Into This Wild Abyss [A Self-publishing Journal]

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RevanWright

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Ever have one of those moments where you think: "Well, I'm done for."?

I put in a revision for the interior and cover of my hardback to Ingram, and for those of you that saw the review on youtube, you know why. Didn't realize it hadn't gone through (possibly something I did wrong) until just now. And I won't be able to try again until Tuesday. Which is the 26th.
Which is when the hardback releases.
No problem, I tell myself. I can get it in at 10am, it'll go through by the next morning. Only one day lost, and I can let all my family and friends know not to buy it until the final version is cleared.
Except that I just found out the hardback is up on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. In fact, Amazon bought a single copy (not the 1 New Available thing, but they actually bought one single copy), I guess so they could have one in stock and offer it up for Prime. They're not doing the multiple days or weeks to ship thing, which I've heard they do with Ingram books. It's available for Amazon Prime, and only says "In stock. May require 1-2 extra days before ship". And they've discounted it 10%, which is cool.
But now I'm freaking. Because I NEED to buy that one copy so no one will get the proof version instead of the intended version. But I have to time it just right so that Amazon won't order more copies of the proof before the intended version clears the system.
I'm a mess right now.

EDIT: The moral of the story is, DON'T FLY BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS. I always wait until the last minute, and things like this always happen as a result. NOW I understand why I should have proofs sent, reviews submitted for, and everything set up months beforehand.

EDIT 2: I bought a fancy new webcam. It will be here tomorrow, and I'm going to start video blogging on youtube, since I can't into traditional blogging well.

EDIT 3: Ah crap it's up on Books-A-Million, too. It's probably up everywhere. Damn Ingram's amazing distribution power.

On a related matter, do any of you have experience with Amazon and hardcovers that aren't CreateSpace? Right now the hardback and kindle are on separate listings, and I'm wondering if there's a way to combine them like most books are on Amazon, or if it will do that automatically once Amazon realizes they're the same book.
 
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SBibb

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Ack. O_O That doesn't sound like fun. I hope you're able to get it all sorted out.

As for getting them listed together, maybe you can contact Amazon and ask them to place them together?
 

RevanWright

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It's official: The Shade of Andrea Fox is now available in hardback! :snoopy:
It's been a mad dash over the past week, what with the final revision going through late and having to snag a couple of copies that were going out before the final version. For the 2nd book, I'm definitely going to be prepared.
Now I just need to try and get Amazon to merge the hardback listing with the ebook, and hope that I can matchstick them.
 

RevanWright

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Congrats!

I still need to look at your unveiling video. I'm hoping to look at that over the weekend it I have time. :)

Thank you!
I figured out one of my problems: For some reason I had the author listed as Jacob M. Terrell, which is the name that went out to all the partners and retailers, when the kindle version and the book cover are both just Jacob Terrell. This listed the two books as having a different author in just about every system, and caused the listings to be split on Amazon and Goodreads. I corrected it with Ingram, but whether they'll update it in all the systems is questionable. In the meantime, I've added the hardback as my book in Author Central and submitted an info change request to Amazon. Goodreads may be a bit more tricky, but I'll definitely get them done.

I guess I'll just keep learning as I go. Even the smallest errors can throw you in publishing. Thanks for all the support, though. I love you guys. :cry:
 

SBibb

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Thank you!
I figured out one of my problems: For some reason I had the author listed as Jacob M. Terrell, which is the name that went out to all the partners and retailers, when the kindle version and the book cover are both just Jacob Terrell.

Eeps, hadn't thought about that causing problems (though I know Goodreads and Smashwords can be picky in that regards). I wonder how tricky that will be for books with two authors?

Anyway, good luck with getting them sorted. If you contact goodreads they should be able to give you your options, and they may be able to sort it directly since there aren't actually two copies of the book with different names (unlike when I changed my last name on a set of short stories, so I now have two different book listings for the same book, each with a different author last name).
 

AnnaPappenheim

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The video blogging sounds like a great idea.

I don't know much about YouTube, but I do know this: anytime I come across an article, I'm less likely to click on it than when I come across a video.

The video you did about Ingram Spark was good, very informative and let me see what the process is like with them, and from a member's standpoint when I'm not a member yet.

