Author: HCNewton Page 152 of 609

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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I’m very glad to be able to include Andi Ewington as part of this series–he has experience being published by others in addition to being self-published, and that perspective is important. Also, over the last couple of months I’ve found him to be a supportive, fun, and generous guy, and why wouldn’t I want to expose more people to someone like him? I think Ewington was the first to send his responses in, just based on some of my follow-up questions. I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have taken another shot at some of these after reading what others said, but that problem is with me–not with anything Ewington contributed.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
I’m Andi Ewington, Writer & Game Director. I’ve written Campaigns & Companions, The Hero Interviews, and many comics for IPs such as Just Cause, Dark Souls, Fighting Fantasy, and Vikings (TV Series). I’m usually found on Twitter as @AndiEwington, while most of my books are available from Amazon.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions you find that readers have about self-published books?
I think the biggest misconception is around the quality of any self-published work because it hasn’t been released via a traditional publishing route. I would say there’s a lower entry bar for sure (you don’t usually have an editor demanding rewrites or making company decisions on your work)—but it doesn’t mean that every self-published book isn’t up to scratch—if anything, being the gatekeeper to my work has pushed me to over-deliver on quality.

Something tells me that this is going to be the misconception that everyone mentions here, and I’m all for having a bunch of people react to it.
Exactly!

What kind of costs are associated with self-publishing a book? Do you hire one or more editors, or one editor for a couple of passes? Cover artist? Anyone to help with layout, design, etc.? Beta readers? Or do you take it all on yourself? Are you actually making any money at this, or are you still focused on breaking-even while building an audience?
This is a real ‘how long is a piece of string question’. In short, you have to ask yourself, as a self-published writer, ‘What can I do myself versus what do I need to pay for—and if I can’t pay for it, how can I thank those that do help?’ So, for The Hero interviews, even though I have over 30 years of graphic design experience, I wanted to pay for an illustrated cover drawn in a particular style—that came with a sizeable financial outlay. For editing, I pulled a favour from a close friend in exchange for a credit on the cover. Several volunteers offered to beta read for me—all were credited and thanked in the acknowledgements. I designed the cover, set the interior pages, created the ebook file, submitted it through Kindle Direct Printing, typeset the interior pages for paperback, and submitted it all over again. Beyond the illustrative cover—the biggest expense is time. As for making money, it’s almost impossible with just one book (unless you’re fortunate) to make enough to sustain a lifestyle beyond living in cardboard boxes. I’m lucky to have a good enough job that allows me the luxury to write without any financial expectations. That said, I’ve probably just about made a small profit after covering the costs of my initial outlay.
A profit is a profit! Congrats! [having read all the Q&As now, want to underline that–any kind of profit is fantastic]

Are you using any kind of crowd-funding to help with that? What have those experiences been like?
I’ve never used crowd-funding; I have a bit of a conflict of interest that I don’t want to go too much into—but it’s an avenue that isn’t viable for me. I’ve seen plenty who have both succeeded and failed. Getting the postage right seems to be the biggest pitfall; if you are over budget for it—you may end up paying out far more than you initially planned.
Sure postage. The one thing I’d really never think of if I were setting something like this up. You think the big stuff to worry about would be cover design, editing–just writing the things–while keeping your day job. But it all comes down to spending the right kind of time at stamps.com or whereever.

Do you do your own cover design, or have you found people to help with that? It seems almost as difficult as writing the novel itself–talk about the process a bit.
I have an unfair advantage with 30 years of design experience. I can design my own cover and get it print ready to the correct dimensions with relative ease (coincidentally, I will do exactly that for my following (12) books to save on costs). For ‘The Hero Interviews’, I was more than happy to employ the services of a professional illustrator (Conor Nolan—who did a fantastic job!).

Are there tools, mentors, websites you’ve found to help you through this process? Or did you stumble through blindly on your own?
Self-publishing embraces the ‘learn on the job’ mantra—that said, Reedsy.com is a fantastic place to start if you’re looking to get an ebook file produced. The rest of the time, I was bumbling along, trying my best not to make any mistakes (spoiler alert, if it’s your first-time self-publishing, you will make mistakes—don’t worry too much about it).

How do you juggle marketing/PR/etc. with writing new work? (along with day jobs, family, hobbies, etc., etc.)
Self-publishing is always a constant juggle. Carving out the same time each day is a great way to complete your novel (which is the hardest part of the journey). With self-publishing, as most of the work falls upon your shoulders, you’ll have to spend more time with your head buried in your computer, scouring community forums trying to figure out why your footnote pop-ups aren’t displaying correctly on your ebook than not. As obvious as it sounds, try to focus on doing just one thing and do it well rather than spreading yourself too thin and delivering something that’s under par.

How do you promote your book–what things have worked best for you? What kind of lessons have you learned for things not to do (at least for you)? Do you do any in-person marketing, or are you all on-line (I assume predominately online)
Primarily, for self-publishing, online will be your go-to. Social platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter will give you a better chance of expanding your reach. Of course, all this depends greatly on your followers count—so maximizing engagement opportunities is key. Understanding how a market reacts is also essential. As a self-published author, it’s tempting to shout about anything new immediately—but you’ll have a better chance of making a sale if you shorten the distance between engagement and when a book is available. I’ve been guilty of wasting a golden opportunity simply by announcing something before the book is ready to be purchased. You’ll only have a small window of opportunity with most of your audience; learning how to leverage this for maximum impact is invaluable.

