tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10896037262796307532024-03-13T19:11:51.266-07:00Electric GutenbergSelf-Publishing and Other RevolutionsMackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-35138868377386034202018-10-09T22:53:00.000-07:002018-10-09T22:53:32.650-07:00Hyper Geek Comic: Sock Puppets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-11338306281851248532017-08-26T10:28:00.001-07:002017-09-01T13:13:11.094-07:00Eve's Hungry Book 1 FREE on Kindle and iBooks<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hey! So I finally got the <i>Eve's Hungry iWars Trilogy </i>all formatted into three books and fancied up with new cool covers on both Kindle and iBooks. The first book, Forbidden Apple, is now perma-FREE in both formats if you want to check it out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2wYb0qN">EVE'S HUNGRY: FORBIDDEN APPLE (FREE KINDLE VERSION)</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1273562078">EVE'S HUNGRY: FORBIDDEN APPLE (FREE IBOOKS VERSION)</a></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px;">Eve's Hungry: The iWars Trilogy </i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px;">is a fantastical mix of action and comedy in the spirit of "Austin Powers" and "Our Man Flint." It focuses on the adventures of Doctor Eve Zachara, the Vice-President of Apple's secret Special Sales Division, as she battles Google's dark empire. In the future, the war between iOS and Android is fought not only over features and updates, but also with tanks, bombs and laser swords. Fighter jets roar over the deserts of Central Asia, machine guns blast in the jungles of Africa and high above the planet, vast battles are waged by opposing space fleets.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-41469840790015264942017-04-26T06:37:00.000-07:002017-05-27T14:06:43.197-07:00Self-Publishing is Easy: Using Your Kindle Free DaysIt often seems like anyone writing about self-publishing feels obligated to talk about how hard it is. It's like you're required to include the following warning label:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>SELF-PUBLISHING IS LOTS AND LOTS OF WORK </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>SUCCESS IS NOT GUARANTEED</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>YOUR RESULTS MAY VERY</b></span></div>
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Now, writing can be hard. It's certainly hard to write a really good novel. But who says you have to write something really good? And who says it has to be a novel? Why not write something a lot shorter? How hard you make it on yourself is totally up to you.<br />
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My first self-published book (which happens to be free on Amazon today if you want to check it out) took me three years to write, and yes, it was hard. But that had nothing to do with self-publishing. That was because I made a decision to tackle a really epic story as my first project and it was probably (definitely) too ambitious for my first book. My second self-published work I dashed off in a week and published quickly thereafter. It was fun and yes… easy.<br />
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Self-publishing can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be.<br />
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But what about promotion? Everyone talks about how promoting your self-published book is really hard. Everyone yelps about how there are too many ebooks out already, it's impossible to get people's attention, etc. etc. But promotion can also be as hard or as easy as you want it to be.<br />
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I like it easy.<br />
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The easiest thing is using Amazon's Kindle Free Days. You have to sign up for KDP Select, which means you have to be exclusive to Amazon. But then if you like things easy, like me, publishing exclusive to Amazon isn't a burden; it's a relief. You then get five free days a quarter and you can pick and choose which days to use. You can run them all at once (that's easy) or you can scatter them over the three month period in any combination you like (also easy). (You also have the option of what is called a Kindle Countdown, but I don't find it quite as much fun. I suspect to really take advantage of it, you'd have to do a lot of work. So I never use it.)<br />
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And here is the best part about Amazon free days. Even if you do nothing but click a couple buttons to schedule a day on your KDP account, you will always have some downloads on your free day. I got 56 downloads on one of my free days without doing anything at all. I didn't even mention it on my blog or twitter feed. That was nice. Despite all the talk about how hard it is to get people to pay attention to your self-published book, you're almost always going to give away at least a dozen or so. You pick the days, Amazon gives you a little promotion on their free deals page, and customers click on your book and download it. People will hopefully read it and maybe even review it or recommend it to a friend. Pretty easy.<br />
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On top of that, free downloads also help your sales ranking, and sometimes (not always) you will have a few paid sales right after a successful free promotion. What could be easier?<br />
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Of course, like everything in life, you can make it harder if you want to. If a few free downloads are good, then lots of free downloads must be better. (They are.) But it can be a lot of work trying to figure out how to get more free downloads on your free days.<br />
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In fact, I've been working hard (too hard) trying to figure out how, reading suggestions from more successful indy writers, experimenting on my own, and I still don't really know for sure. But, as I said, self-publishing is best when it's easy and fun. I don't know for sure how to get really huge numbers of free downloads, but I still find free days a lot of fun. If your an experienced indy writer you probably know a lot more than me, but so let me share what I've learned so far for those new to self-publishing.<br />
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<b>1. DON'T STRESS</b><br />
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I hear a lot about how back in the day indy writers were getting THOUSANDS of downloads on their free days. Everyone says that these days it's a lot harder to get that many. But even today, one indy writer I respect a lot said you should shoot for <u>at least</u> 1,000 downloads. I've never gotten anywhere close to that. I suspect to get that many downloads you have to do a lot of work. And that's after you've done a lot of research into exactly what works. Even worse, what works keeps changing, so it's very likely what worked before, might not work now. Or might not work for your book. (My novel is a sci-fi satire, and just might never get as many downloads as a YA romance or thriller.)<br />
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So I vote for keeping your expectations very low and enjoying the wonder of the internet. I'm very happy if I get a dozen or so downloads and thrilled if I get fifty. Imagine how much work it would be to give away a dozen books to friends. It wouldn't take me long to run out of people to hand them off to. Imagine giving out fifty copies of your novel to people on a street corner. That's a lot of work, would cost money for printing and most of the copies would be thrown away minutes later. Reveal in the glory of ebooks, people click and download them without much thought, without you having to beg, and they sit quietly in the background taking up no space until the reader is ready for them. Count your blessings and don't make yourself feel like a failure if you can't give away hundreds every time you put up a free day.<br />
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Undoubtedly, free days are a powerful tool. Those indy writers with a solid catalogue of books can really take advantage of them. But for those of us just starting out, with one or two books available, I recommend just testing the waters, rather than trying to swim the English Channel. You'll have plenty of opportunities to use free days more effectively later when you also have more books to promote in general. Why not work harder later when you have more to gain? Meantime, you can focus on writing new books.<br />
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<b>2. WEEKDAYS SEEM BEST</b><br />
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So in my own lazy way I've done a little experimentation and I think it's best to use your free days during the week. That's when everyone is at their job, surfing the internet so they don't have to work. I've heard others recommend Sundays, but Sundays seem get me a lower number of downloads. I like Wednesdays best. (Your results may vary.)<br />
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<b>3. USE TWO DAYS AT A TIME</b><br />
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Should you use all five days at once? Or use them one at a time, or mix it up? Who knows? This is where it gets complicated. Since free days help your ranking, if you use all five at once you'll get the best initial ranking boost. Which "might" help you sell some books when you come off of free. But the number of downloads tends to drop the longer the run. I once did a run of all five days at once. The first day was 114, second 62. third 9, fourth 13 and only three on the last day. So it appears you'll be wasting some of your days if you use them all at once rather than space them out. (Presuming you have no other promotion.) I've heard people suggest that two day runs are the sweet spot. So I'm going with that.<br />
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<b>4. SPACE THEM OUT OVER THREE MONTHS</b><br />
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It also appears, based on my limited experience, that if you run a free promotion one day, and have a another a few days later, you'll get less downloads. It seems like I get a lot more downloads the longer it's been since I offered a free promotion. So I would suggest you try to max the time between free promotions, probably at least a month or so. But be sure you use all your days before the quarter is up!<br />
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<b>5. KEEP ONE DAY IN RESERVE</b><br />
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The best single day I've had so far (doing very little) was 158 downloads. While it's nothing compared to those who get thousands, I was pretty thrilled. I got it because one of my <a href="http://electricgutenberg.blogspot.com/2017/03/time-to-give-up-on-self-publishing.html">blog posts</a> was linked to by <a href="http://www.thepassivevoice.com/">The Passive Voice</a> and <a href="http://the-digital-reader.com/">The Digital Reader</a>. When I found out, I quickly used a free day and updated my post with a plug for the free download. I got about 1,000 hits on my blog post thanks to the referral traffic so I'm figuring at maybe 100 of the downloads came straight from my blog. Nice. And not too much work. So keep one free day in reserve for as long as you can for just such a social media event.<br />
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Did I mention that my wonderful sci-fi adventure/comedy novel is <a href="http://amzn.to/2ngwPJ3">FREE TODAY ONLY?</a><br />
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<b>6. DON'T SPEND MONEY TO PROMOTE YOUR DAYS</b><br />
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There are lots and lots and lots of sites that will charge you money to promote your free days. I don't know for sure which ones are best (if any) because it would be be a lot work (and money) to find out and, as I said, I'm not stressing over getting the biggest number of free downloads right now. Maybe I'll try out some paid sites once I have a better catalogue of books for sale.<br />
