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

See all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

02/11/2012 • 11:58 AM 0

10 Questions to Ask Before Committing to Any E-Publishing Service | Jane Friedman

Via Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction

CLICK THIS LINK TO GO TO THIS VERY HELPFUL POST: Via janefriedman.com

12 Must-Read Articles From 2011 | Jane Friedman (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
When’s the Right Time to Leave Your Big Six Publisher? | Jane Friedman (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The Best Advice on Writing I’ve Ever Received (damyantiwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: DIY, ebooks, publishing, self-publishing, aggregators, BookBaby, evaluation, jane friedman, Publish, review, Smashwords, writer, Writers Resources

01/15/2012 • 4:39 PM 1

The ebook marketing experiment

Last week I announced that my short story, Corrective Measures, is free to anyone who wants one at Smashwords.com for the rest of January. It’s a look inside Jack’s mind. He’s a serial killer who has a complex

Click here for your free story!

relationship with God, his psychotherapist and the woman he wants to kill for an argument over a parking space. It’s quirky and dark and there’s even a subtle Sarah Palin joke in there.

But that wasn’t why I chose to make this ebook free. As discussed in Part I, I haven’t been happy with my sales so far. I have eight works for sale and I needed to harness the power of cross-pollination.

As I’ve often said, publishing is easy now. Being found is hard. I chose to make this ebook free because Jack and Dr. Circe Papua show up in my other stories. At the end of Corrective Measures, I discuss where these characters show up in my other work and basically advertise my podcast and what else they might like to buy. I’m hoping, of course, that if they like Corrective Measures, they might like my other stuff. That’s why I think every self-published author absolutely must be prolific. The worst circumstance is to have readers eager for more of your work and not having anything for them to buy. We’re all in a hurry. That’s why my goal for 2012 is to finish writing and revising three novels. (Two are in the revision stage. The other WIP is in the first draft stage.)

So what happened with the free ebook giveaway?

Sorry. Buried the lead. I promoted the ebook like this:

1. Twittered over three twitter accounts cool quotes from Corrective Measures. (“Your hair looks very…flammable.” Still makes me chuckle.)

2. Google+’d the post from this blog and also posted it on my author blog allthatchazz.com.

3. Announced in my Facebook timeline and my Ex Parte Press Facebook page.

4. Promoted Corrective Measures in my podcast that was released Friday across Stitcher and iTunes. Some people download the Self-help for Stoners podcast straight from allthatchazz.com, as well.

5. Made a couple of videos with iMovie that appear on my G+ profile, my author blog and on my Facebook timeline. (I also revamped my author blog with a new header—thanks again to my buddy Kit Foster of KitFosterDesign.com—and added fresh content.)

6. Asked for help spreading the word from my friends on Facebook.

What worked?

I have an answer, but before I tell you that, I should add that as I write this, the experiment is only three days old. Many of the people who took me up on the free ebook offer now have the story on their device, but they haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. Some of them may never get to it. It’s too early to evaluate the worth of the experiment to e-publishers yet. But I do know what’s been most effective.

Okay, but no, really. What worked?

Contacting friends and family on Facebook by messaging them individually and asking them to spread the word through their Facebook helped.

How do you know it helped?

On Smashwords, the nearest maximum download count was 19 downloads on stories that have been up for over a month. Over the weekend, as of Sunday afternoon, 53 people have downloaded Corrective Measures and I have a fresh and fabulous review. I’m hoping for more reviews to help spread the word. I am encouraged that several people who liked it and sent me feedback are not my immediate friends and family. They are friends of friends, out there in the social media ripple effect, enjoying the fiction and enhancing my credibility with their participation and kind words.

How has this helped sales, though?

So far, there is one (lonely) new sale over the weekend of Vengeance is #1. That’s a short story, too, on sale for $1.99, that features the psychotherapist from Corrective Measures. (Whoever you are, may Thor bless you!)

One sale? Really? Do you call that a success?

Nope. I call that a start. I believe in my work. I’ve got seven writing awards and years of experience that suggest I have an inking of what I’m doing. My readership will find me. I’ll let you know how the experiment works out. I’m pretty relaxed about this process. I’ve started businesses before and I know what it’s like to wait for people to find me. When they do find me, we’ll both be happy. And like I said, it’s three days into the free ebook experiment. Bread needs time to bake. This is what it’s like before you get to the place on the path where you look back and wonder where the time went. Besides, I’ve got big plans for my novels and big plans for promotion that could go huge. I’m not worried. I’m excited. The key word to keep in mind while hunting down dreams is YET.

What can self-publishers learn from this?

I’m three steps into the race. Still, I’m sure of this much:

1. Put out a general call and it’s just an announcement in a world full of announcements. If you don’t ask individuals, everyone will assume that someone else will rise to the occasion. One to one is how messages get passed.

