The Bump and Grind!

Admit it - it was an enticing title! I'm becoming a click bait master. Seriously, though, it's really all about the grind. Not any bump explored in this article, though that in itself would be interesting but a bit off mark for my blog. The grind comes from breaking into a new job field which takes a lot of time, energy and concentration. I'd be whining and moaning about how this cuts into my writing time if it wasn't for the fact that A) the marketing of my second book is still crawling to a start and B) I need the funds to get the marketing started, which requires becoming good at my new career. It's quite the cart before the horse argument. None of this brings my writing to the fore - in fact, it's really depressed my writing time and production to, well, basically nothing. But, let's be honest, no matter how much I write, it's going to take a long time for my writing to pay the bills, if it ever does. Luckily, that isn't what drives my writing in the first place, so you can look forward to me completing this series within the next couple of years - I'm simply driven to do so!

Launching into a new career is exciting and frightening all at the same time. You see the fruits of the labors of the veterans around you, realize it will take some time to get to that level and, oh my, how am I going to put food on the table? I've embraced the new job and put all my time and energy into making it work. I've been lucky to have such great team members sharing their expertise and showing me the ropes. They've really built an incredible teaching culture here. Even so, it's been a bit of touch and go with the finances. My checking account has dropped below zero more than once in the last three months, and that's not something I've seen happen since the I was laid off ten years ago. This career is all sales and commission. There is no salary. You take a break, you starve (unless you've been so successful, you've built up a hefty nest egg to take time off). I have no nest egg. It's actually going to be a sprint for the next year or two just to keep the creditors at bay. It's frightening that I can't just show up to work, "dial it in," put my butt in a chair and coast for the day if I need to. There's no such luxury in sales. On the other hand, there's thrill in the hunt, adrenaline in the chase and the promise of a reward if you've done your job well and right.

Now, if I could just time travel to where I'll be in six months or a year from now, I'll be walking in and closing like a champion (a possible exaggeration). As it is, I'm still a newbie. I'm hoping I can last to the finish line of the first year, when most new agents have given up and dropped out. Can I hold it together without breaking from the pack and running for the hills? I will say I have one thing going for me - I'm as stubborn as a mule when it comes to sticking it out and giving my all towards success. I've risen to the top tier of pretty much every job I've held by just staying in there and doing a good job, working my hardest and not losing sight of the goal. I can do this if I can just hold out and get there.

Let's drop into the energy side of the equation. I'm middle aged, so I'm not quite as energetic as the spring chickens around me. That may seem to put me on the fast track to failure, but while I'm not the fastest or most energetic, that isn't what actually wins this game. The young look for the quick reward nowadays. If they try it for a few weeks or even just days and don't see immediate reward, some of them are out the door onto another job that looks more promising. I know the value of the slow and steady progression to not just sales but also expertise in the field. Getting to know your products, the sales cycle and your customers takes a while to discover and absorb until you feel like a sales call is second nature, overcoming an objection is child's play and riding the wave to success seems like it was always destined to be. There's a real value to seeing the veterans in the office and knowing they were in the same boat as you when they started. They overcame their inexperience and blossomed into successful professionals. I'm banking on my persistence and tenacity to get me there as well.

I'm fortunate that I'm middle-aged and not a little more advanced in age. It hasn't affected my memory; I'm still able to do the repetitious study and practice that begets expertise. Were I to try starting this career in my later years, I'm not sure my mind and focus would be up to the task. In truth, the only thing I do wish is that I'd started a little earlier in life. Then, I'd be enjoying the fruits of my labors instead of just starting up the hill. Unfortunately, there's only so much focus to go around -  my concentration has to be centered on my job and that definitely affects my writing.

I started book three shortly before I left Texas. It had a promising start, but the stress and activities surrounding the move (and marketing book one) simply drove my concentration from the writing that needed to be done to progress on book three. Truth be told, it doesn't matter in the short term. Book two is months away from being published, although it has been completed. It's now moving at the typical glacial pace of a major publisher, although it's a smaller press involved. There's really no rush to complete book three. Hence, I get to concentrate on becoming better at insurance sales in the mean time.

In all honestly, the transition has been refreshing. Writing led to my time in the acting profession, which increased my improvisational skills and, really, that's at the core of making cold calls on a telephone. The split second reactions you make are at the core of making the first step in a sale - the appointment. My time in IT led to both looking for solutions and handling customer issues which is really at the heart of the sales cycle of finding out what the client needs and then presenting them suitable options.I love helping people and this job actually gets to the core of that desire - I help people transfer the risks they sometimes don't even realize they have to the insurance company. They get protection and piece of mind.

And in the end, doesn't that make it worth the grind?

Regards,
Artemus

P.S. You may have noticed me having a bit of fun with the links in the blog. Some are spot on and others take a bit of thinking to connect what I mean with the link. Just wanted to show you I'm still thinking and trying marketing all at the same time!

If You Liked It, Then You Should Have Put a Review On It!

My apologies to Beyonce, but she does have a point especially in these days of books being ranked on Amazon by reviews they get. There are a lot of controversies regarding positive reviews, negative reviews and purchasing reviews. But when you're a brand new writer trying to make an impact on Amazon, what are you supposed to do?