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Until then, I have a firm rule, I won't spend any money to promote my free books. Unless you are an experienced indy who already knows the ropes, I recommend you follow that advice too because you might get ripped off. I'll let you know if I find any paid sites that I'm sure work and are worth the money.<br />
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(Famously, almost everyone says <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/partners">Bookbub</a> is worth it. But it costs a lot and you have to have a lot of reviews and you have to keep applying because you're likely to be rejected the first few times you apply. Already sounds like too much work for me.)<br />
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The other thing I will point out is this, sites that point people to free ebooks can make money from Amazon affiliate deals. That is, if someone clicks and gets the free book, and then ends up buying something else on Amazon, the site that linked to it makes a little money. Not a ton, but it adds up if a lot of people download your book. So free promotion sites have a real financial incentive to promote your free download. That is… unless they can't get you downloads. So they might prefer to charge you up front. For that reason, I'm pretty skeptical of any promotion sites that expect extra money in advance. There is also the danger that some of these paid promotion sites are just using bots to download your book so you buy ads. I have nothing personal against bots, but they don't read your book. You want real humans to read your book, not just clicks from bots. So I'm skeptical about paid sites.<br />
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<b>7. USE THESE FREE SITES TO PROMOTE YOUR FREE DAYS</b><br />
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Below are a few truly free sites I've found that will promote your free day. As of this posting, they all have active links, they don't charge you anything and they are straight forward and professional. (IE, not too much work filling out forms and minimal attempts to pressure you into spending money for paid ads.) They do, unfortunately, require a little work and planning. I advise you schedule your free day a couple weeks in advance before you sign up with them because some require advance notice.<br />
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Will they lead to a lot more free downloads? To the magical 1,000 free downloads in one day? We'll find out, I'm using them for today's <a href="http://amzn.to/2ngwPJ3">FREE PROMOTION OF EVE'S HUNGRY</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://askdavid.com/free-ebook-promotion">ASK DAVID</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.freekindledeal.com/submit.php">FREE KINDLE DEAL</a><br />
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<a href="http://contentmo.com/submit-your-free-ebook-promo">CONTENTMO</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.freebooks.com/submit/">FREE BOOKS</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.ebookskill.com/pin-your-book.html">EBOOKSKILL</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.frugal-freebies.com/p/submit-freebie.html">FRUGAL FREEBIES</a><br />
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<a href="http://bookangel.co.uk/submit-a-book/">BOOK ANGEL</a><br />
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There are lots and lots more sites that do these kinds of promotions. As I find them I'll try to keep this list current. (That is, if it's not too much work.) Also, please leave a comment if you know some free day tricks I haven't mentioned.<br />
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<b>HAVE FUN WITH YOUR FREE DAYS!</b></div>
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<i>By the way, I'm now officially trying to get reviews for Eve's Hungry. If you do download the <a href="http://amzn.to/2ngwPJ3">FREE novel today</a>, please consider writing a review. Also, if you are interested in getting a FREE audiobook version or FREE Trade Paperback in exchange for an honest review, let me know.</i><br />
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You can contact me at: mackaybell@gmail.com</i></div>
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<b>UPDATE APRIL 27: </b>So the final tally for my free day, yesterday, was just 12 downloads. That's not a lot based on what other people say. I didn't detect any extra downloads from the promo sites above. (That may or may not mean they work. Also, at least one of them didn't put out the promo notice until the day AFTER my free sale. Another reason to maybe run two free days at a time, just in case one of your promos missed them.)<br />
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Perhaps I get less downloads because my genre, my description, my cover or something else. It might be the lack of reviews. (I have 5 star reviews on a previous version, but they didn't shift over to the newly edited edition.) Still, 12 downloads was enough to put Eve's Hungry in the #3 slot for LGBT sci-fi, which is fun:<br />
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Also, I got a paid sale today! (Which I'm almost sure is thanks to the download exposure.) It also upped my official Amazon rating from over a million into the 100,000 paid range. I still have much to learn about using free days, but all and all, I'd say this one was a success.</div>
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-21427183303904344432017-03-20T12:13:00.001-07:002017-03-20T12:13:34.383-07:00Hyper Geek: Intellectual Property Management<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-66130769897368459522017-03-11T18:06:00.001-08:002017-03-11T18:06:05.696-08:00Hyper Geek: What, Me Worry?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-959973809392533052017-03-07T10:37:00.000-08:002017-03-19T12:27:13.517-07:00Time to Give Up on Self-Publishing?It’s been quite a while since my last post. And yes, you heard a collective sigh of relief in the blogosphere to see Mackay Bell’s return, quickly followed by an anguished gasp at the shocking headline. “Give up on self-publishing!? No, Mackay, tell us it isn’t true!”<br />
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After all, for years I’ve been one of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders of the self-publishing movement. Publishing my<a href="http://amzn.to/2lUej8V"> first novel</a> on Amazon was one of the highlights of my life. I’m the guy who would jump up and down in rapture when I made a single 99 cent sale. My charming (if crudely drawn) cartoon strip series, <a href="http://electricgutenberg.blogspot.com/2015/11/hyper-geek-comic-strip.html">Hyper Geek</a>, features a perpetually optimistic and largely autobiographical writer (named Mackay) enraptured by self-publishing.<br />
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How is it possible Mackay Bell could even think about giving up?</div>
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Before I answer that, let’s back up for a moment.<br />
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Many people live by the motto of “never give up.” Mine, however, is more like: “never be afraid to give up.” It’s been my experience that knowing when to quit is critical to a happy life. I’ve lived through good times and bad times, but I’ve found that I always do better when I walk away from something that isn’t working. Not that I give up quickly. I give everything my best shot and try to fix things before moving on. But I know people whose biggest regret is sticking with something too long and feeling they wasted a good chunk of their lives. In terms of my own past, there isn’t anything I think of and go… hmm… if only I’d stuck with that job a little longer, wasn’t so quick to drop out of college, move out of that crappy apartment or upgrade my computer. Quitting, frequently, has worked out nicely for me.<br />
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Being willing to walk away means you can safely take chances with your career and life. I like trying new things and I’ve taken a lot of long shots, particularly in business. Many didn’t work out. Some worked out for awhile, but went south. Over the long term, I satisfied with the results of both my successes and my failures. Failure usually leads to valuable experience. Often you learn more than with success. That is, if you are willing to move on and take advantage of that knowledge in something new. It’s important to know when to pocket your wins and cut your losses.<br />
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Since I was a kid, I dreamed of being a novelist. I wrote short stories, started a couple novels and went to college to study fiction writing, but… yes, I gave up. The more I learned about the state of the traditional publishing business back then, the less I wanted to attempt a writing career. I simply couldn’t see myself playing the submission game, particularly by writing the kinds of books my professors thought would get past the gatekeepers of the literary elite. I had no interest in being a starving artist fighting against the system. I moved into personal computer sales and then into computer education and business consulting. I have no regrets about changing course back then. It was probably one of the smartest moves I made in my life.<br />
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Then the internet took off and the digital age arrived, which provided me with all sorts of business opportunities working for tech startups. But I also realized it presented new creative opportunities for writers to go it alone through self-publishing. I decided to try writing a novel once again. I started this blog in 2010 when enthusiasm among indy writers was rapidly growing, in a large part thanks to Amazon and Kindle. People talked about a gold rush in self-publishing. It hit a fevered pitch around 2014 when Hugh Howey published his first <a href="http://authorearnings.com/report/the-report/">Author Earnings report</a>. He and the Data Guy proved that the self-publishing market was growing by leaps and bounds and some indy authors where making serious money. Many were even able to quit their day jobs and support themselves simply by self-publishing. A few were even getting rich. It was like a shot heard round the writing blogs.<br />
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Quit your day job? That’s sounds great! Get rich? Sign me up!<br />
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Of course, while Hugh Howey and others were talking about the great opportunities for writers in self-publishing, there were plenty of doomsayers, particularly pundits connected to the old publishing world. They warned of a “<a href="http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/02/06/debunking-self-pub-shit-volcano-shit-problem-going-away/">shit volcano</a>” of bad writing flooding the market. They predicted that there would be a <a href="http://electricgutenberg.blogspot.com/2015/04/self-publishing-tragedy-of-tragedy-of.html">“tragedy of commons”</a> that would mean all writers had to work for free. They warned that anyone who dared to self-publish would brand themselves forever as an amateur who couldn’t cut it in the “real” publishing world.<br />
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None of that concerned me in the least. In fact, as a business consultant, it seemed like exactly the kind panic to expect from a dying industry being disrupted by new technology. (Like when newspapers complained about bloggers.) All the arguments against self-publishing by the old gatekeepers and their minions just made me more determined to try it.<br />
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Slightly more persuasive were early warnings from struggling writers who tried self-publishing without much success. There were plenty of sad blogs and comments from writers who couldn’t sell their books, couldn’t get reviews and found the entire process very frustrating. They certainly couldn’t make enough money to quit their day jobs. Let alone get rich. Some would even announce that they were… <u>quitting</u> self-publishing. While I understand quitting very well (I’m all for it), it seemed a little absurd to publicly announce you were quitting self-publishing. If you aren’t selling anything, no one would notice if you stopped. But some writers even went so far as to say they were pulling their books down from sale to focus on submitting to the old publishing world again.<br />
