R.J. Blain's Blog, page 68

Winter Wolf Available for Free (July 9-13), Tales Releases Tuesday!

To celebrate Tales of the Winter Wolf (Vol. 1)’s upcoming release, I have made Winter Wolf available for free between today, July 9, 2015 to July 13, 2015. If you want to be able to read the novel that spawned the short stories, here’s your chance!

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, Winter Wolf (the novel) has intentional inconsistencies due to the main character’s circumstances.

Nothing is as it seems, and the truth is often held in the eyes of the beholder.

The Hunted Wizard

When Nicole dabbled in the occult, she lost it all: Her voice, her family, and her name. Now on the run from the Inquisition, she must prove to herself—and the world—that not all wizards are too dangerous to let live.

The savage murder of a bookstore employee throws Nicole into the middle of Inquisition business, like it or not. Driven by her inability to save the young man’s life, she decides to hunt the killer on her own. Using forbidden magic to investigate the past, she learns that the murderer is in fact a disease that could kill the entire werewolf race.

Forced to choose between saving lives and preserving her own, Nicole embraces the magic that sent her into exile. Without werewolves, the power of the Inquisition would dwindle, and she could live without being hunted.

Nicole’s only hope for success lies in the hands of the werewolves she hates and the Inquisition she fears, but finding someone to trust is only the beginning of her problems. There are those who want to ensure that the werewolves go extinct and that the Inquisition falls.

But, if she fails to find a cure, her family—including her twin sister—will perish…

Seriously, yo. It’s free. Come to the dark side.

And if you’re curious about Tales of the Winter Wolf, why yes, I’m happy to provide links and pretty pictures and an idea of what stories await. Unlike my other stories, Tales of the Winter Wolf is more short-story centric; in a way, each story is a chapter of the lives of Richard and Nicole.

Long before Nicolina Desmond manifested her powers as a wizard, she was a Normal girl with extraordinary circumstances. In order to prove herself and escape her father’s chokehold on her life, she’s determined to get on the fast track towards an independent life.

However, she never anticipated how meeting Richard Murphy would change her life…

Tales of the Winter Wolf follows the adventures of Nicole and Richard, predominant characters from Witch & Wolf #2, Winter Wolf. Spoilers for the novel are contained within!

Volume One contains the following stories:

Hunted

Nicolina Desmond should have known that her twin’s overly friendly behavior with the eligible Fenerec males would land her in trouble, but she never expected how far young, single werewolves would go to secure a mate.

The Scent of Guilt

When Richard is invited to hunt Nicolina’s kidnappers with her father, he jumps at the chance. With Desmond lusting for blood and violence, Richard is forced to toe the line between mercy, justice, and revenge.

Firecracker

Charles Desmond’s influence isn’t enough to stop those who are determined to take Richard’s rank through force. With Nicolina Desmond out on the hunt to kill him once and for all, he’ll need a lot more than luck to survive his stay with the Desmonds.

Glitter

Richard Murphy has many sides, and Nicolina Desmond is dismayed to discover that he truly has the patience of a hunting wolf and his pranks are just as nefarious as hers. When the bodies of Fenerec turn up in her back yard, however, she might have to kill again, and her target is none other than Yellowknife’s injured Alpha.

I hope you have as much fun reading these stories as I have had writing them! Tales of the Winter Wolf Vol 1 is available for preorder and drops on Tuesday, July 14, 2015.

Amazon Wages War on Reviews… Again.

There has been quite a bit of news about Amazon lately. Some of it has been good. Some of it hasn’t been so good. While I’m absolutely loving the changes to Amazon’s exclusive program, the rumors of changes to their reviewing platform (leaked by top 500 reviewers from a message sent by amazon) has me absolutely hating what they’re up to.

It’s hard enough to get honest, legitimate reviews. Sure, in theory, honest retailers (and authors) should have an easier time having their products seen. However, there are two substantial issues with this, in my opinion.

Non-verified reviews (IE, ARC copies) will be given a negative modifier.
Older reviews will be given a negative modifier.

On the flip side, there are benefits to this:

Helpful reviews will have more weight (positive modifier.)
Newer reviews will have more weight (positive modifier, current reviews of a product.)

However, there are some even bigger issues outside of this change that I feel will really, really hurt authors–a huge driving force of Amazon’s sales. I’m an honest author. If I acquire book reviews, they are a part of a blog-based book tour, where the reviewers are required to be honest by their touring groups. Many of these people are Vine reviewers–or have high amazon review rankings. These individuals don’t lie about how they feel about books.

I do not buy reviews, nor will I buy reviews.

However, this makes it very difficult to get reviews.

To set the scene for this post, I want to discuss Amazon’s current practices. Some of these rules will take you by surprise.

The Good:

Anyone can review. (Non-verified reviews.)
Five star ranking system. (I like five stars because it’s a good range, with a very obvious ‘middle ground.’) Even-numbered star review systems hurt me.
Flat algorithm; it’s easy to know why a book is ranked as it is, just by looking at the reviews.

The Bad:

Very easy to post abusive reviews and have them hold weight.
Anyone associated with the author can have their review yanked. Including fans.
Easy to buy reviews.

This is a very short list. I could come up with a lot more, but I feel these are the important ones. Now, before I pick up my pitchfork, I want to mention a few things.

The new system isn’t all bad. However, considering that fans who follow authors on Facebook have been having their reviews removed for ‘having an association with the author,’ there are substantial problems.

Authors rely on their fans to post reviews. I’m not different. It’s very hard to get reviews when you’re honest. You rely on your fans and readers to do it.

I don’t like chasing fans and readers for reviews. It’s not comfortable for me. I really hope my fans/readers love my books enough to want to leave a positive, honest review about what they loved.

Dishonest authors simply buy those reviews. I refuse to do this. Reviews help, but I simply won’t stoop to that level.

But with Amazon attempting to identify fans/readers and punishing them for following their favorite authors on Facebook, things are even harder.

I’ve had this happen to me before–not as the reviewer, but as the author. I’m adamantly against fans and readers who reach out to authors to connect being punished because they enjoy reading books.

Being an author requires a social media presence. Otherwise, all I’m doing is shooting in the dark and hoping I get lucky. I’m not lucky. We’ve established this!

How much of an Effect?

This is what we simply don’t know yet. We don’t know when the changes took place. So far, I haven’t noticed a huge change on my books–but I don’t buy reviews. (In theory, this is what should happen.) Unfortunately, I don’t know the numbers of any authors who bought reviews showcasing the before and after.

That’s a problem.

I can only hope that because I’m honest I won’t be hit hard by this.

Authors need you more than ever, Readers.

I’ve said it. Readers, authors like me are utterly reliant on you. Because you read, we eat. (And my cats eat, they really appreciate eating. They also appreciate the kitty toys we bring home for them. And the cat nip…)

If you love a book, please stop and take the time to review it. We need you.

If you love a book, please stop and take the time to mark reviews as helpful. We need you.

If you love a book, please share it with your friends. We need you.

If you love a book, please keep reading. We need you.

We need you now more than ever.

Thanks for reading.

Reading Material

I’ve compiled a short list of articles I’ve read about the changes to Amazon’s reviewing process. This is a mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

1: Haden Interactive on Amazon’s Review Changes (Vine Reviewer)

2: Teleread Article (Industry Discussion)

3: Tech Investor News Article (Industry Study.)

 

The New KDP Select System – Numbers, Performance, and Thoughts: Day 2

Today signifies the second day of KDP Select’s new system. We have a shiny new interface, and I totally love it. Let me show it to you.

I normally cut out the browser crap, but hey. You now know I am on a mac, I keep google+ and Facebook open, and that I have very writer-oriented doc. Okay, anyway, back to business. I did close my email tabs because I like my privacy. Sorry!

Day 1 of the new KDP Select system saw me miss 2,000 pages read on the opening salvo by a very small margin. (I think it was something like 24 pages.) Anyway, for the sake of simplicity, I am going to say I had 2,000 pages read. Today, at the time of this posting, 500 pages were read of my titles. (It works out where combined, I’m at 2,450 for both days combined so far.)

Before I dig into the numbers, I want to address a few things.

Short Story Authors

One of the complaints I’ve been hearing is that the new ruling will really cut the earnings of short story authors.

