Tomas’s Comments (group member since May 15, 2018)

Tomas’s comments from the Support for Indie Authors group.

I think short stories could work if they are published as a collection while the series is already in progress or done, something that offers an additional look into the story for those interested in it.
Standalone, that could be troublesome.

0,99$ is good enough for me to give it a try if it's within my preferred genre so I think it's a good start. The exact prices are something that might vary based on length and genre but I think someone who is interested in the story should have no issue giving 2,99$ or 3,99$ for the second book. I've seen it going up one more dollar for later books in longer (4+) series' as well.

From KDP:
"Earn up to 60% royalties on the list price you set, minus printing costs" (and minus taxes after that)

Dwayne, I can say I may have a similar story. I started writing and shared the fact with some of my most trusted gaming friends. Among them was a woman that could probably be my mother (basing on the fact that when I shared my age, she said she has a son of my age).

She's not a native English speaker yet she decided to give it a try while I was working on the first/second draft. Even though she reads maybe a chapter or two per month at most because her life often gets in the way and she admits that reading in her second language is hard for her. Yet she offers me support and sometimes comments/feedback - to someone she never met in person. She said she'd be willing to pay for it when it's done but if I got to have it printed on paperback, I'd probably send her signed author copy on my own expenses.

Justin wrote: "Can you do it if your books are already out?"

In fact, the book needs to be uploaded already, even if not yet published or scheduled. As I said, it can be expanded continuously.

Which means that for those who know they'd use X-ray, it might be best to upload the book, then do X-ray and only then publish it (or set up for being published at some later date with preorders enabled).

Jerry wrote: "Terrific subject. I’ve followed discussions for years now without responding but I’ve always felt we authors sell our selves short like no other ‘industry.’ We work months on a novel, pay to package our work, then give it away. I’ve met readers that say “I’ve NEVER had to pay for an ebook. I just read the free books.” I wish I could convince authors to unite and stop the giveaways. Establish a lower price as a program, but ALWAYS at least earn SOMETHING from your effort."

Personally, I'd rather use Countdown deal at $1 than free run. If nothing else then because there were times when the spike of traffic caused by advertised free runs (and thus soaring in free charts) was so high Amazon saw it as potential bot attack and brought out the banhammer.
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Marie Silk wrote: "Hm, I've only offered the first book in my series for free, but I have promoted the later books at 99 cents while the earlier books remained full price. For me, promotion of the later books had more to do with reaching new readers by staggering promotions and therefore bringing visibility to the whole series. That was my first thought when I read the original post here about book #3 of 6 being free. There could be other reasons though."

You might be right there. Alone, it would feel strange but if it was a part of cascade promotions (for lack of better words) I can understand it.

Justin wrote: "I thought Kindle Worlds was a way for authors to describe the world's they've created in their books on a more detailed basis.

While I was clearly wrong the idea I have doesn't sound too bad right?"

I'm planning to post some background information about world and characters on my website (when I get to have my debut at least close to publishing) but maybe some portal for that would be nice.

When you scroll down on Amazon, there are things like: Text-to-speech, Enhanced Typesetting, and X-ray with Enabled/Not Enabled so it's there if you know where to look for it.

Based on what I was reading, you choose manually for which words to enable it and unless you write your own description, it'll default to Wikipedia. Plus, you can do it over time, define 2-3 items at a time, if you wish. Just remember to save it. The trouble is that if you do it this way (and not everything before release), the user will need to be connected to the internet to see what was added later.

Standards are good if they make sense. I can't see how discouraging chapter names affects the quality of a book, let alone if they believe it a good thing.
If people actively complained in reviews about chapter names, then I'd understand that. In the case you mention, it feels too much like a rule that someone pulled out of a hat for no reason at all. Creating problems where there are none.

The important question is: are formal rules of a competition based on what readers want? I doubt that.
If authors want to use them, they should not be discouraged from it.

Well, far too often, I make a typo that creates a legit word (so spellcheck does not catch it) and then I am like "what the hell did I wrote?" and in the worst case "what did I actually want to say?"
That irks me... a lot!

G.G. wrote: "I still make many mistakes with conjunctions and prepositions."

That is one of the things I mess up the most, especially when I am trying to hammer my ideas out during a creative surge. I admit that I sometimes just take a shot at what might be the right one (all hail Grammarly for being able to point them out).

