Decisions, Decisions, Decisions….

I have eight books in my head right now. I want to get through them, preferably before the heat death of the universe or before we stop using the written word. Or typed word.

Whatever. Before telepathy and shit.

I’ve decided to kill two of the books. Some people will not be happy with what comes next…

The Praetorian Agenda, which has half a first draft, didn’t survive the purge. Part of it comes from the fact that espionage writing is rather demanding and I do not have the focus available to me to tackle it and do it justice. I certainly won’t have time to finish it before the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East changes, which is where the book is set. The other part is that I’m simply more passionate about the urban fantasy work and the science fiction series in my head. Not saying I won’t ever revisit August & Co., but they’re going to operate in the shadows for the foreseeable future.

Stormcaller #4 (Tentatively titled Conflagration) was, as I reviewed the project on my afternoon walk, superfluous. It’s a sidequest that really only developed a few secondary characters, whom I can work into books 2 & 3 instead. At best, it was filler. At worst, it was pointless filler, so I killed it. That changes the cycle to Stormcaller, Assassins, Seraph, and concludes with Apotheosis.

The happiest part about finishing the Stormcaller cycle is that I can jump into my Mars series. I’m tempted to jump into them, alternating between Stormcaller titles, and that may happen if I get burned out or stuck on one of them, but I don’t think so. Not yet. I have a fairly solid outline for In the Shadow of Erebus, but I have lots of sciencey questions that need answers, and the cast probably needs paring down a bit.

Oh, and I’m moving to Japan tomorrow. So, that won’t keep me busy or anything.

Tell a Story Day: Part 9

Kat Richardson asked if I’d be interested in participating in a communal storytelling gig organized by M. Todd Gallowglass, of Genre Underground fame. Because I do not have nearly enough too much to do, I readily agreed. This blog-hopping tale is definitely a red-pill-down-the-rabbit-hole sort of story, but it’s fun, so be sure to start from the beginning…

♦

Part 9

The elf dashed between androids, most of whom paid no attention to him. While venturing into the mechanized halls and conveyer belt avenues of Assembly  might get him closer to his goal, he stood out too much to remain undetected for long. The elf glanced around, his sharp eyes darting from detail to detail until he found what he needed.

Judging from the intensity of the thumps coming from his pouch, the troll’s containment spell continued to weaken and could fail at any moment. Best to be elsewhere when that happened.

He hopped over a parade of pink bunny androids, each beating a marching bass drum as they emerged from the foundry. He tumbled through a shower of sparks, using the vats of molten metal to mask his body heat. He needed time to think, to orient himself.

He found himself lifted up, hanging face to face with a barrel-chested supervisor droid. “Organic lifeforms are not permitted on the foundry floor,” it informed him as it carried him towards a large metal crate, stripping him of his weapons as it walked, throwing them into the troughs of liquid metal.

The elf tried to pry the android’s fingers loose. “I’m looking for someone!”

“Not my problem,” it replied, ripping off his pouch.

“No, not that!” The elf shook his head.

The android paused, then peered closer. “What is it?”

The elf’s fist smashed into the leather sack, which emitted a melodious tinkling sound, followed by a very large troll….

“That would be your problem.”

♦

The story continues tomorrow with Jeff Carlson’s entry! Don’t miss it!

Let Them Eat Cake---The Slow Death of The Old Paradigm Author

Reblogged from Kristen Lamb's Blog:

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Three days ago, The New York Times published a rather doomsday on-line article written by Scott Turow (current head of the Authors Guild), titled The Slow Death of the American Author . I must admit this is a great title, guaranteed to scare the pants off the best of us. In fact, I received so many frightened e-mails from writers who wanted me to address this article, that I'd be remiss if I didn't offer my analysis of Turow's assertions.

Read more… 2,026 more words

This EXCELLENT blog post breaks down a lot of the real issues in publishing at this very moment, and points out some common sense truths we need to acknowledge. As a wise old Vorlon once said, "The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote." Adapt. Publish. Engage.

KDP Select – An Analysis

When I published Antigone’s Fall, I basically blasted an email to everyone I didn’t consider a mortal enemy, published the same thing on Facebook and Twitter, and then sat back, waiting for fame and fortune to come knocking.

Incidentally, Fame and Fortune, you two are soooo late.

Sales were…modest, Barnes and Noble’s numbers even more so. Basically, my friends and family supported my efforts, but that was about the extent of the book’s reach.

For Stormcaller, I made a more deliberate attempt to spread the word. I didn’t push much while the paperback was the only version—it was intended for those who like paper and/or hate Kindle-formatted books—but with the ebook came the opportunity to try out KDP Select.