What’s the breakdown of your audience—do you have a strong local base, or are your readers from other parts of the world?
Your largest potential audience will always be around the genre you’ve chosen to write in—after that, it probably be based on your location. I know I’m strong in my home country (UK), but I’ve also a sizeable following elsewhere across the globe—especially in America. As my work draws inspiration from British TV comedy—I tend to attract fans with a similar sense of humour.

You’ve been around the block enough to at least have an educated guess here–do you think this is how it’s going to be for self-published authors going forward? People finding you more based on their tastes than localities? It’s just as easy for me to grab a UK author as much as a US one anymore (largely). It seems to me that self-published authors would have to have a strong local base to keep them going, but now it’s more of a taste/social-media base? Does that sound about right? Or would you describe it differently?
The world is much smaller these days—I don’t think it matters where your audience is based. Sure, cultural tastes change from region to region, but if you’ve pitched your tent in a particular field (say Fantasy/Comedy 🙂 ), then I think you’re going to find fans naturally gravitate towards your work regardless of where they are. Social media has made it easier for a Self-Publisher to reach other territories in a single post—I know from my own sales I have a large following in the US, almost rivaling the one I have in the UK. You’ve got to put in the groundwork and engage with those communities you think will pick up your book; if you don’t—it will be much harder to be noticed in a crowded market.

What made you decide that self-publishing was the direction you wanted to go? How often do you question that choice? How do you get through the self-doubt?
There’s a belief that you’re somehow less of an author if you self-publish—but I’ve never thought that. Sure, I always liked the kudos of being picked up by a large publisher. However, after my initial experiences with self-publishing, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to jumping through hoops to bag a traditional publishing contract again. As for self-doubt—I have to remind myself that I’m no worse off than I would be if I had been traditionally published—plus, I much prefer not having to answer to an editor who wants to cut your book in half to save costs and get your overall page count down.
That’s a great way to deal with self-doubt.

Have you thought about trying to get a deal with major (or indie) publishers for upcoming works, or are you planning on sticking with self-publishing?
I chose self-publishing because I had exhausted all other traditional options. I had been rejected repeatedly and decided enough was enough, and I would go it alone.

Odds are, you’re doing this from love/passion, not to pay the bills. What keeps you going? I’m assuming there are more “who”s than “what”s, actually–who is it?
My kids—I want them to follow their dreams. Writing is my dream—and I hope it gives them the courage to follow their dreams too.

Self-publishing tends to have less external deadlines keeping one accountable. How do you maintain your work process or work ethic?
Time schedules and dedication. You must have discipline—sometimes saying ‘no’ to distractions and getting on with your book. It’s a long, hard road—but the feeling of publishing something from start to finish without needing an external publisher is hugely satisfying.

If you were to start the process over with the experience you have now, what would you do differently?
Write a shorter book. 195,000 words is the equivalent of ‘The Fellowship of the Rings’. Next time, I will write something that doesn’t take me 6 weeks to proof!

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being self published?
Having to shout from the rooftops about your book—I don’t enjoy feeling like a hawker trying to sell their wares. It’s a necessary evil—if you don’t shout about your book, someone else will shout about theirs instead.

What was your process for learning how to take care of all the facets that go into self-publishing? (editing, book cover and design, ISBN, finding places to sell/distribute, etc.)?
As mentioned, there’s a lot of learning as you go along. Fortunately, Amazon’s Kindle Direct Printing handles many design, ISBN, and distribution questions. That doesn’t mean they’ll have the answers to everything—but it’s a good start.

This is the second time you’ve mentioned Amazon’s KDP. Are they essential for the contemporary self-published author, or were they just the option you picked and/or the most expedient?
The latter for me; I wanted a quick solution to market. I didn’t want the hassle of having lots of spinning plates to manage—KDP offered a large potential customer base and a way to monitor and maintain sales.

How do you decide a book is finally finished and ready? (or how do you avoid “perfection as the enemy of good”?)
I don’t think a book is ever really ready—you have to decide what mistakes you’re happy for a reader to find. Self-publish has one huge advantage, however—at any point I spot an error after being published (on Amazon) either digitally or physically, I can amend the mistake and submit it again to KDP and have the new version up online within 72 hours—now that’s something traditional publishers are less inclined to do for you at the drop of a hat!

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

Be sure to check out The Hero Interviews and the rest of his work so he doesn’t have to be the only one shouting about his books!

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The 2023 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club

The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with Michael Michel About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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Michael Michel is another author that came to my attention (and this series) thanks to JCM Berne. I really enjoyed his answers here and our interactions around this. Much like every grimdark author I’ve heard interviewed, you wouldn’t think someone this fun could produce something so…well grim and dark. Hope you enjoy this half as much as I did.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
I’m the debut author of “The Price of Power,” a grimdark epic fantasy book about loss, redemption, grief, and the danger of beliefs. It’s like Game of Thrones meets X-men, or First Law meets a plot. At least, those are the two series my reviewers liken it to most often. I often find myself flattered by what folks say about it.

