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

This is an interesting survey from Smashwords. For instance, shorter titles have a slight advantage and "the top bestselling Smashwords books averaged 115,000 words"? Cool to know. Learn at the link and see what you think.

~ Chazz

Have you noticed a decrease in blog traffic, too? When I read this post from Andra Watkins’ blog (“The Accidental Cootchie Mama”, possibly the best blog name ever), I thought: Oh. So that explains the dip in traffic I’ve noticed in the last while. If you’ve noticed a dip, too, Andra explains at the link why that is and what to do about it.

Good news: It’s not necessarily because you’re not awesome. Vast dark forces do battle and you are a casual casualty of their secret cyber-war. Check out Google’s plans for world domination and how it affects you at the link.

Also to do: Thank Ms. Watkins for the analysis and subscribe to The Accidental Cootchie Mama.

I think the most common problems with openings in any genre are false starts and a fascination with the weather worthy of a meteorologist with OCD. It’s that sort of throat clearing that appears in a lot of manuscripts and annual Christmas newsletters. I like to start much closer to the action than that, no matter the genre or from whom the Christmas newsletter is sent.

On the other hand, some people go from tepid to hostile about prologues. They just don’t like them. Personally, I don’t mind prologues and epilogues or flashbacks at all, as long as they’re well-written, of course. I find these devices only fail when they don’t propel the action and deepen our understanding of character. (Full disclosure: There are a few flashbacks in Bigger Than Jesus and Higher Than Jesus, but I got praise for them and no reviewers complained they threw up in their mouths.) So there’s that.

~ Chazz

ADDENDUM:  Hey, I just realized something. This post at Writer Unboxed (subscribe there!) has 469 comments on it (at press time here at Ex Parte Press). It’s nice that people are eating up all this awesome advice. However, more than one commenter said they were guilty of a few of the sins. Um…not to be a curmudgeon, but you can commit these “sins” and still succeed. It can be a handicap, yes, but what sinks one manuscript can soar in another. These issues are not merely textual. They’re also contextual. Look, I’ve written two books of advice about writing and publishing (so far), but I have to point out to new writers again: Please don’t take all writing advice as gospel. If you’re a writer, you’re a rebel. Don’t deny your nature.

Sometimes writers break rules. I know the gurus say you have to know the rules before you can break them, but if the result is good, why exactly does that matter? Take advice as a guideline, not as commandments that substitute someone else’s judgment for your own. If we wanted to follow rules, why be a writer at all? Trust your compass. Listen to your voice. Just because someone else made an obsession with plants and weather an egregious read doesn’t mean you can’t make it work. (Some of Annie Proulx’s work comes across as a botany lesson and she’s done mighty fine.) A kiss and a warning.

Mark Victor Young is a talented writer I met at a writing workshop a couple of years ago. Follow the Scoopit! link to CommuterLit and check out his short piece about writing process and tenses, "notes from a novel in progress". In a playful way, this captures our inner struggle to get the right words in the right order.

Looking forward to that novel, Mark!

~ Chazz

In this post on Digital Book World by Beth Bacon (learn at the link!), she suggests we widen our pricing options and she suggests seven interesting options to consider.

Here are more possibilities I’d add to her list of possibilities to noodle with:

1. Make the first book in a series perma-free. Make each new book in the series incrementally more expensive as the series grows in popularity. Give discounts for batches. For instance, selling Books 2, 3 and 4 at once at one discounted price. Steadily escalate your prices. Fans who get in early pay less.

Or go with members-only discounts for the biggest fans. Reward your biggest supporters who knew you before you were famous with exclusive merch, or behind-the-scenes video of the making of the audiobook.) Chuck Pahlaniuk has his variation of this and it’s called The Cult. Start with Smashwords coupons for discounts to people who love you and who are influencers anxious to spread the good word of your awesomeness.

2. Be less proprietary to gain new readers. For instance, encourage fan fic as the author of Wool does. The theory is that, instead of diluting your work, he’s creating a larger funnel. The hypothesis has already proved mind-rippingly successful with a lesser book. That’s how Fifty Shades started out, so that’s not as crazy as it may sound.

