Vagus, a wizard from the realm of Amishan, loses a battle and is banished to the most heinous land his enemy can think of: a corn field in the middle of present-day Iowa. In a land where all people know of magic is from the movies, he’s convinced there’s no worse place to be. With the help of a trucker named Bob, Vagus must find his way back home in time to rescue his friends.

It’s intended to be a humorous fantasy novel in the vein of A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Terry Pratchett’s novels.

While there is still a lot of work left to do on the novel, I was lucky enough to befriend a talented artist, Chris Osman.  He’s created a cover concept for Into the Land of Iowah, and I think it’s pretty awesome.  There’s still time to make adjustments, so feel free to comment if there’s something you think should change.  Of course, comments like “this is an awesome cover” and “I can’t wait until it’s ready” are also welcome. 

Into the Land of Iowah cover (click for larger version)

What do you think? I’d love to hear it!

This book is hard to classify, but tantalizingly good.  Great read for mature readers–describes sex scenes, drug usage, and violence.

Premise:

A streetwise thug named Spyder struggles to overcome his drug addiction, while the world around him keeps trying to drag him back in.

Likes:

o Lots of plot twists that keep you guessing throughout the story
o As a drug addict, Spyder’s an unlikely protagonist.  I found myself sympathizing with him because he took a hard view on all other addicts–thinking they were weaker/whinier than him.  Spyder had an outlook on life that I could respect, even as I disagreed with his choices.
o Eye-opening revelation for me on the difficulty of breaking out of the addiction cycle.  Excellent consideration on how hard it is to change one’s base character.
o Spyder grows throughout the story, but also suffers relapses as events trigger instinctive reactions.
o Spyder’s voice remains true to the character throughout the story.  There was definitely a feeling of “here’s the way I am, whether you like it or not” that made me respect and enjoy the character.

Dislikes:

o Very few. I disagreed with some of Spyder’s decisions, but that’s because those weren’t the choices *I* would make–it was my own bias that got in the way.  For his character, they were justifiable, even when the decisions led him to dangerous consequences.  And that part I liked: his bad decisions had realistic consequences for him.

I’d recommend this book to mature audiences who enjoy suspense, plot twists, dark humor, and unlikely heroes.

Full disclosure: where did I obtain this book?

Purchased myself

Purchase link

Use coupon code FG33N at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/84747 to download your copy for free.

Happy Halloween!

You’ve come to the right place.

What follows are several methods to help an indie author out.  This includes:

• Buying the book (first for yourself, then as gifts for friends)
• Telling your friends (and posting reviews)
• Tagging the book to make it easier for people to find

While (perhaps obviously), I’m targeting this to my own fans, these strategies are general enough for any indie author. I’d expect the actual dollar values should be consistent for most indie authors as well.

Buy the book

Of course, the first and best way is to buy a copy of the author’s book.  However, where you buy it is as important as your actual purchase.

Paperbacks:

Since I published through CreateSpace, I earn the most when people buy direct from them (about $4.50 per book from my $10.95 book).  Amazon falls in at a respectable $2.94.  However, when someone buys a copy from Barnes and Noble, I earn only $0.25 per book.

Buying the book as a gift is an excellent way to thank an author. That’s part of the reason I offer signed copies through my site (check the right-hand panel)–it’s an opportunity for fans to purchase a unique gift for themselves or their friends.  Since I include a free ebook with autographed paperbacks purchased through my site, you can buy a paperback as a gift and keep the ebook for yourself.

Giving the book as a gift offers you the opportunity to talk with others about the book, which helps get the word out for an indie author.

Ebooks:

As an indie author, Smashwords gives me the best return: about $2.21 per book.  Amazon is second, at about $2.03 a book, and Barnes and Noble gives me $1.94 per book.  Besides offering the best return, Smashwords also lets me run coupons as needed.  If I want to give a free copy to a book reviewer, all I have to do is generate a code and pass it along.

Lending an ebook to a friend also helps spread the word about a good book, so take advantage of this opportunity.  Which leads us to the next point:

Tell your friends

Think about the last book you bought.  Why did you buy it?