Yes, short story authors will no longer get $1.60 (approximately) or someone reading 1-10 pages of their stories. (In the old system, KDP Select would pay out $1.60 (approx) for 10% of a story read.)

However, if short story authors are continuously producing content that readers are consuming, they shouldn’t see pay decreases. Why?

The system is rigged to pay $1.00 for every (approximately) 175 pages read. If readers are reading, writers are getting paid.

Most authors I know charge approximately $2.99 for a novel–that could be up to 600 pages of delicious book.

In the current system, an author will receive $2.88 for a 500 page novel. Amazon charges 70% royalties.

In short, if you’re writing stories readers like, you’re making more money than a standard $2.99 royalty.

Good authors are being rewarded in this system.

Look, I empathize with short story authors to a certain degree. You had it really nice. However, if you’re telling good stories, you still have it really nice. Your work is still paying off.

The only difference is… readers are directly telling you how good of an author you are. Focus on telling stories readers love and you’ll be okay. Really!

Yes, the onus is on you to tell better stories, but it’s on everybody. If you have 500 pages of short stories and your readers love them and read them, you’re getting paid the same amount as the author who decided to write a single novel of that length.

Everyone benefits equally.

Novel Authors…

You spent months if not years writing your book. Yes, I know how much work it is to produce a book. I live it!

You don’t deserve any higher payment than the short story authors. You deserve the exact same as them. You’re both working the same amount.

You just choose to work in a different way than them, and that’s fine.

You just worry about telling stories your readers love, and you’ll be okay too. (And you get paid better in this model.)

Seriously, we can all get along.

Gaming the System

One legitimate concern is how people will try to game the system. How will people change their writing habits? The current theory is that people will start writing page turners to encourage readership.

Here’s the problem with that.

Not all readers want page turners, man. Not all readers want erotic romance. Not all readers want clean fantasy and science fiction. Not all readers want chick lit. Not all readers want fast-paced YA.

Readers want different things. If you try to game the system writing page turners, you’ll lose the readers who want that stoic, thought-provoking literature piece. Gaming the system might be possible, but readers like what readers like.

Don’t insult them. Find your audience by writing good books and making efforts to get your books in front of them.

We all struggle, except for those who got really lucky. I haven’t. I struggle.

The Numbers

Before I begin the number crunching, here’s the important information:

 As measured using KENPC, during the month of June, KU and KOLL customers read nearly 1.9 billion Kindle Edition Normalized Pages (KENPs) of KDP Select books.

– From Amazon Newsletter Regarding KDP Select Titles

In mid-July, we will post results for the fund in June, expected to be at least $11M, making June the largest monthly payout so far. As previously announced, the KDP Select fund for July and August will also be at least $11M.

– Also from Amazon Newsletter Regarding KDP Select Titles

I’m using June’s numbers (1.9 billion pages, 11 million pot) to demonstrate this in action.

1,900,000,000 Pages Read
11,000,000 Dollar Pot
$0.0058 Per Page

To get this figure, simply divide 11 million by 1.9 billion. This is $0.0058.

Since I have no shame, here are the exact numbers for my KDP Select pages read, current as of 12:30 pm EST on July 2, 2015.

Blood Diamond
598
$0.0058
$3.46


Inquisitor
1,143
$0.0058
$6.62


Winter Wolf
712
$0.0058
$4.12


Totals
2,453
$0.0058
$14.20

Things of importance: I do not know how many pages Amazon believes my books are. This is a private number. It doesn’t match what Amazon’s estimated page count (print) on the books are. How do I know this?

Blood Diamond is substantially longer than Winter Wolf, but Winter Wolf has a higher page count on Amazon’s pages. The pages are standardized in their system, so… it’s anyone’s guess on what it is. I estimate my novels range between 400-600 pages, but that’s just a guess. I have no proof.

For sake of simplicity, I’m going to assign Inquisitor a page count of 425, Winter Wolf 450, and Blood Diamond 500. This is approximately the difference in pages considering their word counts. (It’s not exact. It’s just a ballpark figure. Roll with it, roll with it!)

Using some fancy math (Pages per book multiplied by payout per page) I came up with the following figures. This is done making the following assumptions:

I am assuming the reader paid for the book as they would a regular sale. I took the payout for the book (as calculated above) and gave it a 70% royalty figure, as titles over $2.99 would have in the KDP Select program.

Title
Royalty
Sales Price


Blood Diamond
$2.89
$3.76


Inquisitor
$2.46
$3.20


Winter Wolf
$2.61
$3.39

In short, making the assumption that a 150,000 word novel equates 500 pages, Amazon is paying out $2.89 for the entire book. If I were being paid a 70% royalty rate, the book would have been on sale on Amazon for $3.76. This is a curiosity number; in short, because I can’t prove how many pages Amazon believes my title is, I can’t confirm it. That said, this is a really fair figure.

In the old system, if I was receiving $1.60 for the 500 page book, I was in good shape.

Now, here’s the deal. Before, I was only getting paid if someone read 40-60 pages of the book. I calculate, factoring people who are slow readers (nothing wrong with that!! nothing wrong with that!!) and those who just didn’t like the book, I’ll be making approximately 3x the amount I was in the old system.

Assuming I consistently get 2,000 pages a day in reads (probably not happening…) my KDP Select royalties from this program would be ~$358.

To give you an idea of the significance of the change, in May, (a new release month…) I made $382, all sales included.

If that were to pan out, I would be crying. Literally. Crying all of the happy tears of joy.

Writing in the exclusive system, I feel, has taken a turn for the better–a turn that means authors have to concentrate on writing good content instead of as much content as possible.

What do these numbers mean in the long run? I have no idea.

If this proves close to reality, which I won’t know until August 15, I will be a very, very happy author. It’ll change how money is distributed, but royalties for long novels will be fair. Royalties for short stories will be fair.

It’s fair.

Thank you, Amazon.

Now all you need to do is set a permanent value per page and unlock the pot. Then you’d guarantee authors get fair compensation. But, I understand the business side and why you control the pot. I don’t necessarily like that the pot has a lid, but… if numbers continue to be fair, I can live with that.

New Data

Thanks to Lorraine for tipping me off where to find the KENPC (Kindle standardized page counts) so I could put together what my royalties would be if a reader makes it through my books. It is located under Bookshelf. Click “Promote and Advertise” and scroll to the Benefits of KDP Select section.

This is what it looks like:

Earn royalties from the KDP Select Global Fund

Earn your share of the KDP Select Global Fund when customers read your books from Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. You’ll be paid for each page individual customers read of your book, the first time they read it. To determine a book’s page count in a way that works across genres and devices, we’ve developed the Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC) v1.0. \n Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC) v1.0\n \n \n We calculate KENPC using standard settings (e.g. font, line height, line spacing, etc.), and we\u2019ll use KENPC to measure the number of pages customers read in your book, starting with the Start Reading Location (SRL) to the end of your book. Click Total Royalty


Blood Diamond
826
$0.0058
$4.79


Inquisitor
608
$0.0058
$3.53


Winter Wolf
711
$0.0058
$4.12

Intentional and Unintentional Inconsistencies in the Witch & Wolf Novels

As I’ve been preparing to release Tales of the Winter Wolf, I have had to check over and confirm the intentional inconsistencies between those stories and the events in Winter Wolf. When I typically write a novel, there are several ways I handle ‘plot holes’ — I use the quotes for one simple reason.

Not all inconsistencies are unintentional. (I found one in Winter Wolf so far that was an oops on my part, which is being corrected in Winter Wolf. In short, in Winter Wolf, Richard went to San Francisco for pack business instead of Seattle. While Richard does go to San Francisco for pack business, when he met Nicole, it was in Seattle–but yes, it was for pack business.)

However, there are other inconsistencies that are intentional. I’m going to give some very minor spoilers for both the novel and the short stories, but they’re minor, so please bear with me.

I want to discuss these inconsistencies for several reasons, which I feel will help other writers learn to make conscious decisions on when to purposefully create an inconsistency.

Amnesia

Nicole Thomas suffers from a form of post-traumatic amnesia. This is something revealed in Winter Wolf.

Many of the inconsistencies in Winter Wolf are created due to her amnesia. When she doesn’t remember things, it’s a mental safeguard to fill in the blanks. In short, Nicole’s memory is incorrect compared to reality, something that is compounded by the fact that those who love her purposefully go along with the inconsistencies in order to spare her from remembering things that are painful.

