A brief update on price and on a new work at Inkpop
As y'all may know, I raised my prices on my ebooks. I seem to have done this right around the time that a debate on price exploded, but I don't have much to add to the debate. (And a gasp of shock runs through the room.) I don't have a strong opinion on what other people should charge for their books. At least, not until someone wants to charge me a hardcover price for their ebook. The vast majority of major publishers who have hardcover prices on ebooks don't have that much new in stock to interest me. So me shouting at them to lower prices on books I wasn't gonna buy anyway seems like a level of petty anger that's beyond even a shallow bitch like me. Maybe next week, if I'm bored.
No, today, I want to give y'all the one month update and let you know that the price increase has not affected my sales one way or the other. I didn't expect a rush of new clients for a price increase, but I was scared that I would see greatly reduced sales. That didn't happen either. I've got 22 sales so far this month across all my titles. We still have a few weeks, so this could end up being a great month for me, or just an average month. (Fingers crossed that the original Zombie Punter readers get the sequel, but I haven't seen them yet.) What I take this to mean is, my choice to go with $1.99 and $2.99 on novellas and novels was not so high that I priced myself out of the market of curious readers. And, this is good. (I also take this to mean my month-long marketing attempts for the new book were an abject failure, since I only sold 5 copies on opening weekend. And this is bad. But it's my problem, not yours, so there you go.)
In other news, I decided to post a story on Inkpop. I'm hosting Sandy Morrison & the Pack of Pussies, and I've already put up the first 7 chapters. I'll update weekly on Saturdays or Sundays, but any typos or corrections you offer in comments will be fixed during the week, pronto and on the dot. Because I love you. Seriously, I'm hoping to get help from the Inkpop community to polish my story, and those of you on my blog who are Facebook users can sign in with your FB account to leave comments without setting up a full account. (Nudge, nudge)
In theory, I might make it to the top 5 site picks and get a reading with Harper Teen editors. But I would have to make the top picks on a LOT of peoples' shelves. Given my track record, I don't see this as likely, and I see a far more likely outcome that I get some advice from the readers I'm seeking with Sandy's story. With their advice and some more polish, I can put out the story on my own with a better cover. Then with a YA story that actually fits the designation, I can humbly approach the same kinds of readers that Amanda Hocking does. Cause right now, I don't think any of my other stories will work for them. But I have REALLY good feeling about Sandy, if only I can clean up her story just a bit more.
I'd really like to get the opinions of Sandy Morrison from my T and TG friends. I know we often say "why can't there be more positive trans characters in fiction?" Well I think that Sandy is a positive character even with her flaws and quirks. But of course I'm biased, and I'd like to see how outsiders react to Sandy.
This doesn't mean I don't want the impressions of other readers. This is meant to be an adventure story with a good mix of action, suspense, and a little humor and romance just to keep things interesting. I've had two beta readers go over the full story, and they both loved Sandy.
I admit that my use of werecats was inspired by the werecats in the paranormal romance novella Kept by Zoe Winters, but my cat clans are a bit different from hers, and they're one half of a war between werecats and witches. I think you'll like the story if you give it a shot, so please consider heading over to Inkpop and helping me out with a little kick of the tires, so to speak.
And on a final note, some people may say to me, "Slow down, Zoe! You put out more work than people can read all at once." Sorry about that, but my intention is not to sell all my work to the same readers. As an example, I had a reader approach me this weekend on Twitter who said, "I don't like zombies, but I would like to read something from you. What do you suggest?" I'm in the middle of ballyhooing for my zombie books, given that it was a release weekend for Confessions of a Zombie Lover. (Kindle version.) But here is a person who no amount of begging and pleading will convince, because zombies are not for them. So I recommended another book and said I hoped they liked it.
This is my point in writing so much across so many genres. Some of you don't like my horror or my adult dark fantasy books. Some of you wanted a fantasy story that wasn't so intense or pervasive, something that might fit in the YA market. I had to wait for the muse to pitch something to me that I felt would fit you. I think maybe this might. Maybe. And if it doesn't fit, and you want me to keep trying, feel free to say so. Don't you ever think that telling me "This is not for me" will result in a rant. I'm not for everyone. I say that all the time. So if this new story still isn't right for you, say so. Then I know I have to keep trying so I can make something that works for you. =^)