For those not familiar, KDP Select is Amazon’s way of saying “Publish your book only with us and our search algorithm will like your book better.” It also includes five days in which you can give your book away.

“But wait—isn’t the point of selling books to make money?” Why, yes, it can be, but giving the book away does two things for you. First, it broadens your exposure. If your first book sold 200ish copies over two years, you don’t have a large audience. Giveaways can help boost that. Second, everyone who downloads the book, for free or not, becomes one of those “People who bought Men Who Inappropriately Love Goats also bought…” ads. This gives you a much better chance to get your book in front of new eyes.

I documented the giveaway’s results in earlier blog posts, so I won’t reiterate those now. Stormcaller reached #1 on the Paranormal Fantasy list, and disappeared from that (and other lists) as soon as the giveaway was over. However, the sales rank stayed around 5,000 for the first week, 10,000 the second week, 15-20,000 the third week, and has fluctuated between 20-30,000 since. Ish.

Antigone’s Fall enjoyed a brief bump in sales, but since it’s not related to Stormcaller, there’s no real reason to expect a jump on that title. However, when Stormcaller #2 comes out, I suspect it will do better than Stormcaller, which will also see a bit of a resurgence as new readers discover it.

Was the giveaway worth it? Absolutely. From a purely financial standpoint, Stormcaller earned much more money—and continues to do so. Instead of a readership of hundreds, I’ve reached thousands, and received more reviews and exposure. If you’re an indie author, I’d say you could do a lot worse than enroll in KPD select. Use the giveaway days…and use them in a block. Let your title climb through the ranks.

Then do it all over again for the next title. Remember, indie publishing is a long game, not a quick fix.

Brewing a Batch of Story

I confess, I didn’t use to write from outlines. Once I knew how a story ended, it killed my interest in the project. That changed with Stormcaller, and I think I write better because of it. Less rambling, more consistency. I tried to wing it with The Praetorian Agenda and fell flat on my face. Cranking out 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo felt like a chore, like actual work, because I didn’t know where the story wanted to go.

I took a break after November, partially to work on some short-term contract assignments, but also to brainstorm how the hell the novel was going to turn out. Thankfully, I have a remarkably erudite compadre, and between the two of us—and a massive omelet at The Hurricane—we hashed out some solid motivations and plot ideas.

Of course, that’s not enough. Plotting is a lot like making booze. You gather the ingredients, you put them together, and then you let it all ferment. The result is way cooler than what you started with, and enough of it can make your head spin.

Happily, I can report that I have an outline that I’m happy with. August needed to be better at his job this time around—he couldn’t be the lucky screw-up that tore up Tacoma in Antigone’s Fall. Of course, that means I have to be a better writer. My villains must want things that seem plausible, achievable, and worth stopping—and it would help if they look clever as hell.

I’m in the midst of ripping up the material I already wrote, but I’m not discouraged. I’m curious to see how it will read when its finally finished. Of course, I’m in the midst of moving to Japan, so no guarantees on speed. I’ll do my best, though.

Preferably before the geopolitical landscape irrevocably shifts in the Persian Gulf…

Shifting Plans

I must say, 2013 is off to an amazing start. Stormcaller’s successful giveaway program netted a great deal of exposure. It’s too early to count chickens, but I wouldn’t be shocked or dismayed to see that the book enjoyed modest, steady sales throughout the month of February. Expect a more detailed analysis on KDP’s impact in March.

I’m working another short-term contract at the moment, back at En Masse Entertainment, where I’m helping with the launch of TERA: Rising. It’s great to see everyone, and I’m doing some different work, which makes for a nice change of pace. Plus, I frequently find myself treated to spectacular views of sunsets. Still, it is a short-term gig, and I’ve lined up another job for after.

In Japan.

I accepted an offer to teach in Japan, which means a lot of things, most of which are really good. I’m excited about the opportunity to travel again. I’ve been back in the states for seven years now, and wanderlust is making my feet itch something terrible. It gave me a great excuse to brush up on my Japanese skills, so there’s that. Stormcaller #3 takes place in Japan, so hooray for research opportunities!

There are, however, two impacts on the lower end of the joy scale.

First, I must leave the beloved sailboat that’s been my home for the past two years. That’s a tough one, more so because I must do it before the end of February. That’s not a lot of time, so if anyone in the Puget Sound region is interested in a killer deal on a sailboat, send me an email.

Second, I don’t know that I’ll get to write two novels this year. That was certainly my goal, but until I leave for Japan, my free time will be booked with moving or studying. I don’t anticipate a lot of writing time until June. I do get the month of August off, but either way, I think I only get to finish one of the two novels on my list. I’m still torn as to which one to finish. Both are about in the same level of completion, both need the same amount of work…

Something to think about. In any event, this year is shaping up in ways I never expected. New choices, new chances, new challenges….

