Eldon’s Comments (group member since Jan 05, 2017)

Eldon’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

Anna Faversham wrote: "My brain hurts at the very thought!

Well done."

It does hurt the brain a bit ;)

Success :D I've written my first successful HTML code!! Woohoo!!!

I'll message you the code as I can't seem to post it here without an error message lol

Cora wrote: "Hey Eldon,

I usually code before publishing just so I can get it how I want it. I don't think it is a requirement for self-publishing authors but honestly it is always great to have a diverse arse..."

Totally agree Cora. This is what I'm trying to gain - the basics of HTML and CSS. Honestly, when Henkel started talking about a style sheet I was like "Huh?" I did catch on eventually but every time I've tried to open a sample in my browser the code just stares me in the face.

As an example, I tried to use the code he suggested for including an image in the file. But when I open in the browser I see the code not the image. Does this mean the code is wrong somehow?

Anna Faversham wrote: "This is what I use and it makes it all so easy.

Let's Get Digital: How To Self-Publish, And Why You Should

Shows you which key to press and when. Simple!"

I'll be sure to check that out :) Thanks Anna!

Hey Melanie! Yeah, I know you can simply save a Word file as a web page and then upload it to Kindle and most times it works fine. But I'm always wondering about all the different formats available to view ebooks on and whether my file translates properly across them all. That's why I've embarked on an attempt to learn HTML coding so I can be sure my formatting is solid. You know, without paying someone to do it :)

I'm working my way through The Zen of Ebook Formatting by Guido Henkel right now and it got me to wondering about HTML coding. Is this something everyone does before they publish? Does anyone know HTML code? Or do you just hit publish and hope? (Like I did!)

Carol wrote: "No, but she's a dentist. Scary stuff, couldn't make this up."

Yikes!!

Carol wrote: "She told me hearts were always a match and interchangeable."

I'm guessing she's not a doctor :)

New group member Melanie Bennett asked that I share this with everyone about All Author:

"There were several posting on facebook about 6 weeks ago about sites such as that one that actually pirate your ebook.
Once they have a copy of your file... it can go anywhere.
PLEASE give indies the heads up about sites that are not legit.
If I can find my saved info from facebook, I will gladly post it here to help authors, so they don't fall into the wrong hands."

https://www.facebook.com/authorlibert...

Stay safe everyone :)

Erica wrote: "All I am really out is my time, and honestly, I enjoy doing it so it can't hurt, right? :) ..."

So true :)

Alex wrote: "Direct marketing rarely recoups the cost spent on it, the idea is to increase visibility and make people aware of your product. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most people need to be told about/se..."

That's true Alex - and a great way to look at it. It is a long road we're on. And given the long term horizon, is there ever a point where you've been promoting for such a long time and the book is still not progressing up the charts, that you have to stop and listen to what the market may be telling you?

I'm not there yet but I wonder about the future...

Amy wrote: "Even so, I'd want to cover my costs. I'll stick with my free promos and Fiverr (not that I got a sale the last time I tried and also, I'm limited by whoever will promote erotica.)

I think my issue..."

Yeah...you and me both :D

Amy wrote: "Those prices terrify me. At the moment I just couldn't pay $70 or $80 for no return. If I'm expected to write for bugger all I expect to promote for bugger all lol (one of my colleagues just signed..."

Hi Amy, it wasn't no return just not enough to cover the cost. After all we don't even get the whole dollar. Amazon and the tax man are ahead of us in line :)

Carole wrote: "Eldon wrote: "Carole wrote: "Whatever the reason, I bought it because they promoted it. I am promoting six year old books, working to keep them in the lower ranks. August is my busy time, because I..."

When I talk about promotion I’m referring to the cost more than the time. Like you, I love writing and don’t consider it work in the least. Perhaps my initial point was unclear—how unforgivable for a scribe to not get his point across lol.

I asked the question simply because I genuinely don’t know the answer. If you should never stop promoting and paying websites to send out emails for you that’s fine. But for a lot of us, I suspect, the business of writing is separate from the enjoyment of it. I don’t think I’ll ever stop writing but one day I may just let the chips fall where they may on the marketing.

I’ll certainly chase down the leads on free promotions but as for paid…I’m close to saying I’ve given it a go and what will be will be. This year alone I’ve paid for no less than 20 promotions. I’ve enjoyed the sales bump they gave me. Not all of them were successful of course, but even the successful ones failed to return the cost of the promo. When the market demands prices no higher than one or two dollars…we can all do the math to see how many units must move to recoup $70 or $80 in upfront costs.

So that’s where I’m coming from.

Alex wrote: "I don't want to be exclusive to Amazon, because I don't want all my eggs in one basket, but the page reads would be nice.
Still, I've managed to get a little movement outside of Amazon, which has b..."

WOW!! Thanks for those Alex :) I will spend some time with that list for sure!!

R.L. wrote: "Eldon I used a TON I'll send an email, but honestly if I didn't fill out 40 or more forms I didn't do one. It's tedious but worth it"

I'll look for the email R.L. :)

Thanks!! This group rocks!!!

R.L. wrote: "Yeah my promo just ended in July 6th and it was for 6 days. Got 51 sales and tons of page reads. All for free and didn't spend a dime."

Can I ask what site you used?

R.L. wrote: "Hell yeah lol. That's how I promote most of the time. I don't have the budget to pay for promo all the time. Google "free .9 cent book promo" and go through the websites and lists. It'll take a day..."

Why didn't I know about this?? Thanks a bunch R.L. :D

Carole wrote: "Whatever the reason, I bought it because they promoted it. I am promoting six year old books, working to keep them in the lower ranks. August is my busy time, because I have so much non-fiction. I ..."

I don't disagree Carole. But to Amy's point not everyone can afford endless promotion in an attempt to maintain visibility. Simply saying never stop promoting isn't likely very helpful to them.

I personally don't plan on stopping anytime soon but the question does linger for me. When do you stop spending in pursuit of a goal (visibility) that may never be achieved?

And then there's the case of books (we've all seen them) that just aren't that good. Those authors spend and spend to promote but I can't believe it makes a difference if the end product is subpar. What do we say to them when they start wondering?