Positive reviews on Amazon are amazing when it comes to how Amazon markets your book. You get bumped up on "what buyers looked at" type of link lists and pages. People who go to your page and see it has been reviewed dozens or hundreds of times are more likely to consider taking a chance on your book. Amazon has built a culture among authors of encouraging them to get reviews or risk being dropped into the bottom ranks of obscurity, rarely ever getting a chance to get seen by random book shoppers. Interestingly enough, there are some shoppers who immediately ignore 4 and 5 star reviews because they they have been purchased or are somehow fraudulent otherwise. The problem with this tactic is that some of those reviews are honest and once you get into 3 star territory, that is where people who don't like the book or possibly competitors will say how bad a book is to purposefully give it "bad press". Truth be told, no one pays for 3 star reviews. My personal feeling is this applies more to consumer products as opposed to books, but you can still run into an ex-significant other who may want to cream your book for the sheer joyful malice of the act.

Negative reviews are an interesting concept. Sure, an avalanche of bad reviews may keep you from getting a product, but Amazon is infamously lax in weeding out unscrupulous reviews by competitors. Just like the recent Indiana Pizzeria controversy, there can be a flood of bad things to say about the place by people who've never been there if they have an agenda to press. Alternatively, that same location has gotten a ridiculous amount of donations to support it - "they'll never have to sell pizzas again" type of support. Like the Yelp review site, it's incredibly hard to get rid of bad reviews whether deserved or not. Unfortunately, without some kind of review process, it's impossible to manage these reviews for their consistency and truthfulness.

Enter the purchased reviews! These are specifically against the Amazon terms of agreement. You cannot "pay" someone for a review. Amazon is even going to court against some of these purchase review sites. These sites have conflicting language about how they go about getting these reviews posted. Some of it states the "reviewer" will not have to actually buy the product to write the review. Other language says to send the reviewer an empty box, so they can still be a "verified buyer". In other words, these sites are using Amazon's rules and tactics against them to get around the intention of the rules. Amazon is so big, it's nearly impossible for them to sift through the billions of reviews on their site to find the ones that may be bogus. They can't review every purchase and confirm a product was actually sent or an empty box. In short, while Amazon may fight these sites in court, it's unlikely they'll be able to stop the bogus reviews from coming in from other providers. The really crazy thing? This doesn't mean the products or books purchasing these reviews are bad; they're just trying to work the system like others already have, including the larger companies that post their own bogus reviews via pseudofake accounts without ever going to an outside provider. If the big businesses are doing it, why can't the smaller businesses and independent authors?

The obvious answer is - it is dishonest. The disturbing realization is - you the consumer and the honest product providers are getting hosed by a system designed to be taken advantage of, even if it is "against Amazon policies". So, here's my challenge to you consumers and readers out there. Post reviews of the products you use and the books you read! isn't hard and is only a little time consuming, but by doing this you will reduce the demand for the fraudulent review providers. If you've bought and used the product on Amazon, post a review of the product and the company you purchased it from! Viva la revolution and all that jazz.

It is incredibly hard to get a review of your book (and even your product) from your trues readers/consumers. I know, I've tried. I realize I've sold many books, some even given away for free. I have one review for one of my two books. It's been a whole month. I've personally asked people buying from me IN PERSON to review the books. Nada. I have a single review from a friend who downloaded a free copy from Amazon during the free promo period. Don't get excited - I asked 15 friends. With that kind of response, you may be able to see why authors and companies resort to purchasing reviews. I've had people literally gush about how much they enjoyed my book...in person. Those same people will not write a review for it. I'm in a quandry. I know it's a good book, but I can't get reviews to save my life. It really is a head scratcher.

I would be totally jazzed if you bought The Adventures of Reztap and/or the prequel short story book Mishaps and Mayhem - A Primer for The Adventures of Reztap AND WROTE A REVIEW! However, I would be equally happy if you looked at the last things you purchased from Amazon and did your due diligence and wrote a short review of that product and/or company you purchased it from. Get out there and make Amazon reviews a truer reflection of the consumer experience! If you don't, you're going to continue to read purchased reviews and possibly experience a negative result from trusting them.

So what's it going to be America, United Kingdom, Australia and India? I hope you step in and make this baby your own! I'll let you know if I see any results on my end in about a month or so.

Keep on reviewing!

Regards,
Artemus

The Rollercoaster! Marketing Round 1...

Ups, downs and all arounds! I've been so busy with book launch duties, I haven't had a moment to my blogging. With Facebook parties, blog tours and guest blogs, my busy cup runneth over!

First Facebook party was a success! Well, it was fun and the attendees enjoyed themselves. It took some time to come up with the trivia and fun facts elements, but I was assisted in the actual party by none other than Maggie Mae Gallagher who ran all the behind the scenes stuff while the party progressed. I just responded to what people posted. Was it widely attended? I'd say no, but this is my first and you have to start building a base In all honestly, I started building that base with this party! I developed some nice friendships with some attendees, everyone got a free eBook while attending and a few people promised to read the books and follow along with the sequels just because the party was so entertaining and the book previews were too. Definitely gained a few readers and, really, what more can you ask from a book launch party? I'm sold on doing the same for all my other books.