Three weeks ago, I decided that I'll try to do a bit of work (which was supposed to be THINKING, not WRITING) on the beginning of #3 just to have more of the trilogy's continuity at least somewhat firmly in my head before I dive into the hopefully last pre-beta revision of #1 (ETA: 21.7.2018, three year anniversary since I started writing).
What actually happened? As of this moment, I hammered out (maybe literally) 70000 words (in words: seventy friggin' thousand)! In other words, probably well around a third of the book if it is to be roughly the same length as #1 and #2.
Now, to the point. I exported it as PDF just so I can scroll up and down should I look back, without actually scrolling through the document. I think that I can open it at random place and find some far too obvious typo my pushed-to-overdrive fingers made and that's not counting messed up preposition, unbelievable typos, screwed out sentence structure or comma use I'll discover during the second draft.

Btw, Felix, aren't books in progress like Schrödinger's cat? Because you don't know whether they are to get a life of their own or be forgotten until they're out and same with whether they are good or bad?

#WeirdMorningThoughts

I like the new blurb!
And I think dropping the comparison is a good idea, it can be misleading and do more harm than good, in my opinion. Even if it was said by an acclaimed critic, it'd still be a double-edged blade.
Good luck with getting some interested readers!

I've given you some insights in the blurb topic and I see you made some changes for this blurb draft. I am personally not fond of "is like [book/series name]" thing but that's personal preference. As for the rest, I'd maybe change the order a bit. The first thing is... too soon, compared to the second paragraph. Maybe something like...

[first part of second paragraph]Jaron, a librarian's apprentice, discovered that his whole life was only a disguise. His friends, Ellian and Keras, weren’t who he thought they were, and his father whom he thought was dead, wasn’t. [this goes to the front]

[the first "paragraph"] The spell of an ancient ancestor king throws Jaron into the middle of a war when that king returns from beyond the grave. // I personally think that "ancient ancestor" is a bit wacky. Maybe cut one or reword this part? Maybe add the fact that more than just the king returned from the grave or is doing something nasty, as you mention in your description above the blurb? More undead = larger threat, right?

[the rest]In a war between kings, he might be the final piece of a plan that started centuries ago. Does Jaron have the strength to become the person everyone else expects him to be?
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I hope I was able to help.

When we're at that... could you share who made the cover, so I could have a look? Possibly send me a private message with a link to not break the "no link" rule?

Dwayne wrote: "I also get "comic book"."

I am glad I am not alone to have such feeling from it. And yes, the gear is definitely fantasy-looking, something I forgot to mention in my comment.

I admit that I like the cover visually but something in its style feels more like a comic. Still, I don't think that would be it - it has the charm through simplicity. It definitely has the potential to catch some attention - which you obviously have if you say there are clicks (at least that's how I'd understand it because I have no clue about marketing terms and no idea what 'click to impression ratio' is).

Personally, I think the description/blurb is somewhere between a third and a half of what I expect (and would expect) to see for a fantasy. Maybe more than poking the cover, try to build a bit on the blurb? When I read it, it seems interesting but... I expect a bit more. In fact, it just says that nothing is what it seems.
Who are the kings at war? and how it ties with the MC or his father's 'death'?
Who is even Jaron? Warrior? Mage? Merchant's son? village's underdog?
And who are the three on the cover? I presume one is Jaron and the two might be the friends but... who are they?

So, my personal opinion would be the cover is fine but the blurb/description needs to be expanded a bit.
Good luck!

Phillip wrote: "They seem lazy, in my opinion, right up there with using “Rise of the . . .”, “Dawn of the . . .”, or “Fall of the . . .” in the title."

Slightly off-topic maybe but I'd say that "Rise of [something]" is good for a prequel.

Personally, I'd say that unless they are friends met in book clubs/discussions of specific genre, there's good chance that they became friends for different reasons than reading preferences.

I probably mentioned it before: I am into fantasy (with some interest in SF). Father is occasional SF reader (though he prefers movies the last few years) and mother, in the time I remember her reading, was reading something I'd guess to be most likely historical fiction. My sister does not read at all, just watching series on TV. Letting them read my fantasy work would be ... counterproductive.

As for my classmates at uni, I admit I don't really know much about their preferences. I know one girl is into fantasy but I don't know if her English is good enough for reading my work even if she was interested (I am probably insane writing in my second language).