So, you can view Winter Wolf as a bit of a game compared to Tales of the Winter Wolf. What memories did Nicole falsify?

There are a few legitimate times I did a whoops! and left it–I’ll just have to figure out how to write my way out of those whoopsies when Tales of the Winter Wolf begins covering what happens after Winter Wolf.

Yes, you may take that as a confirmation that I will be telling Nicole and Richard stories after the events of Winter Wolf but before Blood Diamond–and you can also take it to mean that I will be covering some of the more amusing parts of Blood Diamond from their perspective.

Beliefs Regarding Fenerec

In Inquisitor, Winter Wolf, and Blood Diamond, the varying characters have different thoughts and opinions on how the Fenerec survive, form bonds, and generally operate. This is intentional.

Victoria grew up as a product of the Victorian Era. During her forming years as a Fenerec, they had a very different belief on how mating bonds were formed.

In that era, sex equaled bonded, and as such, it’s a self-fulfilling prophesy. During Winter Wolf, Blood Diamond, and Tales of the Winter Wolf, the Fenerec have evolved, and they have learned more about the nature of their bonds with their mates.

In short, the power of belief plays a huge role in how Fenerec view themselves, their packs, and their mates.

Some Fenerec, such as Charles and Wendy Desmond, have been around long enough to realize that not everything is as it appears, which is why they made the choices they have.

Alpha, Submissive, and Omega Fenerec

In Inquisitor, there is a notable intentional inconsistency. One of the characters is believed to be a True-born Omega. (Tiny spoiler alert.)

This is not true. This is a misconception and false belief by characters. True-born Omega Fenerec do not exist.

The character is something else, which you will learn more about in Silver Bullet, which I hope to write and release sometime next year.

Almost all True-born Fenerec are Alpha, but they can be Submissive. They can never be an Omega.

This is one of the harder rules in the world. You will never see an actual Omega True-born. Why?

Omega-traited children are always either human or wolf. They cannot be born both.

So, what is the deal with that character people believe is a True-born Omega? Well, you’ll find out in Silver Bullet. (Yes, Silver Bullet is from Victoria’s point of view, so the Omega in question is present.)

Actual Mistakes

There are legitimate mistakes in all three of the Witch & Wolf novels. I’m going to be fixing the ones I realistically can. I’m undecided if I’ll make an Errata for the series or not–I might. It could be an entertaining way to poke fun of myself while providing readers with a guide on the things I legitimately screwed up.

One notable actual mistake was Charles Desmond’s incredulous reaction to something Nicole did at the end of Winter Wolf. Now, I could just chalk it to his acting skills, following up with them protecting her from her own memories, but… at the time, it was legit. Now it’s just a mistake.

That said, it’s pretty minor, and I can easily write it away as Desmond purposefully acting that way to protect his daughter. Which is very true to his character.

So, it works.

Another notable actual mistake was mentioned earlier, where it references Richard as having met Nicole in San Francisco. Where did that error come from? Nicole goes to school near San Francisco, but they met over the holidays in Seattle. It’s just an error. (Which I’ll be correcting in Winter Wolf.)

Another ‘error’ which is a somewhat error is a reference to Nicole visiting Canada with her sister. Nicole actually goes to Canada quite a few times, but Lisa did not go to Canada until the events mentioned. The reasons given do still apply.

Funny Tidbit: At one point, Nicole refers to Richard as tall, dark, and handsome. He is darker (brown hair, brown eyes, medium tan…) but he isn’t tall. He’s actually pretty short for a man. Alex is taller than him by several inches.

However, it’s a Fenerec thing; wolves lower in rank will often slouch or keep a subdued stance. Also, Nicole is pretty short at five foot nothing, so everyone is tall compared to her.

But no, Richard isn’t tall. He’s actually pretty short. To Nicole, however… he feels tall to her. He’s not, really. Now Jackson, he’s just plain tall. It’s also worth noting that when she viewed him as tall, she was sitting on the ground. That helped with the illusion a bit.

It’s kinda an error but kinda not an error. Just let me have this one, please? Please?

The Relationship between Charles and Richard

In Tales of the Winter Wolf, you will notice a different vibe in the relationship between Charles and Richard compared to their relationship in Winter Wolf.

This is completely intentional.

An important thing of note, for those who do care about that specific relationship–don’t worry. They’re fine. You will see this in later volumes of Tales of the Winter Wolf. You’ll also learn the why of it in Tales of the Winter Wolf.

No, I am not writing Richard-centric stories for the events of Winter Wolf.

Tales of the Winter Wolf will span their relationship until the time before Winter Wolf begins and will resume after the events of Winter Wolf. The catalyst events of Winter Wolf will not be covered in Tales of the Winter Wolf.

This is a conscious decision. The last story pre-Winter Wolf will likely relate to Alex and Lisa’s choice, but will not go through the events.

Why?

The stories after Tales of the Winter Wolf will relate to Nicole’s amnesia, and I want to have the freedom to explore those events in the aftermath. I don’t think I’d have as much fun with it if I had to write it out twice.

I also have seen where authors have written it out twice, and ultimately ended up bored as a result. So, I will do it once–in the aftermath stories.

Silver Bullet

When I set out to write the Witch & Wolf series, I really only set out to write four books. Nicole and Richard were so much fun to write that I kept coming back to them, which ultimately spawned the Tales of the Winter Wolf set.

Jackson and Evelyn are very similar. They’re a fun pair to write, and after Silver Bullet’s conclusion, I could easily see doing a set of short stories and novellas relating to these two characters.

Victoria will not be getting her own short story and novella set, at least that’s not my current plan. While I like Vicky quite a bit, her story classifies as the harder to tell ones. I don’t enjoy writing or reading historical fantasy, which is what I would have to write in order to go into her backstory. I’m not writing Evelyn’s backstory for the same reason. (Jackson and Evelyn stories will occur between the events of Blood Diamond and Silver Bullet, as well as after Silver Bullet.)

I may do a spinoff series, but if I do… it will tie to the Science Fiction stories I’m working on.

I’ll just give you a hint: In Project Zeta, Fenerec and witches no longer exist on Earth.

There’s a reason for that, and yes, Vicky, Jackson, Nicole, and all of the others are neck deep involved in that reasoning.

And yes, Project Zeta does take place in the same sandbox as the Witch & Wolf stories.

I’ll just leave that for you to chew on and speculate about. For now, I have editing work for a client to do.

Changes

I recently talked about how I was in process of making changes to how I work, the things I need to do to succeed, and so on. Lately, I’ve been hard at work on the Witch & Wolf series. Blood Diamond released on Friday. On July 14, the first of the Tales of the Winter Wolf short story collections will go on sale. July 31, August 12, and August 28 will see the other three volumes of the collection launch.

I am hoping in mid September, I will have Volume Five ready for sale as well.

At that point, I will begin working on novels again. I really want to finish Project Zeta, which is my space opera destroy-Earth-with-Volcanoes story. I’ll be working on short stories while working on the novel, as I really enjoy the Tales of the Winter Wolf set. I have a lot of stories to tell about Richard and Nicolina, so I expect at least several more volumes following the ones I’ve already written.

Here’s the thing: I want to succeed as an author. That means I have a lot of work ahead of me. It means I have to (somehow) avoid giving up due to all of the frustration associated with my career choice.

It’s a hard job. I want to tell stories others will enjoy. The problem is this: I need to make enough money to support my household.

It’s an issue every self-published and traditionally published author faces. There are millions of books out there. There are millions of readers, many of whom purchase (and consume) many books each year.

The trick is finding them and forging connections and relationships with them. This is something I’m terrible at, for several reasons.

The most notable reason is my love of writing. I’m so busy writing more stories that I often vanish for days at a time. My nose is inches from my laptop while my fingers are setting keys on fire as I try to wrangle my latest story into shape. I’m telling stories.

I’m not exactly winning any races finding my magical golden pot of dedicated fans and readers. I heard someone say it takes a certain number of loyal fans, who will buy your book on opening day (or preorder) in order for an author to succeed.

I always regarded it a bit warily, I have to admit. Why? Isn’t it just one of those writing rules? You know, the ones experienced authors ignore once they’ve learned enough about the craft to realize it takes more than just rules (and knowing when to break them) to succeed…

Well, I think they’re right.