Blog tours = a fairly significant prep time. Well, fairly significant for some people. I had to write unique guest blogs for each blog and some requested a unique book synopsis as well. Had to provide author bios and a few pics. So, that was several thousand words I donated to the cause that weren't spent on books. But, you know what? I was quite pleased to do it! Here I have an opportunity to write brand new material and get new readers to view it! Asking a writer to write something is asking them to do the easiest thing they have on their plate! The only damper on the whole thing was actually other events going on in life - unfortunately, book marketing doesn't happen in a vacuum. Life happens. So, while it was easy to write, it was stressful due to my real life being busy and complicated at the moment they needed the copy.

The uniqueness of guest blogs (not blog tours) is they happen relatively quietly. The built-in readership of the blog is primarily your audience, but there isn't a lot of interaction. I do provide purchase links and social media contacts, but really no telling how many people look at the blog, click on the links or follow me via social media. While this may seem a waste of time, you would be dead wrong! Here is yet another opportunity to reach a reader I otherwise may not have touched. The writing f the blog itself should be the selling point. OK, to a degree, I don't have as much opportunity to tell what kind of impact the efforts of a guest have for my marketing efforts. However, I'm convinced it cannot hurt. Any new reader could be the word of mouth my book(s) need to get the ball rolling and expand that readership.

Looking at all these simple writing exercises, it doesn't really appear much time was spent at all in the marketing effort. This is where the behind the scenes marketing comes into play to suck up your free time like a sneaky black hole. Promoting these events on Facebook and Twitter (primarily Twitter) is the big time suckage. While I'm promoting the events, I'm also promoting books. If I added up all the text from these activities, I have several thousand words a day under my belt. Unfortunately, none of that is in book form. In fact, when your book launches, you can forget about writing for a while. It will absorb and consume your attention! I haven't managed to pull my focus off the marketing and sales to get any writing done. This takes some supreme time management skills, especially as life (family and part-time consulting work) invade the precious few hours you have to devote to your writing business.

Did I mention booking time at conventions? Yeah, that takes a bit of research as well which is more time not writing. The bag here is mixed as well. Some events you can apply as a guest fairly easily. Others require more lead time than I had - must be published before you can apply and that application date has already passed. Still, I've managed to either apply as a guest or get a table for book signing/book selling at a convention every month through September. What that also means is a significant outlay of cash. Not for each event, but cumulatively, it's quite a chunk including accommodations, travel and food. I've been fortunate enough to get additional consulting work to draw out my savings longer. I simply hope the tail of the sales from the books is sufficient and quick enough to support my efforts in the short run as well as the long run. Ah well, you can't plan for everything. The universe reveals itself at its own pace.

I write this blog not to complain but to give others writers a perspective of what to expect when and if they become published. It's not a write a book and forget it kind of lifestyle except for the quaint few celebrities who actually can do that. For the rest of us, the work has just begun when the ink is dry.

Keep writing!

Artemus

Houston Authors Bash 2015 Post-Mortem

I made my first real appearance as Artemus Withers to the public on Saturday, February 28th at the Houston Authors Bash in Katy, TX. I had a book launch party earlier in the week, but my slightly less snazzy alter ego showed up there. As my first event, what did I learn, how did I think it went, and what do I think I (and the organizers) might do better next time?

Probably the biggest category is what did I learn. As I've never been to anything like this as a vendor/presenter/author, there are many behind the scenes things to take into account. I lucked out and had a publisher behind me with this one, so my table fee was taken care of and they helped me out with a large poster of my first book (went on a floor easel they also got for me). I had to provide my own table runner, swag giveaway stuff and two 8x10 posters of my book covers for the table (OK, I sprung for some with a thicker backing - my publisher (Chart House Press!) actually provided a printed 8x10 for my covers in a clear plastic stand-up frame). My short story book was there (I asked for a certain number and those were provided - yes, I will be paying for them so they weren't free.)

The author next to me offered a free ebook if people signed up for his newsletter. I immediately talked to my publisher about doing the same thing. Sure, that means giving Mishaps and Mayhem away for free as an ebook, but that was part of the plan anyway. This would be a great way to introduce readers to the Reztap universe - if they like it, that means future readers, fans and book buyers. I'll be enacting that on my web site as well. I have only to wait for the formatted ebook to be delivered so I can send it to my newsletter subscribers!

I had volunteered to be on a panel. Truth be told is what panel number two I thought I would be the most useful in, but I was placed on panel number one - street teaming. Not only did I not know what street teaming was, I was pretty certain I wouldn't be adding much content to the folks watching from the audience. As it turned out, the panel wasn't exactly as well organized and planned as one would hope for. There was no moderator, the authors weren't notified when the panel was starting and, for the most part, the panel was geared toward authors, not readers and fans, so our target audience was busy in the big room selling books and talking to readers while we did the panel for mostly, well, us! But all was not lost. I'd been to so many writing conferences and attended so many panels that I had no problem stepping in and acting as moderator. I learned so much from the other authors there about street teams and how they work, Facebook parties and other fan engagement tips that would strengthen your fan base and make them a part of the creative and marketing processes. I'd like to think other authors on the panel got some great ideas from each other as well. As for our five audience members, four of them were part of one authors street team!