I hope it goes well! And that your book does well :)
 

RevanWright

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I did my first video blog post. It's just an introduction, and I was half awake and half delirious, but I think this is going to be fun to do. I'm planning a lot of things for it in the coming weeks and months, including reviews for fellow indie authors, giveaways, and coverage of book festivals and writers' cons.
Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzaO9VGpTus

As for sales, I have dropped off from averaging 1 sale and 1 koll a day to NONE at all since the 1st of the month. I have no idea why, but I'm not going to worry about it until my Kirkus review comes in (probably next week), at which point I plan on dropping the price and putting it on Bookbub for the entire month of October November.
 
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RevanWright

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I got my Kirkus review back. I'd like to take this opportunity to comment on it.

"The prose is workaday, and the style hovers between YA and adult fantasy fiction."
Knew that was coming.

"The human characters are solid and believable, with the entertaining Brownsborough brothers as edgier stand-ins for the better-known Weasley twins."
I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone compared them to the Weasley twins.

"The fantastical characters fare less well and stock stentorian dialogue sounds forced."
Ouch.

"The already quick pace accelerates during a furious action scene in the final quarter of the novel."
I honestly don't know if this is a good or a bad thing.

And the money line:
"Moderately entertaining, high-stakes fantasy; first in a planned series."
Oomf.
If only they could have dropped the 'moderately'. I really don't know whether to be happy or upset. They obviously weren't wowed by it, and the fact that two supporting characters were the highlight of the story is disheartening. On the other hand, it could have been a lot worse. I've heard that Kirkus can come down pretty hard on indie novels.
Here's the full review: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jacob-terrell/shade-andrea-fox/

Anyway, now that I've gotten professional critique, I'm going to lower the price to either 1.99 or .99 and go to Bookbub for the entire month of November. I'll report back with sales figures. In the meantime, I'm going to work harder on the 2nd book and try to add a spark to my fantasy world. If anything, this review has made me more determined to get it right.

In other news, I'm going to do my first book review for the video blog. I chose The Girl They Sold to the Moon by our own beloved AWer Tri. Currently reading it.
 

Old Hack

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Was this a paid-for review, Revan? I'll be interested to know if it helps you sell any copies.
 

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I'm going to lower the price to either 1.99 or .99 and go to Bookbub for the entire month of November. I'll report back with sales figures.


What do you mean by that? Bookbub has a very low acceptance rate (I'm assuming you haven't been accepted yet?) and runs one email ad for one day if the book is accepted. They also tend to require (though not an absolute) far more reviews than you have before accepting a book.

So I don't get how you plan to run this for a month.
 

RevanWright

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Old Hack- yes, it was through Kirkus Reviews. They have an indie review service now, and it was expensive (hello tax write-off!) I wanted to take a shot with a professional review, and Kirkus is one of the big boys. Many, many successful authors have reviews by them. I guess I figured that if I could get praise from them, I'd be in good shape. Mixed feelings about this whole thing so far.

J. Tanner- I misspoke, and probably jumped the gun again, but as evidenced by my entire career as an author so far, running blind with dangerous overconfidence is my M.O.
What I mean is, I'm lowering the price for the entire month of November. And I'm going to try to get listed on bookbub. It's going to cost me nearly 300 if I'm accepted, I think. Hello tax write-off.
 

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Old Hack- yes, it was through Kirkus Reviews. They have an indie review service now, and it was expensive (hello tax write-off!) I wanted to take a shot with a professional review, and Kirkus is one of the big boys. Many, many successful authors have reviews by them. I guess I figured that if I could get praise from them, I'd be in good shape. Mixed feelings about this whole thing so far.

J. Tanner- I misspoke, and probably jumped the gun again, but as evidenced by my entire career as an author so far, running blind with dangerous overconfidence is my M.O.
What I mean is, I'm lowering the price for the entire month of November. And I'm going to try to get listed on bookbub. It's going to cost me nearly 300 if I'm accepted, I think. Hello tax write-off.