Chances are pretty good that it’s because a friend recommended it.

Word of mouth advertising is awesome.  If you can’t stop raving about the plot twists in The Caldarian Conflict, (as a completely random and unbiased example), people take notice.

If you’re part of a book group, suggest that the group read a book by the indie author.  Note: only do this if you’d give the book a 4- or 5-star review.  And make sure the book is free of typos.  When the average reader spots typo after typo, the book probably wasn’t ready to be released.

Did I just mention reviews?

That’s another great way to help out an indie author.  Thoughtful reviews are more important than 5-star reviews (though as an indie author, I always love to receive a 5-star review).  That said, when someone checks out a book’s rating on Amazon, they’re more likely to purchase a book that has several thoughtful reviews than several that say: “This book is teh best!!!” (typo intentional)

When reviewing, do explain what you liked and who might be most likely to enjoy the book.  Try to avoid spoilers where possible.  Post it everywhere the book is sold, and especially on reader communities like Goodreads or LibraryThing.

Once you’ve written a review, tell people on Facebook and Twitter about the book.  When they know you wrote the review, your friends or followers are more likely to at least look at the book to see whether it’s a good match.

While we’re talking about Facebook and Twitter, definitely become a fan of the author and follow their tweets.  When you see something interesting from the author, pass it along to your friends so the author can grow followers and potentially connect with other readers.

Tag the book

What is tagging?

Tagging is a method of adding keywords to a book so that it shows up in search results.  The more people that agree with a particular tag, the higher the placement of the book in the search results.

Tags can usually be found on a product’s Amazon page.  Other sites use tagging sometimes, but Amazon is the most widely used.  Simply search for “tag” on the page, and you should find it.

If there’s nothing there, add tags related to the book.  For example, some of the tags currently used for The Caldarian Conflict include pirates, monks, and corrupt government. If you have read the book, select the check box for those you agree with.  If you happen to think of others that aren’t listed, definitely add them.  The author will certainly appreciate it when others find (and hopefully purchase) their book.

If you’ve already read my book, please go to the Amazon page and help me out with a review and adding some tags.  I’d really appreciate it.

What other ways can you think of to help an indie author out?  What did I miss?

Why release my numbers publicly?

By sharing this publicly, I hope it helps other indie authors set expectations, plus it helps me maintain a monthly record of what I’ve done and what the results were.

—–

Book Title: The Caldarian Conflict (preview)
Current Rating: 4.5 stars with six reviews on Amazon
Pricing: $2.99 ebook, $10.95 paperback

Favorite quote from a review: “I was literally up all night because I couldn’t stop reading (if there are any typos in this review blame them on my blurry vision).” – Maxine McLister (Amazon)

This month’s goal: 100 books sold (ebook & physical)
Total sales: 124 books sold – 50 ebooks and 74 paperbacks
Promotional copies: 41 ebooks + 12 paperbacks (not included in sales)

—–

I’m pretty pleased with the results.  Exceeding my goal for first month’s sales is pretty awesome–especially since I had no measurements to guide my estimate.

My biggest surprise? That physical books outsold the ebooks this month.  With everything I’ve read, and the lower price point on the ebooks, I expected ebooks to far exceed paperbacks.

That said, it’s probably a result of the heavy marketing I did.  The single biggest day of sales was 43 paperbacks at my launch party.

At this point, I think it’s most effective for me to allow people time to read the book and (hopefully) write reviews.  With the exception of occasional tweets and Facebook posts, I plan to focus most of my spare time on writing additional material.

I’m also planning to point out that signed copies of The Caldarian Conflict make a great unique gift for fantasy fans. (hint hint: check the right-hand panel for ordering autographed copies, or buy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, CreateSpace, or Smashwords)

In October, I plan to invest a lot of time working on my next two projects.  With luck, I’ll finish the first draft of at least one of them by year-end.

Next month’s goal: 50 books (ebook & physical), due to spending much less time marketing

What do you think?  Should I continue focusing on writing more material? Or are there other marketing avenues that I should pursue?