The overall event went well enough. I sold seven books, traded one for another author's book (thanks Tom Glover!), and signed up eight people for my newsletter. That's 15 potential future readers (or more) for The Adventures of Reztap when it comes out! I also handed out 50 pieces of homemade swag (outer space themed foam stickers from Oriental Traders with hand cut personalized information on the front about the books and my website), so there's another potential 50 readers for my books! I think this was a success for my first big event.

What could I do better next time? I would've liked to have some better swag available. I'm currently looking into professional bookmarks and probably some business cards. something easy to hand out and preprinted. The foam stickers were fun, but they inadvertently painted my book toward a younger audience than I'd anticipated. My book covers, I've discovered from the foot traffic, are skewing to a lower age bracket than I'd intended also. Many people asked me about my kids' book - on even thought it was a graphic novel! My swag will need to be a little more sophisticated to balance that reastion out for sure. On the other hand, my book is profanity free and really doesn't have any graphic content, per se. There are some adult situations, but I've intentionally not gotten graphic in any of that. There is suggestion and innuendo, but that's certainly nothing a high school age reader or even a great majority of middle school readers wouldn't be shocked by. At the end of the day, some of the jokes may go over the heads of the more naive kids, but there's really not much in there a parent would find highly objectionable or corrupting. I suppose the references to holographic pornography chits is the most risque element in the book, but, as I said before, there are no graphic depictions accompanying them.

What did the organizers of the event take from this year's session? Number one - don't hold it on a Houston Rodeo weekend! We had half the traffic (or less) than last year when it was held the weekend before the rodeo started. On the panels - if the panels are going to be geared toward writers, they should be held after the doors close so the authors themselves can take advantage of the panels if they so choose. As it was, the authors had to choose between selling their books and meeting readers and fans to attend the panels. No readers attended the panels - I'm not sure this is really the venue for reader attended panels anyway. The feel of the HAB was one of people dropping by for perhaps an hour to browse through the offerings, perhaps chat with a few writers, buy a few books and then move on with the rest of their day. A casual book browsing or buying experience. It works out well as designed.

Will I attend this next year? Absolutely! I'll have three or four books available then and perhaps a bigger presence in the book market by then. I hope to engage with more readers and maybe introduce them to fellow authors when they come to see me. I think that's the biggest gift a successful author can give an up and coming author - a little extra traffic by their booth that might catch a new readers eye!

Keep writing my friends and watch for March 9th when The Adventures of Reztap comes out!

A New Reztap On The Horizon

Busy is the word of the year. From the short story book to book one and two, there were so many activities punched into January and February, it's a little dizzying. March - September are looking crazy too!

First things first - I did get signed by the publishing company (Chart House Press). What does that mean exactly? Here are the nuts and bolts:

1. Small publishing house means no advance. I'm actually very okay with that since my initial intention in summer 2014 was to pay for an editor. Well, I still get to do that. The extra umph in the relationship comes from the marketing connections, expertise and some other services surrounding the publishing of the book. From a financial standpoint, it's a very real investment of time and some money on my part, but there's additional investment from the publishing company in other aspects of this (some of which I'll point out later). In other words, I did NOT get a big advance and can now retire to a South Pacific island and enjoy the fruits of my labors. OK, I was never going to do that anyway, but you get the point.

2. What exactly am I responsible for in this relationship? Web site (www.artemuswithers.com) is one. I'm responsible for setting it up, running it, paying for it, etc. That also means I own it, so there will be no struggle to disengage it from some parent corporation that wants to keep it. I like that as well. Of course, that also means getting my own web designer, handling technical problems, working on content, etc. It's a bit more work than, say, an author page off the publisher's website - but it's completely under my control and I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to my image and content being out there.

Editing - I pay for editing fees, which I was already going to do. I'm very happy with the editor they selected (they have a stable of contracted editors they farm work out to). How is this a burden off my shoulders? I didn't have to search for an editor that would not just be good, but would also understand and maybe even appreciation a science fiction humor novel. That experience and connection with editing talent is huge! There was no two or three month long search for just the right editor - my publisher nailed it with their expertise and contacts. Believe me, when I got through with the editing process on the first book, I was so happy with the editor and the results.

Marketing - materials, knick knacks, swag, posters, table runners, and banners - all that stuff is on me. Again, I'm very okay with this. It's all under my control - I select what I want and how I want it. I have gotten suggestions from my publisher on what type of things I should be bringing to book signing, conventions, etc. There have been no directives on what I have to bring. I can spend as little or as much as I want on the process. In this aspect, I'm still very much in touch with the independent author feel, but not hanging out there without a safety net.

