J.U. Scribe's Blog, page 8

Is This the End of Dystopia?

Allegiant: Part 1

This was the question that was raised in the back of my mind in the beginning of 2016. It’s no secret the latest Allegiant movie starring Shailene Woodley bombed at the box office. That came in the heels of the weak performance of another Sci-Fi movie: The 5th Wave, debuting at a little over ten million for its opening weekend. Up till last fall, YA books seemed to be all the rage especially from the dystopian sector. Not surprisingly Hollywood picked up on the popularity of books like the Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner and The Giver and began adapting these widely acclaimed novels into the big screen. While most of these book-to-movie adaptions started off strong,  recent under-performances of the latest installments leaves me questioning not only the dystopian movie series they inspired but the market for that genre as a whole.

You could say the Hunger Games was the spark that made dystopian fiction catch fire in pop culture. While it’s safe to conclude it hasn’t dethroned big giants such as romance, many of these YA novels have wisely incorporated romantic subplots, furthering expanding their market-base. And with strong performances from the first two Hunger Games installments at the box office, it was clear dystopian fiction had a solid fan-base. What movies like Hunger Games did though was set the bar high for the movies that would follow such as Divergent which also borrowed the same elements such as intense action, strong female characters against post-apocalyptic backdrops,

Even at its peak, the first tell-tale signs that interest was plateauing was seen in the third installment of Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. Most fans of the book were mixed with the idea that the last book would be split into two parts considering the third book is not really long when compared to the previous two books let alone other YA fiction books. The decision was largely driven by the studios which in my personal opinion wanted to milk the franchise for what it was worth. From a marketing standpoint it initially seemed like a smart move. Not surprisingly the same marketing ploy was used with the Divergent series.

However while studios hoped that prolonging the series would rake in more cash for them, it marked the beginning of what I called, “dystopian fatigue.” From reading user reviews, it’s clear that elements like love-triangles, the strong kick-butt female heroine —things that were once seen as marketable strong points— were now redundant clichés. Although splitting Mockingjay into two parts didn’t turn me off from watching both movies, I could see why users would opt out of seeing one of the movies to read the book instead. While Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2 still managed to have a measure of success domestically and abroad the same marketing tactic fared far worse with Allegiant debuting at 38 million in North American in it’s first weekend.

While I never majored in marketing in college, as an indie author I can attest to the challenges when it comes to marketing a book. Markets are ever-changing. What is considered “hot” today could be a bust three months later. At best it’s tricky to determine how well a certain genre will do long-term considering that the market can be fickle.

By no means am I the only person that has questioned the future of these types of movies. But I have yet to hear of discussions of the implications this could have on the book market. While the future of dystopian movies catered to the young adult audience seemed to have reached a bust, it’s premature to say this spells doom for the genre as a whole, at least on the publishing sector. If anything the adaption of book-to-movie adaptions, have fueled sales for those existing books. Months prior to the movie’s release, the book usually jumps on the top of the best sellers list, as was seen in the example of the Hunger Games installments.

At the same time the movies created a surge of new dystopian fiction, creating more choices for young and adult readers. With more choices, the competition can be seen as a two-edged sword depending on who you speak to. More choices lends itself in the favor of the avid and casual fans alike. At the same time I could see this being a negative thing for both self-published and published writers. Both types of writers face the challenge of standing out in a crowded market hoping to deliver a YA novel that doesn’t feel recycled or cliche. However I think for the fans who are buying the books, theirs still plenty of revenue to be made from dystopian fiction considering the final installments of Allegiant and Maze Runner will still be fresh on the minds of millions in the months to come.

So what will be the long-term future of dystopian fiction? Has it cooled off like the movies they inspired?

Only time will tell.

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Uncategorized

The One-Trick Pony: Characters with Limited Growth

Two excellent examples highlighting the reason why character growth is so important to a story.

A Writer's Path

by Andrew R. Cameron

It’s the end of another semester of university, which means I’ve been inundated with marking and will likely remain inundated for the next fortnight. But I enjoy marking Creative Writing pieces–the sheer diversity of imagination never fails to impress me. I’ve been teaching Genre Fiction this semester, which means I get to enjoy some good science fiction, crime fiction, and horror. And I love seeing students improve over the course of the semester.

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Filed under: Uncategorized

Do you!