I’ll be there (and dressed as a pirate) from 10am-3pm. My books will be $10 apiece.

There will be other local and talented authors there also, including:

o Elsie Dunn
o Divine Rhubarb Committee
o Helen Chen
o Joan Sween
o Jen Brewer
o Ann Schultz
o Tom Harper
o David Fingerman

As well as some local and talented artists:

o Brenda Kline
o Leisa Luis Grill
o Mary Lou Devlin
o Loretta Verbout
o Andrew Neville
o Deb Zipse

It’s going to be a great time!

As such, I want to share what I learned with others and record what happened so I can hopefully repeat the success next time.

Since my own book launch was the first I’d ever attended, I had little information to go on when my wife and I planned this event.  Brenda found lots of ideas, and we talked about a lot of different options.  What follows is a list of decisions, why we went with it, and what I think about it now.

Attracting attention

There were lots of things to consider as we marketed the party. We tried lots of traditional marketing, like:

• The Minnesota Writers Alliance newsletter included us in their event list and included an excellent article about me.
• The Rochester Post Bulletin was kind enough to mention the launch party not once, but twice in the days preceding the party
• Robin Wolfram, one of the anchors for KTTC, a Rochester TV station, interviewed me and helped get the word out about the party

Beyond that, we carefully considered what things would draw people to our party.  For example, we knew that these things would help people say “yes” to coming:

• Book signing
• International Talk Like a Pirate Day theme (more later)
• Location (Plummer House, more later)
• Pirate costumes!
• Seeing my 3-month-0ld son (hey, it’s for a good cause)
• Door prizes
• Family friendly
• Food!

With all of these reasons to say yes, who could say no? 

Location/timing

Timing was pretty easy.  After I’d written the first couple of chapters of my novel, I knew I was going to finish.  I set a target completion date of September 19, 2011–which is International Talk Like A Pirate Day.  Since my novel has a pirate theme, it was a perfect fit.

The pirate theme allowed us to have a second reason to celebrate the day: if nothing else, we could have a Pirate Day party.  This helped create another reason for people to say yes to coming.  Plus, since it related to the theme of the novel, we were also pulling in the target audience likely to be interested in the novel.

The location was more difficult.  Originally we wanted something located downtown so we could maximize parking ability, random walk-bys, and the likelihood that people could find the place.  After looking at prices and a couple of options, we were concerned about the costs.  Thankfully, Brenda came up with the option that the Plummer House and grounds could be rented for significantly less than any space we’d looked at.

There were several other advantages of the Plummer House that we discovered:

• Though it’s a local attraction, few locals ever make the time to go up there (it’s situated at the top of a large bluff).  This created an attractive draw for people who might have been more neutral.
• The Victorian feel of the house melded well with the pirate theme of the novel.
• Since we held the event on International Talk Like a Pirate Day, we suggested that people wear pirate costumes.  The more remote location helped save people any embarrassment they might have felt about walking around in costume.

So, in short, the location and timing was a big win that helped this event succeed.

Giveaways (door prizes, etc.)

To avoid hurting sales, we didn’t want to use giveaways that included the novel.  Brenda did a wonderful job creating lots of different door prizes, including this one:

It included some cashews, a pair of mugs engraved with the title of the novel, and a copy of The Pirate Primer, so the winner could learn how to better talk like a pirate.

Other door prizes were targeted for children and teens, with special consideration given to each age group.  Being new parents, we wanted to make the event as family-friendly as possible.

Also, we had lots of little gift bags, special bags for the first ones to arrive, and a free eye patch.  My talented mother also created custom-made bookmarks for the books.

We received a ton of positive feedback around all the giveaways and ideas designed to keep the party a positive experience.

Overall, the giveaways were a definite win.

Decorations

Brenda found a plethora of pirate-themed decorations from Amazon, Oriental Trading, and others.  We may have helped keep some of these businesses afloat in tough economic times.

While we found lots of things we liked, we overbought.  Due to time restrictions, we didn’t use all of the things we purchased.