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I ignored the doomsayers and the dejected and decided to give it a shot. I wrote and self-published my first novel, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WLQQHHF">Eve’s Hungry</a></i>, on Amazon through KDP. It took longer (three years) and was more work than I anticipated, but I was very happy with the result. I started to build a little following on this blog and Twitter. I was learning a lot, and having fun. Sales were nothing to get excited about, but I got a few nice reviews and followed it up quickly with a short little book of cartoons I had drawn years ago. Initial sales of that were double my first work. Still combined sales were tiny and sporadic. I certainly wasn’t going to be able to quit my day job. I’d be lucky to buy a Happy Meal at McDonalds.<br />
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Then reality hit: my day job became a night and day job.<br />
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I got so swamped, I couldn’t even put out 140 character tweets to promote my book, let alone think about writing a new one. I stopped blogging and working on my Hyper Geek cartoon series midway through the story. Months went by and I… gasp… stopped checking my ebook sales (which had flatlined anyway). Things have gotten a little better with my schedule lately, but it’s unlikely my day job will ease up significantly for years. I now know from experience how much work is involved in self-publishing new books. It’s not an easy hobby and it's unlikely to be a real source of income anytime soon. Conventional wisdom is that in order to make a living by self-publishing, you have to crank out books regularly, like every three months or faster. I can’t possibly do that now. I’m not even sure I could or would want to work that fast in the future if I did have spare time.<br />
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Meanwhile, outside of Mackayland, the self-publishing industry has experienced what appears to be its first real downturn after many years of growth. Author Earnings last reported that the indie ebook market had <a href="http://authorearnings.com/report/october-2016/">shrunk significantly</a> for the first time since they started tracking it. Big publishing seems to be learning how to compete with self-publishers so it can continue to dominate the market (stealing valuable listings on Bookbub). Some services for self-publishing are going bust, sometimes <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/business-musings-7624150">stiffing writers</a> in the process. Smashword’s Mark Coker declares that formerly best <a href="http://blog.smashwords.com/2016/12/2017-book-industry-predictions.html">selling indy writers are quitting</a>. Even the highly knowledgable (about traditional and self-publishing) writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch announced flatly that the <a href="http://kriswrites.com/2017/01/11/business-musings-all-romance-ebooks-visions-of-the-future-part-two/">gold rush is over</a> and “getting rich quick is no longer possible.”</div>
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So, is it time for Mackay Bell to give up on his crazy creative aspirations yet again? Like I have so often in my past? If formerly “best selling” self-publishers are quitting, how can someone like me, who never even sold many ebooks, keep at it? Do I finally understand why someone would give up self-publishing? What’s the point if it is “no longer possible” to get rich? Or replace your day job? Is my last post about self-publishing to be an announcement of defeat and surrender?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">No. </span><br />
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Of course not. Only an idiot would quit self-publishing.<br />
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Now, before you flood the comments with complaints that this whole post was just shaggy dog clickbait, let me explain. Yes, I never had any intention of quitting. I got busy and had to take a break, but I always figured I would get back to self-publishing. While I'm a big believer in quitting things, I can't see any reason I ever would quit self publishing. Frankly, I can't see any reason anyone else would. Even if the market is down. So what is really going on with this latest doom and gloom meme about how all these indy writers are quitting?<br />
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Who is quitting? Quitting how exactly? Supposedly "successful" and "best selling" indy writers are quitting "self-publishing." Presumably, they aren't being named because they are too embarrassed to admit it. (Not because, as a skeptic might suspect, this is total bullshit.) What does "quitting" mean? Are they actually taking down from sale ALL the books they published? (Formerly successful books?) Because that just seems stupid. Even if you have no sales (like me) why wouldn't you leave your books up and see what happens in a few years? Even if you're too busy to market (like me) why wouldn't you occasionally click on the free days or Kindle Countdowns that almost always move a few books? Maybe a super fan will stumble upon it and it will go viral. And if you aren't in Kindle Select because you went wide, if you aren't selling books, why not go back to Select? Or visa versa.<br />
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Now, it's certainly possible, in fact predictable, that some self-publishers sales went down after having a good stretch. (What goes up, might go down.) I totally understand if someone is disappointed with their progress and they change priorities or spend less time writing new books or promoting them. Or if, like me, they need to take a break. I certainly suppose some writers might decide to try traditional publishing after a sales drop in self-publishing. But that doesn't seem like "quitting" exactly, unless they also pull down their self-published catalogue. (Which, to repeat, just seems stupid.) And what happens if traditional publishing doesn't work out the way they hope? They'll never return to self-publishing? Even for one book? Let's say they have success in traditional publishing, they'll never self-publish a smaller book or one rejected by their big publisher? Either these stories are bullshit, or they are leaving out some significant details.<br />
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If you own a restaurant, and close it to become an Uber driver, I think it's safe to say you quit the restaurant business. If you leave your job as a newspaper reporter and open a bait shop by the lake, you can certainly say you quit journalism. But I just can't wrap my head around the idea of a "successful" self-publisher completely shutting down. I guess it's possible, but I'd love to hear some actual details that make sense.<br />
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Why would a self-published writer with half a dozen previously successful romance novels completely give up because sales are down? I could see them try submitting their next book to a traditional publisher to check out that world. I certainly understand it must be tough if they have to return to a day job or look for other sources of income. But give up writing? Completely? Pull down their books for sale? After having experienced success in finding an audience? I'd like to know the details. Are these "best selling" self-publishers writing sci-fi, thrillers, mysteries, or simply books on how to make money self-publishing? If the "best selling" writers became successful copying wikipedia into book form and taking advantage of quirks in Amazon's sales ranking and free days to make cash, yeah, I could see someone like that quitting. But I'm not sure how that's relevant to the overall market. If they actually write fiction, do these "best selling" indy writers have any audio books? Are they pulling those down from sale too? If they don't have audio books, why aren't they trying that, since that market is still growing?<br />
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I suspect if one were to investigate, the truth would be that these writers (if they even exist) are taking breaks, changing priorities, returning to day jobs or just threatening to quit out of frustration. (While leaving most of their self-published books up for sale.) It would be helpful to hear actual specifics rather than people repeating this blanket "successful writers are quitting self-publishing" meme.<br />
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Me, despite low sales, I'm more excited about self-publishing than ever before. For myself and for the industry as a whole. Taking a break has actually given me a good chance to really think about the business, my limited success so far and my own long term goals for it. <br />
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“Long term goals?! But Mackay, don't you quit at everything?” Yes, but self-publishing is different. Really different. Compared to other things I have quit in my life, self-publishing is still the answer to all my dreams. I never expected to get rich quickly self-publishing. So if that is “no longer possible,” I’m not surprised or disappointed. Also, I have a day job I like, so dumping it quickly was not a priority. </div>
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The main reason to self-publish is because it’s FUN. That is, if you enjoy writing. If you don’t enjoy writing, it’s certainly not something to spend time on, particularly in hopes of making money. If you don't like writing, and you have no sales, yes: quit. But if you enjoy writing books and having people be able to read them, self-publishing is a blast. There is absolutely no downside. Write a book, publish it on Amazon or elsewhere and… YOU WIN! It’s that simple. You’re a winner.<br />
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Defenders of the old publishing world complain that people like me who self-publish are deluding themselves: thinking they become real “authors” just by putting their own books up for sale. They argue that those who don’t go through the torturous submission process, and aren’t paid to publish by a traditional established press, foolishly believe they are budding Ernest Hemingways and that readers can’t tell the difference.<br />
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And they are right. <u>I do think that</u>. Yep, by publishing my first novel, I am now officially an author. I went from a wannabe writer to a published novelist. And yes, readers can’t tell the difference. My novel is right up there on Amazon, just like Hemingway, and often ranked higher than some of his (admittedly lesser known) works. Readers looking for something to read don’t care if it was published by a big company or my own tiny Hyper Geek Press. (Well, some readers care, but they are a minority of snobby jerks.) Some readers actually seek out indy writers. Some readers automatically snap up any book published by Hyper Geek Press. (Okay, that isn’t true… yet!)<br />
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Meanwhile, my novel is available to more people, more easily than Hemingway could have imagined when he first started writing. I have world wide distribution. People can buy (or get my book free) almost anywhere and start reading it instantly. It’s incredible. The number of available readers are growing everyday. The technology for digital reading is getting better and cheaper every day. If you like print, POD gets better and cheaper. Shipping print books is getting cheaper and faster. And, while nothing lasts forever, there is every reason to believe that people will have access to my writing for the rest of human history. By self-publishing, I have made my characters immortal and secured a beloved place for Mackay Bell in civilization’s collective cultural tradition.<br />
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Nice.<br />