Cover art - This is actually a bit of a mixed bag. I've privately contracted my own cover artist to provide the art ( hats off to my Reztap cover artist Jerrica Law, a hard working recent college grad!). That gives me ownership of the images and ability to use them freely for my marketing materials, web site, whatever. My publisher does handle the lettering on the covers - title, author name, other info including the back cover blurb, info, etc. The in-house cover artist, Ida, does a fantastic job with not just the creation of the words on the cover, but also blending the front cover art to seamlessly flow to the back, picking out elements from the front to include on the back, etc. She's really a maestro at that. I've seen some of her other covers that involve the whole package, and she's a truly excellent cover artist in her own right. In the end, there's a lot of artistry going on for the covers, and I'm just responsible for paying for a single cover artist.

Production - The writing (and integration of editing notes). The initial writing of a book is a fun thing. I've found even the subsequent second and third drafts are fun in discovering new and better ways of getting my meaning across. As I'm a new author, my publisher (Chart House Press) wanted a small sample f my writing to send to the booksellers they have relationships with to let them know what kind of book they'd be getting if they pre-ordered book one (which isn't quite available yet). I was tasked to write a book of short stories from the Reztap universe. I found myself pressed up against my deadline with only 6,000 words done and I had to deliver 25,000. I managed to push out what I thought was okay work in about the space of a week. I literally wrote over 5,000 words one of those days. It was really impressive, in my humble opinion. But that is that heart of what I do - I'm the writer. No one else will be performing that task for me. Now I have several quality short stories to expand my readers' understanding of the universe I've created. Reviewing the marked up transcripts from the editor was actually refreshing. Instead of hunting through the pages trying to find out what I'd done wrong, a very knowledgeable editor (thank you Erika Wisdom!) painstakingly went through everything and delivered a word document highlighting all my writing sins along with some recommendations on how to repair the damage. Post editor, it's up to me to make changes, incorporate their suggestions and/or correct them as I see fit. My writing has improved tenfold from the experience.

Social media - that's pretty much on me, but the publisher does their share as well. My Twitter feed, Facebook posts and blog content right here are all my responsibility and under my control. Obviously, while I'm busy writing, the social media content gets neglected, so there's an interesting balance going on just with my media foot print.

Personal appearances - well, it's pretty obvious no one else can or should appear as me. Book signings, convention appearances and blog tours are all on me. The appearance part anyway.

3. What does the publisher bring to the table?

A lot more than you might think at first. I did mention some of what they do above (cover art layout, lettering, and selecting an appropriate editor), but there is much more on their plate. Things I really didn't think about before.

Publication - copy editor, book formatting, and all the technical details that go into registering books, listing books, and submitting books to booksellers. With my self-published books I did most of this myself, but not as well as I've seen my publisher do it.

Marketing - identifying marketing opportunities and listing on their own social media. This is all stuff I don't have to do (some of the marketing I should be doing to expand that arm, though). An add for The Adventures of Reztap will be appearing in the Spring edition of Publishers Weekly catalog - you know, that silly little thing all the booksellers look through to decide what they're going to stock on their shelves. Do you know how to get an add in there? Did you even think about the catalog before you read this? 

Events - this is really a big one that I simple don't have the expertise, or time, to setup. I'm attending a small convention here in Katy with about one hundred fellow authors called the Houston Author Bash. It's not the first one, but I'd never heard of it before. That brings to mind how many other chances to press the flesh, so to speak, I haven't been doing as a self-published author? Don't get me wrong, there are self-published authors at this event as well, but I simply had no idea about the event or how to register. All taken care of by my publisher.

That's just one of many events being setup by my publisher. There's a book launch party next week, blog tours and book signings in the upcoming months, all of which my publisher is handling for me. I just have to show up and put in my time, sell books and meet some wonderful readers. Not having to set all of this up frees me up to actually write/edit. I can't even imagine the time it would take for me to figure out what and where to appear, set it up, and pay fees where appropriate. I don't have to do any of that (although, I will be discussing some upcoming conventions that may not be on my publisher's radar and I might indeed have to setup myself).

Social media - My name is on the Chart House Press web site. When they mention their authors and what the authors are doing, what books are coming out and what events they will appear at. This also flows to their Facebook site and Twitter feed.

Reach - this is kind of all encompassing, but it's a true measure of the value of a publisher over self-publishing. They know people (booksellers, fellow writers, other industry people, readers, reviewers, etc.) that I simply don't. Through those connections, my work is spread out across a much broader spectrum than I could initially manage on my own. I don't want to knock self-publishing - there are a great many authors who are very successful at it, but just as many who aren't because they don't know how to expand that reach beyond a small circle of friends and acquaintances.

Validation - someone in the writing business read my book, evaluated it, and decided it was worthwhile to publish. They're not just publishing my book - they're putting their name on it too. I'm humbled, honored and thrilled all at the same time. I get to call myself a published author. That's a gateway not many writers get to pass through.

Mechanics and know-how - there are so many things going on behind the scenes. There are things I haven't even contemplated that are going on in pursuit of my book being a success.

4. The last two months have been a whirlwind of activity. I written a short story book (Mishaps and Mayhem), incorporated edits for book one (The Adventures of Reztap), worked with my web designer on clearing technical hurdles to get my web site up and running, and juggled social media and event planning duties (planning my attendance and all the marketing pieces that go with that). I just got done approving the proof for Mishaps and Mayhem and ordered a bunch of them to have for next week's Houston Authors Bash (please come if you can - Mishaps and Mayhem only available at in-person events, you can't order it online or buy it from a bookstore).

