tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post2483633875594405495..comments2024-03-28T02:00:11.260-05:00Comments on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: A Wake Up Call for Tracy HickmanJA Konrathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-72374847844437067742014-04-07T12:36:07.984-05:002014-04-07T12:36:07.984-05:00Ultimately, nobody has ever promised that a writer...Ultimately, nobody has ever promised that a writer can make a living writing, much less writing only the things (s)he enjoys. If you can make a full-time living off it, great. Most don't, though. That's reality. Deal with it and figure out how to maximize the benefits of that situation.James Englishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-36871263706767348472014-04-06T15:28:49.926-05:002014-04-06T15:28:49.926-05:00You are an inspiration, Konrath. Even your non-fic...You are an inspiration, Konrath. Even your non-fiction sparkles!Basil Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04870226434011178715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-76464992170164094852014-04-06T01:42:24.444-05:002014-04-06T01:42:24.444-05:00Hi James D.,
> I am trying to publish my hand ...Hi James D.,<br /><br />> I am trying to publish my hand drawn mazes. I tried contacting agents, publishing companies, etc only to be brushed off.. Now Im wondering if this ebook way would be a route to take. It sounds like it could be ...<br /><br />I don't see why not. We've used the Nepo Press formatting system for fiction, non-fiction, and poetry with great success, but we've never tried mazes! I think we'd be willing to give it a try, though. If you are interested in discussing this, email me at frank@nepotism.net.<br /><br /><br />FrankAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08643429893700999792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-36859379320003909302014-04-05T10:11:36.726-05:002014-04-05T10:11:36.726-05:00And thank you for this article and blog. I intend ...And thank you for this article and blog. I intend to read it to learn what I can to make my novel successful.Catherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08976946662687319843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-50124313256110622752014-04-05T10:10:07.683-05:002014-04-05T10:10:07.683-05:00This article is great for authors just starting ou...This article is great for authors just starting out. I love the part that says that the publishing industry says "You are not good enough." I tried finding an agent, got disgusted with it, and decided to self-publish. Authors have to have the courage to say, "You might not think I'm good enough, but I'll bet the people who read this will think it is." I'm also trying to learn to tap into all of the potential free marketing the Internet has to offer. Instead of focusing on Tracy Hickman, how he was misrepresented, etc., we all need to be focusing on how we can use what he has learned/has to say to move forward and encourage people to read. Catherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08976946662687319843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-75238737088814372892014-04-05T09:34:57.783-05:002014-04-05T09:34:57.783-05:00I just found this blog and though Im not close to ...I just found this blog and though Im not close to being an author in any sense, I am trying to publish my hand drawn mazes. I tried contacting agents, publishing companies, etc only to be brushed off.. Now Im wondering if this ebook way would be a route to take. It sounds like it could be since pretty much all else has failed. Thanks for the insight otherwise I might have just given up all together...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-6074909866308190852014-04-04T21:58:55.064-05:002014-04-04T21:58:55.064-05:00Tracy's response related to writing 12K word s...Tracy's response related to writing 12K word stories for $4.95 vs. writing $120K word stories for the same price didn't quite jive for me. He seems to say he would be forced to sell his larger stories for a much higher cost than he has in the past. But if he self publishes, and retains 75% royalties instead of the ~25% he would recieve from a legacy publisher, wouldn't that mean he could sell it for less than his readers are used to? Or is it because someone else can sell a 12K word story for the same price as his much longer work making him realize he's leaving money on the table, so he is forced to make a grab for that money before someone else does? Just something doesn't sit right with me here, and I'm trying to put my finger on it.D. Robert Peasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11440124010912210104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-64352365561438113252014-04-04T19:19:12.847-05:002014-04-04T19:19:12.847-05:00Carlos
I hadn't heard of Crane before. Great ...Carlos<br /><br />I hadn't heard of Crane before. Great article, thanks for the link.<br /><br />And if anyone else is interested, Tracy responded to a number of comments over at TPV, at length, about what he's been up to as an indie. Some disagreements about pricing remain but he has a number of interesting projects going on.<br /><br />Wish him all the best.David L. Shutterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08357694121376734716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-10561640327168000252014-04-04T18:18:34.949-05:002014-04-04T18:18:34.949-05:00Tracy,