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As a bonus, I get to piss off all the elitist literary types who argue unconvincingly that I shouldn’t be taking so much delight in ignoring their opinions of who should and shouldn’t be considered a “real” author. Anyone who is a writer knows that finishing a novel is a real achievement, just like runners know that finishing a marathon is an achievement, even if you didn’t win a gold medal at the Olympics. As far as sales, well, nothing is selling as well as Harry Potter so anyone but J. K. Rowling is an underachiever depending on your criteria.<br />
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Now, let’s compare my new career as a <i>successful</i> novelist to some of the previous creative efforts (that I quit). In high school, hoping to become a published author, I wrote short stories and submitted them to magazines and journals. After all, Hemingway got started with short stories. I was told by my English teachers that it was a good path to begin as a writer. I enjoyed writing the stories, but it was a lot of work researching where to send them and writing submission letters. Back then, there were also expenses in photocopying and snail mailing them. I also had to worry about what magazines were looking for, and write what I imagined might suit them. More frustrating, all were rejected, most often without a rejection letter. It felt like a total waste of time. It felt like I was being perosnally rejected. Not fun. So I quit. And I’m glad I did.<br />
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Many years later, I tried writing some non-fiction articles for computer magazines. And, after much work… I got published! I even got paid! Three hundred dollars! So I kept writing and writing and… didn’t get anything else published. The magazine that first published me folded. I wasted a lot of time asking publishers what they wanted and running around trying to deliver it, only to be told they changed their minds or it wasn’t good enough. Not fun. So I quit. And I’m glad I did.<br />
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Around that time, I also started work on a series of digital comic strips called MacToons which were passed around by Macintosh computer fans on floppy discs. It was lot of fun. I had total independence to do what I wanted. But distribution was a big problem (back then). I did some research and found it was highly unlikely I could ever get them published in newspapers by the big comic syndicates. There seemed to be no path toward wider distribution (back then) or any possible way to monetize them (back then). Much as I loved it, it was a time consuming hobby. Without the possibility of growing the audience significantly, it seemed to be a dead end. So I quit.<br />
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Later, thanks to the internet, I returned to writing non-fiction articles and published them on my <a href="http://attcritic.blogspot.com/2010/02/business-week-plugs-at-critic.html">own blog</a>. It was fun to know that what I wrote would actually be read. I didn’t need to go begging to magazine editors. It was also fun to know that there was no real limit to my potential audience. I built up a little following, even got a write up in <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-02-03/at-and-ts-iphone-mess">Business Week</a> ("… the Mackay Bells of the world…") but, just as it started to take off… I quit.<br />
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Why? Because as much fun as blogging about tech was, I asked myself “Mackay,” (yes, I do ask myself questions aloud using my name in third person) “What do you really want to be when you grow up?” And I realized, “an author.” Not just any author. A novelist. Even better, a sci-fi novelist. Blogging wasn’t going to make me a novelist. But self-publishing could.<br />
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Now, I am not only a novelist, but I can write anything knowing I have the tools and skills to self-publish it immediately. Everything I write in the future will further my audience as a published author. If I write a short story, maybe someone will read the story and buy my novel. Or visa versa. If I blog, I can point people to my novel and hopefully gain readers. I can combine my non-fiction into a book and self-publish it too. I recently self-published all my old <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019LIB4AG">MacToon comics </a>and started my new Hyper Geek comic series knowing I can reach a larger audience and monetize them through self-published books. As a bonus, anything I do now on social media, just for fun, might feed people back to my fiction or comics. I have already learned that simply commenting on blogs like the <a href="http://www.thepassivevoice.com/">Passive Voice</a> or the <a href="http://the-digital-reader.com/">Digital Reader</a> can result in someone buying my novel. There is no limit to the creative ways I can promote my books and build a readership for my publishing company.<br />
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So why would I, or anyone, “quit” self-publishing after having already done the work of writing and then publishing? It makes no sense to me. Once your book is up, you don’t have do anything else. Maybe someday Amazon might shut down their Kindle market, or cull out books, but you can worry about that then. (Undoubtedly, there will be other options for self-publishers.) Meantime, you’re a real author with a book available from the biggest book distributor on Earth.<br />
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I suspect much of the non-specific chatter about "successful" writers “quitting” is coming from people with other agendas, good and bad. Rusch uses it as an opportunity to advise writers keep expectations reasonable and to <a href="http://kriswrites.com/2017/02/22/business-musings-writer-finances-versus-the-paycheck-world/">save up for bad times</a> (which is a pretty good agenda). Coker seems to be using it as an opportunity to slam Amazon again for being a monopoly and claim, falsely in my opinion, that it is forcing a race to the bottom in ebook pricing (which a bullshit agenda). Various <a href="http://www.macgregorliterary.com/blog/publishing-predictions-will-happen-2017/">literary agents</a> seem to be pushing the meme to try to get writers back to submitting to big publishers. (Thereby protecting their middle man position to take cuts from writers. Not a good agenda.) It’s also coming from the same old people who bitched about shit volcanos and tragedy of commons. People who want to put the gatekeepers back in charge. People who hate the idea that anyone can be an author.<br />
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The "shit volcano" meme took what was one of the biggest positives of self-publishing, that anyone could publish anything, and tried to make it a negative. The "tragedy of commons" meme, took another positive, that indy writers were a community with shared interests, and tried to spin that into a negative. This latest meme "successful self-publishers are quitting" is likewise trying to turn a huge positive, there is no reason to EVER quit self-publishing, and spin it into a negative. It's bullshit.<br />
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Does this mean I only see self-publishing as a hobby and have no expectations to make money from it? No, I still would like to make money, and I even hope to <a href="http://electricgutenberg.blogspot.com/2015/02/no-there-arent-too-many-writers-part-3.html">get rich from it some day</a>. As I have said before, the most likely path for a self-published author to really hit it big is if their story is acquired for film or television production. While it's a long shot, I think <i>Eve's Hungry</i> is the kind of story that would make a great movie. So I think it's worth promoting. (I believe the odds of an indy writer getting a film deal may be better than maintaining a steady income from Kindle year after year. Over 500 films are produced every year, and most of them are based on books.)<br />
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The potential to make money is part of what makes self-publishing fun. But coming from a business background, I never expected to make a lot of money overnight. I’ve spend many years self-employed and working freelance and I know it’s hard. Business is hard. Getting rich is hard. Making a livable earning is hard. And there is always going to be a lot of competition, as well as ups and downs, particularly in creative enterprises.<br />
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Yet, from a business standpoint, I’m also stunned at how many advantages self-publishing has over other self-owned business ventures. The cost of entry is amazingly low (even free), and the cost of keeping the enterprise going is very low (even free). All the more reason talk about quitting seems absurd. What could be a better part time job? What could be a better enterprise to take a break from and return to later? On top of that, there is a clear path to monetize your all efforts in success, even many years later. Finally, the potential market is huge. And it’s only growing. When I look at the state of the indy market, I'm less concerned about a small downturn than all the continuing innovation and progress. Growth in the audio book market, Kindle Unlimited, enhanced ebooks, etc. Meanwhile, originally self-published books like <i>The Martian</i> are being produced as super successful films.<br />
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If you enjoy writing, there are really no downsides to self-publishing. And once you’ve put in the work to get your book published, I can’t see any reason to quit.<br />
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So… Mackay is back! I've been working hard (and having fun) on some new things. Check out all my latest news.</div>
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I have a cool new cover for <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WLQQHHF">Eve’s Hungry</a>.</i> The revised ebook is now available with less typos! Eve's Hungry is also now available in <a href="http://amzn.to/2mlGe2T">trade paperback</a>! (With hopefully no typos!)<br />
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And check out the new paperback version of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/MacToons-MacPaint-Tribute-Original-Macintosh/dp/153909071X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">MacToons</a></i>. Why would you want a paperback of old crudely drawn cartoons from the 80's? I have no idea, but at $6.999 it makes the MacToons ebook look like a great deal! Because it's now PERMAFREE on <a href="http://amzn.to/2mlBNoQ">Kindle</a>! Includes a thrilling FREE excerpt from <i>Eve's Hungry. </i>(If you made it all the way down here, you should get something free!)<br />
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MacToons is also now available on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mactoons/id1198447795?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo=4">iBooks</a>! PERMAFREE!<br />
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And the biggest news of all, <i>Eve’s Hungry</i> now has a spectacular audio book version narrated by the wonderful Tess Irondale! (Completely free of typos!) To check it out, click the pic below!<br />
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UPDATE: Thanks to <a href="http://the-digital-reader.com/2017/03/08/morning-coffee-8-march-2017/">The Digital Reader</a> and <a href="http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2017/03/time-to-give-up-on-self-publishing/">The Passive Voice</a> for linking to this post!<br />
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Also, a new <a href="http://authorearnings.com/report/february-2017/">Author's Earning report</a> just came out that said overall ebook sales have already turned around and went up 4% AND the indy share of that market has also increased. So good news indy writers! Aren't you glad you didn't quit self-publishing?<br />
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-2042101189341176002016-02-25T11:37:00.002-08:002017-03-01T11:39:11.622-08:00MacToons FREE!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My delightful collection of cartoon strips is available FREE <strike>today</strike> on Amazon. (You can click the link above to get it.) It will never, ever be free again… oh, okay, it's probably going to be free a lot since it's a pretty short little book. In fact, I'll probably make it perma-free before too long. <strike>But heck, why not get it now and not have to spend sleepless nights worrying you'll have to spend .99 cents later?</strike><br />