A lot has changed from when I first started self-publishing in 2013 to now. You can say life happens. Priorities shift. You realize things aren’t guaranteed. Not even your health. So one of the biggest things I’ve learned in the past 26 years on this earth is the simple mantra I go by.

Do you.

I accept this mantra. As a writer. A man. A human.

Of course this mantra is not to excuse us from growth. Nor is it an excuse to not work on potentially damaging character flaws. But I’ve come to accept myself (mostly) for my idiosyncrasies, my temperament as an introvert, and my core values that keep me grounded even if others find them odd or “old-fashioned.” I’ve learned not to give too much credence to what others think. That gets tiring after awhile.

But in the context of writing, I’ve come to stay true to the stories I write and the characters that give life to those stories. As I’ve alluded to in previous posts about writing compelling characters, it’s important to write characters that you can connect with as well as your readers. Whether a story is plot-driven, or character-driven, having solid believable characters helps me to stay invested from beginning to end.

Part of what I love about writing is creating worlds and then populating that world with real characters with real hopes and fears. Brainstorming what your character aspires for and then plotting how they overcome obstacles to reach their goals is quite satisfying. From middle school till now, I’ve followed my character, Troy from a precocious 4 year old to an angsty adolescent to a young man who understands what truly matters in life. His story just so happens to take place in an age of antiquity although places and events are fictionalized. Of course as the writer I’m already invested in the character I’ve created. It’s only natural for writers such as myself to hope that readers feel the same level of interest and investment. Of course you can’t tell what readers are thinking about your works except by means of reviews. That’s why authors love reviews.

Early on in my writing career, I never expected to be a best-selling author on the New York Times. I just wanted to write a good book, publish, and make some sells and rack up some reviews on Amazon. While I was able to write and polish the 1st book, Before the Legend, before publishing it, I didn’t get the results I was hoping for in terms of sales and reviews.

Initially I was very disillusioned with the publishing process and even writing in general. Was my book not good enough? Was I not good enough? So I swallowed humble pie, read David Gaughran’s book Let’s Get Visible and focused on putting out a more polished product with a better understanding of how to market a book.

So how did I do the 2nd time I re-released it? I had a renewed sense of optimism in terms of sales. While I did experience a slight bump in sales, it still was not significant enough to make me think that writing would ever be profitable for me. Thoughts crossed my mind that I was writing in the wrong genre and the wrong audience. That if only I stuck more, “romance” or “drama,” that I would draw more people. That if I wanted to appease readers interested in Roman history that I needed to put more emphasis on action and battles fought. Hence that was something that influenced my decisions when writing the last two books, particularly Chasing Blue. The last book is probably the longest of the series but also the most emotional and grittiest thing I’ve ever written. It was quite an emotional roller-coaster but a very satisfying and bittersweet journey.

Even with the more serious direction in latter works, my last book would never be as popular as some of the books that are trending now. Let’s face it, romance, dystopian, and mystery/thrillers are what’s hot right now. And many of these genres are geared towards the Young Adult audience. Considering there’s not many fans of alternative-historical fiction it’s very tempting to switch genre boats when your sales have reached a stalemate. So do I jump ships even though historical fiction is still my first love? Do I write something that strictly suits the historical fiction crowd? Or do I surrender with something more mainstream to appeal to a broader audience?

Let’s fast forward to 2016.

I’ve come to accept and embrace what I’ve already written even if it’s not perfect or my target audience is quite small compared to other audiences. I’ve taken feedback (good and bad) from editors and readers alike to make my existing body of work stronger. Some changes I protested at first, was just what I needed. At the same time if a suggested change doesn’t jive with my overall vision, makes me extremely uncomfortable, or makes me hate my own story, then that’s the time the feedback would not be in my best interests. Even if my stories will never be popular, that’s OK. I’ve made peace with that.

Recently I’ve taken a break from new writing projects and publishing, to strengthen the body of work I already have and to pursue other goals I want to reach in the coming year. Will I explore other genres in the future? Maybe. After all my interests are varied. I never liked being put in a narrow box. I personally like reading books of different genres especially YA/Dystopian in recent times. But whatever I choose to do, I want to do something I will be invested in, and at my own pace. Throughout this whole process I realized you’ll never please everyone. Not even in your own genre. And that’s a fact of life. Even in my personal life, I’ve learned that not putting too much stock on other people’s opinions to feel validated is quite liberating. The only people’s opinions I still want to seek are those that matter. Those that have my best interests at heart.