Right now, I have ten or so super loyal fans and readers who buy my books right away. (Seriously, I don’t know who some of you are, but you really brighten my day. For those of you I do know, you know it already–or you should.)

I’ve heard numbers range anywhere from two hundred to one thousand plus loyal readers and fans buying a book on opening day to give it a hope of success.

To give you an idea, ten loyal fans made Blood Diamond reach 17,000 in the rankings on Amazon on its opening day. That’s actually not bad at all! I was really happy and grateful.

Every little sale helps.

But, I need to do better. I need to tell better stories. I need to get my editorial shit together and make sure each book is as clean as I can get it, hunting down errors and fixing them before they reach my reader’s hands.

But, I also want to tell stories that engage them and please them even considering the presence of the inevitable mistakes. (I’m human. Haven’t quite managed to get over that disadvantage yet.)

So, to try and do this, I’ve been changing how I work on my writing. Honestly, I want to kick my feet and scream. What do you mean I’m not perfect and good enough exactly as is? That’s not fair!!

That’s just tough shit for me, unfortunately! I need to do better. (Yeah, you’ve heard this before.)

So, what am I doing to improve?

Readers and fans might get bored with this part of the post–I’m sorry! (Please stick with me, I’ll try to be amusing.)

#1: Improve Self-Editing Skills

I’ve learned through experience and trial and error that the only person responsible for my editorial mistakes is me.

That means while I have an awesome crew of people helping me, it falls to me to learn how to spot my own errors, to do a better job of cleaning up my story, and to give those helpful, awesome people much, much cleaner and more polished stories.

Yes, the three or four of you who get the raw material for your pleasure, you will still get them for your advance reading pleasure.

But, when you ask me if you can proof the final version, you’ll end up with far fewer mistakes to hunt down and find.

#2: Tell Better Stories

I read my reviews. I don’t say much or acknowledge them in public often, but I read them. I read what you are writing, and I decide what to do from there. Sometimes it’s as simply as acknowledging the fact a reader doesn’t like the story. That happens.

Sometimes someone simply doesn’t like my writing style. That happens.

But sometimes, you catch things I really need to fix–so I sit down and I start fixing them.

That’s how it is supposed to work.

#3: Keep Telling Stories

This is the one thing I do right. I may not be a great writer, but I’m prolific. Writing is what I do. It’s a major part of who I am. I need to write. That’s all there is to it.

Here’s where my confessions come into play.

Last week, before I wrote those posts about hard work, I considered quitting fiction altogether. As some of you are aware, my husband doesn’t like my writing career. He acknowledge I work hard, but because I can’t meet income standards–even minimum wage–it isn’t a job. It’s painful for me to admit this in public. I treat my writing as a job.

But without the two hundred plus loyal fans, it’s play money. I do better than the average self-published author. My income is generally stable at approximately $400 USD a month. There are bursts if a new release does well. Lately, they haven’t. Storm Surge and Winter Wolf didn’t do as well as I was hoping they would. Actually, Storm Surge completely flopped, and Winter Wolf didn’t come close to making back what I spent on promotional costs.

I don’t know if I’m simply not reaching my audience with my promotional efforts or if my stories, simply put, suck. I don’t want to believe I tell terrible stories. I want to believe I tell stories worth reading.

But, money matters.

In order to find those two hundred plus loyal fans and readers, I need to tell better stories. Each book needs to surpass the last. Each one needs characters who live on the page. Each one needs to engage you, my fans and readers.

There are a lot of things I just need to deal with.

The hardest part of these little confessions is acknowledging the fact I’ll need to just deal with it–the bad luck, the good luck, the doesn’t-exist-at-all luck. It’s a part of the game.

I don’t have to like it, but it is what it is, and I have to deal with it.

So, Readers, Let me Ask you This:

What do I need to change to make you a loyal fan or reader who buys my books when they release?

You’re the expert.

Blood Diamond has Released!

Blood Diamond, the third installment of the Witch & Wolf series, has released!

While you can go ahead and jump in if you haven’t read Inquisitor and Winter Wolf, please be aware that many of the characters from the previous titles make appearances. Some of the events from both previous titles are mentioned! Witch & Wolf is a series following the lives of different characters, and in Blood Diamond, these paths cross.

Blood Diamond is currently available on Amazon for purchase.

About the Book

The world is full of corpses, and Jackson knows them by name. When a group strives to destroy the Inquisition, his powers may be all standing between the supernaturals and extinction.

However, when he learns the truth behind the deaths of his wife and unborn daughter, Jackson may prove to be the greatest threat of all to the survival of mankind…

Chapter One

The world was full of corpses, and I, Dante Jackson Emmett Anderson, knew them by name. Unfortunately for me, my brother knew my secret.

When my brother asked for help, it usually involved unidentified bodies or paperwork. When he had showed up at my door, I hadn’t expected an invitation to join an Inquisition field operation, one dangerous enough to warrant the use of my brother’s armored truck. He had me dead to rights when he told me I’d be driving, and judging by the way he had smirked while spinning the keys around his finger, he had known it.

I doubted the red-painted, tempting seductress of a monstrosity could be eliminated by anything other than a missile or a tank; even if someone wanted to blast their way in, they’d need a ladder to reach the door. I wasn’t small, not at six foot three, and I needed the help of the step rail and roll bar to climb in. The rest of the team needed me to give them a hand.

I drew a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. I should have refused my twin and ignored the lure of driving his absurd, stupid truck. I should have told him I would do a stint at the Inquisition headquarters shuffling papers and naming dead people instead of pretending I was trained for field operations.

Drumming my hands against the leather wheel, probably the only normal thing in the truck, I waited. The manila envelope on the dashboard mocked me, reflecting in the windshield as I watched the darkening forest for any signs of the team’s return. Once I opened it, I’d know more about the operation and its Inquisitors than I wanted. I’d know the names and faces of the dead, and if my bad luck held, I’d get a glimpse of their final moments.

The dead were vindictive like that.

I leaned forward, resting my forehead on my hands. My brother had been in enough of a hurry to get me into his truck and on the road I hadn’t had time to change out of my suit. Combat boots, fatigues, and Kevlar protected the Inquisitors. I wore a silk dress shirt and an equally thin jacket a bullet would ignore before tearing a hole through me.

Clenching my teeth, I bumped my forehead against the wheel as I cursed my idiocy.

A smart man would’ve put the idling engine into gear and left. If I did that, I’d be the target of my very own Inquisition operation. I doubted even the Red Beast could withstand a pack of angry Fenerec armed with more firepower than the military. They had missiles, and I had supplied all six warheads to them. If they launched one at the truck, they’d blow it—and me—into scrap metal and unidentifiable bits.

I turned my head to check the clock. In ten minutes, it’d be time to rip open the envelope and find out how the operation was going. If things went well, the photographs would tell a story where the Inquisition’s victims were dead and my team still lived. My brother had been adamant about the next part of my directions: if half of my team was dead by sunset, I was to take the Red Beast and get out of the area fast.

Fast was something the truck could do. I had clocked it at a hair over a hundred miles per hour over the rabbit trail of a road leading into Oconee National Forest, much to the dismay of the nine passengers crammed into the cab with me.

In a way, I felt sorry for my brother. He thought he knew me. He thought he could guess what I’d do, like he was so good at doing as the Inquisition’s youngest Shadow Pope. Unfortunately for him, while I had nodded my acknowledgment of his orders, I had no intention of abandoning the Inquisitors, and the team knew it. They had stared at me like I’d grown a second head for daring to disobey orders within five minutes of receiving them, but I wasn’t about to have a pack of Fenerec haunting me for getting them killed unnecessarily.

If everything went well, I’d do as my brother wished, staying in the Red Beast while my team did their dirty work. Once done, I’d drive the Fenerec pack home, clearing away a year of obligation to the Inquisition as payment.

If things didn’t go well, I would do what I could for them. The world was full of corpses, but if any of the Inquisitors numbered among the dead, it wouldn’t be because I had abandoned them. If I were going to be responsible for someone’s death, it’d be because I chose to tap a bullet between their eyes. Of course, I’d have to be close to my target to hit them, but that was a different matter entirely.

I checked the time again.

