Michael Selden's Blog, page 14
January 31, 2015
The Balance: An Additional Chapter Added to the Excerpt
I added an additional chapter to the on-line excerpt of The Balance.
It can be found on this page:
http://michaelselden.com/the-balance
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January 29, 2015
Prepping for France
I’ve begun to try to learn a little bit of the French language in preparation a my planned research trip to Provence. Last year I was in Italy for almost 3 months, researching this same book: DISOBEDIENCE. Part of the book is set in Rome and the area around it, part in Provence, and part in Baltimore. I’d been to Rome many times, but never with the same focus, and not having researched a specific timeframe (1880-1920). I’d planned to be in Provence this spring (in time for lavender season), but The Balance is running behind schedule, so I’ve postponed my trip till the fall.
I’m starting with a simple class, just to refamiliarize myself with French vowels and pronunciation. When I was learning Italian, I initially focused on pronunciation and grammar and then moved on to building vocabulary. Having learned some Italian is helpful, since there are many root words shared with French, but they are obviously two different languages. I plan to combine tutoring with software and web-based programs to listen and I’ll get a grammar and a verb book, as well as a dictionary and a phrase book. If my experience in Italy in 2000 is any gauge, I’ll be lost at first, no matter how prepared I think I am.
DISOBEDIENCE is a supernatural thriller I started to write while in Baltimore. That’s where most of the book occurs, but parts are set in other places. This will be my first attempt at writing a book like this. Before DISOBEDIENCE, I plan to complete the first draft of I AM and then to get it ready to publish. My planned book releases are:
The Boy Who Ran 2013 (completed)
The Balance (Book 1) Spring 2015
I AM 2015 Late or Spring 2016
DISOBEDIENCE Early 2017
The Balance (Book 2)
The Balance (Book 3)
I have more books outlined beyond this—we’ll see how my plan goes.
Michael
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January 25, 2015
Beware of scams and pirate sites—as if you weren’t careful already
Beware of a web link called “meistercremeshop”. I clicked on it because the site seemed to be offering my book for free and it tried to download and launch an app onto my computer—fortunately my security isolated it. I suspect they are advertising lot of things to get people to look at their site. Now I also understand that there is a legitimate web site in the Netherlands by that name that actually sells skin creme, or something. This seems like my click was hijacked . Anyway, don’t click on it if it returns from a search for my book and beware anything that advertises stuff for free—lots of scams out there.
Surf with care.
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January 15, 2015
Getting Down to the Last Revisions of The Balance
I spent the latter half of December and the first part of January making language edits to The Balance, and am now also working with John Hudspith to edit the book on a part by part basis. I’ve decided to divide the book into 4 parts, and while I was working on revisions of Part 2, John edited Part 1. I’ll be sending him Part 2 on Monday or Tuesday of next week. I am taking 6 additional passes through every chapter before going to copyedit.
The office where I work is on the second floor of my home, there’s a kind of second living room up here, just outside of my bedroom, that I’ve converted into a office, although I put another TV and a couple of chars to sit in here as well. The stereo uses the same speaker system as the TV and is usually on while I work, served by music from my mac. I use a Mac Air as my primary computer, although I recently bought a 30-inch monitor to help my eyes a little, and I added a small Norwegian wood stove to keep the upstairs warm (see comment on windows below)
I took a few photos of the office and a couple of shots out of the office’s 4 windows (my house has 26 windows and they all leak air). It’s a nice, warm place to work, even when it’s -15F outside. My house sits at the edge (or even inside) Pike National Forest, in teh town of Woodland Park (The City Above the Clouds) and is at an altitude of 8500 ft (2600m).
John Hudspith’s Facebook page can be found here:
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December 20, 2014
Why I Use a Kindle
In 2008, I broke down and finally bought an e-reader, in my case it was a Kindle DX. At the time these were expensive, and I think I paid around 500 dollars for my Kindle DX—this is the large one, with a greater surface area, so I could use large fonts without having to turn the page too often. They are much—much less expensive now.