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EDITED 2/24/2017 TO ADD: Yep, I made it perma-free. Check it out! It's jut a click away from your library. It also includes a FREE chapter of Eve's Hungry, my amazing sci-fi novel.Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-24906452437414984092016-02-24T11:41:00.000-08:002017-03-17T16:18:59.344-07:00Yes, Amazon is my Friend: Part 2 1/2Quick note about Amazon sales ranking because I find this stuff fascinating. I mentioned in an <a href="http://electricgutenberg.blogspot.com/2015/12/yes-amazon-is-my-friend.html">earlier post</a> how a single .99 cent sale jumped my novel, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eves-Hungry-Mackay-Bell-ebook/dp/B00VTQ9D0M/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=electrgutenb-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=75N2GPEXOHLWXPAY&creativeASIN=B00VTQ9D0M">Eve's Hungry,</a></i> up from a ranking below a million into the under 200,000 category. With no subsequent sales, it drifted back to the below a million.<br />
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Yesterday, someone in KU read a mere 18 pages of it, and it jumped up into the 500,000 rank. For just 18 pages. Many people seem to think a ranking below one million discourages people from buying. I'm not really sure that is true. But if it is, here again is proof that Amazon does everything it can to help the low selling book have a chance to get noticed. THANKS AMAZON!<br />
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SHAMELESS PLUG: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/MacToons-MacPaint-Tribute-Original-Macintosh-ebook/dp/B019LIB4AG/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=electrgutenb-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=K7QLKESVRZOTT7UJ&creativeASIN=B019LIB4AG">MacToons </a>will be on sale for FREE <strike>tomorrow only. </strike> Be sure to grab a copy.<br />
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UPDATE: MacToon's is now PERMAFREE FOREVER!Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-68024294968768062682016-02-08T10:44:00.000-08:002017-01-30T09:50:52.171-08:00Hyper Geek: Ready to Publish<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-27412112949943048692016-02-05T18:20:00.000-08:002016-05-10T11:52:54.183-07:00Yes, Amazon is my Friend: Part 2So I mentioned in a <a href="http://electricgutenberg.blogspot.com/2015/12/yes-amazon-is-my-friend.html">previous post</a> how Amazon, very kindly, helps out low selling authors and newly published books by calculating sales rank based on factors other than total sales (including “velocity”) and how it breaks out a large variety of categories to give as many books as possible a high ranking in at least some subcategory. This benefits readers because if they are looking for something very specific they can more easily check over frequently churning subgenre ranks, but it also really helps authors who can get noticed and claim some minor bragging rights by being close to the top (if only briefly) in some tiny corner of the giant Amazon universe.<br />
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So it is with great pleasure that I can follow up my last post and announce that out of all the 5 million plus ebooks on Amazon, my newest publication, <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1PYJebb">MacToons: A MacPaint Tribute to the Original Macintosh</a></i> has raced up to #19 less than a month after it was published! Of course, its #19 in “Kindle Short Reads/44-65 pages/Humor&Entertainment.”<br />
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I had no idea Amazon even had a category for “short reads,” let alone short reads that just happened to be between 44-65 pages. But I am very grateful to be in the top twenty of anything. Thanks Amazon! You’re my best friend!<br />
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So if you’re looking for a humorous and entertaining short read exactly between 44-65 pages (30 pages of which are delightful cartoon strips) and you’ve read the other 18 higher ranked already, why not check out <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1PYJebb">MacToons</a></i>? For less than a buck, I promise you’ll get a few laughs. (Note: that was what is called a "call to action.") Maybe we can push this thing up to #1!<br />
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UPDATE: MacToons is now #3 on Amazon's Hot New Releases (short reads), which is another subcategory of a subcategory. Hope it doesn't sound like I'm bragging. The total sales aren't much and I'm barely making a few dollars. But I just find this all interesting in terms of exposure for a new author. Amazon, for whatever reason, is really trying to sell this sucker for me, highlighting in in several places on their huge website. Thanks Amazon!</div>
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UPDATE 2: Okay, so the sales stopped and I never got to #1. But that's fine. It was a fun ride while it happened. There have been few sales after that first little splurt and I'll probably go back to my original plan to make MacToon's permafree. Again, this seems to confirm how much support Amazon gives to new releases. So if you want to keep sales activity in your Kindle account, you really are going to have to regularly publish new works.<br />
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-28471034107231052782016-01-25T08:11:00.001-08:002017-01-30T09:59:49.343-08:00Hyper Geek: Enjoy the Writing Journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-18205707772851972042016-01-07T20:25:00.000-08:002017-03-11T17:51:43.707-08:00Hyper Geek: Embracing the Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-52576995308746402662015-12-31T13:13:00.001-08:002017-01-30T09:56:50.257-08:00Hyper Geek: There has to be an Easier Way<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-68367934526889230622015-12-24T11:58:00.002-08:002017-01-30T09:55:57.794-08:00Hyper Geek: Chapter One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-49146105440711246772015-12-21T10:37:00.001-08:002015-12-21T10:37:24.898-08:00Yes, Amazon is My FriendI’ve been feeling a little depressed lately, wondering what the point of life is. We have so little time on this planet before we all pass into oblivion and… wait! I just checked my KDP sales page and I sold a copy of my book! Yaaayyy! Life is great again!<br />
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Okay, so actually I haven’t been depressed and I almost never ponder the meaning of life. But I sure was thrilled to see someone bought my novel! One silly sale shouldn’t mean anything. At 99 cents, I’m only going to see a profit of 35 cents. But I have to say, maybe I’m just an easily amused simpleton, but I still get such a kick out of this crazy self-publishing thing. It makes me very happy to know my story is out in the world and people can buy it. Especially when someone does. And I owe it all to Amazon.<br />
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Oh, sure, much of what makes it possible is the internet, computers and the digital revolution. (Not to mention my own efforts in writing the darned thing.) But that particular sale can pretty much be completely credited completely to Amazon. Technically, thanks to the internet, I could offer my book for sale on my own website as a PDF, but the odds of someone signing up their credit card, or even using Paypal, for a 99 cent purchase of a plain old PDF on a stray blogger’s site is pretty much nil. I suppose its also possible, if my book was available on some other book distributor, it might have sold too, but even those sites only stepped up their game to support self-publishers in response to Amazon’s success. (Prior to Amazon they all required either fees to publish, like Bookbaby, or required going through an aggregator who took a cut, like iBooks.) Not to mention, other distributors sales are still a drop in the bucket compared to the Zon. I don’t know if someone decided to buy <i><a href="http://amzn.com/B00VTQ9D0M/?tag=electrgutenb-20">Eve’s Hungry</a></i> after a recommendation by someone else who had read it, or because of my modest promotional efforts on social media, or if they just stumbled on it through Amazon’s very useful search features. But I know that the convenience and trust of Amazon’s Kindle sales and distribution platform played a huge part in them clicking that purchase button.<br />
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The best part is that one little 99 cent sale instantly propelled my novel from a Kindle sales rank number below 1.4 million right up to #120,614! Amazon has over 12 million books available, so my book is close to being in the top selling 1%! Which is a huge boost to my ego. My book is more popular than almost 12 million other ebooks and a mere 120,000 (in the world!) are selling better.<br />
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Well… actually no. Amazon calculates it sales rank based a rather complex (and secret) formula that takes into consideration not just pure sales numbers, but also sales “velocity.” Sales rank climbs very rapidly for a book with a low sales history (or a history of no sales), and very slowly for a book with a recent history of high sales frequency. So in all likelihood, there are many, many more ebooks that are selling in far greater numbers (and at higher prices) than <i>Eve’s Hungry</i> at the time of that single sale. Of course, while sales velocity will bump a low selling book up the chart fairly quickly, if the book doesn’t keep selling it will start back down again. So I have to enjoy my sales rank bump while I can. But I’m a “cup is half-full” kind of guy, so even if it goes down, then it just gives me a chance to get all excited when it goes up next time.<br />
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The other great thing about Amazon’s sales ranking is that it breaks books down into a variety of categories, so in addition to being ranked in the top 200,000 overall, Eve’s Hungry was at #1828 in Science Fiction, #1357 in General Humor, and all the way up to #45 in LGBT Science Fiction. Critics of Amazon make fun of all these various categories and point out, correctly, that it’s possible for people to game the system with a few sales and end up with what is technically a “#1 Amazon Bestseller.” But what the heck is wrong with that? It’s not like the New York Times best seller list isn’t gamed (and corrupt). <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/02/22/heres-how-you-buy-your-way-onto-the-new-york-times-bestsellers-list/">You just have to be rich to buy your way to the top of that.</a> Amazon gives the little guy a chance to win by carefully selecting a genre subset and using some smart promotion. And why not give a new writer a marketing tool by being able to claim (even if it was only temporary) a #1 status in a genre? Who exactly does that hurt? If it draws a readers interest, they might be thrilled to find something new. If they don't like the blurb, or the sample, they can move on, or even get a full refund if they start reading and don’t like it.<br />
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Now, there are plenty of good business reasons for Amazon to rely on “velocity” rather than pure sales, and also to add in as many categories as possible to give indy writers a shot at #1 bragging rights. It’s in Amazon’s interests not to have all the lists of top sellers dominated by the same books every day that readers might have already purchased or made a firm decision not to. It helps readers and Amazon to have frequent churn in the top selling lists. It also provides a lot of incentive for indy writers to keep writing and keep marketing, which means sales. Amazon’s exclusive deals with self-publishers are not only an asset to making money and keeping readers but also leverage in negotiations with big publishers. Still, while there are solid business reasons for Amazon to be so supportive of the struggling indy writer with low sales, it’s still very… nice. And I sure as heck appreciate it.<br />