Social and Links
FREE NOVELLA: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/f1vi1k6lx9
The Price of Power: https://www.amazon.com/Price-Power-Book-1/dp/B0BTKZPNF9/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Twitter Handle: @Michael__Michel (that’s two underscores in the middle)
Instagram: @michaelmichelauthor

What kind of costs are associated with self-publishing a book? Do you hire one or more editors, or one editor for a couple of passes? Cover artist? Anyone to help with layout, design, etc.? Beta readers? Or do you take it all on yourself? Are you actually making any money at this, or are you still focused on breaking-even while building an audience?
More costs than you might think. At least, more than I was aware of. The more common ones are book cover ($500+ for a good one) and editor (varies by need but upwards of a $1,000 for a big book). I hired a proofreader only, but that’s not recommended for everyone. The editors I reached out to said it was pretty polished, so you have to work really hard if you want to save on editing. Beta readers assisted with all the same duties a developmental editor would have, so that was an easy skip for me. I formatted it myself, too, but found it to be more fun than expected. Atticus is great and you only buy it once—same with Scrivener which I needed for a novel/series as expansive and convoluted as mine. Those are all the expenses one might expect. The hidden costs are things like ISBNs, BookFunnel, websites and newsletter builders, and a ton more software-type crap like that. If you want to market well, you’ve got to be setup to do so. And giveaways…I’ve given out a lot of ARC copies ($25 a pop if physical) and there are those, more successful than I, who gave out way more.

I’m making money, sure. Getting better all the time and my Kickstarter was a success. Am I making a net profit though? If I am, it’s negligible. This year is all about setting up for the long haul. I’d say that’s the rule more than the exception. New authors be prepared to invest if you’re serious.

What made you decide that self-publishing was the direction you wanted to go? How often do you question that choice? How do you get through the self-doubt?
I actually wanted to go traditional. I thought indie was less credible, and let’s be honest, in comparison to traditional, it still is a lot of the time but not to the level it used to be. Great authors are now coming out of the indie scene at an ever-increasing rate. When I made the choice, I’d just started reaching out to agents. Maybe fifteen of them. Got a partial request pretty quickly but it fizzled just as fast. I didn’t see the point in continuing. My energy dragged while doing it, and the outlook of ever seeing my novel published seemed so far away. I have a driven mentality and a decent self-marketing skill set, but even this didn’t fully convince me.

My friend, Jerry Oltion, has that honor. If you don’t know him, he’s a Nebula winner, multi-time Hugo nominee, writer of Star Trek books, and is the most published author in Analog Magazine’s history (with like 100 short stories). Suffice it to say, I needed someone with credibility to kill my dreams of credibility. He said, “I think the New York dinosaur has just about breathed its last.” It was a long email, full of convincing reasons to go indie—all from a trad author, no less. It was just the push I needed, and I couldn’t have been more excited to make the leap afterward. I felt free.

I’ve probably already made as much as the average trad author makes on a book. And I’ve retained total control. With more books lined up, I feel like it’s a good position to be in.

I absolutely question my decision sometimes. On days when I make less than a dollar. On days when I get less than a five-star review. On days when I’m sucked up in social media all day when I would rather be writing. Self-doubt sticks to the sedentary, so I just make sure to keep plowing forward.

Have you thought about trying to get a deal with major (or indie) publishers for upcoming works, or are you planning on sticking with self-publishing?
Here’s the thing. Once you go indie, you’re kind of locked in unless you become very successful. Publishers want to know what your indie sales have been, and if they aren’t amazing, they see that as a sign it’s probably not going to work with them either. Conversely, if you do really well as an indie author, then there’s less point in going traditional because you’re likely making more and retaining all the control.

That said, if a big trad publisher came along with a hefty advance, I’d probably take it even if it meant less money long-term. The exposure, the validation, and the chance to rub elbows with other trad authors under the same organizational umbrella is too great an opportunity to pass up. It’s not all about the money for me anyway. It’s about producing the best product I can and entertaining the hell out of people. Honestly, having access to the best-of-the-best editors is very alluring. I often wonder how good my book could be if it had a premier expert combing over it six times. Better, I expect. Much better.

Self-publishing tends to have less external deadlines keeping one accountable. How do you maintain your work process or work ethic?
Let me lead with the caveat that everyone is different. Carrot or stick, you do what you have to in order to create art. Drink raw eggs, sleep upside down, sacrifice a bull, or sip a coffee: it doesn’t matter. Just get it done. I take this approach to a degree as well. Although, readers telling you nice things and saying they want more is always a major motivator.

I consistently set 1-2 months goals. Once I have that signpost, I get pretty excited and the energy starts to flow. Fortunately, writing is one of the things I love doing most. A note on goal setting though: don’t set a goal that isn’t achievable. Whatever you think you can accomplish, stretch it a bit or reduce your aspiration. Better to guarantee success than miss your ambitions by a mile. Good for the brain (specifically, the nucleus acumbens).

How do you decide a book is finally finished and ready? (or how do you avoid “perfection as the enemy of good”?)
It’s usually accompanied by the sound of your soul shrieking and a little part of you dying. Haha. Kidding…kinda. Letting your ego die in order to publish is the both the suffering and freedom we authors live by.

Perfectionism itself is a double-edged sword. I like to think of rockets launching into space. Giant fuel cells known as “stages” are jettisoned as the rocket climbs through the atmosphere. Once their fuel is used up, they’re dead weight.

Perfectionism is the same; it pushed me to make, “The Price of Power” as good as it could be, but at some point, I needed to let it go in order to coast smoothly to my next endeavor. Even now, I still read sections of my book sometimes and find a dozen things per page I might change. Well, as authors, we’ve got to understand a valuable principle:

We’re always growing, and honing our craft.