2. Give a lot to get anything. I’m giving away an ebook and free entertainment and a free podcast every week, but big deal. There’s lots of free entertainment available. I could get sucked into watching babies laugh on YouTube for an hour. I’m not talking about the free ebook as the “give a lot.” I mean try to be giving and kind all the time. I dared to impose on my friends because they are my friends. I’ve had interactions with them that were generally pleasant. I’ve promoted several authors on the blog over the last couple of years, but I don’t feel like anyone owes me anything. I approached the people I approached based on rapport and where I felt their interest might lie. I’m wary of bothering anyone with my requests for reviews and downloads so I won’t be repeating a similar experiment like this for a very long time. I also left some people alone because, even though they are friends and family, I do not presume that they are interested in my flavor of fiction. I didn’t ask anything of anyone who I thought wouldn’t be eager to help me out by spreading the word. I’d do the same for them. That’s what friends are for. As Patrick Swayze says in Roadhouse, “It’s nice to be nice.” That little syllogism is the basis of all relationships.

3. Build an email list. This is one thing I have not pursued and I have to get on it. When people express an interest or appreciation or leave a review, that’s an audience who will be interested in the next thing I write. I should be able to email them directly to say, “Hey, here’s more of that thing you liked! Yay!”

4. Get back to writing. This ties in with my resolution to have three more novels for sale by Christmas. You might have noticed that all this social media stuff takes a lot of time and effort. Well…yeah. It does. I’m not complaining. Actually, I enjoyed saying hello to Facebook friends and playing with iMovie was a blast. I love doing the podcast and these are now essential skills in this environment. For instance, this week I’ll record a commercial for a major podcast (hint: not mine). What would have intimidated me a couple of months ago is now something I look forward to doing. I know the tech now so the prospect does not leave me at all flummoxed. However, since November 1, my focus has been getting Ex Parte Press up on its hind legs. It’s been a lot of editing and promotion and learning administrivia and technical details. This is also fun, but it’s not writing new content. It’s not getting the novels done. In a previous post, I called this period The Worst of the First. I’ve burst through that stage now and the full-length novels will be easier to market (for a plethora of reasons to be discussed in a future post.)

I’m writing now more than I’m doing anything else.

My eyes are on the prize.

The prize is your mind. You’re curled up on a couch with the aroma of fresh coffee fading in the air. You’re reading my stories and, when it gets scary, you pull up the blanket to keep warm because the body and mind do not distinguish between the imagined and the real. Your mug cools, unnoticed. Your coffee grows cold and you still haven’t touched it because you’ve pulled my fiction over your head and you’re in my world. You recognize characters you’ve never met. This world feels familiar, but is slightly skewed. You chuckle in surprise. You believe. Fiction is a participatory magic trick. You are invested in one question, “What happens next?” Time stands still and you only come up for air when you realize it’s getting dark and harder to read. The quiet winter afternoon has crept by you. You twist the knob on the lamp beside you and the room floods with a weak yellow light. You should get dinner started. You’ve got things to do. You spare a regretful glance at the full mug of cold coffee.

You pick up the book again. You keep reading.

Just a little more.

And once more, you are swallowed.

The ebook pricing and gifting experiment (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
My new short story: Asia Unbound (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The Jesus Harold Christ Edition (allthatchazz.com)
A Series is Born: Free ebook and Parting Shots, a new short story (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: My fiction, Publicity & Promotion, self-publishing, short stories, allthatchazz.com, book marketing, book promotion, book sales, Corrective Measures, E-book, Facebook, free, iTunes, short story, Smashwords, Stoners

01/07/2012 • 3:44 AM 0

Three things that annoy and why I don’t worry about ebook piracy, either

There’s a scene in Lawrence of Arabia that I love. Peter O’Toole is out in the desert. He is Lawrence, alone and relying on his compass to see him across the arid expanse of beautiful desolation. Then, from out of the distance comes the mysterious figure of Omar Sharif, the most handsome stranger on a horse in these here hot parts, “The Anvil of the Sun.” Sharif draws his sword on the lone Englishman. He circles Peter O’Toole, half-amused, half-threatening. “Are you lost, Englishman?”

“No. I am never lost. I have my military compass.”

“And what if I took your compass, Englishman?” Sharif says, snagging the compass belt with the point of his sword. If he rides off with the compass, he will condemn Lawrence to a grisly death.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie, so I’m paraphrasing, but I remember this well. Lawrence replies with dignity:

“Then you would be a thief.”

Impressed, Sharif returns the compass.

Which, believe it or not, brings us to stealing ebooks.

Yesterday I posted a piece on why one author doesn’t worry about ebook piracy (I love aggregating and spreading the word using Scoopit!). If you read the piece, you’ll find the writer took kind of an odd angle on the subject. His idea was that piracy would make authors angry at the thievery and they’d be encouraged to write better books and raise prices. (I chose to share that post not because I agreed with everything the author wrote but because the comments on the article were interesting. Check Why I’m Not Worried by Ebook Piracy if you missed it.)