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Last year, a bunch of Amazon haters, including <a href="http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/08/09/amazon-gets-increasingly-nervous/">writers</a> with traditional publishing deals and <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/06/17/amazon_is_not_your_best_friend_why_self_published_authors_should_side_with_hachette/">pundits</a> dining on big publisher’s expense accounts, warned self-publishers that “Amazon isn’t your friend.” It was a stupid, illogical, meaningless meme, undoubtedly cooked up in a PR spin room with the hope of turning indy writers against Amazon during the Hatchette/Amazon contract dispute. The indy community responded by <a href="http://www.hughhowey.com/friends-and-corporations/">patiently explaining</a> that, no, we aren’t stupid, we understood that Amazon was a corporation and is just trying to make a buck like all businesses. Unfortunately, the meme did succeed in sucking some of the air out of the truth. Which is, while Amazon might not be a human “friend,” and some day it's business interests might change, right now it’s one hell of a business friend to indies.<br />
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Because, even though there are business reasons for Amazon to go out of its way to try to help self-publishers, there are plenty of business reasons not to. Amazon could, like Google and You Tube, focus on free content and give short shift to helping writers get paid. They could, like Apple, be far more focused on making deals with big corporations and major stars rather than helping out the little guy. And don’t think those big corporations haven’t noticed and aren’t happy about Amazon’s embrace of indies. There have been more than a few hints that the big publishers would like to dictate to Amazon how sales ranks are determined. More than one traditional publisher has floated the idea of segregating indies into a ghetto were they can’t be found. I firmly believe that much of the efforts by the traditional publishing community to get the government involved in “saving” literature is their hope that they can somehow force Amazon to tweak their search engines and rankings to be more favorable to the “right” kinds of books. Books by big publishers rather than indies.<br />
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Now, Amazon is not perfect, and not everything they do is going to make every indy writer happy. Self-publishing is also hard, and if you're expecting overnight success you're going to be disappointed. But seriously, if you’re a self-publisher trying to make it in this crazy big writing world, Amazon is really is your best friend.</div>
Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-83926599489247675192015-12-17T08:59:00.000-08:002016-01-23T15:56:49.777-08:00Hyper Geek: Being an Author is a Lot of Work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-90869448825883072002015-12-10T07:22:00.000-08:002015-12-15T21:47:24.369-08:00Hyper Geek Comic #5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-27473119146982784492015-12-03T13:37:00.001-08:002015-12-15T21:48:37.474-08:00Hyper Geek Comic Strip: Zombies Eat Brains<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-39694802513467185092015-11-30T13:43:00.001-08:002015-12-02T06:59:07.499-08:00Eve's Hungry FREE For Cyber Monday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-48589175314672895822015-11-27T11:54:00.001-08:002017-01-30T09:54:33.170-08:00Hyper Geek Comic Returns!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-64725014818243933852015-11-19T11:51:00.003-08:002017-01-30T09:53:21.837-08:00New Hyper Geek Comic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-44133730785243321352015-11-09T15:39:00.001-08:002017-01-30T09:52:20.856-08:00Hyper Geek Comic Strip<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-78976761400659471912015-11-06T02:44:00.000-08:002015-11-06T02:44:21.023-08:00How to Write a Press Release for Your Self-Published Book and Why You ShouldAs I talked about in a <a href="http://electricgutenberg.blogspot.com/2015/06/my-big-huge-not-self-published-ebook.html">previous post</a>, I decided against trying to mount a big PR campaign (or even a tiny one) for the launch of my first self-published novel, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eves-Hungry-Mackay-Bell-ebook/dp/B00VTQ9D0M/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=electrgutenb-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=75N2GPEXOHLWXPAY&creativeASIN=B00VTQ9D0M">Eve’s Hungry</a>.</i> After much fretting, I decided to focus my spare energies on completing another ebook. I did, however, do one thing to promote <i>Eve’s Hungry </i>about a month after I launched it. I ran a Kindle Countdown Deal, which was as easy as clicking a few buttons and picking dates.<div>
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Then I wrote a press release to announce it.<br /><br />Now, of all the things I might do to promote my book, search for reviewers, do an online launch party, stage a promotional contest, work the heck out of social media, etc., writing a press release might seem like a big waste of time. If I’m not going to really promote the book, who cares about a press release? Why would anyone bother to read a press release about one more Kindle Countdown deal for one more self-published ebook? Moreover, in this internet era, aren’t press releases kind of hopelessly old school?<br /><br />Well, I’m kind of an old school type of guy. During my many years in Los Angeles as a jack of all trades writer/consultant, I’ve written several press releases for independent films and startup companies. I learned how to do it from some old school PR type publicity people. One of the things I learned is that if you’re planning to promote ANYTHING, having a press release really is important. The last thing you want is for some reporter to stumble upon your film/startup/book, offer to write about it, ask for a press release, and then find yourself scrambling to write one quickly. If you don’t already have it ready to go, by the time you scramble to put one together, they might have lost interest.<br /><br />Admittedly, the kind of reporters likely to ask for press releases are a fading demographic. These days more and more people are getting their news from bloggers who probably have as much interest in press releases as they do in having a fedora with a card that says “PRESS” in the brim. But there are still enough traditionally trained journalists, traditional newspapers and news services, that I believe it is still worthwhile. Moreover, even a non-traditionally trained blogger will probably find a press release helpful if they decide to write about your self-published book. It never hurts to offer it up. And as I said, it’s something you want to have ready BEFORE someone shows an interest in your project.<br /><br />Finally, like everything else related to text and media, the internet offers unlimited self-space, world wide reach and easy search that allow even old school stuff to be disseminated quickly to a broad audience and be available in an instant for basically forever. So that press release you send out today, might come in handy to someone writing about your book ten years from now.<br /><br />Writing a good press release is hard, but even a bad one is better than nothing. Below is a link to a great post explaining the basic form. It also has links (which I used) to a press release template and good suggestions on where to send it when you’re done.</div>
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<a href="http://selfpublishingteam.com/3-places-to-send-a-press-release-and-how-to-write-one/">DUOLIT: HOW TO WRITE A PRESS RELEASE</a><br /><br />I pretty much followed the suggested template and then wrote a press release for <i>Eve’s Hungry</i> which I posted, per their suggestion, on a separate blog so I could have a clean link to it. Below is my version. (Note that I don't bother to mention the book had already been out for a month.)</div>
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<a href="http://hypergeekpress.blogspot.com/2015/06/eves-hungry-press-release_23.html">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: HYPER GEEK ANNOUNCES EVE'S HUNGRY</a><br /><br />Then I took Duolit's advice and submitted it to a suggested press release distribution website, <a href="http://prlog.com/">PRLog.com</a>. It’s free and easy to use. Here’s what my press release looks like when they published it:</div>
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<a href="http://www.prlog.org/12468734-hyper-geek-press-announces-eves-hungry-funny-sci-fi-adventure-about-steve-jobs.html">PRLOG: "EVE'S HUNGRY," A FUNNY SCI-FI ADVENTURE ABOUT STEVE JOBS</a><br /><br />Kind of cool and official looking, huh? What’s nice about a well written press release, distributed in this way, is that it doesn’t look like self-promotion. Sure, it’s promotion, but it looks like it’s coming from a promotional agency or team, not from some guy working out of his garage. That’s why you write it in third person and include “quotes” as if you were interviewed by someone else. In addition to submitting it to <a href="http://prlog.com/">PRLog.com</a>, I directly emailed the press release to about a dozen writers for various Apple news sites, because that’s my target audience.<br /><br />And what was the result? Well, I actually think it was pretty spectacular given my low expectations. <i>Technology Tell </i>reporter Kirk Hiner wrote a very nice post about it, based primarily on my press release (he never directly contacted me). Here it is:</div>
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<a href="http://www.technologytell.com/apple/151509/steve-jobs-is-a-martial-arts-action-hero-in-eves-hungry/">STEVE JOBS AS A MARTIAL ARTS ACTION HERO</a><br /><br />This, to me, is exactly the kind of article you’re hoping to get from a press release. The reporter includes all the key information about the book, throws in quotes from the author (me), and added some personal commentary of his own. This was a win/win for both of us. My press release did most of the leg work, by providing him with all the information and quotes in a simple and organized way. Then it was easy enough for him to add his own take, and zip, send it out on his blog and move on to the next story. (And this being the internet, it was mirrored on other sites like <a href="http://www.mindlessmagazine.com/steve-jobs-is-a-martial-arts-action-hero-in-eves-hungry/">THIS</a>.)<br /><br />Now, I don’t know exactly the size of the audience for <i>Technology Tell</i>, but what's great is that if you google “Eve’s Hungry” now, the <i>Technology Tell</i> article comes up third, right under the Amazon listing for the ebook and my own <i>Eve’s Hungry</i> website. And that’s exactly the way I would like it. If someone is curious, Kink Hiner’s article provides a quick overview of what the book is about. <br /><br />But isn’t all that information on the Amazon listing? Some of it is. But my Amazon listing is kind of a hard sell and has to be short and sweet. The thing about a press release, and the hoped for articles based on it, is that it has a “just the facts” quality that appears to be more “objective.” It can include a little more detail that wouldn’t work well on the Amazon sales page. For example, I explain my motivations for writing the novel and it’s history as a blog series. That’s the kind of background material that might just confuse (or bore) someone who is debating clicking on the sale button. Yet, ulitimately, it's good to get as much material out on the internet about your book as possible. <br /><br />So, did this particular article result in a huge sales spike for <i>Eve’s Hungry</i>? No. Overall, I only sold a few ebooks thanks to the Countdown deal and I have no way of telling how many might have been because of the press release coverage. Probably a couple.</div>
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So has it worth the time and bother for just a few sales? Yes, absolutely. For starters, it’s nice to have that article out there on the internet. It makes me feel a little more like a real author. (Nothing wrong with feeling validated.) On top of that, long term, I’m hoping that when people search for <i>Eve’s Hungry</i>, they'll think I'm a real author, one with a press team. (Or an author who at least has their act together.) In terms of search optimization, it's nice that Google suggests more than couple links for <i>Eve’s Hungry</i>. And, of course, if someone inquires in the future, I’m ready not only with my original press release but now there's an independent article about me and my book, including interview quotes, that I can send them a link too.</div>
