There will be setbacks.
There will be critics.
There will be raised hopes that are crushed, and expectations that are never fulfilled.
There will be difficult stretches.
There will be high hurdles.
There will be a lot of waiting. A whole lot.
There will be blows to your pride.
There will be attacks on your person.
There will be rejections, and more rejections, and even more rejections.
There will be people who don't think you can do it.
There will be people who don't think you should be doing it.
There will be hundreds of things that will make you consider quitting.
Don't get bitter.
Get better.
Write more. Improve your craft. Learn the business.
Make success your only option.
Take joy in the good things that happen, and grow stronger from the bad things.
No one likes a whiner.
Everyone loves a winner.
Be a winner.
Get better.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Brain Donors
Maybe it's just me, but I've noticed a lot of really stupid behavior lately.
Here are some of the dumbass characters I've recently run into on the World Wide Web.
THE ONE STAR WHORE - Some folks go on certain review sites and feel the need to bash stories with one-star reviews. Why? I can only deduce some over-inflated sense of self-importance that compels a percentage of the population to see their diatribes on the internets, sort of the equivalent of a giant refrigerator door. Look what I did, Mom! I'm a negative prick!
JOE'S RESPONSE - Negative reviews amuse me. I don't complain about them, or try to have them removed, because I believe rational people can come to their own conclusions about whether or not to read something, and aren't influenced by poorly-worded hate-fests. I particularly love the reviews from people who got the book for free and then feel the need to warn folks against ruining their lives by making the same mistake they did and reading the offending material. I bet your family can't stand you.
THE SPOILING CRITIC - Getting professional reviews is important to writers, and it comes with the territory that a certain amount of them will be negative. But some asshole critics think their job isn't to rehash and rate, but also to spoil major plot points in the book.
JOE'S RESPONSE - Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach, critique. Those who can't critique well, spoil. How frustrated a person do you have to be to want to ruin someone else's potential enjoyment? Perhaps we should ask the folks at Kirkus that very question.
THE CONTEST MOANER - I was recently a contest judge, and some folks took exception to my list of "don'ts" I recently blogged about. They feel I'm not fair.
JOE'S RESPONSE - Don't enter contests. If your story is good enough, find an editor who will pay for it. But guess what? If you do the things I mentioned not to do, you won't find an editor. Also, someone is knocking on your door. It's Life, and he's holding a big sign that says "I'm Not Fair." Maybe you should let him in and get to know him.
THE WOE IS ME AUTHOR - We all know the publishing industry drops books and series all the time. They have a myriad of reasons for doing this, many of them impenetrable. But whining about this in public, no matter how much it stings, is asking for sympathy, which is pathetic.
JOE'S RESPONSE - You do not get future book contracts through sympathy. Yes, the publishing industry is often unfair, and sometimes downright idiotic. But airing your dirty laundry isn't the way to fight back. Fight back with great writing. We all get kicked. But we don't have to acknowledge it. After sincerity, the thing all people must learn to fake is confidence.
THE ENTITLEMENT JUNKIE - These folks seem to think they deserve some sort of success, and like to spout the Conspiracy Against Them and publicly wonder why they aren't getting what they're due.
JOE'S RESPONSE - No one deserves anything. There is only luck and hard work. Once you feel you're due something, or that people are keeping you from getting yours, you're on a slippery slope that usually ends in obscurity.
THE GREEN FAIRY - Envy is a disease. It's easy to look at other writers and compare yourself to something they possess; money, fame, awards, print runs, bestsellerdom, talent. It's also easy to take pot shots at these writers, while secretly (or not so secretly) wishing you were them.
JOE'S RESPONSE - Your race is with yourself, not with your peers. Never compare yourself to another writer for any reason whatsoever. Once you start wishing for someone else's career, you aren't tending to your own.
THE ME ME ME - The definition of a bore is someone who talks and doesn't bother to notice if anyone else is in the room. Writers may be more self-absorbed than most, but they shouldn't mistake this for being so fascinating that every other word they speak is "I."
JOE'S RESPONSE - If you're in a conversation and more than half of it is coming from your mouth, it isn't a conversation--it's a monologue. If you're in a conversation and the only questions you ask are directed at yourself, I pity the poor saps stuck in your orbit. At least have the decency to pass out cyanide capsules when you walk into the room.
THE INSULTER - Nothing says "I'm pathetic" like name-calling. Yet some folks feel the need to hurl insults, and direct criticism toward the person rather than the comment. This, like many of the above, is a result of the Internet, which buffers accountability. As such, some folks feel it is okay to be rude little twits, because they're protected from being socked in the mouth.
JOE'S RESPONSE - If you wouldn't say it to a person's face, don't say it on the net. Ideas and opinions are a lot of fun to discuss, defend, and attack. But once it becomes personal, you've lost control, and lost the discussion, you asshole.
THE SELF-PUBBED MARTYR - There's nothing wrong with self-pubbing. But the majority of the writers in the world won't equate it with traditional publishing, for too many reasons to be discussed here. If you want the respect of your peers, it isn't going to be by logically presenting your points and calmly discussing why their views are irrational, any more than intelligent discourse saved anyone on the Trail of Tears. And bemoaning your lack of respect in the publishing world is just a rally for more people to attack you.
JOE'S RESPONSE - If you want the respect of your peers, get a traditional publishing contract. Personally, I think peer respect is useless, and trying to join a club that doesn't want you is futile. Stop trying to convince the world you're relevant. The world will ultimately figure that out for itself.
THE KNOW IT ALL BLOGGER - This guy spouts advice and opinions like he's God's Gift to the World, guising his superiority under the banner of "being helpful."
JOE'S RESPONSE - Thank this man profusely, and buy all of his books. The latest is CHERRY BOMB, now on sale...
Here are some of the dumbass characters I've recently run into on the World Wide Web.
THE ONE STAR WHORE - Some folks go on certain review sites and feel the need to bash stories with one-star reviews. Why? I can only deduce some over-inflated sense of self-importance that compels a percentage of the population to see their diatribes on the internets, sort of the equivalent of a giant refrigerator door. Look what I did, Mom! I'm a negative prick!
JOE'S RESPONSE - Negative reviews amuse me. I don't complain about them, or try to have them removed, because I believe rational people can come to their own conclusions about whether or not to read something, and aren't influenced by poorly-worded hate-fests. I particularly love the reviews from people who got the book for free and then feel the need to warn folks against ruining their lives by making the same mistake they did and reading the offending material. I bet your family can't stand you.
THE SPOILING CRITIC - Getting professional reviews is important to writers, and it comes with the territory that a certain amount of them will be negative. But some asshole critics think their job isn't to rehash and rate, but also to spoil major plot points in the book.
JOE'S RESPONSE - Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach, critique. Those who can't critique well, spoil. How frustrated a person do you have to be to want to ruin someone else's potential enjoyment? Perhaps we should ask the folks at Kirkus that very question.
THE CONTEST MOANER - I was recently a contest judge, and some folks took exception to my list of "don'ts" I recently blogged about. They feel I'm not fair.
JOE'S RESPONSE - Don't enter contests. If your story is good enough, find an editor who will pay for it. But guess what? If you do the things I mentioned not to do, you won't find an editor. Also, someone is knocking on your door. It's Life, and he's holding a big sign that says "I'm Not Fair." Maybe you should let him in and get to know him.
THE WOE IS ME AUTHOR - We all know the publishing industry drops books and series all the time. They have a myriad of reasons for doing this, many of them impenetrable. But whining about this in public, no matter how much it stings, is asking for sympathy, which is pathetic.
JOE'S RESPONSE - You do not get future book contracts through sympathy. Yes, the publishing industry is often unfair, and sometimes downright idiotic. But airing your dirty laundry isn't the way to fight back. Fight back with great writing. We all get kicked. But we don't have to acknowledge it. After sincerity, the thing all people must learn to fake is confidence.
THE ENTITLEMENT JUNKIE - These folks seem to think they deserve some sort of success, and like to spout the Conspiracy Against Them and publicly wonder why they aren't getting what they're due.
JOE'S RESPONSE - No one deserves anything. There is only luck and hard work. Once you feel you're due something, or that people are keeping you from getting yours, you're on a slippery slope that usually ends in obscurity.
THE GREEN FAIRY - Envy is a disease. It's easy to look at other writers and compare yourself to something they possess; money, fame, awards, print runs, bestsellerdom, talent. It's also easy to take pot shots at these writers, while secretly (or not so secretly) wishing you were them.
JOE'S RESPONSE - Your race is with yourself, not with your peers. Never compare yourself to another writer for any reason whatsoever. Once you start wishing for someone else's career, you aren't tending to your own.
THE ME ME ME - The definition of a bore is someone who talks and doesn't bother to notice if anyone else is in the room. Writers may be more self-absorbed than most, but they shouldn't mistake this for being so fascinating that every other word they speak is "I."
JOE'S RESPONSE - If you're in a conversation and more than half of it is coming from your mouth, it isn't a conversation--it's a monologue. If you're in a conversation and the only questions you ask are directed at yourself, I pity the poor saps stuck in your orbit. At least have the decency to pass out cyanide capsules when you walk into the room.
THE INSULTER - Nothing says "I'm pathetic" like name-calling. Yet some folks feel the need to hurl insults, and direct criticism toward the person rather than the comment. This, like many of the above, is a result of the Internet, which buffers accountability. As such, some folks feel it is okay to be rude little twits, because they're protected from being socked in the mouth.
JOE'S RESPONSE - If you wouldn't say it to a person's face, don't say it on the net. Ideas and opinions are a lot of fun to discuss, defend, and attack. But once it becomes personal, you've lost control, and lost the discussion, you asshole.
THE SELF-PUBBED MARTYR - There's nothing wrong with self-pubbing. But the majority of the writers in the world won't equate it with traditional publishing, for too many reasons to be discussed here. If you want the respect of your peers, it isn't going to be by logically presenting your points and calmly discussing why their views are irrational, any more than intelligent discourse saved anyone on the Trail of Tears. And bemoaning your lack of respect in the publishing world is just a rally for more people to attack you.
JOE'S RESPONSE - If you want the respect of your peers, get a traditional publishing contract. Personally, I think peer respect is useless, and trying to join a club that doesn't want you is futile. Stop trying to convince the world you're relevant. The world will ultimately figure that out for itself.
THE KNOW IT ALL BLOGGER - This guy spouts advice and opinions like he's God's Gift to the World, guising his superiority under the banner of "being helpful."
JOE'S RESPONSE - Thank this man profusely, and buy all of his books. The latest is CHERRY BOMB, now on sale...
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Cherry Bomb by JA Konrath
NEW BOOK NOW AVAILABLE
My sixth Jack Daniels book, CHERRY BOMB, is available today in hardcover.
I encourage everyone to buy several copies. If you have any money left over, pick up ABANDON by Blake Crouch (the co-writer of SERIAL), which also comes out today and kicks absolute ass. If you like my books, you'll love this.
BOOKLAUNCH PARTY
If you want to meet me in person, and also meet authors Henry Perez and Jeff Strand, my booklaunch party is at:
CENTURIES AND SLEUTHS BOOKSTORE, July 12, 2pm-4:30pm, 7419 W. Madison St. Forest Park, IL.