The author of the post is welcome to his opinion. However, I confess I didn’t really follow his reasoning about pricing. I don’t believe cheap books tell the potential reader your book is crap. My books are cheap but they are not crap. I have a great novelette, The Dangerous Kind, that is my loss leader priced at a mere 99 cents. I’m experimenting with pricing, so three short stories are up at Smashwords for $1.99 and my two larger ebooks are only $2.99. I’m not saying the books are only worth that little.

I am saying, “Hey, look at me! You don’t know me, but for couch change, take a very tiny risk and look at my books! You might fall in love with them.”

Here’s the thing that’s going to annoy someone: Your book isn’t worth more money because it’s “literature,” though pricing isn’t quite arbitrary, either. Things are worth what people are willing to pay for them. I know a gentleman who owns a very nice dining room set that he says is “worth” $14,000. He’s worried that when he leaves his home, the estate auctioneer would sell it for, in his words, “next to nothing.” He’s confusing the price he paid for it many years ago with what it’s worth today to a stranger. Price does not equal worth. If there are no buyers at $14,000, the dining room set is not worth $14,000. At auction, it would sell for a few hundred dollars. A few hundred dollars is what it’s worth on the market because everybody loves a deal.

Here’s another thing that’s going to annoy somebody: Self-publishers should not compare their pricing structures with legacy publishers. Most legacy publishers got into ebooks very recently and many of them don’t know what they are doing or are working from a sense of entitlement. Trad publishers’ ebooks are more expensive because they are still working on a Middleman Pricing Model. They’ve got a lot of shipping bills to pay and lots of overhead and returns from bookstores to credit. They’re trying to ride the Dead Tree Train to the end of the line even though the engine’s running out of steam. Their pricing structure has less to do with ebook pricing and more to do with focusing their attention on books made of paper. They’re playing a different game than you and me in the thick of the e-reader revolution. While traditional publishers chase an old media model with old media trappings and pricing, Amazon sold a million Kindles each week of December .

Side point that makes me feel clever:

Amazon does not deliver your books to readers.

Your books deliver the need for Kindles in the hands of readers.

The medium is where the big money is.

Here’s the third thing that will piss off somebody: High ebook prices is one reason trad publishers’ ebooks are pirated. Pirating a book takes time, but not that much time. Anything published can be pirated. The more expensive the ebook, the more worthwhile it is to pirate. If someone pirates my books at $2.99, I’m not happy about it, but it’s more unlikely since you’d need to be a real douche with too much time on your hands to bother doing it. It’s just so much easier to go ahead and buy my books when they’re at such low prices. I’m not blaming the victim. I’m acknowledging the cost efficiencies that pirates work under.

Use all the Digital Rights Management (DRM) you want. Anti-piracy doesn’t work, unless your goal is to annoy potential customers who want to download your work to multiple devices. I’ve spoken with several trad publishers and authors who asserted they didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the music industry. That’s where their analysis ended. After that, they talked about the supposed glories of DRM even though—did I mention this?—DRM DOES NOT WORK! The music industry has already explored the strategy of punishing customers and it worked out badly for them. Pirates are either power users who will buy your work if they dig it (as was true with audiophiles) or they’re people who would never buy your book in a million years anyway. It’s not a loss of revenue when the thieves aren’t part of your market. Some authors (and musicians) are just fine with piracy because they see it as (sort of) free publicity. Others hope to make today’s pirates tomorrow’s fans. Louis CK just sold hits stand up (with no middlemen to pay) for $5. Yes, someone still pirated it. Most people didn’t and the payoff to the comedian was huge. He’s probably not very focused on the sales he lost, but on the fortune he made. We may as well take that attitude, too because — I’m sure I mentioned this — DRM doesn’t work! Devise a new strategy today, some lepton will crack it this evening. Or worse, you’ll drive away customers.

Remember getting “verified” on Twitter?

It was such a pain in the ass, many of us sighed and said,

“Never mind! There are plenty of people to follow who don’t make me jump through hoops to be their Twitter friend.”

Several times, I’ve heard DRM proponents object: “You’re saying thieves should be excused and we should just give up on DRM! Horrors!” No, I’m not saying book piracy is a good thing (though I can see how it might be under certain circumstances.) I don’t buy pirated software, games, music or books. I’d worry about what malware I might pick up along the way if I did that. I’m not slutty about my buying habits. I’m loyal and I pay happily for indie books. I think the pricing on most ebooks is very fair. I simply don’t buy ebooks that are overpriced. There are far too many good ebooks available that are inexpensive, so why debase myself by becoming a thief? If an author I grow to love increases his or her price though, what I consider “overpriced” will change. Bigger price tags are for authors with bigger followings.