So I have to stay true to myself and values, even if that means less sales and notoriety. Because at the end of the day I have to do me.

 

 

Filed under: Self publishing, Uncategorized

2015 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

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Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 470 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 8 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Katniss: Real or Not Real

About two weeks ago, I talked about writing characters that become real to the reader to the point where they take on a life of their own. What better way to learn how to write compelling, believable characters than examining your favorite characters from books you’ve personally enjoyed.  I’ve read many books throughout the years and one character that stands out as an excellent case study of a real character is Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Game series. The “Girl on Fire” as she’s known in the book, has caught on like wildfire, becoming a house-hold name. Even though the book has become a world-wide phenomenon, I didn’t always feel that way about it.

I was late getting into the Hunger Game series. To be honest I didn’t even know about the book until the 1st movie came out.  While everyone was hyping it up, I was pretty reluctant to watch Hunger Games let alone read the book. I dismissed it as “dumb” or “too violent.” Then a year  later after it came out on the big screen, my sister rented the first movie on DVD. It was lying around and after listening to some of the soundtracks I was curious. After the first ten minutes of watching I was hooked! That’s when I fell in love with Katniss Everdeen and her chilling story.

Even though she’s a fictional character, you could imagine her as a real person. Despite her inherent flaws we rooted for her to win the Games. That begs the question: what made her so believable? Even more importantly: what made her likeable? The answer to those questions are important especially for any writer because that is one of our end-goals; to create realistic characters that you’ll care about. To feel emotionally invested in. Compelling characters make for compelling stories. Today, I share snippets from my long overdue review of the Hunger Games which will shed light on why Katniss Everdeen has become a house-hold name.

Voice

Have you ever read a book that ‘spoke to you?’ Very likely one style of writing will resonate with you more than others. This is where voice comes in. Grammar girl defines it best by providing this definition for voice: a distinct personality, style, or point of view of a piece of writing or any other creative work.

Since Hunger Games was written in 1st person POV, we get to hear Katniss’ voice loud and clear. From the first chapter, we’re introduced to Katniss’ personality. The writing style for the most part is straight-forward narration infused with sarcasm. Whenever I read a witty remark Katniss makes, it elicits a response from me, whether it’s a laugh or smirk. Those little quirks and nuances not only make the story enjoyable to read, but help paint a composite, 3-Dimensional picture of the MC. Although Suzanne Collins does her share of telling us what happens through her character’s eyes, she balances her prose with showing. We’re not told Katniss is practical. Neither are we’re told she’s resilient, brave, or distrustful. Those things are shown to the reader by how she interacts with characters around her. Just as telling are the internal thoughts she expresses to the reader that the MC wouldn’t dare disclose except in the company of close friends and family. This gives the reader an exclusive pass as it were into Katniss’ thinking, which is important in understanding the motivations behind her actions. So when Katniss shoots an arrow at her evaluators or looks after Peeta in the arena, her actions are believable and reinforce the kind of person she is.

Here’s an excerpt showing one of Katniss’ qualities:

His rage seems pointless to me, although I never say so. It’s not that I don’t agree with him. I do. But what good is yelling about the Capital in the  middle of the woods? It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t make things fair. It doesn’t fill our stomachs.

What can add (or detract) from the voice is the dialogue itself. What the character says and how the characters say something  reveals a lot about them. This is no different with the main characters in Hunger Games, particularly Katniss, whose verbal exchanges can vary depending on her relationship with that person. While she speaks gently with her sister Prim, her distant relationship with her mom is revealed by the firm, brisk tone she uses with her.

Likeability

Throughout Hunger Games and the books that follow, we’re reminded of Katniss’ flaws. But her strengths along with her weaknesses is what makes her human. If she was a Mary-Sue character she would be boring. Instead you have a character whose not always composed and at times can lose her temper. Who haven’t lost their temper at one point in time? Most of us can relate to her flaws. But her flaws in themselves don’t make her any less likeable. As long as the bad qualities don’t outweigh the good  you can create a very dynamic yet likeable character. When you happen to have a brave, fiercely independent girl who happens to be impulsive at times, you just never know what she’s going to do next. That makes it all the more interesting to read.