Also, for every item we put up, we extended our tear-down time at the end.  When I release my next book, assuming we do a party, I’m planning to take a minimalist approach to decorations.  Not only will this reduce costs, but it will also help save us time in setup and tear-down.

In summary, while the decorations were cool, I think we overdid it.  It’s an opportunity for us to improve for next time.

Food

We purposely bought much more food than we thought we needed.  We had a few friends volunteer to make things for us, and a talented friend of ours volunteered to help make some fancy hors d’ourves.  We had shrimp on guacamole and crackers, salmon on a custom blend of herbs and cream cheese, and many other seafood-themed snacks.  For the adults, we included rum balls as a tasty dessert.

For the kids we knew would come, we cooked pizza rolls and chicken nuggets.  For dessert, we had cupcakes, cookies, and candy readily available.

Everyone loved the food.  A definite win, and something I’d do again.  Next time, I might buy a little less, but I’d rather have too much food than too little.  A side benefit: my coworkers at my day job got to help me take care of the leftovers.  I think they’d declare it a win too.

Costs/benefits

From a strict income/amount spent perspective, a launch party is not likely to be worth it for a first-time author.  Unless you’re selling hundreds of books, the income from the party will not cover the costs.

That said, there are many intangible benefits of hosting a launch party beyond selling books.  In no particular order, here are some of the benefits we found:

• I enjoyed celebrating the completion of a large project with friends who care and want to see me succeed.  We had a great time, and it sounds like our friends did too.
• I found the Plummer House inspirational.  There are lots of story ideas lurking within those walls, and I expect I’ll incorporate some aspects of the house into future stories.
• This event is something I think people will talk about for a while.  If nothing else, this party offered a great advertising opportunity–I think people will be talking about it for at least a couple weeks.
• We took lots of pictures throughout the night (unfortunately, I don’t have access to them right now, but I’ll update this later with pictures), which we can use to continually advertise.
• We loved the opportunity to have a historical landmark all to ourselves for a full day.  What an excellent opportunity to explore!
• I’ve found no other way to feel more like a successful author than to have lots of people coming in to receive my autograph.  If nothing else, this made the whole party worth it.

Things we thought of during/after the party

In no particular order:

• Post signs suggesting that people consider buying additional copies for custom gifts
• Make it easy for people to prepay for autographed novels so we could have the books ready and waiting for them
• Let people know that we’ll have plenty of additional copies available for purchase

Bottom line: This is something I’d love to do again.  All I have to do is finish writing another book!

Preparation

There are a few steps you need to take before you can make your book available to the world.  Beyond the obvious revisions and editing, you also need to format your manuscript so it looks correct on ebook readers and print versions.  In my case, I have separate files for each format.  If a reader tells me that there’s a typo, I’ll need to update each file with the fix and submit it individually to each publisher.

That brings me to my next point.  Even before you can format, you have to decide where you’re going to release your book.  I have four places in my case: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, CreateSpace, and Smashwords.  Each one needs a different ISBN, so I ended up buying a block of 10, which allows me to prepare for my next book that will be released sometime next year.

After you’ve got your work in finished form, you need to register your copyright.  Go to http://copyright.gov to do so–if you’re creating a print version, you’ll need to mail two copies of the book in order to register your copyright.  ebooks can simply be uploaded after you’ve paid the $35 fee.

Marketing

This is the biggie.  I’m trying several different avenues, including:

• obtaining a live TV interview with KTTC (link to come)
• creating a YouTube book trailer
• posting on social websites, including Reddit and Twitter
• participating in a Facebook group for my book
• submitting to multiple book reviewers
• hosting a launch party in Rochester MN on September 19
• signing at an author event in Rochester on September 24
• sponsoring a Goodreads giveaway of 5 signed copies of my novel
• spreading my press release to several area newspapers, many of whom published it verbatim
• securing a feature article in the Minnesota Writers Alliance newsletter
• accepting preorders on my own site, and including a free ebook with purchase of an autographed novel
• requesting honest reviews from family and friends
• reviewing indie books and connecting with other indie authors

There are many other opportunities (and probably a few things I’ve missed that I’ve done), and I’m trying a lot of different things.  However, by far the best way to get additional sales has been for those who enjoy the book to talk about it with others.  Word of mouth is amazing at selling books.  A few vocal readers have done a lot to help get my work out there.