The more we write, the better we get. By the end of draft 5, you’ve got ideas about how draft 6 could be better. Every work you write makes you better at writing. If you understand this, you’re better able to let go and move on knowing the next will demonstrate your current skill more clearly The work grows with us. This what kills Patrick Rothfuss, I think. He can’t help himself but to rewrite more.

I’ve found that people don’t care as much about the nitty gritty as I do, anyway. Look no further than Brando Sando as an example. The man’s not the greatest writer, but damn can he produce a bunch of novels and keep readers’ imaginations well-fed. Readers want authors that satisfy their needs, not the authors’ own ego.

In conclusion, perfectionism is a good tool, but a bad way of life.
That’s a good line. I should try to adopt that.

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

Be sure to check out Michel’s novel—looks like a great grim time!

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The 2023 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club

The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with H.C. Newell About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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I was aware of H.C. Newell only because I’d skim something on Twitter and have to stop—”I never said anything like that…oh, Newell. Never mind.” I’m very glad that JCM Berne got us together—if only so the two of us could clear up our name confusion. But more than that, I enjoyed these answers and advice. I took something away from it, hope you do, too.

Before we get into things, why don't you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
Heyooo my name is H.C. Newell (Not to be confused with the illustrious H.C. Newton who is running this shindig) I’ve been writing my entire life and published my first book, Curse of the Fallen, in 2021. I’m sure you’ve heard of it, but if not, here is a quick little blurb and even a link to chapter one that you can read for free 😀

Nerana is a sorceress born in a world where magic is forbidden. Outcast, exiled, and hunted since birth, she seeks to free herself of a curse that ties her to the Order of Saro who relentlessly hunt her down.

Her hope now lies in a legend from the time of the elves that speaks of the Trials of Blood, a test that promises salvation. Darkness gathers, and the hunters close in on their prey, but with little left to lose Nerana embarks on her perilous journey and soon learns that the path to redemption may prove more fatal than the Order itself.

But for Nerana, this is more than a quest for survival… it’s a promise of revenge.

You digging it? Grimdark Magazine called it “a grimdark twist on classic Tolkienesque fantasy”

My Linktree has all my links, including a PDF of chapter one for you to download and read 😀

How do you promote your book–what things have worked best for you? What kind of lessons have you learned for things not to do (at least for you)? Do you do any in-person marketing, or are you all on-line (I assume predominately online)
Networking has worked the best for me. I love people and interacting and just integrating myself into the community. (I’ve never used paid ads and never will.) The book speaks for itself, so I just share my blurb and cover and let readers decide if they want to give it a shot. Everyone has their style, and I know my book isn’t for everybody, so all I can do is show it to you and let you decide if it’s a good fit. 😀

Supporting other authors, making connections, and genuinely caring about their success can make a huge difference. Don’t just be in this for yourself – we’re all in this together. That’s my philosophy, anyway. Everyone is trying to succeed, and some may view others as competition, but there are billions of people in the world and millions of books to read – there is no need to try to put yourself above someone else. Be kind, be caring, and enjoy the journey.

My advice for newer authors, or those struggling to see sales: make yourself known. No one will see your book if you don’t show it to us. Be part of the community, work together with others and find friendship in fellow authors or readers. I promise we’re a good bunch.

Sound advice! A rising tide does seem to lift all boats. Indie and self-published authors seem to be great at lifting each other up—and yeah, it does make me more inclined to check someone out when I see them interacting with others. I don’t know if it’s possible (this feels like one of those job interview questions I hate), but can you give a specific example?
Uh… haha it’s hard to really be more specific here. Just being involved in the community and caring about other’s successes as much as your own is a good start. My philosophy is that we’re all in this together. This isn’t a competition, it’s a journey.

Join the discords, join twitter, integrate yourself within the community, make friends, and also be sure that your cover and blurb are attracting readers. Reach out to bloggers for review copies, send out arc copies, join sale events. The list goes on 🙂

Another big thing I forgot to mention: don’t ever ever compare yourself to others. It’s something we all struggle with, and it can really make or break your spirit. There is a big luck (and monetary) factor that comes with success, and just because someone else is having more success than you right now don’t mean you won’t or don’t deserve to be recognized. Just focus on yourself, what you’ve achieved, and keep moving forward. Don’t give up or lose yourself to the ‘why’s’

ToriTalks has an amazing video that I think is very motiving for authors who are struggling with things like this. Dear Writer Video

Self-publishing tends to have less external deadlines keeping one accountable. How do you maintain your work process or work ethic?
I never ever ever rush or force anything. I’d rather wait two years for an amazing book/movie/game to release than to have it now for the sake of deadlines and it be subpar. So, I don’t really have a schedule. I can’t. My brain doesn’t work that way. Creativity ebbs and flows, so I roll with the punches. Some days I can write entire chapters, other days I can’t write a single word. I have a deadline in mind that I strive to meet, but I never set an actual date until my book is in my editor’s hands and I know it’ll be completed in time.

If you were to start the process over with the experience you have now, what would you do differently?
I would research more, not hire an editor for things like developmental editing and used beta’s instead. I would’ve had more beta readers and I would’ve read more books so I could’ve understood what readers enjoy. I’d have also joined twitter from the start, instead of being so afraid of it and waiting 2 years!