Most important: Piracy exists and I am powerless to stop it. I do not worry about things I cannot control. That kind of thinking manufactures stomach pains and sleepless nights. You don’t stop water with a sieve and there’s no point sticking with a losing strategy.

Concentrate on making something worth stealing. Go ahead and play with pricing to discover what price point moves the most books and is the most profitable. And keep in mind that the pricing that moves the most books might not make you the most money. See India Drummond’s excellent post from yesterday for more on strategizing about that.

When a pirate says, “What if I steal your ebook?”

Reply, “Then you would be a thief.”

And remember all the people who won’t steal from you.

~ Robert Chazz Chute is the author of six ebooks. Self-help for Stoners is now available in paperback. Please follow Chazz on Twitter @rchazzchute. He will release three novels in the coming year. Each week, Chazz broadcasts his comedy podcast, Self-help for Stoners, for free and often reads excerpts from his work. Download the podcast from the author website, iTunes or on Stitcher (and now if you use the PROMO CODE “SELFHELPSTONERS”, you could win a $100 cash card from Stitcher.)

Why I’m Not Worried by Ebook Piracy (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The unorthodox ebook license note: (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: publishing, Amazon, anti-piracy, DRM, E-book, piracy, publishing, Smashwords

12/21/2011 • 11:40 PM 3

A Day in the Life of a Writer

4 AM: The iPod is still in my ear when I wake from a dream in which She Who Must Be Obeyed tells me I have a “liganda” tumor in my nose.

4 AM plus 20 seconds: Look up “liganda” on the iPod. It’s ancient currency in the form of an iron spear.

4 to 6 AM: Listen to hypnosis recording, listen to Michell Plested’s wonderful Irreverent Muse podcast (great interview with Mike Stackpole on the business of e-publishing). Listen to StoryWonk Daily (a podcast that is new to me but good.) The hosts talk about the humorous potential of Bartleby The Scrivener. When I studied it, it was in an existential angst/philosophy context and I totally missed the laughs. Great discussion on The Princess Bride, though. Shower.

6 AM – 7:30 PM: Edit a typo in the file to be printed at CreateSpace that’s been bugging me. Release print copy of Self-help for Stoners to the world in print on Amazon. Hahahahahahahahahahaha! The people who prefer print can finally order it in paper.

7:30 PM to 8:45 PM: Make lunch sandwiches and evict children to local indoctrination centre. Make coffee and prepare myself for the day’s onslaught.

8:45 to noon: Inspired by Mike Stackpole interview, I think about what I’ve got in the story stockpile. I dig up Asia Unbound from Dropbox. That’s a good short story I wrote ages ago that’s doing nothing for me where it sits. Resolve to format it and put it up on Smashwords. I revise the short story, format it, find a great shot to use from Morguefiles, run it through a free graphics program (Picnik) so I have a cover in record time (only one sad aborted attempt.) Get an ISBN from Canadian agency online (they’re free and easy in Canada) and insert metadata. Upload. For a change, I price it at $1.99 as an experiment even though The Dangerous Kind is only 99 cents and is much longer. I tell myself it’s a better cover and it’s all still just couch change. I got that done so quickly and without problems that I allow myself a feeling of triumph. The morning went so incredibly well.

Noon to 1 PM: Lunch and watch an old episode of Newsradio on The Comedy Network. I love Newsradio. I mourn Phil Hartman every time. Always and forever.

1 to 2 PM: Let the world know Asia Unbound is available on Smashwords: Facebook, two blogs, three Twitter accounts, Google+. Find several articles of use for research and stimulation. Use Scoopit! to post them to the blog. Check three of the four email accounts. Find some nice reader mail. Ask for some reviews of new and old books. Delete all other email.

2 to 3:30: Rush off to the other side of the city to perform last ditch Christmas offensive while listening to The Joe Rogan Experience podcast to get myself through the mall crowds without using a machete.

3:30 PM: Back just in time for spawn’s return from local indoctrination centre. Debrief/start laundry for this evening’s Christmas concert.

4 PM to 5 PM: Email check. No love. Search Dropbox for more old short stories that are brilliant. I reject three but find four that will be suitable for more Smashwords books. Around 4:45 I begin this blog post.

5 PM: #1 Son announces that he has changed his mind and he doesn’t want a globe for Christmas, which is surprising because he is a cartographical prodigy. I abandon writing this blog post. The boy now wants a saxophone for Christmas. He has a letter for Santa. I inform him that Santa’s surely already packed his order for the globe and the letter will not arrive in time for Christmas. #1 Son announces that Santa is magic and that if he doesn’t deliver, he’s not real and this will be the worst Christmas ever. The boy begins to sob as I realize that the Christmas concert is only one hour away and I’m not wearing pants. The laundry must be switched to the dryer if we’re to get to the Christmas concert in time. I comfort #1 Son as I rush to the dryer. His angst turns to anger. My guttural comforting sounds turn to gritted teeth and a harried quest to boil frozen hot dogs. (Hint: Nuke ’em first and let the water do only a quarter of the work.) Scream for #1 Daughter to get ready for Christmas concert. Pray for happy asteroid strike.

