Labor Day Weekend and Lessons Learned

After a somewhat slow July, I was blessed to have an absolutely tremendous August, with over 3500 ebook sales.  The numbers received an obvious boost from the release of Mutation, and - needless to say - I'm over the moon about the results and thrilled that readers seem to be enjoying my work.

Of course, my journey as an author is only just getting started in earnest, but I couldn't help reflecting back on the path I've taken thus far.  With that in mind, I thought it might be worth sharing some of the things that I feel were helpful to me on a number of levels in terms of my writing:

Find inspiration wherever you can - especially in the little things

Before I published Sensation, I would occasionally get this nagging thought that I shouldn't be wasting so much time writing. To a certain extent, it seemed like a healthy, creative outlet for which I merely had grandiose dreams, so doubts about how successful I could be in this endeavor would sometimes flit through my brain.

Anyway, I was getting ready for the day job one morning, with the doubts and nagging thoughts pecking away at my resolve to have a writing career, when I heard these words:


"There are people who find their own path. Chart their own course. Who never stop moving forward, and never, ever back down. Entrepreneurs; journeymen; mavericks; and pioneers who believe the American Dream doesn't just happen--it's something you have to work for."

I'd had the television on a morning news program while I was getting dressed, and what I'd heard was from an ad for this Southwest Airlines commercial:

I know it sounds hokey, but those words resonated with me. I'm not saying it was like Robert the Bruce getting motivated to drive the English out of Scotland by watching a spider build a web, but I felt inspired. I must have rewound that commercial and watched it twenty times in a row (I'm not even sure if I paid attention to the rest of it). I left for work that morning with a completely different mindset. 

Basically, I think you have to find inspiration wherever you can (yes, even in a commercial) and use it as a driving force in your work, regardless of whether that work is writing or something else.

Treat writing like a business

Back when I was in college, there was a restaurant not far from campus that purportedly had some of the best food in town (for student budgets). However, they never seemed to have consistent operating hours. Regardless of the posted opening/closing time, the owners just seemed to open their doors whenever the mood hit them - and they'd close in the same fashion. For example, if the cable went out in the restaurant so that they couldn't watch TV in the back office, they might close so that they wouldn't miss The Price is Right or some BS like that. Obviously not a great way to do business.

Likewise, if you are intent on becoming successful as an author, I think you have to treat writing like a business, with yourself as CEO. (In fact, that are many successful writers who say that this is a must.) You want to produce a quality product that the general public will want to buy. At the same time, you need to be writing regularly and consistently. I don't know that you need to write every single day, but you should probably be typing something 5 or 6 days per week. (Taking a day off every week is probably a good way to recharge your batteries and stay fresh.)

In short, you have to keep regular hours, keep your shelves stocked with product, etc. - the same things you'd do with any other business. If you treat it like a hobby - building model planes and whatnot in your spare time - then you'll get hobby-like results.

There's more than one yellow brick road to Oz

Everyone has their own definition of success and their own means of getting there. There are lots of successful writers who willingly share what they feel is the secret of their winning ways, and I'm grateful for that. Occasionally, however, the advice of one author may conflict with that of another.  In my book, it doesn't mean that either of them is wrong; truth be told there is more than one path to success in this business. I think it's worthwhile to see what a number of successful authors did and then cherry-pick the ideas, strategies and tactics that make the most sense to you.

In short, there's not just one yellow brick road to Oz; there's a million of them. You just have to find the one that works for you - and it may be a road that hasn't been laid yet.

Make your own luck

A while back I had dinner with one of the senior people at my office, and we got to talking about what makes a successful career, and how it's not always about who's the smartest or most talented.  In hearing about some of his experiences, it seemed to me that sometimes his success came as a result of catching a lucky break, and I said as much.  He laughed and agreed, saying, "Sometimes you get lucky. And sometimes, you make your own luck."

Those last five words really caught fire in my brain, because I felt like I knew exactly what he was talking about. To me, there are occasionally doors that open a crack - opportunities that present themselves for a limited time - and you need to have positioned yourself to take advantage of them. 