Why not an editor for the developmental stage—just the kind of feedback they provided vs. your betas? How many beta readers did you use, and how many would you have? For you, what does a good beta reader bring to the table? (this is partially selfish, I’ve done it twice and haven’t been satisfied with what I produced)
I had a developmental editor, and the price (for me) wasn’t worth it. Everything they tell you can be told by a beta reader for free. This isn’t advice for someone else to follow, just what I would’ve done differently for myself. Some people prefer dev edits because the trust the opinion of a professional on those things. Book one I had 1 beta reader, book 2 I had 3. I think 3-5 is a good number that isn’t overwhelming.

For me, I don’t care to have betas correct my grammar or try to edit the novel. It’s fine when they do, but I get the most help when they can give their honest feedback on more structural things like pacing, plot progression, how captivating the scenes are, etc. Just general reactions are my favorite types of beta feedback.

How do you decide a book is finally finished and ready? (or how do you avoid “perfection as the enemy of good”?)
For me, a book is never perfect. I’ve read my book a dozen times since I published, and every single time, I find things that I want to change. It’s just a part of being an author. You are your biggest critic. Once the book is completely written (draft 1) you need to comb through it with a critical eye, find what works and what doesn’t, polish it up, and then send draft 2 to beta readers. Once you’ve read through their suggestions and made the necessary changes, then it’s time to send to the editor.

Your book is finished after it’s completely written, reread by you and then read by a handful of readers who can help you find mistakes you may have missed along the way.

I can rarely stomach re-reading a blog post of mine because I want to tweak so many things, and I devote far less time to one than a novel would take. I can’t imagine doing it to a novel. The last time that you revisited Curse of the Fallen, what kind of changes did you want to make—are we talking a word here or there, a few lines—chapters/events?
Well, the last time I actually sat down to re-edit Curse, I added 40,000 words and 4 chapters lol!!! I still find things that I want to change, such as slowing the pace, adding more filler, slowing down some of the relationship arcs, etc, but no book is perfect, and readers are always happy to point out flaws that you wish you could change. I have to learn to stop reading ANY book with a critical/editorial eye and to just enjoy the journey.:)

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

I encourage you to go check out all of H.C. Newell‘s work!

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WWW Wednesday, July 26, 2023

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

I’m taking a quick break from all the Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week stuff for a quick WWW.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I just started Barking for Business by E.N. Crane (a Literary Local and a self-publisher) and am revisiting the Jane Yellowrock finale, Final Heir by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator), on audiobook.

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Joyce Reynolds Ward’s Klone’s Stronghold (also a Literary Local and self-publisher) and Blue Like Me by Aaron Philip Clark, Preston Butler III (Narrator) on audio.

Blank Space

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby (who is not local, and therefore I don’t have to worry about losing my mind by running into him somewhere) and my next audiobook should be The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman, Narrated by Fiona Shaw, Richard Osman and Steph McGovern.

Blank Space

Do you have anything interesting on your nightstands?

The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published Steampunk

In Books, Fiction, Miscellany, News/Misc., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week, Steampunk

(updated 7/25/23)

From the first moment that people did the strange thing of asking me to talk about their books on my blog, I’ve been impressed by the quality of a lot of what’s been published by authors going out on their own, taking all the risks, shouldering all the responsibility and doing all the work to get their words, their dreams, their blood, sweat, and tears. This should be celebrated—it’s definitely appreciated, as we’re trying to show this week.

In addition to the Q&As and Guest Posts I have this week, I’m also continuing my habit of highlighting the self-published works that I’ve blogged about over the last few years—just a sentence or two. Hopefully, this’ll be enough to make you click on the link to the full post. Beyond that, it’d be great if I inspired you to add a few of these to your TBR. Also, be sure you check out the other posts over at the SPAAW Hub.

Today we’re going to be looking at Self-Published Steampunk. This list doubled this year. Okay, sure, that’s still not a lot. It hardly seems to justify a separate list. But I kept these on their own so they wouldn’t get lost in the SF mix. Consider this an open invitation for people to fill up my comment section with recommendations so I can post a longer version of this list next time I run this.

bullet The Curse of the Silver Pharaoh by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris—set in the same world as their Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series, this puts the adventurous group of homeless kids the Ministry uses in a private school to find an Egyptian artifact. I still need to write my post on it, but it’s worth your time.
bullet Bartleby and James: Edwardian Steampunk Chronicle by Michael Coorlim—these short stories are a nice little dose of Steampunk with a thin coating of Victorian P.I. Light fun. (my post about it)
bullet Bodacious Creed: A Steampunk Zombie Western by Jonathan Fesmire—the reanimated corpse of one of the most-feared lawmen in the West roots out a criminal organization set to rule California. (my post about it)
bullet Bodacious Creed and the Jade Lake by Jonathan Fesmire—Creed heads to SF and tangles with a human trafficking ring. (my post about it)
bullet Bodacious Creed and the San Francisco Syndicate by Jonathan Fesmire—Creed has settled into San Francisco and is on the hunt for an outlaw who uses machines to alter the bodies and minds of his victims. I haven’t read this yet, but I can’t pass up the chance to talk about it. Really looking forward to diving in.
bullet Aether Powered by James T. Lambert—A UW Engineering student inherits a trunkful of steampunk goodies from a distant relative. Action ensues. (my post about it)
bullet The Silk Empress by Josef Matulich—a brilliant and reckless British orphan finds himself on an airship on the Silk Road (well, technically, above it). It’s a rollicking adventure. (my post about it)
bullet The Golden Spider by Anne Renwick—a steamy Kraken-filled Steampunk story, lots of good action, and great inter-personal moments. (my post about it)

If you're a self-published author that I've featured on this blog and I didn't mention you in this post and should have. I'm sorry (unless you're this guy). Please drop me a line, and I'll fix this. I want to keep this regularly updated so I keep talking about Self-Published Authors.