The next four months will be incredibly busy too. Book one comes out March 9th, 2015 (I still have to approve the proof for that). Book two (Reztap and the Quest for the Insane Moth) will come out in early May 2015. I'll have to incorporate the edits, approve the cover art, and then approve the proof of book two. I have to WRITE book three. It is convention season - there are so many conventions to attend, Book signings, blog book tours, etc. I anticipate being busy each weekend through the end of September!

So, the real crazy time begins. I will do my best to keep things updated on the blog, but visiting my web site once it's fully operational will be the best way to keep up on events and appearances.

Keep writing and reading!

Regards,

Artemus

Facebook, other progress

Over the weekend, I embarked on another marketing experiment. I created a page for The Adventures of Reztap (http://www.facebook.com/TheAdventuresOfReztap?ref=hl). I set a start and end date for the campaign as well as a daily budget. Essentially four days for a budget of $40.

The ad would display on the targeted audiences pagem in the right hand side of the screen like other ads. My targeted audeince for this campaign was those who liked Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Firefly and The Stainless Steel Rat. These were all comparisons one reviewer ,ade for the book, so I thought that would be a great target audience.

I failed to put a link to buy the book on the Facebook page until a day after I started the advertisements. Obviously, I need to make a checklist for future campaigns with different books. I also failed to monitor the campaign to make sure it ended on the date it was supposed to. Guess what? Sure enough, I log in two days after it is supposed to have ended and see that my budget is continuing to climb because the campaign is still going. Frustrating to be sure. I thought I'd been very meticulous on when the campaign was to end, bu the status was still active and looked like it would remain so for a full month, not just four days. luckily, I was able to "pause" the campaign. I'm only in for another $12 and some change, but that was more than I wanted to spend on the experiment.

The page now has 40 likes. I also implored my friends on Facebook for their participation, and probably half of these likes are from them. Any increased sales from the marketing campaign? Not a single sale. In fact, sales appear to have dropped off considerably to a trickle of zero. All in all, the book was well written, has been enjoyed by nearly everone who has picked it up, but without a strong marketing push, no one will hear about it and pick it up.

Lesson learned from this endeavor? The self-published novel and requires a hefty amount of self-marketing. Creating the book isn't the problem. Getting people to hear about it is the problem.

undeterred, I have continued writing on the sequel. I'm somewhere near the end of the second chapter, having completed the synopsis. Part of my time has been spent figuring out who does what on the ship now that the crew has expanded from two humanoids and one android to a crew of around one hundred. There are plenty of surprises still in store for our heroes - I can hardly wait to see what they are.

Marketing hat still on,
Artemus

Tracking the Oiled Ferret (Sales)

With all this discussion about pricing and effects on sales, a sobering thought entered my befuddled brain. These are barely real-time statistics I am referencing for my conclusions.

Amazon and Smashwords are relatively on-time with their notifications of sales and how much that will put in my account. I recently received a nice little sum of money from both of them for sales in May and June. That was the end of the second quarter.

The next payments, no matter how many I sell, won't com until the end of October. I can still track sales for those two sites, but the long-term result is still a quarterly payment.

The real challenge will be tracking the sales for the Premium Distribution channel. All those web sites report sales roughly quarterly. My fancy little price change for testing won't yield any measurable results for those channels until October. That's a very long waiting game.

Advice to the other self-publishers out there - just be ready for a long game - this is not a quick one-handed poker challenge, it's a long yacht voyage around the world.

We'll table the discussion of where the book ranks in sales for another day.
Artemus

The Paradigm Shift - eBook Pricing

I've seen many articles relating to how to price eBooks. I've had feedback on how The Adventures of Reztap eBook is priced ($4.99) where the paperback is $12.95. That is about a 62% discount - which seems to be in line with other pricing I've seen.

On the high side, there has been some discussion about $9.99 being the average price for a fiction eBook. I would venture that is also an average couple of more pages than my mdoest entry at 180 pages. Still, I don't think there are an average 360 pages to all those fiction eBooks, so the pricing still seems more than fair from that standpoint.

However, I have also seen articles and stories about pricing the eBook at $2.99. This is the minimum pricing at which the author can still get a 70% royalty on Amazon, so I think that is whre this bottom line pricing figure has emerged from. If you go below $2.99, your royalty drops to 35%. On Amazon, you can't price below $0.99. You can get free eBooks onto Amazon by offering them free elsewhere (like Smashwords) and Amazon finds out and "price matches" your eBook. But that's not a tried and true method; it's just what I've heard. If you enter the KDP Select program, that is a zero cost for your eBook for Prime members, while the author gets a piece of a $600,000 pie - really only about $2 per book checkout by the Prime member.