By way of example, I know of a company (we'll call this one Little Co.) that put in a bid for a big project and got selected for a second round of interviews with the corporation (let's say Huge Corp.) soliciting proposals. When Little Co. came in for their interview with Huge Corp., they said, "We don't want to sit around and talk about our proposal. Instead, we'd like to spend that time working for you, showing you what we can do and the quality of our product. Then, when we finish, you can decide."  Huge Corp. agreed, and (as you might have guessed) Little Co. ended up with the work - despite the fact that they were not as established or well-known as some of the other bidders.  They made their own luck - and so can you.

Greatness awaits

Finally, for those of you doubting yourselves, I ask, "Who are you not to be great?"

Mutation Progress

Here's one you don't see every day (at least mooks like me don't) - the two books in my Kid Sensation series are ranked #1 and #2 in one of their categories:

Best Sellers in Superhero Fantasy eBooks

• Top 100 Paid

• Top 100 Free

 

1.

Mutation: A Kid Sensation Novel (Kid...

by Kevin Hardman

4.4 out of 5 stars   (9)

Kindle Edition

$3.99

2.

Sensation: A Superhero Novel

by Kevin Hardman

4.2 out of 5 stars   (44)

Kindle Edition

$3.99

To a certain extent, it feels like Thunderdome: Two books enter; one book leaves...  Seriously though, all I can say is that I feel blessed that the books seem to be finding an audience, and I'm continually floored by the level of support my writing has received.  Over the past week Mutation broke into the Top 1000 in the paid Kindle Store (the highest rank I saw it get to was #691), and I even find myself with an Amazon Author Rank that's in the Top 100 for Fantasy and Science Fiction. It really does feel like I'm on some wild ride, but at the moment I'm really loving it!

Needless to say, Amazon has been - and continues to be - a big part of my success. At the same time, however, I'm attempting to establish a foothold on other platforms: Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc. (Trying to avoid putting all my eggs in one basket, so to speak.) Truth be told, though, I'm struggling to find ways to market to those with Nook and Kobo e-readers. Most of the powerful promotional tools seem geared towards the Kindle (and you can't blame them for that), but I'm still so new to all this stuff that I'm probably overlooking something.

Praying that Lightning Strikes Twice (and Then Some)

I mention all the time about how limited my knowledge of self-publishing is, so I'm still prone to making rookie mistakes.  One of the things I've neglected to do until fairly recently was work more on selling print copies of my books.

I know that there are many who eschew print altogether (and make a very good living focusing only on ebooks), but for me it's another market to sell to. Public libraries, brick-and-mortar bookstores, etc.  They're all out there - numbering in the hundreds of thousands - and since it costs practically nothing to do print versions, why not?

That said, getting into physical libraries and bookstores can sometimes require a little more legwork. Independent bookstores may only work with you on a consignment basis, and - other than those located near you - the large chains may only be interested if they can get your book through one of their distributors/wholesalers such as Ingram.  (For libraries, this would primarily be Baker & Taylor.)  Moreover, outside of something like Creatspace's Expanded Distribution, you really need your own ISBN number.

Bearing all that in mind (and the fact that I was getting double-digit sales of print copies on Createspace), I decided a few weeks back to sign up with Lightning Source, which is a division of Ingram. Lightning Source offers print-on-demand services, and through them my books are available via Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and others. Granted they are more expensive than CS's Expanded Distribution (and the set-up is more complicated), but I have more control in terms of setting the discount for wholesalers (20%-55%), as opposed to the automatic 60% at CS. (Not to mention the fact that CS won't make your book available to libraries/universities if you use your own ISBN.)

Thankfully, things appear to be working out in that I recently checked my Lightning Source account and saw that I had my first order. With any luck, it will be the first of many.

Book Release - Mutation (Kid Sensation #2)

I am proud to say that Mutation: A Kid Sensation Novel (the sequel to Sensation) has finally been released!

The cover art was again done by Isikol, whose work on the first novel in the series was simply spectacular. 

Needless to say, I'm happy to finally have the book out there.  Fans of Sensation have been very vocal in their request for a sequel, so hopefully they will enjoy this next adventure of Kid Sensation.

