C. Gockel's Blog, page 157

So if I read a story where more than say 2K words happens at a conference table I’m so out of there. (I know there are popular fanfics where this happens though…I don’t understand…)

But sometimes you need these scenes because what happens there wouldn’t happen anywhere else. The challenge is making them exciting and writing just what’s needed to convey essential information.

Which is just my way of saying I’m heading back to the cutting room floor now.

I’m an accidental author. I didn’t strike out on the self-publishing adventure to make a lot of money. I really just wanted to write and have my husband not nag me so much about it. (And yay, I’ve met that goal. Most days.)

Because my aims weren’t very traditional, I didn’t do a lot of research before I jumped into the self-publishing pool. If I had done research and had traditional goals, I might not have done it.

Self-publishing success usually comes to people who can do it full-time, have a lot of money, or have an existing fan-base. There are different strategies for those people. I have no idea what those strategies are.

However, if you’re reading this with a toddler on your lap and have a job you have to keep because of said toddler, this advice will be helpful.

5 things I would do If I could go back in time and self-publish with a plan:

Publish on Amazon and only Amazon to start. Your first draft is going to have errors, no matter how many betas have a pass at it. By posting it first to Amazon you’ll 1) access the largest market immediately 2) have only one place to make edits when the inevitable typos get caught.

Sign-up up for KDP Select — and made sure auto-renew is NOT enabled. KDP Select is an a program for Amazon ebooks sellers. It gives Amazon exclusive rights to sell your ebook for 90 days. In return you are allowed to offer your book free for 5 of those 90 days, and people with Amazon Prime can borrow your book. You receive a commission for each time one of your books is borrowed.

This is definitely a no-no if you have a lot of time, but if you’re just on Amazon, being part of KDP Select will give you those 5 free days. Being in the KDP Select program will also put you on the “free lending list” for people who have Amazon Prime, which increases your visibility. Being on an Amazon list, any list, is good. It increases your visibility.

Do a free giveaway to increase exposure and get reviews. I wish I’d done this sooner. I was really afraid of making my original writing free — based in large part on my experiences being self-employed (the pro bono clients are always the most difficult to please and often suck up more of your time than the people who pay). However, offering a product for free that you’ve already produced and doesn’t require a lot of effort from you to distribute is a lot different. It’s a good way to get exposure and get reviews.

Price your story at $3.99, not 99 cents—and then do “discount days”. Okay, there are bestsellers in the 99 cent range. But for a lot of people, 99 cents just means “cheap.” And honestly, when I’ve raised my prices I haven’t seen a drop in sales—just an increase in revenue.

However, if your book says it’s normally $3.99, but it is temporarily at 99 cents, Amazon is going to promote your work on all it affiliate sites as being “on sale” . You’ll get a lot of free advertising Amazon. Let me repeat, being on an Amazon list, any list, is good. It increases your visibility.

Use Smashwords when ready to distribute to other sites.
First to explain, you need a distributor to get onto ebook retailer sites like Barnes & Noble, Sony, Diesel, and Page Foundry. Smashwords is one such distributor. They also distribute to Apple and Kobo too. When your ebooks sell on Apple, B&N, Sony, Kobo, etc, that retailer gets a cut of the sale, and so does Smashwords. (Recently, Kobo and Apple have let authors upload content directly—I haven’t taken advantage of this because it’s just one more place to re-upload in the event of grammatical mistakes, cover changes, etc.)

If you want to increase your revenues, publishing to multiple sites is probably a must.  There is a certain segment of the public that loathes Amazon, or just has loyalties to book sellers like B&N and Apple.

Smashwords cares more about authors than a lot of other distributors. They pay excellent royalties — 80%! And they don’t try to sell you expensive snake-oil-get-rich-quick services and products.

Any other busy self-publishers out there with tips? I’d love to read about them, in the meantime, the toddler on my lap is getting squirmy!

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About the Author:
C. Gockel writes fanfiction as startrekfanwriter on ff.net.

She also writes original fiction. Her original Loki story, I Bring the Fire: Part I can be downloaded free from Amazon, Smashwords, iTunes, and B&N.

This looks like a great entry way for fanfiction authors to enter the original fiction market. We’re already used to writing stories with great cliffies at the end of chapters!

I Bring the Fire (and me) are going to be profiled on Bella Harte’s blog. I need to pick 1,000 words of Fire that best reflect the story. Maybe when Car first enter’s Alfheim?