In life, people are shaped by their experiences. After making a mistake, the expectation is that you learn from it. That’s part of growth. Sometimes the growth can come through trials which can change us for better or worse. After reading all three books, I can truthfully say the main character has grown during her time surviving two hunger games and a war on top of that in the last book. We saw Katniss growth from a destitute girl in the seam focused  on day-to day survival, to a victor, to an unwilling face of the Rebellion, to finally a willing pawn in the rebellion. As readers we’re right there each step in the journey with her, rooting for her.

However it’s in Mockingjay, the final book, where we see Katniss’ character stretched to new limits. While Katniss is still a strong, brave, fiercely independent girl, we can’t ignore the psychological damage the Games have had on the MC. And when you add war to the mix, this only adds to the moral complications that weigh on her distraught mind. Despite the romanticized notion of war and Rebellion that readers may have had, this is a war book showing the collateral damage war can bring. She is not superwoman. She’s a 17- year old girl pushed to the breaking point in the most raw, heart-rending way.

Disclaimer: Some spoilers hinted at.

After readings reviews on the book I get a mixed consensus on the third book, with a sizeable number of readers feeling very disappointed with the direction it took. While I respect people’s opinions I think it stemmed largely from unfulfilled expectations. The author didn’t follow the “Katniss picks a hot best friend, fights the bad guys in the Capital and live happily ever after” formula. Suzanne didn’t sugarcoat things nor did she take the easy route. Instead she gave us a dark, gripping novel that tugs at your heart and refuses to let you go.

Knowing how intense the third book is makes me all the more curious to see how the movie will execute the last book when Mockingjay Part 2 comes out this Friday. I already enjoyed seeing the author’s vision come alive on the big screen for all three movies. I felt the actors/actresses for the most part embodied their respective character. Because I saw the movie first, now when I read the book, I envision the actors/actresses who played them. After all the supporting characters such as Gale, Peeta,  Prim, and Haymitch not only carried their own weight but were likeable in their own way. But of course the spotlight goes to Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal of Katniss which  was almost spot-on.

When you think about the points considered Katniss was not only believable but likeable. Our “Girl on Fire” has left her mark, joining the club of memorable book characters. She has become almost as big as the book itself, coming alive in the reader’s mind and on the big screen. The writer bravely took us on an emotional rollercoaster with the character, allowing us to be in the moment as we experienced her joys and fears. With a compelling character and a compelling story it’s no wonder Hunger Games has become as big as it is.

Going back to the title of this post, if you were to ask me if her character was “Real or not real?” I tell you, “Real.”

 

Filed under: Writing Tips

When Your Character Becomes Too Real

One of the goals that any writer hopes to achieve is to make his/her character feel real to the reader. When you find a character that feels real you can connect with them on an emotional level. In turn you become invested in the story when those important connections are made. That character becomes more than a flat caricature. They’ve come alive from the printed page. The point that you actually care what will happen next to them, that keeps you turning the pages.

This is especially true for any main character you write. When we first create our characters we often start with surface traits. Our first thoughts are on physical descriptions or generic labels to describe their characteristics (e.g.: cool, sexy, shy, outgoing, nerdy, mean, etc.). While that’s an ok place to start, it’s good to reflect on what makes that character unique or distinctive. Maybe they have an interesting quark about the way they laugh or maybe your character has a special talent or two. Whether we realize it or not we often draw from real life examples when brainstorming our characters. We even sometimes add in little details and habits from people we’ve observed, giving them added realism. Before you know it your character feels like someone you’ve known. Then you stop and realize why that character feels real; too real. That real-life example is you the writer.

It’s not surprising that a  character will be shaped by your own traits, personal experiences, or even belief systems. When coming up with my own characters for my story series, I did not set out to base the characters off my family, friends, co-workers or even myself. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that I had a friend read my first three books. Like most writers I was curious to get his thoughts on my stories. Of all the things he could comment on he tells me my books told him a lot about me.

I shouldn’t have been surprised by his initial impression but I was. I truly underestimated just how observant my friend is. It was flattering yet unsettling at the time that was the biggest take away he got from my stories. It was from that moment onward that I became more conscious of how my personal life experiences shaped the disposition and choices my characters made  affecting the overall direction that the story took.