5 to 5:55 PM: Diatribe escalates. Tears are shed, most of them his. I tell him Santa is made of generosity and that the joy of giving is the essence of Christmas and so Santa can never die. A circular debate on the nature of magic ensues. Boy gets sent to his room. Daughter goes to concert. Boy is scarred for life, though he soon apologizes for being miserable. We hug it out. He’s both sure there’s no Santa and still wants to send his letter to Santa. (Syllogism? Never mind. This is not the time to discuss that.) Pretty sure my mother would have beaten him with a wooden spoon by now. I would never have gotten away with this and I would have been hauled off to the concert by my ear. I understand the impulse but instead hug him harder. Consider choking him out so he has a nap and I leave no bruises. I eat a hot dog in anger and sadness. He still breaks into sobs at his realization that we are filthy liars and the world is not as he has been told. The sweet innocence was what we wanted and it was great. Now? We pay in emotional cataclysm. And he’s not going to the concert. She Who Must Be Obeyed takes #1 Daughter to said concert since I saw the same concert last night.

6 PM: I’m wearing pants that are hot from the dryer. The effect is like morphine and I realize I’ve been up since 4 AM. Sweet oblivion wraps its loving arms around me and I pass out. Just before I lose consciousness, I am so grateful. Boy is anaesthetized by a cartoony video game that trains him for warfare. Good. He’ll need it.

7:30 PM: Awake in time for a Big Bang Theory and note that I’m not getting to the gym today. Again.

8 PM: She Who Must Be Obeyed and #1 Daughter return from Christmas concert. Boy has returned to his human form and is apologetic and resigned to a world without magic or charm. Dying inside, I retreat to the basement to finish this blog post. And hide.

The plan for the rest of the evening:

The children shall be read to and then thrown into bed at high velocity around 10 PM.

Back up plan:

Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?

I’m not up to writing another chapter of my new novel, anyway, so that’s a write-off. It must be the top priority in the morning. Tonight shall be for editing the Self-help for Stoners podcast. It won’t take long. The program is improving and I’ve found ways to make the production process go much faster. It will be done tonight and posted Thursday night. It’s Christmas…so will anyone be around to listen to it? I shrug and push forward with the grim determination of that dumb workhorse that ends up as glue at the end of Animal Farm.

Also to-do: Must research Podiobooks. Also, the tech consultant for one of my web pages calls tomorrow so I must make sure I have all my passwords and questions ready. Call Dad. (UPDATE: Forgot to call Dad. Too late to call him since it’s now 10 PM in Nova Scotia. Damn.) Address Christmas calendar envelopes. Figure out an actual schedule for tomorrow so it’s less random and I get some revising and writing done.

Input into iCal and USE IT!

The rest of the evening, the recreational part: Devote self to a book on the craft of writing mysteries which I’ve been trying to get to for days.

UPDATE at 8:38 PM: Boy sneaks past the machine-gun nests and barbed wire and arrives in bunker office to report that his #1 Sister is calling him a Pample Moose. “What’s a Pample Moose?” I correct his pronunciation and inform him that the translation from French means “Grapefruit.” #1 Son collapses in hysterics and I remember why I neither strangled nor chased him around the house (outside and around the house) with a wooden spoon. Still giggling, #1 Son races up the stairs yelling, “You called me a grapefruit, you hoser!”

Projected bedtime: 1 AM.

(Who are you kidding? You slept one and a half hours. You’ll be up till 2 AM at least.)

Tonight’s post-hypnotic suggestion just before I pass out:

What happens next in my book? Is it time for Legs Gabrielle to meet the deputy who suspects her of murder, or is that rushing it?

C’mon unconscious genius! Roll me a seven!

Tomorrow’s wake up call:

Either the clock radio at 8 Am, or much earlier if I have another dream about fictional nose tumours.

My new short story: Asia Unbound (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: publishing, What about Chazz?, What about you?, Writers, writing tips, a day in the life, Asia Unbound, Bartleby The Scrivener, Christmas, Comedy Network, iPod, Phil Hartman, publishing, Santa, Santa Claus, schedule, short story, Smashwords

12/21/2011 • 3:49 PM 9

My new short story: Asia Unbound

Hey guys! What do you think of this cover? Let me know. Thanks!

CLICK TO GET IT AT SMASHWORDS

In this suspenseful and disturbing short story, Asia is a Hollywood star who returns to her hometown for her uncle’s funeral. The paparazzi has followed her home and so has her high school boyfriend. Soon all her secrets will be exposed and she will have to find a way to escape. But no one escapes their own truth, no matter how shocking. (Only $1.99 on Smashwords.)