Feel free to bring people along. All of my books will be for sale, and the beer is free. You don't think I'd have a booklaunch without free beer, do you?
PODCASTS
If you want to kick back and listen to me talk shop and crack wise, I've recently been on two podcasts.
You can hear me and Blake talk about SERIAL, CHERRY BOMB, ABANDON, and many other things on Diabolical Radio at www.blogtalkradio.com/diabolicalradio.
Then, if you want to hear me really get silly, check out the podcast at www.Genrefinity.net. You should bookmark Genrefinity--it's a fun site run by some crazy guys who love everything genre. The podcast is at www.genrefinity.net/genrefinity_podcast-ep013.mp3.
NEW EBOOK
Finally, for those who missed my previous announcement, I wrote a horrific thriller novella with Jack Kilborn called TRUCK STOP. It's available exclusively as an ebook, and features Jack Daniels.
Which brings me to a question I'm often asked. "Joe, can you list every Jack Daniels story?"
THE JACK DANIELS UNIVERSE
WHISKEY SOUR - Book #1, Jack chases The Gingerbread Man. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2004.
BLOODY MARY - Book #2, Jack chases a rogue cop. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2005.
RUSTY NAIL - Book #3, Jack chases The Gingerbread Man's family. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2006.
DIRTY MARTINI - Book #4, Jack chases The Chemist. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2007.
FUZZY NAVEL - Book #5, Jack chases the Urban Hunting Club and Alex Kork. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2008.
CHERRY BOMB - Book #6, Jack chases Alex Kork. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2009.
THE LIST - Jack makes a cameo in this technothriller novel. Available on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
SHOT OF TEQUILA - Jack co-stars in this crime novel, which takers place in the early 1990s. Available on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
ON THE ROCKS - Jack in a locked room mystery short. Originally appeared in Ellery Queen. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2004.
WHELP WANTED - Jack's ex-partner, Harry McGlade, acting like Harry. Originally appeared in Futures Magazine. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2004.
STREET MUSIC - Jack's criminal buddy, Phineas Troutt. Originally appeared in Ellery Queen. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2004.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY - A Gingerbread Man short story. Originally read by me at the end of the Whiskey Sour audiobook. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2004.
WITH A TWIST - Jack in a locked room mystery short. Originally appeared in Ellery Queen. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2005.
EPITAPH - Phin in a revenge tale. Originally appeared in THRILLER edited by James Patterson. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2006.
TAKEN TO THE CLEANERS - Harry being Harry. Originally appeared in The Strand Magazine. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2005.
BODY SHOTS - Jack in a school shooting. Originally appeared on Amazon Shorts. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2005.
SUFFER - Phin as a hired killer. Originally appeared in Ellery Queen. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2005.
OVERPROOF - Jack Daniels and a suicide bomber. Originally appeared in CHICAGO BLUES edited by Libby Fischer Hellmann. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2007.
BEREAVEMENT - Phin making ends meet. Originally appeared in THESE GUNS FOR HIRE edited by JA Konrath. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2005.
POT SHOT - Jack partner, Herb. Originally appeared on Amazon Shorts. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2004.
LAST REQUEST - Phin on a quest. Originally appeared in my short story collection 55 Proof. Available on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2007.
SUCKERS - Harry, teaming up with Jeff Strand's Andrew Mayhem. Originally appeared as a limited edition hardcover. Available on my website and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2007.
FLOATERS - Jack, teaming up with Henry Perez's Alex Chapa. Originally appeared in MISSING edited by Amy Allesio. Available on my website and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
PLANTER'S PUNCH - Jack, teaming up with Tom Schreck's Duffy Dombrowski. Originally appeared on Kindle. Available on my website and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
TRUCK STOP - Jack facing Taylor (from AFRAID) and Donaldson (from SERIAL). Originally appeared on Kindle. Available on my website, SmashWords.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
SCHOOL DAZE - Harry being Harry. Coming July 24 in UNCAGE ME, edited by Jen Jordan. 2009.
THE NECRO FILE - A Harry novella. The funniest thing I've ever written. Originally appeared in LIKE A CHINESE TATTOO edited by Bill Breedlove. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2008.
SHAKEN - Jack Daniels book #7, currently being written. You can check out the first few chapters in the FLOATERS ebook. Available on my website and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
That comes to twenty-seven stories in the Jack Daniels universe, plus a work in progress. Also, in CHERRY BOMB, there's a cameo by one of my characters from my medical thriller DISTURB, along with a cameo by one of the characters from THE LIST.
Let's have some Q & A.
Q: Do these have to be read in order?
A: No. Though FUZZY NAVEL should be read before CHERRY BOMB for maximum enjoyment. The shorts can be read in any order at all.
Q: When does TRUCK STOP take place?
A: Before AFRAID, SERIAL, and FUZZY NAVEL.
Q: What's your favorite novel?
A: I don't have one. But I'm really fond of CHERRY BOMB. I think it epitomizes the kind of book I write.
Q: Which is?
A: Breakneck pace, lots of conflict, scary scenes, and bad jokes. Plus, if you haven't heard, CHERRY BOMB has a lot of sex in it.
Q: What's your favorite short story?
A: STREET MUSIC. I love the last line.
Q: Will you revisit Jack Daniels?
A: Absolutely. I'm working on another Jack book, called SHAKEN. But it isn't one of my priorities.
Q: I want more Jack!
A: That's not a question. But trust me--Jack will be around for a while...
My sixth Jack Daniels book, CHERRY BOMB, is available today in hardcover.
I encourage everyone to buy several copies. If you have any money left over, pick up ABANDON by Blake Crouch (the co-writer of SERIAL), which also comes out today and kicks absolute ass. If you like my books, you'll love this.
BOOKLAUNCH PARTY
If you want to meet me in person, and also meet authors Henry Perez and Jeff Strand, my booklaunch party is at:
CENTURIES AND SLEUTHS BOOKSTORE, July 12, 2pm-4:30pm, 7419 W. Madison St. Forest Park, IL.
Feel free to bring people along. All of my books will be for sale, and the beer is free. You don't think I'd have a booklaunch without free beer, do you?
PODCASTS
If you want to kick back and listen to me talk shop and crack wise, I've recently been on two podcasts.
You can hear me and Blake talk about SERIAL, CHERRY BOMB, ABANDON, and many other things on Diabolical Radio at www.blogtalkradio.com/diabolicalradio.
Then, if you want to hear me really get silly, check out the podcast at www.Genrefinity.net. You should bookmark Genrefinity--it's a fun site run by some crazy guys who love everything genre. The podcast is at www.genrefinity.net/genrefinity_podcast-ep013.mp3.
NEW EBOOK
Finally, for those who missed my previous announcement, I wrote a horrific thriller novella with Jack Kilborn called TRUCK STOP. It's available exclusively as an ebook, and features Jack Daniels.
Which brings me to a question I'm often asked. "Joe, can you list every Jack Daniels story?"
THE JACK DANIELS UNIVERSE
WHISKEY SOUR - Book #1, Jack chases The Gingerbread Man. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2004.
BLOODY MARY - Book #2, Jack chases a rogue cop. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2005.
RUSTY NAIL - Book #3, Jack chases The Gingerbread Man's family. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2006.
DIRTY MARTINI - Book #4, Jack chases The Chemist. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2007.
FUZZY NAVEL - Book #5, Jack chases the Urban Hunting Club and Alex Kork. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2008.
CHERRY BOMB - Book #6, Jack chases Alex Kork. Available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. 2009.
THE LIST - Jack makes a cameo in this technothriller novel. Available on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
SHOT OF TEQUILA - Jack co-stars in this crime novel, which takers place in the early 1990s. Available on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
ON THE ROCKS - Jack in a locked room mystery short. Originally appeared in Ellery Queen. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2004.
WHELP WANTED - Jack's ex-partner, Harry McGlade, acting like Harry. Originally appeared in Futures Magazine. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2004.
STREET MUSIC - Jack's criminal buddy, Phineas Troutt. Originally appeared in Ellery Queen. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2004.
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY - A Gingerbread Man short story. Originally read by me at the end of the Whiskey Sour audiobook. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2004.
WITH A TWIST - Jack in a locked room mystery short. Originally appeared in Ellery Queen. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2005.
EPITAPH - Phin in a revenge tale. Originally appeared in THRILLER edited by James Patterson. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2006.
TAKEN TO THE CLEANERS - Harry being Harry. Originally appeared in The Strand Magazine. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2005.
BODY SHOTS - Jack in a school shooting. Originally appeared on Amazon Shorts. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2005.
SUFFER - Phin as a hired killer. Originally appeared in Ellery Queen. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2005.
OVERPROOF - Jack Daniels and a suicide bomber. Originally appeared in CHICAGO BLUES edited by Libby Fischer Hellmann. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2007.
BEREAVEMENT - Phin making ends meet. Originally appeared in THESE GUNS FOR HIRE edited by JA Konrath. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2005.
POT SHOT - Jack partner, Herb. Originally appeared on Amazon Shorts. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2004.
LAST REQUEST - Phin on a quest. Originally appeared in my short story collection 55 Proof. Available on my website, Scribd.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2007.
SUCKERS - Harry, teaming up with Jeff Strand's Andrew Mayhem. Originally appeared as a limited edition hardcover. Available on my website and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2007.
FLOATERS - Jack, teaming up with Henry Perez's Alex Chapa. Originally appeared in MISSING edited by Amy Allesio. Available on my website and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
PLANTER'S PUNCH - Jack, teaming up with Tom Schreck's Duffy Dombrowski. Originally appeared on Kindle. Available on my website and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
TRUCK STOP - Jack facing Taylor (from AFRAID) and Donaldson (from SERIAL). Originally appeared on Kindle. Available on my website, SmashWords.com, and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
SCHOOL DAZE - Harry being Harry. Coming July 24 in UNCAGE ME, edited by Jen Jordan. 2009.
THE NECRO FILE - A Harry novella. The funniest thing I've ever written. Originally appeared in LIKE A CHINESE TATTOO edited by Bill Breedlove. Available in my short story collection 55 Proof on my website and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2008.
SHAKEN - Jack Daniels book #7, currently being written. You can check out the first few chapters in the FLOATERS ebook. Available on my website and Amazon.com on the Kindle. 2009.
That comes to twenty-seven stories in the Jack Daniels universe, plus a work in progress. Also, in CHERRY BOMB, there's a cameo by one of my characters from my medical thriller DISTURB, along with a cameo by one of the characters from THE LIST.
Let's have some Q & A.
Q: Do these have to be read in order?
A: No. Though FUZZY NAVEL should be read before CHERRY BOMB for maximum enjoyment. The shorts can be read in any order at all.
Q: When does TRUCK STOP take place?
A: Before AFRAID, SERIAL, and FUZZY NAVEL.
Q: What's your favorite novel?
A: I don't have one. But I'm really fond of CHERRY BOMB. I think it epitomizes the kind of book I write.
Q: Which is?
A: Breakneck pace, lots of conflict, scary scenes, and bad jokes. Plus, if you haven't heard, CHERRY BOMB has a lot of sex in it.
Q: What's your favorite short story?