Five minutes gave me enough time to double check my gun, a vanilla Beretta M9 I had snatched on my way out the door. I preferred something heavier, but the M9 would suffice. It was loaded with silver, and that’d stop a Fenerec for a bit—or kill it, if my aim was good enough.

I wasn’t willing to make any bets on that.

If I needed the Beretta, it was because the team was in trouble, and I had left the Red Beast in favor of stupid heroics without the benefit of body armor and heavy munitions. If I didn’t get myself killed, my brother was going to finish me off when—if—I made it home.

I took my time checking the magazine before chambering a round, turning the safety on, and holstering the gun. Drawing a deep breath, I held it to the count of thirty before letting it out. The manila envelope was filled with photographs and a few sheets of paper. Dumping the contents onto the Red Beast’s dash, I flicked on the overhead light and used the reflections in the windshield to flip the twenty-three photographs and the stapled sheets of paper upside down.

So long as I didn’t directly look at the faces of the men and women the Inquisition meant to kill, my magic wouldn’t work. The photographs belonged to the wild Fenerec pack living too close to civilization, slated for execution. The papers, which consisted of three sheets, included the pictures of the eight men and one woman on my team. If they died, I’d learn their true names instead of the code names they favored during field operations.

I sighed, watching as the vestiges of sunset faded from the sky. In the dark of night, I would begin my own hunt—one my brother wouldn’t approve of. If he had wanted obedience, he wouldn’t have come to me asking for help. He should’ve known better than to think I would turn my back on those entrusted to my care.

I lifted my chin and began my grim task of flipping over photographs so I might learn the names of the dead. Of the twenty-three, one still lived, and all I could see in her jade eyes was accusation.

~~*~~

Thanks so much for your support! (Please consider buying a copy of Blood Diamond so I can keep on writing!)

Let’s Talk: Amazon’s Changes to KDP Select Payment Methodology in July

Earlier in June 2015, Amazon announced that it was making substantial changes to its KDP Select system. Instead of a flat rate for any book with 10%+ read, authors will be paid by page.

The Abyssal Plush Army watches with interest.

This excerpt is taken directly from the email sent to KDP Select authors regarding the changes:

We’re always looking at ways to make our programs even better, and we’ve received lots of great feedback on how to improve the way we pay KDP authors for books in Kindle Unlimited. One particular piece of feedback we’ve heard consistently from authors is that paying the same for all books regardless of length may not provide a strong enough alignment between the interests of authors and readers. We agree. With this in mind, we’re pleased to announce that beginning on July 1, the KDP Select Global Fund will be paid out based on the number of pages KU and KOLL customers read.

As with our current approach, we’ll continue to offer a global fund for each month. Under this new model, the amount an author earns will be determined by their share of total pages read rather than their share of total qualified borrows. Here are a few examples illustrating how the fund will be paid out. For simplicity, assume the fund is $10M and that 100,000,000 total pages were read in the month:

•       The author of a 100 page book which was borrowed and read completely 100 times would earn $1,000 ($10 million multiplied by 10,000 pages for this author divided by 100,000,000 total pages).

•       The author of a 200 page book which was borrowed and read completely 100 times would earn $2,000 ($10 million multiplied by 20,000 pages for this author divided by 100,000,000 total pages).

•       The author of a 200 page book which was borrowed 100 times but only read half way through on average would earn $1,000 ($10 million multiplied by 10,000 pages for this author divided by 100,000,000 total pages).

We will similarly change the way we pay KDP Select All-Star bonuses which will be awarded to authors and titles based on total KU and KOLL pages read.

We think this is a solid step forward and better aligns the interests of readers and authors. Our goal, as always, is to build a service that rewards authors for their valuable work, attracts more readers and encourages them to read more and more often. We welcome your continued feedback and ideas about how we can further improve Kindle Direct Publishing and Kindle Unlimited.

In the coming days we’ll share more details about this change. In the meantime, for further information (such as how we measure pages read) you can read more here:  https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A156OS90J7RDN.

There has been a huge spectrum of reactions to these changes, a lot of questions, and many concerns.

In the interest of being upfront and honest, I like the proposed changes and really look forward to seeing them in action. I am enrolled in KDP Select for many reasons. In the interest of disclosure, before I go into the specifics of the common questions and concerns I’ve seen, I want to state why I am still in KDP Select and I likely will not be leaving it soon.

1: I make substantially more money being enrolled in KDP Select. I’m a low list author. I make a profit, which is a bit unusual, but at the end of the day, I’m a small fry. KDP Select sales currently account for half of my income.

2: I’ve been treated well. When I have questions or issues, Amazon is very quick to address them.

The fact it is half of my current income makes a huge difference. Changing away from KDP Select, which I have done, hasn’t increased my base income by much. The sales gathered from other venues have not made up for the loss of KDP Select. In time, I may try again to break into ePub, but for now, my income is with amazon, as that is where my audience is currently located.

Yes, I have had people ask for ePub versions of my books. If every person who asked about ePub versions of my titles actually bought the books, I wouldn’t be enrolled in KDP Select. The truth of the matter?

Just because someone expresses interest doesn’t mean they’ll buy. In my case, very few have actually bought the ePub versions. Most of my readers use kindle app or a kindle e-reader of some sort.

There are going to be those who will not like my opinion on this, but yes, money does matter. Right now, stacking my cards with KDP Select is the best financial decision for me. I attempted to break out into ePub with the release of Winter Wolf, which failed miserably. (I made less than $20 on ePub when I spent a bit over $1,000 in advertising for it. Kindle made me around (ball parking) $500. They were advertised together, purposefully selecting cross-over audiences instead of focusing on kindle-specific readers.

In the long term, it’s entirely possible I could get an equal following of ePub readers, but it simply doesn’t make sense at current to switch away. Do I have a shrine set up to Amazon? No. But, unless the competition comes up with a marketplace allowing me to break in and have tools similar to KDP Select, it’s what I primarily have to work with.

Onto the real discussion: KDP’s new ruling.

Some things of note: When I first learned of the page count changes, I was unaware that there should be timing mechanisms so that people can’t cheat and just flip through books willynilly so authors are paid. Apparently, that’s now a factor.

My Opinion on the Changes

Once again, for purposes of full disclosure, I’ll open with my opinion on the changes. I love them. I write long books; 400+ pages for my regular novels, 100 pages for my short story collections per volume.

Being paid by page should prove more profitable for me in the long run, since it takes readers longer to go through my books. Instead of getting the same $1.40 a short story author gets on a loan, but they have 50 short stories… I’ll get paid for what the reader consumed.

I’ll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this later.

Public Service Announcement

There will be hard love in this post. I’m in that sort of mood today.

Fair Pay

I have seen a lot of discussion on whether or not KDP Select’s new and old systems include fair pay for authors. This subject is pretty volatile. It’s opinion, no matter what people say.

On one hand, authors get royalties for library-style books. In real libraries, authors only get a single royalty payment even if the book has been read a thousand times.

It’s a toss up. Could the pay be fairer? Probably.

But, I also acknowledge public libraries and realize that authors may have one thousand books read and only get paid a quarter (under traditional contracts) for the book. Indie authors could see anywhere between pennies to a couple of dollars for library-purchased titles. Libraries are super important, but that doesn’t mean authors are fairly paid for the usage of their books. In that, KDP Select is head and shoulders above the competition.

No, I am not suggesting that library systems should be dismantled or changed. I’m simply pointing out that the reality of author royalties when it comes to their books being in a library.

Fair Assessment of Number of Pages Read

When it was originally announced, the new system was a very, very simple metric. Total fund divided by total number of pages read equals royalty per page.

The formula is still the same, but for a page to count as a page, there are some checks amazon is doing, including time spent reading the page. Like many systems, the exact specifics are a guarded secret.

This metric has caused a lot of discussion. Some folks think that it will completely damage authorial careers and bring about massive changes on how people write stories. (IE, page turners will be par for the course.) Others don’t think much will change.

I’m of the opinion that this change will level the playing field. If people aren’t reading past page 2 of my story, I’m not engaging them as an author.

What I’m hoping is that amazon’s changes will include number of readers so I can figure out where I’m losing people, on average.

I will not change how I write my stories to try to benefit from the system. I will, however, continue to work hard at writing better, more engaging stories.

I can’t say I will shift to writing page turners, because those are typically the type of stories I already write. If anything, I’ve been expanding away from page turners, trying my hand at urban fantasy romance with my Tales of the Winter Wolf stories.