For those familiar with my story series, Troy, is the main character from all four books. Although I never intended to base a character off myself there were some striking similarities between me and my fictional friend. I will focus on one in particular.

Introverts Alike

One of the biggest things I shared with my character is that we’re both introverts. In an earlier post “Self-Promotion from an Introvert” I self-identified as an introvert and the unique view on socialization we have compared to extroverts. Truth is, I was an introvert long before I even knew what the word meant. It wasn’t until last year that I read an article on introversion that I had that “aha “moment and realized that article was speaking to me on a fundamental level.

Fittingly enough, I too created Troy (long before I knew what introversion was) to be an introspective character. Years ago, I had conceived a character that was absorbed in the thoughts that ran in his head. A character who was attentive to the nuances of the characters or setting around him. A character that listened before he spoke. A character that was a deep analytical thinker; all the things that could describe me. Thinking on it now, it was no wonder my friend thought the book was based on me!

But the thing is I did not want readers to confuse me with my character. To think that he and I had become one. I cherished my individuality too much to be compared to anyone else let alone a fictional character. For a long time I had the impression that it was a negative thing to have an author’s own life and experiences bleed into the story. As if somehow those things would taint the story. To an extent such concerns are legit. Considering my story is written in a historical setting it is very easy to transfer our modern views of the world into a time period where their views or mores were much different. For example, back in Roman times which my story is set in, slavery was a commonplace practice. Although most people (including myself) find it horrible, I have to remind myself that my characters would have viewed slavery as normal. As you do more research into the period, you’ll find that wasn’t the only cringe-worthy thing going on!

This time around in the editing process though, I’m more conscious about the attitudes and actions that would be more appropriate regarding certain practices in society that were commonplace back then. At the same time, I try to balance those concerns with my desire not to present a cookie-cutter character that blindly goes through the motions of life. Nor would I want to add something that will make me hate my own book. My aim is realism but not to the detriment of alienating impressionable readers. I’ll admit it’s a balancing act, I’m still trying to master.

Now I have come to realize that I don’t have to completely “divorce” myself from my work to be a good writer. After all, the characters that drive my story stem from me and my imagination. Part of what I love about writing is creating characters that I can relate to even if they are quite different from me. And that’s ok. By all means I do not intend to create a carbon copy of myself unless I’m writing my autobiography. Otherwise that would be boring. But I hope to create a compelling character with an equally compelling story that I can connect to and in turn readers can connect to.

So those are my thoughts on the topic. I hope to expand on what it means to create a compelling character in a future post so stay tuned. I’ve shared my view on writing characters based loosely on yourself or others you know or have observed from afar. Is that something you find yourself doing? If so you’re not alone.

Filed under: Writing Tips

What I Learned from Going Free

Summer still sizzles on in the month of August. It’s been approximately 2 months since the launch of my free book run. With all free book runs they eventually run their course. After getting encouraged by a blogger to share what sites I found to be most cost-effective in promoting my book, logically this topic would be my next post. While I admit I don’t fully understand all the variables that factored in, here’s some of the overall lessons I gleaned as I share my results during and after the free run.

When choosing sites to notify your free book, I truly underestimated the saying ‘money talks.’ Although several sites will let you post a submission for your book for no cost when it’s going free, they’re basically saying they reserve the right to be choosy. Considering some of them receive a large amount of requests, most of the time you have to pay to guarantee a featured mention of your book. Unless your book is a clear standout amongst the staff reviewing your book, your free request runs a high chance of being ignored.

That’s the dilemma I found myself in when starting off my free run. Although I contacted several sites days in advance, all with the exception of Ebookasaurus and iAuthor, did not choose my book. This decision greatly impacted me the first few days of my promotion, which was getting off to a rough start to put it nicely. Thankfully I had a few Facebook pages that kindly featured my book’s promotion but it was not the fire power I was looking for. The sites I reached out to were not bad in themselves. If I were to use their services again, I would have to use  their paid featured options and make sure I had at least one or two guaranteed feature spots before the free run began.

That same weekend is when I pulled out the ‘big guns’ as people say and fell back on my trusted friend FreeBooksy. Don’t let the name fool you. You will pay a price to feature your free Kindle. The price tag can vary depending on the genre of the eBook. But considering I used them for my first free run and my sales rank increased exponentially, I had nothing to lose by trying. Since I contacted them late, the earliest they could feature my posting was the following Tuesday.