A: STREET MUSIC. I love the last line.
Q: Will you revisit Jack Daniels?
A: Absolutely. I'm working on another Jack book, called SHAKEN. But it isn't one of my priorities.
Q: I want more Jack!
A: That's not a question. But trust me--Jack will be around for a while...
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Truck Stop by Jack Kilborn & J.A. Konrath
As of this writing, SERIAL by Blake Crouch & Jack Kilborn has been downloaded over 70,000 times. The majority of these have been on the Amazon Kindle.
Of course, SERIAL is free, which helps. But it's still gratifying to know that our little short story has been read (and in some cases, hated) by so many people.
Naturally, I've been thinking about how I could follow this up.
Regular blog readers know I've been doing pretty well selling my old short stories and unpublished novels on Kindle. But I've never actually written anything specifically for the Kindle.
Until now.
Jack Kilborn and I got together and did a prequel to SERIAL. Not only does it feature one of SERIAL's bad guys, it also features Taylor, one of the Red Ops from Kilborn's horror novel AFRAID.
I wracked my brain trying to figure out a good protagonist to throw into this nest of vipers, and came up with the obvious.
Jack Daniels.
The novella is called TRUCK STOP.
Before the events of Jack Kilborn's epic horror novel AFRAID...
Before the events of J.A. Konrath's critically acclaimed thrillers FUZZY NAVEL and CHERRY BOMB...
Before the events of Jack Kilborn's and Blake Crouch's #1 Amazon Kindle bestseller SERIAL...
Three hunters of humans meet for the ultimate showdown at the TRUCK STOP.
Taylor is a recreational killer, with dozens of gristly murders under his belt. He pulls into a busy Wisconsin truck stop at midnight, trolling for the next to die.
Chicago Homicide cop Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is a long way from home, driving to meet her boyfriend for a well-earned vacation. She pulls into the truck stop for a quick cup of coffee and stumbles into her worst nightmare.
Jack's no stranger to dealing with psychos, but she's got her hands full trying to stop Taylor. Especially since he's getting help from someone just as deadly; a portly serial maniac named Donaldson...
TRUCK STOP is a 15,000 word thriller novella that ties together Konrath's and Kilborn's works, with terrifying results.
A prequel to SERIAL, which has been downloaded more than 70,000 times, TRUCK STOP is an eighteen-wheeled ride straight into hell. Not for the faint of heart. Let the reader beware.
This ebook also includes an exclusive interview: JA Konrath talks with Jack Kilborn, plus excerpts from their latest books, CHERRY BOMB and AFRAID.
Here's the Kindle link: http://www.amazon.com/Truck-Stop-Psycho-Thriller-ebook/dp/B002G99RRK
I'm really curious how this will sell, because Kilborn has been doing better than Konrath on Kindle. I'm also interested to see if this does anything for my backlist of Kindle books.
If you don't have a Kindle, and want to download it as a pdf (or many other formats), I also uploaded it to Smashwords.com.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/2743
I'll keep everyone posted. In the meantime, feel free to spread the word...
Of course, SERIAL is free, which helps. But it's still gratifying to know that our little short story has been read (and in some cases, hated) by so many people.
Naturally, I've been thinking about how I could follow this up.
Regular blog readers know I've been doing pretty well selling my old short stories and unpublished novels on Kindle. But I've never actually written anything specifically for the Kindle.
Until now.
Jack Kilborn and I got together and did a prequel to SERIAL. Not only does it feature one of SERIAL's bad guys, it also features Taylor, one of the Red Ops from Kilborn's horror novel AFRAID.
I wracked my brain trying to figure out a good protagonist to throw into this nest of vipers, and came up with the obvious.
Jack Daniels.
The novella is called TRUCK STOP.
Before the events of Jack Kilborn's epic horror novel AFRAID...
Before the events of J.A. Konrath's critically acclaimed thrillers FUZZY NAVEL and CHERRY BOMB...
Before the events of Jack Kilborn's and Blake Crouch's #1 Amazon Kindle bestseller SERIAL...
Three hunters of humans meet for the ultimate showdown at the TRUCK STOP.
Taylor is a recreational killer, with dozens of gristly murders under his belt. He pulls into a busy Wisconsin truck stop at midnight, trolling for the next to die.
Chicago Homicide cop Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is a long way from home, driving to meet her boyfriend for a well-earned vacation. She pulls into the truck stop for a quick cup of coffee and stumbles into her worst nightmare.
Jack's no stranger to dealing with psychos, but she's got her hands full trying to stop Taylor. Especially since he's getting help from someone just as deadly; a portly serial maniac named Donaldson...
TRUCK STOP is a 15,000 word thriller novella that ties together Konrath's and Kilborn's works, with terrifying results.
A prequel to SERIAL, which has been downloaded more than 70,000 times, TRUCK STOP is an eighteen-wheeled ride straight into hell. Not for the faint of heart. Let the reader beware.
This ebook also includes an exclusive interview: JA Konrath talks with Jack Kilborn, plus excerpts from their latest books, CHERRY BOMB and AFRAID.
Here's the Kindle link: http://www.amazon.com/Truck-Stop-Psycho-Thriller-ebook/dp/B002G99RRK
I'm really curious how this will sell, because Kilborn has been doing better than Konrath on Kindle. I'm also interested to see if this does anything for my backlist of Kindle books.
If you don't have a Kindle, and want to download it as a pdf (or many other formats), I also uploaded it to Smashwords.com.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/2743
I'll keep everyone posted. In the meantime, feel free to spread the word...
Saturday, July 04, 2009
How Not To Write A Story
This is a repost of a blog I did last year, because once again I'm judging a short story contest, and once again I'm ready to fling myself off a cliff.
-----
In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm in a bad mood. For the past few days I've been wading through hundreds of short stories. I'm a paid judge for a big contest, and my verdicts are due.
This bad mood has been brought about by seeing the same story mistakes, over and over and over and OVER AND OVER...
So, for the benefit of the newbie writing world, and to save me future pain if I ever judge a contest again, please take the following to heart:
DO NOT START A STORY WITH WEATHER
Yes, you can work weather into the scene. But I don't care that it was sixty-five degrees on a spring morning, and if you make that your first sentence you're going to remain unpublished.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH CHARACTER DESCRIPTION
Your protag may be named Bob McTestes, and he was born in Sunnydale, Ohio in 1967, but you need to work that into the body of the story and not make it the first sentence. Better yet, don't work it in anywhere.
DO NOT START A STORY BY ADDRESSING THE READER
"You'll never believe what happened on July 2, 1943." You're right. I won't believe it, because I just stopped reading.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH PREMONITION
"Phil Assmaster didn't know he was going to die that day." But Joe Konrath knows you're not going to win this contest.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH THE PROTAG WAKING UP
Frankly, it shocked me how many stories began like this. More so than any other way I'm warning against. Opening your eyes because you had a bad dream or heard a strange noise is a quick way to put the reader to sleep.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH CLICHES
Once upon a time. A long time ago. This is a true story. Ugh. Next time, save me the trouble and put the story in your own recycle bin.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH SETTING DESCRIPTION
"Moronville, Ohio was a town of 8371 people originally founded in 1872 by Quakers." Hopefully, one of those Quakers has a gun and will shoot me.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH TELLING
"Josh felt terrible." Really? How am I supposed to picture that? Maybe I picture Josh's stomach aching, his head throbbing, and the hole where his heart is supposed to be. If I'm picturing that, perhaps you should have as well and written it that way.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH ANY DESCRIPTION
I don't care if you're describing a person, place, thing, era, or whatever. I want to read about conflict, not helper words.
DO NOT USE HELPER WORDS
Force yourself to pare away every adverb, and half your adjectives. Also kill any speaker attribution other than "said" and "asked."
DO NOT START A STORY WITH A PROLOGUE
Your short story doesn't need a prologue. Your novel probably doesn't either.
DO NOT USE EXCLAMATION POINTS!
Especially a bunch of them!!!!!!!
DO NOT USE THE SAME FARUQING WORD TWICE IN THE SAME FARUQING PARAGRAPH
Get the faruquing point?
GRAMMER AND SPELING SHOULD BE PREFECT
If you don't care, why should I? Ditto annoying dialect spelling. Y'all get a-ight wit dat sheet, 'kay?
And finally:
DO NOT MAKE YOUR MAIN CHARACTER AN ANIMAL
Ever.
Are there exceptions to these rules? Of course. There are always exceptions. But I didn't see any in the 2000+ stories I had to endure.
Also, for the love of all that is good, use 12 point Arial, Courier, or Times New Roman, double space the text, one inch margins, and indent each paragraph but don't add extra spaces in between them. One staple, in the upper lefthand corner.
Rant over. Ignore at your own peril. Now I'm going to go have some bourbon and scour my eyes and brain with steel wool.
And if you want an example of what I've had to endure, here's another blog entry I did on this subject:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2008/01/bad-stories.html
-----
In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm in a bad mood. For the past few days I've been wading through hundreds of short stories. I'm a paid judge for a big contest, and my verdicts are due.
This bad mood has been brought about by seeing the same story mistakes, over and over and over and OVER AND OVER...
So, for the benefit of the newbie writing world, and to save me future pain if I ever judge a contest again, please take the following to heart:
DO NOT START A STORY WITH WEATHER
Yes, you can work weather into the scene. But I don't care that it was sixty-five degrees on a spring morning, and if you make that your first sentence you're going to remain unpublished.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH CHARACTER DESCRIPTION
Your protag may be named Bob McTestes, and he was born in Sunnydale, Ohio in 1967, but you need to work that into the body of the story and not make it the first sentence. Better yet, don't work it in anywhere.
DO NOT START A STORY BY ADDRESSING THE READER
"You'll never believe what happened on July 2, 1943." You're right. I won't believe it, because I just stopped reading.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH PREMONITION
"Phil Assmaster didn't know he was going to die that day." But Joe Konrath knows you're not going to win this contest.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH THE PROTAG WAKING UP
Frankly, it shocked me how many stories began like this. More so than any other way I'm warning against. Opening your eyes because you had a bad dream or heard a strange noise is a quick way to put the reader to sleep.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH CLICHES
Once upon a time. A long time ago. This is a true story. Ugh. Next time, save me the trouble and put the story in your own recycle bin.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH SETTING DESCRIPTION
"Moronville, Ohio was a town of 8371 people originally founded in 1872 by Quakers." Hopefully, one of those Quakers has a gun and will shoot me.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH TELLING
"Josh felt terrible." Really? How am I supposed to picture that? Maybe I picture Josh's stomach aching, his head throbbing, and the hole where his heart is supposed to be. If I'm picturing that, perhaps you should have as well and written it that way.
DO NOT START A STORY WITH ANY DESCRIPTION
I don't care if you're describing a person, place, thing, era, or whatever. I want to read about conflict, not helper words.
DO NOT USE HELPER WORDS
Force yourself to pare away every adverb, and half your adjectives. Also kill any speaker attribution other than "said" and "asked."
DO NOT START A STORY WITH A PROLOGUE
Your short story doesn't need a prologue. Your novel probably doesn't either.
DO NOT USE EXCLAMATION POINTS!
Especially a bunch of them!!!!!!!