Filed under: What about Chazz?, disturbing fiction, short stories, short story, Smashwords

11/05/2011 • 9:02 PM 4

I just received my first review on Goodreads! And it’s a good’un!

The ebook review was for The Dangerous Kind, a novelette:

Two orphaned brothers go into the woods on a hunting trip. Each has reason to want the other out of the way. Only one will ever see home again.

Read the review here!

Thanks to Mark Young for the nice review. It’s also kind of prescient of him. The setting for The Dangerous Kind is a small town in Maine called Poeticule Bay. Mark felt the novelette was a warm-up for more from Poeticule Bay and he’s right! I’m already working on the next Poeticule Bay book, a full-length novel.

If you’ve read Self-help for Stoners, Stuff to Read When You’re High, you’ll also recognize the name. In the very first story of that collection, an actress named Legs Gabrielle returns to Poeticule Bay for her father’s funeral. Complications ensue when she is not welcomed back as the local girl who made good. You can read that story for free here. Or buy it as part of the whole collection here. (All of $2.99.)

As for that awesome review of The Dangerous Kind, if you’re ready for a little suspense, just jump to buying it on Amazon.

Or Smashwords.

Or for your Nook.

Or you could, I suppose, go on with your life thinking that your world does not revolve around my dark tales of suspense.

You could, theoretically, pass this by and believe that you could do without fulfilling my petty desires.

But we both know that’s not true. (Er…right?)

Also, The Dangerous Kind is only 99 cents.

(It ain’t begging if you provide something in exchange for the couch change.)

Or click the link above to get that free taste of Self-help for Stoners and see if you think I’m wasting your time…or drawing you into my world.

Filed under: All That Chazz, My fiction, web reviews, What about Chazz?, Writers, Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Barnes & Noble Nook Color, book review, E-book, Nook, Smashwords, The Dangerous Kind review

10/24/2011 • 9:41 AM 2

Surprising self-publishing delays and how ebooks are not so instant after all

Ebooks aren’t quite as instant as you might expect. They certainly aren’t as instant as I expected. A couple of months ago, my friend Rebecca Senese encouraged me not to announce a publication date for my ebooks. Rebecca was an early adopter in the ebook craze and has formatted a ton of her short stories using Smashwords. She knows whereof she speaks…so naturally I considered her advice seriously before stupidly ignoring it.

I thought I could get the formatting and conversion done and once the ebooks were delivered to the various digital platforms, bang! The books would be up and available for at least a couple of weeks before my official launch date of November 1. I wasn’t rushing to publish. Editorially, the books are ready for the big show. Still, self-publishing guru Joe Konrath’s words were probably lurking somewhere in the back of my mind: “A month’s lost sales is a month you’ll never make up.”

Only a couple of months ago, November 1 seemed so far off. It wasn’t an arbitrary date for me…at least it’s not psychologically. That’s when my career odometer turns over. Next Tuesday I am officially no longer a part-time massage therapist and stay-in-the-home-bunker dad. On that date I’m retired from twenty years of clinical practice in the treatment of sports injuries and broken backs and squeezed brains. I’ll be writing and publishing and podcasting full-time…oh my god! Next week! Jesus! Anyway, Rebecca was right, of course. It doesn’t pay to be inflexible because even though you can deliver the books — fully formatted and converted to specs — they still won’t be available for sale right away.

After delivery, Amazon can have your stuff up for sale within two to four business days. Great, right? However, Sony won’t have my ebooks available on their e-reader for weeks! I really wanted to hit the ground running and have all my books available across all digital platforms by the time I switched careers. I hadn’t considered how slow the word “instant” could really be. I’m not beating myself up about it. This is a learning curve and a huge milestone in my life does not translate to a publishing schedule. That’s an emotional attachment I’m putting on a business situation.

I soon decided I would use the delay as an advantage. I had wanted to say the books were available across all digital platforms, but Kobo still isn’t in my mix (and I’m still evaluating the worth of the Kobo platform to me.) I have The Dangerous Kind available most everywhere through Smashwords. All three ebooks are up on Amazon. Sony is the third most popular platform (behind smartphones and Amazon) so the wait is a bit frustrating. I don’t know why Sony takes so much longer than Amazon. I can only assume they don’t have the same resources for the task. However, the procedural delay will allow me to announce new platform availability over time so I can repeat my message and not feel so spammy about it. I also have some advertising plans to evaluate and pbook ARCs to publish so a little more time will allow me to hone them to a sharper edge. (And the paper books will take a long time, too. For sure!)

After all the work and coffee consumption involved in making an idea into a book, there’s nothing instant about the writing and editing process. It’s true for the production process, too, even when we think we’ve taken delays into account. It’s always later than you think!