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The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with Jonathan Fesmire About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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I’ve talked about Fesmire’s Steampunk Westerns a lot–I’ve even promoted his crowd-funding campaigns. So I was quite pleased to get him to talk about his self-publishing work, too. I hope you enjoy it.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
Sure! I’ve been writing for decades, and I’ve been a science fiction, fantasy, and horror fan all my life. I write steampunk westerns with robots and zombies, all in the same world I’ve been building for years. I call it the Creedverse, after the main character, 1870s lawman James “Bodacious” Creed.

The easiest way to find all my links is via my Linktree site at https://linktr.ee/jonathanfesmire. From there, you can visit my website, join my newsletter and get a free short story, check out my books on various sites, including Audible, visit the Creedverse site, and even check out my TikTok channel.

Are you using any kind of crowd-funding to help with that? What have those experiences been like?
Indeed I do! I’ve run crowdfunding campaigns for my trilogy, The Adventures of Bodacious Creed. It’s a fantastic way to get the word out about the new book, make some early sales, and get enough money to pay for editing and cover art, plus fulfilling the rewards.

For the first book in my series, Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western, I ran the Kickstarter when I had a basic outline for the novel. I knew I’d be able to write it. What this allowed me to do is give backers, depending on their backer level, input into the story. One integral character was based on the backer himself. By the time I was on the third book, Bodacious Creed and the San Francisco Syndicate, I’d written the first draft, then ran the campaign.

As I recall, you’ve used a couple of different crowd-funding sites in the past. What are the pluses/minuses for each? Any advice for someone thinking of trying this method?
I prefer Kickstarter, because Kickstarter has a larger audience than Indiegogo. With Kickstarter, if your project doesn’t raise it’s goal, it doesn’t go through. But on Indiegogo, you can have a goal, and get the funding even if the project makes less. So, here’s what I figured out with my last Kickstarter campaign, the one for my novel Bodacious Creed and the San Francisco Syndicate: Set the goal to the lowest amount that will help you.

Here’s what I mean by that. You may have a project that you need a certain amount of money to even be able to afford. Maybe you project that it will cost $2,000 just to develop a product. Then, you need to fulfil the backer orders, including shipping. Certain backer levels will cost a higher percentage of what backers pay for you to produce. For example, digital copies of books are essentially free to send out, while print copies cost more. So, if someone pledges $5.00 for a digital book, that’s $5 you can put toward costs like editing and cover art. If a person pledges $25 for a paperback (plus $5 for shipping), you may make $15 on that. That’s 100% toward development for the digital copies, and 60% from the print copy (not counting the shipping).

I recommend people check out Don Stainsberg’s The Kickstarter Handbook, which provides the info they’ll need to create a spreadsheet to figure out how low they can set their goal and still make enough to cover everything.

Anyway, what I realized when running my last Kickstarter was this. I was going to pay for editing and cover art, anyway. And that meant that any bit of money I raised from a Kickstarter would offset my costs, and I could set the goal to something low. I set it for $300. If that meant I ended up with $150 to put toward those services, that was better than nothing. What ended up happening, though, was the $300 was pledged in six hours! I added a sticker to the graphic that said, “Funded in 6 hours!” That looks really good to potential backers. And it ended up raising $1,681. I was hoping for $1,600, so that was great.

So, my advice would be to use Kickstarter, but put the goal at the lowest level that will cover your expenses. Or, if you plan to pay those, anyway, you can set it even lower.

How do you juggle marketing/PR/etc. with writing new work? (along with day jobs, family, hobbies, etc., etc.)
I’m lucky that I work from home! At my day job, I’m a content writer, so I’m basically writing for work, writing my fiction, worldbuilding, or editing a lot of the time. I’m a single dad and, of course, spend a lot of time with my son. But being able to do all my work from home really helps.

Self-publishing tends to have less external deadlines keeping one accountable. How do you maintain your work process or work ethic?
You have to get to a point where you internalize the urgency to write. Also, you need to remember that it’s a long-haul sort of profession. Writing a novel takes time. Get 500 to 1,000 words written a day, and you’re making good progress. If you can do more, great. But you need to understand it’s a process you need to take a day at a time.

“Internalize the urgency,” I like that phrase. It lines up with what some others in this series are telling me—it’s not so much a matter of work-ethic (although I’m sure it’s there, too), but about interest in the work. Did you have to cultivate that to go from “aspiring author” to “working author” or did you start with it?
’ve definitely had periods when I wasn’t writing much, and in the aughts, I focused on digital art for a while. I’m glad I got back to writing, which I feel is my true calling.

Writers are people who feel a need to write and do so to get their thoughts down. It’s how we best deal with our emotions and everything going on in our heads. So, writing is just what I do. And I write a lot every day. Most days, I write in my online journal, I work on whatever book I have in progress, and I also write for my day job as a content writer.

