Tag Archives: novel

by | December 14, 2015 · 9:47 pm

My first one-star review – I guess it had to happen sooner or later

This one popped up on Goodreads – thank god it’s not on Amazon, which would potentially mean fewer sales…I’m feeling pretty philosophical about it – I guess you can’t expect everyone to love a book, any book, it’s a matter of personal preference. Wish I could make sense of it, though – the main complaint from someone who loves screwball comedy seems to be that it’s “improbable” and has “too many screwballs”. The most disappointing thing is actually that I can’t use this particular critique to improve my writing. Anywho, I’m off to enjoy life 🙂

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by | December 10, 2015 · 2:44 am

Good-bye Kindle Select, hello all other platforms! Wait…no! Take me back! Maybe?

Shizzle, Inc has been enrolled in Kindle Select almost since the day it was published on 4 September. My 90-day commitment is up and I have not renewed, thinking that I’m no longer interested in Countdown Deals or Free Days, since Shizzle, Inc is now pretty much permanently at $0.99.

I immediately published with a variety with other platforms – Shizzle, Inc is now available on:

I was so excited! Yet another sales graph to obsess over…too bad (thank God!) it’s just one more – on Smashwords. Oh, and look, five people have downloaded free 20% samples! Oh, and look, I can set up coupons, which will let me do sales or giveaways!

Awesome, right?

That’s what I thought until I’d noticed that there was no longer a “get it free with Kindle Unlimited” button under the title. After some Googling and face-palming, I realized what I seriously should have known by now – that Kindle Unlimited is the main bait to keep authors exclusively with Amazon Kindle, not the promo options.

If you’d asked me what I thought about KU and KENP a month ago, I would have probably said “eh”. However, thanks to the recent promo blasts, the KENP graph (below) looks like the world’s awesomest mountain chain. In fact, I’ve made about $22 in the last couple of weeks just from people reading their “free” copies:

Sales on 9 Dec

That’s equivalent to about 63 copies sold for $0.99! And at the very least 18 copies read (assuming about 240 pages per copy – I never get the “normalized” part of KENP). I don’t (yet) care about the royalties – I want as many copies sold as possible, so I would need to sell about 2 copies per day from other sources…wait, that’s not so bad, right? So, was it a good idea to part with KU?

After a bit more over-analyzing and face-palming, I’d calmed down and decided to give the other platforms a go – maybe a month? Maybe two? Advertise and see what kind of numbers I get, do some more calculations, then regroup and decide if I go back to Kindle Select.

So if you hate Amazon, but are interested in finding out what it might be like to work for the seventh richest man in the Southeastern United States – get Shizzle, Inc now from any of the sources above! I’m prone to changing my mind…

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by | December 6, 2015 · 5:49 pm

This is what a CreateSpace paperback looks like

Hi, everyone!

Thanks again for all your warm wishes this week, when I’ve posted my big news – that a paperback version of Shizzle, Inc is finally available on Amazon.

I have mentioned in that post how happy I was with its quality, and a few of you have asked for the photos of the actual book. I’m not a great photographer, so this is the best I can do:

imageimageimage

This is only one variation of the finishes you can have – glossy cover (you can choose matte) with cream pages (you can choose white). I don’t have another version to compare, but I’ve found another blog which compares glossy and matte covers.

It feels great – solid, well-made, the same quality you would expect from any bookstore. I really like the paper – it feels great to flip a page or to hold it open, and I’m once again happy with my layout. I was worried that the margins are too small, but it looks fine, again sort of industry-standard.

I’ve ordered 50 copies to gift to my family and to start pushing onto the local bookstores. It will take a month to get here, and yet the shipping cost is still more than $100! My next step is to try and get it into US brick-an-mortar bookstores, if anyone has any advice on how to do that via emails, please let me know!

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by | December 5, 2015 · 6:21 am

How I plan to take over the world…

…of publishing, that is!

You would not believe it, but after many an eye roll, back-an-forth negotiations, and general pouting, management approved my long service leave! Five months! Yay! (At half pay…Okay…I can deal with that…).

Five months to write and publish two sequels to Shizzle, Inc. Five months to give this writing career one hell of a try. Can I do it?

Only Microsoft Project can tell! Well, based on the following assumptions:

  1. That I can write 20K words per week (not all of the time will be spent writing).
  2. That I will have 40K words written by Feb.
  3. That I will have the first cover designed by 29 Feb.
  4. That I will do proofreading myself (and rely on “early readers” to suggest structural changes). This way I hope to reduce costs, compared to the fortune I’ve spent on Shizzle, Inc.

I tried staggering writing of both sequels, to allow for other (many!) tasks. This is what I came up with:

Book #2:Plan for Sequel #2

Book #3:Plan for Sequel #3

Microsoft project says I can do it!