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Eventually, when I've written more ebooks, I plan to put in more effort (and maybe money) into promoting them in other ways. But the great thing about a press release, like writing a novel, is that once it's done, it's done. You have it whenever you need it. A lot of other kinds of promotion comes and goes. But your press release can live on and be reused or revised. (And it's FREE.) So even though I'm more focused on creating new content, it was worth getting it out of the way now. And while the end result was only one news article, if the book takes off some day, other reporters will be checking out that story and it will provide background for their own takes.</div>
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<br />I would, however, keep expectations low for press releases. There are a lot of sites that charge for distributing them, and frankly, I don’t think it’s worth spending any money on special distribution. (PRlog also offers premium/paid services, but I’m not sure they are worth it.)<br /><br />Lastly, putting on my “PRESS” fedora, I suggest you don’t just include the basic facts in your press release, but really think about what kind of “spin” you can put on your ebook announcement so it helps your long term promotional goals. What is the story you’re trying to tell with the press release? Beyond the launch and sales price? What are you trying to get people to feel about your book? In the case of <i>Eve’s Hungry</i>, the story I was pitching about the novel is that no one has really been able to capture the spirit of Steve Jobs in a non-fiction biography, and maybe the only way to do it was in a fictional story like… <i>Eve’s Hungry</i>. And darned if reporter Kirk Hiner didn’t run with that angle. That's what a good press release is supposed to do.</div>
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-60476977220927749202015-08-13T12:03:00.001-07:002015-08-13T12:03:37.640-07:00FREE Kindle Download of Eve's HungryI'm testing out all the marketing tools of Amazon's KDP Select and one of the things people say can work well is using free days. Amazon gives books in Select five free days. I wanted to try just one to see what would happen, but what day?<br />
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Hyper Geek Press CEO (and Brazilian MMA fight champion) Conceição Cohen suggested International Left Handers day. Cohen is left-handed, which she says is actually an advantage in most fights. And since Cohen is the inspiration for Eve, it sounded like a great idea. <br />
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So here it is, one day only, Eve's Hungry is a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eves-Hungry-Mackay-Bell-ebook/dp/B00VTQ9D0M/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=electrgutenb-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=75N2GPEXOHLWXPAY&creativeASIN=B00VTQ9D0M">free download</a>. Snatch it up and tell your friends:<br />
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089603726279630753.post-34623342771231619562015-06-19T23:34:00.002-07:002015-06-19T23:34:21.192-07:00My Big Huge (Not) Self-Published eBook Launch Party!I published by first novel, Eve's Hungry, but I'm sure you’ve already heard the internet buzzing endlessly about it. Oh, you haven’t? You haven't been reading all the coverage of my epic blog tour? You haven't seen all the tweets and retweets and retweeted retweets? How about that massive paid advertising campaign for my huge Facebook campaign packed with giveaways and incentives? No? Then surely you've run across my many viral book promotion videos on YouTube, Vimeo, vSocial and jumpcut? Or perhaps my clever Pinterest graphic poster campaign? No? All the reviews on eZines? No? My incessant email blasts? No?<br />
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Well, maybe that's because I didn't do any of that. Here's what I actually did for my big huge ebook launch: I put my book up on Kindle. That's pretty much it. I designed a cover, I wrote a sales blurb for Amazon’s listing, I plugged in the metadata as best I could and choose a sale price. I then bought one myself to double check the formatting. I send out a tweet and a quick post. That's pretty much it.<br />
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I had been thinking about doing a lot more. In fact, I had been getting a little panicked about the idea that if I didn't do a ton of pre-launch promotion (spending a lot of time and money) I would doom my beautiful novel forever. After all, the internet is packed with advice from various bloggers saying it's critical to have a big launch and make a huge splash or your sales will never take off. Many say you have a very short window (30 days) to get your book noticed when it first gets on Amazon. If you can sell enough books in the first few days, Amazon's sales rankings will kick in and then you can mint money. Otherwise, it will disappear in the glut of ebooks and be lost for the end of time<br />
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There’s no question a well run launch campaign can work. Steven Konkoly and Bobby Akart held a launch party just last weekend for their new thriller <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Loyal-Nine-Boston-Brahmin-Book-ebook/dp/B00WRGNHX2">The Loyal Nine</a>. It was as well organized as military commando operation, with a Google hangout, Facebook launch party page, video feed, prizes, not to mention an in-depth website that fills in the background of is likely to be a series of six books. (One that screams television mini-series.) I bought a copy, checked out the live feed and watched in awe as, in a single afternoon, the novel jumped up the Amazon rankings from #25,000 to #5,000 to #1 in political thrillers. (It's currently at #10.)<br />
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But Steven is an accomplished writer and a very experienced self-publisher with a great catalog of books and even a popular Kindle World offering. Not to mention a former active duty Naval officer who worked with elite military units. It’s only Bobby Akart’s second book, but he’s someone who had a dual bachelor's degree, masters and law degree before he was twenty three and moved onto a legal career in international banking. They completely disprove the meme that self-publishers are unemployed losers who can't get past literary agent’s slush piles. These are two accomplished individuals who know how to get complicated things done. In college, I was trying to top John Blutarsky’s record before I dropped out to make money charging people to install Flying Toasters on their Macs. There’s no way I could pull off something like what Steven and Bobby did by myself.<br />
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But surely I could have done something more than simply publish and walk off. I couldn’t have jumped up to the top of the chart like they did, but why not at least try to make those early rankings work for you when fewer sales might take you higher?<br />
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When I started my novel, I vowed that I would see it simply as an experiment in self-expression and not worry about sales. There is a lot of competition out there in the the growing ebook world, and it bound to be tough to get my first book noticed. I promised myself to keep my expectations reasonable. I’m not looking to quit my day job and live off of ebook sales. (My day job isn’t so bad.) However, coming from a freelance business background, I couldn’t help but be interested in how to encourage sales, and wonder if there was a way to make the book profitable. Over the three years it took me to finish it, I read a lot of advice about ebook publishing, much of it contradictory. I find it fun to geek out about self-publishing strategy and have read tons of posts on the subject and several books. I’m always interested in different writer’s opinions about the best way to publish and promote.<br />
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So bear with me if I geek out a little here about my own, completely untested and possibly very unwise, strategies.<br />
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As my book neared completion, I had to get serious about exactly when I would publish it on Kindle and make choices about things like going exclusive with Amazon (which I did) and pricing strategy (my book is priced on the high end for self-published novels at $5.99). At that point, I also had to really think about whether or not I wanted special marketing efforts for the “launch.” I spent many a sleepless night worrying about what kind of ebook promotion made the most sense. What worked and what didn't work? What did it all cost and was there enough of a payoff? What was the minimum you needed to do? What was the most clever way to launch? How do you break through the clutter?<br />
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I worried about this so much it was a big distraction from the real reason I got so excited about self-publishing, which was, to PUBLISH MY NOVEL. It got in the way of me finishing my novel, and focusing on the important things like polishing, proofing, and proper formatting. Should I try to figure out how much it would cost to advertise the launch on Facebook? Or should I recheck the spelling of exotic locations and make sure I wasn't overusing adverbs?<br />
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Finally, I made a decision. I junked any thought of a big launch campaign until I was totally, completely done polishing my novel, and then, I quickly decided to junk the idea of doing any real promotion before launch. Not just because I wanted to make sure I wasn't distracted (or because I was too lazy) but the more I thought about it, the more I decided I didn't like the very idea that I had to do a lot of pre-launch publicity.<br />
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Pre-launch publicity, and a set launch window, is the fundamental marketing model in the traditional publishing industry. I know this from reading traditionally published writers who complain strongly about it. Basically, in traditional publishing, writers would have about a four week sales window when their book is launched and widely available in bookstores. If it doesn't sell well in that short window, they are screwed. It is likely their book would soon disappear from shelves and eventually go out of print. While there are some real world justifications for that business model in traditional publishing, much of is simply for the convenience of publishing executives who want to move quickly from book to book and aren’t that invested in the long term career of any specific writer, particularly a new writer.<br />
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In self-publishing, long term career advancement should be a writer’s primary concern. And the ability of a self-publisher to look at the long term, and avoid short term compromises, is a key strategic advantage of the little guy competing against big corporations. Getting sucked into a traditional publishing launch model seems to me to be philosophically wrong. So even if there might be some short term sales advantage to a big launch, I’m kind of against it in principle.<br />
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“Philosophically against big launches in principle?” Am I being too high minded here? Isn't the point to sell books? Shouldn't results be all that matters? Long term, isn’t selling more books better, regardless of how you do it? Well, no.<br />