I think I had to accept that this is just what I do, and that it’s good for me. The fact that I’m not getting any younger helps, too! I’m 53, and by the time I leave this world, I want to have a lot of books out. I also hope to make enough off my books so that when I retire from my day job, I’ll be making a good living on top of my social security.

One thing that helped a lot is learning to outline my books before writing them. I have to admit, it took me a long time to learn that. I was a pantser for too long, and that meant my books came along painfully slowly. Now, rather than taking four years to write a book, it takes me a year to a year and a half. And I’m trying to streamline that even more. (A pantser is someone who writes books without a plan and figures it out as they go.) I now use a beat sheet to plan the major plot points of a novel and figure out how to get from one point to the next as I go.

Another useful way to get a lot of writing done is by using the pomodoro technique, also known as writing sprints. Set an alarm for 15 to 25 minutes, and during that time, all you do is write. When the timer goes off, you stop, and take a short break, then repeat. Do this a few times every day, and you’ll get a lot of writing done.

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing)!

If you like Steampunk, Westerns, Zombies–especially all three–or just books that are fun and well-told, be sure to check out all of Fesmire’s work!

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PUB DAY REPOST: A Fatal Groove by Olivia Blacke: It’s Another Charming, Pun-Filled, Adventure with These Sisters

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

A Fatal Groove

by Olivia Blacke

DETAILS:
Series: The Record Shop Mysteries, #2
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publication Date: July 25, 2023
Format: eARC
Length: 304 pg.
Read Date: July 11-12, 2023

What’s A Fatal Groove About?

For the second time in the two months since she returned home, Juni Jessup finds a dead body. This time, she discovers the town’s mayor dead at his desk during the town’s biggest event—the Bluebonnet Festival.

It might just be all the True Crime podcasts Juni listens to and all the Police Procedural shows she watches, but Juni’s pretty sure he was poisoned from the evidence she sees. Sadly, the other thing she notices is that the mayor’s holding a coffee cup from her store in his hand—so it’s pretty likely that the source of the poison was the coffee her sister had poured him not that long ago.

Faster than you can say, “Jessica Fletcher,” Juni and her sisters are on the hunt for another killer to clear their store’s name.

The Bank Robbery

Decades ago, during this same festival, a bank in town was robbed while everyone was distracted by the festivities. The money has never been recovered, but it’s widely believed that the robbers buried it before they encountered the police. It’s now become a game during the festival for people to dig up a new plot of land each year to try to find the money. It’s like an Easter Egg Hunt for grownups, with less candy and more manual labor involved.

It turns out that the mayor and a few other people in town had turned this robbery into a hobby bordering on obsession, and the sisters can’t help but think that there’s a connection between the lengths the mayor and others were going to in order to figure out where the money is and his killing.

Texas

I’m pretty sure it was present in Vinyl Resting Place, but I was too busy getting to know everyone to really notice—but one thing I really appreciated this time was the way that Juni mused about Texas—the geography, the beauty, the flora, and the culture. She really missed her home state while living in Oregon—more than she realized—and now that she’s more settled back home, she can see all that she missed. Blacke does a great job of conveying that to the reader.

On the one hand, it’s hard to think that J. Todd Scott, Samantha Jayne Allen, and Attica Locke are describing the same state as Blacke is—and part of that has to do with the varied parts of the large state they’re describing, sure. But most of it has to do with the tone of their books—and once you adjust for that, they’re remarkably consistent and help readers who’ve never been there to get an idea of the place.

Still, all things considered, I’d rather live in Olivia Blacke’s Texas. At least Cedar River—it’s like Stars Hollow mixed with Bluebell, Alabama, but with better food (and better coffee).

A Small Confession

I imagine I’m going to be in the minority on this point, and most readers will shake their heads at me, but…I really didn’t care about the murder mystery. It was interesting enough, the red herrings were well-executed—as was the reveal and confrontation with the killer. But I thought the killer’s identity was pretty obvious, and nothing about that storyline really grabbed me. It happens sometimes.

But—and this is the important part—I didn’t care. I liked everything revolving around the murder mystery—particularly the long-unsolved mystery about the bank robbery. I enjoyed watching Juni and her sisters go about trying to solve things and everything else enough that it didn’t matter to me that the central story didn’t really click with me. I do think it says something about the world that Blacke is building here that I remained as invested as I did with that issue.

They Still Work

As I mentioned when I talked about the first book, the music-inspired punny drink names for their coffee counter are just perfect. They’re the kind of little touch that adds so much to a scene—you get an idea of the characters behind them if nothing else. Like the names of the stores and restaurants in The Good Place, they add a layer of enjoyment on top of everything else.

Blacke gives you just enough of them to keep you wanting more, but not so many that you roll your eyes at them. It’s a tricky balancing act, I’d imagine, but she pulls it off.

I’d say they’re the bit of whip cream on top of your specialty coffee drink to add just that nice finishing touch, but I can’t stand whip cream on my coffee. But you get the idea.

So, what did I think about A Fatal Groove?

I’m going on too long here…and there’s so much I haven’t talked about, for example:
bullet The love triangle—it’s pretty tame and everything’s out in the open (both guys know she’s casually dating them both). While I think the right choice is obvious and it’s annoying that Juni doesn’t just make the right choice, it’s not at the “ARGH” stage most triangles get to.
bullet Her sisters! I really need to spend more time talking about Juni’s sisters.
bullet The way the bank robbery story was resolved was so good, it made up for any of my complaints about the murder story.
bullet The ability of the owner of a used car dealership to turn anything into a sales pitch is truly impressive. It would be annoying in real life (even if it’s what made him a success), but it’s fun in a fictional character.
bullet I have no idea how to talk about what Juni won at the fair and how it tied into resolving so much, but…that was brilliant.
bullet The funeral scene…so good.
bullet The way the bank robbery story was resolved was so good, it made up for any of my complaints about the murder story.