Below are my sales ranking on Amazon starting from the first day, Friday through Tuesday. Not surprisingly my best highlights came on Tuesday when my book peaked at #1 Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children’s eBooks > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Greek & Roman and in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Alternative History

After the free Run

So how did I do after the free run? While I didn’t hold onto my #1 sales spot by Wednesday I was able to stay on the top 100 spot for my respective genres for weeks after the free run. This of course gave me a nice boost for my author sales rank too. I also was surprised by a new review, which made me happy. In terms of sales, the week of the free run I sold 5 books. While that may not seem like I a lot, considering on average I get a new sale once in 6 weeks, that sales figure was a significant improvement from what I usually make.

One of the big questions I ask myself from the free run is: was it worth the money? After all, the cost of advertising and marketing can quickly add up for a writer. I can in part answer the question using the ratio a fellow blogger Nicholas C. Rossis came up with to determine the “value of money.” Basically it’s a ratio between the number of sales and the cost of advertising. I highly recommend looking at the chart he uses which breaks down the ratios for each major advertising site. While it’s not 100% accurate, it is quite insightful in determining what sites are worth the investment for free, discounted, or paid books.

In this case study, I’m interested in actual sales not downloads. I spent $40 to have my book featured on Freekbooksy. The book was featured a few days even after the free run ended. Simultaneously I did also spend $25 on Goodreads ads. Altogether I sold 5 books the week the free run ended. For simplicity sake let’s say that was due all to Freebooksy (trying to determine which site was responsible for each sale would be too complicated). From studying the chart I realized to get the two numbers they are dividing the number of sales by the number spent on advertising. In my example my value of money would 0, 125 (0 is my first value, since my calculation was less than 1). While that’s not great considering you want to spend less to get more in return, it’s not horrible either.

Overall I learned a lot of things the 2nd time around. Despite the missteps, I did experience a relative measure of success compared to my previous attempt. While I didn’t have as many downloads as my previous free run, I did get more sales which was my real objective behind the promotion. To me what happened after the free run was what mattered the most.

Catch what I’m up to next here.

******

Highlights from each day

Friday results: Amazon sales rank #42,999

#9 in  Kindle Store  >  Kindle eBooks  >  Children’s eBooks  >  Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths  >  Greek & Roman

Saturday results 1:56pm :

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,403 Free in Kindle Store



#6 in  Kindle Store  >  Kindle eBooks  >  Children’s eBooks  >  Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths  >  Greek & Roman
  #18,392 Free in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store )

Sunday results (10:59pm)

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,837 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

#3 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children’s eBooks > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Greek & Roman
#12 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Alternative History

Tuesday results 4:29pm

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#584 Free in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store ) 6:45pm

#1 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children’s eBooks > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Greek & Roman
#1 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Alternative History



Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Self publishing

Before the Legend Going Free!

 

T.G.I.F.

The countdown begins. The eBook for Before the Legend is officially going free starting today. The free promotion is from June 12th-14th and 16th. Download your free copy on Kindle today here.

*P.S.

On Sunday starting at 12pm CST – 1opm I’ll be taking reader’s questions in a Q&A session on Goodreads. Don’t won’t miss the latest updates or changes? Follow me on my Facebook page.

-Happy Friday

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Uncategorized

Prepping for Free Promotion

Key word to this promotion. Free. Well at least mostly.

After mulling the idea of a cinematic trailer, I finally set to work to release a brand new book trailer for my 4th book, Chasing Blue. It was a lot of work but I believe it was worth the effort and I hope you guys enjoy it. The trailer comes at a time where I’m also prepping for my free run for Before the Legend. From Friday June 12th to 16th, the eBook will be going free on Amazon for Kindle.

Considering I’ve done a free run before, I already have an idea of what to expect. When I first tried it last year, I had a measure of success considering I wasn’t enrolled in KDP Select and had to wait for Amazon to price-match when I dropped the price to $0 via Smashwords. The first day I had hundreds of downloads, and eventually rose to #1 briefly in my respective category. I attribute the success largely to FreeBooksy, although I did use Pixel of Ink too to promote my free run (they are no longer accepting free books at the moment). It also helped I chose a category with fewer works to compete with (eg. Juvenile Fiction / Legends, Myths, Fables / Greek & Roman), which is a tip I picked up from reading David Gaughran’s book Let’s Get Visible. That was the first time my book got that much attention and considering my sales rank rose exponentially that gave me a boost in visibility in an already flooded book market.