DO NOT USE THE SAME FARUQING WORD TWICE IN THE SAME FARUQING PARAGRAPH
Get the faruquing point?
GRAMMER AND SPELING SHOULD BE PREFECT
If you don't care, why should I? Ditto annoying dialect spelling. Y'all get a-ight wit dat sheet, 'kay?
And finally:
DO NOT MAKE YOUR MAIN CHARACTER AN ANIMAL
Ever.
Are there exceptions to these rules? Of course. There are always exceptions. But I didn't see any in the 2000+ stories I had to endure.
Also, for the love of all that is good, use 12 point Arial, Courier, or Times New Roman, double space the text, one inch margins, and indent each paragraph but don't add extra spaces in between them. One staple, in the upper lefthand corner.
Rant over. Ignore at your own peril. Now I'm going to go have some bourbon and scour my eyes and brain with steel wool.
And if you want an example of what I've had to endure, here's another blog entry I did on this subject:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2008/01/bad-stories.html
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Are You There, Amazon? It's Me, JA
An open letter to Jeff Bezos and Amazon.
I want to tell you why I haven't bought a Kindle yet.
I'm still considering it, because I made about $3000 in June selling my unpublished novels and published short stories on the Kindle. Three grand is a nice chunk of change, and it will be interesting to see if those numbers stay strong through oncoming months.
But even with this success, I can't bring myself to buy a Kindle.
Here are the five main things preventing my purchase:
1. Cost. A Kindle is simply too much money, especially compared to other electronic gadgets that do more. While I'm sure manufacturing costs are high, all costs reduce with time, and if I were Amazon I'd spend a lot of time and money figuring out how to get the price down so more people buy Kindles.
2. Most of the books on Amazon are too much as well. This is the publisher's fault, because they set the price. So perhaps Amazon should stop dealing with publishers and start dealing directly with authors. Mr. Bezos, if you want an exclusive JA Konrath title, contact me.
2. DRM. When I buy a book, I want to own a book and do whatever I want with it, and copy-protection makes that impossible. Again, this is publishers doing this, not Amazon, but it is preventing me from buying Amazon's Kindle.
3. Format. There are too many ebooks available on the net for cheap or free that aren't compatible with Kindle formats. The Kindle DX reads pdf, which is terrific, but it costs a hundred bucks more than the Kindle 2. Give me this feature for less, and I'm sold.
4. Unitasking. A mini-laptop costs the same, is only a bit larger, and can do a billion things. As of right now, the Kindle is limited in what it can do. It does what it does very well, but people like their gadgets to have cross-purposes.
Unfortunately, Amazon hasn't released a Kindle app for PCs, and I have no idea why. The laptop minis are perfect for reading because they are so portable.
But Kindle has released an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. My son recently got an iPod Touch, and I played with it for a few days.
Wow.
I love this gadget. Reading on it is ridiculously easy, not only using the Kindle app, but using other readers like Stanza (also owned by Amazon.) Many books also have their own app, including my novella SERIAL, which doesn't require a reader--you simply download the free ebook and the reader is included.
I had no problems curling up with the iPod for an extended reading session, and enjoyed the experience. While I don't believe this is going to be the de facto way of reading ebooks in the future, for the time being it's a nice placeholder.
So what will the breakout ebook reader be like? Mr. Bezos, take note.
1. Under $150, and available at retail outlets like Wal-mart and Best Buy.
2. Wireless Internet capabilities for downloading books.
3. Able to read many different ebook formats, with no DRM.
4. Adjustable font size, type, and contrast.
5. A built in light.
6. Color no-glare e-ink.
7. Upgradable memory and operating system.
8. Long battery life, scratch proof, and water proof (or at least with skins available to make it waterproof.)
9. E-Book 2.0 capabilities.
What is E-book 2.0? And why aren't more people thinking about it?
Here are my Criswell predictions for E-book 2.0:
In the meantime, I'm going to be reading on my son's iPod, waiting for the Amazon Kindle to catch up...
I want to tell you why I haven't bought a Kindle yet.
I'm still considering it, because I made about $3000 in June selling my unpublished novels and published short stories on the Kindle. Three grand is a nice chunk of change, and it will be interesting to see if those numbers stay strong through oncoming months.
But even with this success, I can't bring myself to buy a Kindle.
Here are the five main things preventing my purchase:
1. Cost. A Kindle is simply too much money, especially compared to other electronic gadgets that do more. While I'm sure manufacturing costs are high, all costs reduce with time, and if I were Amazon I'd spend a lot of time and money figuring out how to get the price down so more people buy Kindles.
2. Most of the books on Amazon are too much as well. This is the publisher's fault, because they set the price. So perhaps Amazon should stop dealing with publishers and start dealing directly with authors. Mr. Bezos, if you want an exclusive JA Konrath title, contact me.
2. DRM. When I buy a book, I want to own a book and do whatever I want with it, and copy-protection makes that impossible. Again, this is publishers doing this, not Amazon, but it is preventing me from buying Amazon's Kindle.
3. Format. There are too many ebooks available on the net for cheap or free that aren't compatible with Kindle formats. The Kindle DX reads pdf, which is terrific, but it costs a hundred bucks more than the Kindle 2. Give me this feature for less, and I'm sold.
4. Unitasking. A mini-laptop costs the same, is only a bit larger, and can do a billion things. As of right now, the Kindle is limited in what it can do. It does what it does very well, but people like their gadgets to have cross-purposes.
Unfortunately, Amazon hasn't released a Kindle app for PCs, and I have no idea why. The laptop minis are perfect for reading because they are so portable.
But Kindle has released an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. My son recently got an iPod Touch, and I played with it for a few days.
Wow.
I love this gadget. Reading on it is ridiculously easy, not only using the Kindle app, but using other readers like Stanza (also owned by Amazon.) Many books also have their own app, including my novella SERIAL, which doesn't require a reader--you simply download the free ebook and the reader is included.
I had no problems curling up with the iPod for an extended reading session, and enjoyed the experience. While I don't believe this is going to be the de facto way of reading ebooks in the future, for the time being it's a nice placeholder.
So what will the breakout ebook reader be like? Mr. Bezos, take note.
1. Under $150, and available at retail outlets like Wal-mart and Best Buy.
2. Wireless Internet capabilities for downloading books.
3. Able to read many different ebook formats, with no DRM.
4. Adjustable font size, type, and contrast.
5. A built in light.
6. Color no-glare e-ink.
7. Upgradable memory and operating system.
8. Long battery life, scratch proof, and water proof (or at least with skins available to make it waterproof.)
9. E-Book 2.0 capabilities.
What is E-book 2.0? And why aren't more people thinking about it?
Here are my Criswell predictions for E-book 2.0:
- The books will be interactive, the words clickable on a touch screen. You click on the word "lugubrious" and it gives you a dictionary definition, or the word "Taj Mahal" and it shows you a jpg picture.
- Ebooks will have extra content, such as author annotation, first drafts, deleted chapters, extra short stories, interviews, essays.
- The ebook version and audio version will be packaged together.
- There will be options for ambient sounds while reading, as well as music.
- Ebooks will be upgradable, meaning the author can continue to add DLC (downloadable content, which is hugely popular in videogames) to books. A reader can buy the first part of a chapbook, then automatically get each new chapter as the author finishes it.
- Ebooks will link to book-specific forums, where readers can review the book and share thoughts and interact with other readers.
- The touch screen will be signable, so authors can autograph their books (much like signing the electronic screen on a credit card machine.)
In the meantime, I'm going to be reading on my son's iPod, waiting for the Amazon Kindle to catch up...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Should You Self-Publish?
I've been getting a lot of emails from people wondering if they should self-publish, specifically on the Amazon Kindle.
My answer is always the same: It depends.
Here is my advice, based on what I would do.
IF YOU WROTE A NOVEL
I believe your first order of business is getting a well-respected literary agent. The best way to land an agent is: write a damn good book. After the book is perfect, there are a few ways to find agents.
Exception: You Can't Get an Agent
Getting a good agent isn't easy, which is why you should spend as much time as possible honing your craft, improving your writing, learning about narrative structure and the elements of a compelling story. I got rejected over 500 times, but the vast majority of these rejections were for books that were not very good.
Should you self-publish if you can't find an agent? I would say no. If a hundred lit agents all think the book needs work, I'd bet the book needs work, and releasing it into the world isn't going to win you fans or do your career any favors.
Exception: Your Agent Can't Sell the Book
If you landed a lit agent, chances are your story is good enough to be published. But just because something is good enough to be published doesn't mean it will be published. This is a hard business, and luck plays a huge part.
If your agent has sent the book to everyone, and no one made an offer, I would say that e-book self-publishing is a viable alternative.
I would avoid print self-pubbing if you some day want a traditional book deal, because numbers follow you. If you get an ISBN, that number is trackable, and so are the sales associated with it. A potential publisher will look at your previous low sales and possibly pass on your next book.
Exception: You Don't Care About Agents or Traditional Publishers
It's important to talk about goals and dreams here.
A goal is something within your power to achieve.
A dream is something that requires other people for you to achieve.
If your dream is to be a bestselling author, your goals should be:
But things have changed.
The Amazon Kindle and Amazon's CreateSpace, along with printers like Lulu.com, allow you to self-publish without investing a lot of your own money.
THIS IS NOT THE QUICK PATH TO FAME AND FORTUNE
Your Kindle release, or your POD book, will likely get lost in a sea of millions, making it very hard for readers to find you. If you have an understanding of how publishing, distribution, and marketing works, then maybe you can sell some books and do well. But if you're clueless, YOUR BOOK WILL NOT SELL.
Simple as that.
Personally, I wouldn't self-publish a novel unless you already have a name for yourself. If you've been traditionally published and have a fan base, if you're a celebrity, if you do a lot of speaking engagements and can sell your books after your speeches, or if you already have an audience, then you've got a better chance at selling some books.
IF YOU WROTE A NOVELLA
We'll define novella as a narrative between 7,000 and 50,000 words. In other words, too long for a short story, too short for a novel, meaning it's very difficult to find a traditional print market willing to buy it.
The rules for novellas are the same as the rules for novels, but disregard finding an agent. Agents don't care about novellas, unless they're so good you can beef them up to novel-size.
I believe novellas are where e-book self-publishing really has an advantage over print. A 15,000 word book doesn't cost much less than a 70,000 word book to produce, so it has to be priced comparably, and people don't want to pay full price for something so short. But in a digital world, you can lower the price of shorter work.
Personally, I see no harm at all in e-publishing a novella on your website (use Paypal.com if you want to charge for it), on Scribd.com, or on Kindle. Worst case-scenario: It doesn't sell at all, but you weren't going to sell it anyway. Best case scenario: It sells well, you make some money and also learn a lot.
I would restrict this to e-publishing because of the costs associated with print. Print novellas cost too much, and they don't sell as well as full length novels.
IF YOU WROTE A SHORT STORY
While the print short story market is dwindling, I believe it is still the preferred medium for shorts.
Writing and submitting short stories to magazines, anthologies, and websites, forces writers to understand the basics of publishing. There is a learning curve in crafting a story, researching markets, and writing query letters. I think all writers can benefit from this.