This is one of those sequels that improved on everything that the original did right, expanding the world, and just having more fun with everything. Do you need to read Vinyl Resting Place first? Nope—it’s very easy to pick things up at this point—you’ll likely want to buy it after reading this, but the order isn’t essential at this point.

I do worry that at some point the residents of Cedar River are going to decide that Juni’s the Angel of Death having brought so many murders to town with her, but until then I’m looking forward to several more adventures with her and her family.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with Alex Robins About Self-Publishing

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

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When JCM Berne’s post brought me an email from Alex Robins something gnawed at the back of my mind. It took me entirely too long to remember that I’d recently participated in a cover reveal for his book, Panacea. I was so glad to learn a bit more about his work and am eager to share it with you.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
Hi there and thank you for putting this whole thing together! I’m Alex Robins, an indie self-published author, originally from Norwich in the UK. I moved to France in 1995 at the age of thirteen, and I’ve been living here ever since! I now share my time between writing and running a tech firm close to Angers, an attractive city in the western part of the Loire Valley.

I’ve written two series. The first is called the War of the Twelve, a fast-paced, action-packed epic fantasy spanning four novels and a handful of short stories. The second is The Ruined Gods, an Ancient-Greek inspired fantasy trilogy. The first book Panacea, is out right now and entered into this year’s SPFBO contest, with the second book releasing in September and the final part sometime early next year.

Depending on your choices, your budget will vary wildly.

There is one indubitable, irrevocable fact that I’m sure no other indie author will dispute (if they do, we’ll have to settle our grievances in single combat): your book will not sell well or be well-received if it hasn’t been professionally edited and doesn’t have a professional-looking cover.

There are a few very (very!) minor exceptions but for the most part, that’s the deal-breaker.

If your book is the best thing since sliced bread but you mocked up the cover yourself in Microsoft paint, no one will ever know how good it is because no one will be drawn to the cover.

Conversely, if your book’s cover was designed by the greatest artist who ever lived but has five typos, six grammatical errors, and two repeated sentences on the first page, people will buy it … but they won’t finish it, and may even leave a bad review.

An editor will set you back several thousand dollars per book. Editors specialize in one or several different facets of revision too (from development to proofreading), so your manuscript may need more than one editor depending on what you are looking for.

You can find some great professional covers for as little as $300, but these will be using manipulated stock art so you have to be okay with the fact that your cover will not be unique (or at the very least, parts of the cover may be reused for something else).

Hiring an artist and layout designer for a truly unique cover is much more expensive, around $1500-$2000 at the very minimum.
Those are the two major areas I would personally recommend investing in. Optionally, you can also set aside funds for proof copies, an internet site, a mailing-list builder, and marketing.

I invested heavily in all of these and it took me roughly a year to break even on my debut novel, but that length of time is going down with subsequent releases.

Are there tools, mentors, websites you’ve found to help you through this process? Or did you stumble through blindly on your own?
One of the great things about self-publishing is the altruism of fellow authors. I would have never been able to publish my first book properly without their help.

Ryan Cahill started publishing more or less at the same time as me and has gone on to sell over 50,000 books. He wrote a great article on what worked for him that I still refer to occasionally: Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Self-Publishing

Kindlepreneur is a wonderful resource for anyone publishing digitally, and they host a smorgasbord of useful tools including Publisher Rocket and Atticus: https://kindlepreneur.com/

David Gaughran is a well-respected marketing guru who had a ton of good advice available for free on his site, and if you sign up for his newsletter you can get a whole lot more, including free books on publishing and marketing: https://davidgaughran.com/
There are many, many others, but this is a good start!

How do you juggle marketing/PR/etc. with writing new work? (along with day jobs, family, hobbies, etc., etc.)
It’s incredibly difficult. I don’t really get to choose when I write, as professional and family obligations come first. My more-or-less only writing time is late in the evening, once the kids are in bed and I have spent some time with my wife.

As I touched on in the previous question, I think very early on a self-pub author needs to decide whether they are writing for money, or for something else. For me, it was (and still is) all about the escapism that writing brings. Financial gain and recognition come second to that. So, I always prioritize writing first, then anything else when I have time.

Have you thought about trying to get a deal with major (or indie) publishers for upcoming works, or are you planning on sticking with self-publishing?
To be honest, when you see and hear how a lot of traditionally-published authors are being treated today it would have to be a massive check to pull me away from self-publishing.

Odds are, you’re doing this from love/passion, not to pay the bills. What keeps you going? I’m assuming there are more “who”s than “what”s, actually–who is it?
Writing is just so incredibly cathartic for me I don’t really need any external motivation. Whenever I’ve had a difficult day, I open up my laptop, dive into my latest draft, and all the worries of the world fade away

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it! And do know that there are many of us out here who appreciate and applaud what you do (and our number is growing!)

Be sure to check out all of Alex Robins’ work! (if only for the covers…money well spent, there)

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The Inside Scoop—A Q&A with Matthew Hanover About Self-Publishing