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As someone who has done a lot of work in the entertainment industry (after my Flying Toaster days), including career consulting with various artists like filmmakers and actors, one of the biggest dangers in creative careers is burn out. There really is an argument for slow and steady wins the race. The artist who rushes into too many projects and over extends themselves trying to promote can simply get exhausted or discouraged. They can give up or lose focus and stumble. That isn’t to say that hard work isn’t necessary, but it’s best if that work is clearly productive and has measurable results. And even better if it focuses on the artist’s strengths and what they enjoy doing.<br />
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I’ve encountered the same thing working with tech startups that rush into business without being clear which direction they are heading or what is at the finish line. The good and bad thing about the internet is there is literally no end to what you can do. Back in the fifties, the owner of a brick and mortar store would have a limited number of places they could advertise: the local newspaper, the local TV station, limited signage opportunities. The owner of a factory would have a limited number of buyers to sell to, and a limited number of suppliers. Much of what worked and what didn’t work in those limited parameters was common knowledge. All of that has changed because of the internet, particularly with creative endeavors. There is no end to different ways to enhance your book, through professional covers, editors, proof readers, formatters, aggregators and no end in to all the ways you market it, with social media, paid advertising, publicity consultants and written, video and graphic promotional material. What works and what doesn’t work is constantly changing. This is why lots of creative startups end up spending a ton of money and time before finding out there is a limited market for whatever they are promoting, and end up shutting down at a big loss.<br />
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If there are unlimited creative ways I can spend money, or even just time, promoting my book, where do I concentrate my efforts? Here’s the advice I would give another artist and plan to take myself:<br />
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1. Try to focus as much time as you can on things that you enjoy doing.<br />
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2. Focus on efforts that deliver measurable results.<br />
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3. Prioritize what gives the best return for time and money spent.<br />
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4. Favor efforts that are repeatable and scalable.<br />
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So, for example, cold calling every acquaintance I know and begging them to buy my book during a launch window would probably deliver some measurable results, and might even be a good return on time and money. But I wouldn’t enjoy doing that. It’s also not very scalable. My list of acquaintances (as opposed to a real fan base) isn’t going to grow that much and might even shrink if I keep begging them to buy my books. And it might not be repeatable. How many times can I put the squeeze on people before they stop answering my calls? <br />
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What about handing out swag at a sci-fi convention? If I hand out colorful promotional stickers to the crowd, is it possible a small percentage will buy my ebooks and justify the time and cost? Let’s say it did. Let’s even say I enjoyed mixing it up with the sci-fi fan base. How repeatable and scalable is it? How many sci-fi conventions are there? How often would I be able to attend them? If two days of handing out stickers sells 50 books, do I really want to go to 10 conventions in the hopes of selling 500 books? At what point would I get burnt out and give up on that approach, even though I invested time and money testing it out and learning how it worked? Moreover, what’s the likelihood that it wouldn’t pay off in the first place? What are the chances that I would spend money on stickers and end up selling no books? Pretty good.<br />
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Much of marketing and promotion is guess work. It’s hard to know what will work. You have to assume much of what you do won’t work. But you also have to think about what will happen if it<u> does work</u>. Is it something you want to keep repeating? Is it something you can expand? So while, in the excitement of finishing my first book, the idea of handing out stickers to sell a few copies doesn’t seem so bad, I can’t really see it being something I want to do on a regular basis. And I can't really see how it could be something that could lead to a lot of sales.<br />
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Instead of spending a $100 on stickers, I could spend $100 on an Amazon KDP select advertising campaign. It also might not work, but if it did work, it is certainly something that is repeatable and scalable. If $100 leads to $200 in sales, then $500 might lead to $1,000 in sales. Not to mention it takes little time and effort to set up. So it seems better to test that out before heading off to a sci-fi convention.<br />
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While there are still more questions than answers about what is effective in the way of ebook promotion, many successful authors seem to agree on a few things that consistently work:<br />
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<b>Mailing lists. </b> If you can build up a good mailing list, it helps sells books to your fan base.<br />
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<b>Bookbub. </b> Bookbub seems to work more often than not, and sometimes work incredibly well. But it’s expensive and hard to get placement.<br />
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<b>Kindle Countdowns and Free Promotions. </b> Many argue that making your book free doesn’t work as well as it used to, but others say it’s still a great way to promote your work. Kindle countdowns are a newer development, but generally people think they can boost sales.<br />
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Finally, the thing almost everyone agrees is the best way to boost sales is:<br />
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<b>PUBLISH ANOTHER BOOK. </b> I’ve repeatedly heard experienced authors say that publishing another book helps boosts sales of your older books. Now, what the hell could be better than that? If you like writing, writing more sells more? Great! It’s staggering to me that with all the complaints about “too many writers” and “too many books,” successful self-publishers almost all say exactly the same thing: “more books equals more sales.”<br />
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Which brings me back to why I didn’t bother to mount a big launch for my debut novel. I don’t have a mailing list yet, and it seemed silly to hold off until I could develop one. Particularly since the best way to build your mailing list is with a link in the back of your already PUBLISHED book. Bookbub won’t accept you until you have enough reviews (and are going on sale from a previous established higher price), so you have to have already been published for some time. Kindle Countdowns and Free promotions aren’t available until a month after you publish. And finally, whatever time I spent on a debut book launch probably would be better invested in WRITING MY NEXT BOOK.<br />
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This isn’t to say that I won’t make any effort to promote my first book. I plan to and I’ve got some creative thoughts about how to do it, which I will share in future posts. (Hint: the internet likes cats.) But I prefer to test out my marketing without the gun to my head created by an arbitrary launch date.<br />
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Like Steven and Bobby, there are plenty of other writers, who are either more experienced with the process, already have good mailing lists, or enjoy engaging social media, who successfully use ebook launches to increase their intial sales. In the future, when I have a few more titles and more experience, I might also give it a try. (Though, when I read <a href="https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2014/06/07/launching-a-book-by-the-seat-of-my-pants/">this post by David Gaughran</a>, who literally wrote the book on self-publishing, and the struggles with his own launch, it still seems pretty stressful even for the established ebook author.)</div>
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So, now a month after my non-launch launch, what happened? Not too much. I’ve sold about ten copies, mostly to close friends. I’ve watched my Amazon best seller sales rank drop from a high of 80,000 after a couple sales in the first few days, to below 1,000,000 with no sales for the last two weeks. All of which would seem to confirm that more of an effort at launch might have helped.<br />
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Or not. It’s possible I could have spent a lot of money and time and ended up with the same amount of sales (which sure would have depressed me). And even if I had doubled or tripled my sales, I probably would have eventually ended up in the same spot today. Hard to know for sure.<br />
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But it shouldn’t matter so much since the most dependable way to boost sales is to write more books. That’s where my focus needs to be. In the meantime, I want to use this first book to learn as much about promotion as possible in a calm, collected, and inexpensive way.<br />
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What I’ve learned a lot so far, which isn't surprising, is just putting it up for sale on Amazon isn’t enough. I kind of figured that, everyone else said that, but it’s nice to know for sure.<br />
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I also probably priced my book too high. I suspected as much when I priced it at $5.99. Amazon suggests I price the book at $3.99. But I wanted to test out if a higher price made it seem more valuable to people who might check it out on Kindle Unlimited. So far, only a couple Kindle Unlimited borrows, so I’m not sure that is a good reason to keep it priced high. The other reason I priced it high, was so it would seem to be a bigger value when I did a Kindle Countdown sale. I’ve got one coming up on June 30, were it will be priced at .99 cents for seven days. (So if you’re curious about Eve’s Hungry, but think it’s too expensive, that would be a good time to buy it. See how I snuck that advertisement in here? Now, imagine a cat holding up a .99 cent sign.) If my Kindle Countdown goes well, it probably indicates the book was priced too high. Or, maybe it indicates pricing it high makes it look like a better deal.<br />
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How do I fully test a lower price? Well, I could just drop the price down, but… wouldn’t it be better to write another book (perhaps a shorter one) and price that lower? I think so.<br />
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The other thing that might be a problem is the cover. The cover I have (which I designed) is a little mysterious, perhaps more like something you’d see on a work of “literary” fiction. Not a laser battling, sword fighting, bisexual sci-fi epic geek out about a future war between Apple and Google, which is what Eve’s Hungry really is. The standard cover for a book like that is supposed to be a sexy girl with a laser pistol looking over her shoulder. Okay. Maybe some day I’ll do that. But Eve’s Hungry isn’t really a normal sci-fi space opera. It’s… a little different. So I like the idea of a different kind of cover. I can always change it later. And… maybe go with something less mysterious on my next book.<br />
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The good news is, my book is published! And, I believe at least three people I don’t know bought it. Even with little promotion, a high price and mysterious self-made cover. I also got one terrific review (thanks Ian!) and have learned a lot in the process without spending much money.<br />
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Time to get started on my next book!<br />
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Mackay Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15513778111749295320noreply@blogger.com2