Stormcaller Giveaway Results

Well, after 96 hours, the Stormcaller giveaway came to an end. A lot of people picked up my signal and gave it a boost. So many kind people retweeted, reshared, liked, and otherwise put up with my posts. Many thanks to the McKenna clan (Marti, Jessie, and Bridget—seriously, check out their books), Erin Evans, Kat Richardson, the Masquerade crew, J. Elizabeth Hill, and everyone else who helped make this a success.

Good news! I promise not to tweet about my book for a week at least.

Day 4 Results:
Stormcaller peaked at the following ranks:

• #106 in the Kindle Store
• #68 in Genre Fiction
• #8 in Fantasy
• #1 in Paranormal

Readers downloaded 2,245 copies on day 4, bringing the total downloads to 5,070. Bear in mind, my original pie-in-the-sky goal was to break 1,000 downloads, so consider me gobsmacked.

Clearly Amazon’s marketing machine rewards position. The higher ranking meant more exposure, with an increasing number of downloads. I confess that I didn’t think the giveaway would work as well as it did. Amazon is such a huge market, with so many good books to choose from, that even free books face an uphill battle.

The whole point of the giveaway was to expand my audience. Antigone’s Fall didn’t reach many people because no one knew who I was. Family, friends, and friends of friends bought it, but after those benefactors, any sales were little more than luck. My hope is that giving away Stormcaller will not only spread the word about the new witch in town, but also get my name out there a bit. With The Praetorian Agenda and Assassins coming out this year, I’d like for them to have somewhere to go.

So, job well done. Thanks to everyone who took a chance on a little book with the big blue eye.

Giveaway Results – Day 3

I made the conscious decision today to not promote Stormcaller on social media. The book had a good head of steam, so I wanted to see how much Amazon’s mechanics would help. I assumed that today would be a slowdown day, that it would drop out of the top 10, possibly off the Fantasy chart altogether.

Holy. Crap. How the hell did I end up here?!

I have no future as a prognosticator if this is any indicator. When I checked in at 1710, Stormcaller was #6, with a total of 2224 copides downloaded. At 1750, I was at #3 with 2316 copies downloaded.

Wasn’t this supposed to be the slow day? Amazon’s day of rest, as it were?

I’d like to thank the Academy, all my friends, my social media links, and the amazing Evil Eye Cover o’ Doom. And Voltron.

ANYWAY…

So, I checked back around 2000. And then my jaw dropped off my face.

Holy Shih Tzu!

Copies downloaded were:

• Day 1: 615
• Day 2: 828
• Day 3: 1,382

So there it is. Stormcaller climbed to the top of the Paranormal Fantasy chart. It reached #11 in Fantasy, and #183 overall in the Kindle Store. Over 2,800 copies downloaded in total. By pure coincidence, I’m listening to Bill Conti’s Yeager’s Triumph. I reattached my jaw, but it’s still working weird. Can’t stop grinning. Even with one day left, I declare Operation GIVEAWAY a huge success. More than I dared to dream.

Giveaway Results – Day 2

I did a lot less posting about the giveaway today, mostly because so many people put up with me yesterday. I didn’t want to wear out my digital welcome, especially since I don’t like it when other people do it. A few updates, on a couple of channels, rather than covering them all with the same content.

Imagine my surprise at the results.

Stormcaller peaked at #8 on the Paranormal Fantasy list, #19 on the Fantasy list (Wow!), and #283 in the Kindle Store. As for breaking the 1,000 copies mark…yeah. Did that. As of 2335, readers have downloaded 828 copies of Stormcaller, surpassing yesterday’s tally and bringing the total to 1,443!

I also noticed one very nice lady left me a review (w00t!) and a bunch of people clicked the Like button. Thank you so much.

I hope everyone enjoys the novel.

Giveaway Results – Day 1

Holy crap. So many people stepped up to help me get the word out about Stormcaller’s giveaway. I’m overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. Thank you everyone!

So, I had two goals. One, I wanted to “sell” 1,000 copies of Stormcaller, and two, to crack the top 10 list.

Though there’s still an hour to go, I expect today’s traffic will taper off (most vampires don’t buy ebooks at night), I had an AMAZING day today. Stormcaller sits at #12 on Amazon’s Paranormal Fantasy list and #35 in Amazon’s Fantasy list.

Holy. Shit.

#35 on the Free Fantasy List!!

As for the other goal…readers downloaded 615 copies. TODAY.

Thank you. Thank you so much.