And no, I did not start writing short fiction to try to get a bigger part of KDP Select’s pie. I started writing short fiction because I wanted to learn how to do it, I wanted to tell stories about Nicolina and Richard, and I got hooked after writing a few of them out.

At the end of the day, here’s the deal.

If an author writes a 1,000 page novel, and a reader reads all of the pages, he’ll be paid for 1,000 pages out of the fund. The problem with the fund? It’s an arbitrary amount set by Amazon. Yes, I believe that a set pay per page would be the fairest, but until Amazon dives in with that, we are stuck with an arbitrary amount that fluctuates each month.

That is a problem with the system, in my opinion.

Anyway, let’s take a look at short story authors. If a short story / short fiction author has written 1,000 pages split across 100 projects, but a reader reads all 100 projects, they’ll be paid the same amount as the author with a single 1,000 page work.

It is equal, and I support that.

Quality Matters More

The days of people releasing ten page stories to get $1.40 royalty when the reader hits 10% ends with the last day of June.

Quality becomes the distinguishing factor in an author’s financial success. I do not mean perfect books, perfect grammar, no errors–I mean quality books. They have that ‘insubstantial something’ that keeps a reader reading in spite of the presence of errors. That’s what I mean by quality.

Granted, it’ll make clean, professionally edited novels more important. That’s a good thing for readers.

It’s a terrible thing for authors who don’t feel they can afford the editorial payments. Many can’t. But, the readers are placed in front of the authors in this case, as the authors will be encouraged to write stronger, more entertaining and engaging novels/short fiction in order to receive payment.

I’m competitive by nature, so I say, “Bring it on!”

Unfortunately, it could mean a lot of financial disasters for authors who were already struggling. How much will a page pay?

That’s what we really do not know.

Amazon is Satan!

This section is to address the standard arguments that Amazon is satan and is ruining the publication industry.

Amazon is what it is; is it ultimately fair? Questionable. Does it create a way for authors to find readers? Yes.

But ultimately, I feel like the current Amazonian kerfuffle relates to the fact that readers, ultimately, are in full control of how much an author will be paid for their work.

Here are a collection of the complaints I’ve heard so far:

1: In the old way, readers paid once to get a title. That’s it, that’s all. It didn’t matter if they only read one page. The author was paid.

My opinion: I’d rather know where I’m failing entertain my readers so I can fix it and tell better stories. Yes, I got paid for the read–even if they hated the book.

What I didn’t learn is whether or not I’m actually keeping readers around. Sure, I’ll get paid less this way, potentially. However, since I write 400+ page monsters as well as the newer 100 page anthologies, I might get paid more. It’s a mystery until it happens.

2: How will we know if Amazon is crediting pages properly?

We don’t, same way we don’t know if Amazon is recording all of our actual sales, same way we don’t know if Amazon is actually crediting us when a reader hits 10% in the KDP Select system.

We don’t know.

Same way traditional authors have no idea if their traditional publishers are actually recording the number of sales accurately. Sorry, but that’s fact. There’s a certain amount of trust one must have–or put up with. We simply do not know the truth of the matter.

We assume we are being credited fairly, because we have no other choice but to form that assumption.

We have no way of proving whether or not we’re credited properly, which doesn’t help matters any at all. After all, we know there are those who pirate books by buying them, grabbing the download on the sly, and immediately returning them. Some of these people do so to get the book for free. Others turn around and load the book onto illegal sites.

Some returns are even legitimate.

But as authors, we are not even permitted to see the refund excuse. Sucks, doesn’t it? We have a tendency to look the other way, mainly because we currently do not have a choice but to look the other way.

So, July 1, 2015 signals many changes for Amazon exclusive authors.

By August or September, I guess I’ll have a better idea of whether or not I will allow my exclusivity period to expire or not. For now, it’s the best choice I have available to me, since my ePub sales ventures have been lackluster at best.

Let’s Talk: Money, Hard Work, and Bad Luck.

I recently posted about a harsh writing reality of mine regarding hard work not being good enough. This led to some discussion regarding the necessity of luck in the writing industry and money. These things have a synergistic relationship. The general equation goes as follows: hard work plus good luck equals money and success.

As I discussed in the previous post, hard work does not necessarily equate success, be it financially or otherwise. However, since most people select careers based on financial viability, I’m going to delve into the breakdown of my writing career, start to finish.

Most of these numbers are pretty accurate, although there will be some estimates involved. (For example, crowd funding doesn’t earn you what the campaign states; there are fees associated with their use.)

To begin, I want to address the costs of writing, the mistakes I’ve made, and the mistakes I want to avoid in the future. Really, establishing a career in writing fiction is a long series of mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and perseverance–a lot of perseverance.

Some people get lucky. I’m not one of the lucky ones, and I have no problems admitting that. Luck plays a huge factor in establishing a writing career.

So, costs. Every book has been different, but my first four titles had a very similar trend.

Some important things to note: I have excluded some costs from this list. I have also excluded crowd fund earnings. Most of the costs excluded deal with The Eye of God and Storm Without End.

To give you a rough idea of the crowd fund earnings, I’d put them at roughly $3,500 (before fees) total, which brings the number closer to $3,000 after fees.

Here is a fancy link to all of my novels if you want to have a look at them.

Cover Art Costs

I spent, on average, $200 per cover. (My artist is Chris Howard! He’s fantastic. He’s taking break from creating art for hire, but he’s still stellar and I love working with him.)

Copyright Costs

Flat fee of $50 per novel.

Editorial & Formatting Costs

This is the big expenditure. I’m going to break this one down by novel. For Tales of the Winter Wolf, I made arrangements with some readers and friends to do the editorial work thanks to my financial situation. I started this transition with Blood Diamond.

Title
Amount Spent


The Eye of God
$775.00


Storm Without End
$860.00


Storm Surge
$660.00


Inquisitor
$1,200.00


Winter Wolf
$660.00


Blood Diamond
$510.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol. 1
$20.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol 2.
$20.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol. 3
$20.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol. 4
$20.00



Promotional Costs

Since I have no luck or bad luck, I’ve used promotion as a way to help boost my chances of success. I’m missing some costs from this list, as my full tracking spreadsheet is on my other computer, but this includes the majority of my expenditures for promotion.

The Eye of God & Storm Without End are the novels with expenditure inaccuracy. I have spent more than what is listed below.

Title
Amount Spent


The Eye of God
$227.00


Storm Without End
$250.00


Storm Surge
$40.00


Inquisitor
$550.00


Winter Wolf
$1,025.00


Blood Diamond
$0.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol. 1
$115.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol 2.
$0.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol. 3
$0.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol. 4
$0.00



Earnings

I’ve talked about what I have spent. Now I want to talk about what I’ve earned. This covers my earnings by year by title, current until May 2015.

Novel/Year
Total


Inquisitor
$5,975.10


2014
$5,285.85


2015
$689.25


Storm Without End
$1,005.84


2013
$428.63


2014
$423.81


2015
$153.40


The Eye of God
$448.31


2013
$197.85


2014
$216.69


2015
$33.77


Winter Wolf
$1,945.15


2014
$1,203.20


2015
$741.95


Storm Surge
$231.53


2015
$231.53


Grand Total
$9,605.94



Profit? What profit? We don’t need no stinking profit!

Said no businessman or woman ever.

Let’s take a look at the totals, shall we? Let me remind you, some of the numbers (dealing with money spent) are lower than reality, especially for The Eye of God and Storm Without End.

I would also like to mention that these earning figures do not factor crowdfunding and all relevant costs and earnings.

Title
Amount Spent
Money Earned
Profit Margin


The Eye of God
$1,252.00
$448.31
-$803.69


Storm Without End
$1,360.00
$1,005.84
-$354.16


Storm Surge
$1,050.00
$231.53
-$818.47


Inquisitor
$2,100.00
$5,975.10
$3,875.10


Winter Wolf
$1,935.00
$1,945.15
$10.15


Blood Diamond
$760.00
$0.00
-$760.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol. 1
$205.00
$0.00
-$205.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol 2.
$70.00
$0.00
-$70.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol. 3
$70.00
$0.00
-$70.00


Tales of the Winter Wolf, Vol. 4
$70.00
$0.00
-$70.00


Totals
$8,872.00
$9,605.93
$733.93

I’m actually astonished Winter Wolf has earned out. I thought it would take at least another 2-3 months before it reached that stage.