As a related aside, I’d love to get my novel into book clubs (The Caldarian Conflict is a fantasy novel, so fantasy book groups would be best for me), so if you have any advice on that, let me know in the comments below.

The biggest issue I’ve found is that many people presume a self-published novel will be low quality.  This is hard to change.  However, since I know people are concerned about quality, I offer them a free preview of the book so they can decide for themselves.  Many of those who read the preview ended up buying the book.

Keep writing

By my estimation, it’s possible to make a reasonable living by selling between 75 and 100 books per day.  Since at the moment I’m only selling about 2-3 books per day, that’s a pretty far stretch.  However, by writing more books, suddenly it becomes much easier to achieve that goal.

Example:

• With one book, you might need to sell 75-100 copies per day.
• With two books, you might need to sell 35-50 copies of each book per day.
• With ten books, you only need to sell 7-10 copies of each book per day.

And so on.

So while I’m spending a majority of September taking advantage of the time to market my debut novel, I’m going to spend October and November finishing up the draft of a second. With a little luck and a lot of work, I should be able to release the new novel by mid-next year.  I also have a few short stories I may decide to release in the interim.

That’s all I’m planning to divulge tonight. What do you think?  Am I missing something? Or are there other areas to explore?

Bottom line:

Fast and compelling read for any fan of contemporary fantasy. Great elements of a thriller thrown into every chapter.

Premise:

Abe Griffin obtains eternal youth during a secret mission in World War II.  Now, sixty years later, an old enemy returns to kill Abe’s surviving squad members and reclaim the relics obtained during that secret mission.

Likes:

o Loved the bait bags.  They’re the perfect enemy.
o While Abe is immortal, he’s not impervious to pain.  Several times throughout the book, his weaknesses are shown.
o Virtually every chapter ends on a cliffhanger.  Each one is well done.
o Good use of foreshadowing and slowly revealing layers of truth throughout the story.
o Overall, very smooth writing style, and plot points flow smoothly from one to the next.

Dislikes:

o Very few. Only a few places of confusion, caused in part because I was reading too fast, wanting to find out what happened next.  This book definitely kept me up late a few nights.
o There were a couple of points that were over-explained or hit just a little too hard (<spoiler>Abe not wanting Anne to get hurt.</spoiler>)  However, this didn’t take away too much from the overall story.

Full disclosure:

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  When the paperback becomes available, I plan to purchase a copy.

Since I’m just starting out on selling books, I’m not sure what’s really achievable, so these goals may be too high or too low.

My near-term goals for The Caldarian Conflict:

Sell 100 books by the end of September

I’m actually not doing too badly here.  I have already sold:

• 17 paperbacks (plus 2 review copies requested from book reviewers)
• 30 ebooks (note: some who bought ebooks also bought paperbacks)

With my launch party on September 19, and another signing event on September 24, I have a pretty good shot of making the 100 copy mark.

Obtain at least 5 reviews by the end of September

So far,  The Caldarian Conflict has received two reviews–one 5-star, and one 4-star.  Both are excellent reviews, and I think they’ll help me sell books.  However, prospective book buyers aren’t impressed by two good reviews (as awesome as they are).  I really need to have several, and for the end of September, I think 5 is doable.  That would require a 5% review to purchased rate, which is high–my understanding is that it’s more typical for 1% of purchases to actually receive a review.

I know I have a couple of book reviewers scheduled to publish their reviews in October, so hopefully these are just the first of many to come.

Obtain 15 photos of readers with their copies of The Caldarian Conflict

Perhaps it’s a little silly, but I’d love to see readers holding a copy of my book…be it the physical version or the cover displayed on their Nook or Kindle (or any other eReader, really).  I was pretty excited to receive my first shipment of books, so I’m hopeful that others will be willing to share their photos too.

What do you think?  Is it wise to set (and make public) goals like this? What would you set your goals for?