I also recommend NEVER writing a short story unless you already have a market in mind. Would you create a key without studying the lock first? No. Same rule applies.
If you do sell a short story, I recommend waiting for at least a year after publication before you offer the story on your website or on Kindle. Your contract may say you have e-rights, or that you have permission to publish sooner, but I think it's nice to let the editor who paid you have an exclusive for 12 months.
Once of the reasons I began putting shorts on my website was because fans were having trouble tracking down out of print magazines and anthologies I'd appeared in. E-publishing makes it easy for people to read your entire oeuvre, and the reprint market (editors who buy previously published stories) is now smaller than ever. Years ago, you could sell the same story multiple times. I've published over 70 stories and articles, and less than a handful have actually been reprinted. Unless you're a big enough name that your publisher will release a short story collection (usually at a loss), then feel free to e-publish your old print stories.
Exception: Your Short Story Didn't Sell
Once you've exhausted all of your markets, there's no shame in e-publishing it. Unless you've already got a fan base, I'd recommend putting the short on your website as a free download. But MAKE SURE IT IS GOOD.
Your best advertising for your writing is your writing. If people try you and don't like you, this is the opposite of finding fans.
Again, I'd avoid self-publishing short stories in print. Even if you gather up enough of them to make a full length book, they don't sell as well as novels. Period.
But I see no harm in e-publishing. I'd price them low (or free) and group them together so it is a more appealing download.
IF YOU WROTE NON-FICTION
See the If You Wrote a Novel section above, but there are a few differences.
You don't normally submit non-fiction books to agents or publishers. You submit a proposal, which isn't the full book. If you can't find an agent or a publisher based on a proposal, I would question if you should even bother to write the book in the first place.
Look at your goals and dreams. Maybe you've got a memoir that you want your family to have copies of. Maybe you wrote a cookbook for your friends who are always asking for your recipes. Maybe you get paid good money to speak on some topic you're an expert on, and selling a book after your speeches is a smart add-on.
If you have a need other than vanity, maybe you should write the book, and should self-publish it.
I self-published an e-book about writing which I give away for free, because my goal is to share what I've learned about this business. So far it's been downloaded over 6000 times, and I get just as much fanmail about it as I do from my novels. For me, this was well worth my time and effort, and it satisfies me on a core level even more than money does.
CONCLUSION
There are no short cuts, no easy paths to success, no matter how you publish. You're going to wind up marketing, promoting, and working hard whatever you decide.
Traditional publishing has the advantages of big money and a huge distribution network, though you might not get either even if you are traditionally published.
Self-publishing is an alternative, but at the time of this writing it still lacks in too many areas compared to trad pubbing, except in some circumstances.
Your job is to figure out what it is you want, and then decide on the best way to get it.
Should you self-publish? It depends.
But first focus on making your writing the best it can be.
My answer is always the same: It depends.
Here is my advice, based on what I would do.
IF YOU WROTE A NOVEL
I believe your first order of business is getting a well-respected literary agent. The best way to land an agent is: write a damn good book. After the book is perfect, there are a few ways to find agents.
- Visit writing conferences and conventions and pitch to agents in person
- Read books similar to yours, and find out who reps the author
- Pick up a copy of the Writer's Market
- Visit www.aar-online.org
- Befriend an agented author and beg for an introduction
Exception: You Can't Get an Agent
Getting a good agent isn't easy, which is why you should spend as much time as possible honing your craft, improving your writing, learning about narrative structure and the elements of a compelling story. I got rejected over 500 times, but the vast majority of these rejections were for books that were not very good.
Should you self-publish if you can't find an agent? I would say no. If a hundred lit agents all think the book needs work, I'd bet the book needs work, and releasing it into the world isn't going to win you fans or do your career any favors.
Exception: Your Agent Can't Sell the Book
If you landed a lit agent, chances are your story is good enough to be published. But just because something is good enough to be published doesn't mean it will be published. This is a hard business, and luck plays a huge part.
If your agent has sent the book to everyone, and no one made an offer, I would say that e-book self-publishing is a viable alternative.
I would avoid print self-pubbing if you some day want a traditional book deal, because numbers follow you. If you get an ISBN, that number is trackable, and so are the sales associated with it. A potential publisher will look at your previous low sales and possibly pass on your next book.
Exception: You Don't Care About Agents or Traditional Publishers
It's important to talk about goals and dreams here.
A goal is something within your power to achieve.
A dream is something that requires other people for you to achieve.
If your dream is to be a bestselling author, your goals should be:
- Write a damn good book
- Submit to agents until you find one to work with
- Keep writing good books until your agent sells one
- Write a damn good book
- Self-publish it
But things have changed.
The Amazon Kindle and Amazon's CreateSpace, along with printers like Lulu.com, allow you to self-publish without investing a lot of your own money.
THIS IS NOT THE QUICK PATH TO FAME AND FORTUNE
Your Kindle release, or your POD book, will likely get lost in a sea of millions, making it very hard for readers to find you. If you have an understanding of how publishing, distribution, and marketing works, then maybe you can sell some books and do well. But if you're clueless, YOUR BOOK WILL NOT SELL.
Simple as that.
Personally, I wouldn't self-publish a novel unless you already have a name for yourself. If you've been traditionally published and have a fan base, if you're a celebrity, if you do a lot of speaking engagements and can sell your books after your speeches, or if you already have an audience, then you've got a better chance at selling some books.
IF YOU WROTE A NOVELLA
We'll define novella as a narrative between 7,000 and 50,000 words. In other words, too long for a short story, too short for a novel, meaning it's very difficult to find a traditional print market willing to buy it.
The rules for novellas are the same as the rules for novels, but disregard finding an agent. Agents don't care about novellas, unless they're so good you can beef them up to novel-size.
I believe novellas are where e-book self-publishing really has an advantage over print. A 15,000 word book doesn't cost much less than a 70,000 word book to produce, so it has to be priced comparably, and people don't want to pay full price for something so short. But in a digital world, you can lower the price of shorter work.
Personally, I see no harm at all in e-publishing a novella on your website (use Paypal.com if you want to charge for it), on Scribd.com, or on Kindle. Worst case-scenario: It doesn't sell at all, but you weren't going to sell it anyway. Best case scenario: It sells well, you make some money and also learn a lot.
I would restrict this to e-publishing because of the costs associated with print. Print novellas cost too much, and they don't sell as well as full length novels.
IF YOU WROTE A SHORT STORY
While the print short story market is dwindling, I believe it is still the preferred medium for shorts.
Writing and submitting short stories to magazines, anthologies, and websites, forces writers to understand the basics of publishing. There is a learning curve in crafting a story, researching markets, and writing query letters. I think all writers can benefit from this.
I also recommend NEVER writing a short story unless you already have a market in mind. Would you create a key without studying the lock first? No. Same rule applies.
If you do sell a short story, I recommend waiting for at least a year after publication before you offer the story on your website or on Kindle. Your contract may say you have e-rights, or that you have permission to publish sooner, but I think it's nice to let the editor who paid you have an exclusive for 12 months.
Once of the reasons I began putting shorts on my website was because fans were having trouble tracking down out of print magazines and anthologies I'd appeared in. E-publishing makes it easy for people to read your entire oeuvre, and the reprint market (editors who buy previously published stories) is now smaller than ever. Years ago, you could sell the same story multiple times. I've published over 70 stories and articles, and less than a handful have actually been reprinted. Unless you're a big enough name that your publisher will release a short story collection (usually at a loss), then feel free to e-publish your old print stories.
Exception: Your Short Story Didn't Sell
Once you've exhausted all of your markets, there's no shame in e-publishing it. Unless you've already got a fan base, I'd recommend putting the short on your website as a free download. But MAKE SURE IT IS GOOD.
Your best advertising for your writing is your writing. If people try you and don't like you, this is the opposite of finding fans.
Again, I'd avoid self-publishing short stories in print. Even if you gather up enough of them to make a full length book, they don't sell as well as novels. Period.
But I see no harm in e-publishing. I'd price them low (or free) and group them together so it is a more appealing download.
IF YOU WROTE NON-FICTION
See the If You Wrote a Novel section above, but there are a few differences.
You don't normally submit non-fiction books to agents or publishers. You submit a proposal, which isn't the full book. If you can't find an agent or a publisher based on a proposal, I would question if you should even bother to write the book in the first place.
Look at your goals and dreams. Maybe you've got a memoir that you want your family to have copies of. Maybe you wrote a cookbook for your friends who are always asking for your recipes. Maybe you get paid good money to speak on some topic you're an expert on, and selling a book after your speeches is a smart add-on.
If you have a need other than vanity, maybe you should write the book, and should self-publish it.
I self-published an e-book about writing which I give away for free, because my goal is to share what I've learned about this business. So far it's been downloaded over 6000 times, and I get just as much fanmail about it as I do from my novels. For me, this was well worth my time and effort, and it satisfies me on a core level even more than money does.
CONCLUSION
There are no short cuts, no easy paths to success, no matter how you publish. You're going to wind up marketing, promoting, and working hard whatever you decide.
Traditional publishing has the advantages of big money and a huge distribution network, though you might not get either even if you are traditionally published.
Self-publishing is an alternative, but at the time of this writing it still lacks in too many areas compared to trad pubbing, except in some circumstances.
Your job is to figure out what it is you want, and then decide on the best way to get it.
Should you self-publish? It depends.
But first focus on making your writing the best it can be.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Should E-Books Be Cheap?
Let's look at a recent Time Magazine article about the Amazon Kindle.
Here are the two things I picked out:
First, Amazon is selling ebooks at $9.99 for Kindle, and is taking a loss on this because publishers are charging them standard hardcover rates.
Second, according to small press publisher Dennis Johnson, nobody can make a book that sells for $9.99. You can save on shipping and printing, but that's only a small fraction of what it costs to make a book.
Now, at the risk of annoying print publishers everywhere--and print publishers have been very good to me and I consider myself grateful to have worked with some wonderful publishers--I'm going to politely disagree with the above statements.
The music industry, for all who have been paying attention, has never recovered from the digital mp3 revolution. I doubt the skewed tales of loss from the RIAA are accurate, but I have heard that iTunes is now selling more music than the Walmart, the world's largest music retailer. I also know, anecdotally, that my friends with iPods have managed to fill them with music, and very little of this music was bought. Rather it was borrowed, shared, or stolen.
There are several causes for the profits being down in the music industry. CDs cost too much money, especially when consumers often only wanted one or two songs on a disc. iPods and digital equipment have replaced stereos as the preferred method of music delivery. When fans set up distribution networks, like Napster, to share music, the RIAA tried to shut down these networks rather than learn to use the new technology to their advantage.
Apple finally figured out that 99 cent songs and no DRM is the way to go. But it took them way too long to get to that point, and as a result, we have a healthy, active piracy community. In fact, 13 of the top 100 most visited websites are file sharing sites, and that doesn't include Usenet, Limewire, or eMule.
So let's recap on the things the music industry did wrong.
1. High price.
2. Not adapting to the new method of delivery.
3. Not adequately dealing with piracy.
Hmm. Now if we look at what publishers are doing, we can draw some parallels.
First, in this economy, $27.95 is too much for a hardcover work of fiction. Why do they cost this much?