In the interest of testing, I'm going to drop my eBook to $2.99 on Amazon and Smashwords. This first book is all about discovering what works and what doesn't. It may take a while for the price change to filter out to the other platforms that get the digital eBook from Samashwords (Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Diesel, etc.) I will let you, my intrepid companions on this ePublishing adventure, know what the outcome of the price change is. Be warned, the price changes set may not take effect for a few days - I've already taken steps to change the prices - for instance, now the eBook is unavailable on Amazon until they review the eBook again, a process which could take up to 48 hours.

Other strategies include giving the first book in a series away free to drive sales of other books in the series. Unfortunately, the other books in my series have yet to be written/published, so it doesn't so much apply to me at this time. In a year, that will be a different story and a different blog post.

Happy Pricing!
Artemus

You can download The Adventures of Reztap from Amazon, Smashwords, iTunes (look in iBooks on iPhone or iPad), Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Diesel.

Free - not so powerful

It was a limited test, but still a valid result. Offering the eBook for free did not equate to a flood of downloads of The Adventures of Reztap from the Smashwords web site. It did result in two downloads of the free eBook and an additional sale of the full price version. That means the eBook went from six readers to nine on Smashwords. I'm happy with the promotion - any additional readers is a great thing. But I'm certainly not blown away with the results. I think they are in line with a normal promotion of this type.

My take is that I need to expand the amount of people who see the book offer, think of the word Reztap when searching book web sites, and think of my name when they think of an author they'd like to read. Even with a few retweets from some folks on Twitter, and sharing the news on Facebook, I'm still reaching less than 2,000 people. There are hundreds of millions of people online. My next concentrations for social media will be expanding my reach so to speak.

My next focus on writing will be getting the second book written (it's already been started). Unfortunately, marketing and writing are two different activities. Do I abandon marketing on social media (and other types of activities) and concentrate solely on writing? I believe this is a dilemma facing many eBook and traditional authors today. Marketing is largely if not completely on our shoulders for 99% of us. Still, I'm pretty sure having a second book out there is a big draw to potential readers. It lets them know the author is not just a one book wonder.

So, while I will definitely be devoting some time to marketing, my primary focus will be on writing book two. I do have one event at the end of July where I'll be selling the books directly (ArmadilloCon in Austin), but outside of that, my marketing efforts will be limited for the time being.

Good luck with your marketing!
Artemus

So Far, So Little

I'll admit, this is a very short test. Would it be more effective if it went longer? I don't think so. Luckily, both Twitter and Facebook give you the ability to see if things are retweeted or shared. You can't force someone to share or retweet; you can only ask nicely...which I did! Not much came of it.

So, from what I can gather so far, there is a very small amount of traction to be gained by exposing my followers of 300 or so people to a sale (or just an announcement of the book itself). Lessons learned? Price really isn't that much of a driving factor when it comes to getting the message out about your book or product - at least, not in a single day. Still to come in the product market testing - book reviews (and how many readers actually follow), blog "ads" (via bloggerdise.com - giveaways, interviews, excerpts - that type of thing), and the impact of multiple books in a series will also be considered. Of course, I have to write the sequels before I can consider that last one.

To market or to write, that is the question! In the short term, I will be doing a little more marketing research, but that will definitely wane by August, when I will put myself fully into the writing of the next book.

Before I close, the jury is still out on whether the book giveaway on Good Reads has been a win for the marketing column, or just a sunk cost. It may prove dividends in the long run, when more books come out and that may help build more word of mouth. I can certainly see where a single book may not garner as much attention as a series (Twilight, Hunger Games, Harry Potter seem to prove the long term marketing strategy works very well there.) I have found there are other similar book reader sites (Shelfari and Library Thing) which I will be checking out this weekend.

Happy Marketing! (yes, oxymoron, I know.)
Artemus

What Works To Sell Books? (June 2012 Sales)

Jumping the gun a little bit on June Sales of The Adventures of Reztap, I have gotten a nice bump the last week. Total book (and eBook) sales for June is 17 so far (I don't imagine it will get much higher before the end of the month). Here's a breakdown of how the sales have gone:


6 paperbacks by hand (ordered from Amazon by me - not included in Amazon's sales figures)
5 paperbacks from Amazon
1 eBook for the Kindle (via Amazon's Kindle Digital Publishing)
5 eBooks on Smashwords

Obviously with 17 sales I'm not exactly rolling in the dough. Just the same. it's a nice start and some fellow writers have inquired as to what I've done to get those sales. As I'm doing my best to be transparent with this process for other authors to learn from, here are some details including monetary figures.

Business cards: In late May, I ordered 250 business cards with the book cover on one side and two web sites and a coupon code on the other about where to order the book from. These were originally ordered to be hand out at Comicpalooza here in Houston, but through part of the learning process, I realized I hadn't ordered far enough ahead and the cards arrived several days after the convention ended. I did hand out a small spattering of homemade marketing materials, but they were done at the last minute and hardly had the look of any professionalism to them; I also left out pertinent information like the name of the book. Ahh well.The business cards have been distributed to friends, family and a few comic book and trading card retailers in the Houston area. Have they been a success? Well, no one has used the coupon code on the back of the card, so I can't really tell - someone may have ordered a paperback or the eBook directly from Amazon using the information, but the coupon code is not valid for those sites.

