R.J. Blain's Blog, page 22

A little More on the Error-Reporting Tool, why Amazon will not be getting the bonus stories, and so on.

There are some people who have not appreciated my “aggressiveness” regarding the error-reporting tool and readers attempting to control an author’s creative domain.

Yes, I’m “aggressive” about it. I have boundaries, and I am establishing those boundaries.

Pilots, bonus short stories, and future slices of life stories are supposed to have errors and mistakes. While I (and my team) do our best to remove the blatant errors, these things are extras. They’re supposed to be fun. They’re supposed...

State of the Blain Address: Release scheduling, play project status, backburner books, etc!

Artwork: The Rose Valley Murders (R.J. Blain); design, painting, etc by Rebecca Frank.

I leave for Australia Very Soon (hooray!!) so before I dive back into the preparation fray, I wanted to take some time to go over as much as I can regarding the upcoming schedule, what is being worked on, and so on. (This is very long post, SO very long. Has ALL the updates/information for you. MUCH long, read carefully.)

TL;DR version: Nobody panic: nothing is being cancelled. Nothing is being cance...

It’s a record! Less than 24 Hours After Release…

14 of the 19 ‘errors’ weren’t even errors.

And this, right here… is why Amazon won’t be getting the bonus story/pilot in all future novels.

I’m frustrated, I want to just give up and stop publishing, and I really wonder if the people behind these reports actually even like books.

From where I sit, they really don’t.

This specific reader needs to learn to not report… because what they think are errors simply are not.

I corrected the 5 actual mistakes.

I wonder if they bother...

101 Ways to Die has released!!

Happy book birthday, 101 Ways to Die!

IMPORTANT REMINDER: The price for 101 Ways to Die will be increasing to $5.99 tomorrow morning. If you preordered, the preorder price is honored, as the book released today. This applies to ALL vendors. (The per novel patreons paid the standard $5.99 rate, which applies to ALL books ranging in price to $4.99 to $7.99.)

The original short novel, save for some typo corrections, is the same as it was in theDirty Deeds 2 anthology. However, it has four...

An In-Depth Guide to My Patreons!

Please read carefully, as there has been some confusion lately. Read VERY carefully, please please!

I have three different patreons that are meant to cater to different types of shoppers.

If you want no extras and just stories, there are two patreons you are interested in. The Per Novel Patreon, and the Per Short Story Patreon. (Note: The monthly subscribers at the $10 tier (Otters, Cindercorns, Spicy Ponies with Bite) receive ALL benefits of BOTH of these patreons.)

These two are for t...

A Little about the Monthly Patreon…

When everything isn’t on fire, I do a lot of fun things with my monthly patreon, which you can find here. I do a read along, which tends to average once a week, but sometimes has x3 a week when I’m behind and everything is on fire… like right now. (I have to finish cleaning my apartment, get a big batch of books out from the kickstarter, AND decide how we’re handling the refrigerator drama.)

The refrigerator… is working properly again. The fan has kicked back on, it’s maintaining temperat...

I’ve made an error! Smashwords doesn’t have preorder functionality (but it does have wishlisting!)

After a reader made a comment, I investigated Smashwords to discover it doesn’t actually have a preorder functionality. It does have wishlisting and following of authors to send reminders.

If you like to preorder/buy everything, I recommend that you use my per novel patreon. Books are a $5.99 each (for all titles that aren’t anthologies within $4.99 and 7.99; on average, you’ll save $1-2 a book.) Bonus: you’ll receive the book ahead of retail release. You also don’t have to track what comes o...

Just an FYI: 101 Ways to Die is being deliberately underpriced.

Long story short: With the inclusion of the pilot story (which is this book’s bonus short story), the book is going to be over the standard $6.99 wordcount threshold. Since Amazon readers (who do not buy on Smashwords or through Patreon) won’t have access to the story, the price will be increased to $5.99 as planned at all vendors. (as the Amazon version is below wordcount threshold.)

A reminder: If you want the $4.99 rate, you need to either preorder or buy on release day. No vendor will hon...

How I will be addressing the Amazon Problem: an exclusive short story at all vendors except Amazon.

The title says it all. I hate the idea of punishing readers because they like a certain version of a book, and I generally prefer reward methods. So, moving forward, I will be doing the following:

1: Release dates will remain unchanged, with my Patreon users receiving the book (with special author note) 3-5 days prior to the release date.

2: I hired a new proofing editor. (Side note: none of my editors are paid less than $1k/100,000 words. I value my staff, they are paid only once for work...

Discussion: I may change how I publish my books moving forward.

Amazon has struck again in the form of a reader, who was very probably trying to be helpful without understanding the damage they’re doing. (I REALLY understand that most readers who use this tool are trying to help. The reality is… good intentions, shit roads.)

As such, I’m thinking about making some significant changes to how I publish in the future. This is what is being considered:

For all books currently up for preorder…

1: I would be moving all Amazon release dates back a month. (...