanna ask you something!”
Even the boys know that the girl gets whatever she wants. I’ve trained them well.
I yanked on the door handle without hesitation. Khayla is standing at the door with a cute smile on her face, her pretty hair touching her shoulders, and hands me a bottled water. I didn’t ask for water so I know this isn’t a love offering. No, this is a bribe.
“Can we go outside?” she asks me.
“Does that mean you’ll leave me alone this morning?”
She peels her eyes at me.
“I love you,” I sing to her.
She shakes her head and walks off. That was her way of saying it back…we have an understanding. After a while, the kids return and I get another knock on the door followed by a soft voice.
Again, no hesitation once I knew it was the girl.
“What and speak fast.”
“Why are you always looking at your computer?” she asks.
I shoot her a bewildered expression.
“You look crazy,” she says.
“I have good teachers,” I reply.
She didn’t get the joke. She thought I was referring to my friends when I was really referring to her grandparents…my parents.
She shakes her head at me when she says, “you must have a boring life to be looking at your computer all day.” Then she squeezes my neck way too tight, verging on strangulation, releases and then skips off.
My life is boring, she says.
One day she will understand that staring at my computer is more exciting than real life. One day she will understand that the make-believe worlds I create for the real world to read are more exciting than real life.
One day she will understand that her uncle…is a writer.
May 26, 2013
What I Know About Amazon Book Ranking
I know you guys are upset that it took me weeks to get to this but I had a million things to do. With that, I’ll keep it short.
Here we go!
How Many Books Does It Take to Steal #1?
Remember, I don’t know but I have a tested yet shaky theory. First off, remember my niche…
My book is also apart of this niche…
Park here for a minute because we’re gonna use the second one for our example. Now, recalling how we only have this many books in our niche…
Okay, now, first thing we need to do is go to the bestsellers section and see the rankings of #1, #20, and #100 on that list. This is important because the books with the lowest rankings are easy to overtake.
The ones with a higher overall ranking are extremely difficult to overtake and will require a lot of book sales.
The goal is to see how hard it is to break onto the bestsellers list (#100). Let’s look at that real quick.
This is number #100 as of today on the bestsellers list for my niche.
And these are its rankings. We are looking at the overall rank of #122,083 now. All we are trying to do is see how easy it will be to become a bestseller here. You can beat a #122,083 ranked book with 2-4 daily book sales, depending on the season.
Now, we need to see if this is a buying niche so we go to #1
And here are its rankings…
This isn’t a super hot buying niche but it’s still selling enough for me to indulge. Why? Because I can hit number one a lot easier and that’s our goal for many different reasons.
With a ranking like #6,407 you can take this within 200-300 sales on a high volume day and maybe only 50-75 sales on a low volume day.
You typically want to see the #1 and #2 books of a certain category in the 100′s, as it would mean that a lot of people are in that niche looking for books to buy. It would take 1,000-2,000 sales to beat a book in the 100′s on any given day. You would want your #20 spot to be #5000 to #9000.
The trick here is, the more you sell, the more you sell. You just need to push marketing enough to get your book to #100, then to #20 and, hopefully, if you’re lucky, you can take that #1 spot and really start to sell some books.
What I Know About Amazon Book Ranking
I know you guys are upset that it took me weeks to get to this but I had a million things to do. With that, I’ll keep it short.
Here we go!
How Many Books Does It Take to Steal #1?
Remember, I don’t know but I have a tested yet shaky theory. First off, remember my niche…
My book is also apart of this niche…
Park here for a minute because we’re gonna use the second one for our example. Now, recalling how we only have this many books in our niche…
Okay, now, first thing we need to do is go to the bestsellers section and see the rankings of #1, #20, and #100 on that list. This is important because the books with the lowest rankings are easy to overtake.
The ones with a higher overall ranking are extremely difficult to overtake and will require a lot of book sales.
The goal is to see how hard it is to break onto the bestsellers list (#100). Let’s look at that real quick.
This is number #100 as of today on the bestsellers list for my niche.
And these are its rankings. We are looking at the overall rank of #122,083 now. All we are trying to do is see how easy it will be to become a bestseller here. You can beat a #122,083 ranked book with 2-4 daily book sales, depending on the season.
Now, we need to see if this is a buying niche so we go to #1
And here are its rankings…
This isn’t a super hot buying niche but it’s still selling enough for me to indulge. Why? Because I can hit number one a lot easier and that’s our goal for many different reasons.
With a ranking like #6,407 you can take this within 200-300 sales on a high volume day and maybe only 50-75 sales on a low volume day.
You typically want to see the #1 and #2 books of a certain category in the 100′s, as it would mean that a lot of people are in that niche looking for books to buy. It would take 1,000-2,000 sales to beat a book in the 100′s on any given day. You would want your #20 spot to be #5000 to #9000.
The trick here is, the more you sell, the more you sell. You just need to push marketing enough to get your book to #100, then to #20 and, hopefully, if you’re lucky, you can take that #1 spot and really start to sell some books.
May 13, 2013
Let’s Talk About Books Baby, Let’s Talk About Ranks For Me
Crazy title for a blog, eh? It got you reading though!
Enough of that, let’s just get right in. I get asked all of the time how many book sales it takes to reach the bestsellers list. You know what? No one can honestly answer that question definitively.
Yeah, I Know, It Sucks, Right?
You thought you would get answers and all you get is the same old stuff you get from other people who don’t know what the devil they’re talking about. I get it. So why this blog posting? Oh…because…I may just have another theory similar to my last one but only a little less believable.
Again, if you have an issue…you know the rest.
Anyway.
I’m Not Going To Waste A Lot Of Time So Here Is My Book Ranking Theory
Amazon legends says that if you sell more than the rest, you become the best. Not rocket science! But, what does it take to become the best?
Quickly, I’ll show you.
This is my niche…
Probably why I like to keep you reading my blog posts…matter of fact, it’s probably why I plan to leave you hanging before the end of this post.
Anyway, my niche…a sub niche of a sub niche of a sub niche. Genius level stuff here.
Now, I want to get ranked for this niche…
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But…this niche has this many books in it…
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Which means it’s harder to get ranked in. In other news, the sub niche has this many books in its niche…
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…and will be a lot easier to rank high for.
So, let’s recap. My book is a “Suspense” novel but I want to rank for “Christian Fiction” but “Christian Fiction” has 15,700+ books I need to beat to get to the top while “Suspense” in the sub category of “Christian Fiction” has only 2600+ books I need to beat out to get to the top.
Following so far?
It’s easier to beat 2000 books than it is to beat 15,000 so I’ll take my chances with it instead. How do we do that?
I need to select this category path in KDP…
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Obviously, if this isn’t your niche, you would locate your own niche and sub niche instead. Now, why do we do this? Because Amazon’s algorithm will rank you for both the sub and main niche/category at the same time.
That’s why a lot of times you’ll see books ranking for 2-4 categories at once. This is because they’ve ranked high enough in the subcategories to be able rank for the main categories.
In other words, they’ve ranked so high in the easy sub niche that they have no choice but to rank higher for the bigger overflow niche since they’re both connected.
Like father like son. Typical. It’s just like having a bunch of glasses stacked up on top of each other like a pyramid.
You want to contain so much water that it fills up the bottom glasses so you keep pouring into the top one until the many bottom glasses have to take on the spillage.
And then you have abundance. Simple.
So How Many Books Does It Take?
I don’t know but I do have some research that I will unveil on the next blog post. You’ll just have to subscribe to my feed if you want to read it. Hey…don’t shoot me for being a good marketer.