3. Get into more channels and generate more income streams (and produce more faster) with co-authors and crowd-sourcing. 

Good example: Hit RECord because the tone set is open-eyed, cooperative revenue sharing. More of these sites seem to be popping up. Bad examples: James Patterson and James Frey, because the tone is usery and cynical opportunism.

4. Charge readers less on Amazon because the big dog sells more. This one will drive someone insane with rage. However, flawed channels, small channels or channels that are more difficult to publish to take more time and energy from the author/publisher with fewer positive results. Make consumers pay a premium for the trouble and inconvenience. Those that do pay a higher price might make it worth your trouble. (I’m looking at you, Apple.)

I admit that many authors will hate this idea, scream about punishing consumers, hurting ourselves and so on. However, if you call it "split testing", suddenly it will sound entirely reasonable. Reframe the practice and you’ll sound stupid if you don’t do it.

5. Broaden your platform with more free or cheap, but very short, ebooks as introductions and samplers. I’m thinking of "The Universe Doesn’t Give a Flying F*** About You" by Johnny B Truant. It’s worked for Truant to gain subscribers to his email list and expand his readership and brand awareness.

6. Expand your readership by combining catering to niches and repurposing material. I’m considering this with an upcoming title. If done carefully, I’m thinking this could work very well. Suppose you have a romance: Our Summer in Paris. Now suppose you introduce supernatural elements and werewolves: Our Summer in Paris WEREWOLVED!

7. Unpublish books. Somebody just fell on the floor, but pull your iPad closer, breathe deeply and reconsider: Scarcity provides value.

Suppose you have more than fifteen books/short stories on your channel’s sales page. Many regular readers here would qualify. Sure, they’re all gems to someone but they don’t all sell as well and your less popular books are making it hard for casual browsers to find your most popular titles. Clutter slows sales movement and blocks discovery by potential fans. Your fans buy everything you put out anyway, so they already have your old stuff. Encourage sales and get a happy introduction: Take down the old stuff and offer it as a bonus to new readers when they buy your primo stuff.

I don’t blame authors who are resistant to the 80/20 rule, but consider making business decisions rather than emotional decisions to win more readers in the long run. Eighty percent of your sales come from 20 percent of your efforts. Choose wisely.

When you have a carve out a big enough fan base (i.e. Neil Gaiman, Joe Rogan, Kevin Smith) your core fan base becomes your 20 percent and you don’t have to work so hard at gaining new fans. You’ll retire on the fanatics. It’s arguable that, due to market fragmentation, that sort of base-building isn’t possible anymore. That’s an argument for a different post on another day.

Summary: The point I share with Beth Bacon is that we need to be open to price experimentation to find the sweet spot (or rather, sweet spots, since there are likely to be several over the life of each book). There are many more options in pricing and funneling than most authors and publishers usually consider. The ideas I’ve added in the commentary here are my own so if you have heat to give, give it to me here. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts and suggestions for more possibilities.

Learn about Beth Bacon’s thoughts at the DBW through the Scoopit! Link below.

In an effort to be more competitive, Pubit! becomes Nook Press. There is concern about some of the terms. Some authors have decided to pull their books from B&N rather than come under Nook Press’s TOS. Holly Lisle also raised concerns about them changing your book cover on you. I’m reserving judgment until I see them in action. 

As soon as Amazon bought Goodreads, there were cries across the Interdom that Amazon’s competitors should have bought GR instead. I’m sure Nook Press was in the works long before the Amazon/Goodreads deal came to pass, but I do wonder if Amazon’s competitors will be spurred to more action. 

For instance, as KDP Select’s value has devalued, perhaps they could offer terms and promotions that can do KDP one better. I’ve been screeching for a long time that somebody should be copying Smashwords in one respect: Give us codes for coupons so we can promote our books more effectively.

No, no one listens to Chazz, but I’ll be uncharacteristically optimistic here and say I think we will see more change and better offerings in the near future. Whining about Amazon’s domination hasn’t helped, so perhaps competitors will do more of what is effective: adapt and actually compete instead of complain.

Learn more at the Scoopit! link to BookPromotion.com.

~ Chazz