CLICK HERE TO SEE A SAMPLE FROM

SELF-HELP FOR STONERS, STUFF TO READ WHEN YOU’RE HIGH

Writing Conference Cataclysm: Ebooks versus the Amish (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
How to Self-Publish an Ebook with Smashwords: 31 Authors Share Their Tips and Tricks (smashwords.com)
How ebook buyers discover ebooks (teleread.com)
How to Post a Review on Smashwords (alchemyofscrawl.wordpress.com)

Filed under: DIY, e-reader, ebooks, Writers, Amazon, are ebooks instant?, book, E-book, Kobo, Publish, self-publishing, Smashwords, Sony

06/12/2011 • 3:58 AM 3

Life & book marketing update shouted from a speeding car

Happy Sunday. Things are moving somewhat quickly as I start making transitions to writing full-time. I have a marketing plan: It’s important to be prolific. I believe in being available across as many e-platforms as possible (and zero DRM). Having just one ebook up won’t cut it. Being prolific allows cross-promotion (e.g. You like this? Then you might like to buy that, too!)

Over the coming months I’ll be offering individual short stories (at 0.99 each), a collection of short stories ($1.99 or 2.99, haven’t decided yet), a novella ($1.99) and another collection of short stories with a quirky hook I can market effectively ($2.99). At some point I’ll package the aforementioned individual stories—there are six—in another book (conveniently priced at $2.99 probably.)

There are several full-length novels that are written and need revision before they’re ready to be swallowed by the masses, but most of them are for next year.

A few things about the slingshot launches:

1. I’m doing a soft launch until I have a bunch of ebooks available. Then I’ll be carpet bombing (more details to come in another post on what that means.)

2. I will be launching another website in addition to this one. Chazz Writes is all about writing craft and publishing and I intend to continue. However, I have broader plans for the new website that will expand my mandate and goals. I’ll be talking about a lot of different things on the new site.

3. And I do mean talking. I’ll be incorporating video and podcasts. Fancy plans with pants to match. More on that closer to the new website launch.

4. I want to do a hard launch of the first novel in my line, but I’m not sure if I can pull it together for Christmas. There are more than the usual variables. For instance, I need to get permissions to use the names of a major Hollywood star and a major porn star. (Yes, I’m familiar with the rules of fair use—and both characters as they appear in the novel are adored by the hero. However, this isn’t a fair use issue. It’s a Smashwords rule issue.)

5. I’m not in the least interested this year in printing books with which to assail bookstores. It’s a lot of work for less reward. It’s an exciting venture I do not, at present, have time to pursue. (And yes, I’ve looked at the numbers.)

6. However, I will need printed Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) for promotional purposes when the hard launch takes off. I’ll be using CreateSpace to print a few sample copies since there is no punishing fee for each revision. For bigger print runs, once the formatting is solidified, I’ll switch to Lightning Source.

If you’re wondering how I’ll get it all done, sometimes I wonder, too. Then I remember that I’m severely underemployed. (Except for the soul-crushing poverty, it’s a fantastic advantage and a real time saver.)

There’s more to the book marketing and promotion plan and I’ll share it with you as soon as I can. In the meantime, back to my editing suite in the batcave beneath the bunker under the Chuck E. Cheese.

Thanks to my buddies Jeff Bennington, author of Reunion, and author Rebecca Senese (look her up, she’s a fountain of short stories), for clarifying my strategy on the issues in #6. Both these lovely people have guest blogged here. You’ll remember Rebecca did a great job summarizing the workings of Smashwords and Jeff compared CreateSpace with Lightning Source. (If you don’t remember their posts, search this site in the search box top right. Sorry! I’d link it for you but I’m in a huge hurry just this minute. I bet you can guess why when you see this tiny portion of my to-do list.)

Jeff tells me he will do me the honour of another guest blog soon. I think the discussion will be about book promotion and what he found effective for his massive push for Reunion.

Write. Commit. Do. (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: authors, blogs & blogging, Books, DIY, e-reader, ebooks, getting it done, Publicity & Promotion, publishing, What about Chazz?, Writers, book launch, book promotion, Chazz Writes, Createspace, fiction, Lightning Source, Podcast, Reunion, short story, Smashwords

04/20/2011 • 5:36 AM 3

How much should fiction cost?

There’s quite a gap between what publishers charge for ebooks and how self-publishers are pricing their work. Many authors (and readers) have a visceral reaction to price. Of course people are sensitive to a price they perceive too high, but many believe that if it’s too cheap, it must be crap. (JA Konrath suggests self-publishers play with price, and experiment to find the right price point.)

However pricing affects you intuitively, there’s no direct correlation between price and quality. Many fine ebooks are often priced low because the author is not well-known. Lower prices encourage timid readers to take a chance on new fiction. When the price is lower, readers buy more. It is freeing to click, click, click and still pay less for fiction than you might for a latte and a croissant. Self-publishers hope to make it up on volume.