I've done other posts about the cost of books, and why publishing uses an archaic business model. To recap:
1. Only one out of five books makes a profit (two break even, two lose money.)
2. A fifty percent sell through (books printed vs. books actually sold) is considered by many to be the industry average.
3. The books that don't sell are remaindered (sold at a loss) or destroyed.
4. Retailers take books at a 40% to 60% discount. (we'll include the distributor cut in here as well.)
5. The author earns between 10% and 15% of the cover price.
6. Printing and shipping and corrugation (making boxes and displays) can cost 10% or more of the cover price, depending on the number of returns.
7. Marketing, advertising, and coop all are factored in to P&L.
8. Books have certain set up costs; typesetting, line editing, artwork, etc.
9. That means a publisher earns perhaps 15% to 20% of a book's cover price, and they have to run their entire company on this small amount.
So it seems that maybe it is impossible for publishers to lower their prices.
And yet...
No printing, no shipping, and no distribution (warehousing) costs, along with no returns, actually can save a big chunk of money. The way these costs are broken down make it seem like this is a very small part of a book's price. But, in fact, these are the only set costs, and these are the costs that all other costs are based on.
All the other costs are negotiable.
Publishers make money on paperbacks, which sell for $6.99 to $10.99. So it isn't about price, it's about profit per unit.
Print publishers are basing ebook prices on the profit per unit figures of print books. They have to do this, because if they sell ebooks for less and don't make up for the loss in volume, they will lose money.
But if a major publisher switched completely to ebooks (which may be what the future holds) a new pricing and profit structure will evolve. Costs to the publisher will be much less, and the cost of running a company will be much less.
When the cost of printing, shipping, and warehousing is eliminated, a lot of jobs are eliminated. This saves money.
When the cost of returns no longer figures into a book's profit margin, this saves money.
When books no longer go out of print, this earns money. In fact, every book, rather than one out of five, can be profitable.
When gigantic marketing and advertising budgets aimed at moving print books are slashed, this saves money.
No coop in bookstores, no author book tours. This saves money.
"But what about author advances?" publishers may ask. Tell you what--double my royalty rate for ebooks, I won't take an advance.
What we actually have isn't a situation where ebooks cost as much as print books. It's a situation where publishers must charge the same for ebooks as they do with print books if they want to keep their infrastructures intact.
But the fact is, consumers don't care about publishers, or their infrastructures. They care about books. And they want to pay less for ebooks.
They also want to be able to get ebooks without copy protection, just like they want their songs without copy protection. ITunes dropped DRM because their customers hated it. Will publishing adopt a similar stance?
I just got this newsletter from a large publisher:
We have engaged Attributor, a leading anti-piracy protection service, to monitor the web for instances of unlawful use of its authors’ books and content.
How much do you think that is going to add to the cost of ebooks? And how well do you think it will work, considering DRM and Macrovision and RIAA lawsuits and every other form of anti-piracy protection has failed miserably? And of course, Attributor will be used in conjunction with DRM.
I'd love to see Attributor take on Usenet, which has billions of illegal downloads per day and no way to track them. Or Rapidshare, which is based on password-protected private uploads and downloads using encrypted file lockers. Or any torrent tracker, for that matter. Pirate Bay and Mininova have been sued a gazillion times to no effect. And the private trackers are invite-only---good luck Attributor in getting an invitation.
Do you really want to know how to get rid of piracy? Here's how:
The rules of supply and demand don't work in a digital world, because the supply is unlimited. You don't fight piracy with weapons. You fight piracy with cost and convenience.
Let me state that again, because no one seems to get it.
The rules of supply and demand don't work in a digital world, because the supply is unlimited. You don't fight piracy with weapons. You fight piracy with cost and convenience.
If there were a central hub, where you could easily search for ebooks and get them at a reasonable price, there would be no need to pirate books.
Amazon is not that central hub. The Kindle is too expensive, their ebooks are too expensive, and the Kindle uses DRM and a proprietary format that is difficult to convert. Proprietary exclusive formats don't work. That's why Betamax and DAT failed.
Publishers, if they truly were looking toward the future, would make themselves into these hubs, eliminating the need for Amazon. But they're still focused on dead trees.
Here are some possible future scenarios:
--Publishers learn from the mistakes made by the music industry regarding digital content, and lower the prices for digital books. This could result in more inexpensive digital books than expensive print books being sold, leading to a decline in print sales, and an overall drop in the gross profit of the industry, even if there are a greater number of books sold. But they would survive, and after restructuring, possibly thrive.
--Publishers keep the price of digital books high, in which case more and more people boycott expensive books and support newer and cheaper authors. Readers also begin to illegally download books in larger numbers, as they do with music. Publishing dies.
The goal is to figure out what readers are willing to pay for the ease of downloading a book at a central distribution hub. Will they pay $5.99? Will a percentage of them buy it from another site for $2.99 and then convert it to their desired format themselves? Or will some of them just pirate it?
--Publishers realize their business model is based on printing and distribution, and they radically alter their companies in order to succeed in a digital world. That means becoming their own stores/distributors like Amazon, offering exclusive content.
Wal-mart has proven that “one stop shopping” is what America wants. Why go to a mall, with 50 stores, when one store carries everything from milk to tires to pants to books?
And yet, Green Day didn’t release their latest CD with Wal-mart, and it was still a smash hit. People will go elsewhere for exclusive content if they want it bad enough.
If I were a publisher, I’d consider what books I have under contract, and figure out how to sell them without splitting the money with a distributor/retailer such as Amazon.
--Authors realize that they don’t need publishers. Why should they split revenue with a publisher when they can upload it to the world themselves?
Currently, I'm making $110 a day on books NY publishing didn't want. That's not a lot of money, yet. But the average advance for a novel is still $5000. Between April 8 and June 30, I'll have earned $5000. And my numbers are going up.
--Amazon realizes it doesn’t need publishers, and deals directly with authors. They've already begun publishing print titles, and they've allowed for authors to publish print and ebook titles on their own. Eventually, Amazon is going to start getting some big download numbers for their ebooks, and they'll approach a big author with an exclusive royalty deal.
--A third party ereader is created by a company to compete with the Kindle. It will be inexpensive, able to read a variety of ebook formats, and have upgradable software and memory. This will lead to ereaders becoming as commonplace as iPods, and be the beginning of the end of print.
--Ebooks will become multi-media experiences like DVDs. Books will have author annotations and interviews, be bundled with audio versions, and contain extras such as short stories, early drafts, dictionaries and glossaries, and be directly linkable to forum discussions and book groups. Who would still want paper?
There's a lot to consider when it comes to e-book and the future of publishing. And I may be dead wrong on a lot of these predictions. Hell, I may not know what I'm talking about. Even with the economy, and bookstores losing money, and revenue down, publishers are still alive and kicking, just like they have been for hundreds of years.
But I do think e-books are the future. And I don't think print publishers know how to handle that.
There was a recent announcement that Simon & Schuster was joining forces with Scribd, an ebook download hub, and offering their catalog of ebooks for 20% off print cover price.
I wish S&S much success, but I don't predict it. 20% off the print price is a insignificant discount. Maybe if they slashed prices to a few dollars each title it would catch on, but I don't believe Scribd is a big enough hub yet, and it doesn't get nearly the traffic Amazon does.
But because I'm a cutting edge early adopter who can predict trends (ask Barry Eisler), I offered my ebooks on Scribd 15 days ago, at the same price they are available for on Kindle, less than $2 each.
In 15 days, I've sold zero books. Compare this to over a hundred books a day I sell on Amazon.
Scribd is not the future of epublishing.
If I were Simon & Schuster, or any big publisher, I would digitize my entire backlist and sell it on my publisher website for $2.99 a book, splitting royalties 50/50 with the author, and advertising the hell out of it in print, radio, and TV. Scribd, Amazon, and other e-tailers could have the titles for slightly more, factoring in their mark-up.
I would also invest heavily in new ebook reader technology, perhaps partnering with Apple or Google or Sony, to make a cheap, better competitor to the Kindle.
But I don't predict either happening anytime soon. Publishers, like oil tankers, take a long time to change direction. That doesn't mean publishers aren't smart--they're some of the smartest folks I know. But being smart, and being willing to scrap a business model you've used for fifty years, are two different things.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds. But as an author, I'm emboldened that with enough titles under my belt, in the future I might actually be able earn a living uploading my own books digitally, rather than depending on someone else to sell my books for me.
And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who believes this.
Here are the two things I picked out:
First, Amazon is selling ebooks at $9.99 for Kindle, and is taking a loss on this because publishers are charging them standard hardcover rates.
Second, according to small press publisher Dennis Johnson, nobody can make a book that sells for $9.99. You can save on shipping and printing, but that's only a small fraction of what it costs to make a book.
Now, at the risk of annoying print publishers everywhere--and print publishers have been very good to me and I consider myself grateful to have worked with some wonderful publishers--I'm going to politely disagree with the above statements.
The music industry, for all who have been paying attention, has never recovered from the digital mp3 revolution. I doubt the skewed tales of loss from the RIAA are accurate, but I have heard that iTunes is now selling more music than the Walmart, the world's largest music retailer. I also know, anecdotally, that my friends with iPods have managed to fill them with music, and very little of this music was bought. Rather it was borrowed, shared, or stolen.
There are several causes for the profits being down in the music industry. CDs cost too much money, especially when consumers often only wanted one or two songs on a disc. iPods and digital equipment have replaced stereos as the preferred method of music delivery. When fans set up distribution networks, like Napster, to share music, the RIAA tried to shut down these networks rather than learn to use the new technology to their advantage.
Apple finally figured out that 99 cent songs and no DRM is the way to go. But it took them way too long to get to that point, and as a result, we have a healthy, active piracy community. In fact, 13 of the top 100 most visited websites are file sharing sites, and that doesn't include Usenet, Limewire, or eMule.
So let's recap on the things the music industry did wrong.
1. High price.
2. Not adapting to the new method of delivery.
3. Not adequately dealing with piracy.
Hmm. Now if we look at what publishers are doing, we can draw some parallels.
First, in this economy, $27.95 is too much for a hardcover work of fiction. Why do they cost this much?
I've done other posts about the cost of books, and why publishing uses an archaic business model. To recap:
1. Only one out of five books makes a profit (two break even, two lose money.)
2. A fifty percent sell through (books printed vs. books actually sold) is considered by many to be the industry average.
3. The books that don't sell are remaindered (sold at a loss) or destroyed.
4. Retailers take books at a 40% to 60% discount. (we'll include the distributor cut in here as well.)
5. The author earns between 10% and 15% of the cover price.
6. Printing and shipping and corrugation (making boxes and displays) can cost 10% or more of the cover price, depending on the number of returns.
7. Marketing, advertising, and coop all are factored in to P&L.
8. Books have certain set up costs; typesetting, line editing, artwork, etc.
9. That means a publisher earns perhaps 15% to 20% of a book's cover price, and they have to run their entire company on this small amount.
So it seems that maybe it is impossible for publishers to lower their prices.
And yet...
No printing, no shipping, and no distribution (warehousing) costs, along with no returns, actually can save a big chunk of money. The way these costs are broken down make it seem like this is a very small part of a book's price. But, in fact, these are the only set costs, and these are the costs that all other costs are based on.