The Mistakes

I’ll be the first to admit my writing career has been a bit of a clusterfuck. There’s no use dancing around the bush regarding the matter. I’ve made mistakes, and I’ve made a lot of them. I’m going to go ahead and break down the mistakes I’ve made by book. Now, it’s worth noting there are a substantial number of mistakes not making the cut for this blog post. Some of them are so minor it isn’t worth discussing.

Do with the knowledge what you will. I’m just putting it out there for your reference.

The Eye of God

Mistake One: It was my first book and I knew nothing. Book education does not make up for a lack of actual experience.

Mistake Two: I had an ego and a skewed belief on what good enough was. It was skewed in the wrong direction.

Mistake Three: Hiring multiple editors doesn’t necessarily mean quality. (I had five for The Eye of God. Some were experienced, some were not. There are still errors lurking in the pages of that novel.) Most of the errors in the book are my fault. Editors are there to help authors.

They are not there to take the blame. The blame always belongs to the author.

Mistake Four: I may have jumped in too soon. My writing style has dramatically evolved since I wrote The Eye of God. This is a ‘mistake’ I can live with.

Mistake Five: Spent too much, didn’t get enough for the money spent. I wouldn’t say I made bad choices in who I approached to do the work, but I will say that I didn’t have high enough standards throughout the entire process.

Mistake Six: Patience is a virtue I didn’t have. I should have had the patience to run through the novel six or seven more times before pursuing publication.

Mistake Seven: Genre Choice. This one hurts, but I’ll be up front with this. The Eye of God does not fall into an appealing genre. The Fall of Erelith series is written for me and my enjoyment, and if people enjoy it with me, that’s great. It’s not in a money-making genre. This book likely will never turn a profit.

And yes, turning a profit does matter when writing is your career choice. Hobbyists can look away now and laugh. But when it’s your career choice, you need to make money. Right now, only two of my books have actually made money.

In a nutshell, if there was a mistake an amateur could make writing a novel, I made it. It was a learning experience, and a good one–but still a learning experience. There were a lot more than seven mistakes made, but I feel these are the big ones.

Storm Without End

I learned some new tricks while writing and editing this novel.

Mistake One: Once again, I failed to demand enough of myself on this one. I used three editors, but there are still lots of issues littering the pages of this novel. Ultimately, the fault is mine for not seeing more of the mistakes.

Mistake Two: Promotional mishaps suck. I did a lot of promotional experimentation with Storm Without End. Most of them didn’t pay off. The good news? I learned a lot.

Mistake Three: Genre Selection. Once again, this is a series written more for me than it is for the average reader. I enjoy stories where I must piece together a complex puzzle. This makes this novel a harder read, because there’s a lot of inference the reader must do for more subtle concepts to come through. This book caters to a very specific sort of reader.

No, I’m not saying readers are stupid. I am saying this book is written for a very specific type of reader, and those who aren’t that type of reader probably won’t like the book.

Mistake Four: I think I’m more clever than I am. Read into this one what you will, but it relates to mistake three.

Mistake Five: See all of the mistakes from The Eye of God and lessen them a degree–I was learning, but some mistakes got repeated but in a slightly different fashion.

Mistake Six: I’m not really sure if this is a mistake or simply a reflection of the world I’ve created. It also is something relevant in The Eye of God. In both of these novels, I write from male perspectives in cultures where women are repressed. I do not write these stories catering to those supporting women’s rights. In the world and culture, the women simply have not overcome those issues. It has nothing to do with my personal beliefs, but you better believe readers think it does.

In both The Fall of Erelith and Requiem for the Rift King, women are not given anything. They must earn it.

To some readers, that is a mistake.

Unfortunately, that’s not the story I want to tell. My women will be given a chance to earn their success, their freedom, and their strength. I refuse to hand it to them because they’re women in the same way I will crush men in my world simply because of the circumstances surrounding their situation.

Storm Surge

I’m skipping around in my publication order so I can deal with both Requiem novels at the same time. Storm Surge is a substantially better novel than Storm Without End–at least, it is in my opinion. The writing is better, there were fewer mistakes in the final version, and generally, I really started making progress in correcting all of the repeated mistakes from all of the previous novels.

That said, mistakes were still made. I wasn’t attentive enough to my editorial responsibilities for my own books. (I’m improving my self-editing skills, but damn, it’s hard work.)

If I had to pick a mistake for this one, it’d be my promotional efforts for this one. Half-assed promotion equals a half-assed launch. Unfortunately, because of the genre mistakes and other mistakes from Storm Without End, the retention rate of readers between the first and second book of the series hasn’t been what it could be.

Sequels are hard. It isn’t a matter of writing the sequel. Storm Surge actually came together quite easily, especially compared to other books I have written. However, because Storm Without End isn’t as strong as it could be, there are fewer readers going to pick up copies of Storm Surge.

That’s just a hard reality, and this is why many people suggest working with standalone novels. You don’t have to worry about book one to book two retention rates like you do with a series.

So, this series will probably go into the graveyard of written for my amusement and for dedicated fans. I’ll finish it, as I will The Fall of Erelith, but I will have to adjust how I spend money on it. That hurts, but it’s necessary.

Fortunately, in the writing world, the barter system is alive and well.

The Witch & Wolf Novels

I’m clustering Inquisitor, Winter Wolf, and Blood Diamond together for this entry, although each book does have their unique mistakes.

Inquisitor shared many problems Storm Without End did; the two were written back to back, and I was still trying (and failing) to reach my quality goals. I also wrote in an entirely new way, transitioning from third person to first.

What I did get right was the genre, which is the reason this series has actually turned a profit at all and has essentially given me some chance of an actual career.

Winter Wolf was an editorial nightmare. I went through four editors, and only one was able to see the project through from start to finish without issue. (Two actually finished the project, but the one had a move and health issues during the process.)

As such, the book just wasn’t what I was hoping for in many ways. I love the title now, it’s among one of my favorites, but back when I was writing it, all I wanted to do was light it on fire.

Many tears were shed during Winter Wolf.

Winter Wolf also had a promotional nightmare. I spent over a thousand dollars in promotional costs and didn’t even make back half of that in its opening week, which essentially means my promotion was a fairly substantial failure.

Blood Diamond, I’m hoping, will be a huge shift in how I approach my writing. I finished the book before I had the cover–the book is mostly done, too. I’m doing a couple of proofing runs before releasing it. My cover artist is taking a vacation from commissions, so cover art hasn’t been done for it–at least not matching the Witch & Wolf novels.

But, at this stage in the game, only people who have read books 1 & 2 are going to read 3. Cover art, I feel, is just not as important as it is for 1 & 2. I want a nice cover, but I’m not going to hold the book back for up to a year to get the matching cover.

That may be a mistake in the making.

Tales of the Winter Wolf

This is my first foray into short, interconnected fiction. It also signals a major shift in how I work. Because of my precarious financial situation, I am using barter, trades, and volunteers to help me write solid, professional stories. You’ve seen my financial numbers.

You know the reason why.

Will it work? I don’t know. Is this a mistake? It could be.

All I know at this point is if I wish to continue writing as a career, I need to work harder and find a way to get an injection of good luck. Becoming better at my job is only the start of the battle.

That said, I’m starting to really believe there is substantial truth in the concept of needing at least two hundred loyal fans to have any hope of success in this field.

I’m not there yet, but if hard work can overcome bad luck, I’ll find a way. Otherwise? I’ll have to look for a new job.

When Working Hard isn’t Good Enough

(c) qisur (Creative Commons – Flickr)

I’ve always been a believer in the concept that hard work brings about good things, be it monetary success, satisfaction, or general improvement of one’s circumstances.

It simply isn’t true.

Sometimes, no matter how hard one works, it doesn’t bring about the results needed or desired. Sometimes it is a matter of circumstances. Sometimes it is a matter outside of one’s control. Sometimes it is something else entirely.

Sometimes working hard simply mitigates the damage.

Working hard is supposed to be a miracle fix, something that guarantees quality, a solid chance at a career, or whatever your personal goals happen to be at any given point in time. Working hard is the knee-jerk piece of advice given for most circumstances.