Let me know what you think of my assumptions and timelines 🙂

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by | December 2, 2015 · 2:53 am

It’s here! The paperback is finally here!

What a world we live in! Just last Thursday I’ve uploaded the latest files to CreateSpace, then on Friday got the green light to order a proof for review. I paid $26 to have it express shipped to Australia and it was supposed to arrive this coming Thursday. That would have been amazing, but I was not holding my breath, what with the customs and all. So imagine my surprise when the package arrived today! Five days after uploading the files!

What a wonderful, amazing world, full of possibilities!

It’s beautiful! I was worried for some reason that it would look cheap, but it’s gorgeous – it looks just like any book in a bookstore. I chose glossy cover and cream paper and I love the result. The glossy cover makes it feel quite solid, and the pages feel great, like firm paper with a soft feel – the best way I can explain it. The cover colors look just like on my monitor, not like the crappy prints I did myself. The red leather looks very realistic, and I’m once again happy I went back to the gold leaf overlay for the title. If you are interested, I will post a few photos on the weekend – it’s impossible to photograph under artificial lights.

I spent a couple of hours reviewing the interior. They say you’re supposed to read it three times, but I just couldn’t do it. I’ve had multiple professional proofreads, and the Kindle edition has been out for three months. Surely, one of the 18 reviews would have mentioned if I had glaring errors? I also would love to continue tweaking the cover art, but at one point you just have to stop. Just stop and move on, and issue another edition in the future, if need be. Otherwise, the sequel will never get finished.

So I’ve approved it for publication. The message said that it will be available on Amazon in 2-3 days. Not bad. Then I’d decided to check Amazon. You know, in case they were just managing my expectations.

I don’t know what I was thinking. Stupid, unwarranted hope. Which sometimes leads to unexpected results:

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It’s here! I mean, there, in cyberspace! It’s already available on American Amazon website and appears on UK Amazon, although not yet available to order. It doesn’t yet appear on Australian Amazon, but that’s not surprising – we are ahead of the US by about 16 hours and behind by at least 16 years. It has not yet linked to my author page, or to the Kindle edition – I would appreciate if anyone could advise how to expedite the process. I would love to get them linked in time for my upcoming 5 December promo with Bargain Booksy. That way people may read a digital edition and decide to buy a copy or two as gifts. Cause, you know, nothing beats laughs as a Christmas gift, right?

I Skyped my parents and we clicked glasses to our respective webcams. Mom cried. Dad predicted my brilliant future and tried to tell me some new jokes for the sequel. I drunk my white wine and thought about the last two-an-a-half years of writing, editing, and publishing. It was all worth it.

What a world we live in…

 

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by | November 30, 2015 · 2:14 am

Matthew FitzSimmons himself stops by to explain the mystery of Short Drop reviews!

It was late last week when I posted Riddle me this! – a question about how it could be possible for a book to have a ton of reviews before its release. The book in question was Short Drop by Matthew FitzSimmons, an overall #1 on Kindle, with 1,388 reviews at the writing of this post, and the release date of 1 December.

I was not the only one confused – the post generated quite a discussion and a number of hypothesis, but it was a consensus that the reviews were a result of the book getting picked up as Kindle First. Is this the first time you’ve heard of Kindle First? Well, that makes two of us.

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Visit Kindle First website to learn more. Just don’t get too excited if you, like me, are in Australia – for some reason it’s not available down under.

My post generated so much discussion, that I’d decided to post an update – Mystery solved, explaining how it was possible and asking if anyone knew how to get onto the program (which is probably impossible for self-published newbies). Imagine my surprise when I was scrolling through my Twitter notifications and a familiar name caught my attention:

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Whaaat? I jumped over to the blog, and there was the comment, waiting for approval:

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I have replied, of course, and had the balls to ask how he got to this point – and he replied! For reals:

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So there you go folks – a mystery solved, new lesson learned, and another proof that you should never, ever give up on your dreams. I’m off to do some writing. I hope you do the same.

 

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by | November 29, 2015 · 7:32 am

Mystery solved (I think) and a quick update on the marketing blitz

Hi, everyone,

Shizzle, Inc got up to #34 on Amazon’s Satire Bestseller list! If you are not following the live tweeting of my biggest marketing campaign to date, here is a quick recap:

  1. Robin Reads started strong, but was a disappointment at 19 sales, at a cost of $25.
  2. Indie Book Promo was a complete dud, at maybe 1 sale (I had 3 total, but 2 were from my constant tweeting about it).
  3. Book Gorilla is currently on fire!

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I will post a complete report on Monday. Wish me luck!

Now, I’d like to venture an explanation for the mystery surrounding the 1,200+ verified purchase reviews on a book yet to be released – as previously mentioned in Riddle me this!