Of course, I probably should have done a better job of getting the word out about the sequel: done a cover release, announced a release date well in advance, etc. In all honesty, though, I'm just so new to all this (self-publishing, that is) that it well probably be a while before I get my sea legs under me and figure out enough of the ins and outs that I don't look like a total idiot every time I do something.

To be frank, though, I'm really a simple-minded fella, so I'm nervous about having lot of a pomp and circumstance surrounding a book release, and then having readers consider it to be the literary equivalent of the Johnny Depp Lone Ranger movie.  Thus, I've kept the fanfare to a minimum.

In other news, Sensation and Warden are finally out of KDP Select.  I think Select was great at one point and a powerful tool in an indie publisher's arsenal, but it seems to have lost a lot of its pop. Maybe Amazon will tweak it in some way to bring back it's sex appeal, but it feels like the train has left the station for good.  That being the case, I have loaded my work up to numerous sites - B&N, Smashwords, etc. - and am already starting to get sales (which I pray will steadily increase).

Finally, I'm still trying to wrap up the Warden sequel and get it to my editor, but have found my efforts derailed of late because of numerous factors.  But, as with Mutation, I'm leery of announcing a release date at this juncture (especially since I haven't even put it in my editor's hands yet).  All I can say is "soon."


Mutation is available at Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, Smashwords (for Sony, Apple and more), DriveThruFiction, and XinXii


*And on a side note, a lot of authors have stated the need for a mail list to announce book releases to readers, so if you are interested in being informed of such (and that is all I plan to use it for) please click on the link in the upper right corner of my blog.  Thanks!

KDP Select, We Hardly Knew Ye...

In a previous blog (which you can find here), I mentioned some of the reasons I was thinking of leaving the KDP Select program. Now, with both Sensation and Warden coming off the Select this week, I have been putting in a little time preparing to launch them on other publishing platforms.  Between that, having jury duty, and some other issues this week, I've fallen a little behind schedule on finishing the Warden sequel, which I had originally anticipated completing a few days ago. Thankfully, my editor is being extremely patient with me, and I hope to dot that final "i" and cross the last "t" soon.  The Sensation sequel is - from all appearances - just days away from being released as I deal with a few final concerns, and I will, of course, announce it here first.

(FYI: For those interested, I am now compiling a mail list of those who'd like to be informed whenever I release a new novel.  The link for the subscription is in the upper right of this blog.)

Needless to say, I'm both excited and nervous about publishing elsewhere.  I've been blessed to find tremendous support on Amazon, but I've also been stiff-arming a good portion of the market because of my participation in Select.  I'm hoping that readers elsewhere will give me the same warm fuzzy I've been experiencing on Kindle, but there are no guarantees.

It's unfortunate that Select isn't the same juggernaut that it used to be, but that's just my experience.  There are many others who still swear by it, and I can't say that they're absolutely wrong.  I just feel that the current cons of Select outweigh the pros - not to mention the fact that I'm trying to extend my reach as an author as far as possible.  This has become particularly important to me as - throughout July - I've noticed sales dropping significantly.  For instance, Sensation sold over 1200 copies in June, but will come in at less than 700 for July (unless there's a massive surge today). I've heard that sales generally drop in summer (especially in July), but I can't help thinking that having my books in places like Barnes & Noble and Smashwords (assuming I can get through the SW meatgrinder) would help ease the pain.

Basically, I embarking into a new journey here, but hopefully my efforts will eventually pay big dividends. With any luck, I'll get a few sales early on to give me encouragement - and convince me that leaving Select was the right decision.  And if it doesn't work out, I could always come crawling back to Select on my hands and knees, begging like Take That:

The Sensation Sequel

I've obviously been neglecting my blog this month, but not without reason.  I've been hard at work putting the finishing touches on the sequel to Sensation. Part of the problem is that every time I re-read the thing, I keep seeing additional items that I want to tweak. (My editor would probably be horrified to know that, since she proofed what was purportedly the final draft a few weeks back.) I plan to read it for [hopefully] the final time over the next day or so.

My cover artist, Isikol, is also hard at work producing another awesome cover. He did a fantastic job on the first book, so I'm hoping that lightning will strike twice in that regard.