If I could offer a tiny tip from one newbie to another - while I'm not wholly opposed to paid reviews by major reviewers, I think they need to be purchased as part of a plan. You may have one in mind, and if you do, awesome. Same goes for Hardcovers. Your average reader isn't going to care about kirkus, and they're not going to buy a hardcover from an unknown author when both eBook and paperbacks are available. That said, there are reasons to do so. And a paid kirkus review (since you don't have to indicate it was paid when you quote them) can be influential to the right BUYER (note that buyers and readers are not the same thing).

PS - awesome cover! Who designed it?

PPS - I will say the one mistake I made when I started was too much time spent promoting and not enough time writing the next book. Your ROI improves dramatically when you have 3 books, and honestly in my experience they didn't even have to be related. My next marketing push is going to be when the second book in my CAMBRIDGE FILES (i.e. Disruption) is released (soon).
 
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RevanWright

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If I could offer a tiny tip from one newbie to another - while I'm not wholly opposed to paid reviews by major reviewers, I think they need to be purchased as part of a plan. You may have one in mind, and if you do, awesome. Same goes for Hardcovers. Your average reader isn't going to care about kirkus, and they're not going to buy a hardcover from an unknown author when both eBook and paperbacks are available. That said, there are reasons to do so. And a paid kirkus review (since you don't have to indicate it was paid when you quote them) can be influential to the right BUYER (note that buyers and readers are not the same thing).

PS - awesome cover! Who designed it?

PPS - I will say the one mistake I made when I started was too much time spent promoting and not enough time writing the next book. Your ROI improves dramatically when you have 3 books, and honestly in my experience they didn't even have to be related. My next marketing push is going to be when the second book in my CAMBRIDGE FILES (i.e. Disruption) is released (soon).

Yes, I'm still learning the methods and the steps needed, and I've never been so good with planning. I'm trying to manage my time, but it's difficult as my ADD is so bad and I'm working so many hours at my day job. Thanks for the insight; I'll have to think on this. And I did all the artwork myself in photoshop. Digital oil painting using a drawpad.

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing your experience! Your Youtube video was very informative!
Thanks very much! I'm working on more video blog posts, and I'm about to start reviewing other indie books. I like the format for youtube, and I think I have a better chance of reaching fellow authors and readers through it than traditional blogging. I want to help as many people as I can, to avoid my mistakes and share what I've learned to people just starting on this journey.


I've had a few weeks to think, and mold a semblance of a timeline for me to stick to, but my plans often go awry. And when it all goes out the window, I usually just run and gun, so to speak. But I'm considering going hybrid, as I'm about to finish a standalone novel that I think is more commercially appealing than my portal fantasy. I'd like to try and shop it to agents while I continue working on the 2nd Andrea Fox book (which I'm targeting for an April release).

In other news, Shade is now free on Kindle through Thursday the 30th. If any of you are interested, now's the time to grab it!
 

RevanWright

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Thought I'd share a brief setup for my standalone, and the mock cover I painted last night. As I'm going to shop this book to agents, and the title font is just a modified shareware font, the cover is just for my own benefit.

Pandora Jane Wicket has spent more than a third of her life in the dark. Stricken with a rare disease that causes chronic pain and severe light sensitivity, she has no choice but to live without light. Pan and her boyfriend Pitch are refugees from a war that destroyed their home town and sent them fleeing into the Skyrun- a legendary, dangerous mountain range- where they’ve struggled to survive for eight years. Left alone most of the time in their run-down cabin, Pan spins out stories and games to play with her cowardly dog, Shift, and lives only for the moments when Pitch returns from his hunting and trading runs in the valley.
But in the winter of Pan’s 23rd year, Pitch leaves for the valley and doesn’t return, and Pan encounters a dark man on the mountain…and kills him.
Now, with frigid storms blowing in, a dwindling food supply, and no hope of surviving without Pitch, Pan must find the courage to venture out with Shift on a desperate journey into the world under the sun. To find the man she loves and bring him back home. And to escape the wrath of a band of murderers and thieves that haunt her every step.
Out of the dark. Into the light.

boXX3nY.jpg
 

SBibb

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Sorry your Kirkus review didn't go as well as hoped. Did you hear back from Bookbub?

Good luck with your next book. I like the wintery, shadow scene of the cover mock-up. :)
 
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