Conventions: The Comicpalooza convention was fun, but without the proper marketing materials in hand, I miserably failed to take advantage of the opportunity. It was a great learning experience and I'm looking into doing a book signing at the ArmadilloCon coming up at the end of July. Of course, I need to contact those folks - I may already be too late to get my name on the program. I will learn about how long a lead time I need for it for next year, when I hope to have two or more books available. Again, this year is a learning experience.

Book Giveaways: I did a book giveaway on Good Reads web site (www.goodreads.com). Four books just shipped today to the winners. DId it result in an increase in sales? Really too early to tell. Honestly, that has been the most difficult part of the process -seeing what tactic works and what doesn't. I have to believe it's been positive for word of mouth, though - over 500 people signed up for the giveaway, none of whom had heard of the book before the giveaway. That is exposure to new potential readers and that's always a good thing. I've gotten one person on the Good Reads web site to rate the book already and 60+ people added the title to their "To Read" list. I'm also writing a blog on the site to invite readers to discuss the book and answer any book or self-publishing questions they might have. This is a potentially huge platform to reach readers and interact with them, build a following for the book and, more importantly, get my name out there.

Hand Sales: OK, this may be a fluke in the numbers. I attended a 50th wedding anniversary for my in-laws and sold all six books to family - two people only and they bought extra copies to distribute to local libraries they support as well. Fluke or not, book sales are book sales. The family members who did buy them from me chided me for not letting the larger gathering a day before know I had books on hand to sell and only handed out cards for where they could order it. Don't discount the value of a family - they can be great advocates for your book, telling their friends about it and generally disseminating your book out there with their friends and you could get a snowball effect. It's especially good if the book is good, which I've had primarily positive reviews about.

Social Networks: While I've had some success driving people on Facebook and possibly Twitter to this blog, I'm not of the opinion that it has generated any sales. However, getting people to this blog and possibly growing a blog readership are good things. There is always the potential that people will read this blog, find value in it, and be genuinely curious about the book too. A future reader is still a reader and I welcome them all! I have been a little concerned that my "pushing" of the book via social networks is viewed as annoying by many people. I'm really not sure how effective it is - it could potentially be turning people off, but then would they have been readers anyway? Hard to say. I'm trying not to use the platforms as sales pitch only. I know I wouldn't like to see nothing but sales pitches on them!

Other Marketing: Is this al the marketing there is? No, I'm about to embark on pursuing book reviews (and possible book giveaways) with several blogging sites through Bloggerdise; this is a blogging source site for bloggers looking for things to review, people to interview and things to giveaway. It's both rewarding for their followers and for me, getting my name and book out there in front of more readers.

I think the conventions will be a nice platform to show of my wares as well, but I don't ever want to be in the position where I need to make money off the convention to make it worth my while. I will only attend conventions I'm truly interesting in participating in from an attendee standpoint. Will there be future conventions that invite me? I hope so and I'll be glad to attend them as long as I have some kind of forum to expose my book to - perhaps do a reading and/or book signing, be on a convention panel, and maybe even be a guest of the convention. Big dreams, I know. I don't expect anything like that too soon. That really will be a future course.

Book signings at book stores is a possible future path as well. I'm aware of this, but haven't really researched how to do it. This is still a part-time endeavor for me, so I'm under no illusions that I'll hit every marketing opportunity.

Press releases are another avenue I haven't pursued. I'm really just not sure how to do this and is it worth my time to pursue it? I may just not find time to attack this.

The Future is Bright: I have put a lot of time into the writing for the first book and I'm under a tighter deadline to produce the second book. I've only just started writing it. I am committed to this being a future career path if it will produce just enough for me to live on. I'm not at the point where I'm willing to swap jobs yet. I still need my normal job to pay the bills and, as they say, support my writing habit.

The Numbers: Enough jabbering - what have I spent so far and how much have I made? The costs are greatly outweighing the returns, but the future returns could easily turn that around. Here are the numbers so far (with the total 17 sales in the plus column):

Business cards: $54.11
Publishing costs (ISBN purchase - $50, proof purchase for The Book Patch - $9.51 including S/H): $59.51
Shipping costs for book giveaway: $32.40
Purchase of books for hand sales: $71.20
Convention attendance and parking: about $50

Total costs: $267.22

Hand sales: $80
Amazon eBook sales: $3.49
Amazon paperback sales: $24.30
The Book Patch paperback sales: $9.61
Smashwords eBook sales: $18.50

Total Sales: $135.90

Analysis: There are a lot of costs that won't repeat here (like ISBN purchases) and there are also things that will reoccur depending on what I'm doing (convention attendance), but most of this is startup marketing costs. I don't know if next months sales will be outstanding, but I will probably need to get more paperbacks on hand for the convention - especially since I'm pretty sure none of the booksellers there will have any in their inventory. I didn't expect to break even the first month, so I'm not concerned about these figures. Heck, they're more optimistic than I thought they'd be. If there are sustained sales by additional cost-free marketing and word of mouth, I will be showing a profit for my efforts within a few months. However, it will have to hit viral hit proportions for me to consider it a new career. We're not there yet...but we could be within a few years!

Regards,
Artemus