I and almost all of the other nerds in Ida...Tracy,<br /><br />I and almost all of the other nerds in Idaho read your D&D and Death Gate books, basically everything you ever wrote. We played the pen & paper games, the video games, anything and everything that had to do with D&D, you, Weiss, and Salvatore (to name just a couple of the more famous writers). <br /><br />You and Margaret inspired me to write books. I hope that I and others can inspire you to keep writing, and to start releasing everything self-pub. <br /><br />As a young boy, your books filled my head when my life was pretty shitty. Thank you for that. <br /><br />TravisAngry_Gameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06858237359474121630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-23138647335202997052014-04-04T14:37:04.050-05:002014-04-04T14:37:04.050-05:00I just read Tracy's response on his website (t...I just read Tracy's response on his website (thank you for that, Tracy), but I still walked away with the feeling that something isn't right in his world. If you've got that many projects under your belt, even if it's five years worth (in self-publishing) as he says, surely he's doing well for himself. I'm still curious about the tone. <br /><br />My suggestion is to read what Robert Crane is doing. He's in the fantasy/sci-fi space and is making a lot of money doing it. His post "How To Make A Living As An Indie Author" sums it up nicely, much like our intrepid Dr. Konrath's posts.<br /><br />Here's the link to Crane's article: http://robertjcrane.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-to-make-living-as-indie-author.html <br /><br />It helped me have my best month ever in March.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00343487263835202568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-72981260211584304052014-04-04T13:40:23.877-05:002014-04-04T13:40:23.877-05:00$4.95 for 12,000 words?
Isn't that a little h...$4.95 for 12,000 words?<br /><br />Isn't that a little high?<br /><br />I thought $2.99 or so was<br />normal for that length ... ?<br /><br />How much are people charging<br />these days for 12,000 wds ?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00068779293368053747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-91962759710563099362014-04-04T13:33:59.027-05:002014-04-04T13:33:59.027-05:00Thanks again for writing a very interesting articl...Thanks again for writing a very interesting article and for all who responded. Like all the other here I have been following your blog and links for quite a while finding it all very interesting.<br /><br />Here is my one worry now. Yes there are some authors charging $4.95 for a short (between 10k - 20k words) but for me it is really just not worth paying that. One (and this is selfish) I just read too fast and I feel cheated because its so short. Second, I pay in another currency that gets converted to US dollar or pound or whatever, in the end that means I pay almost the cost of a full length printed book for a novella.<br /><br />Yes I have spend that on novella before and most of the time it was because the word count was not mentioned when I bought the book. Out of all those stories I enjoyed one. We are talking more than 20 stories here....<br /><br />Publishing has changed and all the authors out there do need to make a living. I am hoping to be one of them one day. <br /><br />Book, ebook pricing will and is a very interesting topic.Alice Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-44778530868759896552014-04-04T12:52:57.297-05:002014-04-04T12:52:57.297-05:00I wrote 10-20K word ebooks for a series now availa...I wrote 10-20K word ebooks for a series now available as a collection, and sold 20,000+ copies. The first book is currently free.<br /><br />It's a fun way to get excitement building for the story and get fans involved. When you're done with 4 or 5 parts, you've got a full-length novel. <br /><br />Wishing Tracy great luck going forward!Patrice Fitzgeraldhttp://www.patricefitzgerald.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-70962565381901729472014-04-04T12:06:01.011-05:002014-04-04T12:06:01.011-05:00(Excuse my english if I make mistakes, I am from S...(Excuse my english if I make mistakes, I am from Spain)<br /><br />I have a really hard time believing a writer with 6 millions fans is having a hard time making a living.<br /><br />Just writing something he could sell to half of those fans for 1$ would make a huge profit, huge.<br /><br />I don't have that many fans, not even a tiny portion of that and I am close to 2 years making a a living out of my books in the spanish market, wich is a tiny one compared to the english market.<br /><br />Much less than 6 million fans should be more than enough for anyone to live from their writting better than any other usual day job.<br /><br />Maybe I missed some point becouse of my english, but I don't think He has so many fans, true fans, wich is wierd because I also read his books back then and I know they are famous in many countries.Nandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17725157362122805345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-22459194366477180912014-04-04T11:49:44.276-05:002014-04-04T11:49:44.276-05:00Besides, Carella and crew have had enough of a bre...<i>Besides, Carella and crew have had enough of a break, and the Deaf Man grows bored.