Your job isn’t going well? Work harder! You don’t earn enough to pay your bills? Work harder! There are errors in your novel? Work harder! Your kids are running wild and causing problems? Work harder! You don’t fit society’s standards of normality? Work harder!

In the novel writing world, there are several vicious realities I’ve had to face.

No matter how hard you try, it won’t be good enough.
Even if you pay good editors good money, there is still a chance it won’t be good enough.

There are other points I could add to this list, but it boils down to ‘that wasn’t good enough, do better next book.’

I’ve spoken about depression before. I suffer from a milder form of it. (Mild still sucks.) I’ve always approached my depression and my work with the work harder mentality, as though this was the magical cure for all of my problems.

I’m far from perfect. I’m really, really far from perfect. I came to literacy late in the game, without the solid foundation many other authors enjoy. I’ve tried to make up for my lack of background with hard work, but the reality is depressing. It’s not good enough.

I want to tell good stories people will enjoy. I want to tell the types of stories I enjoy reading. I want to entertain. I want to let people step out of their own world for a little while and invite them to mine.

I want people to buy a copy of one of my stories and come away with something.

I sit down at my computer and I work hard. I spend tens upon tens upon tens hours writing, reading, rereading, correcting, fixing, proofing, writing, fixing, reading, rereading, correcting…

The unfortunate reality?

It’s just not good enough.

From my very first novel right up to Blood Diamond, which will be released as soon as I have cover art, there’s been one simple–and painful–fact.

All of my novels have had substantial editorial done on them. On average, I’ve paid rough $1,000 on copy and proofing editorial alone per book. When I get the notes back from my editors, I read, reread, correct, and work on my novel for tens upon tens upon tens of hours.

It’s just not good enough.

Working hard guarantees nothing. It doesn’t even ensure a level playing field. It doesn’t actually give you anything, really. Yes, I work hard. I struggle and fight to try to write a story people will enjoy. When I find an error, I fix it. I upload the fixed copies to amazon as soon as I can.

Yet, for every error I fix, there are three more waiting, lurking in the pages.

I average anywhere between 3-5 editors on a project, and there are still mistakes. Sometimes it is a stupid error. Sometimes it’s something that myself plus 3-5 other people just missed.

Ultimately, no matter how many editors I bring into a project, I am the one responsible for the words in my book.

I’ve learned a lot from my first novel, but I’ve also learned that settling for improvement each and every book just isn’t good enough. I don’t want to be ‘good enough.’

I want to be the best I can be, and I want that to happen now. But it won’t–it hasn’t. It may never happen.

Working harder doesn’t replace talent. It doesn’t replace skill. It doesn’t replace knowledge. It doesn’t substitute the synergistic relationship between talent and skill.

Working harder is as much of a trap as it is a necessity for success. Yes, those who do succeed have worked hard.

But it’s never a guarantee. I think our society has settled into a pattern of expectation, clinging to the belief that hard work is a guarantee. If you haven’t achieved your goal, it is because you’re lazy. It is because you simply aren’t talented or good enough. If you haven’t gotten to where you think you should be through hard work, you’re a failure.

There is the belief that we are owed something if we work hard.

That simply isn’t true.

I work hard, but that doesn’t mean my books are as good as they should be–or could be. I hire editors. I rely on them to help me correct my book.

But it’s ultimately not enough.

I have been told by people I know, in real life and on the internet, that they’re amazed by how hard I work, how dedicated I am to writing, and things of that nature. Every single time I hear this, I feel like a fraud. I put in a lot of hours each day, but the results simply aren’t what I want.

Working hard hasn’t gotten me through the glass ceiling, putting my work on the level I want it to be. I’ve always wondered why this is the case. Why is it that I work so hard, yet I can’t quite seem to leap over the obstacles preventing me from writing a truly good book?

I’ve always been about working hard. I always will be. No one is going to hand me anything on a silver platter. That’s just life. That’s reality. I’m not going to earn anything if I don’t try and put in the effort.

There are no handouts in life–at least, not for me.

I have always promoted the use of editors in fiction writing. Editors help writers make their stories better.

Ultimately, however, writers are responsible for themselves and their books. Editors help, but they are not the ones responsible for the final product. You, the author, are.

I am.

I work hard, but I think I’ve worked hard believing other people would help make my final product perfect. I need to work hard, but instead of relying on the crutch of my editors fixing my stupid mistakes, I need to sit down, shut the fuck up, and make sure I’m working hard to fix them on my own.

I’ll still get help, because I need it. But, maybe this time, working hard will let me get closer to good enough.

Too bad good enough is a sliding goal, one that seems to stay just outside of reach.

 

Fun and Games: What Authors Really Mean When We Say…

Let’s sit down and have a talk about reviews. As most of you know, I’m an author. I write fantasy. Later this year, I will be delving into science fiction.

Reviews are a daily part of life. It’s part of the territory. People read my books. When people feel strongly enough about the title, they leave their thoughts, which come in form of a review.

Reviews are a blessing and a curse. They help other readers decide if they want to read a title. They, sometimes, inform the author what they’re doing right or wrong. I love a good, solid critical review–the type where the reader took the time to say what actually bothered them, with specifics. Those are useful. They hurt, but when I say thank you, I mean it.

Mean-spirited, negative reviews are the ones this post refers to. But, author meltdowns have happened on any form of critical review. For your entertainment, I have located a few, like this one (archived implosion here) and this one and this one and this one and I think you’ve gotten the point. There are so many meltdowns on the internet of epic level that it’s impossible to list them all.

There are times when I’ve gotten a review where I’ve simply gone, “What the actual fuck?” Except… that’s not what I’ll say in public. Sometimes I’ll sigh in public over a specific comment, but that’s where it ends–a sigh. Why?

It’s not worth it. It’s just not. I may get depressed or unhappy about a review, but that’s not the reviewer’s problem. It’s mine. However, there is a bit of a language some authors (like me) have developed when dealing with reviews.

None of these reviews are real, nor are these responses I would actually say to a customer. But sometimes, just sometimes, I get a review with this sort of stuff in them, and sure enough…

The Review: This book sucks! Go die in a fire, it never should have been written!

The Response: Thank you for your thoughts. Alternatively, no response is made at all.

What the author might be thinking: Go die in a fire? Is that the best you can do, you yellow-livered ass wipe? Defenestration, baby. While lit on fire. Then go get run over by a bus. I can’t forget the bus. I want to defenestrate you after lighting you on fire so you can be run over by a bus. I hope a velociraptor eats your internal organs while you’re still alive.

Followed by: Please kill me, I want to die. I am a waste of air.

The Review: These characters are flatter than cardboard.

The Response: Thank you for your thoughts. Alternatively, no response is made at all.

What the author might be thinking: Wanna know what is flatter than a piece of cardboard? You, after I go on a joy ride with a steamroller.

Followed by: Please kill me, I want to die. I am a waste of air.

The Review: A Five Year Old could have written this.

The Response: Thank you for your thoughts. Alternatively, no response is made at all.

What the author might be thinking: If you have managed to get a five year old to focus on anything longer than a few minutes, you need to be donated to science in order to identify what planet you actually originated from. I should study you… or expose you to real five year olds, since you seem confused on the true nature of reality.

Followed by: Please kill me, I want to die. I am a waste of air.

The Review: I didn’t understand anything that happened in this book.

The Response: Thank you for your thoughts. Alternatively, no response is made at all.

What the author might be thinking: Did you actually read the book or were you skimming trying to get to the ‘best parts?’

Followed by: Please kill me, I want to die. I am a waste of air.

The Review: This book sucks.

The Response: Thank you for your thoughts. Alternatively, no response is made at all.

What the author might be thinking: … fuck you.

Followed by: Please kill me, I want to die. I am a waste of air.

The Review: All other negative reviews with no critical value.

The Response: Thank you for your thoughts. Alternatively, no response is made at all.

What the author might be thinking: Please kill me, I want to die now. I’m a waste of air and should no longer pollute this world with my existence. I will eat this ice cream now. :cries over a gallon tub of chocolate mint ice cream:

I will leave you with this lovely picture of a velociraptor. 

It is a lovely picture of a velociraptor. Okay, Utah Raptor, but you know? Technicality. It has teeth and is bigger than you.

It wins.

Every time.

This post has been brought to you by allergy medication and excessively warm and humid weather conditions.