If you are trying to figure out how to price your ebooks, or what a fair price might be, Dean Wesley Smith has a great and useful summary.

His suggestions have influenced my thinking greatly. As a result, my first book (that will be available digitally) will be a short story collection. I still plan to roll out my big novel in November, but the collection, including some award winners, will come this summer!

It’s all happening very quickly. It has to. And most glorious of all, now it can happen.

Time and me?

We wait for no one.

Not anymore.

Write. Commit. Do. (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The Heart of the Matter: Ebooks and Self-Publishing Part 2 – Another Dialog Between Authors Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Ebook pricing power is undermined by perceived value (radar.oreilly.com)
The Very Rich Indie Writer (novelr.com)
Making a Living Writing Fiction (selfpubauthors.wordpress.com)
A New Online Magazine For Fiction Writers (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
EBookNewser interviews Smashwords’ Mark Coker on e-book pricing, costs (teleread.com)
E-Publishing & Pricing: How Much Is A Book Worth? (writeitforward.wordpress.com)
Writers: How to Publish on Smashwords (by Guest blogger Rebecca Senese) (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
eBooks Really Are Getting Cheaper! (geardiary.com)
The Ebook Will Evolve. So Should Authors. (jchutchins.net)
Science fiction writers, editors, critics and publishers talk the future of publishing (boingboing.net)

Filed under: Books, DIY, ebooks, grammar, links, My fiction, publishing, self-publishing, Writers, writing tips, Dean Wesley Smith, E-book, fiction, Pricing, Publish, Smashwords

04/15/2011 • 11:58 AM 8

Write. Commit. Do.

Last Saturday night I went for a long walk with She Who Must be Obeyed. We talked about the future. I’d analyzed the finances. I’d considered my options. Now I have a plan. I’ve been on both sides of the argument for and against self-publishing (and a lot of those arguments against were good objections when they were true not so long ago.)

It’s time for some grown-up decisions since I’ve been a kid in long pants for some time now. I have a manuscript to publish. Well, several, actually (and plans for more.) What to do with them though?

I’ve read Seth Godin, JA Konrath, Dean Wesley Smith, Barry Eisler and Cory Doctorow. I’ve read multiple defences of the status quo from legacy publishing. In the end, the latter were not convincing. I’ve spoken to Rebecca Senese about her experience with Smashwords and Jeff Bennington blogged in this space about Lightning Source. I kept an open mind as long as I could and decided I have to jump. Now.

Inspired by Kevin Smith, I see where the puck is going and I will not chase after where the puck has been. I’ve decided to pick myself, go big, go indie and publish my books myself. I’ll be using Smashwords and Lightning Source.

What are the main reasons I’m committing to indie? I’m looking forward to having the first book out by November. Traditional publishing would take much, much longer than that even if I struck a deal tomorrow (and the royalty rates are not favorable.)

I have had mainstream interest in the first book. I was concerned that self-publishing is seen by some as cheating the system, an evasion of gatekeepers who ensure quality. As I’ve explained in previous posts, I reject that premise.

JA Konrath ran the numbers. Ross Laird was very persuasive. Barry Eisler really got my attention when he said opting for self-publishing came down to a business decision versus an ego decision. That rang true for me personally.

Self-publishing is not the quick route to publication some people think it is. I won’t be skipping lightly over editing. I’ll be doing most everything a traditional publisher would do. I’m a tad intimidated by the tech side of things, but I’m a smart guy. I can generally figure most things out or ask for help. And I worked inside traditional publishing for five years so I’m not intimidated by a lot of things that would worry others. I’ve written and published a lot already so I’m not going in starry-eyed. But I am optimistic and excited. Much of the time, this is going to be fun!

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go with a New York publisher, a Canadian press, a university press, a small press or a micro press. I am saying this is the right choice for me because it suits my temperament and it suits the material (cross-genre, late YA with humor and sex, drugs and school bullying wrapped up with some literary pretensions.) Books coming later fall into horror (a plague’s coming so buckle up) and two fantasies (one with a vampire cannibal cult, the other is angels in the End of Days). Also, there’s a sexy and occasionally horror-oriented short story collection. Down the road I can see two non-fiction books, as well. Lots to do.

This is my time (before it’s too late…I hope.) I’ve started up several businesses to employ myself. I haven’t had a “real” job working for someone else since 1991! I’m used to living on the edge of the real world. Self-publishing is for me. It might not be for you. I need choice and independence. I need to be a control freak about some things. (Okay, a lot of things.)

So, thank you to everyone who responded to my Twitter announcement last week with such kind wishes.

And before anybody tries jumping on my head about my decision,

let’s try this:

I’ll be me. You be you.