All the other costs are negotiable.
Publishers make money on paperbacks, which sell for $6.99 to $10.99. So it isn't about price, it's about profit per unit.
Print publishers are basing ebook prices on the profit per unit figures of print books. They have to do this, because if they sell ebooks for less and don't make up for the loss in volume, they will lose money.
But if a major publisher switched completely to ebooks (which may be what the future holds) a new pricing and profit structure will evolve. Costs to the publisher will be much less, and the cost of running a company will be much less.
When the cost of printing, shipping, and warehousing is eliminated, a lot of jobs are eliminated. This saves money.
When the cost of returns no longer figures into a book's profit margin, this saves money.
When books no longer go out of print, this earns money. In fact, every book, rather than one out of five, can be profitable.
When gigantic marketing and advertising budgets aimed at moving print books are slashed, this saves money.
No coop in bookstores, no author book tours. This saves money.
"But what about author advances?" publishers may ask. Tell you what--double my royalty rate for ebooks, I won't take an advance.
What we actually have isn't a situation where ebooks cost as much as print books. It's a situation where publishers must charge the same for ebooks as they do with print books if they want to keep their infrastructures intact.
But the fact is, consumers don't care about publishers, or their infrastructures. They care about books. And they want to pay less for ebooks.
They also want to be able to get ebooks without copy protection, just like they want their songs without copy protection. ITunes dropped DRM because their customers hated it. Will publishing adopt a similar stance?
I just got this newsletter from a large publisher:
We have engaged Attributor, a leading anti-piracy protection service, to monitor the web for instances of unlawful use of its authors’ books and content.
How much do you think that is going to add to the cost of ebooks? And how well do you think it will work, considering DRM and Macrovision and RIAA lawsuits and every other form of anti-piracy protection has failed miserably? And of course, Attributor will be used in conjunction with DRM.
I'd love to see Attributor take on Usenet, which has billions of illegal downloads per day and no way to track them. Or Rapidshare, which is based on password-protected private uploads and downloads using encrypted file lockers. Or any torrent tracker, for that matter. Pirate Bay and Mininova have been sued a gazillion times to no effect. And the private trackers are invite-only---good luck Attributor in getting an invitation.
Do you really want to know how to get rid of piracy? Here's how:
The rules of supply and demand don't work in a digital world, because the supply is unlimited. You don't fight piracy with weapons. You fight piracy with cost and convenience.
Let me state that again, because no one seems to get it.
The rules of supply and demand don't work in a digital world, because the supply is unlimited. You don't fight piracy with weapons. You fight piracy with cost and convenience.
If there were a central hub, where you could easily search for ebooks and get them at a reasonable price, there would be no need to pirate books.
Amazon is not that central hub. The Kindle is too expensive, their ebooks are too expensive, and the Kindle uses DRM and a proprietary format that is difficult to convert. Proprietary exclusive formats don't work. That's why Betamax and DAT failed.
Publishers, if they truly were looking toward the future, would make themselves into these hubs, eliminating the need for Amazon. But they're still focused on dead trees.
Here are some possible future scenarios:
--Publishers learn from the mistakes made by the music industry regarding digital content, and lower the prices for digital books. This could result in more inexpensive digital books than expensive print books being sold, leading to a decline in print sales, and an overall drop in the gross profit of the industry, even if there are a greater number of books sold. But they would survive, and after restructuring, possibly thrive.
--Publishers keep the price of digital books high, in which case more and more people boycott expensive books and support newer and cheaper authors. Readers also begin to illegally download books in larger numbers, as they do with music. Publishing dies.
The goal is to figure out what readers are willing to pay for the ease of downloading a book at a central distribution hub. Will they pay $5.99? Will a percentage of them buy it from another site for $2.99 and then convert it to their desired format themselves? Or will some of them just pirate it?
--Publishers realize their business model is based on printing and distribution, and they radically alter their companies in order to succeed in a digital world. That means becoming their own stores/distributors like Amazon, offering exclusive content.
Wal-mart has proven that “one stop shopping” is what America wants. Why go to a mall, with 50 stores, when one store carries everything from milk to tires to pants to books?
And yet, Green Day didn’t release their latest CD with Wal-mart, and it was still a smash hit. People will go elsewhere for exclusive content if they want it bad enough.
If I were a publisher, I’d consider what books I have under contract, and figure out how to sell them without splitting the money with a distributor/retailer such as Amazon.
--Authors realize that they don’t need publishers. Why should they split revenue with a publisher when they can upload it to the world themselves?
Currently, I'm making $110 a day on books NY publishing didn't want. That's not a lot of money, yet. But the average advance for a novel is still $5000. Between April 8 and June 30, I'll have earned $5000. And my numbers are going up.
--Amazon realizes it doesn’t need publishers, and deals directly with authors. They've already begun publishing print titles, and they've allowed for authors to publish print and ebook titles on their own. Eventually, Amazon is going to start getting some big download numbers for their ebooks, and they'll approach a big author with an exclusive royalty deal.
--A third party ereader is created by a company to compete with the Kindle. It will be inexpensive, able to read a variety of ebook formats, and have upgradable software and memory. This will lead to ereaders becoming as commonplace as iPods, and be the beginning of the end of print.
--Ebooks will become multi-media experiences like DVDs. Books will have author annotations and interviews, be bundled with audio versions, and contain extras such as short stories, early drafts, dictionaries and glossaries, and be directly linkable to forum discussions and book groups. Who would still want paper?
There's a lot to consider when it comes to e-book and the future of publishing. And I may be dead wrong on a lot of these predictions. Hell, I may not know what I'm talking about. Even with the economy, and bookstores losing money, and revenue down, publishers are still alive and kicking, just like they have been for hundreds of years.
But I do think e-books are the future. And I don't think print publishers know how to handle that.
There was a recent announcement that Simon & Schuster was joining forces with Scribd, an ebook download hub, and offering their catalog of ebooks for 20% off print cover price.
I wish S&S much success, but I don't predict it. 20% off the print price is a insignificant discount. Maybe if they slashed prices to a few dollars each title it would catch on, but I don't believe Scribd is a big enough hub yet, and it doesn't get nearly the traffic Amazon does.
But because I'm a cutting edge early adopter who can predict trends (ask Barry Eisler), I offered my ebooks on Scribd 15 days ago, at the same price they are available for on Kindle, less than $2 each.
In 15 days, I've sold zero books. Compare this to over a hundred books a day I sell on Amazon.
Scribd is not the future of epublishing.
If I were Simon & Schuster, or any big publisher, I would digitize my entire backlist and sell it on my publisher website for $2.99 a book, splitting royalties 50/50 with the author, and advertising the hell out of it in print, radio, and TV. Scribd, Amazon, and other e-tailers could have the titles for slightly more, factoring in their mark-up.
I would also invest heavily in new ebook reader technology, perhaps partnering with Apple or Google or Sony, to make a cheap, better competitor to the Kindle.
But I don't predict either happening anytime soon. Publishers, like oil tankers, take a long time to change direction. That doesn't mean publishers aren't smart--they're some of the smartest folks I know. But being smart, and being willing to scrap a business model you've used for fifty years, are two different things.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds. But as an author, I'm emboldened that with enough titles under my belt, in the future I might actually be able earn a living uploading my own books digitally, rather than depending on someone else to sell my books for me.
And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who believes this.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Amazon Kindle Numbers
Elsewhere on the Internets, people have been referring to my previous posts about the Amazon Kindle (here and here) and one of the things they were interested in is numbers.
So here they are. Thoughts, explanations, and predictions to follow.
AFRAID by Jack Kilborn, a horror novel, was released on the Kindle on April 1. During the first month of its release, it was available for $1.99 on Kindle. During that month, it sold over 10,400 copies.
SERIAL by Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch was released for free on the Kindle May 20th. It's a horror novella. As of June 10, it has been downloaded on Kindle more than 34,000 times. SERIAL also appears on www.blakecrouch.com, and has had 12,000 downloads, along with 7000 downloads from the Sony Reader website.
Both AFRAID and SERIAL were released by my publisher, Grand Central. They promoted both titles on Amazon using sidebars on Amazon.com, and on the Amazon Kindle blog.
On April 8th, I began to upload my own books to Kindle. As of today, June 11, at 11:40am, here is how many copies I've sold, and how much they've earned.
THE LIST, a technothriller/police procedural novel, is my biggest seller to date, with 1612 copies sold. Since April this has earned $1081.75. I originally priced it at $1.49, and then raised it to $1.89 this month to see if the sales would slow down. The sales sped up instead.
ORIGIN, a technothriller/horror occult adventure novel, is in second place, with 1096 copies sold and $690.18. As with The List and my other Kindle novels, I upped the price to $1.89.
SUCKERS is a thriller/comedy/horror novella I wrote with Jeff Strand. It also includes some Konrath and Strand short stories. 449 copies, $306.60.
DISTURB is a medical thriller. 371 copies, $234.21.
SHOT OF TEQUILA is a crime novel featuring Jack Daniels. 342 copies, $164.02.
55 PROOF is a collection of 55 short stories. 217 copies, $138.99.
PLANTER'S PUNCH is a Jack Daniels novella I co-wrote with Tom Schreck. 154 copies, $107.10.
DIRTY JOKES & VULGAR POEMS is a collection of over 1000 of my Twitters, one-liners, and funny poems. 37 copies sold, $18.57.
So far on Kindle I've earned $2781.35 in 64 days.
PRICING: I've kept my collaborations priced at $1.59, and upped my other books to $1.89. Also, I reduced the price of my poetry collection to 80 cents.
What I've learned about pricing: Not much. I went on some Kindle forums and asked what the magic price point is, and got answers ranging between free and five bucks.
I've kept my books under two bucks for several reasons. First, because my intent is to use these books to hook readers and get them to buy my other, in-print titles. I give these same books away on my website for free, so charging Kindle users more than a few bucks doesn't seem fair.
That said, raising the price from $1.59 to $1.89 didn't cause any drop in sales or Amazon ranking. In fact, my Kindle numbers have been steadily going up.
I don't know what the perfect combination of price/profit is... yet. Authors make 35% of their suggested retail price (Amazon then discounts this.) So I can raise the price, sell fewer books, but still make a greater profit.
For me, however, this isn't all about profit. It's about units sold. Which also gets confusing.
UNITS SOLD: Pricing doesn't seem to be much of a factor in units sold, as my lowest price book is also my worst seller, and there doesn't seem to be any correlation between price and sales.
What I've learned about units sold: Nothing. I have no clue why The List, which is a fun technothriller about cloning, is outselling Origin, which is about a secret government compound studying Satan. In fact, on my website, Origin has been downloaded 2675 times, and The List only 2223.
Even stranger is SHOT OF TEQUILA, which is a Jack Daniels tie-in novel. I'm known for my JD books, and there is a pre-existing audience for them. Yet the Kindle version is very much underperforming compared to my other three novels, even though I have sold more than 300 copies of it on my website for 99 cents.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: I've tweaked all of my product descriptions several times, playing with the wording and the formatting. I didn't see any noticeable uptick or downtick with any changes I've made.