Up till this point, I’d avoided even thinking about an e-reader, but my lifestyle, that of a voracious reader and someone who was spending months at a time on the road for work, drove the decision. I was conducting a series of flight tests for a system my team had designed, developed, and built. We would alternate flight testing between Hampton Virginia and Houston Texas, using NASA facilities and NASA aircraft. Each set of tests lasted between 2 and 3 months, thus we’d be living in hotels, although spending most of our time at the flight hangars—flight testing days are usually 12 to 16 hour days and my team worked 7 days per week. I tried to give the team a break by dividing them into two teams, then rotating those I could back home for a week and then in the field for a week, when possible, but not everyone could rotate. Whenever I wasn’t working, I was reading.
Reading takes your mind away from the world for a while and puts you in a different reality. It’s a great escape, and I managed to read a different book every day or two. That winds up being a lot of books, more than you want to carry in suitcases. The other important feature for me was that I could wirelessly buy new books whenever I wanted. I often can’t find what I’m looking for in bookstores—if you can find a bookstore. In the year 2000, I was in Italy most of the year—this time setting up and testing a brand new astronomical observatory and it’s laser system, used to measure distance to different objects in orbit, or on the moon. There, it was very difficult to buy what I wanted, when I wanted. And since I keep on traveling to Italy and other places even now, I like to be able to buy books. I can with my Kindle—anywhere, any time. All I need is a 3G wireless signal.
E-readers are great. Mine has a built in dictionary, so I can look up a word I don’t know, or highlight a passage. It remembers where I was in every book—if I stop— and I can even ask it to read aloud, although my older one doesn’t sound great. My computer is very good at reading aloud, and I use that to read articles to me while I do housework.
All told, I’m glad I made the jump to an e-reader. It holds thousands of books, the charge lasts a week—even for me—and I can read mine in direct sunlight with no problem. Also, the books are cheaper. If you buy a book per day, this matters.
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December 11, 2014
Good News! Amazon now says that “The Boy Who Ran” is in stock
I’m glad to see that Amazon has my book in stock again. It makes me feel better about the partnership. The Boy Who Ran is available in Paperback, Kindle, and E-Pub versions—The paperback can be bought at Amazon or Barnes & Noble (if Amazon is out), and the E-Pub Version at many SmashWords partners, including Barnes & Noble.
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December 10, 2014
Google Ad Words versus everything else
Ads placed on Twitter seem to mostly garner clicks to look at your profile—I don't think I've ever made a sale from Twitter, Facebook ads occasionally (once in a blue moon) get someone to at least look at your web site—mostly you get a lot of "like" clicks.
Blogs work pretty well to get attention, but not necessarily for sales.
Google Ads has been the only reliable method I've tried thus far that seem to generate sales. The ratio of sales to ad clicks is (at best) 10:1 and usually more like 20 or even 50 to 1 on a not so good day, and you may even get 100 clicks with no sales. But at least it seems to have some impact.
A couple of things I've found with Google Ads is that:
1) display ads don't work. They get clicks but no buys and many 100% bounces on your site. 2) You DON'T want a very low position. It's a waste of money to seek out an ad position of #1. The ad money goes out fast and you get a 100% bounce rate. For me, its been better to be a little over #3 in position. People who actually have the patience to get to the third page are more serious and will actually read your web site. If they seem to like what you've written, they may buy. But even with Google, you need to be patient. You may have to experiment with keywords and ad wording to get results. It may take months, so be prepared to invest.
December 4, 2014
Amazon’s “Temporarily out of stock” notices
Recently, I’ve noticed that Amazon has put a “Temporarily out of stock” notice on the paperback version of The Boy Who Ran. Based on what their agent said over the phone to me, I’m not sure they ever stocked many (or perhaps any) copies. The Boy Who Ran printed, bound, and distributed by Ingram Books’ Lightning Source in a model called “Print on Demand”, or POD.