</i><br /><br />McBain is the reason I write police procedurals. I've read every book, and the Deaf Man does need to return.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-30508925379830130952014-04-04T11:37:11.561-05:002014-04-04T11:37:11.561-05:00Thanks for chiming in, Tracy. I added a link to yo...Thanks for chiming in, Tracy. I added a link to your blog post at the end of mine.<br /><br />Part of me wondered if it was simply a case of inadequate reporting, which seems to be the case. The cherry-picked quotes in that article were misleading, and misrepresented your position.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-30364707048858961762014-04-04T11:23:54.927-05:002014-04-04T11:23:54.927-05:00It hurts to read Tracy's comments - I've m...It hurts to read Tracy's comments - I've met him and he and his wife are incredible people and seriously great authors! I think a lot of your advice to him is sound, but perhaps might be more difficult for him because he is so firmly entrenched in the traditional publishing world already. <br />That being said, I continue to follow Tracy Hickman and hope he can find a more satisfying way to continue doing what he loves!Jessica L Buike (AuthorJess and Operation Relax)https://www.blogger.com/profile/06975884899298324993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-9522397111427661532014-04-04T09:51:39.085-05:002014-04-04T09:51:39.085-05:00I'm sure Tracy will be fine
whichever path he ...I'm sure Tracy will be fine<br />whichever path he chooses.<br /><br /><br />Good luck, Tracy!<br /><br />HH Johnsonhttp://www.hhjohnson.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-56288774967807640122014-04-04T09:45:41.543-05:002014-04-04T09:45:41.543-05:00Great post as usual Joe. I can't help but thin...Great post as usual Joe. I can't help but think how well a Kickstarter for Tracy's next book would do. Then once released to the general public through all the usual suspects, he would have no problem at all and be in a position to work half as hard for twice as much rather than four times as hard to just keep his head above water.Michael J. Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06892162383465544899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-16110681852917959512014-04-04T08:56:00.711-05:002014-04-04T08:56:00.711-05:00Heaven's to E-Readers! This person has loyal f...Heaven's to E-Readers! This person has loyal fans lining the block? Millions? WHY THE HELL IS THIS PERSON NOT INDIE????<br /><br />I"m befuddled. WHen a writer has a loyal following, self-pubbing seems a no-brainer. OMG, really, please, let light dawn!Mir Writeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02156591500697731242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-59125614261372053322014-04-04T08:53:16.975-05:002014-04-04T08:53:16.975-05:00If one can sell 12,000 words for $4.95, I am woefu...If one can sell 12,000 words for $4.95, I am woefully under priced at $1.99. I suppose I should change that and see what happens.Brian Drakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01233187184688491057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-63444942439398732882014-04-04T08:13:33.940-05:002014-04-04T08:13:33.940-05:00"you have a zillion options with little to no..."you have a zillion options with little to no guarantee behind any of them."<br /><br />As far as I knew there have NEVER been any guarantees.Mark Edward Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09348437062900925019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-54472101689224099662014-04-04T01:16:46.381-05:002014-04-04T01:16:46.381-05:00Hi Joe....I recently discovered your blog and real...Hi Joe....I recently discovered your blog and really like it. Might I suggest an easier way to browse your archives? The method of expanding all those dates is a little cumbersome. Some of us newbies want to catch up on all your content quickly ;)Trentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-52103700776947404752014-04-03T21:28:04.138-05:002014-04-03T21:28:04.138-05:00Hickman ... good luck to him in whatever path he f...Hickman ... good luck to him in whatever path he follows.<br /><br />All I really care about is I have witnessed Joe Konrath mention the possibility of writing an 87th Precinct novel, however farfetched such might or might not be.<br /><br />Dear whomever owns the rights to McBain's work ... YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. There is big money here, probably even movie potential.<br /><br />Besides, Carella and crew have had enough of a break, and the Deaf Man grows bored.Tyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09192814826756623212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-58775978103696628902014-04-03T21:15:53.312-05:002014-04-03T21:15:53.312-05:00Based on Tracy's response on his own website, ...Based on Tracy's response on his own website, his point seems to be that you don't have a single, rigid channel to publishing anymore. Rather, you have a zillion options with little to no guarantee behind any of them.<br /><br />I disagreed with him on the point of 15k word books beating out 150k word books at the same price point. Readers are aware of what they're buying and would prefer to get a lot more for their money, IMO.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08616306090411283090noreply@blogger.com