However like all good things it must come to an end. One of the biggest challenges I faced when doing a free-run the first time around was keeping the momentum going. After the first two days the number of downloads dropped drastically. By the end of my free run, my sales rank continually slipped until I was no longer in the top 3 spots. By the time it was over, I probably had sold one book.

I think this is a problem a lot of authors out there face when doing a free run. So what to do about keeping the momentum? To be honest it’s extremely difficult to maintain a high sales rank and eventually land on the best sellers list on Amazon during and after the free run. Free runs attract anybody, even people who will download your work whether there genuinely interested in the genre/work or not. I have to shamefully admit I have hurried up to download a free book only to still not have read it. It happens. You buy it out of impulse. That’s part of the sales catch to free runs. The offer is “too good to pass up.” And of course it doesn’t make it better I don’t own a Kindle and my Kindle previewer on my laptop decided it doesn’t want to work anymore. But I digress. So what is an author to do to maximize the success of their free run during and after?

Preparation is Key

To maximize results I needed an actual plan before launching head first into it, which is part of the reason I postponed it to time where I can plan who and how to promote the book promotion. On Digital Book Today, author Ruth Francisco shares some really great strategies to take before, during and after you start your free run. Here are some of the big ones I plan to use…

Before the Free Run

Try to get a couple of reviews before starting your free promotion. Having honest feedback already, helps readers to make an informed decision about  your work, giving you an added advantage. There is no magic number to the number of reviews to have although the author states having 6.
Days before the free run consider upping the price. That way readers feel like they’re getting a bargain.
Timing is important. Wed, Thurs, and Sunday are usually good days. I plan to test out staggering my free promotion perhaps space out the days.
Start contacting sites that will promote your free runs. Most sites prefer at least a week’s notice. Some sites like  ENT (Ereader News Today) will need to be notified a month in advance. So plan accordingly.

During the Free Run

Alert your followers on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter etc. about your free run.
Add a comment about your free book to the Amazon Kindle Forum. The author suggests doing this early in the morning the day your free promotion begins.

Post Free Run

What are some things you can do after the free run to lift your sales rank after the dreaded drop?

Try gifting a few copies to readers. In turn it will help boost your sales rank which tends to slip after a free run.
Run $.99 promotion. Although I plan to spend very little on advertising during my free run. A little advertising could be a good idea especially the days after your free run.

Well these are the tips I’ve gathered. For those like me that don’t feel like dishing out a whole bunch of money for a “free” promotion here are relatively free sites that you post your free book to.

FreeBooksy
IgniteYourBook
Bargain Hunters

I might add some more to this list. As always check their policies. Some sites due to high demand may charge you to guarantee you a reserved spot. In addition if you want to be featured be prepared to pay extra. Although just to be listed it should be free. Feel free to add free sites you found in the comments below.

 

 

 

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Uncategorized

Writing With Heart: Creating the Emotionally Engaging Character

josois:

It’s always been my aim to make readers care about my characters as if they’re real people with real hopes and fears and this post brings that vision to greater clarity. I think writers out there including myself can take away from the concrete ways presented here to make our characters more emotionally engaging.

Originally posted on Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors:

Someone recently asked me about writing with emotion. ��This is really about creating the emotionally engaging character because if you don���t write emotion into your character, the reader won���t connect with that character on an emotional level. ��It���s hard to explain the difference between a great story and an emotionally satisfying story because the distinction is subtle.

ID 31772681 �� Iqoncept | Dreamstime.com

Write With Your Heart = Showing

Emotion-driven writing isn���t about telling your reader what your character is feeling. ��Something like, ���She was afraid she���d fail the test��� is telling the reader what the character is feeling. ��It���s also more than simple actions like gulping or trembling or crying. ��Those things are all about writing at the head level. ��It���s skimming the surface of the emotional journey your character is going through.

Emotion-driven writing is delving deep within the character and being right there in the moment, going���

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Filed under: Uncategorized, Writing Tips