C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

1. Last November I started up my podcast to reach out to new readers. I called the podcast Self-help for Stoners

English: Third generation Amazon Kindle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

after my book of the same name. The podcast was a good idea, but tying the title to one book when I have dozens in me was a tactical error and I’ll change that soon.

2. This, my main blog, focuses on information, both original and curated, for anyone interested in publishing books.  The blog is not geared to readers. That’s what the author site is for. In the future, I think I’ll post to the author site more often than I do, especially as I have more reviews and events to talk about. I don’t regret writing about writing, though. Some people think authors are stupid for doing that, but I went with my passion. If I had tackled something I was less interested in, I wouldn’t be approaching 1,000 blog posts now and I wouldn’t be able to make two books out of it.

3. My two latest books, Bigger Than Jesus and The Dangerous Kind & Other Stories, are both on Amazon and exclusive to KDP Select so they do not appear in retail outlets. That’s fine for now, but eventually I will migrate them to other ebook platforms. Amazon was great at promotion, but with their new algorithms, they aren’t so great for me anymore. (I hope they rectify this and we, collectively, get through the current summer sales slump to see a more energetic autumn.)

4. In the future, I’ll raise the price of my books. They’re all at couch change for $2.99 now. This is the introductory price and will change, which will also make more sense with Amazon’s new price-based (rather than quantity sold) algorithms.

5. I have several books in revisions that reach beyond 120,000 words. If they were shorter they’d be done and available by now. If it makes editorial sense, I may break the longest books up into trilogies.

6. I will write shorter books. As I wrote Bigger Than Jesus, I discovered that I love to write a book with a high momentum. A fast write (and read) energizes me. The paperback will still clock in at 249 pages, so no one will feel I’m shortchanging them.

7. I will write no stand-alones. Bigger than Jesus is the first of The Hit Man Series. The Poeticule Bay Series is in development. The books are meant to stretch out into long series following certain characters. Stand alone novels are a heavy investment of my time that do not develop a following to the same numbers as a series can. To make more art, I have to make that business decision. What will be fun is when I have crossovers, where many of my characters from different books meet.

8. I will write faster. I wrote Bigger Than Jesus in a month. To perfect it, the editorial pipeline was longer than that, but I find I can write effectively and well at speed. My editor and beta team made that possible and, maybe it’s the journalistic training talking, deadlines are my friend.

9. I will have print versions available for all my books going forward. Currently I just have Self-help for Stoners available as a paperback. The other short story collections didn’t have quite the length needed to make for a paperback with heft. Everything I do from now on makes for a great mass market paperback. I just finished all the book design and print formatting on Bigger Than Jesus today so I’ll have the paperbacks on hand pretty soon. (I’m in love with Georgia. She’s a beautiful font.)

10. I will be less shy about contacting other authors for blurbs and book blogger for reviews. This is more of an affirmation than a plan since I have yet to compose those emails. I’ve sent out a few copies for review, but it’s an issue about which I am still an introvert. (I’m only pretending to be an extrovert here so someone will read my books.)

~ Like my flavor? Listen to the first chapter of my crime thriller, Bigger Than Jesus. I’m

Get Bigger Than Jesus

podcasting the book through the summer. Enjoy! (Or be a hero and just click the cover to grab it. Thanks for reading!)

Like this? Then please check out some other options for articles from ChazzWrites and AllThatChazz from the last month:

• Ultimate Blog Challenge: Can you blog a book? Sure you can. (chazzwrites.com)
• Author Blog Challenge 17: How to talk with your graphic designer about your book cover (chazzwrites.com)
• Author Blog Challenge #26: The demons in my head (chazzwrites.com)
• Get heard: Podcast Your Book (chazzwrites.com)
• PODCAST: Bigger Than Jesus Chapter 1 (allthatchazz.com)
• Ultimate Blog Challenge: The Warm Chocolate Chip Cookie Exposition (chazzwrites.com)
• AB Challenge 27: 10 rewards of regular blogging (plus a reward for you) (chazzwrites.com)
• The Dangerous Kind & Other Stories: Just released! (allthatchazz.com)
• Author Blog Challenge 21: My Top 20 Best (Worst?) Advice for Authors (chazzwrites.com)
• Author Blog Challenge (plus a sneak peek podcast*): Outlining, pantsing, spilling & sprinting (chazzwrites.com)
• Author Blog Challenge 12: How to not write your book (chazzwrites.com)
• AB Challenge 24: More on Free Books. Moron Free Books. (chazzwrites.com)
• Author Blog Challenge 13: The meek will not inherit the earth or a book deal (chazzwrites.com)
• Author Blog Challenge 19: Choose how to grow your author platform (chazzwrites.com)
• PODCAST: The Your Free Ebook Edition (allthatchazz.com)
• Have you, by chance, checked out my podcast? (chazzwrites.com)
• PODCAST: The Letters Edition (allthatchazz.com)
• PODCAST: The In Defence of Dumb Edition (allthatchazz.com)
• Ultimate Blog Challenge: Indies Versus Committees (chazzwrites.com)

Filed under: publishing, Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Amazon.com, Author, Bigger than Jesus, Blog, blogger, blogging, book promotion, crime thriller, Dangerous Kind & Other Stories, latest books, novels, Podcast, Robert Chazz Chute, short story collections, Stoners, Top 10 lists, writer, writing