First of all, I’d like to thank the following detectives:

  1. Nancy Glynn of Nancy Glynn – thank you for sharing the loophole allowing reviews on a yet-to-be-published book by “tricking” CreateSpace.
  2. Isabella Belucci of Isabella Belucci – thank you for sharing your experience reviewing and ARC (Advanced Review Copy) for another author.
  3. Mykl Walsh of Secret Agent Man – thank you for scouring the Internet for clues!
  4. Tim Vicary of Tim Vicary – thank you for checking the suspect’s Goodreads profile 🙂
  5. Prospero of Prospero’s Island – thank you for digging up an interview with the mention of Kindle First!

I did some research myself – and it all seemed to point to Kindle First. For example, all 1,200+ reviews have been posted during November, in line with Kindle First offering the book a month before its release on 1 December. For those not familiar with Kindle First – it is an offer of free or discounted bestsellers (I think just four of them a month), chosen by Amazon’s editors. I have searched madly for any clues on how to get on the list, but it seems to be either a secret or an impossible feat, even though most traditional publishers are currently not supporting it.

Any detectives want to take on this new mystery??

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by | November 26, 2015 · 10:52 am

Riddle me this!

Hi, everyone,

Another day, another browse through the Amazon’s Top 100 – and I’ve noticed something I can’t explain. Can someone with more experience and insight explain this phenomena?

How can a book that is yet to be released have 1,200 positive reviews? From verified purchases? Have a look at Short Drop by Matthew FitzSimmons.

Ok, I understand the need to create pre-release buzz and actually plan on doing the same with the sequel to Shizzle, Inc – but how could there be reviews? I’d like to believe they are not fake…if so, how does one go about getting reviews on Amazon before the release day?

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by | November 26, 2015 · 2:25 am

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! The marketing blitz starts tomorrow!

I can’t believe it’s only a day away!

To remind you, I will run three promos on three consecutive days between 26-28 November. There was going to be a fourth, but I’d messed up and did not follow up on it. Proof that you have to have a plan and write things down.

Speaking of plans, I just heard an awesome quote along the lines of “The difference between confidence and arrogance is a plan.” So let me lay out my plan on getting Shizzle, Inc to #1 in Amazon’s Satire Bestseller List this weekend:

  1. 26 November. We start with Robin Reads targeted mail-out. Cost: $25.
  2. 27 November. There might be some sales generated by Robin Reads, hopefully supported by Indie Book promo. Cost: $25.
  3. 28 November – we finish off with a biggie – a proven performer, Book Gorilla. Cost: $50.

I am so excited about it that I will be posting live sales charts throughout the weekend on twitter. So, if you are interested, and are not yet following me – follow @spokeana on Twitter now! You don’t want to miss the races!

This is the current sales chart:

 

Sales on 25 Nov

 

And here are the current rankings:

 

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #314,319 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Let’s see what happens tomorrow!

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by | November 23, 2015 · 3:56 am

New and improved paperback cover

Hi, everyone,

Just a quick update – I finished fiddling with my cover and uploaded all files to CreateSpace! To remind you, this is what the old cover looked like:

Shizzle, Inc paperback cover 14 November

This is what I’d ended up uploading:

Shizzle paperback final for production

The main changes are:

  1. I went back to a gold leaf title – it doesn’t look flash in a thumbnail, and I will probably leave ebook cover as it is – but it makes more sense when printed, improves the illusion that it is the title embossed into the leather cover.
  2. Darkened back half – it looks more dramatic somehow. Hey, matter of preference.
  3. Fiddled endlessly with the rip – see if you can spot the change!
  4. Could not get the quotes on the back to read properly when printed in red – the only drawback of the darker version.
  5. Gave the leather “cover” a more pronounced “spine”.
  6. My photo is smaller and bio wording slightly changed.

I was all set to publish, but unfortunately CreateSpace picked up a major oops on my part – I’d left the ebook ISBNs on the copyright page, instead of the paper version ones. The problem was, I had the document formatted by somebody else and so now it would be an additional cost and a day or two of delays. I couldn’t have that, of course, so, like any old school Russian, I found a workaround. For some reason Adobe would not let me change the text, so the final solution involved extracting the pdf page into Photoshop, finding a close enough font, fixing it up in Photoshop, saving as a pdf and inserting the updated page back to the original pdf. Whew!

There’s another little bit to sort out with CreateSpace – I bought my own barcode, but there was no prompt to upload it, like I thought. I’m now not sure if I’m supposed to add it to the cover myself, or if I will just go with the CreateSpace barcode, even though I have my own ISBN. Aargh!

So now I’m waiting again for CreateSpace to review and approve the files. If I get an email thumbs up tomorrow, I’ll order a proof copy – with expedited shipping, it will be in Australia in 3 business days! This means that if all goes well, the paperback will be available for sale in just about a week! Can’t quite believe it…

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