As to a release date, I don't have anything specific in mind yet.  Basically, it will be as soon as I can get all of the essential elements in place - with any luck, some time in the next week or two.  But the announcement of it will probably be something as simple as a short blurb on this blog and a tweet.  (I'm a terrible planner; anything more complicated than that and I'll probably screw it up.)

In other news, I'm also working on the next book in my Warden series.  The plan, for now, is to alternate between the two series - writing a book for one, then the other - as well as maybe penning a few other novels that have been eating away at my brain recently.  Hopefully it will all work out, but right now this entire self-publishing venture feels like one giant experiment. Wish me luck!

Results from KDP Select Free Promotion: The Party's Over...

My books Sensation and Warden are both in the KDP Select program. For those unfamiliar with KDP Select, it is a program in which an author agrees to make his or her ebook available exclusively in the Kindle Store for 90 days.  That means no selling your ebook on Smashwords, B&N, etc. (You can still sell print versions wherever you like.)

In exchange, the author receives - among other things - higher royalty rates in some regions and 5 days during that 90-day period in which to offer his/her ebook for free.  The book also gets included in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, where it can be borrowed for free by Amazon Prime members. Books that are borrowed earn of a share of a global fund established by KDP. Each borrow has historically earned about $2 (although the exact figure varies month-to-month), so if you have a book in KDP Select that is borrowed 152 times during the month, you can expect to earn about $304 from that. (That's borrows, not sales, which would be entirely different.)

Needless to say, when you offer your book for free, you can expect for the amount of downloads to increase significantly. Initially, this was a boon for authors since - in the early days of KDP Select - a free download was essentially the same as a sale in terms of how if affected your rankings, and there was a good chance your book would be comfortably positioned in the upper echelons of your category when the free promotion ended (which usually resulted in a post-promo bump in sales). However, Amazon has done a fair amount of tweaking to the algorithms since then that significantly affect the weight given to freebies.
In my case, for example, I published Sensation on Kindle in early May 2013 and picked two days in early June to offer the book for free. (I figured a month would give me enough time to do adequate promotion, if necessary.) Much to my surprise, sales for the book took off, and by the end of May it was #1 in one of its categories.

At that juncture, I became a little nervous. The book was selling well, so I was afraid that free days would cannibalize sales. I was seriously tempted to pull the plug on the free days altogether, but I had already arranged free promotions on a number of sites. Therefore I decided to stick it out, thinking that maybe if there were something like a 10-to-1 ratio between the weighting of free downloads to sales (ie, every 10 freebies were equivalent to 1 sale), I could still make out alright.

Over the next two days, over 3000 copies of Sensation were downloaded, and I broke into the Top 100 of the Kindle Free Store. (I don't know exactly how high I got, but the highest I saw was #90.)  That was far more than I ever anticipated, so I was hoping that the payoff would come in the form of a higher ranking in the Paid Store and the post-promo bump that many other authors have experienced. I got neither.

Both my overall ranking and my daily sales fell following the promotion, and neither has recovered. When I discussed it with a fellow author, he mentioned that it was his understanding that the ratio between free downloads and sales is something like 220:1.  In other words, 220 free downloads is worth about 1 sale.  In essence, a free download is worth almost nothing (outside of additional exposure).

In retrospect, I can't help feeling that KDP Select has lost much of its sex appeal. For instance, while it can help you get your books into the hands of more readers via free promotions, you don't need Select to offer your book for free.  Moreover, I think that borrows - just like freebies - cannibalize sales.  I'm not saying that getting 152 borrows in a month means that you would have gotten 152 additional sales if you weren't in Select. However, I do think that at least some of those borrows definitely would have become sales.
Bearing all this in mind, I will probably pass on renewing with Select when the current exclusivity period expires, as the party is clearly over. This will let me dip my toe into some other waters (B&N, Smashwords, what have you) and hopefully expand my audience. (And if I don't like it, I can always come back to Select.)


Side Note:  For those who may be interested, I had the opportunity to write a guest post on Joe Konrath's blog, which may be found here.