What I've learned about product description: I believe the product description should sing, but the genre of the book may be more important than the description. I think my best and most provocative description is for the poem book, which is selling poorly.
Category listings and keywords seem to be just as important, if not more important, than the description, because this is how people browse for titles.
COVER ART: People do judge books by their covers, and the covers I've uploaded to Kindle aren't good.
What I've learned about cover art: Not much. I redid the cover art on the poetry book, and it apparently did nothing. Of course, the new art may be just as ugly as the old art.
I'm having a professional cover done for TEQUILA to see if that improves sales. I'll keep everyone posted.
NAME RECOGNITION: Having seven books in print does make it easier for people looking for my books to find them. But there are other authors doing just as well or better than I am on Kindle, and they've never been traditionally published.
What I've learned about name recognition: It may not be as important as other criteria.
QUALITY OF WRITING: Do good books sell better than bad books? Is it even possible to judge quality objectively?
What I've learned about quality of writing: Amazon reviews and Kindle previews (which allow people do download a sample before buying) should have a long range impact on sales. I would think poor reviews will sink a book, or poor writing will result in it not being downloaded, or it being returned (Kindle books can be refunded.)
But I'm not sure if this is a deciding sales factor yet, because the Kindle is still so new, and because people are buying cheap Kindle books but aren't reading them right away.
I also have to look at SERIAL, which has gotten more than twenty 1 star reviews, and is still being downloaded 1000 times per day.
Perception of quality ultimately dictates if a person will buy your next book, but may not be a factor in them trying your first book. For two bucks, why not try it? And if it sits on the Kindle without being read for a year, it isn't helping or hurting your future sales.
But good reviews do help sales, just like a good cover and a good product description does. I just haven't figured out how much yet...
CONCLUSIONS
It's hard to draw any conclusions, because there just isn't enough data. But there are some things I'm noticing.
1. Publisher releases vastly outsell author releases. This seems obvious, but a publisher can buddy-up with Amazon and get primo placement. Authors can't do this on their own.
2. Price matters. All of my ebooks (even the poetry one) are on the genre bestseller lists, outselling name-brand authors. I'm sure this is because of price.
3. Being active on the Kindle forums, in newsletters, and on Amazon, may do more for sales than your cover, your description, your reviews, or even your writing. The key is to make people aware of your books. The more awareness there is, the more you'll sell.
Once you're on a bestseller list, that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. People browse the lists, see your book, buy your book, you stay on the lists.
4. Novels outsell short stories. It's like this in print as well, but my numbers confirm it.
5. No one buys poetry. Even outrageously funny poetry.
6. My technothrillers are doing much better than my medical thriller and my crime novel. Is this because more Kindle owners like technothrillers? It seems so.
GOALS:
1. To get professional cover art for all of my Kindle books.
2. To release a Kindle exclusive novel at a slightly higher price point ($2.99) under JA Konrath to see how it does.
3. To release a Jack Kilborn/J.A. Konrath short story on Kindle for 99 cents to see how it does.
I'm not sure what the future holds for the Amazon Kindle. I'm currently earning $90 a day, with no signs of slowing down. Now that the Kindle DX was released, I expect my numbers to rise.
With 1.5 million Kindles sold, I could sell 200 books per day, for 720 days, and still only reach 10% of all Kindle buyers. If we include all of the iPhone and iPod Touch owners who can download a Kindle ap, along with continued Kindle sales, I should be able to sell quite a few books before coming close to saturating this market.
If the $90 per day trend keeps up, that's $32,850 a year. Not a huge amount, but not chump change either.
I'll keep everyone updated. And FWIW, in the time it took me to write this blog entry, I made $16 on Kindle...
So here they are. Thoughts, explanations, and predictions to follow.
AFRAID by Jack Kilborn, a horror novel, was released on the Kindle on April 1. During the first month of its release, it was available for $1.99 on Kindle. During that month, it sold over 10,400 copies.
SERIAL by Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch was released for free on the Kindle May 20th. It's a horror novella. As of June 10, it has been downloaded on Kindle more than 34,000 times. SERIAL also appears on www.blakecrouch.com, and has had 12,000 downloads, along with 7000 downloads from the Sony Reader website.
Both AFRAID and SERIAL were released by my publisher, Grand Central. They promoted both titles on Amazon using sidebars on Amazon.com, and on the Amazon Kindle blog.
On April 8th, I began to upload my own books to Kindle. As of today, June 11, at 11:40am, here is how many copies I've sold, and how much they've earned.
THE LIST, a technothriller/police procedural novel, is my biggest seller to date, with 1612 copies sold. Since April this has earned $1081.75. I originally priced it at $1.49, and then raised it to $1.89 this month to see if the sales would slow down. The sales sped up instead.
ORIGIN, a technothriller/horror occult adventure novel, is in second place, with 1096 copies sold and $690.18. As with The List and my other Kindle novels, I upped the price to $1.89.
SUCKERS is a thriller/comedy/horror novella I wrote with Jeff Strand. It also includes some Konrath and Strand short stories. 449 copies, $306.60.
DISTURB is a medical thriller. 371 copies, $234.21.
SHOT OF TEQUILA is a crime novel featuring Jack Daniels. 342 copies, $164.02.
55 PROOF is a collection of 55 short stories. 217 copies, $138.99.
PLANTER'S PUNCH is a Jack Daniels novella I co-wrote with Tom Schreck. 154 copies, $107.10.
DIRTY JOKES & VULGAR POEMS is a collection of over 1000 of my Twitters, one-liners, and funny poems. 37 copies sold, $18.57.
So far on Kindle I've earned $2781.35 in 64 days.
PRICING: I've kept my collaborations priced at $1.59, and upped my other books to $1.89. Also, I reduced the price of my poetry collection to 80 cents.
What I've learned about pricing: Not much. I went on some Kindle forums and asked what the magic price point is, and got answers ranging between free and five bucks.
I've kept my books under two bucks for several reasons. First, because my intent is to use these books to hook readers and get them to buy my other, in-print titles. I give these same books away on my website for free, so charging Kindle users more than a few bucks doesn't seem fair.
That said, raising the price from $1.59 to $1.89 didn't cause any drop in sales or Amazon ranking. In fact, my Kindle numbers have been steadily going up.
I don't know what the perfect combination of price/profit is... yet. Authors make 35% of their suggested retail price (Amazon then discounts this.) So I can raise the price, sell fewer books, but still make a greater profit.
For me, however, this isn't all about profit. It's about units sold. Which also gets confusing.
UNITS SOLD: Pricing doesn't seem to be much of a factor in units sold, as my lowest price book is also my worst seller, and there doesn't seem to be any correlation between price and sales.
What I've learned about units sold: Nothing. I have no clue why The List, which is a fun technothriller about cloning, is outselling Origin, which is about a secret government compound studying Satan. In fact, on my website, Origin has been downloaded 2675 times, and The List only 2223.
Even stranger is SHOT OF TEQUILA, which is a Jack Daniels tie-in novel. I'm known for my JD books, and there is a pre-existing audience for them. Yet the Kindle version is very much underperforming compared to my other three novels, even though I have sold more than 300 copies of it on my website for 99 cents.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: I've tweaked all of my product descriptions several times, playing with the wording and the formatting. I didn't see any noticeable uptick or downtick with any changes I've made.
What I've learned about product description: I believe the product description should sing, but the genre of the book may be more important than the description. I think my best and most provocative description is for the poem book, which is selling poorly.
Category listings and keywords seem to be just as important, if not more important, than the description, because this is how people browse for titles.
COVER ART: People do judge books by their covers, and the covers I've uploaded to Kindle aren't good.
What I've learned about cover art: Not much. I redid the cover art on the poetry book, and it apparently did nothing. Of course, the new art may be just as ugly as the old art.
I'm having a professional cover done for TEQUILA to see if that improves sales. I'll keep everyone posted.
NAME RECOGNITION: Having seven books in print does make it easier for people looking for my books to find them. But there are other authors doing just as well or better than I am on Kindle, and they've never been traditionally published.
What I've learned about name recognition: It may not be as important as other criteria.
QUALITY OF WRITING: Do good books sell better than bad books? Is it even possible to judge quality objectively?
What I've learned about quality of writing: Amazon reviews and Kindle previews (which allow people do download a sample before buying) should have a long range impact on sales. I would think poor reviews will sink a book, or poor writing will result in it not being downloaded, or it being returned (Kindle books can be refunded.)
But I'm not sure if this is a deciding sales factor yet, because the Kindle is still so new, and because people are buying cheap Kindle books but aren't reading them right away.
I also have to look at SERIAL, which has gotten more than twenty 1 star reviews, and is still being downloaded 1000 times per day.
Perception of quality ultimately dictates if a person will buy your next book, but may not be a factor in them trying your first book. For two bucks, why not try it? And if it sits on the Kindle without being read for a year, it isn't helping or hurting your future sales.
But good reviews do help sales, just like a good cover and a good product description does. I just haven't figured out how much yet...
CONCLUSIONS
It's hard to draw any conclusions, because there just isn't enough data. But there are some things I'm noticing.
1. Publisher releases vastly outsell author releases. This seems obvious, but a publisher can buddy-up with Amazon and get primo placement. Authors can't do this on their own.
2. Price matters. All of my ebooks (even the poetry one) are on the genre bestseller lists, outselling name-brand authors. I'm sure this is because of price.
3. Being active on the Kindle forums, in newsletters, and on Amazon, may do more for sales than your cover, your description, your reviews, or even your writing. The key is to make people aware of your books. The more awareness there is, the more you'll sell.
Once you're on a bestseller list, that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. People browse the lists, see your book, buy your book, you stay on the lists.
4. Novels outsell short stories. It's like this in print as well, but my numbers confirm it.
5. No one buys poetry. Even outrageously funny poetry.
6. My technothrillers are doing much better than my medical thriller and my crime novel. Is this because more Kindle owners like technothrillers? It seems so.
GOALS:
1. To get professional cover art for all of my Kindle books.
2. To release a Kindle exclusive novel at a slightly higher price point ($2.99) under JA Konrath to see how it does.
3. To release a Jack Kilborn/J.A. Konrath short story on Kindle for 99 cents to see how it does.
I'm not sure what the future holds for the Amazon Kindle. I'm currently earning $90 a day, with no signs of slowing down. Now that the Kindle DX was released, I expect my numbers to rise.
With 1.5 million Kindles sold, I could sell 200 books per day, for 720 days, and still only reach 10% of all Kindle buyers. If we include all of the iPhone and iPod Touch owners who can download a Kindle ap, along with continued Kindle sales, I should be able to sell quite a few books before coming close to saturating this market.
If the $90 per day trend keeps up, that's $32,850 a year. Not a huge amount, but not chump change either.
I'll keep everyone updated. And FWIW, in the time it took me to write this blog entry, I made $16 on Kindle...
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Ten Questions
I'm having some minor email problems, so haven't been able to send email for about 24 hours. This happens sometimes when I mail out a newsletter--some program or bot or switch is flipped, thinking I'm a spammer. So if you've emailed me and I haven't responded, it's not that I don't love you.
Until I get this sorted out, here's a fun interview with me.
Until I get this sorted out, here's a fun interview with me.
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