POD has changed the nature of publishing. It’s made it inexpensive to print, bind and ship one copy of a book and it’s helping to revolutionize publishing hardcopy editions, both soft-back and hardback copies for those who prefer to buy a physical book rather than an e-book. I personally buy Kindle editions, originally because it was more convenient for me to carry a Kindle when I travel than 100 books. I read a lot, and I used to travel for months at a time for my job—living in hotels. But many people prefer to hold a physical book when they read, a sentiment I can understand even if I don’t share it. POD makes it possible for small publishers (like me) to compete with the big boys. Ingram (using their Lightning Source entity) does my production and Ingram (the largest book distributor in the world) is my distributor. My books are made available globally through their catalog. There is no need to print thousands of copies, to be housed in a warehouse, nor is there an overwhelming need to stock many copies in a store, since Lightning Source can create and ship any number of copies within 2 to 3 days. In some bookstores, there are even machines that can produce the book on site.
I offer my book in three formats: paperback, Kindle, and e-pub. E-pub is a format used by other e-readers, although many tablets can accept either the Kindle or the e-pub versions. The book is offered through numerous channels, Amazon and Barnes & Noble both have an e-version and the paperback. SmashWords partners with numerous channels, like Barnes & Noble for the e-version, as well as Apple Books, Scribed (a subscription service) and many others.
My recent confusion over Amazon’s reported delay deepened when i called them to understand why they had suddenly used a Temporarily out of stock notice, beginning around Thanksgiving. The representative told me that all of the Lightning Source books were being treated this way—this may or may not be true. Meanwhile Barnes & Noble is still reporting that they could ship in one day. I suggested to the rep at Amazon that, if Amazon’s internal receiving, warehousing, handling, and shipping process was causing a delay that they arrange for Lightning Source to ship directly to the customer. They would save cost and the customer would get their books faster.
Meanwhile, I’ve added a Barnes & Noble button to my web site, to allow customers to choose: Amazon or B&N for their paperback choice. I decided early on that I would not sell books directly. I want to avoid the complications of setting up shipping and managing sales taxes. My main objective is to write and publish books, not to be a sales distributor.
I don’t know what’s behind the change at Amazon and I don’t want to speculate about motivations. It doesn’t matter—only actions matter—and the customers are best served when they can decide if they want a paper or e-book, and then to receive what they buy as quickly and efficiently as possible, while keeping the prices reasonable. As a publisher, I make almost exactly same gross profit on each book, be it e-book or physical book. The e-book for the Boy Who Ran is priced at $2.99 and the physical book at 10.99. No matter which is bought, my gross profit is $2, although I paid for development, design, layout, and I still pay for marketing and advertising from my profits—In fact The Boy Who Ran is still a large net loss for me. Publishers, like myself, also offer a very significant discount to all physical bookstore channels, to make it worth their while to carry the book. They can sell the book for less if they like and still make a profit. Writing and publishing books is not something you take up for money. Very few (less than 1% of books published) sell many copies.
So. If you have a choice if you are looking for my book: Amazon is a great company and I will continue to use them, but they seem to have a built in delay for Ingram / Lightning Source physical books (although I suspect it’s less than estimated). But there are other places that have them in stock and Barnes & Noble seems to have found a way to ship quickly. The consumer has (and should have) a choice.
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November 20, 2014
The Boy Who Ran, Review and Kindle Version Giveaway
New Review of The Boy Who Ran, and enter to win one of a limited number of Kindle version copies:
Read Stacie Theis’ review at BeachBoundBooks:
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The Boy Who Ran Adds Moonbeam Award to IPPY Gold Medal
This adds to the IPPY gold medal award for juvenile fiction for 2014.
Photo: This was the second award The Boy Who Ran won this year. "The Moonbeam Children's Book Awards" bronze medal in pre-teen historical / cultural fiction. The package came in the mail today. I decided not to travel for this one.
This adds to the IPPY gold medal award for juvenile fiction for 2014.
The Boy Who Ran
